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It had taken her three tries to get her contacts in but at last she had her look as close as possible to the way the stylist had done it last night.
But she was nervous…and babbling, she thought. She always talked to herself but this morning her internal talk bordered on inane.
It all boiled down to one thing. What if everyone saw her and laughed?
Wasn’t that silly? She was a grown woman and shouldn’t care what anyone else thought but she was trying a new look—one that she was not certain of, despite Becca’s reassurances that she looked hot. Kate still felt like fat, frumpy Kate, trying to be someone she wasn’t.
She walked into the lobby, and Stan the security guard looked up. “Good morning…”
“Morning, Stan,” she said, feeling awkward as the older gentleman just kept staring at her.
“You look nice today, Miss Thornton,” Stan said. “Real pretty.”
“Thank you, Stan,” she said, the warmth of a blush on her cheeks.
She scanned her ID card and went to the executive elevator. While she waited, she stared at her reflection in the polished, mirrored wall that surrounded the elevator bank.
The hardest part about this makeover was that she simply didn’t recognize herself.
“Excuse me, miss, but this elevator is for executive personnel only,” Lance said, coming up behind her.
She turned around.
“Kate?”
She waited to see if he’d say anything else, but he didn’t. That hurt a little bit but it was okay. Last night she’d decided to stop trying to please Lance, something that she’d done without much thought for a long time.
“I saw the workers on the Today show this morning. I thought they sounded good.”
“Ally did a good job of prepping them. I’m glad they will all make a full recovery,” Lance said.
The elevator car arrived and he waited for her to enter. She felt his eyes on her back as she moved in front of him. Was the skirt too short for the office?
But when she turned and saw him staring at her legs, she realized that the dress was having its desired effect on him. He was finally seeing her as a woman. Kate felt…weird, actually.
Lance’s attention was the one thing she’d craved and now she had it. But she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“How was your night?” she asked.
“I spent most of it on the phone…something that would have been easier if my assistant had been here.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe your assistant decided it was time to get herself a life.”
“Did you, Kate? Is that what this is all about?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been ignoring myself for too long. I know my timing stunk last night but I had no idea there would be a fire at the main refinery.”
“Who could have known? I don’t mind if you take an afternoon off. In fact, if it would convince you to stay then I think we could work out more time off in your schedule,” Lance said.
The elevator arrived at their floor and once again he gestured for her to go in front of him. As she walked past him, she heard him inhale sharply.
“Are you wearing perfume?” he asked.
She raised both eyebrows at him. “I am.”
He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a very nice scent.”
“Thank you,” she said. Her new look seemed to be bothering Lance. Or maybe he just wasn’t himself this morning. “I can handle the office this morning if you want to go back to the refinery.”
“Thanks, Kate, but I think I am needed here. Especially if you are determined to quit.”
She nodded and entered her office. The voice – mail light on her phone was flashing and she imagined she had a lot of messages waiting for her.
Lance closed the door and brushed past her to go into his office, knocking her off balance in the one-inch heels she was wearing. Lance steadied her with a hand on her waist. She turned her head and her hair brushed his shoulder.
Lance smelled good this morning but then she had always liked the scent of his aftershave. He put his other hand on her shoulder and looked down at her.
“I never realized how pretty your brown eyes are,” he said.
She flushed. “I guess you couldn’t really see them behind my glasses.”
“Or maybe I never looked,” Lance said.
“I think that there wasn’t anything to look at before,” Kate said. Becca had made a good point last night when she’d said that Kate hid behind her clothes and glasses.
“You are always worth a second look, Kate.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t notice before now.”
“Why sorry?”
“Because you are so damned pretty.”
“It’s not me, it’s the haircut and makeup,” she said, uncomfortable with the compliment. She started pointing out all the things her mom had always told her were wrong with her. “My mouth is too big for my face.”
He shook his head, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. “Your mouth is perfect for your face. Very lush and tempting…”
“Tempting? It’s me, Lance. Kate Thornton. You’ve never thought I was tempting before.”
“I must have been blind, Kate, because you are tempting me now,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers. He kissed her.
She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him back. The moment was everything she’d imagined it would be and also completely unexpected. There was no way she could have imagined the way he tasted as his tongue slid over hers. Or the feel of his big hands in her hair. Or the way that one kiss could change her life completely.
Chapter Four
Kate tasted like heaven. She was pure temptation in his arms and he knew he’d never get enough of her. He didn’t want to.
He slid his hands down the sides of her body. How had he missed this curvy body and those big, pretty eyes? Glasses and baggy clothes be damned, he’d have to have been blind to not see what a hottie his secretary was.
He turned to lean on the edge of her desk and pulled her more fully against him. Her breasts were full and felt good against his chest. He angled his head for deeper access to her mouth. He wanted more. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. How had he missed this Kate all these years?
He lifted his head, rubbed his lips over hers and realized her eyes were closed. She looked so innocent in his arms. He remembered that he was a man who’d never learned how to handle the softer things in life. Having a lover was one thing, but this could never go beyond the physical.
As he traced the line of her face with her hair hanging free, he realized how delicate she was. “Should I apologize for that kiss?”
She opened her eyes and looked dazed for a moment but then she recovered. “Do you want to?”
“Not at all. I want to do it again but I don’t think the office is the place for it.”
“I agree.”
His line rang, and Kate smiled at him as she reached over to answer it. “Brody Oil and Gas, Kate speaking.”
Her smile faded. “Please hold.”
“Who is it?”
“Your fiancée. You probably want to take that in your office.”
Lance nodded. He didn’t like that Lexi had interrupted his moment with Kate but he couldn’t ignore her again.
“We’re not done talking,” Lance said.
“Of course not. We have the next two weeks to get through,” Kate said, pulling out her chair and sitting down.
“When I’m done I want to see you in my office,” he said. He wasn’t going to pretend there wasn’t a fierce attraction between them, but he didn’t know how to deal with this new Kate who argued with him and didn’t just do everything the way he wanted her to.
“Sure thing. You better go, you don’t want to keep your fiancée waiting.”
He pivoted on his heel and walked away from her. He went to his desk, sprawling in his leather chair. He reached for the phone and picked up the line where Lexi was holding.
“Hi, there, Lexi.”
“Hi, Lance. I know you must be busy this morning but I wanted to thank you for the invitation to come to your Fourth of July party. I wanted to know what you need from me as your hostess.”
Lance hadn’t thought about Lexi acting as hostess. “My secretary has taken care of all the details.”
“I’ll give her a call and see if I can help with anything. I think if we are going to make our marriage work, I should be involved with Brody Oil and Gas.”
“Why?” Lance asked.
“Because that’s where you spend all of your time,” she said. “I know what it takes to be a good wife. You need a partner who can understand where you are coming from.”
Lance knew that was the truth. But he didn’t want Lexi here. He realized with a shock that when he thought of a partner—a female partner—at Brody Oil and Gas, he thought of Kate.
Why hadn’t he realized that he wanted her before this? It was too late to change the past but he wanted to make things different between them going forward. But Kate didn’t want any part of the company anymore and he was engaged to Lexi. He needed to sort this mess out. Was he going to try to make the match with Lexi work? And where did that leave Kate?
Mitch and Lance had determined that the connection to Cavanaugh was needed. And Lance had always put Brody Oil and Gas before everything else. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and how he needed to act. This was his chance to prove he wasn’t the bastard his father had been.
He needed to be a better man. A man who wouldn’t kiss Kate unless he could make a commitment to her. A man who would honor his commitment to Lexi. A man who was proud of who he was.
“You don’t need to do anything for the picnic, but we can talk when you get here. Kate—my secretary—has given her two-weeks notice. If you are serious about wanting to be more involved, the picnic would be a great time for you to talk to her about the details of our events.”
“I am serious, Lance. I want to make our marriage work.”
There was a sincerity in Lexi’s words that shamed him. He’d asked her to marry him and it was time to step up and honor that.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lance said.
“I’m looking forward to it. Mitch has raved about the Brody Oil and Gas Fourth of July party.”
“It’s the one time of year when we pull out all the stops for our workers. When we were rebuilding the business we decided that if we were going to be successful, we had to make everyone who worked for us feel like they were a part of the Brody Oil and Gas family.”
“If your success is any indication, I’d say you’ve achieved that.”
But at what cost? Mitch was determined and a workaholic just like Lance was. And this marriage wasn’t real—it was purely business. Lexi was just another step in their plan to be successful. Was that any way to go through life, especially when he had a woman like Kate on his hands? What was he doing?
Kate couldn’t believe she’d lost her head and let Lance kiss her. It was wonderful…incredible, really, but so stupid. She was here to get over him. She was supposed to be using these two weeks to put him in her past.
She wanted to go out looking her best and she supposed she could count herself successful on that item. Lance hadn’t even recognized her.
The sad part about that was she hadn’t done anything except wear clothes that fit her. What a difference new clothes made. She would never have believed it. Mainly because her mother had been the one to say clothes made the man, and that woman had been wrong about so many things.
She glanced down at the phone and saw that Lance was still on the line with Lexi Cavanaugh. She knew next to nothing about the woman. But at the end of the day, Kate felt she’d owe Lexi a word of thanks.
If it hadn’t been for that woman’s engagement to Lance, Kate might have stayed stuck in her frumpy rut until she died an old lady spinster.
A wolf-whistle brought her head up as Marcus Wall walked into the office. He was one of the petroleum geologists who worked for them, one of the men who helped decide where Brody Oil and Gas drilled and he was an expert at picking the right location for their wells. “Dang, Kate, you look good today.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“I never noticed how big your eyes were before,” he said, coming into her office and leaning on her desk. He must have come into the office at least a hundred times before and he’d never sat close or really even talked to her.
She wanted to be flattered but instead she was uncomfortable. She didn’t want a lot of male attention. She had wanted one male’s attention, and now that she had it she didn’t want to let it go.
That was her problem. Lance had moved forward and she was supposed to be, too, but if her reaction to Marcus’s friendly flirting was any indication, her plan was a failure. She only had eyes for Lance.
“Kate?”
“Hmm?”
He shook his head. “Is there a man behind this change?”
“How’d you guess?”
He shrugged. “I know women.”
