Her stomach sank. “You don’t need to do that, Max. I swear I’m not sharing company secrets. I’m trying to help, not hurt Hudson Pictures.”
“Will you sleep with him to get the information?”
She flinched and gasped. “No.”
“Will you kiss him again?”
This was a weird conversation for a man who avoided personal exchanges like he would stepping on a fire-ant hill. “Probably. I told you Doug kisses everybody.”
“Do you?”
She couldn’t gauge his mood. She’d never seen him like this…all edgy and male with a hint of aggression just below the surface. He wasn’t drunk. His words and eyes were clear and she didn’t smell liquor on his breath.
“No. I’m pretty selective who I kiss.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you?”
He closed the gap between them. Only an inch or two separated their torsos. Her breath stalled in her chest. “Max?”
“I knew who I was kissing yesterday. I always know who I’m kissing.” He lifted her chin with his knuckle and covered her mouth with his.
Dana stood frozen with shock. Fast on the heels of that hair-raising circumstance came a potent cocktail of heat, arousal and adrenaline. His lips pressed hers open and his tongue sought and found hers in a slick, hot caress. A whimper of need slipped up her throat. Her nails bit into her palms as she struggled for sanity and fought the urge to wrap her arms around him.
She didn’t have a clue what was going on or why he was kissing her. And she didn’t care. She’d dreamed of this moment too often to question or fight it. His chest pressed her breasts and their thighs touched, and then his arm hooked around her and yanked her against him. Her heart raced and her skin flushed.
His heat scorched her, winded her, aroused her. The pressure of his mouth on hers intensified, bending her back over his arm, opening her mouth for deeper possession. She dropped her purse on the floor and gave in to the need to wind her arms around his middle for support as the room spun around her.
The warmth of his palm splayed over her hip and rose with torturous slowness to rest on her rib cage with his thumb just below her breast. Her nipple tightened in anticipation. She wanted him to touch her, ached for it. But he didn’t.
His hold loosened and he stepped away. “Don’t see Lewis again if you want to keep your job.”
Dana struggled to catch her breath and unscramble her brain. “Wha-what if I can’t promise that?”
“I’d think long and hard before I refused if I were you. Your job won’t be the only one on the line.”
And then he pivoted and climbed the stairs, leaving her alone in the foyer. Dana sagged against the front door with her heart pounding a deafening roar in her ears.
If she did as he ordered, she wouldn’t get the answers Hudson needed. Surely once she had the script Max would understand and forgive her for ignoring his command?
It was a risk she had to take.
When he saw Dana smother a yawn, Max pushed away from his desk and stood. “Take a break.”
Dana’s brown eyes found his. “It’s not even noon.”
He couldn’t think for the distraction of having her only yards away. He heard each shift of her body, every sigh and even the quiet rumble of her stomach, for pity’s sake. Working in close proximity to her had never been an issue before. Why now when he didn’t have time for this?
“We don’t have time to correct mistakes that slip by because you’re tired.”
She snapped upright. “If I were that tired I’d take a break. I know my limitations. Do you, Max?”
“Of course.” Had she changed perfumes? Her scent seemed stronger. Or maybe he was just more aware of it since that kiss last week.
Why had he kissed her?
Why had she kissed him back?
He plowed a hand through his hair and turned toward the window. He hadn’t slept worth a damn since that night because he couldn’t help wondering what she had been doing during those two hours after she’d left the restaurant with Doug Lewis. He’d worried about her driving on his twisty road after drinking champagne.
But mostly he’d wondered if she’d been in Lewis’s bed.
And why did the idea of her naked and sweaty with Lewis make his gut burn? Must be because of the possible betrayal of Hudson secrets. If she’d shared the Honor script details, what else would she share?
The air inside the office suddenly seemed stuffy. He had to get out of this room. “I’m going for a swim.”
Dana blinked, her long lashes briefly concealing the confusion in her eyes. “Okay, I’ll cover the phones.”
“No, you’ll join me. We’ll both be more alert after a break.” And maybe the chlorine in the pool would kill her scent.
“But—”
“It’s Saturday, Dana. No one important is going to call. Put on your suit. I’ll meet you outside.”
He left before she could argue and jogged upstairs to his room. Changing into swim trunks took only seconds and then he was outside on his private deck sucking up the fresh air and letting the sun bake his skin. Neither did anything to cure the restlessness riding him.
What was his problem?
He descended the circular stair to the flagstone patio. The blue pool water glistened, but a swim wasn’t really what he needed. It was just a way to physically exhaust himself so that he could concentrate.
The door from the guest room to the patio opened, and Dana strolled out wearing a black bikini. He nearly choked on his tongue. She was toned where it counted, but soft where she needed to be. Honey-golden skin wrapped her curves in a mouth-watering package. Hunger hit him like a fist in the gut. How had he missed that she had a fantasy-worthy body?
He shook himself, trying to break the spell. This was Dana, the woman who’d been right under his nose, his right hand, for the past five years.
A woman who’d stood by him through some tough times.
A woman who might have betrayed him.
An idea infiltrated his brain like smoke slipping under a door. What better way to end the pillow talk between Dana and Lewis than by keeping her out of the other man’s bed?
And the best way to do that was for Max to keep her so busy in his bed that she wouldn’t have the time or energy to think about her ex-lover.
The idea sent a rush of heat through him, but his conscience countered with a warning prickle up the back of his neck. Sleeping with an employee was never a good idea. He’d learned that lesson the hard way. But he wasn’t going to marry Dana. She’d
