it’s a whole new genre of erotic fantasy.”
Claire took a huge gulp of champagne and wrenched her eyes away from the damned phone.
“Sorry to disappoint, but it was hot and airless and dull. Very dull.”
Unbidden, an image of Jack sliding his pants down his hips popped into her mind, the length of him proud and hard and ready for action. She felt a blush stealing into her cheeks, and she shot a look at her friend. Fortunately, Katherine was studying the lid of the chocolate box, trying to make a selection.
“I like the hard-centered ones—something to chew on,” she muttered as she plucked her selection from the box.
Claire took advantage of Katherine’s distraction to broaden the conversation.
“Do you know who else was trapped? Anyone we know?” she asked, sitting back in her chair and pretending she had all the time in the world.
All the while her mind was working overtime—what if Jack called while Katherine was here? What if he wanted to come over, and she couldn’t get rid of Katherine?
“One of the lifts had ten women in it. Can you imagine? Apparently they took turns hyperventilating and freaking out.”
Claire forced a smile.
“Wow.”
Her eyes strayed to the wall clock over Katherine’s shoulder. Eight o’clock. When was Jack going to call?
Two and a half hours later, and she knew the answer to that question: never. Katherine was full of champagne and chocolate, and Claire had sore cheek muscles from forcing smiles she didn’t believe in.
Moaning about having eaten too much, Katherine finally rubbed her stomach one last time and called it a night. Claire closed the door on her and turned to contemplate her empty apartment.
It was 10:30. So much for her hot night. The empty champagne bottle and almost-empty chocolate box mocked her.
She felt heavy, a bit dazed. Vaguely she realized she felt humiliated. She dragged off her clothes, and moved into her en suite to prepare for bed. The sight of herself decked out in her very best underwear was a slap in the face.
What had she been thinking, for Pete’s sake?
And what on earth had she been thinking when she tore her clothes off and climbed Jack Brook like a cat on a curtain? Had she lost all semblance of self-respect in that tiny, airless space? Suddenly she groaned as she recalled pressing her business card into his hand. She never did stuff like that, ever. All of her life she’d been careful, modest, demure. And now she’d just blotted her copybook spectacularly.
Worst of all, while she’d been sitting here all night, wrapped up in some fantasy world where hot sex equaled spiritual meaning, he’d probably been thinking of the hot blonde he was no doubt taking to dinner.
She stared at her reflection for a beat, forcing herself to face the brutal facts. A sophisticated guy like Jack—he knew the rules. He knew that what had happened in the elevator was a one-off, never to be repeated. He must have been amazed when she gave him her number. She closed her eyes against the wash of humiliation that threatened.
Why, oh, why had she been so stupid?
By the time she’d cleansed and brushed and flossed and crawled into bed, she’d convinced herself it was good riddance to bad rubbish. The man had disaster written all over him. He was a self-confessed commitaphobe with a very short attention span. He was so closed off and protected, she doubted he’d ever let an emotion stronger than pleasure or satisfaction breach his defenses.
Yes, the physical attraction between them had been hot, but that wasn’t the only thing in life, right? It certainly wasn’t worth humiliating herself over, that was for sure.
Nope, she was very, very lucky he’d never taken her up on her stupid, ill-informed, ill-considered, impulsive, deranged invitation. She thumped her pillow decisively, determined to put the whole experience behind her.
But then she started thinking about work tomorrow. About seeing Jack for the first time. About looking at him, and remembering, and knowing. Her eyes popped open and she stared at the ceiling.
What if he told someone else at work what had happened? What if she walked into the building tomorrow and people stopped talking as she approached? She had a vivid picture of her business card taped up in the men’s restroom—For a good time, call Claire Marsden.
For a moment she felt sick to her stomach, but then reason returned. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew—absolutely—that Jack wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened between them while they were trapped. The realization calmed her. No matter what else she’d managed to misinterpret between them, she knew that she had this right—what happened in the elevator, stayed in the elevator.
And long might it stay that way. Relieved, she rolled onto her side and willed herself to sleep. She was just drifting off when she remembered that she was supposed to work with Jack for the next few weeks or however long Beck deemed it was necessary to salve old man Hillcrest’s ego.
That was something of a stumbling block. An Everest-size stumbling block. She sat bolt-upright in bed. If she was honest, she wanted very badly to tell Morgan Beck to shove his stupid arrangement. But that wasn’t the way she worked. What Beck had asked from her was wrong, and unfair, and she was still deeply ashamed about sitting through that initial meeting with Jack and Beck without making her feelings clear.
But innate self-honesty forced her to admit that even if she’d had prior warning about the agenda of the meeting, she wouldn’t have kicked up a fuss. Her philosophy in her working life had always been to give her bosses what they asked for. While there were limits to this philosophy—both moral and legal—it had held her in good stead until now.
But did her ethos stretch to swallowing this blatant vote of no confidence without voicing an objection?
She shook her head in her silent apartment.
“No. I don’t have to just lie down and take it,” she told her darkened bedroom.
Tomorrow she’d let him know in no uncertain terms that she wouldn’t accept Jack on her project.
She tried to imagine herself stalking into her boss’s office and laying her cards confidently on the table. And failed. Miserably.
Perhaps if she really talked it through with Beck, they could come up with another solution. As grown adults, seeing eye to eye. Discussing the issues rationally.
This felt much more her style. It still made her feel nervous, but it was doable.
Of course, sticking up for herself would mean that she didn’t have to work with Jack anymore, too. How convenient. She could simply ignore him for a few weeks in the car park and editorial meetings and the elevator, just like old times, and pretty soon he’d forget that Claire Marsden had ever torn his clothes off and had sex with him.
And that was absolutely what she wanted.
So, she was decided. First thing tomorrow, she’d make an appointment with Morgan and see if she could regain control of her life. It should have been the last thing she thought of before she drifted off to sleep.
