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She also liked working for Kendall Communications. The company was headed in exciting new directions and she enjoyed being a part of the growth. Jolie loved the fast-paced environment of managing the CEO’s schedule. She’d made the necessary sacrifices to get where she was, going to school at night, paying her own way through business school and then crafting the winning résumé that landed her with Devin as his executive assistant.
If she left Kendall Communications, where would she go to work? And if word got out that she was fired for sleeping with the boss, who would hire her?
What a mess.
Ten laps later, she checked the clock over the microwave. One hour before she should be getting up, anyway. She might as well get ready for work and start early. Maybe she could get the email, snail mail and the day’s in-box in order before Devin walked into the office.
If their changed relationship didn’t work out, she’d have to move on. She wondered if Devin would give her a recommendation and almost laughed at how it might read. “Very organized, efficient office manager and great in bed.”
God, how was she going to face him this morning?
She strode into the bathroom, stripped and climbed into the shower.
Water sluiced over her body, warm and wet, like she’d been when he’d thrust into her. She rubbed soap over her skin, her hands sinking low to the juncture of her thighs, that sore and achy place that …
Argh! Why couldn’t she block it from her mind? She decreased the flow of warm water until what came out of the nozzle was bone-jarringly cold. By the time she climbed from the tub, her skin had shriveled into a landscape of goose bumps.
Jolie dug through her closet for her most boring and nondescript suit. It didn’t take long for her to find one. They were all boring and nondescript. Soft gray or navy blue, with a classic design that would never go out of fashion or truly be considered fashionable for that matter.
She dug deeper, looking for anything different and came up empty. Why would she care to look better, anyway? Devin wasn’t interested in what she wore, and the sooner they got back to business as usual, the better.
Jolie had worked hard to become the perfect executive assistant. She was all about cool, quiet efficiency. Then why were her nerves frayed and her hands shaking as she slipped her skirt up over her hips? The same hips Devin had slid his hands over while undressing her.…
She ran a brush through her hair and started to pull it back into the usual elegant chignon she wore, but her hands froze as she peered at herself in the mirror.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, and she looked markedly different. At the last moment, she decided to leave her hair hanging down around her shoulders.
Devin had noticed her hair. He’d said she looked softer, more personable.
And why should she let that influence the way she wore her hair? With quick, skillful twists, she had her hair up and ready for another day at the office. Looking normal was half the battle when her insides were turning cartwheels.
Ready an hour early, Jolie rationalized that she could get a lot done while no one was there to interrupt. In truth, she didn’t want to run the gauntlet of company staff on her way to the executive suite. She could slip in, hang low and weather this storm.
Jolie smoothed her skirt, breathed in deeply and, as she let the air out of her lungs, opened her front door. As usual, her morning paper lay against the steps, rolled with a rubber band around it. She tucked it beneath her arm and headed for work.
Cool, calm, collected. She could do this.
LOUD BANGING WOKE DEVIN. He blinked his eyes open and stared at the triangle of light shining through the crack in the curtains. It took a full ten seconds to dawn on him that it was morning.
Morning. Not a weekend morning, either. Sweet Jesus, he must have actually slept. His gaze shot to the alarm clock on his nightstand and he leaped out of bed. It was well past time to get up. He’d be late for work by at least an hour.
The banging started again and he realized someone was knocking at the door to his condo. “Hold on, I’m coming,” he yelled, pulling on the trousers he’d worn the night before and zipping as he strode through the living room.
The banging increased in intensity until Devin grabbed the door handle and flung it open. “Where’s the fire?”
Ash slapped something at his chest and brushed past him into the condo. “Shut the door.”
Devin shook his head. “Good morning to you, too.”
“Can the sarcasm. We have a problem.”
“We?”
“Not really we. You.”
“Me?” Devin shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the last remnants of sleep.
Ash kept walking until he reached the kitchen where he rifled through the cabinets, slamming them one at a time. “Where’s your damned coffee? I can’t function without coffee.”
“Next to the coffeemaker.” Devin followed, his eyebrows dipping downward. “What are you talking about?”
Ash sprinkled coffee grains into the filter and poured water into the well. “I take it you haven’t seen the newspaper this morning?”
Devin glanced down at the front page Ash had shoved at him. Jolie’s surprised face stared back at him, her hands poised at the bottom of her open zipper, the smooth flesh of her belly clearly visible to the camera. His breath caught in his chest as if he’d been sucker punched. “What the hell?”
“Read the caption.” Ash switched the coffeemaker on and crossed his arms over his chest. “It gets better.”
Sex Kitten Buttons Up After Leaving Kendall Communications CEO. Devin swore and would have ripped the paper to shreds, but Ash stopped him.
“Keep reading.” He pointed to the second paragraph. “Apparently this guy was there when Jolie arrived and waited until she left. He even noted that she was more disheveled when she left.” Ash pointed to the paragraph and read aloud, “‘Devin Kendall seeks sensual stress relief while the Christmas Eve Murders case smolders. What role did he play in the demise of his parents and what does the CEO really do behind closed doors in his office? Board members have a right to know.’”
Devin shoved a hand through his hair. “Damn.” Jolie would be devastated. She prided herself on her professionalism.
“I can’t believe you weren’t more circumspect. Especially with the ongoing murder investigation. You had to know the reporters would be staking us out even more than usual.”
Devin shoved a hand through his hair. “I know, I know.”
“Then why?”
“I don’t know,” Devin shouted, his head beginning to pound. He slammed the paper on the counter and paced barefoot across the length of the kitchen. “Where is Jolie now?”
“She’s at work. She called me when you didn’t show up on time.”
“Why didn’t she call me?” Devin muttered. “I can’t believe I overslept. I’ll be ready to go in five minutes and we’ll get this mess straightened out.” He headed for the bedroom.
“I don’t see how. The damage is done.”
“I’ll fix it, I tell you.” He had to. Jolie would not be happy about being splashed across the newspaper. The paparazzi would make something sordid out of what had been … well, the best sex he’d had in forever.
Hell, it had been more than that, but right now Devin couldn’t think past Jolie’s reaction to the news. He had to get to her quickly. Together they’d come up with a solution that would keep Kendall Communications from being dragged through the mud.
God, he’d been through enough media trashing to know where this was headed. As one of the most eligible bachelors in St. Louis and the CEO of Kendall Communications, the news reporters jumped at any chance to rake him over the coals.
The last woman he’d had a relationship with had given the media months of fodder. They’d hounded the poor woman, calling her every tawdry name in the book until she’d been forced to leave St. Louis altogether.
Devin’s jaw hardened. With the murder investigation reopened, he couldn’t afford to let the media drag the Kendalls or Jolie down into the gutter.
More importantly, they’d have to do something to keep Jolie from being labeled a gold digger, a kept woman or worse. She deserved better. She hadn’t come on to him, he’d come on to her.
After four minutes in the shower beneath the icy-cold spray, Devin had come up with a plan. His family might not like the suddenness of his announcement, but he had to do it to avoid the media circus an untimely affair would generate.
Ash followed him through the streets of St. Louis in his own car, arriving seconds later as he parked in one of the spaces reserved for executive staff.
They rode the elevator together in silence, up to the twenty-fourth floor.
Heads turned as they walked by office doors where people milled around in the aisles. Devin glared at anyone who dared to speak to him or whisper as he passed.
When he reached his suite of offices, he breezed past Jolie, who didn’t even look at him, or attempt to say good morning as was the usual greeting she’d dished out every day for the past six years.
Yeah, Devin had really screwed things up royally this time. But he’d fix it. He had a plan.
When he reached his office, he turned and barked, “Jolie! In here.” Okay, so that wasn’t exactly how he’d planned to start this conversation, but he was so mad at himself he couldn’t take the edge off his anger enough to be civil.
Jolie grabbed a steno pad and ducked around him into his office, her cheeks flaming a bright pink.
Staff foolish enough to be standing within sight were the recipients of Devin’s harshest glare. “There are a hundred people who want your jobs. I suggest you get to work.” With that he started to slam his door, but Ash got in his way.
“Move it or lose it,” Devin threatened.
“The entire family has a stake in this.”
“Not now. This is between me and Jolie.” If Devin could have breathed fire onto his brother, he would have.
Ash saw it and relented. “Make it quick, we have to conduct some serious damage control. I’m going to get Uncle Craig and Natalie.”
Devin closed the door in his brother’s face and turned to Jolie. His chest tightened as he took in her prim and proper appearance. No one would ever look at her like this again. Especially him. All he could picture was her lying naked across his bed.
The public would forever see the woman on the front page, whose hair had curled around her face and whose lips looked swollen from a marathon of kissing. What had she done to deserve the wrong kind of attention?
She’d been kind to him. That’s what. And he’d taken advantage of her.
“If this is about the newspaper, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that photographer was there when I left last night. I didn’t even think about it. I was in a hurry to—”
Devin raised his hand to stop her ramble. Jolie never rambled. She chose her words with care. Damn, she’d been more disturbed than he’d thought by what had happened. “This isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you for what happened. In fact, all the blame goes to me.”
She shook her head, her mouth forming her next argument.
“Let me finish.” Devin walked across to her and gripped her shoulders. “I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you when you’d been good enough to bring me food.” His voice sounded formal, stiff and so different from what he wanted to sound like for the next thing he had to say. “I should never have kissed you.” And dear God, he wanted to kiss her again. Another mistake getting this close to her after last night.
She stared up at him, her eyes limpid pools of green. “I shouldn’t have kissed you back.” She swayed toward him, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
Ah, hell, he knew where this was going and was powerless to stop himself. “I can fix this.…” His head dipped and he claimed her lips, his own slanting down over hers, crushing her to him.
His fingers slid up the back of her neck into the smooth twist, loosening the pins until the long tresses fell down around her shoulders.
She didn’t seem to notice, her tongue slipping through his teeth to stroke his. Her hands climbed his chest and circled behind his neck, pulling him closer.
A knock on the door brought Devin back to earth with a jolt. “Just a minute.” He pushed her to arm’s length and sucked in a breath, trying to focus on what he had to say next, not on how much he wanted to kiss her again. “What’s done is done. What I don’t want to happen is for the media to drag the Kendall family down during this murder investigation. Nor do I want them to turn on you and ruin your reputation.”
Jolie raised shaking hands to her hair, pushing it back behind her ears. “I understand. Would it be better if I quit? I could formally announce my resignation if that would help.”
“No.” He said the one little word with more emphasis than he’d intended. The thought of losing a wonderful executive assistant because of his indiscretion made him want to hit someone. Himself, if he could. “I have an entirely different proposal for you.”
She tipped her head, eyebrows dipping low on her pale forehead. “Proposal?”
His lips quirked up on the edges, the irony of his word choice striking him as unfortunately funny. “Since I dragged you into our family troubles, the least I can do is deflect the drama from last night’s … assignation.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“By announcing our engagement.”
Chapter Four
Jolie staggered backward, pulling free of his grasp, her head spinning. When the backs of her knees hit the wing-backed chair, she sat down hard, a hand rising to her cheek. She couldn’t breathe, her heart having stopped at Devin’s words. “Engagement?” Had her every dream just come true?
“It’s the only way we can salvage the situation and deflect the media inquisition.” He turned and paced the floor. “It will be a fake engagement, of course. I won’t expect you to go through with the marriage.”
Jolie’s gut roiled as if she’d been punched hard. Blood rushed back into her face and her heart surged into gear. She clutched her hands together in her lap, her gaze on her fingers, not Devin, as she forced her disappointment aside. Why had she even dared to believe a man like Devin would be interested in marrying a girl like herself? Fool.
They were worlds apart. While Devin dined on caviar and two-hundred-dollar steaks, she cooked her own meals and ate leftovers. Not that she didn’t make good money as the CEO’s assistant, she just didn’t have the kind of income to throw away on extravagance.
Devin faced her directly. “Fake only to you and me. The rest of the family must believe it’s true in order to convince the paparazzi.”
“Don’t you think they deserve to know the truth?” Jolie asked, glad his focus was on his family and not her. It gave her time to think through her response.
“They will be safer with the lie. That way only the two of us will have to keep up the pretense, limiting the number of people who could slip, blowing our story. It keeps the rest of the family from worrying about making the wrong move or saying the wrong thing.”
Jolie stood. “And if I’m not willing to participate in this lie?”
“Why wouldn’t you? It’s to protect you from a media nightmare and Kendall Communications from a scandal. We keep the focus on something exciting, like a wedding. And not that our family is being investigated regarding the murders. That way, we can continue our own investigation without being too obvious.”
She swallowed hard, a wad of tears clogging her throat. Oh, dear God, don’t let her cry in front of him. Devin hated when women cried. She turned her back to him. “I think it would be best if I quit.” How could she see Devin day in and day out and not fall more hopelessly in love? Especially after the previous night’s indiscretions?
The carpeted floor muted Devin’s approach, but every nerve in Jolie’s body knew he’d closed the distance between them. When his hands descended on her shoulders, she sucked in a breath and held it.
Devin turned her to face him. “The media will crucify you and me if you quit now. I don’t care about me, but I don’t want you hurt because of my mistake.” He pulled her into his arms.
Mistake. Jolie held herself stiff. What they’d done last night was a mistake to him. She let the air out of her lungs and steeled her voice not to shake, as she responded, “I’m tough, I won’t break. Besides, how can we work together now that we’ve done … what we’ve done?” The mistake.
“I could promise not to touch you again, but I hate breaking promises.” He tipped her chin up with his thumb. “Do it for me. Be my fiancée. When the hoopla dies down we can break the engagement and everything can go back to normal.” His blue-eyed gaze bored into hers. His thick brown hair fell down over his forehead as though he hadn’t taken the time to tame it that morning, making him appear more vulnerable.
When he looked at her like that, how could she resist? Damn, she was a mess. “Okay, I’ll do it. But when this ordeal is over, we have to face reality.”
“We will. Later.” His lips tipped upward at the corner. “Ash is gathering the family. I wish Thad was here, but that can’t be helped. We can announce our engagement to them now to quell their uproar at the morning news.”
Jolie nodded and forced herself to smile. “I guess we’re engaged. Sort of.” Her laugh sounded stiff, even to her own ears. “Somehow, I pictured my first proposal differently.” She shrugged, maintaining her pretense of nonchalance when what she really wanted was to find a quiet, dark closet to hide in until her insides quit trembling. She could just imagine her reaction had it been a real engagement.
A long silence stretched between them, with Devin’s hands still resting on her arms.
