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“As I said, she’s incredibly shy. She just wants to make music. So even though the studio wants a blowout event, we...you still need to make it feel intimate, so that our star doesn’t freak out.”
Mia nodded.
“Venue and setting are going to be crucial to make all parties concerned happy.”
“Do you have a date in mind?”
“Three weeks.”
Mia’s eyes widened.
He shrugged. “My hands are tied on that one.” He waited a beat. “You still want to do it?”
“Sure. I’ll make it happen. No problem.”
“Great. I’ll have Brenda put all the information together for you and have it sent to your office.”
She needed to get inside his office. “Hmm. I can pick it up. I’d like to see where you work.”
He grinned. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Tomorrow.”
“A lady who doesn’t waste time.”
“As you said, no time like the present.”
He put his feet on the floor and stood up. “Let me show you the rest of the house.” He extended his hand to help her up.
“How long have you had this place?” she asked as he guided her with a hand at the small of her back to the kitchen.
“I was having it built when we were together. It was going to be my big surprise.”
What! Her stomach did a somersault. He’d never said a word.
Michael turned on the light and the magnificent kitchen was suffused in soft track lighting. Racks of stainless-steel pots hung from the ceiling. And in sharp contrast to the modern feel of the living room, the kitchen was pure country. Glass-paneled French doors led to the back and would undoubtedly provide great lighting. Oak covered the floors and they gleamed. Freestanding hutches and corner cupboards provided plenty of storage space. A huge oak island sat in the center of the enormous kitchen and this is where the modern came in. Somehow, Michael had managed to have a wok, a grill and running water built into the island. A table for four was placed near the French doors and the open-faced cabinetry exhibited a chef’s dream of condiments, pastas and spices. Another extraordinary touch was the restaurant-size refrigerator/freezer and built-in range. The meals she could fix in this space, she thought.
“I had you in mind when I had the kitchen done,” he said softly, stepping up behind her.
She spun toward him, nearly colliding with him he was so close. She took a step back and drew in a sharp breath.
He angled his head to the side. “Maybe you’d like to come up one weekend and try out some of the stuff.”
Mia swallowed over the knot in her throat. She turned away. “What about the rest of the house?” she said instead of responding to his offer.
“This way.” He led her to the connecting room, which was the formal dining room. Then onto a small home theater that sat at least fifteen.
He opened another door. “I work in here whenever I come up for the weekend.”
The room had two computers, shelves of books, a fax, a phone and what appeared to be a scanner.
“How often is that?”
He closed the door. “At least twice a month.”
She made a mental note. “I see you still keep your computers on even when you’re not using them.”
“Old habits, I guess. Back here are the two guest rooms, and baths.” He flung open two doors that were side by side. “This is the master bedroom.” He opened the door.
It was totally Michael. Rich, lush, completely masculine with bold browns and bronzes, a king-size bed and a television that was almost as big. She glanced across the room and was stunned to see a framed photograph of the two of them on the dresser.
She remembered the day they’d taken it. It was the week before Christmas and the first snow had fallen. Michael had gotten tickets to see The Nutcracker at Radio City Music Hall. When they came out, a photographer who was hawking his wares offered to take their picture. She was staring up into his eyes with a bold smile and his look showed total adoration.
“We were happy,” he said gently.
She flinched. It was as if he’d read her mind. “Michael...”
“I know, I know...I’m sorry.” He held up his hands in supplication.
“I probably should be going.”
He nodded. “I’ll get Carl to bring the car around.”
They went back up front. She needed just a few minutes alone. She picked up her purse. “Uh, I’m going to use the restroom.”
“Sure. Straight back, left then right.”
She left him in the living room and found his office. Listening for any footsteps, she quickly went inside, opened her purse and took out a CD. She silently prayed that he was actually logged on so that she wouldn’t be stymied by a password.
She hit the Enter key and the desktop opened. She released a sigh of relief, put in the CD and listened to it whirr while it planted a tracking program onto the hard drive. The CD popped out. She tucked it in her purse, hurried out then headed back up front.
Michael looked up when she entered the room. “Carl is out front. He’ll take you home.” He walked her to the door.
At the door he asked, “Are you sure you want to work on this project? We’ll have to see a lot of each other.”
She looked directly at him. “I’m a big girl, Michael. And this is business. Right?”
He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek. “Get home safely, Mia,” he said, avoiding her question.
She looked at him for a moment before turning away and walking toward the waiting car.
It’s business. I love Steven. It’s business. I love Steven. She repeated that mantra all the way back to the city.
Chapter 6
By the time Mia turned the key in the lock of her front door, it was nearly eleven. She’d wracked her brains trying to come up with some plausible explanation as to where she could have been until now. Nothing sounded remotely legitimate.
When she stepped in, she fully expected Steven to be sitting on the couch waiting for her. He wasn’t.
She walked through the front of the condo to the bedroom in the back. Even in the moonlight she could tell that the room was empty. She switched on the light and looked around.
The bed was still made. Absently, she put her purse down on top of the dresser and walked to the bathroom. Empty. Where was Steven?
She made an about-face, returned to the front of the apartment and went into the kitchen. That’s when she saw the note on the fridge.
She snatched it down and read it.
Hey, babe, decided at the last minute to have a boys’ night out. Hanging with Blake, Nick and Bernard. We’re celebrating one of the guys on the job’s birthday. Tried your cell. Went straight to voice mail. Don’t wait up. Luv ya.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or pissed off. She took the note and tossed it in the trash. On the one hand, she didn’t have to explain her own late night. On the other, if she’d known that Steven would be late, she might have stayed longer. What did that mean?
She frowned, thinking of the note again...went straight to voice mail. Ohhh, of course. She’d turned her phone off in the event that Steven did call while she was with Michael. That way she wouldn’t have been caught in the uncomfortable position of talking to her current lover while her ex-lover listened to every word.
Well, at least this time she was off the explanation hook.
This time.
Mia retrieved her cell phone from her purse on the hall table and turned it back on. Sure enough, there were three missed calls. She dialed into her voice-mail service and listened.
The first message was from Steven, pretty much saying what the note did. The second call was from Danielle, checking in with her, and the third was from Ashley.
“I hope everything went okay. If you want to talk tomorrow, I’m here.”
She hit the delete code and pressed the phone to her chest.
Did it go okay? The minute she saw Michael, she’d lost control of her senses. She’d let him kiss her and she’d kissed him back. And what about her feelings when she realized that Steven wasn’t home and that if she had known he was going to be late she would have stayed longer?
Mia walked into the bedroom. Did all that equal okay? She caught a glimpse of herself in the oval mirror above the dresser. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she could see Scarlet Woman plastered across her forehead. At the very least Guilty.
She stepped out of her shoes and put them in the rack in the closet.
She’d betrayed Steven. She’d betrayed their relationship. She massaged her temples. How could she have been so weak?
The sensation of that kiss snuck up on her and a sudden heat suffused her body.
Vigorously she shook her head. It was the first and the last time, she vowed. She had a job to do. Michael Burke was an assignment, and that was it. She was in love with Steven. And she could not allow herself to forget that ever again. No matter what.
With that determination at the forefront of her mind, she went to the closet, took out the shoe boxes and opened the panel where she kept her kit. Quickly she removed it.
Meticulously inventorying the contents, she removed the eye-shadow case, the pressed-powder compact and a tube of mascara. She would need all these items when she met Michael at his office. The eye shadow concealed a minirecording disk that could stick to any surface. The compact doubled as a camera, and the mascara was actually a memory stick that she would use to download files from his computer—if the opportunity presented itself. She put all these items in her tote bag.
Before Steven came home, she wanted to sync her PDA with Michael’s computer. Although he didn’t go to the Sag Harbor house often, he did mention that he used that computer for work. It was worth a shot.
Mia turned on her PDA and scrolled to the Find Me program that would allow her to look inside Michael’s computer, see his files and actually open them remotely. She keyed in the access code and after several moments the screen read that she was connected.
Her heart thumped in concert with the opening of the front door. Her head jerked up from the information in front of her.
“Mia!”
She took a quick look around to be sure she hadn’t left anything out, then turned the PDA off and dropped it in her tote. She darted into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“Hey, babe,” he called out over the rush of water. “Sorry I’m so late.”
Mia peeled off her clothes, tossed them in a pile on the floor and ducked into the shower.
The bathroom door inched open and Steven stuck his head in. “Hey, sweetie, mind some company?”
Mia pulled the shower curtain partially back and smiled in greeting. “Love some.”
* * *
Later that night, as Mia lay curled in Steven’s embrace and their racing hearts had settled, she thought with alarm that it was the very first time that Steven had not satisfied her.
Chapter 7
Mia was totally distracted at work the following day and as hard as she tried she couldn’t concentrate on the monthly financial report. The numbers seemed to jump all over the page just to torment her.
Frustrated, she pushed the pages aside and stared blankly at the screen saver on her computer. She glanced up at the clock above her office door.
Still two hours before she was due to be at Michael’s office. Maybe she’d get lucky and not have to see him. But that, of course, would defeat the whole purpose of her going. She needed access to his office, his phone and his computer.
But what troubled her most was what had happened—or had not happened—last night between her and Steven. Not to mention this morning. She and Steven always had sex in the morning, and at the very least a stimulating touching and kissing session as they prepared for their day, leading to heightened anticipation at night.
But this morning she wasn’t in her usual playful, teasing mood, and although Steven had given her several long, lingering kisses, he didn’t pursue anything further.
Had he realized that she hadn’t climaxed last night? Did it bother him? Did he care? And then an awful thought leaped into her mind. Was he seeing someone else?
The sharp knock on her door jerked some sense into her. It was her own guilty conscience, she knew, that had her conjuring up dalliances about Steven. She shook her head.
“Come in.”
Ashley stepped through the doorway. “I worked out a preliminary plan for the boutique. If you want to take a look at it, I put it in New Projects on the shared drive.”
“Thanks.” She forced a smile but couldn’t look Ashley in the eye. She’d done everything short of taking in dirty laundry from a stranger to keep herself busy so that Ashley wouldn’t ask her about last night. For the better part of the morning, she’d been able to avoid her. Until now.
“I’ll, um, look at it, but I’m sure it’s fine.” She studied the first line of a memo she held in front of her as if it could block out reality and what she was certain was Ashley’s inquiring gaze.
“Look, I want you to know that it’s okay to talk to me and it’s okay to look at me. If you don’t want to discuss last night or our conversation yesterday—ever—it’s fine. Seriously.” She took a step closer. “I won’t judge you. I thought I was your friend. And I value the confidence you put in me.” She drew in a breath and stood straighter. “That’s my spiel for today.”
“I’m meeting him at his office today,” she blurted out and looked up at Ashley with something akin to fear in her eyes.
“Why?” she softly asked.
Mia curled her fingers into fists on her desk. “I have to.” She struggled with the words, the burning in her stomach.
Ashley frowned in confusion. “You. Mia Turner never had to do anything, especially something that she is obviously having an issue with.” She tentatively sat down, reached across the desk and put all the phone lines on hold. She turned to Mia. “If you want to talk, I’m listening. And there is no one to disturb us.” She waited.
Dozens of thoughts raced through Mia’s mind. Last night, seeing Michael again, the kiss, the sex with Steven, her guilt, her assignment, the Cartel, her oath. They all ran together until her head began to pound and panic seized her. Her life and emotions were suddenly out of control and she didn’t know how to handle it.
