Debbie smiled. “You make a good crusader. I wish I could present my case as well as you do.”
“I wish I could handle those computers as well as you do,” Chloe returned. “Come on. Let’s take a look at your statistics.”
They spent the next half hour reviewing the work Debbie had done. Between them, they came up with a plan of attack on both the sinkhole in question and the people in a position to do something about it. Suitably buoyed, and with her work cut out for her, Debbie left. She was replaced moments later by a slightly groggy-looking Josh Anderson.
Chloe grinned. “Late night last night?”
“Don’t you know it,” Josh murmured. “But I have to discuss this curriculum guide with you. If the preliminaries are all right, I’d like to work out more of the details.”
Chloe’s arched brow spoke volumes, as did the slow perusal she gave the casually disheveled graduate student. “You’re up to it?” With great effort she stifled a broader grin. Josh was a favorite of hers. Several years her junior, he was working toward his degree at Brown. This was his second year working part-time at ESE.
His proposed high-school geology curriculum was as fine as any she could have hoped ESE would produce.
Now he lowered his voice. “I’d really be up to it if I could take a swig of the coffee that smells so good in the kitchen.”
“Why don’t you?”
He kept his voice low. “There’s a watchdog out there.”
“In the kitchen?”
“In the living room. Tall guy, dark hair, dark eyes. He doesn’t look happy with the traffic in here. Who is he? And what’s he doing in our house?”
For the better part of the morning Chloe had pushed Ross from mind. Now, revived by the work that she loved, she was able to chuckle at Josh’s reference.
“He’s a friend,” she answered simply.
“You’re sure about that?”
“I’m sure. Go on out and get your coffee. If he starts to snarl, you can send him in here.”
Josh’s face took on a dubious I-hope-you-know -what-you’re-doing look. Nonetheless, he drew up to his full sixty-seven inches, squared his shoulders, and made as grand an exit as was possible for someone going to face the proverbial giant. With a helpless grin, Chloe sat back in her chair, elbows on its arms, fingers comfortably laced.
So Ross had decided to spend the morning in her living room. She wondered if he was bored, maybe annoyed that she was carrying on as usual, perhaps growing impatient. Her grin turned smug.
“You wanted to see me?” His deep voice rumbled in from the door.
Her grin remained. “Who, me?”
He searched the room. “I don’t see anyone else in here, for a change. They may not technically live here, but they run in and out all day, don’t they?”
“It’s an open office, you might say.”
“I do say. Say, when will you be done?”
“Done?” she echoed innocently, then gestured toward the desktop. “Lord knows. I have two reports to look through yet. And Josh will be back. Here he is.” His timing was perfect. “Josh, meet Ross.” As the two shook hands, Chloe stared at the appalling discrepancy in their heights. No wonder Josh had been intimidated; not only did Ross tower over him, but their respective physiques were about as alike as night and day.
Instinctively protective of Josh, she pointed him to a chair. Then she said, “Ross, would you excuse us? We’ll be a little while.”
“I’ll be waiting.” He smiled as though he had caught onto the game and was playing. Then he turned and left.
Josh wasn’t thick. “Listen, Chloe, are you sure you wouldn’t rather go over this another time?”
“What?” she ribbed him gently. “And waste the effort it took for you to pull yourself out of bed? Carry on!”
It was a full hour later when Josh finally left. Chloe walked him to the door and had only enough time to note that Ross was occupied with a briefcase of his own, before Lee bounded through the living room. He delivered a wave in passing to Ross, looped an arm about Chloe’s waist, and corralled her back into her office.
“It’s about time you’re free,” he scolded good-naturedly. “You’re a busy lady.”
Chloe smiled. “I’m all yours now. I want to show you-” The look on his face cut her off. “There’s something we have to discuss first. I think,” he said, giving care to each word, “that we have a problem.”
“A problem?” She frowned. “What problem?”
Eying her warily, he said, “I had two cancellations yesterday.”
“Cancellations?”
“That’s right. The schools. They don’t have the money to finance us for the next semester.”
She sat straighter. “Are you serious?”
,”Very.”
“But I thought-“
“So did I.”
“I just sent Josh out of here with a great proposal. You mean to say that he won’t be able to apply it?”
“Not in Hingham or Westerly he won’t. There are still the wealthier communities…” His voice trailed off, his implication clear.
“But not for long. That’s it, isn’t it? You think we’re headed down a dead-end street?”
“Unless the powers that dole out money for education loosen up. They’re thinking A, B, Cs. We’re talking H, I, Js. We’re strictly elective, they say. A luxury they can’t afford.”
Chloe’s mind raced ahead. “A good third of our work is through the public schools. Oh, boy. We’d better rethink that.”
“Smart girl.”
“Private enterprise,” she announced without hesitation.
“Come again? Business isn’t our field.”
Chloe laughed at the confusion on Lee’s bearded face. “No. But I said it to Debbie earlier this morning and I meant it. What we need is to affiliate ourselves with corporations as resident geologists, be the geologistson-call for several of these large development corporations. You know, like-“
“-the Hansen Corporation?”
The thought took her off-guard. “No,” she said with deliberate care. “I was thinking more of firms like Cabot and Walker, or Fennimen East.”
But Lee was grinning. “What’s wrong with the Hansen Corporation?”
“Nothing,” she said, but rethought her answer when Lee was clearly disbelieving. She lowered her voice. “What’s wrong with the Hansen Corporation is that Ross Stephenson is its president.”
So?”
“Lee,” she pleaded, “Ross is a friend. I would no more ask him to hire ESE than … than…” She went silent, at a loss for words. She was hoping to survive a single weekend with Ross. She couldn’t begin to imagine working with him on an ongoing basis.
Lee grew serious. “What is he to you, Chloe?”
She sighed, giving up the struggle to find excuses. “We knew each other before Crystal died.”
“He’s the one, isn’t he?” There was only kindness in Lee’s voice, yet his words jolted her.
“What?” she whispered.
“He’s the one-the man in your life.”
“There is no man in my life. You know that.”
Lee grew gentler. “Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about you. You’ve told me about your sister, that she died, that you rarely visit your family back in New Orleans. But you never talk about men. You’re a beautiful person, Chloe. I know it, and he knows it.” He tilted his head toward the living room. “I dare you to look me in the eye and deny that there was ever anything between the two of you.”
She couldn’t lie. Not to Lee. “I can’t do that. But, whatever it was, it’s over.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.” She said it firmly, and held her head the same way.
Lee studied her for a long minute, before making a show of wiping his hands together. “Well, then, I guess that settles that.” He graciously redirected the conversation to safer ground. “I do agree with you that the private business sector could be a promising outlet. I’ll be in Washington next week to work with the Coast Guard on the Gulf project. Let me see what nosing around I can do while I’m there.”
“How much longer will the training project take?”
“With the government, that’s a good question. And when it comes to oil spill cleanups, no amount of training is ever enough. I would guess the present phase will take another few months at least.”
Chloe contemplated those coming few months. Unthinkingly, she glanced toward the door.
Lee headed that way. “I can take the hint, pretty lady.” His hand was on the knob before she could call him back. “Anything else can wait. Have fun!” He left with a wink.
“Lee! Wait-“
But one dark head was replaced by another. “At last,” Ross said and closed the office door. “Alone at last.”
Chloe forced herself to sit back slowly. “I hadn’t realized you would hang around all morning. I hope you weren’t bored.”
“Actually”-he circled her desk to plant himself on the corner nearest her-“I went over some papers of my own. I’m a good loser, for a morning.” He cocked his head toward the door. “Ready to go?”
“Go? Where?”
“Oh”-he looked out the window in amusement-“I thought you could show me around town. I’m a stranger to these parts.”
Judging from the confidence he exuded, it was a wonder that any parts were strange to him. Chloe couldn’t ignore the thread of excitement that he had brought with him into the room. Indifference, she reminded herself. But it was a tough order.
Standing quickly, she tried to remedy the situation. “I wish I could help, but I still have-” A strong arm caught her waist. Before she could say another word, she was imprisoned between his thighs.
“All work and no play-“
“Makes a successful scientist.”
“And a very dull woman.”
She frowned, unwittingly taking his bait. “Do you think my work is dull?” Her disappointment was genuine. So was the devastatingly handsome smile that spread across his face. The hands that were looped loosely behind her, now brought her closer.
“Nothing about you is dull,” he said, “except your determination to hold me at arms’ length.”
Arms’ length was a lot farther than where she was now. Well within the circle of his arms, with her hands braced at the point where his jeans met his hips, she was under his spell.
Ross lowered his head and kissed her, tasting the sweetness of her mouth, and it struck her that she might well have been too successful at her own game. By denying the past, she was responding to him in the present alone. Her return kiss was gentle, sampling. She played with being free of all memory, all guilt. Her lips opened to his. She gave of herself as she hadn’t done in years.
“That was nice,” he whispered against her mouth, then pulled away and set her back before she could do it herself. He trailed a long thumb across her cheek to the lips he’d just left. “We’ll do it again soon.” It was said so gently and carried such lightness that Chloe couldn’t help but smile. A warm flush painted her cheeks a comely pink, complementing the gray of her eyes, which held a hint of apology. “You have a way of sneaking up when a girl least expects it, Ross. What am I going to do with you?”
His gaze told her first, and there was something heady about it, until he added, “You’re going to love me one day. That’s what you’re going to do.”
She stiffened, but he went on. “Right now, you’re going for a ride with me.”
“I have errands to do,” she protested.
“Like? “
“Like marketing, for starters. In one meal you’ve nearly wiped me out.”
“So we’ll go to the market. What else?”
She adlibbed. “I need new house plants for the living room. With winter coming on-“
“Winter? It’s creeping up toward seventy again today. How can you think of winter?”
“It’ll be here. And anyway, the sooner the plants get used to the house, the easier it will be for them to adapt to the cooler weather.”
His gaze narrowed. “I bet you talk to your plants.”
“No. If I did that, they might think I was flaky. I want my plants to respect me.”
She doubted Ross heard her. He was focusing on her mouth, looking entranced. Suddenly he slid the fingers of both hands through the hair on either side of her face, brought his own head down, and kissed her again. This time there was a hunger there hadn’t been before, a new urgency. This time Chloe was frightened. How not to lose herself in that hunger?
“Ross,” she cried, “don’t, please, don’t.”
He released her. His voice remained husky, but his eyes held a promise.
“I won’t push you now. But you will love me one day. One day soon.”
“You’re wrong-“
“Not this time, princess.” He paused to let his breathing steady. “Let’s go. We’ll stop for lunch first. I’m starved.”
Chloe took a steadying breath of her own. “After that breakfast?”
“That breakfast,” he grumbled, “was interrupted. And anyway, that was this morning. It’s nearly two. Any more feeble excuses to try on me before we leave?”
Chloe looked around her office. Its familiarity gave her strength. Indifference. She could do it.
“Not a one,” she said, preceding Ross from the room without another word. It was only when they reached the front door that she felt an odd sense of adventure. Eyes alight, she turned back to Ross. “I have an idea. Let’s take the bike.”
“I have a better idea,” he countered, pulling the neck of his turtleneck away from his skin. “Let’s change into cooler things. I hadn’t expected it would get so warm.”
Assuming that his clothes were still at Lee’s house, she felt generous. “Okay. You go back and change. I’ll just sit here and-hey! What are you doing?”
It was pretty obvious, actually. With a fast tug he freed his sweater from his jeans, crisscrossed his arms, and smoothly whipped the black turtleneck over his head and off. Never, ever, would Chloe forget that moment when, muscles stretched, his chest came into view.
Lightly bronzed, with a liberal hazing of hair that tapered toward his navel, it was a solid wall of hard, glorious flesh. Her mouth went dry. She could only stare.
“My bags are right here,” he replied, retrieving a soft leather duffel from beside the sofa. Long arms pulled at the duffel’s zipper. Deft fingers exchanged the sweater for a lighter, short-sleeved jersey. He quickly drew it over his head. Once more Chloe trembled as that body stretched, flexed, then settled back down, mercifully covered again.
Ross grinned. “There. Easy enough. Do you need to change or anything? Are you cool enough?”
Chloe didn’t think she would ever be cool enough again. “Uh, I’m fine.” She cleared her throat awkwardly, turning and escaping to the wide open spaces without any further attempt at wit. And she had suggested taking the bike! They would be better off swimming. They might not get to any store, but they would have a barrel of much-needed cold water between them!