Читать книгу Totally Tempting - Mary Lynn Baxter - Страница 9

Dean stood in front of the mirror shaving early Sunday morning and wondered what he was doing. Had he lost his mind?

What had possessed him to invite his secretary to go with him to Hawaii? She was a great secretary. In fact, she was a great human being, but he didn’t need to spend a week with her to be reminded of the fact.

Of course, if he planned to meet with Furukawa, he could use her presence there to help him make a presentation and to help formulate a contract. She was very conscientious and did her work without a complaint.

But to take her to Hawaii with him?

Had his midlife crisis arrived sooner than expected? Why else would he have considered taking her? He knew nothing about her outside of the office. Well, he knew she was single, but that was about it. Did she have family close by? Would they warn her about going with him?

He could get in trouble for harassment.

Well. Maybe that was a little extreme. She’d had the option to say no. When he’d called her at home last night she’d sounded agreeable enough. He certainly hadn’t coerced her. At least, not much.

He finished dressing and picked up the bag he’d packed. He’d had trouble knowing what to pack besides his business clothes. The only other time he’d been there, his business suits had been expected, but then he hadn’t been on vacation. He’d spent the three days in meetings, ironing out the conditions of the merger with the parties involved.

He’d tossed in a few shirts and khaki pants this morning and even remembered to stick in a pair of tennis shoes, which was a laugh. He hadn’t played tennis in years, but it was the idea that counted.

Maybe he was a little too focused on business. Working hard had become a habit, and he wasn’t certain that he could break it.

Or that he wanted to.

He’d really let Rachel’s comments get to him, which was ridiculous. What did he care what she thought about him? He’d just been surprised, that’s all.

He and Jodie would get along well enough for the few days they’d be there, he was fairly certain. He’d treat the trip as a bonus for Jodie in appreciation for her years of service.

He smiled at the thought, pleased that he’d found the correct category for the trip.

* * *

Jodie had almost reached the door into the airport before Dean recognized her. She looked different, but why? Then he realized that she was wearing her hair down. He’d never seen her wear it any way but pulled back into a knot on the nape of her neck. It danced around her neck and shoulders in the wind. She certainly looked different this morning.

He glanced at his watch and frowned.

As soon as Jodie stepped out of the cab, she spotted Dean waiting for her just inside the door to the airline check-in counters. She hurriedly crossed the sidewalk toward him.

The wind-chill factor must be in the teens. Hawaii sounded better and better to her. At least she’d be getting away from the wonderful winter weather of dear old Chicago for a few days. She looked forward to soaking up some sun.

Just as she reached the door, he opened it and took her bag. “You’re late,” he snapped. “Security is tight and I don’t want to miss the flight.”

Actually she was forty-five minutes earlier than the airline recommended, but she wasn’t going to start their trip together disputing his words. Instead she smiled at him and said, “I’m here now and good morning to you. Have you checked your luggage?”

“Yes.” He glanced down at her suitcase. “Is this all you’re taking?”

She looked down at her bag and then back up at him. “We’re only going to be gone a week,” she replied.

“I thought women packed three or four suitcases wherever they went,” he mumbled.

“Not me.”

“Well,” he said awkwardly. “That’s good.”

She walked over to join the line to the counter and he followed her. “I might as well stay with you. No sense losing you in this crowd.”

Jodie realized that he was nervous! She found that hard to believe, considering how much traveling he did. Was it because she was along?

She hadn’t spotted it at first, probably because she’d been shaken by his accusation that she may have caused them to miss their plane. There was no way she would lose him in the crowd. As tall as he was, she’d spot him in any group.

She circumspectly checked out what he’d chosen to wear for the trip and was pleasantly surprised to see him in black pants, a black turtleneck sweater and a black leather jacket that fit snugly at his waist.

The wind had ruffled his dark hair and the leather jacket made him appear dangerous and very masculine.

He looked downright swashbuckling.

Now if he’d only smile once in a while, he could be attractive.

They reached their plane with time to spare, which Jodie wisely did not point out. Dean stopped and bought himself a paper and a couple of magazines. Jodie found the newest book out by one of her favorite authors, as well as a crossword puzzle book in case she got tired of reading.

She watched Dean as he paced the concourse. Was the man ever still? She placed her parka on her lap and started reading.

When it was time to board, first-class passengers were seated first. Not too bad. Dean waved her to the window seat before settling down beside her. A flight attendant checked to see what they would like to drink and handed them menus for breakfast.

Once they gave their orders, Jodie settled comfortably into the luxurious depths of her seat and looked around her.

The only time she’d seen first class on her flights was when she’d walked through to the tourist section. What a way to travel.

“Are you nervous about flying?” he asked after several minutes of silence.

She’d been peering out the window when he asked, and she straightened. “A little perhaps. Why?”

“I noticed your fingers gripping the armrests, and the plane hasn’t moved.”

She jerked her hands away and folded them into her lap. After a moment she dug into her purse and pulled out the book she’d been reading but gave up a few minutes later because she couldn’t seem to concentrate. Maybe she’d work one of the crossword puzzles.

After another prolonged silence—were they ever going to leave the terminal?—Jodie asked, “How long is the flight, do you recall? I’ve forgotten what the reservations said.”

“About thirteen hours, depending on a headwind. We change planes in Los Angeles.”

“Oh.”

“We should reach Maui by midafternoon local time.”

“But we’ll still be on Midwest time.”

“True.”

Well, she’d exhausted all her skills at social chitchat with him. Jodie picked up the airline magazine and began to thumb through it.

After what felt like hours, the plane finally taxied out to the runway for takeoff. Then it stopped. The captain apologized for the delay. There were nine jets ahead of this one. Great. That gave her plenty of time to rethink this whole idea.

Dean cleared his throat. “Jodie?”

She’d just peered out the window again. “Yes?”

“I’m a little embarrassed to mention this after you’ve worked for me so many years, but I really don’t know much about you besides your work ethic, which is outstanding, and your determination to get your degree, which is admirable. I’d like to learn more about you. Why don’t we use this time to get acquainted?”

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to talk right now. I need all my concentration once we’re ready for takeoff to make absolutely certain the plane’s wings are firmly attached.” After all, there was a lot of thrust by the jet engines, and everyone knew that takeoffs and landings were the most dangerous times during a flight. Unless they happened to fly into the side of a mountain. They had to cross the Rockies, didn’t they?

Or if they went down over water…say, maybe the Pacific Ocean?

“Jodie?” She jerked her head away from the window and looked at him inquiringly.

“We’re perfectly safe, you know.”

“Of course we are,” she promptly agreed. “As long as we sit here on the runway.” She glanced back out the window to continue to check the wings.

Dean made some kind of noise that sounded as if he was either choking or coughing. She looked back at him in concern. His lips were compressed and he wore a frown. His shoulders shook and suddenly, like Mount St. Helens, he erupted into laughter.

Laughter? She had rarely seen him smile, much less heard him laugh, and she stared at him in amazement. What a difference it made in him. He looked much younger than his thirty-eight years. Who would have believed it?

He immediately attempted to quell the sound, but then he looked at her again, recognized her bemusement, shook his head and continued to laugh—a deep-throated sound that finally made her smile.

He reached for his handkerchief and wiped his eyes, blew his nose and finally, after what seemed like forever, managed to stop.

But he continued to smile and she still hadn’t recovered from the change in him. Dean was smiling and, miracle of miracles, his face hadn’t cracked into a thousand little pieces. Who would have believed it?

“Care to share the joke?” she asked. She smiled her pleasure at this unexpected peek into the man she thought she knew so well.

He touched her arm and slid his hand down, lacing his fingers between hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed at your nervousness. You’re going to be just fine, I promise.”

“From your lips to God’s ear,” she muttered.

He chuckled again. He was certainly getting a great deal of amusement out of her fear of flying. Then again, maybe it was worth it to see that the man had a human side. A decidedly masculine side at that.

The brackets around his mouth had revealed dimples. She bet he hated them.

In fact, the man bore little resemblance to her stone-faced boss. Same hair and eyes, same strong jaw, and yet with his silver-blue eyes sparkling and his teeth flashing he was actually handsome.

Okay, she was losing it. When she looked at Dean Logan and saw a handsome man she knew she’d lost her grip. Fear could certainly do crazy things to a person’s perceptions.

“I was born in Indiana,” he said in a casual voice as though answering her question. “Came to Chicago to attend Northwestern and never left. How about you?”

She cleared her throat. “We’re from Wisconsin originally.”

“Who is we?”

“Mom, my three brothers, my sister and me. My parents got married way too young, but they were in love and didn’t want to wait until after they finished school to get married. My brother came along not long afterward, and Dad dropped out of college to get a job. He took good care of all of us, but I think he pushed himself too hard for too many years and he died of a heart attack when he was forty-five.

“Mom had to get a job but had trouble finding one since she’d never worked before. Without training or an education, it was tough going for her. She ended up as a waitress. Both Mom and Dad really stressed the importance of an education when we were growing up. All three of my brothers worked their way through college so they could take care of her.”

“Where does your family live?”

“All over the place. Mom’s in Phoenix. That’s where they lived when Dad died. One of my brothers is an attorney in Oregon, one is career Navy and based out of Bremerton, Washington, and one lives just outside of D.C. doing who knows what. If anyone asks, he says, ‘I work for the government’ in a vague way and changes the subject. My sister, Lynette, and I live here in Chicago.”

“Do any of them have children?”

She smiled. “Chuck and Lynette have two boys and a brand-new baby girl. The boys are pleased as little boys can be that they have a baby sister. My sister had two miscarriages before Emily came along.”

“Are any of your brothers married?”

“Not a one. Too busy with work or too busy playing the field.” She waited, and when he didn’t ask any more questions, she said, “It’s your turn. Tell me about your family.”

She wasn’t sure at first that he was going to answer her, but eventually he said, “My mother lives in a nursing home here. I had an older brother, but he and my dad were out on Lake Michigan at the wrong time years ago. A storm blew up and they didn’t make it back.”

“How awful. How old was your brother?”

“Twelve. I was eight and had a cold, so my mother wouldn’t let me go with them.” He looked away. After two or three minutes he added, “I haven’t talked about them in years.”

She wondered about the emotional scars he carried from that time. No doubt he’d been upset, probably angry, that he didn’t get to go. Then to lose them like that. Survivor’s guilt probably played a part. She knew him well enough not to say any more by way of sympathy for his loss.

“Why aren’t you married?” he asked bluntly.

She looked at him in surprise. “Isn’t that a rather personal question to ask?”

“Probably. But if I’m going to drag out all my personal stuff, I figure you can, too.”

“Mmm. I don’t think it’s quite the same, unless you want to discuss why you’re not married.”

“That’s easy enough. I have no intention of getting married. I was engaged once, but she found someone who had more money and broke the engagement six weeks before the wedding.” He shrugged. “She’s on her third marriage now, so she did me a favor. After that I decided to devote my time and energy to building my business, which was much more important to me than getting too involved in a relationship.”

“You know, Dean, one of these days you’re going to meet the woman you’ve been waiting for your whole life. And when you do, you’ll be a goner.”

“Somehow I doubt that very much.” He studied her for a moment in silence. “So,” he finally said, “have you ever been married?”

She shook her head, feeling a little exasperated with him. His persistence was one of his strongest traits. It made him an excellent businessman. But she didn’t particularly like it when he aimed his curiosity at her.

Before she could decide how much she wanted to share with him, the captain’s voice came over the speakers and said they were next to take off.

She immediately tightened her seat belt.

“Any tighter and you’ll cut off the blood flow to the rest of your body,” he said drily.

She took a deep breath, held it briefly and slowly exhaled. She was being an idiot. She adjusted the strap around her and forcibly relaxed her shoulders.

“No,” she finally said in a strained voice. “I have never been married.”

“Why not?”

“Because I haven’t wanted to be, obviously.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I feel like you have me under a microscope.”

“Why? We’re going to be together for the next week. I just want to get to know who you are when you’re away from the office.”

“Oh, all right. I had one serious relationship when I was nineteen. I shared a tiny apartment with one of my coworkers. We were both secretaries in a law firm and that’s where I met him. He was a law student working at the firm part-time.

“We dated for more than a year and we talked about marriage once he finished law school. We spent most of our free time together. Everything was perfect…until I came home early one night and found him in bed with my roommate.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“Did he explain why?”

“To hear him tell it, he’d left school early and thought I might be home. When I wasn’t, my roommate suggested he wait there for me. I’m sure she planned everything to work out the way it did. His explanation was that she was there and one thing led to another and it didn’t mean anything. He apologized. Said it would never happen again.”

“And you said?”

“I was very dignified. I told him if he ever made an attempt to see me again, I’d severely injure a delicate part of his anatomy.”

He made a strangling sound but didn’t comment.

“He pretty much left me alone after that. He and my ex-friend/roommate got married a few months later because she was pregnant. I don’t know what happened after that because I accepted the job I have now and moved closer to work.”

“You took it hard.”

“That I did. There’s something about finding out that someone you considered a friend and the man you thought you were going to marry betrayed you that dampens the spirit.”

“But that was—what?—five years ago?”

“About that.”

“And you haven’t had a relationship since?”

“Not a serious one, no,” she said, knowing she sounded defensive. “I just don’t intend to get hurt again. So I don’t allow anyone to get too close.”

He looked at their hands, still entwined. “Then I feel honored.”

She lowered her brows and glared at him. “We are not close. I work for you. Just because you think I’ll try to get out of this plane before we take off doesn’t mean we’re close.” She pulled her hand away just as the plane began to roll.

“Actually you work for the company.”

“You are the company. Like I said, I work for you.” Faking nonchalance, she picked up the book and determinedly began to read, hoping his questions were at an end.