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He'd had a taste of her passion, and the storm within him was building. Stronger and harder than anything he'd experienced before.
Good thing he could control the magic. Otherwise a hurricane would be blowing through The Rising Storm any day now.
His senses perked up as the elevator doors opened.
Sure enough...Lissa.
Looking cool and professional in her cream-colored business suit and matching high heel shoes, she strode forward with a determined and quick step.
Right up until she spotted him. Then she paused for a second, her pace faltered, and she broke eye contact.
Interesting. She seemed to be considering something on the floor. Then she lifted her head, straightened her shoulders and headed purposefully in his direction.
"Good morning, Aidan," she said.
Gone was the heat wave of last night. In its stead, a crispy Boston breeze.
"Mornin'. Sleep well?"
"Fine, thank you. Shall we get started?"
No warmth. Not even a smile. So this was how it was going to be. Ignoring the pang of regret in his stomach, he figured it was for the best anyway. If she wanted to avoid discussion of what had happened between them last night, obviously it hadn't been as monumental for her as it had been for him.
And didn't that do wonders for his ego? With a sigh, he said, "Let's go to my office and we'll start working on the plan."
She turned on her heel and walked silently beside him. With every measured step she took, Aidan grew more and more irritated.
Granted, last night hadn't been moonlight and stardust in a bed covered in rose petals. But it had been hot and stormy. Fierce, passionate, elemental. And dammit, she had loved every minute of it.
Today it was like a Blue Norther' had blown in, soaking and cooling everything in its wake.
Cooling his libido, for certain. And definitely blowing his pride to bits.
Maybe he hadn't done as good a job for her last night as he'd thought.
She sure as hell had taken him apart piece by piece. Just the memory of her mouth on his cock had him hardening, despite her frosty demeanor.
"Now if we could just go over this part of the plan," she said when they entered the conference room, all businesslike and barely making eye contact.
Aidan played along for most of the day, offering his ideas and suggestions as he would with any colleague. By the time late afternoon rolled around he was steaming inside, his thoughts occupied more with how he could have pleased her better.
Which pissed him off all the more.
He'd never had complaints in the sex department before. Never. In fact, he always got asked for seconds, even thirds.
Clearly the fault was with Melissa. She was frigid. That had to be it. It couldn't be him.
Unable to resist, he asked, "Are we going to talk about it?"
She looked up from the pile of papers on the table. "About what?"
"Last night."
Her face tinged pink and she quickly turned her gaze back on the papers. "Nothing to talk about. It was a mistake."
"Was it?"
"Yes. Let's just forget it ever happened."
Aidan leaned back in the chair and pondered if he really wanted to let it drop or not.
Not. "Was it that bad?"
Her gaze flew to his. "Oh no! It was wonderful!" Then, obviously realizing she'd said too much, she added, "I enjoyed dinner with your family."
He chuckled. "That's not what I meant and you know it."
Chin held high, she said, "I'd prefer not to talk about the other."
"Kind of hard not to relive it and talk about it, don't you think? After all, we did share something intimate last night. We're going to be working together over the next month. I think we should get it out in the open."
"I'd prefer to leave it buried."
That might be what she thought she needed, but deep down Aidan knew it really wasn't what she wanted.
"You enjoyed it."
No response.
"You came. Hard."
Still no reply, but her blush deepened and she shifted in her chair.
"You sucked my cock like a woman starving for it."
Her head lifted abruptly. Sparks of anger flared in her eyes. That got her attention. "I had too much wine."
He laughed out loud. "Pretty flimsy excuse, Lissa."
"Don't call me that."
"What? Lissa?"
"Yes. It's not my name."
"I like it better. Less formal."
"You're annoying as hell."
He grinned. "I've been told that before."
Pushing back from the table, Melissa folded her hands in her lap, her back ramrod straight. "Look, Aidan, let's chalk up last night to a bad choice on my part. I apologize if I led you to believe there could be something between us, because there won't be. Ever. What happened with us will never happen again. Now, I'd appreciate if you'd let the subject drop."
"I see." He scooted his chair so close to hers their knees touched. Melissa pushed back a little further, until Aidan grabbed the arms of her chair and yanked her toward him. "Let's get one thing straight. Last night was hot. For both of us. I enjoyed the hell out of it, and so did you."
When she opened her mouth to object, he silenced her with a look. "Why you don't want to enjoy some hot sex between consenting adults is beyond me, but I'll honor your wishes not to talk about it again unless you bring it up."
"That won't happen," she said, lifting her chin.
"We'll see."
He pushed her chair back and picked up their marketing plan. At least he'd managed to have his say. Now they could get back to business.
"So tonight the plan is to head over to a couple of the competing casinos and check out the action?" He tried to sound as uninterested and businesslike as she had.
"Yes. The company wants me to survey their activities, find out what kind of volume they're doing. I'd like to visit them at various hours on different days to gauge their traffic in the morning, afternoon and evening."
"Works for me. I like to gamble." Damn. That had sounded almost friendly. He'd have to watch himself. He'd nearly smiled when he said it.
She regarded him for a few seconds, frowning. "You don't have to go with me."
Which really meant she didn't want him to go with her.
Tough.
"Yeah, I do need to go with you. I don't frequent the casinos enough to know exactly what your marketing angles are. You can tell me a little bit about that while we're there. What the key points are we want to convey to our potential customers."
She seemed to consider it for a few seconds, doubt sailing across her face. Then she nodded quickly. "Fine. We'll start tonight."
Great. She might as well have just agreed to a root canal. Clearly, she wasn't thrilled at the idea of spending yet another evening in his company.
He'd had about enough of Miss Frosty for one day. He needed some space between now and this evening to gather his composure. He stood, picked up the remnants of his ego and said, "I have another appointment. I'll meet you in the lobby at eight."
Before waiting for her response, he stepped out of the conference room, feeling at least a little satisfied that he'd managed to get the last word in while walking out on her at the same time.
Chapter Five
Melissa stood in front of her closet once again, unable to believe that she couldn't find a thing to wear. For someone who'd brought a sizeable wardrobe with her, she sure was having a tough time making choices.
Which had nothing to do with the fact she was going to the casino tonight with Aidan.
Pangs of guilt hammered her when she recalled his hurt look in the conference room earlier today. So she'd bruised his feelings. So he'd walked out on her.
Wasn't her fault. She'd made no promises to him last night, didn't reveal any feelings to him. They'd had one episode of pretty intense foreplay, but that was it. And it wasn't going to go any further.
If she were smart she'd pull out her conservative, long skirted business suit and wear it like a suit of armor. Then again the thought of putting on that many clothes in this wet heat made her nauseous.
Screw Aidan Storm, she'd wear whatever she wanted. In fact, she'd dress sexy, even provocatively if she wanted to. Just because she wanted to keep things strictly business between her and Aidan was no reason for her to don nun's clothing.
Defiantly, she yanked the gold silk halter dress out of the closet, along with the four-inch heels that matched. That should whet his appetite a little. More than a little, if she made herself up just right.
She stopped dead in her tracks on her way into the bathroom. Wait a second, what was she doing? She wasn't supposed to be dressing to knock Aidan's socks off. She wasn't supposed to want him to want her.
Damn if he wasn't doing it to her again. Making her forget who she was and why she was here.
She turned and glanced into the lighted closet, the drab gray suit catching her eye. Then her glance drifted back to the sinuous gold silk on the hanger in her hands.
Silk or wool? Boston or New Orleans? Hot or really damn hot?
No contest. Comfort won out over propriety.
In less than an hour she was showered and ready.
