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“Fine,” he said brusquely. “I’ll help you.”
She pushed away from the desk. “But you’re not on the list.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m going to help you myself because I don’t want you scaring away the staff.”
She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head at him. “I know you meant that in the nicest way.”
“Sorry. Yes.” He shook his head as if to erase the comment. “Of course I did.”
She continued staring at him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“It’s the only way I’ll know for sure that you’re not getting into trouble around here.”
“I won’t get into trouble.”
“I know, because I’ll be the one helping you.”
Inhaling a deep breath, Kelly let it out slowly, then seemed to brace herself for impact. “Okay. I appreciate this, Brandon.” She took a hesitant step toward him, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“Wait. We need to set some ground rules first.”
“Ground rules? Why?”
“Because there’s no way I’m having you fall for me.”
“Fall for you?” She blinked, then began to laugh. “Are you kidding?”
“Something funny?” he asked, insulted.
“Yes,” she said, giggling like a schoolgirl. “The idea that I would ever be dumb enough to fall for you is pretty funny.”
“Dumb enough?”
“Yes, dumb enough. Let me count the ways.” She held up one hand and began ticking off fingers. “You’re a grouch in the morning. You leave newspapers lying around everywhere. You date a woman once and then never call back. You’re a big baby when you’re sick.”
“Wait a minute,” he protested.
But she was on a roll now and seemed to be enjoying herself. “And all your weird superstitions left over from when you played in the NFL? My gosh, wearing the same socks for every game was bad enough, but I also heard that you ate only sardines and blueberries the night before every game. Do you still do that before big negotiations?
Who does that?”
Brandon had heard enough. He placed the file on the chair in front of her desk and stalked closer. “The socks were washed between games.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, really.” He brushed against her, then slipped his hand around her nape and urged her closer. “And sardines and blueberries are both excellent sources of omega-three fatty acids.”
“Fascinating,” she whispered, as she stared wide-eyed at him.
“Helps the brain function better,” he added as he caressed her cheek.
“G-good to know.” She sounded wary now, probably smart of her.
He bent to kiss her neck, then murmured in her ear, “The quarterback’s the brains of the team, did you know that?”
She moaned. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I am.” And he kissed her. She tasted as sweet and hot as he somehow knew she would. Even more so. He had to work to keep the contact light and simple, because it wouldn’t do to get carried away. But that didn’t stop him from wishing he could lay her down on the desk, run his hands up her thighs, spread her legs and bury himself inside her.
He had to stop. This was wrong in too many ways to count. If he stepped away from her right now, they could both forget this kiss ever happened.
Then she groaned in surrender and he knew she wanted the same things he did. And he was helpless to stop. He used his tongue to gently pry her lips open, plunging inside her sexy mouth. Her tongue met his in a sensual play of thrust and parry.
He wanted to cup her breasts and flick his thumbs across her peaked nipples, but that was a sure road to madness. So with every ounce of will inside him, he forced himself to end the kiss, reluctantly pulling himself away from her warmth.
“Oh,” she whispered, licking her lips as she slowly opened her eyes.
Brandon’s insides clenched at the sight of her pink tongue tasting him on her mouth.
“Oh, that was good,” she said with a note of surprise. “That was really good.”
“Yeah,” he said, brooding. “It was.”
“I liked it a lot.”
So did he, but he remained silent. Otherwise, he might’ve been tempted to follow through on his desire to have her naked under him. But that would never happen and right now, he needed to regain some degree of control over whatever strange emotions were still churning inside him.
“Roger never kissed like that,” she said, watching him thoughtfully.
“Did I mention the guy was an idiot?” he muttered.
“No wonder he didn’t think I was sexy,” she reasoned. “It’s because he didn’t make me feel sexy.”
“I rest my case.”
“But you did,” she declared and smiled up at him. “And now… wow. You know, I really think Roger was the problem, not me. But I can’t be sure.”
“Yeah, you can,” he said gruffly. “Roger was the problem. End of story.”
She touched his arm. “Thank you, Brandon.”
“You’re welcome.” He started to head for his office, still trying to steady his breathing.
“Wait,” she said.
He turned and looked at her. A slight line of concern marred the smooth surface of her forehead. Her lips were pink and tender and about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. The fact that he wanted more than anything to kiss her again, made him forge ahead into his office.
“I think I could get really good at this and blow Roger’s mind, but I need to practice,” she said, following him. She had her notepad in hand again, probably hoping she could make another damn list of all the different ways they could kiss each other. If she only knew.
“Not a good idea,” he said, sliding the Montclair file into his briefcase.
“But you said that before and it turned out to be a really good idea.”
He pierced her with a look. “No more practicing. Ground rules, remember?”
“I remember, don’t worry.” After scrutinizing him for a moment, she nodded her agreement. “Okay, I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right,” he said, and snapped his briefcase closed.
“Thank you for your help,” she said. “It was wonderful. On a purely educational level, I mean.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and led the way out of his office. “Now let’s call it a night.”
“Oh, I’m going to stay for a while,” she said, flipping to a clean page, all business now. “I need to make some notes while everything is still fresh in my mind. I’ll need to remember everything later.”
“You’re going to make notes on that kiss?”
“Yes, for future reference.” She’d already begun scribbling what looked like mathematical calculations. “If I write everything down—what you did and what I felt, I’ll be able to recall each sensation the next time, and I’ll know I’m doing it right.”
“The next time,” he echoed hazily.
“Yes. I tend to remember tactile experiences more clearly if I make a record of it immediately. Then later, I’ll study my notes in anticipation of the next occurrence.” She beamed at him. “I’m quite confident I can achieve an exponential jump in my skill level and understanding.”
“Really?”
“It makes perfect sense on paper.”
“On paper. Good.”
Tapping her pen against the pad, she murmured, half to herself, “Of course, an actual kiss would give me a lot more insight….”
She looked up and studied Brandon closely. He wasn’t liking the look in her eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Think about what?” she asked, her eyelashes fluttering innocently. If she were any other woman, Brandon would know she was playing a dangerous game of seduction. But this was Kelly, who didn’t seem to have a clue about feminine wiles and whose every emotion was evident on her face.
That made it Brandon’s responsibility to set her straight.
“Forget it, Kelly. I am not going to kiss you again.”
“Oh, I know,” she murmured, her moist, glimmering lips pursed in thought.
He lost all memory of what they were talking about. He only knew that right now, his throbbing body parts wanted to put those lips of hers to the best use possible. Maybe after that, he would be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with her.
In the meantime, however, it appeared that he had created a monster.
Three
“I am not going to kiss you again.”
Every time Kelly played the words over in her head, she could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. And since she was incapable of putting a halt to the mental words and images, she wouldn’t be surprised if, any minute now, her head spontaneously combusted.
“So stop thinking about it,” she demanded aloud as she popped a frozen dinner in the microwave oven and slammed the door shut. Now she had four minutes with nothing to do but wait. And think. And remember. She glanced around her comfortable mini-suite with its corner kitchen nook and figured she could use the time to straighten up, but there was nothing out of place. Her room was pristine, as usual.
The Mansion had a world-class housekeeping service and even though Kelly was part of the corporate staff, the housekeepers kindly insisted on stopping by every day to clean and straighten up and make sure everything was perfectly comfortable for her.
So, lucky her, she had plenty of time to dwell on all those damning thoughts that wouldn’t stop circling through her mind.
“The fact that you practically begged your boss to kiss you,” she berated herself, “in the office, in broad daylight, wasn’t bad enough. No, you also had to dangle your panties in his face. So classy. And why couldn’t you keep that silly list of kissing candidates to yourself?”
A small sigh escaped as she slid miserably onto the stool at her kitchen counter. Reaching for the bottle of sparkling water she’d opened, she filled her glass and took a sip. And pondered her next move.
There were a few ways she could remedy the situation. One was to go in tomorrow morning and simply apologize to Brandon. She could explain, somewhat truthfully, that she’d ingested nothing but spa cuisine for ten days straight and it had left her brain incapable of clear thought.
He probably wouldn’t believe that story since everyone in the entire company knew that Kelly’s mind was a steel trap. She could recall the minor details of a telephone conference from three years ago or the specifications of a particular construction job from months back. She had the dates of every birthday, anniversary and important occasion in Brandon’s life memorized, along with phone numbers, credit card accounts and travel preferences for him and every member of his family.
There was no way he’d believe she’d suddenly lost the ability to think straight. So her only other solution was to simply move away, somewhere remote, like Duluth, leaving no forwarding address. She was fairly certain Brandon’s memory of the outlandish panty-dangling incident would fade within months, a year at the most.
“Oh, God.” She leaned her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands. The fact that Brandon had obligingly recommended the black thong really didn’t help matters right now.
The microwave buzzed and she removed her small dinner. She was proud of herself for continuing to eat lighter portions since leaving the spa, but she could feel a serious ice cream binge coming on.
It was because of the kiss.
She’d vowed not to think about it and had been semisuccessful, deliberately switching tracks whenever her train of thought veered too close to the memory of Brandon’s touch, the feel of his mouth on hers. But now, just for a moment or two, she let herself go and thought about it.
She’d never experienced anything like it. It was just one kiss, but she’d felt more passion and excitement in those few seconds than she’d known in the entire two years and seven months she’d dated Roger.
Now, she closed her eyes and gave in to temptation, reliving the exquisite pressure of Brandon’s hands, the warm smoothness of his mouth…
After a moment, her eyes flashed open and she stared down at her rapidly cooling dinner. She’d completely lost her appetite. For dinner, anyway.
“You need to snap out of it, right now,” she reprimanded herself. Brandon Duke was her employer. Her job was important to her. She couldn’t afford to get dreamy-eyed and moony about the man who signed her paychecks. Especially not that man.
Once upon a time, Kelly had envisioned a fairy-tale romance and a happily-ever-after with Roger. He had been her handsome prince and she’d considered herself the luckiest girl in the world. But her prince had turned out to be a frog, and not very charming at all. He’d made promises he never intended to keep and had busted her dream of love and marriage flat. The breakup had not been pretty and Kelly had to admit she hadn’t handled it well.
Before she met Roger, she had been upbeat and open to every possibility. She knew she was smart and reasonably attractive, knew she wanted to fall in love, get married and have children some day. But after Roger dumped her so cruelly, she’d felt broken, cynical, awkward and unsure of herself, especially around men. She had lost her confidence and she couldn’t think about dating for a long time after the breakup.
Ironically, working in the office with Brandon had been the best antidote for her fears and insecurities. He’d made it clear early on that he considered her an indispensible member of his team. He relied on her intelligence and organizational skills to help him run his projects.
Her self-confidence blossomed and grew until she finally decided she was ready to start dating again. She still wanted to fall in love, get married and raise a family some day. And the only way to achieve that goal was to find the right man.
Being her organized self, she began by calling on her friends and coworkers. Then she’d compiled a list of online dating services as well as a number of local organizations she could join and activities in which she could participate in hopes of meeting eligible men.
She was convinced that she was ready to hit the dating scene—until the day she saw Roger’s name on the hotel’s upcoming conference list. Her throat tightened and her stomach churned. She couldn’t catch her breath. The old insecurities rushed back with a vengeance. That’s when she realized she would never be able to love another man until she came to terms with Roger and the damage she’d allowed him to inflict on her life.
