She supposed his attitude ought to turn her off, but instead she felt more drawn to him than before. A distinct fluttering took up residence in her stomach. She recognized the yearning as sexual desire, the tug at her heart as a more emotional connection.
He’d obviously suffered as a child. So had she. He’d apparently built high walls and defenses. Glancing down at her linen skirt and camisole, she realized she’d done the same. They had more in common than she’d ever believed. His effect on her had always been potent but instead of quenching her desire, last night’s sensual give-and-take combined with this morning’s beach walk had whet her appetite for more.
More of Jack Latham.
More about Jack.
“I never would have pegged you for an optimist or a dreamer,” he said at last.
She smiled. “I hadn’t thought of myself in those terms either. If asked I’d have called myself a realist.” But apparently a romantic lurked beneath the illusion she’d spent years creating.
“The woman I met last night was no hard-edged realist.” His voice took on a gruff edge.
At the reminder of their sensual evening, her body softened and warmed, much the way her mind and heart had already thawed toward Jack. Mallory wondered what would happen if she freed the dreamer inside herself, the one he was obviously drawn to, at least for the nonbusiness parts of this trip. Could she still rein it back in when this excursion ended?
She shook her head, letting the breeze push fallen strands of hair back from her face. Even if she desired more, she couldn’t risk her job nor could she potentially risk her heart. She inhaled the salty air, regret infusing her deep inside.
Mallory decided the time for revelations and intimacy had ended. Back to safety. “The woman last night may not have struck you as a realist but the attorney who’s helping you on this case is definitely one.”
“Return to business.” Disappointment flickered in his eyes and laced his tone.
She nodded, knowing she had no choice. “So, will you confront Lederman about your suspicions?”
“I was thinking of a more behind-the-scenes quest for information. Whatever you and I can find out before we hit Paul up for details. If our imaginations are acting overtime and he’s truly involved with his son and a business deal, then accusing him of an affair or hiding something more will force him into giving the case to another firm.”
“Something neither of us want.”
“Because you view this as your stepping stone to partnership?” he asked with uncanny accuracy.
“Because the firm has my loyalty, and yes because I want to make partner.” And she didn’t want her obsession with Jack or her blatant move last night to jeopardize all she’d worked for.
He stopped walking without warning. She didn’t realize he wasn’t beside her until he called her name. She turned, making her way the few steps back toward him.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t want you to think I’d do or say anything to destroy your chances for partnership.”
“I’d hope you wouldn’t. In fact I guess a part of me must have trusted you not to betray last night or else I’d have been a fool to set that plan in motion.”
He reached a hand up to cup her cheek. His warm yet roughened palm caressed her skin. “You’re no fool.”
The cool breeze blew around them and she shivered, a blatant reaction to his touch and not the ocean air. “Neither are you.”
“True. And considering I didn’t walk out as soon as I realized it was you, I suppose we’re trusting each other not to reveal the fact that we’re breaking the no-office-romance rule.”
Present tense. Was he asking for more time or was she reading her wishes into his words?
Mallory tipped her head to the side, causing his hand to cradle her cheek in a gentle caress. “Are you telling me Jack Latham is trusting a woman?” she asked wryly.
He grinned. “Trust is easier to give when it’s mutual and both parties have something at stake.”
“At which point it isn’t trust but more like a level playing field.”
He burst out laughing. “I really do admire you,” he said, sobering. His eyes darkened with desire.
Her heart thudded hard in her chest. “Same here.” And she wanted him, with an intensity that frightened her.
To give in to her fantasies again, in daylight no less, would make them that much harder to put behind her when this trip was over. Mallory the dreamer didn’t mind.
Mallory the realist knew better than to cross a boundary with no safety net. And that safety net was distance and control.
CHAPTER SIX
THE TIDE STILL LAPPED at his feet as Mallory looked up at him with wide eyes. Yes, Jack admired her, but did she realize how much he wanted her as well? He could lean forward for a kiss. He could taste the salt on her lips and let her soft body mold against his harder one, but it wouldn’t be enough.
And from the hesitant look in her eyes, she wouldn’t be receptive. Jack admired her gutsiness and intelligence, her spunk and positive outlook for the future. No matter how strong she’d come on last night, he respected her uncertainty now.
He’d been wrong to think the woman from last night was the real Mallory. In reality she was a fascinating mixture of two personas and she intrigued him on too many levels beyond sexual. The knowledge set off warning bells in his cynical brain.
His encounters with the opposite sex were supposed to be simple and fun. Easy to walk away from, no strings attached, no emotional commitments. But the yearning he felt for Mallory was beginning to surpass mere sexual desire.
He wanted her.
He desired her company, too.
But he yearned for another invitation most of all. He could see from the determined look in her eyes one wouldn’t be forthcoming.
Yet she’d set a challenge in motion last night. She’d proven both her femininity and his susceptibility to her charms. His turn next and he intended to prove she wasn’t any more immune to him than he was to her. Up the stakes, even the playing field and they could both retreat, egos intact. Next time.
Kissing her now would destroy any prayer of catching her off guard later. So he pulled back instead. “Ready to go inside?” he asked.
She blinked, obviously surprised at his about-face. He didn’t mind putting her off balance for once. She’d done it to him too often.
She shook her head. “You go on. I think I’ll hang out here for a while. At least until the sun gets too hot.”
They’d each backed into neutral corners. Without her explaining, Jack understood exactly what was going through that analytical brain. The dichotomy in her personality was most evident in broad daylight and there were consequences to
Kissing under the morning sun would have meant acknowledging she’d crossed the line from proving a point last night to something more between them today. He agreed.
Disappointment churned in his gut but he accepted the parameters. It was the only way he had a chance of seeing Mallory, the sexy seductress, again. “Be careful not to get burned,” he said.
A flicker of dismay crossed her features and darkened her blue eyes. Well that was something, Jack thought as he walked away.
The desire to turn back was strong yet he acknowledged their separating now was for the best. He wasn’t ready to walk back to their rooms and part in the hall, not when he’d rather take her into his room and then to his bed. Though his mind accepted the need to leave, his body wasn’t nearly as understanding and a throbbing, unfulfilled desire remained.
He left her standing on the beach. The image of the wind blowing her tight bun out of order and place, of her
