it would be even harder to work with him over the coming months.
He rolled to the side and went up on one elbow. Shooting a quick glance at the window and the rays of sunlight peeking through, he shifted his gaze back to her and said, “I should go.”
“Yeah.” Jenny looked at him and sketched this view of him into her memory. Hair mussed, a shadow of whiskers and that amazing mouth of his quirked into a rueful smile. If she’d had any sense at all, instead of trying to build a memory, she would have been attempting to put this time with Mike out of her mind completely.
She wasn’t sure where they would be going from here, but she knew that whatever connection they’d found, however briefly, was gone. Over.
“Look,” he said, gently pushing her hair back from her face, “last night was—”
“A mistake, I know,” she finished for him, since it was easier to say it than to hear it.
He frowned, rolled off the bed and grabbed his clothes, pulling them on while he talked. “Can’t really call it a mistake since it was something we both wanted.”
How did he do that? she wondered. He was right there, within reach, and yet he’d pulled so far away that he might as well have been in a different city. A cold ball of regret dropped into the pit of her stomach.
“Last night didn’t change anything, Jenny.”
She nearly sighed because she knew exactly where this conversation was headed. “I know, you don’t trust me.”
“You lied to me the first night I met you.”
“I didn’t lie,” she argued tiredly. God, she hated having to defend herself over and over to a man who refused to see past his own suspicions. How could he sleep with her, make love with her and not have the slightest clue who she really was? “Since I’ve worked for Celtic Knot, haven’t I done a good job? Have I ever let anyone down? Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Yeah, it does,” he said shortly. “You know it does. But it can’t change the past.” His features tightened and his mouth thinned into one grim line as he held up one hand for peace before she could respond.
“Let’s not,” he said. “You have done good work for us, Jenny. That’s why we’ve got a problem now. You’re the logical choice to do the work on the River Haunt hotel, but if we have to stay on the project together it’s going to be more difficult than it has to be.”
Shaking her head, she only stared at him. Difficult? Like going into the office every day and feeling him watching her warily? Like knowing that he was waiting for her to screw up? To prove that she was exactly the liar and cheat he took her for?
She pushed off the bed and quickly snatched her robe off the end of the bed. They weren’t going to argue about the past, fine. But she was more than ready to fight for the present and her own future. And damned if she’d do it naked. Slipping the robe on, she belted it tightly, then shook her hair back and turned to face the man who continued to haunt her. “It’s not a problem for me, Mike. I’m going to do a hell of a good job on that hotel. And it doesn’t have to be difficult if you’ll just trust me to do what I’m best at.”
For a second she thought he might argue that point, but instead, he blew out a breath and shoved one hand through his hair. “All right. We do the hotel. We do the job. Then we’re done.”
Eager, wasn’t he, to push her aside and keep her there? But even he had to realize that he’d said pretty much the same thing about being done with her more than a year before. And yet, here they were, facing each other across yet another rumpled bed.
Still, it’s what she wanted, Jenny reminded herself. A chance to prove herself on the hotel project without being at war with Mike, because it really would make things harder. So why, she wondered, did she suddenly feel so terrible now that he was offering her just that? She scrubbed her hands up and down her arms as if to chase away the bone-deep chill crawling through her, but it didn’t help.
“We keep...this,” he said, waving one hand at the disheveled quilt and the still-warm sheets, “between us and do what we have to do.”
Another secret, then, Jenny thought. But probably better that the people at work didn’t know what was going on between them. Since even she wasn’t sure what exactly it was they shared, beyond the burn and desire.
Nodding, she asked, “Do we shake hands on it?”
For the first time that morning his lips curved in a half smile. “I think we can do better than that.”
He walked up to her, cupped her face between his palms and bent his head for a kiss. His mouth was firm, soft and left hers all too quickly. She really was an idiot, Jenny thought as her insides jumped and her heart galloped. The kiss meant nothing. She meant nothing to him and oh, boy, was that a hard thing to acknowledge. But she knew it was only hunger that burned between them, nothing more. Yet she looked into his eyes and found herself wishing things were different. Wishing for—
“I’ll see you at the office?”
“Yeah,” she said abruptly, cutting off her own thoughts before they could lead her down completely ridiculous paths. “I’ll be there.”
“All right, then.” He turned away to grab his jacket off the floor. Shrugging it on, he looked back at her and said, “In honor of this new cooperation between us, I’d like you to go to Laughlin with me in a week or so. Check out the new hotel. I want to walk the property, get a feel for it before we start the renovations.”
“Good.” She forced a smile that she hoped looked more convincing than it felt. “It would be good for me to get an on-site idea for the placement of the murals.”
“Okay.” He tugged the jacket into place. “We’ll go out a week from Monday. Figure to stay at least overnight. I’ll have Linda make reservations at the River Lodge.”
Her stomach jittered. Laughable really, because what virtue was she suddenly so worried about? But the two of them were practically combustible, so was it really wise to invite more temptation? “Overnight?”
He shrugged. “We’ll take the company jet into Vegas, and drive into Laughlin from there. I want enough time to explore the place. Staying over is the only solution.”
“Right.” Overnight. Did that mean they’d be sharing a bed again? Was he expecting that? Well, if so, he was doomed to disappointment. Jenny wasn’t going to let this spiral into an affair that would leave her broken and miserable when it ended. Better to end it now. And much better to let him know just where she stood on this before they went any further.
“I won’t be sleeping with you again.”
One dark eyebrow winged up. “I didn’t say you would be.”
“Just saying,” she went on, shaking her head, “I’m not interested in an affair and I’m not going to keep sleeping with my boss.”
A dark scowl marred his face briefly. “This wasn’t about boss and employee. It never was.”
She shivered under his steady stare, but lifted her chin to ask, “Then what was it about, Mike?”
“Need,” he said simply,
