Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (12 page)

Chapter Sixteen

It was only a tiny one-bedroom apartment in a reasonably safe neighborhood in Chicago. Sure, the elevator didn
’t always work and
parking
would more aptly be called
searching
. But it was her own apartment, and Jackie dreaded locking the door and leaving it on Monday morning. There were plenty of reasons not to go to work today.

She arrived home very late last night after catching a later flight out of Key West and then an even later flight from Miami to Chicago. She had a slight sunburn. She had slept almost fifteen minutes all night. There was nothing in her closet she could possibly make herself put on this morning. Then there was the small matter of her job probably being sold out from under her today in the big corporate meeting taking place in the office of the company owner. The owner she had accidentally slept with and then spent the rest of the weekend with, alternately spinning lies and falling in…in something not easy to forget.

Those reasons seemed like enough motivation not to venture out into the slushy December morning. The wind seemed to take her southern desertion personally as it punished her on the way to her compact car hidden among its compatriots on the street near her apartment. The gray skies mocked the blue ones which had reigned spectacularly over her all weekend. Her foul humor and general despair matched the weather.

Still, Jackie was determined to go out with class. She would show up to work, give her two weeks notice, ask her supervisor for a letter of recommendation, and go about the business of making a graceful exit.

If Mitchell stayed true to form, he would never come near her floor and she would never lay eyes on him. And never have to explain why her “cruise ship” was actually an overloaded commuter flight at the airport. She would also never have to confront the feelings he had kindled in the twenty-four hours they spent together.

Her only hope was to remain anonymous. What are the chances he would find out her identity and figure out where their commuter flight was headed? If he did check, he
’d find out the plane was headed to Miami. He might assume her plans had changed and she was boarding her ship in the Port of Miami. He might also assume she was playing one heck of a game with him. A lot like the game he played with her.

What are the chances she could survive a two-week exit at Ames Worldwide, Chicago office? If he did try to track her down, he would waste hours of time trying to find a woman named Jackie who was a live entertainer on a cruise ship line. If he believed that at all. There were lots of cruise ships and lots of entertainers. He would never sift through them all, and if he did, he would find she was nowhere to be found.

When Jackie arrived at her building and walked up to the glass front doors, she almost chickened out. But she did it. The doorman smiled, she stepped into the lobby, and she headed for the elevators.

She resolved not to look at the picture of Mitchell that she now realized she had sashayed past a hundred times without ever looking at. She knew the picture was there and she stoically looked away as she waited for the elevator. She resolutely pressed the button for the eleventh floor and took a deep breath. It was a regular Monday, she was wearing a typical gray pantsuit, and the faces all around her in the elevator looked…depressingly familiar.

Jackie kept her head down and headed straight for her office. She expected gray solitude with her friends as usual, but her office was anything but quiet and dull when she walked through the door. An imperious looking man in his mid-thirties stood in the middle of the office and demanded files and paperwork from Teri. Leah looked angry and sassy, and Shelly looked like she was in dreamland and didn’t even notice the commotion.

The man in the expensive suit had stress written all over his face. His dark gray suit and red power tie made him look classy, but he swatted Leah on the behind when she bent over to show him a report on a computer screen.

“Nice guy, huh?” Leah whispered to Jackie when she came into her cubicle to get some reports.

“
Who is he?”

“
Hal Burton. CFO and a royal SOB. Never been to this office before, don’t think he’s ever been in this building before, and I didn’t know I should have been grateful for that all this time.”

Hal Burton. The guy Mitchell took the call from while she was visiting the animal rescue shelter in Key West. Mitchell seemed lighter, almost relieved when he got off the phone. If this was his henchman, then no wonder Mitchell felt better. He planned to unload this company with the help of mean-spirited Hal here to do the dirty work.

“He’s cherry-picking information to present to the board of directors,” Leah continued when Jackie didn’t respond. “Looking for ways to make it look like our whole operation ought to be sold.”

“
Isn’t that meeting this morning?” Jackie asked.

“
Going on right now from what I hear,” Leah said, “that’s why he’s hustling to get ammunition to take back with him.”

“
It might be difficult to find the motivation to help him with his cause,” Jackie suggested.

“
What do you think Teri’s doing?” Leah said with a grin. “To the casual observer, it would appear that she just doesn’t know how to access those reports and it’s just taking the poor dear forever.”

Jackie walked over to their shared break room and tossed her coat across the back of a chair. Bummer. No one made any coffee yet. They were busy scurrying around pretending to help the CFO find whatever it was he was looking for. She didn
’t feel any compulsion to go dance that dance with them. Her position as the newest person in the office with the least knowledge and seniority was going to pay off just this once. She planned to take her time making coffee. The longer she hid out in the break room, the less time she’d have to look at Hal Burton, CFO and buddy of Mitchell Ames.

Jackie filled the carafe and slowly poured cold water into the large coffee machine. They were going to need it. She tried not to imagine Mitchell several floors above her head sitting in a meeting right now with other corporate executives weighing the fate of this company. What was he wearing today? Was it a black suit that matched his hair? Did he have on a green tie that brought out the color of his eyes? In a white shirt, his tan would look great. She had seen what he had under those clothes.

Maybe she should save some of that cold water for herself. This kind of thinking was going absolutely nowhere. If Mitchell wanted to know her better, he would have asked for some real information about her. He seemed so interested, but didn’t take the next step. He did
not
follow her back to her hotel that night on Mallory Square. Not that she really wanted him to. What would have happened anyway? He did
not
ask her full name or how to reach her.

The irony was she actually had all the power and yet none at all. She knew exactly who and where he was and could change the game any time she wanted to. What would happen if she went upstairs and knocked on the glass door of the conference room in the executive office? It would only take five minutes and she could be standing before him. Would he take her in his arms, cancel the meeting, and whisk her off to…

A quiet step behind Jackie startled her. She realized she was daydreaming and measuring about fifteen scoops of coffee grounds into the filter. Just imagining Mitchell’s arms around her heightened all her senses now as she heard the slight scrape of a shoe on tile. She was afraid to turn around for fear it might be him...or it might
not.

She felt a hand on the small of her back and she knew instantly that it was not Mitchell. His touch felt different and produced a totally different reaction. She spun around and nearly knocked Hal off balance.

“Whoa, honey,” he said. “I guess I surprised you.” He caught his balance and stepped closer, backing her up against the countertop. “I have a way of doing that.”

“
I’m…sure you do,” Jackie said. She sidestepped and moved down the counter to plug in the coffee pot. Despite their recklessness in running away for the weekend, they had remembered to unplug the coffee pot before they left on Thursday night. The boss was lucky, you could hardly even
buy
that kind of loyalty to the company.

Unluckily, when she sidestepped toward the plug, she also put herself in a corner between the small sink and the compact refrigerator. Hal didn
’t miss a beat and moved closer, trapping her. He was a lot taller than she was and had her by well over 100 pounds. Jackie’s eyes flicked over to the door of the break room which had somehow uncharacteristically closed. She wanted to scream, but she wouldn’t. She could play it cool and get herself out of trouble. Hadn’t she just spent a weekend doing that?

“
Why don’t you go out and sit down and I’ll bring you a cup of this coffee when it’s done,” she said in what she hoped was a calm and congenial voice. “Monday’s are tough,” she added brightly.

“
I know,” he said. “Jackie, right?” He reached out and picked up a lock of her hair that fell over her shoulder. “I worked here all weekend in this lonely building. It sure is nice to see something so inviting.”

Inviting? Jackie thought this was pretty unlikely. There was no way her body language said
inviting
right now. Maybe Hal used his size and bullying personality to invite himself to more than he should. Her heartbeat started to race with a fight or flight rhythm.

“
I’m sure you have an important meeting to get back to,” she said.

Hal pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes.
“That meeting isn’t much fun right now,” he said. “I think I could have a better time here with you.”

“
I doubt it. Our office is pretty much business as usual. In fact, I think I better get to those spreadsheets right now,” she said. Jackie tried to slip sideways again and get away from Hal, but his large hands shot up and gripped the edge of the counter on both sides of her. His hands closed in until his wrists were grazing her hips. His face closed in on hers and she quickly spun her body, surprising him with the sudden move.

At the same time, the door shot open and Teri stood there looking like an angry nun chasing down a wayward child. If she had had a yardstick in her hand, she would have used it on Hal right then and there. Hal stepped back and looked furious instead of chastened.

“I want those reports in the next thirty minutes,” he snapped. He pointed at Jackie and tried to even out his tone. “Bring them up to my office on the
fifteenth floor.”

Chapter Seventeen

Mitchell stared glassy-eyed at the half-dozen board members and executives gathered around the highly varnished conference table in his fifteenth floor office. He listened and jotted down notes in a legal pad in his lap. He truly wanted to respect the opinions of his advisors who flew in early on a Monday morning to discuss the sale of the business. It was a long process and they had to move quickly to finish off the deal by the end of the year. Before the Christmas holidays, it had to be done.

Selling it off seemed so simple when Hal gave him the numbers over the phone. It lightened his mood as he stood in the sunshine outside the animal rescue where his brother entertained Jackie. He allowed Hal to steamroll him right into agreeing to this meeting since it was what would get him off the phone the fastest. At the time, Mitchell
’s main priority had been to get back to the business of being with Jackie for the day.

Right now, there was a slight lull because Hal went downstairs to accounting for some reports, and two of the executives had stepped outside to take calls from their home offices. Mitchell pushed back his chair and looked out the window. Gray rain fell from gray clouds. It looked exactly like it had last Thursday when he took Hal
’s advice and called his private jet to take him south for some sunshine and relaxation.

He thought it would distract him for the weekend. And it did. Little did he know it would continue to distract him on Monday morning. The lights in the office reflected off the shiny windows and he saw shadows and faces passing behind him. A flash of a white shirt, his red-haired secretary, a bright blue tie. All the colors and shapes formed a moving picture as he saw them dance on the window in front of the gray rain outside. One of the shadows was a slim gray blur with long dark hair. The reflection was carrying some white papers that flashed against the window. The sight hit Mitchell like a shot of tequila. It was Jackie. It had to be. He could feel her presence, smell her scent. The flash of legs he had seen…

He spun around in his chair and nearly knocked his coffee off the table.

“
Mr. Ames?” inquired the man seated across from him.

“
Sorry, I just…thought of something I almost let slip away,” said Mitchell.

The vision of the woman was gone. He knew it could only be a shadow, but it brought the memory of Jackie
’s hair, her face, her eyes, her skin…right to the surface of his mind.

The sight of Jackie and her two friends standing on the white-hot concrete at the Key West Airport haunted him all night. What was she doing there when she told him she was leaving on a ship the night before? Why didn
’t the three women get on the plane that his pilot discovered was heading for Miami? Maybe her cruise line changed plans again and she was leaving out of Miami. He wondered what would have happened if he asked his pilot to turn around and go back to the airport. He would never know now because her trail had gone totally cold. Depressingly cold.

The thought of her was so tangible he wanted to hold her in his arms instead of sitting here in this meeting. He wanted to laugh with her in the sunshine that danced on the water instead of sitting here watching the fluorescent lights glance off the glossy table. What was he doing anyway? He knew he didn
’t want this sale, he was only going along with the advice and insistence of Hal because it was the easiest thing to do, distracted as he was by Jackie.

As if on cue, he saw Hal pass by the glass door. He walked quickly as if he was pursuing someone. Mitchell got up abruptly. There was still time to put an end to all this nonsense. He didn
’t have to sell off the Chicago office. The first business that was really his and not an inheritance from his father. The only one of his businesses, aside from Hermanos, that somehow felt like home to him. Hell, he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to. He owned the damn company, and he’d tell that to anyone who didn’t want to play it his way. Spending a blissful weekend with Jackie reminded him there’s more to life than just the financial bottom line.

When Mitchell stepped into the long hallway, he didn
’t see Hal. It was a wide carpeted hall running the whole length of the building. The elevators were on the other end. Hal probably slipped into his office already. Mitchell strode purposefully toward Hal’s office. He was within a dozen feet of it when he heard a voice that stopped him in his tracks. He knew that voice. He heard it in his dreams last night. It was incredible. It was impossible.

Even more incredible was what her voice was saying. It sounded strained, even afraid. He thought he heard her say
“get away from me” and then something sounding like Hal’s voice. Mitchell rounded the corner with lightning speed and stepped into Hal’s office.

Hal had Jackie backed up against the bookcase on the inner wall of the luxurious office. He had one hand on her shoulder and one on the front of her blouse. She twisted her face to the side to avoid Hal
’s lips that hovered near hers. Her arms flailed against him pushing him away.

“
Hal!” Mitchell thundered. He didn’t need to say another word because he quickly crossed the room and grabbed Hal by the back of the jacket. There was a sound of ripping fabric as Mitchell tossed Hal across the room. He landed between a leather sofa and a metal filing cabinet with a sickening crunch.

Mitchell turned immediately and pulled Jackie into his arms. She was shaking and fighting back tears. Mitchell held her close to him and ran his hands over her back soothingly, possessively. Just seeing Hal touching her made him want to hold her even closer. He smelled her hair as he held her and it took him back to the beach at Key West.

Key West. How was it possible she was here? What was she doing in a gray business suit in his building? Mitchell loosened his hold on her and drew back a little so he could see her face. She looked calmer, but still nervous and frightened. Could she be afraid of him? Or was it still the shock over what Hal had almost done to her?

“
Jackie,” he began. “I don’t understand…”

She faced him without saying anything, but he saw her blue eyes fill with tears.

“When you left me on Mallory Square,” he continued slowly, softly, “I thought you were getting on a ship. Then, I was sure I saw you at the airport and now…”

Hal hadn
’t moved since Mitchell threw him across the room. Mitchell almost forgot his CFO was still in the room. Now, though, he heard quiet snickering from Hal’s spot on the carpeted floor.

“
So, this is your little piece of action from Key West, huh?” Hal said.

“
Shut up, Hal. This is none of your business. Any of it. As of five minutes ago, you’re fired.”

“
Right. I’m the bad guy. At least you know who I am. Guess where I found this little honey working this morning? In your building, right downstairs.”

Mitchell stiffened and loosed his hold on Jackie. He suddenly felt very cold inside. Cold and dangerous.

“I swear, Hal, I will kill you,” he said slowly through clenched teeth, “if you don’t leave right now.”

Hal dragged himself slowly up and held a tissue to his bleeding nose. His voice sounded muffled and sinister.

“Sure, fire me, Mitch. You can make little Miss Honesty here your next CFO. Or better yet, you can add her to your collection of gold-diggers.”

Mitchell saw all the color drain from Jackie
’s face and he thought she was going to pass out right there. Hal’s hateful words obviously cut her to the core and Mitchell wanted to kill him for it even though a grim realization crept over him.

“
Or maybe you can get your loser bastard brother an office with a nice big window and you can pretend he got some of your dad’s brains, too, while your dad was banging the housekeeper,” Hal sneered.

Mitchell knew he was going to explode if he couldn
’t hit something right now. He stepped back from Jackie and paced menacingly toward Hal. His CFO was just getting up and Mitchell punched him hard in the face. Hal fell back against the couch and held out the hand that wasn’t busy staunching the blood flowing freely from his nose now.

“
S’all right. I’m leaving.” He leered in Jackie’s direction. “Guess you don’t want me after all. Sleeping your way to the top is a hell of a lot more effective with number one,” he said as he jerked his head at Mitchell.

“
Get
out
!” Mitchell roared.

Hal picked up a briefcase from the chair by the desk and left. Suddenly, Mitchell and Jackie were alone. He had dreamed of this for two nights since she left him standing there in the fading sunset. Now, though, nothing seemed right.

Mitchell turned to Jackie. His first thought was to kiss away the agony he saw clearly written on her face. If she had come to him at that moment, he knew he would have given in to his desire for her. But she didn’t. She didn’t move.

“
Jackie,” he began. “That night I approached you in the bar…”

He had to ask her, he needed to know the truth.

Jackie looked him in the eye, and said nothing. She leaned against the bookcase like she was barely able to stand. Her face was terribly pale despite the hint of tan that they got on Blue Bottle Beach. Together. Only two days ago.

“
Why didn’t you tell me the truth that night? You said you were a dancer on a cruise ship,” he said. He gestured at her gray business suit as if it were the proof she lied about her profession.

“
You said that,” she whispered. “I just agreed to it.”

“
But why? You could have told me you worked in an office in Chicago.”

“
At that moment,” she said quietly, “you were just a man I met in a bar.”

Mitchell felt a little glimmer of hope.
“But then something changed?”

Jackie looked at the floor. Mitchell felt a cold chill settle over him. Everything they shared felt like a lie now. If it wasn
’t, why wasn’t she saying anything?

“
When did you realize who I was?” he demanded, more loudly than he had intended. “Or did you know all along?”

“
The next morning. Before you came for breakfast,” she said quietly. “My friends showed me your picture on the website. They thought I knew.”

She seemed like she was far away and answered like a robot. Where was the passionate woman he almost gave a piece of his heart to? Where was the spark in those beautiful blue eyes?

“You knew I owned this company and you didn’t say anything,” he said flatly. “You spent that whole day with me and continued to lie to me. Even when I thought I was fall…” he stopped short. He had been about to say something he would never say again.

Jackie
’s head came up and for a second her face softened and her eyes were the blue of the beach where they had made love. One look at his hardened face, though, and her expression changed. He saw her jaw clench. He watched her fight for composure.

“
Over a year ago,” she said evenly, “I thought I was in love with a man who was my boss. It turned out to be a huge mistake. Maybe I didn’t want to admit, even to myself or you, that I would be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.”

Mitchell stared at Jackie as he wrestled with painful emotions.

“Did you plan to tell me at some point that I was being made a fool of?” he asked.

Her chin came up.
“Don’t forget, that
you
were the one to approach me.
You
came back for breakfast the next morning, and
you
bought my time for the day by buying off my friends.”

Her friends. They probably worked here, too. He imagined they enjoyed a hell of a laugh at his expense. Probably still were. The thought pushed his raw nerves to a breaking point.

Jackie finally moved from her rigid pose against the bookcase. She walked straight past him to the door of the office and then turned and looked at his face for a second before speaking.

“
I’ll save you the trouble of firing me. I quit.”

Mitchell struggled with his anger and his rising panic. Quit? She was walking away from him? He needed time, needed to figure out what to do with the ball of feelings knotted inside him. Just seeing her walk past him made one part of him want to reach out to stop her and the other part of him want to slam the door securely shut behind her. Risking his heart was difficult and dangerous. He didn
’t know what he was going to do about her, but he knew he needed to stall just a little.

“
Wait,” he said. He tried to sound dispassionate and businesslike so that the desperation in his voice wouldn’t be obvious.

Jackie stopped and glared at him. He wished he could read her expression. It was somewhere between hurt and furious.

“Two weeks,” he said. “You have to give notice or you won’t get another job in this town.”

Now she looked truly angry, but there was also a little fire in those eyes. He had to admit, he liked it.