Page 45 of Some Like It Deadly
Four hours later, he crept back into the house the way he had gone out.
Exhausted, he stripped and slid into bed. He didn’t want to wake her, but when he went to sleep, it was spooned up against her back.
Monday arrivedwith a fresh dose of reality. “So.” Kate poured coffee for both of them. She’d been quiet in the shower, quieter still why they dressed.
“Chickening out?” he asked quietly, aware of the distance she’d already put between them.
“No.” She wrinkled her nose and held out a mug to him. “Just working out how we’ll do this.”
“Which part? I thought what we did in the shower worked really well.” He couldn’t help but tease her. He didn’t like the cool, professional wall she’d begun erecting after she came apart in his arms all slick, wet and soapy.
She paused, coffee cup halfway to her lips. “I do believe you were more than adequate. However, I was referring to your morning schedule.”
“Adequate?” he repeated. “Adequate?”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “It’s after eight, Richard. Do focus. We’re on the clock which means it’s my job to keep you on time. I can stroke your ego later.”
Hardly mollified, he gave her a dirty look. “Adequate.” He’d show her adequate.
“Focus.” She walked over to the table and flipped on her digital tablet. “You have four conference calls scheduled this morning, one starting in about thirty minutes. Do you want to take it here? Or in the car? Or would you like me to reschedule it? Unless something changed last night when you went out.”
The last sentence echoed with a question, but he focused on the first part instead. “The call in thirty minutes is Kravitts, isn’t it?” Grimacing, he pushed away his irritation at her businesslike tone. They did have work to do and she was his assistant.
“Yes, it’s regarding the Masterson deal he’s trying to curry with the EU. What he wants is for you to represent the corporate interests and provide second chair support to his in-house counsel when they present their deal to the commission in Belgium next month.” The succinct summary covered most aspects of what Kravitts had scheduled the call for.
“I can’t represent their interests. It would be a direct conflict with theSpherecastdeal.”
“A conflict of interest he wants to put you in. It’s most likely a fishing expedition to see if you’ll tell him no so he can pursue why. It also allows him to play the ‘in negotiations with Andraste Enterprises’ card.” Since he’d said the same thing a couple of weeks ago, he had to grin.
“So why did I agree to the call?” He dared her to remember because he’d only told her to set it up. He hadn’t said why.
“To mollify him while you finished negotiating for Mr. Voldakov and His Highness.” She tapped her nail against the side of the tablet. “Which means you can cancel this call because it’s already served its purpose simply by being on the books.”
“That would be a calculated and cold move on my part.” He sipped his coffee.
“How much notice of the cancellation would you like me to give him?” Understanding lit her eyes.
Moments like this reminded him exactly how much he adored her mind. “Two minutes.”
“You are a mean man, Mr. Prentiss.” But she checked her phone for a time and marked out the call on the tablet. “You have a call thirty minutes after that with His Highness and Mr. Voldakov. They’ve both confirmed their availability. Mr. Grange, Mr. Voldakov’s attorney, will be placing the call. Do you want to take that one in the office?”
“I think I should take that one naked while you’re sitting in my lap.” He stared at her across the table. Rattling her in the office would be a hell of a lot of fun, but once they were there, he’d need to behave. It was one thing to tease her across a breakfast table, something else entirely where he met with his clients.
Of course, the idea of going down on her while she sprawled across his desk held a great deal of appeal.
“I hardly think nudity will be conducive to a successfully negotiated business arrangement.” Her face flushed and her tongue skated over her lip. Recognizing the signs of her arousal, he stroked his finger around the rim of his coffee cup.
“It’s a done deal, Kate. This is the notification call and I won’t have to do any talking at all. Imagine listening to all that formal protocol as Daniel and Armand dance around their family connection and Martin has to play negotiator while I slide in and out of you. They’re all tense and proper with their blood pressure on the rise and your legs are wrapped around my waist and we’re having a good time.”
She set the tablet down with a thump. The rapidly escalating rise and fall of her chest betrayed her. “You do not fight fair.”
“No, I don’t, but you keep thinking about that ‘adequate’ time I gave you while I take this call in my office.” He rose and drained his coffee cup. Leaving it on the counter, he pivoted to give her a wink. “Be sure to sit in. I wouldn’t want you to miss amomentof it.”
The dishtowel caught him in the back of his head as he walked away.
His good mood lasted all the way out to the car and even having to let Armand’s security give them a ride to the office, he still managed to enjoy himself.
She retaliated, however, by sucking on a pen the whole ride and pretending interest in whatever she read on the tablet.
