“Miss, there’s a company policy against entering the code to reach the upper levels without identifying the people traveling in the car.”
“Cami Jones, normally research librarian but for the next three months, event coordinator.”
Her name was vaguely familiar; they’d be working together soon. He wanted to smile at the way she’d said it. As if she were uncomfortable with her new role. “Duke Merchon, vice president of security.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes.”
With great drama she dropped her leather case and offered up her wrists to him. “Cart me away.”
He bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing. Something about this woman made him want to smile. But smiling invited friendliness and friendliness led to connections and bonds. And bonds led to tragedy. He stabbed the button to start the elevator moving again, and the car carried them to the fourteenth floor.
She picked up her case and walked out of the elevator before turning back to him. “I thought your office was on twelve.”
“It is.”
“Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Merchon.”
Her hips swayed gently as she walked away. Awareness suddenly shot through him, tightening his skin until it felt too tight for his body. She was curvy and sweet, and totally feminine. Everything he could never have. But he watched her, anyway, and wanted her.
His control weakened and his groin tightened. He was tempted to flirt with her in a way he hadn’t flirted in years.
But, thrusting his fingers into his pocket, he touched Rebecca’s ring. He never left home without the ring. It was his personal talisman. He wasn’t a man cut out for relationships. He wasn’t interested in some femininely sweet woman or her nine-to-five grind. When it came to love, he had destructive tendencies.
Even though he was an invited attendee, Duke felt a bit like a stalker as he followed Cami Jones into the conference room. But when Max waved him over, Duke approached the CEO of Pryce Enterprises with ease.
Duke saw all kinds of people in his role as head of security for the company and as personal security guard to Max Williams. Pryce Enterprises was a communications conglomerate that owned a television network, an all-news cable channel and a digital network. Max, who had taken the helm four years ago, had brought Duke with him to Pryce, but Duke had never felt at home in Atlanta.
Too many memories surrounded him here.
He glanced at her again and found her watching him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Would she look like that after making love? Enough, dammit. Cami Jones wasn’t the kind of woman he would normally find attractive, but her spunk had grabbed his attention and that spark of desire disturbed him. His body had betrayed him on the job, where he was always all business.
She looked like a fairy as she flitted across the room, moving from person to person and smiling as though she had a secret. He watched as she set up the easels and flip charts for her presentation.
Duke didn’t normally attend executive committee meetings—he wasn’t much of a team player—and Max allowed him the luxury of not attending. It was hard to investigate a friend for fraud and remember to whom you owed your loyalty. And in Duke’s role as V.P. of security, he headed up all embezzlement investigations. Duke would never betray Max. They’d been through too much together. Max had offered him a job overseas when he’d needed to escape the familiar.
Recent threats to the board of directors had allowed him no choice in the matter of attending the weekly meetings and so here he was—at the same place as the rather average-but-tempting Cami Jones. Slowly the room filled and everyone took their seats, jockeying for the prime positions next to Max.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” Cami said, calling the meeting to order. “This year’s Gala promises to be more exciting than last year’s. I have a mock-up of the themed ballroom and—”
Gatorboard posters flew one way and index cards the other as she backed into the easels she’d just set up. Duke bit back a laugh just as Max glanced over at him and motioned for him to help her out.
Duke stood to assist the struggling young woman. He accepted the fact that he was able to shoulder the burdens of others. It had been a long time since he’d encountered a woman who needed his strength more than this sexy pixie. He’d been the strong one his entire life, and it seemed the role for which he was best suited.
Cami Jones muttered as he bent beside her and helped her right the boards. Her voice was soft, not nearly as melodious as it had been earlier.
Duke had never before seen anyone drop an entire presentation in front of the board of directors. He’d seen them nervous and arrogant, but not funny. After having witnessed her charm and ease with the strangers in the elevator, her attack of nerves now surprised him.
“Miss Jones?”
“Nothing,” she said quietly, adjusting her glasses. She laid her small hand on his arm, used him for balance, and stood.
The warmth of her personal touch penetrated the fabric layers in his jacket and revived the desire he’d banked in the hallway. It had been years since anyone had touched him in a way that wasn’t sexual in intent. And that non-personal touch sparked a carnal fire that burned through him. Maybe it’s time to start dating again.
He quickly helped her to settle her presentation boards back on the easels before he stepped back.
Working with the event coordinator this year was going to be more difficult than he’d anticipated. As head of security, he was responsible for overseeing security for the Gala, the culmination of the annual meeting and celebration of the company’s founding. The network stars were usually the only celebrities who attended but with Max angling to buy a hockey team, this year there would probably be a few athletes in attendance. For the first time in five years, the entire board of directors would attend the annual Gala.
Ms. Jones wasn’t the safe, predictable plain Jane she tried so hard to project. There was something about her he couldn’t ignore. He shouldn’t be turned on by her. He shouldn’t desire her or want to be near her. Definitely time to start dating again.
When she picked up her laser pointer, Duke wondered what she’d do next. She began her presentation, then realized the cards were out of order. She bit her lip, which drew his gaze to her mouth. Her lips looked soft and sweet and he wanted nothing more than to taste them. Her full lower lip actually invited a man to kiss her.
He should know better. The woman at the end of the table wasn’t his type. She wasn’t rough-and-tumble or outgoing. In fact, she seemed too ethereal for him.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. As she found her ground and made her way through her presentation, her passion and zest for life came through loud and clear.
Passion for living seldom survived an upbringing such as his. Though the orphanage had been a fair place—Duke had never been mistreated—he’d never known affection. It was obvious Cami Jones had been loved. Despite her nervousness, she showered her kindness on everyone in the room with her smiles and nervous giggles.
Duke leaned against the cherrywood paneling and listened to the woman
