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She nodded and he saw the brightness in her face dim.
‘Did you learn French?’
‘No. Actually he died before I was born.’ The shadows in her eyes grew darker. The golden flecks faded in brilliance.
‘That must have been hard on your mother.’
‘It was. But she was a survivor.’
‘Was?’ His heart thumped a little harder. He didn’t mean to pry, but he knew he was getting information that was vital. Clues that might help him understand the faint sense of mystery about her. Some fact that might help him figure out why she was so reluctant to follow what he knew she wanted. What his heart and body wanted so much.
‘Was.’ She snatched the paper up and walked away from him. He quietly watched her as she sat back down in her chair, avoiding looking anywhere in particular, especially at him.
An orphan. Fatherless from birth and motherless since—when? The questions nearly burst forth, but her shuttered expression told him he’d got as far as he was going to—for today anyway.
He went back to the figures on the screen in front of him and for the first time in his career wished his work away. Wanted the project to be over so he could have the time to focus on her. Disgusted, he jabbed at the keyboard. What on earth had come over him? He’d said quite clearly he didn’t want distractions. But meeting Lissa was more than a distraction. It felt like a life-changing event, one beyond his control and one he wasn’t sure he could handle.
Lissa escaped earlier than she’d thought she’d be able to, leaving the others up to their elbows in charts. She raced along the footpath to Jackson’s, the bar where Gina and the others were already on their second round. Gina waved her over excitedly and Lissa was soon ensconced with fresh pineapple juice in hand, slightly distanced persona in place talking with some of the junior consultants.
Suddenly she felt an elbow in her ribs. ‘Come and meet Karl.’ Gina had such an expectant look on her face as she dragged Lissa near the door that Lissa had to stifle a giggle. She recognised him from the party at the office where she had mistaken him for Rory. She cringed afresh at her blunder. While Karl had a great physique and a fabulously cheeky grin, he was no Rory. They were poles apart in terms of dynamism and sheer animal magnetism.
Karl took her hand and gave her the benefit of the cheeky charmer grin. ‘Great to meet you at last. I’ve heard so much about you.’
‘As I have you.’ Lissa smiled at him. She was surprised as she caught the vestige of a wink. Not a suggestive wink, but more one aimed at a co-conspirator. That was funny. Unless she was reading things wrong this guy wasn’t interested in meeting someone new in the least. She sipped from her glass, appreciating her decision to go with the refreshing juice, watching the interplay between him and Gina.
Gina was her usual bubbly self, but Lissa noticed the serious glint in Karl’s eye as he watched her. It took about fifteen seconds of observing this for her to make the connection. Gina disappeared, called away by another friend, and Lissa lost no time in calling him to account.
‘You’ve fallen for Gina, haven’t you?’ She looked at him full on.
He stared back, his eyes widening a fraction before looking away to where Gina stood chatting safely out of earshot. ‘Guilty as charged.’
She saw the flicker of insecurity flash before he hid it behind a self-deprecating smile.
‘Waste of time, though, when she’s only interested in types like him.’
She glanced around to where he was looking and drew a painful breath. Rory had arrived and was standing next to Gina and staring at them with a thunderous expression. She felt floored by the ferocity of his gaze. She turned back quickly, looking down at her drink, feeling the heat in her cheeks. What was he doing here? She’d thought she was in the clear for just a few hours. Her Rory-Proximity Indicator, aka her pulse, started its crazy zigzag. She found her attraction to him so hard to control and she knew it would only take a moment alone with him for it to snap. She had to prevent that from happening.
‘Hmm.’ Karl grunted.
Lissa could just about hear the cogs creaking as they turned in his brain.
‘Who is he?’ he asked.
‘Rory. One of the bosses.’ She said it to remind herself more than to inform him. ‘Look, great to meet you, Karl, but I need to head home.’
With a wave she left him and started to move towards Gina to say goodnight.
Rory stepped in front of her, blocking her slow trail across the room, his chest a more effective barrier than the Great Wall of China. ‘So Gina was right, then?’ He asked, his voice rasping harshly.
‘About what?’ she asked cautiously. She’d never seen him look so grim.
‘That he’d be the perfect good-time guy for you.’ He jerked his head in Karl’s direction. Anger oozed from every pore.
If she weren’t so strung out she’d have laughed. Instead she sighed. Their situation was fractious enough without having unwarranted jealousy compounding it.
‘Actually, no, she wasn’t right about that.’
The hardness in his eyes remained.
‘But she was right about one thing,’ she continued, the need to set him at ease overruling her plan to keep him at a distance.
‘What’s that?’
‘You do have the most amazing eyes.’ She looked at him and let her attraction shine out clearly. Time stopped and, fascinated, she watched as his expression softened from anger to amusement and then to desire. The unspoken communication held them in thrall. She felt heat mount in her cheeks and a thrilling tingle rippled through her as she saw an answering flush rise in his. The desire she had been trying so desperately to hold in check this last week was spiralling upwards—again.
She finally recognised that it was never going to go away of its own accord. The feelings she thought she could control were not lessening with each day. Instead the attraction mounted. With every day came new knowledge, more familiarity, more fun. And the need to be one with him grew. It felt inevitable. Uncontrollable.
She didn’t want him thinking she was even remotely interested in Karl. The idea was laughable. Right now she felt as if she’d never want anyone the way she wanted Rory. The thought scared her half to death.
Finally she spoke, a whisper. ‘I’m going home.’
‘Let me come with you.’ An equally quiet whisper.
A wry smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘No one’s coming tonight.’
A rueful look crossed his face. She knew he’d caught her double entendre. ‘More’s the pity.’ Regret swirled between them.
‘What’s happened? Don’t tell me the computers have crashed and we’ve lost the reports?’ James broke in on them, his hilarity jarring her back to her surroundings. He stood with a drink in each hand, brows raised, flicking his glance from one to the other in query. She glanced back at Rory. He’d retreated and was looking coldly at James who was still talking. ‘You need a drink, Lissa?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m just leaving. See you tomorrow.’ She walked away before either of them could say anything more.
She waved goodbye to Gina, who came to meet her at the door.
‘People are asking if you and Rory are having an affair,’ Gina said without preamble.
Lissa’s head jerked back.
‘Don’t get mad,’ Gina added hurriedly. ‘I’ve said not as far as I knew. I just thought you’d like to know.’
Lissa forced herself to shrug. It was hardly surprising. Even Karl had immediately spotted the attraction between them. Coupled with the few incidents in front of Marnie and James and the soul-searching looks they’d just swapped in the middle of the crowded bar, of course people were going to wonder. Despite what she’d said to Rory, she didn’t really care. People would think what they liked with little regard for the truth. She’d learnt that one a long time ago as the only child of a single teenage mother. Besides, it wouldn’t be the only office affair to be speculated on and nor would it be the last. There’d be another shortly, she bet, knowing the antics of some of the junior consultants.
‘Are you OK?’ Gina touched her arm, bringing her back to the here and now. ‘Look, Lissa, if you don’t want to tell me, fine. But I know there’s something going on. You guys put all the “izzle” in sizzle.’
Lissa smiled, aiming for nonchalance, unwilling to unload the sorry saga onto Gina. ‘I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all. I’m going to call it a night.’
Thursday passed in a flash. Despite another night of minimal sleep, she sped through the final version of the reports. By mid afternoon they’d been checked and she was printing and binding copies to be distributed at the presentation.
Then she set about perfecting the online slide show and ensuring that the equipment Rory and the others needed to take with them on Friday had been checked by IT and was ready to go. The others had been in conference at the other end of the table for most of the afternoon. Lissa glanced down at them, taking a breather from the figures in front of her. They all seemed hyped on an adrenaline rush. Rory’s energy levels were phenomenal. He paced the end of the room, eyes gleaming as he grilled Marnie over and over on her part of the presentation. He seemed to thrive on the excitement of the challenge. Looked so competent, so assured, so focussed.
Lissa grimaced and looked back at her computer. She felt anything but—her suit crumpled rather than crisp, her body hot and sticky. Her throat was sore and her head felt heavy and seemed to have the army band drumming in it. Even her eyeballs ached. She put her hands to her cheeks; they were burning up and her cold fingers soothed them a little.
She was tired. Tired of staring at computer screen and graphs and figures for hours, tired of being cooped up in this tiny room, but most of all she was tired of being so close to Rory and yet not being with him. She wanted him. Badly. The thought consumed her and so did the resulting anger. She was allowing her physical attraction to him to overshadow her work. Such a thing had never happened before. The thought of him fevered her mind. It clouded her judgment and, she worried, affected her performance. She resented his ability to be able to switch it off. How could he be so focussed on work if he felt the same overwhelming passion?
Suddenly it was well after six and the office had all but emptied leaving just their small team. Marnie and James went to get pizza, insisting on going out to get it rather than order delivery. Marnie said she was desperate for fresh air. James took the orders. Distractedly Lissa said she’d be happy with anything but seafood. Damn, she needed to get this finished so she could get away. Her nerves were shot to pieces. It was all she could do to sit there and keep some semblance of concentration on the screen.
She battled to finish the remaining few pages. Part of her wanted to get out of the room and head for home as fast as possible and the other part wanted nothing more than to leap onto Rory and ravish him. Her reservations about an office fling were fading fast under the weight of the desire she felt for him. They would only have a few weeks together. But then that was a whole problem in itself. As the days progressed and her attraction steadily grew she knew she had to be stronger than ever because she could end up heartbroken. Total no-win situation.
She wanted him so badly but she couldn’t have him.
A heavy silence filled the room. She sat fuming at the apparent ease with which he could continue working. He had such focus despite her proximity whereas she was practically having a meltdown. She couldn’t resist jibing at him.
‘People are saying we’re having an affair.’ Her tone was as bitter as burnt coffee grinds.
‘Really?’ Rory didn’t look up from his screen. ‘I’m surprised. They know I don’t usually fool around in the office.’
‘And why don’t you usually?’ Lissa demanded, anger sparking within her.
‘Work’s work and play’s play,’ he replied easily, his eyes still fixed on the computer before him.
‘And never the twain shall meet?’ she asked tartly. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt the need to goad him. To prove he wasn’t as immune as he appeared.
‘It’s easier that way. Otherwise how do you concentrate on work?’ Suddenly he jerked his head up and glared at her. She shrank at the blaze in his eyes. He continued, his volume rising with every word. ‘How do you cope if the woman you’ve fallen for is sitting across from you, only inches away, and yet you can’t reach out and touch her the way you want to? How the hell do you get any work done?’ He swore viciously and pushed the keyboard away.
Satisfaction slammed into her. But still she continued prodding brazenly. ‘So you’d rather out of sight, out of mind?’
‘No,’ he replied with a mirthless laugh. ‘Never out of mind. But it makes it damn hard to concentrate on bloody numbers when you’re wearing a slightly see-through blouse and all I want to do is rip it off to see what’s underneath it properly.’
Heat consumed her. Heart thudding, she stood and reached for her suit jacket. Just as quickly he rose and came around the table. He reached out a hand and grasped her wrist. His grip was hard. Her jacket fell to the floor. They stood staring at each other. She was certain he could feel the frantic tempo of her pulse. She watched as he lowered his gaze to her lips, then down to her chest. With a deep breath she realised her breasts had tightened and swollen. He stared at them and they tightened still further. With her arm outstretched pulling the fabric of her shirt taut across her body, she knew there was no way he could fail to see their aroused outline. He looked back up at her face. His pupils were so large there was only the smallest ring of dazzling emerald around them.
‘Feeling cold?’ he mocked.
Desire and anger merged and grew. She was so close to the edge. She sucked her lips in and bit down on them, trying to suppress the throbbing desire, wishing the pressure on them could be his lips rather than her own teeth. Then she took a breath. ‘Practically hypothermic.’
The hint of a smile softened his blazing stare. The pressure of his hand on her wrist grew and he pulled her towards him. His other hand came up and cradled her jaw, his thumb sweeping down from her cheek to her chin in soft strokes.
‘Why do you care so much what they think? You don’t do what you want because you think people might say something behind your back. Why should you even care?’
She stared up at him. He was wrong. It wasn’t about other people. She didn’t do what she wanted because she knew from past experience that it would be the worst thing for her. An office affair was a fantasy that invariably ended as a nightmare. The environment was false; you worked as a close unit for a short time, living in each other’s pockets. Adrenaline and excitement gave an unnatural high. It wasn’t the real world and who knew what secrets were in Rory’s life outside the office? What would happen when he was locked away in another project room with another temp he might find attractive?
His thumb continued its gentle stroking. The response in her bones was not so gentle. Despite what her brain was telling her, she wanted him badly.
‘Let’s really give them something to talk about,’ he said softly, his focus on her mouth. His thumb stroked her lips. They parted a fraction. He stroked his thumb across again, pushing it in slightly so she felt it brush against her tongue. Her desire to taste him intimately flared.
‘If they’re all thinking it, it seems a shame not to make the most of it.’ He looked down at her, hesitating.
‘What do you want from me?’ She stared at him, feeling tortured.
He looked at her with such solemn intensity that she knew she was about to get a painfully honest answer.
‘Everything. I want to touch you, taste you. I want to see you writhe in pleasure. I want to see you lose control.’
‘Why?’ She barely recognised the croaky whisper as her own.
He gave a wry smile. ‘It would make me feel good.’
‘What—to have control over me?’
‘No.’ His eyes darkened in frustration. ‘Not like that. I want to know that I can touch you in ways that drive you crazy, that I can satisfy you.’
Her eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t try to hide it. Her head ached and she was using all her energy to stay on her feet. She couldn’t possibly hide anything from him right now. She answered huskily. ‘You should know that already.’
His eyes blazed, boring into hers. ‘Are you going to let me?’
‘I don’t think I have much choice.’
He growled. ‘Of course you do. You decide.’
‘I’m sick of fighting it.’
‘Fighting me?’
‘No, fighting me.’
His thumb continued rubbing her jaw gently and his gaze dropped to her mouth again.
She knew he wanted to kiss her but he held firm, watching, waiting for her to acquiesce. He seemed to be holding heaven out to her and all she had to do was lean forward and take it from him. The long days and even longer nights of loneliness and want and need overwhelmed her. She blanked the future, no longer caring, no longer able to think. All that mattered right now was this.
Her control snapped. ‘I want you to touch me,’ she whispered fiercely. ‘I want you.’
She didn’t just agree, she became the aggressor. It was what she had been wanting for so long. With a speed and strength that surprised both of them she reached up and ran both hands through his hair, pulling his head down to meet her hungry mouth. She licked and tasted him. Vaguely she heard him groan and then she moaned in delight as he pulled her hard up against him. They met length to length. She let him take her weight. He held her easily. The pressure of his hard chest against her sensitive breasts was dynamite. She squirmed her hips against his, her delight at feeling his arousal rendering her unable to control her writhing action. They were the perfect height for each other. Her long legs ensured that they met in the middle, just where they were supposed to. He put his hands on her hips and gripped hard, holding her while he slowly rocked against her, simulating the closer connection that she craved. And all the while their lips, teeth and tongues swirled and danced in a kiss so passionate she never wanted it to end, never wanted any of it to end.
But it wasn’t enough. She was desperate to feel his bare skin against hers. Desperate to have him touch her intimately, taste her, suck her, fill her. She tugged at his shirt and moaned in frustration when it wouldn’t give. He pulled back from her slightly.
‘Lissa,’ he said raggedly. ‘Lissa, we can’t.’
It was not what she wanted to hear. A feral growl escaped her and she reached up for him again. He held his head back firmly. ‘They might come back any minute.’
Who? she wondered, half crazed. Right now she didn’t give a damn.
He swore softly. ‘Hell, beautiful, why did you have to pick tonight of all nights?’ He stared into her eyes, and her need must have been clearly evident. ‘I’ll give you what you want, honey,’ he whispered softly as he stood back from her a fraction. And then his warm, strong hand slid down the waistband of her skirt and straight into her panties. She gasped in surprise. His palm pressed hard against her and his fingers delved lower, stroking those lips. Her legs buckled and he caught her with his other arm. He backed her up so she was pressing against the table. Her legs spread wide of their own volition and she found herself leaning back on her hands before she knew it. He kept his hand where it was and his fingers started stroking rhythmically. He bent over her and claimed her mouth once more. His other hand lifted and caressed her breast, teasing the already hard nipple—swirling around it, rubbing, gently squeezing. Her whole body shook with delight, her aching mind relieved of thought, only capable of absorbing the sensations he incited.
After a few heavenly minutes she wrenched her mouth free of his, gasping for air. His lips trailed across her jaw and down her neck. Big, open-mouthed kisses that alternately sucked and soothed. She was on fire, in ecstasy and hurtling towards oblivion. Her breathless gasps accelerated to audible moans as his fingers continued their erotic torment and his thumb rotated around her sensitive nub. It made her want more, much more. She wanted everything. She stirred against him, and murmuring against her, he upped the pressure and pace.
The tempo and volume of her soft moans increased accordingly and she threw her head back, her hips bucking as her body tensed, on the edge of release. The cry of pleasure already building in her chest.
Then he was gone. Without warning he’d pulled back and with a muttered oath whipped his hand free.
‘No!’ she moaned, frantic. Just a few seconds more, just one second more!
