Purchased For Pleasure

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‘I remember plenty.’

He tipped up her chin, stroking her cheek with his thumb in the barest of touches as she stared, trapped beneath his scrutinising gaze, his thumb doing crazy things to her insides as it grazed her skin slowly, repeatedly.

‘Yeah, well, I do too.’

She leaned back, breaking the tenuous contact that was wreaking havoc with her senses. ‘But that’s all they are, just memories.’

His eyes narrowed to slivers of electrifying blue. ‘Yeah, but they were good. Damn good. And you know it.’

She glared, the jackhammering in her head intensifying as she tried to put words together in a coherent fashion, her brain befuddled by his closeness, his touch.

‘All I know is I’ve got a lot of work to do and sitting here talking about ancient history is wasting my time.’

Thankfully, his thumb had stopped stroking her cheek. On the downside, he re-established contact by trailing his index finger along her jaw-line, setting her nerve-endings alight.

‘What’s with the attitude? You said we’d talk in the morning. Aren’t you glad to see me?’

She pulled away from his blazing touch. ‘We’ll talk later. I haven’t got time for this now.’

He grinned, sending her pulse rate into overdrive. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’

‘About the memories, the attitude or being happy to see you?’

There was no way she would answer any of his questions. She’d made a fool of herself last night. Questions only led to answers and they led directly to trouble.

‘How about all of the above?’

‘Look, I’d love to chat but I’ve got important deadlines to meet.’

She tried to stare him down. It had been a game with them, a battle of wills to see who would look away first. She’d always lost but not today.

He sat back and folded his arms, looking way too cocky, the corners of his mouth curving into a tempting smile.

‘Surely Lois Lane can take a break for a few minutes?’

‘Nope, sorry, no can do. I’m busy.’

She picked up a few papers and rattled them for good measure, needing to look away from his intense stare and that sexy smile. He still had the power to reduce her to a blathering mess with just one look—not that she’d let him know that.

‘Aren’t you the least bit curious?’

‘About?’

‘Why I’m here. Where I’ve been. What I’ve been doing. You must be otherwise you wouldn’t have paid a small fortune to have me last night.’

Sighing, she pushed away from the desk, grateful to establish some distance between them. ‘You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?’

His smile couldn’t get any smugger if he tried. ‘Not on your life.’

Her heart clenched at the seductive glint in his eyes, the same twinkle that had prompted her to do all sorts of crazy things six years earlier.

He’d always had this power over her, teasing her, infuriating her, making her fall in love when it was the last thing she’d expected.

Unfortunately, it looked as if he still held that same power to make her contemplate all sorts of nutty things, like make her bid for him when the last thing she wanted was to have him trailing after her for a week.

‘Okay, you win. Let’s get this sorted now so I can get back to work. You really can’t be serious about wanting to go through with this odd-jobs stuff?’

He leaned forward, the depth of his blue eyes leaving her breathless as his voice dropped an octave lower. ‘Why not? It’ll be fun.’

She didn’t have time for fun. Maybe the girls were right, she was stuck in her ways and a workaholic: uptight, frustrated and alone.

Logically, she should never have attended the auction if she hadn’t wanted a confrontation with Ty and now that she’d had it, he’d kissed her silly and resurrected memories better left forgotten, she needed to get rid of him once and for all.

‘That may well be,’ she said, aiming for cool and botching it horribly when heat surged into her cheeks at his triumphant expression, ‘but I don’t think it’s a good idea.’

‘I do.’

He slid off her desk and sauntered towards the door, leaving her with a great view of the sexy butt she’d grabbed on numerous lucky occasions, turning to face her before he left. ‘It’s going to be great catching up. Just like old times.’

Kate stiffened.

Just like old times.

Images of fun-filled days at the beach and long, hot, sultry Californian nights spent making love on top of twisted sheets sprang to mind and she wondered if time had enhanced her memories or if it really had been that good between her and Ty.

‘Katie?’

‘My answer is no, Ty.’

She blinked several times, hoping he couldn’t read her thoughts as he used to.

‘I still want you too.’

With that he sauntered out the door, leaving her open-mouthed before she snapped her jaw shut, wishing she’d had the final word.

The guy was infuriating.

The guy was cocky.

The guy was right.

She did want him, with every cell in her oversensitised body, and the feeling was mutual?

Oh, boy.

‘You’re crazy,’ she muttered, sinking into her chair and picking up the overworked stress ball on her desk and squeezing as if her life depended on it. It didn’t help. The rubber ball looked a bit like her, worn out, frayed around the edges, with all the life crushed out of it.

She threw the ball into the bin and leaped to her feet. If she rushed after Ty she just might make it. He hadn’t accepted her refusal and she needed to ram home her point that the last thing she wanted to do was spend the next week with him.

However, as she yanked open the door she ran straight into her boss.

‘Whoa. Where’s the fire?’

Henry Kerr, Femme’s Chief Editor, settled her back on her feet. He always managed to catch her at a bad time. In fact, she was convinced he had radar for trouble and it was tuned in to her frequency.

‘Sorry. In a hurry.’

He quirked an eyebrow. ‘So I see. Got a minute?’

She knew by the serious look on his face that it wasn’t a question, it was an order. So much for chasing after Ty.

‘Sure. What’s up?’

He smiled and she knew she was in trouble. Her boss never smiled unless she’d done something wrong. ‘Come into my office and I’ll let you in on a secret.’

She followed him, slouching along in the same way she usually followed the dentist into his rooms, though she hoped her meeting with Henry didn’t involve anything as difficult or painful as pulling teeth. The memory of her first and last tooth removed as a nine-year-old still rankled.

Henry closed the door and gestured towards a chair. ‘Have a seat and we’ll get down to business.’

Here it comes, the injection and the drill.

Henry sat down behind his desk and rested his folded hands on his paunch. ‘Good work last night, Kate. Real good.’

Huh?

She smiled and nodded, not having the faintest idea what he was talking about.

‘Buying that Navy guy was a stroke of genius on your part. Unbelievable. Pure gold.’

Okay, now she knew something was up. Her boss was impressed with the stupidest thing she’d done in a long time?

Thankfully, she didn’t have to reply as Henry continued, ‘The publicity in the papers today is worth a mint on its own, but have you seen the pictures we’ve got? Amazing. Just what the magazine needs. A real-life story about one of its own. Good one, Kate.’

She didn’t like the sound of this. Clasping her hands in her lap, she counted to ten, slowly. ‘I’m an editor, not a news story.’

He chuckled, a deep belly laugh that caused his three chins to wobble in succession. ‘That’s where you’re wrong. Our phones haven’t stopped ringing all morning. All the reporters want to talk to our newest star and I’ve told them to back off. They can read all about it in the upcoming issue of Femme. Like I said, pure gold.’