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"Leg work? What kind?" Shannon leaned back in the leather chair and sipped her coffee.
"For example, last night we spent some time at the casino down the street to get a feel for their setup, and maybe grab a few of their brochures and handouts." Which, Melissa reminded herself, she'd promptly forgotten to do. Where was her head these days?
Not that her thoughts needed an answer. She already knew where it had gone last night. Straight to Aidan.
"Great idea. I'd love to take a peek at the marketing brochures and your overall plan when you have it drafted. It will help me develop the public relations angle so we're consistent."
"Definitely."
They talked about sales and PR ideas for a few more minutes, until Shannon piped up with, "So, how do you feel about my brother?"
Melissa nearly choked on her coffee. "Excuse me?"
The corners of Shannon's lips curved. "You like him, don't you?"
"Of course I do. He's sharp, professional, really knows the sales aspect of the hotel business."
"Not what I meant, and I think you know that."
It figured Shannon was too smart to be waylaid, but Melissa wasn't certain she was ready to discuss how she felt about Aidan. As it was, even she couldn't figure out her feelings for Aidan. "Why don't you tell me what you meant, then?"
Tapping a long fingernail against the china cup in her hands, Shannon said, "I have a feeling there's something more than just business between you two."
"No, there's not," Melissa lied, unable to meet the probing stare of Shannon's blue eyes.
"Hey, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. If you two want to dally, that's your business."
"We're not dallying."
She arched a brow. "You're not?"
"No. We're not. Well, not really," Melissa admitted.
Shannon laughed. "But you'd like to?"
"I don't know." Which was the truth. She was so confused about which direction to head it made her crazy.
"Let me give you some advice," Shannon started, then turned when the door opened and Aidan walked in. His gaze flitted to both Melissa and his sister, and he nodded.
"Mornin'," he mumbled, then averted his gaze and headed straight for the coffee.
"Good morning." Melissa figured she might as well start friendly, then she could work her way up to steamy.
Shannon seemed in no hurry to leave. "You look awful," she said to Aidan, who glared at her.
"Gee, thanks." He stared down into the steaming brew in front of him.
But Shannon was right. He didn't look well at all. His face was drawn and dark circles had puffed up under his eyes.
"Don't you sleep at night?"
"No. I'm a vampire."
"You sure look like one."
Aidan lifted his head and glared at his sister. "Is there a point to this inquisition?"
Shannon grinned. "Not really."
"Don't you have work to do? Preferably somewhere else?"
"Maybe."
"Good."
"Then again, I might just want to hang out here with you two all day and listen to the marketing angles."
Aidan rested his head in his hands. "I need aspirin."
Melissa watched the exchange, fascinated at the comfort level Aidan and his sister had with each other, despite the overt sniping between the two of them. She felt no tension in the room. It was almost as if this type of banter were a normal occurrence for the siblings.
A pang of remorse squeezed her heart. She'd missed out on so much being an only child. And now that she was more or less estranged from her parents, who were both cold as a Boston winter anyway, she felt more alone than ever before.
Shannon's husky laugh brought Aidan's head up. When she stood, Aidan did too and she wrapped her arms around her brother, who hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.
"Brat," he said.
"Ah, you love me." Shannon smiled at him.
Aidan shook his head and smiled back. "Get out of here, will ya? I have work to do."
Shannon stopped in front of Melissa and said, "He's all yours and good luck." With a glance over her shoulder at Aidan, she added, "Looks like you're going to need it."
"Thanks a lot." She'd need good luck, all right. In more ways than one.
After she left, Melissa returned to her seat, wishing she'd had the chance to finish her conversation with Shannon. What was it she was going to advise Melissa about?
She turned to face a scowling Aidan.
"Ready to get to work?" He turned toward the binders on the table.
Not really. She wanted to talk about last night, about how stupid she was to push him away. But she also sensed now was not the right time.
"Sure. Let's do it."
That sentence awarded her yet another angry glare. Okay, poor choice of words. Maybe another couple cups of coffee and getting down to work would loosen Aidan up a bit.
Or, maybe not. Four hours later he still hadn't surfaced from his irritated mood. Melissa couldn't figure out if she was to blame for his current state, or something else entirely.
Frankly, she was too cowardly to ask him, afraid he'd jump down her throat if she got the slightest bit personal. He'd spent the entire morning steering her away from any conversation about the two of them, despite her best efforts to subtly weave last night's events into their marketing strategy.
By lunchtime she'd figured out that he was well and truly pissed at her for pushing him away last night. From the way he was acting, it was clear he'd decided that a personal relationship with her was a colossal waste of his time.
"Hungry?" she asked, hoping for some sort of feedback other than grunts.
"No."
At least it wasn't a grunt.
"I'm starving. Would you like to go get something to eat?"
Head buried in paperwork, he shook his head and mumbled.
"Was that a yes or a no?"
"I said no."
Wow, when he got grumpy, he got very grumpy. "Fine. I'm taking an hour. I'll be back."
No answer. She heaved a sigh and left the conference room, glad for once when the humid air hit her as she walked outside the hotel. Anything was better than the freeze-out she'd endured in the conference room.
*
Aidan shuffled papers around the mahogany table, staring at his haggard face in the reflective top. He looked horrible. No surprise considering he hadn't slept more than an hour or two last night, and those had been fitful at best.
First, Melissa had churned his insides out at the casino, then stroked him with her hot little hands until he'd come all over, followed by her abrupt about face and the return of the ice queen. Then in all his fury he'd gone home and thrown himself on the sofa, intent on drowning his sorrows with a couple beers and a wrestling match on TV.
But did that happen? No. The infernal magic leaped upon him and he'd found himself in Melissa's bathroom, forced to watch and feel her masturbate with a goddamn hairbrush.
A hairbrush. Not his cock, which had been hard and aching for her. He sure didn't rank high on her to-be-fucked list, did he?
His guts felt twisted in ten different directions. He didn't know what the hell the woman wanted, and frankly he was tired of trying to figure it out. By the time dawn rolled around this morning, he'd resolved that trying to have a little fun with Melissa Cross wasn't worth his time. For the remainder of the time she was here he'd give her professional courtesy only. No kissing, no touching and absolutely no sex.
And dammit--no magic. He was already tied way too closely to her on a psychic level. Time to pull their connection apart so he could sleep at night, and maybe find a willing participant to satisfy his sexual desires.
Melissa wasn't even close to willing, so she was off his list.
He snorted out loud at that one and scrubbed his hand over his face. Right. Like he even had a list. But if he had, she wouldn't be on it. She wasn't interested at all.
