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“Anna.” His voice was sharp, demanding.
She jerked up, pulling the sheet over whatever she wore. “What do you want?”
He heard the tremor in her voice. Was that because she knew he’d figured out her game?
“Please, Parker, I’m sorry if I took things too far.”
Disgust roiled through him. Did she really think he’d come in here and force her into having sex?
The sheet fell from her trembling hands, the moonlight revealing that she wore something tiny and strappy, like a tank T-shirt. Something easily lifted and removed.
Against everything he called control, his body responded. He was, after all, a man.
But not a stupid man. There was nothing to be gained by accusing her like this. He may have just leaped to one wild conclusion.
Swallowing hard, he gripped the doorknob. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
In the dim light, he could see that she very much doubted that was the truth. “I’m fine.” She brushed a hair off her face. “Are you?”
The fact that she asked hit him somewhere deep, somewhere he’d rather not be hit by a woman he no longer trusted.
“Yeah. Good night.” He closed the door and stared at it for a long minute.
He was probably right, and she was the spy. And if she was, then two could play this game. Now that he knew who his spy was, it was just a matter of feeding her misinformation. And if she really wanted to do her job for the Jefferies brothers well, she would probably have to get close to the CEO of Garrison, Inc.
Very close.
Parker Garrison may have been played for a fool by her this evening. But it wouldn’t happen again. Next time, he’d get everything he wanted. Everything.
And he wanted Anna. If he could crush Jordan and Emilio Jefferies in the process, all the better. But he could never let her know that he’d figured her out. In fact, the first thing he needed to do was let her wonder where she stood.
Anna Cross would find out the hard way not to play chess with a master.
Somehow, Anna made it through to Monday morning, but the magic of Saturday night seemed as far away as London when she tucked her handbag into her desk drawer and turned on the computer for the day.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today.” The receptionist appeared from the tiny galley kitchen that the Garrison executives shared, an empty coffeepot in hand.
“Of course I’m here,” Anna said.
“Thought you might make a week of it across the pond.” Sheila added a British accent to the last three words, and tempered the tease with a wink. “There were a few early calls this morning. The editor from Luxury Travel magazine called about the layout he’s doing.”
“Okay,” Anna said, jotting a note. “Anything else?”
“The secretary at the charter-jet company called this morning to make sure Mr. Garrison and Ms. Cross had a pleasurable trip.” Her voice was rich with implication and accusation. “So. Did you?”
“You can let them know that it was fine, thank you.”
“You’re holding out on me.” Sheila laughed lightly. “Come on, spill the beans. Is he as demanding in bed as he is in the office?”
Anna managed a very disgusted glare, even though the memory of the moment he’d walked into her bedroom was still vivid. He could have demanded, and she might not have fought him. But he hadn’t. And she’d barely slept once he’d backed out of the door, leaving her absolutely aching for more.
“Sorry to disappoint, Sheila. It was all business.” Unfortunately. Fortunately. Oh, God, she was so confused.
“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?” She beckoned Anna with the coffeepot and a very sympathetic smile. “Come here while I brew the mud. You look like you could use a friend.”
Was it that obvious? Parker’s distant coolness on the flight home had been a double-edged sword. It cut her because he was so icy, but it relieved her to know she could go back to work and a few steamy kisses had caused no real harm.
Obviously, he’d had a chance to think over the recriminations of an office affair and had decided she was too good an assistant to lose.
Or maybe he didn’t want her.
The thought made her stomach squeeze with a sense of disappointment she had no right to feel. But he’d left her so confused. He’d hardly said six words to her on the flight, and three were See you tomorrow.
“Ever get involved with your boss before, Anna?” Sheila’s question yanked her back to the present.
“No,” she answered honestly. The boss’s biggest rival, yes. And hadn’t that turned out great? “It would be beyond dumb,” she added.
Sheila rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I used to be a Playmate, did you know that?”
The entire company knew Sheila had worked as a bunny at the now-defunct Miami Beach Playboy Club. “I’ve heard that.”
“Got all tight with one of the managers in the operation.”
Anna wasn’t entirely sure she wanted this much information, but couldn’t help asking, “What happened?”
“What always happens,” Sheila said with a world-weary exhale. “He got laid and I got canned.”
“Oh.”
Sheila nodded knowingly. “But, hey, it was fun while it lasted. That guy could…” She shook her head while she measured the coffee. “Let’s just say he taught me some tricks that every girl should know.”
“Would answering the phone be one of them?” Parker’s voice was thick with sarcasm, eliciting a tiny gasp of surprise from Anna and a snort from Sheila. “Because my line just bounced from the main switchboard to voice mail after ringing about fifteen times.”
Anna blinked at his tone. “Sorry, Mr. Garrison.” She looked him directly in the eye as she passed through the narrow doorway and managed not to brush one fiber of his thousand-dollar suit. “I’ll get your phone.” She added some steel in her voice as she hustled toward her desk just as the next line rang.
“Mr. Garrison’s office.” His name rolled off her tongue, flipping her stomach as the sight of him had done. This was why people shouldn’t get involved at work. Forget what happened to her in the past. She couldn’t even say his name without causing a mental meltdown.
“Hello.” The voice on the phone was low, rich, female and unfamiliar. “I want Parker Garrison.”
Get in line, Anna thought wryly. “May I tell him who is calling?”
“This is Cassie Sinclair Garrison, returning his call.”
Anna corralled her scattered thoughts. Cassie Sinclair… Garrison? She was using the name now? That would put Parker in a fine… finer mood. She turned just in time to see him heading into his office.
“Mr.—” She blew out a half breath. What did she call him now? Every time she said Mr. Garrison, they’d both think of his “warning” kisses. At least, she would.
“Who is it, Anna?” he asked, pausing at his door.
“Cassie Sinclair.” No need to have him fume at her because his illegitimate half sibling was using her father’s name. Let him find out on his own.
The color drained slightly from his sculpted cheekbones. “I’ll take that call.” He disappeared into his office, and closed the door with a definitive click, making her feel as shut out as he had on the plane when he’d slept or read the entire flight.
Behind her, Anna got a whiff of Sheila’s spicy perfume.
“Not that it’s any of my concern,” she said, hitching a lazy hip against the arm of the guest chair. “But my experience tells me if you don’t clear the air, then whatever is ricocheting off you two is going to do both of you in. And you’ll cave first, darlin’.”
“Nothing is ricocheting,” she insisted. Except her heart. Why was he treating her like this? Would it be different if she had slept with him? Was he mad at her for saying no, or at himself for being… a man?
And what a man he was.
“Just clear the air, sweetie,” Sheila said, giving Anna’s hand a friendly pat. “Tell him you’re sorry you did or you didn’t, but don’t lose your job over it if you can help it. No man’s worth a paycheck, trust me.”
As if she didn’t already know that. “Thanks for the advice.”
Sheila winked. “Anytime. And anytime you want to share the gory details…” She pointed toward the closed office door. “I bet that stud knows a few tricks, too.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Anna said, her professional demeanor as secure as the button that held her modest shirt closed tight at the collar.
Sadly, Anna had to admit Shelia knew what she was talking about. As soon as that door opened, she was going to heed the unsolicited advice. She would tell Parker that despite the kisses and the chemistry they felt, they had to remain employer/employee only. But nothing else.
And once she told him that, she could get back to concentrating on her job. Maybe.
“Thank you for calling me back, Ms. Sinclair.”
“Actually, I use both my last names. It’s Cassie Sinclair Garrison.” She ladled extra emphasis on their shared name and Parker just closed his eyes in revulsion.
But he refused to take the bait. “We need to talk about the questionable provisions in my father’s will,” he said, keeping any hint of emotion out of his voice.
The connection from Nassau was clear enough for him to hear her soft cough. “I’m not aware of any questionable provisions. It was all perfectly clear to me.”
She was not going to be easy to manipulate. Well, of course not. Like it or not, she had Garrison blood in her veins and they were a stubborn bunch.
He powered on. “I think you’ll agree that there’s absolutely no reason for you to be bothered with the responsibility of twenty percent shares of Garrison, Inc. I’ve been running the company—”
“Not a bother at all,” she assured him.
“I make the majority decisions for this company,” he said firmly.
“I understand that and I hope you’ll continue to do so,” she said. “To be honest, I have no desire to exercise my new control, but I’ll keep it. I have a hotel to run.”
Relief washed over him. “Then I’ll have my attorney arrange for you to rescind the shares immediately.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said coolly, as Parker stood and squinted into the Miami sunshine. “I have no intention of rescinding anything. I just don’t want to exercise those shares right now.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. He didn’t like the sound of any of this. “Then why not turn them over to me?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
She wanted money. Of course. “I will have my attorney draw up an extremely fair offer, Miss… Sinclair.”
“It’s Garrison and I wouldn’t trouble your attorney because I will not sell my shares for any price, fair or otherwise.”
“Why not?” She had to know he’d offer her well above market value.
“Because they were a gift.” She paused for a moment, then added, “From my father.”
Parker swallowed the bitter, metallic taste of fury in his mouth. “From your illegitimate father,” he ground out.
“Be that as it may, he was and will always be a father to me. You may not know this, Mr. Garrison, but your father spent a lot of time in Nassau and he took very good care of my mother and me.”
Forget apathy. Forget leaving family emotions at the door. This woman was doing everything in her power to incense him. And it was working.
“Is that so?” he replied. “Frankly, no one in my family—including my mother, the one and only Mrs. John Garrison—was aware of that.”
She was quiet long enough to know he hit a mark. “Mr. Garrison, I’m going to make this very easy on you,” she finally said.
“How’s that?”
“Let’s not talk anymore. If you have anything, absolutely anything, to say to me, put it in writing. I don’t want to discuss business with you. I don’t want to rescind my shares. I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t want to hear about your mother. I don’t want to meet your brothers and sisters and have a cozy family reunion. Is that clear?”
Oh, she was a Garrison, all right. He didn’t even have to see the cleft in her chin to know for sure. “Crystal clear.”
“Good. And don’t try some underhanded, sneaky way to get rid of me. My father told me you can be ruthless.”
He could be ruthless, all right. And would be, if necessary. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I know how much this means to you,” she snapped back. “I don’t put anything past you.”
She didn’t know anything about him and what meant what to him. “Excuse me, but you’re the one who appeared out of nowhere claiming to be a Garrison.”
She choked, her own temper obviously torqued. “I haven’t appeared out of nowhere. I’ve been right here, for twenty-seven years, the daughter of John Garrison and Ava Sinclair. There were no ‘claims.’ “
“You’ll have to prove it.” The words were out before he could stop himself, erupted by his boiling blood. “We want to run full DNA tests and until conclusive proof is on my desk, my father’s will is being contested in court.”
He heard her breath escape in frustration. “Fine. Sic your lawyers on me. I don’t care. Let me run my property the way I always have. Garrison, Inc. will get the appropriate percentage of my profits. In the meantime, stay away from me and I’ll stay away from you.”
She clicked off before he could respond. Swearing softly, Parker threw his phone on the desk and strode toward the door, his command that Anna get Brandon Washington on the phone already forming in his mouth.
He whipped the door open and almost knocked her down.
What was she doing there? Listening?
He glared at her, and she backed up a step, but lifted up her chin defiantly. “I want to talk to you.”
Of course she was listening. The Jefferieses would probably want a full report. He gave her a smile, which wasn’t difficult because even behind those little glasses, she was pretty. Very pretty.
“About what?” he asked, keeping his tone friendly.
