page18 (1/2)

Her fingers twined in his hairline Her lips parted farther, her tongue finding his, her perfect breasts pushing tightly against his chest, beading so that he could feel the her mouth with his, and slid her hands beneath his jacket

Those sh the cotton of his shirt He wanted to rip it off, strip her bare, hold her naked body against his own and finish what they kept starting

But a jangling phone penetrated his brain Sounds from the outer office came back into focus He heard Amy’s voice Someone answered, and he came to the abrupt realization of where they were

He forced hiainst his shoulder, breathing deeply, all anger toward her having evaporated

“We did it again,” he breathed

She stiffened, pulling away “This is why I didn’t want the door closed”

He let her go, pretending it wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done Then he forced a note of sarcas to let her see just how badly she made him lose control “You don’t trust yourself?”

“I don’t trust you,” she told him for at least the third time

Fair enough He didn’t trust himself, either

But it wasn’t all him It definitely hadn’t all been him

She straightened her blouse and smoothed her hair “What is it you needed to see me about?”

Zach forced hi for more trouble

“Can we sit?” He gestured to two padded chairs at angles to each other in front of his floor-to-ceiling s

Without a word, she crossed to one of the her focus on a point on the skyline outside, folding her hands primly in front of her

Zach’s hor breaths, taking a seat and focusing his own attention on a seascape painting on the wall past Kaitlin’s right ear

“I just spoke toand discarding a number of approaches on the fly He had to convince her to pull back on the renovations It was more important than ever, and he couldn’t afford to screw this conversation up

Kaitlin’s attention“What do you mean by that?”

He gave up andEven now, he wanted to take her back into his are the mood between them “Just what I said”

“What happened?” She jerked forward in her chair “Aestured with a sweeping arm, across the office to the spot where they’d kissed “Before…”

Zach stood with her “I a you Noill you sit back down”

She watched him warily “Then what’s this about?”

“Sit down, and I’ll tell you” He gestured to her chair and waited

She glared at him but finally sat

He followed suit, refocusing This wasn’t going well It was not going well at all “A problerandmother’s charitable trust”

Kaitlin’s features remained schooled and neutral

“There’s been some money—a lot of money—embezzled from the bank account by a former employee”

He paused to see if she’d react, but she waited in silence

Zach leaned slightly forward, his feet braced apart on the carpet in front of hi to have to shift some cash from Harper Transportation to the trust fund, or some of her projects will collapse, like the after-school tutoring programs and hot lunches”

Kaitlin finally spoke “Do you need ?”

Zach shook his head

“Then what?”

“Harper Transportation’s cash floill be tight for the next year or so” He mentally braced hi back on the renovation—”

“Oh, no, you don’t” She emphatically crossed her arms

“Let me—”

“You mess with my emotions”

“I’,” he protested

“Try to put me off balance,” she accused

“I’ her the bald truth of the matter

“One ers in the air “—next, you’re asking for concessions”

His anger trickled back “The tere not related”