winced. Then winced again as she realised Carter would be able to hear Kate too—the phone volume was too loud. She glanced over her shoulder and jumped. He wasn’t in the doorway any more. He was about three inches away—at the most.
‘No. I’ll spell it out in single syllables.’ But Penny tensed. She didn’t know how more obvious she could be. She’d thought Aaron would be fine with a few dates’ fun before saying goodbye. Only they hadn’t got anywhere near that far. She figured the over-the-top floral attention was just him not being used to hearing ‘no’ and now he was determined to make her change her mind for the boy sport of it. But she couldn’t be sure. And because she couldn’t be completely sure, she couldn’t be completely harsh. Not ever again.
‘Where do you want them to go?’
‘What about the hospice? But send them to the staff room. Those guys work so hard.’
‘Sure.’
Carter had his ultimate weapon loaded again—that smile was amused now, curving his full, sensual mouth. The green-blue eyes were bright and clear, but the clarity itself seemed to be shielding secrets within. Like a mirror they reflected the surface—and blocked access to the depths behind.
She replaced the receiver and turned to face her shameless eavesdropper full on. She ran her hands down the side of her skirt, pretending to smooth it but really trying to get rid of the clammy feeling.
‘You don’t want to keep them?’ He was far too close in this spacious office—why couldn’t he stay on the far side of her desk?
He inspected the behemoth bunch and looked at the card—the millions of miniature red hearts on the cover obviously showed it was a romantic gift. Somehow him knowing that annoyed her all the more. And he already knew she didn’t want them, he’d heard the courier conversation.
‘I’m allergic,’ she lied through a clamped smile. She wanted to get rid of both the flowers and him. How was she supposed to concentrate when her desk was covered with strong-smelling blooms and a man more gorgeous than the latest Calvin Klein model was making the room shrink more with every breath?
His gaze narrowed. ‘Really?’
‘Sure.’ She blinked. ‘I need to get these to Reception.’ She reached out to pick up the flowers and escape. But in her haste she scraped her finger against one of the green stems, scratching it. ‘Damn.’ She looked at her skin and watched the fine white scratch flood with red. Then she glared at the bunch. ‘I hate them.’
‘Let me see.’ He sidestepped the flowers and had her wrist in his hand before her brain could even engage.
Her pulse shot into the stratosphere. ‘It’s fine. A little plaster or a tissue will stop it,’ she babbled faster than a Japanese bullet train rode the rail. Every muscle quivered, wanting him to draw her into a closer embrace.
‘Suck on it.’ His gaze snared hers. ‘Or I will if you want.’
For half a second her jaw hung open. Oh, he was every bit as outrageous in the morning as he was at night. And she was dangerously tickled.
‘It’s fine.’ She snatched her hand back, curling her fingers into a fist. ‘I need to get these out of here.’
‘Hey.’ He frowned and reached out again, pushing her wide gold bangle further up her arm. His frown super-sized up as he stared at the skin he’d exposed. ‘Did I do that?’
‘Oh.’ She glanced down at the purple fingerprint bruises circling her wrist. ‘Don’t worry about it. I bruise easily.’
He looked back to her face, all the erotic spark in his expression stamped out by concern. ‘I’m really sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’ She shook her head quickly. ‘Like I said, it’s nothing.’ Honestly, his contrition just made it worse. She did bruise easily and his switching to all serious made him all the more gorgeous. And now he was ever so lightly touching each bruise with a single fingertip.
‘It’s not fine.’
Penny swallowed. With difficulty. Did he have to be so genuine? She needed to get out of there before she did something stupid like puddle at his feet. That gentle stroking was having some kind of weird hypnotic effect, making her want to move even closer. Instead she turned to the flowers.
‘I’ll take them.’ He picked up the massive bunch with just the one hand.
Okay, that was good because he’d be gone and she’d have a few minutes to bang her head and hormones back together. She should be polite and say something. But she didn’t think she had a ‘thank you’ in her this second. The sensations still reverberated, shaking her insides worse than any earthquake could.
‘Penny—’
‘Mason should be here any minute,’ she said quickly to stave off any more of the soft attention.
‘No Mason today,’ Carter answered. ‘He’s working from home. He’ll have sent you an email.’
She frowned. Mason never worked from home. He might be eighty but he was almost always first in the door every day. ‘I’ll take what he needs to him there.’ Truthfully she wanted to check on him.
‘That would be great.’
Their gazes collided again, only this time the underlying awareness was tempered by mutual concern.
‘I’ll find out who’s hurting him,’ Carter said, calmly determined.
Penny nodded.
He cared about the old man, that was obvious. Some thing jerked deep inside her—the first stirrings of respect and a shared goal.
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ He swept out of the room.
Penny just sank into her chair.
Carter carried the oversize bunch of blooms down to Reception. Taking the stairs rather than the lift used a bit of the energy coiled in his body, but not enough. Like an overflowing dam he needed a runoff to ease some of the pressure.
Penny had got under his skin faster than snake venom got into a mouse’s nervous system. He’d thought about her all night instead of getting his head around the company setup. Seeing her again today had only made it worse. She looked unbelievably different. The clubbing vixen had vanished and in her place was a perfect vision of conservative and capable. An, oh-so-sensible-length skirt simply highlighted slim ankles and sweet curves, a virginal white blouse was covered by a neatly tailored navy jacket. Hell, there’d even been a strand of pearls at her neck. With her shiny black hair swept back into a plait and her even blacker eyes, she’d looked like the epitome of the nineteen-forties secretary. No matter what she wore, she was beautiful.
Ordinarily Carter wasn’t averse to mixing business and pleasure. When business took up so much time, it was sometimes the only way he could find room for pleasure. So long as the woman understood the interest was only ever a temporary thing, and that there were no benefits to the arrangement other than the physical. He didn’t generally mix it with someone directly subordinate to him, but someone in one of the offshoot companies or satellite offices.
But he shouldn’t mess with Penny—not
