Читать книгу Totally Tempting - Mary Lynn Baxter - Страница 17

The following Wednesday Jodie reached for her purse as she prepared to leave the office when Dean called to her. She went into his office.

Without looking up from the schematic drawing covering most of his desk he asked, “What time are your classes over tonight?”

His question was the first personal remark he’d made to her since he’d left her on Sunday. Jodie had begun to wonder if she’d dreamed that her boss had come over to plead his case for seeing her socially or whether it was some fantasy she’d concocted to relieve an otherwise boring weekend.

“Nine.”

“Tell me where to meet you,” he said, marking something on the drawing.

“Uh, well, there’s a coffeehouse a couple of blocks from—”

“No. I’ll pick you up at school. Where are your classes being held?” When she didn’t answer, he straightened away from the desk and looked at her. He was still in his boss mode, snapping out orders.

After a moment she gave him the address, turned around and walked out.

Dean watched her leave with a frown. He hadn’t handled that right. He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but he could tell from the stiffness in her shoulders as she walked away that she wasn’t pleased with him.

He rolled his head, trying to loosen the muscles in his neck and shoulders. Women were a mystery he’d never been able to solve. Until now he’d never particularly cared.

Ever since they had returned from Hawaii he’d had a tough time concentrating whenever she was around. He’d been disgusted at himself for not being able to clamp down on his emotions. All she had to do was walk into the room and he immediately wanted to make love to her. He’d been forced to stay behind his desk so that she didn’t see his physical response to her.

So he didn’t look at her any more than was absolutely necessary.

Not that his idea was much help, since he had a similar reaction whenever he heard her voice.

She was driving him crazy.

The problem was that it was too late to do anything about it. When they’d first returned from Hawaii and she’d refused to have lunch with him, he’d tried to force himself to forget about his attraction to her. He’d only been kidding himself.

Now that he’d finally gotten her to agree to see him, he’d managed to offend her in some way.

Great going, Logan.

When Jodie walked out of the classroom that evening, she saw Dean leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed. She did a double take. He looked too much like the man she’d gotten to know in Hawaii, not the man she worked for.

She started toward him at the same time he straightened.

“Hi,” she said.

He smiled at her. “Hi, yourself. Ready for some coffee?”

“Sure.”

“The weather is nasty. Would you like to go to my place?”

She lifted her brow. “For coffee?”

He looked innocent. “Of course.”

“All right.”

When they reached the doors of the building, she could see that rain and touches of sleet poured from the sky. He opened an umbrella she hadn’t noticed and, pulling her close to his side, hurried her to the car.

“Wow,” she said, a little breathless, once they were inside the car.

“Where’s your car?”

“At home. I took the bus.”

“Good thinking.”

She watched the windshield wipers ferociously battle the rain and sleet. “I decided before all of this hit.”

“You knew I’d get you home.”

“There is that.”

She’d never been to his home, although she knew where it was: in one of the high-rise buildings overlooking Lake Michigan. He entered the underground parking area and parked by the elevators in a space with his name and the word Reserved.

The elevator silently whisked them to his floor, and by the time he opened the door to his home, all Jodie could think was that she was way out of her league.

He helped her off with her coat and said, “Have a seat. I’ll go make coffee.”

Jodie wandered over to the windows and looked out at the shimmering lights muted by the rain. If ever she’d needed a reality check, his place did that for her. She remembered how she’d gone on and on about the luxury condo while they were in Hawaii. His home was more luxurious.

She closed her eyes. She would be an idiot to think that he could have more than a passing interest in her.

“Here you go,” he said from behind her. Jodie turned and watched him put a tray on the coffee table in front of the long sectional furniture arranged to take in the view.

“What am I doing here?” she asked, walking toward him.

He straightened and looked at her. “Having coffee?”

She gave her head a quick shake. “That isn’t what I mean,” she replied and sat down on the edge of the sofa. “This isn’t going to work.”

He sat a couple of feet away from her. “I noticed you seemed to be upset with me when you left the office.”

She reached for the coffee. “That was something different,” she replied and sipped on the drink. She realized she was shaking, as much from nerves as from the weather. She held the cup with both hands, warming them.

“So what happened to cause you to change your mind in three days?”

She didn’t answer him. Instead she continued to carefully drink her coffee.

When she didn’t answer, he asked briskly, “Am I supposed to guess?” Now he sounded like the man she worked for.

Jodie set her coffee cup back on the tray and turned to him. The problem was that he didn’t look like her boss at the moment. With his hair mussed and in his cable-knit sweater, he reminded her of the man she’d spent time with in Hawaii.

She bit her lip. “I know I said that I’d start seeing you, but the truth is that we come from two different worlds and nothing is going to change that. I live a simple life and have simple tastes. I’m not at all your type.”

“What exactly is my type?” he asked, his jaw stiff.

She waved her hand vaguely at the room. “Women who are used to all this luxury, who expect it, women who go to operas and symphonies and are photographed whenever they attend some function. That’s not me.”

He studied her, looking quizzical. “I don’t recall inviting you to an opera or the symphony.”

“You know what I mean,” she snapped.

“I wish to hell I did. What is going on in that busy brain of yours?”

“I’ve come to my senses. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” She stood. “I need to get home. I’ll call a cab.”

“Not on your life. You’re not going to run away from this discussion.”

“Please date someone else instead of me. The woman you took to the musical, for instance. Or…I don’t care. Just someone else.”

“I believe your prejudices are showing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t go out with me because I attend various functions around town? Or are we back to the fact that you work for me?”

“Actually I do dislike you giving me orders when it’s not job-related.”

“Care to give me an example?”

“This afternoon. You took charge once I agreed to see you tonight. Told me what you were going to do and where we’d meet.”

“You could have said no.”

“I could have, yes. I should have.”

“I get the sense that we’re talking in circles without getting to the crux of what’s bothering you.”

“All right. Then here it is. Hawaii was wonderful. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect vacation. But the vacation is over. Yes, there’s a definite attraction between us. You want to encourage it. I want to ignore it, which is why I’m relieved to be moving into another department next week. Let’s forget about Hawaii and get on with our lives.”

“I believe we tried that, but I, for one, have found it impossible after getting to know you better.”

She closed her eyes. “I can’t do this,” she said quietly.

The silent room seemed weighted with emotion.

He studied his coffee in silence. When he looked up, his face revealed nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. “I’ll drive you home,” he said quietly.

Jodie waited until she was alone in her apartment before she broke down and cried.

Jodie moved into the engineering department the next week. Dean had hired one of the women Jodie recommended. Her name was Candace Rudin and she appeared to be quite competent. Jodie had expected to spend several days with her, but Candace had quickly grasped the routine, the filing system and the way Dean liked to work.

Once in Engineering, Jodie was determined to learn everything she could as quickly as possible. Several weeks went by, and Frank praised her repeatedly, patiently answering her questions when she couldn’t figure something out.

She had been there two months when Frank dropped an envelope on her desk one morning. She looked up. “It isn’t payday, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s time you learned firsthand about installing our equipment. That’s your plane ticket.”

A plane trip. Great. “I don’t suppose we could do this somewhere that we could drive to, by any chance?”

“Sorry. Besides, I won’t be going. Logan said that since you’d already been to this particular office, it made sense for you to see the next step. He’ll be going with you to show you the ropes.”

There was only one office she’d visited and it was in Honolulu. She peeked into the envelope and saw the ticket, confirming her suspicions. She looked at Frank. “I haven’t finished what I’m working on,” she pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter since there’s no rush on that one. Besides, you’ll only be in Hawaii a few days—four at the most.”

“Oh.” She forced herself to smile. “Well. That’s good. I mean, I’ll enjoy being part of the installation process. I’m just surprised that Dean would be the one to do it.”

Frank shrugged. “I’ll admit he hasn’t done an installation in a long while. Probably wants to keep his hand in. Don’t worry, though. You already know how he can be and won’t be caught off guard when he starts snapping at you for not working fast enough. Just ignore his moods.”

“I’ll do my best.”