Page 16 of About that Fling
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at the floor. “Not all the dirty details, of course—that’s not necessary. Besides, Belmont tends to be pretty puritanical when it comes to the conduct of its administrators.”
“I see,” he said, squelching the flicker of annoyance welling in his chest.
“But we explain the mix-up, the fact that we’re a divorced couple who moved on with our lives but that we feel confident we can all proceed here with the utmost professionalism and detachment. I can say that,” she said, lifting her eyes to meet his again. “Can you?”
Adam studied her, taking a moment to gauge his own responses to his ex-wife. His pulse felt normal, his palms weren’t sweaty, and while he didn’t particularly like the idea of dealing with Amelia—with Mia—he felt confident about the job. About himself.
About the prospect of working with Jenna.
Christ.
He nodded once, then turned back toward the board room. “Let’s go.”
Jenna slipped between a rack of crotchless panties and a display of leather paddles, her eyes on the DVD shelf up ahead. She just needed to stay focused on the goal, on grabbing the merchandise, plunking down the cash, and getting the hell out of here before anyone saw her.
“Jenna?”
She whirled around. “Adam?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “What are the odds? Seriously, what the hell are the odds?”
“Relax, I came here to find you.”
Jenna opened her eyes and frowned. “That doesn’t make it any less creepy. In fact, that makes it a lot more creepy. Creepier. Whatever. Are you stalking me?”
Her voice slipped out a little louder than she meant it to sound, and the clerk glanced over a display of giant dildos to regard her with curiosity.
“I’m not stalking you, but I do need to talk to you,” he said, lowering his voice. “I tried to call. We didn’t get a chance to talk in today’s meeting, and I’m assuming from your lack of objection to my contract that you wanted to keep our relationship a secret?”
Jenna grimaced at the word relationship, or maybe it was their surroundings. Could there be a more awkward place to have this conversation?
She forced herself to stop gritting her teeth. “Pardon me if I didn’t stand up in the meeting and volunteer the fact that I accidentally slept with my best friend’s ex-husband, who oh-by-the-way happens to be the corporate mediator hired by my employer.”
The clerk glanced over again, and Jenna realized her voice had risen above the whisper she’d been aiming for. She grabbed Adam by the arm and tried to push him toward the door. “You have to leave. How did you find me here, anyway?”
“Your aunt answered your phone when I called.”
“Shit, I must have left it at the house. I’ve told her not to answer it. What did she say?”
“She told me where you’d be.” He grinned—that stupid, sexy, boyish grin—and Jenna felt her traitorous heart lurch in her chest. “This is the same aunt who told you to sleep with me?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “Also the same aunt who sent me on an errand to a goddamn adult pleasure store. Would you just go? Please?”
She pushed him again, which was a mistake. Her palm remembered the contour of muscle in his arm, the swell of his bicep, and she shuddered a little with the pleasure of touching him. Now he was smiling down at her in earnest.
“Your aunt sends you to a porn store on an errand? Now I’ve gotta hear this story. Come on, meet me somewhere for a drink. I’ll buy you a glass of Sunridge Vineyards Pinot and we’ll talk through this like professional adults.”
“No! We can’t be seen in public together.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Fine. We can go back to my hotel.”
“Definitely not.” Her face flamed. “I know what happens there.”
His grin turned slightly devilish. “What happens there, Jenna?”
His tone was teasing, and she felt her cheeks grow warmer. She didn’t answer, mostly because she was afraid she might beg him to do it to her again.
“Look, we need to talk,” Adam said. “If you’re worried about being seen, I think this is a pretty unlikely place to run into your colleagues.”
“We are not having this conversation next to the bondage aisle at a porn store,” she hissed.
