High-Powered, Hot-Blooded(16)

"I'm not sure I believe you. You're a happy-ending kind of woman."

"It's what I want," she admitted. "I want to find someone I can love and  respect. A man who wants desperately to be with me. I want kids and a  dog and some hamsters. But that's not you, is it?"

"No."

Years ago, maybe. Now, the price was too high. Getting involved meant  putting too much on the line. He only played to win and in marriage,  there was no guarantee. Valentina had taught him that, as well.

"You weren't supposed to sleep with me," she said.

"I know." He couldn't figure out her mood. Was she teasing or pissed? "Do you want me to apologize?"

She drew in a breath. "No. I want you to promise that when this is over,  you won't tell me you want to be friends. It will just be over. You  have to promise."

"We won't be friends," he said, and then felt an odd sense of loss at  the words. Annie was one of the few people he liked. He would miss her.  But he would let her go.

Annie spent the day trying not to grin like an idiot. She wasn't worried  her students would notice, but her fellow teachers certainly would.  Then they would start to ask questions and she wasn't that good a liar.  Probably a good quality, she told herself as she drove into her driveway  and got out of the car. Under normal circumstances.

As she walked to the mailbox, she felt the lingering soreness in her  legs and hips. Muscles not used to being stretched and used complained a  little. Not that she minded. It was a good kind of ache-one that  reminded her what had happened the night before. In Duncan's bed.

No regrets, she'd promised herself and that was how she felt. No  regrets. Being with him had been spectacular. Her body had done things  she hadn't known were possible. The time in his arms had shown her what  she wanted in her life. Not just a great love, but also great passion.  With the two other men, she'd been settling. She hadn't realized it at  the time, but it was true. She would never settle again.

"Big words for someone who isn't even dating," she murmured, picking up  the envelopes and flipping through them. "Well, not real dating." No  matter how much she wanted him to, Duncan didn't count.

She reached the last envelope and winced. It was from the college,  probably reminding her that tuition had to be paid. As she opened the  envelope, she thought about her sad little bank account and wondered  where she was going to find the money. Everything was so expensive.  Maybe after the holidays she should get serious about finding a second  job. One that …

Annie stared at the single sheet of paper. The one that said the tuition  had been paid for for the rest of the year. Not just the quarter but  the year. Paid in full.

Just looking at the total made her feel queasy. But the big "Paid" next  to it wasn't possible. She hadn't and it wasn't as if Jenny had suddenly  come into a bunch of money.

Annie walked into the house and looked through the mail again. There was  also an envelope from Julie's college. The letter said the same thing.  Tuition was paid for for the rest of the year. In full.         

     



 



The shock made sense. The information, not to mention the action  required, was unexpected. Before last night she might have been a little  upset but more grateful. Now she felt all twisted up inside. Confused  and slightly tarnished.

Dropping the rest of the mail, she returned to her car. The drive to  Duncan's office wasn't far. His shipping empire was run out of a huge  complex of buildings close to the Port of Los Angeles. She gave her name  to the guard at the gate and had to wait while a series of calls were  made. Finally she was given a visitor's parking permit and directions to  where she should park.

She passed large warehouses and eighteen-wheelers waiting to be loaded.  There were dozens of people walking and driving in every direction.  Following the signs that pointed to the corporate offices, she managed  to find the visitors' parking spaces and make her way into the six-story  building.

It was an empire and a half, she thought as she stood in the lobby of  Patrick Industries. A huge lit board showed a world map. Thousands of  lights indicated the location of various company vehicles. Little icons  indicated trucks, railcars and ships.

Annie had always known Duncan was a rich, powerful man. But those were  just words. They hadn't been real. An intellectual understanding wasn't  the same as looking at that map and seeing how incredibly successful he  was.

She tugged at the sleeve of her oversize sweater, aware that the  Christmas elves dancing across the front and back of it were great for a  kindergarten classroom but a little out of place in corporate America.  There was a big paint stain on her skirt and the back was wrinkled from  the time she'd spent sitting on the floor while reading to her students.

"Ms. McCoy?"

Annie turned toward the speaker. A well-dressed woman in her thirties smiled.

"Mr. Patrick is expecting you. If you'll follow me, please."

Annie nodded.

They took the elevator to the sixth floor and stepped out onto a quiet  floor of conference rooms and offices. People in suits moved  purposefully, barely glancing at her. She followed the woman to an open  double door. Inside, a middle-aged woman nodded.

"You can go right in."

Annie stared at the tall, wood door in front of her. It looked heavy and impressive. Unexpected nerves danced in her stomach.

Still clutching the letters from the colleges, she opened the door and walked into Duncan's office.

The space was even larger than his condo. Big windows overlooked the  shipping yard on one side and the lobby on the other. Apparently this  particular king enjoyed looking at his empire.

His desk was practically big enough for a plane to land on. There was a  grouping of sofas in one corner and a conference table in another.



The man himself sat looking at a computer screen. He tapped a few keys, then glanced at her and raised his eyebrows.

"An unexpected pleasure," he said as he stood and walked around the desk.

He looked good. Too good. She'd seen him in his tailored suits before,  so that wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Maybe the problem was less  than twelve hours ago, she'd been in his bed and they'd both been naked.  They'd slept in a tangle of legs and arms, only to awaken and make love  again.

He stopped in front of her. "Everything all right?" he asked. "You look pale. Don't you feel well?"

Apparently unable to speak, she thrust the letters at him, then managed  to find her voice. "You did this, didn't you? I won't even ask how you  got the information to make the payments. It was the twins, wasn't it?  You talked to them."

One corner of his mouth curved up. "I thought you weren't going to ask."

She shook the papers. "This isn't funny. You can't go around doing this."

"Helping people? I would have thought you would approve. Aren't you the  one who told me it would be easier to actually be nice than to hire you  and pretend?"

"What?" She dropped her arm to her side. "Duncan, why did you do this?"

"Because I could. Are you the only one who gets to be nice?"

"Don't be reasonable." She was tired from lack of sleep and felt the beginnings of a headache. "It makes me uncomfortable."

His smile faded. "That's not what I wanted. It's just a check, Annie. Don't make it into anything else."

"A big check. Two big checks." She glanced around to make sure they were  alone, then lowered her voice. "We had sex. You can't buy me stuff."

The humor returned. "Most women would tell you the opposite. That after sex is when the buying begins."

"Maybe. If we were dating. But we're not. We have an arrangement. A deal. This isn't part of the deal."         

     



 

"You're complaining because I'm giving you more?"

No. She was worried that if he was nice, if he was approachable and  kind, she wouldn't have a chance of getting out of this with her heart  in one piece.

The truth slammed into her and it was all she could do to stay standing.  Of course. Why hadn't she realized it before? Duncan was a force of  nature and she was just a regular person. He was rich and strong and  powerful and unlike anyone she'd ever known. She'd been in trouble from  the second they'd met.

"I … " She swallowed. "You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to."

"It will make things a lot easier. Thank you."

He moved close and cupped her face in his large hands. "Was that so hard?"

"No."

He was going to kiss her and she was going to let him. It was already  too late to try to protect herself. The best she could do was see this  to the end and pray she wasn't totally devastated when it was over. A  test of strength, she thought. A trial by fire.

His mouth moved against hers in a way that had become familiar. There  was always the taking, but it was tempered somehow. Maybe by her own  hunger, her need for him.