“I’m glad we’re going to be working together,” he told her, his fingers lingering to caress her cheek. The gentle touch was meant to soothe and tame. “See you tomorrow.”
After one last glance, he left hurriedly, before she could see that he was only a scant hairbreadth away from pulling her into his arms and kissing her the way a man kissed a desirable woman who made his senses spin. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t running to spare Dana. He was running because in the last five seconds he’d realized he was in water way over his head and sinking fast.
* * *
All morning Dana tried to think of some way to avoid going out to Halloran Industries on her lunch hour. She wasn’t blind to her own foibles; she recognized that Jason represented a temptation that she couldn’t afford in her life. It was getting harder and harder to resist his kisses, more and more difficult to recall why he was all wrong for her, why they were all wrong for each other.
She was not looking for complications, she reminded herself sternly. She was looking to put her foot on the first rung up a tall, professional ladder. Money represented power and, after years of feeling powerless, she wanted that sense of control. She wanted to earn it, though, to know it belonged to her no matter what. Getting involved with Jason would sidetrack that plan. She’d waited too long to lose more time by heading down a dead-end road.
The door to her cramped little office opened. “There’s some fellow here for you,” Mr. Keane said. “He said you’d be expecting him.”
Dana sighed. Obviously she’d hesitated too long to call off Jason’s plans. She had a feeling that spoke volumes about her determination to steer as clear of him as was humanly possible under the circumstances.
“You’ll be back?” her boss asked, his expression worried. He’d been wearing that same expression since she’d told him this morning that she’d be leaving in two weeks. Though he’d wished her well, he was clearly at a loss about how he’d find anyone to replace her who would do as many extra jobs as she’d done for the same paltry salary. He wanted her fully productive until the last possible second.
“I’ll be back,” she reassured him. “I’m just going to a lunch meeting with the client I’ll be working with when I start my new job.”
“Must be some client if he can afford to send a fancy car for you.”
“Yeah,” she said ruefully. “It’s some client.”
Chapter Six
Maybe it had been wishful thinking on her part, but Dana had actually expected to find some hired driver waiting for her on the curb outside. She should have known better.
Instead it was Jason himself, his posture relaxed, his golden hair windblown, a smile spreading across his face when she walked out the door. He surveyed the boots, jeans and leather jacket she’d worn in an apparently wasted gesture of defiance and nodded appreciatively, his smile growing. Something about the warmth and approval of that smile heated her insides. Once Jason Halloran decided to make the best of things, obviously he threw over all traces of resentment. She supposed she should have felt grateful. Instead she felt terrified.
No man should have the right to have such a potent effect on a woman, she thought wistfully. Especially on a woman who was trying hard to keep her wits about her.
Jason swept open the door of a low-slung red sports car that was exactly what she would have expected a man like him to drive. It was expensive, impractical and very, very sexy. She barely resisted the urge to run her fingers over the gleaming finish.
Inside she sank into a luxurious bucket seat. She touched the smooth, cream-colored upholstery. The leather was soft as butter. Suddenly she felt as if she were Cinderella on her way to the ball and midnight was still several tantalizing hours away.
“What happened?” she asked, when he was settled behind the wheel. “Couldn’t you find a taxi to send for me at this hour?”
“I had an appointment on this side of town, anyway. It was no trouble at all for me to swing by, myself. I figured it would give us longer to talk.”
“Very practical,” she said. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you have this habit of distrusting me?” he suggested without the slightest hint of irritation in his tone. “It’s like Pavlov’s reflex. I speak, you distrust. Since we’ve just met, the response can’t possibly have anything to do with me. Maybe somebody who looked like me cheated on you in a previous life.”
Dana chuckled despite herself and felt a little of her wariness slide away. “I honestly don’t recall any cads in my past.”
“It’s hard to say how many past lives back we’re talking about. Can you recall what you were doing in the Middle Ages?”
“Afraid not.”
“Any recollections of the French Revolution? The Boston Tea Party? The Civil War?”
“Not a one.”
“There, you see? Whatever happened between you and this louse in the past was so awful it’s buried in your subconscious. Maybe you ought to see some shrink and dredge it up. Once you’ve dealt with it, we can get on with things here in the present.” He glanced over and grinned at her. “What do you think?”
“I think some of your brain cells froze on the drive over. Did you have the top down?”
“Nope. This is just my lighthearted, accepting-the-inevitable personality.”
Dana felt herself responding to Jason’s unexpected mood in a way that made her very nervous. It was easy to keep her distance from a man who was stuffy and rigid. This new, relaxed Jason Halloran was devastating. Her defenses were vanishing, even though she didn’t trust his declared intentions one bit. She tried to analyze why she distrusted a man she barely knew, but all of a sudden she couldn’t think of a single reason
