Erin’s mother gave her a cool look and continued, “I bumped into him on the elevator.”
Meet me in an elevator sometime.
Kale’s parting words immediately rushed to the forefront and echoed in her head. Oh hell!
Despite the chill in her mother’s voice, her body warmed all over. The reception had ended more than twenty-four hours ago, yet those words still played havoc with her body. She’d been unable to dispel the image of how delightfully naughty it would be to bump Kale in an elevator sometime. Lord, obviously it had been far too long since she’d answered the demands of her lascivious libido.
Kale, however, who had eagerly pointed out he was into casual sex, probably answered the demands of his body, one part in particular, on a nightly basis. Probably with a hot-looking Barbie-doll type too. Erin had never felt inadequate in the looks department, but she was no Barbie doll. Her boobs were not bigger than her brains.
The sound of her mother’s voice jostled her back to the present. “Erin, are you listening to me?” Disgruntled, Anna furrowed her brow.
Erin drew in air. How was it possible that her mother could reduce her to feeling like a teenager with just one stern look?
“I am now,” Erin offered brightly, struggling to marshal her inappropriate thoughts.
“Good, because we’re having a Christmas gathering tomorrow night and Richard is coming here with his family. It wouldn’t hurt for you to be nice to him.”
Hurt? Oh no, it wouldn’t hurt at all. And neither would electric shock therapy.
“And please try to do something with your hair.”
Erin tugged on her ponytail. Kale liked her hair. Good Lord, she couldn’t believe how many times that man popped into her head. She’d never lusted after anyone like this before. Not even her ex-fiancé. Maybe she was just going to have to have casual sex with him. Obviously, this celibacy thing had gone on long enough. It was beginning to interfere with her thought processes. And that just wouldn’t do.
How was that for rational thinking?
“What’s wrong with my hair?”
“You’d look a lot prettier and attract a lot more men if you did something with it.”
Erin could feel the anger rising in her. “What if I don’t want to attract more men?”
Her mother waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be silly, Erin. Of course you do.”
Erin opened her mouth to protest. “I—”
Cutting her off, her mother continued. “I’ll make you an appointment at Claire’s for your lunch hour tomorrow. It’s conveniently located just around the corner from your office. Be there.”
With that nonnegotiable piece of advice, her mother stood and rounded the corner, disappearing from Erin’s line of vision. Erin threw her head back and pinched her eyes shut. What would it take to get her mother off her back? Of course, Erin already knew the answer to that. A man. Apparently any man.
Erin could only imagine the look on her mother’s face if she brought home a handsome, successful, confident guy like Kale. She’d probably have a coronary. Not that a playboy like Kale would be interested in coming home with her, mind you. Nor was she interested in bringing him home.
That would be much too personal.
So why the hell had she even thought about it?
Chapter 4
As Erin pulled her car into her assigned parking spot at Iowa Research Center, she unsuccessfully tried to block her mind to a riot of emotions rushing through her. Just knowing that she’d be working closely with Kale for the next month brought on waves of nervous anticipation.
Tightening her coat around her body to ward off the winter wind, she slid from the driver’s seat and hustled across the parking lot.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Well, well, if it wasn’t her nemesis, Hooker Barbie, or rather, Deanne Sinclair. A woman who was hell-bent on sabotaging Erin’s career to claim what she believed was her rightful position as the lead scientist for the Pleasure Prolonged experiment.
Deanne stepped in front of her, blocking her path, forcing Erin to acknowledge her presence. Erin had never played with Barbie dolls as a child and she certainly had no intention of playing with one now.
Forgoing pleasantries, Erin muttered, “Excuse me,” through clenched teeth as she tried to neatly sidestep her.
Deanne blocked her path, brushed her bleached blond hair from her face, and pasted on a plastic smile that was as fake as the conniving woman herself.
“Did you have a nice weekend?” Deanne asked, dark lashes blinking over fiery green eyes as her gaze raked over Erin’s body, as though assessing the competition. “You sure seemed to have a nice time at the wedding.”
Cripes, if looks could kill, Erin’s loved ones would be pulling out their funeral attire. The woman really had it out for her since Erin had landed the coveted position. And now that she’d also landed the very sexy, very slurpalicious, and much coveted partner, Kale Alexander, she’d managed to stoke the embers of jealousy brewing below Deanne’s cool, superficial surface.
“I had a terrific weekend,” Erin said breezily, sailing past her. She gritted her teeth and picked up the pace. This was not the time to get into a pissing contest with Deanne. After changing her clothes for the hundredth time that morning, which had absolutely nothing to do with working closely with Kale, she had repeatedly assured herself, she was running a bit behind.
Shadowing Erin, Deanne hurried her steps to keep up. The sudden throbbing in Erin’s head began beating a steady rhythm with Deanne’s spiked heals.
“I know how important this position is to your career, Erin,” Deanne said in a clipped tone, ignoring the fact that Erin had no desire to pursue a conversation.
Ice dripped from Deanne’s voice and seeped under Erin’s skin. Brrr…Erin hugged herself to stave off a shiver. Had the temperature around her just dropped a few degrees?
“And I wouldn’t want you to do something foolish to mess it up,” Deanne continued.
Yeah, right. Everything in her calculating voice clearly indicated
