his kiss had been meant to remove her from the bar without fuss. He’d used that kiss against her, just as her fiancé had used her sexuality against her. And it had worked.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t, let herself get involved with him. For the past year-and-a-half, she’d effectively put her sensual, prurient nature under wraps, and she wanted to keep it that way. As soon as she got home, she’d call Dane and make him intervene. She hadn’t wanted to do that because it felt too much like tattling, like using her relationship with the boss to get special favors. But this was crucial.
She had sworn off relationships after her last disastrous attempt at finding romance. Lust had blinded her to reality then, and the shame was still a part of her. But she was now older and wiser and determined to forge a new life for herself while making amends for past mistakes. Without sexual involvement.
Dane was going to have to make Alec leave her alone. That was all there was to it.
“PUT ON YOUR SEAT BELT.”
Alec was aware of her unease, but he wasn’t ready to comfort her yet. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d issued his less-than-subtle threat to her posterior. When he’d found her in that bar, playing at being a damn tramp and looking ripe for the part, he’d wanted more than anything to turn her over his knee. But he figured if he ever did have Celia Carter in such an interesting position, punishment would likely be the last thought on his mind. He knew he could never hurt her; hell, he’d taken a bullet rather than let her be hurt. But all other possibilities were still wide open. The things he did want to do to her were numerous, and driving him nuts.
Especially since she seemed to make a career of telling him no—about everything. As a result, he was learning to live with constant frustration.
He could almost feel her gathering her courage. She did that a lot with him and it amused him. Grown men had been steering a wide path around him since his late teens, but not Celia. Right from the start, she’d tried her best to stand up to him, but always there was a touch of fear in her mellow hazel eyes. She’d rail against him, give him hell, but with obvious nervousness. To him, the fact that she stood up to him despite her fear indicated a hell of a lot of guts and he admired that in a woman. In fact, he’d admired a hell of a lot about Celia Carter since first setting eyes on her.
What he didn’t admire was her impetuous race for adventure that had kept her on the edge of danger ever since she’d left her family’s secure company and joined up with Dane. He still couldn’t figure that one out. So her fiancé had turned out to be a grade A bastard? There were plenty of them in the world to go around, and it certainly wasn’t Celia’s fault that she’d been too innocent to see through Raymond’s scam. Alec had already been working with Dane to nail Raymond for numerous crimes, not the least of which was the murder of Dane and Celia’s brother. At the time, they hadn’t known for certain that Raymond was the culprit, but they’d had their suspicions. In the end, Celia was the one who’d saved the day, sneaking up on Raymond and clobbering him with a crowbar while he’d held Dane and Angel at gunpoint. Celia had more than vindicated herself in everyone’s eyes.
Everyone’s but her own.
Alec knew Raymond had hurt her tender feelings, trying to use Celia as a pawn in his schemes. It was the worst emotional insult a man could deal a woman, using her that way. She obviously felt horrible for having ever believed in him. In truth, Alec wondered what the hell she’d seen in Raymond. He’d disliked the man on instinct the moment he’d met him. But then he was good at what he did, and he’d been doing it a long time. The same wasn’t true of Celia. For the most part, and despite her loud claims to the contrary, she was still a wide-eyed innocent.
So why the hell did she want to risk her damn neck day in and day out trying to prove something? The anger washed over him again, fresh and raw, and he growled, “You’re not going back there, so you can stop your scheming right now.”
Her head snapped around toward him and she glared. “I’m going to talk to Dane. You’re not my boss and I want you to quit acting like you are.”
Primal satisfaction settled deep into his bones. With this one woman, he wanted every advantage he could get. “Now there’s where you’re wrong.”
He felt a return of her wariness. He was so painfully attuned to her and her feelings, he always seemed to know what she was thinking and feeling. It unnerved him, even as it turned him on and made him more determined to have her. There was a link between them that she did her damnedest to deny. He wouldn’t let her do that much longer. When she was lying naked beneath him, he’d see to it that her thoughts were centered solely on accepting him and the incredible pleasure he’d give them both. There’d be no room for doubt or denial.
“What are you talking about?”
He tightened his hands on the wheel, pressed his foot to the accelerator and relished this moment of proper balance between them. He hadn’t liked it worth a damn that Dane was her ultimate boss, leaving him no say-so in what Celia did or which job she chose. That had finally changed, and not a moment too soon, given where he’d found her.
Luckily, the darkness hid his smile, but the satisfaction came through in his tone. “With Angel pregnant again, Dane’s decided she needs an extended vacation. He’s rented a house in the Carribean and he’s taking the family there for a month. While he’s gone, I’m in charge.” He slanted her a look, saw her shock and decided to clarify just to make sure there were no misunderstandings. “So you see, Miss Carter, I am your boss.”
“No.”
He took great pleasure in nodding. “Afraid so.”
“I won’t have it!”
“You, Celia, have no choice.” Her hands fisted, her entire small body going taut in automatic rebellion. He wanted to pull her close, to cuddle her and reassure her; they were soft urges he hadn’t experienced with a woman in fifteen years and he didn’t welcome them now. He firmed his resolve, blocking out all the weakening, tender emotions. Protecting Celia was for her own good, so he’d do it whether she liked it or not.
“Listen close, honey. If I find you even thinking about that particular case again, I’ll fire you in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact, from here on out, I’ll personally give you which assignments I want you to have. And you can bet they won’t include dressing like a hussy and putting your sweet little ass on the line.”
He finished that grand statement with a flourish, pleased with himself and his implacable stance. But when he slowed the truck for a turn in the road, Celia unsnapped her seat belt and opened the door.
Cursing, Alec slammed on the brakes and tried to steady the wheel. The truck shuddered to an immediate, bone-jarring halt. Alec saw red and reached for her, the idea of getting her over his lap more appealing by the moment. But she was already leaping out, her own anger giving her the advantage of speed. She landed awkwardly on her high heels, fell to her butt, then jerked quickly to her feet again. If his reflexes hadn’t been so good, and he hadn’t stopped the truck so quickly, she might have broken her neck. Waiting for the truck to actually stop hadn’t seemed like a concern to her.
A middle-aged couple who’d been walking by on the dark night stopped to stare. Alec saw Celia dust herself off, nod at the people, then start briskly on her way, limping slightly.
He quickly maneuvered
