paper and began to work. Within moments he was immersed in what he loved best, developing computer chip circuits.
The persistent buzzing on his intercom finally jarred him away from his work. Frowning, he checked his watch. “Damn.” He’d been sitting at his desk for three hours straight. In one smooth motion, he hopped down from the stool and reached for the phone that hung on the wall behind him.
“Yes, Carmen.”
“Ah, the reporter from Visions Magazine is here.” Carmen looked across to where Reese Delaware sat.
Maxwell clenched his jaw and drew a deep breath. “Send him in,” he bit out, snatching his finger away from the intercom button.
“But it’s not a…” Carmen’s response was lost on him. She turned toward Reese, her smile wavering as she shrugged in apology. “He’s really quite nice,” she offered.
Reese picked up her heavy briefcase and crossed the space that separated her from Carmen. She stood in front of Carmen’s desk. Reese’s right eyebrow rose speculatively. “He thinks I’m a man,” she stated more than asked, just the barest hint of amusement lacing her husky voice.
Carmen looked up at the striking woman, a tone of conspiracy in her response, “It appears so.”
Reese’s mouth curved into a grin. “May I go inside now?”
“Of course.” Carmen stood up. “Follow me, Ms. Delaware. Mr. Knight’s office is right down this corridor. I’m Carmen Valez, executive assistant in charge of East Coast operations and Mr. Knight’s personal assistant. My desk is back there also, I’m just covering for lunch.” They proceeded down the hall until they reached twin glass doors. Carmen placed her palm on the scanner and the doors slid open. Reese’s eyes widened in awe. She’d only seen that done on television and in the movies.
She dutifully followed Carmen down the acoustically sound-treated, semi-hushed hall. Futuristic offices and security cubicles to the left and right were closed off from the hallway traffic by huge Plexiglas panels. Behind these smoke-tinted panels, high-tech equipment, most of which she couldn’t even give a name to, occupied much of the space, expelling information to white-coated technicians and to others who looked no different from the video-game junkies who haunted the arcades.
What a group of nerds, she mused. She wondered if the mysterious Maxwell Knight was half as uninteresting.
Carmen stopped at the security panel and repeated the previous process. Upon entering the next corridor they turned left and Reese was instantly aware of the change in decor. There were no more glass walls. Heavy wood doors with gold-plated name tags had taken their place. Here was the suite of executive offices that ran M.K. Enterprises. “We call this the Black Forest because of all this oak,” jibed Carmen.
She slowed, then stopped in front of an intricately carved door. She tapped once and turned the knob. Stepping aside she opened the door for Reese to enter.
Maxwell wasn’t rude by nature, but this whole interview business had put him in a foul mood. He hadn’t put on his jacket and didn’t even bother to look up from his drafting table when the door opened.
“Have a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute,” he said with all the civility he could summon.
Reese’s eyes swept across the room to locate the southern preacher’s voice that seemed to emanate from the depths of a gospel standard.
Maxwell’s heightened senses, ever alert, caught the subtle, yet potent whiff of her African Musk body oil before she’d stepped completely across the threshold. Every muscle in his body tensed, as if sensing imminent danger.
He came from around the dividing wall and their worlds collided. Reese Delaware was not a man by any means. The reality slammed against his invisible wall, causing tiny fissures in the structure.
Reese stepped farther into the room, noting the infinitesimal look of surprise that widened the irises of his unusual eyes. This was no nerd. She used her warm, slow smile as a beacon, allowing it to cut a path directly to his outstretched hand.
“Reese Delaware,” she announced in a tone that seemed to stroke the tightened muscles of his body.
Husky, throaty, smoky, sultry. Her voice was all that and more. No. This definitely would not work.
“Ms. Delaware,” he responded, his body virtually vibrating from the pressure of her slender hand in his. She was the first to pull away.
“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.” He paused to gauge her reaction, and much to his chagrin he saw nothing.
She shot him a steady look from behind luminous amber eyes that seemed to whisper, “come to me.”
He cleared his throat, his own hot stare meeting hers. “I’m sure that everything there is to know about my company can be gleaned from our annual reports.”
Reese placed her briefcase at her feet, looked up at him from beneath heavy black lashes, then took a seat opposite his desk. With a deliberance that bordered on an “X” rating, she crossed her long legs. Her short, canary yellow skirt barely hit her mid-thigh. Max tore his gaze away.
“Let’s get right to the point,” she began, her low voice threading its way through his bloodstream. “You don’t want me here. You know it and I know it. I don’t have a problem with that, because I have a job to do, one which I take just as seriously as I’m sure you take yours. I intend to get my job done,’ she added, emphasizing each word with an almost musical cadence. “So—” she exhaled a long breath “—we can do this the easy way or we can do it the ugly way.” She flashed him a brilliant “Colgate” smile.
Damnit, he liked her. When was the last time that anyone, least of all a woman, told him just where to get off? However, these shaky emotions could be his undoing—and that couldn’t happen. Think with the head on top of your neck, buddy, he warned himself.
“And not to belabor the subject,” she continued, “but I’m not the least bit interested in your company, Mr. Knight.” She paused for effect. “I’m interested in you.”
Maxwell gave her a long, hard look. “Humph,” he chuckled. “You seem pretty sure of yourself, Ms. Delaware.”
“Call me Reese, since we’ll be working so closely together. And yes, I am very sure of myself. I have to be in this business—Max.” She saw the nerve jump beneath his right eye and mentally ticked off a point for herself. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down for a minute. If he got the slightest inclination that he could railroad her, or intimidate her, this whole trip would be for nothing, just as he’d said. She had no intention of returning the ten-thousand-dollar advance. The money had been a lifesaver. Had it not been for the windfall, she’d probably be looking for someplace else to live. At least her apartment was secure for the time being. If only the other holes in her life could be filled as easily.
Maxwell turned away from her, took a seat behind his desk and proceeded to review the stack of documents in front of him. He didn’t bother to look up when he next spoke. “I hope, Reese, that you’re as talented at making yourself invisible as you claim you are at your job.” He signed a document, put it to the side and continued, “I don’t want to be hovered over, interrupted when I’m designing, or followed to the men’s room.”
She bit down on the inside of her lip to
