Tarrant Hardcastle could offer all the gold in his vaults, but that would never change the past.
His clothes felt itchy and uncomfortable as he stepped out into the high-noon heat. His gut churned and his chest ached and his heart kept beating too fast.
He decided to call it lust and go see Bella.
"Hello, Miss Andrews."
Bella started at the deep voice in her ear. Dominic. Leaning over her shoulder, staring at the graph in her hand. She snatched it out of sight. "How did you get in here?"
"Through the door."
Kumar and Anita stood not ten feet away, going over some data in hushed voices. Sue hunched over a microscope at the nearest table, and Theo held a rack of test tubes up to the bright sunlight at the wall of windows.
Dominic's breath, warm on the back of her neck, made her tiny hairs stand on end.
"My research team is here," she hissed.
"I can see that. I look forward to meeting them."
She craned her neck around. His placid, innocent expression warred with the wicked gleam in his eye.
"What do you want?"
"Lunch would work."
She blew out a breath. Anything to get him out of here before he stirred up trouble with her team. "Let's go." She left her report on the counter.
Dominic's eyes widened. Apparently he hadn't expected her to be so easy. To her chagrin, he gestured for her to go first. She deliberately left her lab coat on all the way to the door. She could feel his gaze burning through the white fabric.
"I'll be back in a few," she called, as she hung her lab coat on a hook. She smoothed a hand over the front of the new cream-and-black dress she'd bought on sale. It had called out to her from the window, "Buy me, you know you want to."
It gave her perverse pleasure to buy clothes from anywhere except Hardcastle.
Dominic let out a low whistle as the lab door closed behind them. "Bel-la. The name fits."
His eyes roamed shamelessly over the fitted dress. It had a 1950's-style bodice cut like it was tailor-made for her. The diamond-shaped cutout below the neckline hinted at cleavage but didn't actually show any. Fitted through the waist and hips, the dress flared and fell below the knee.
"Thanks. It's new."
She wanted to smack herself on the forehead the moment the words left her mouth, but his admiring gaze had scram bled her brain.
She'd bought stilettos at the same time. Dominic's lips parted as his gaze drifted over her ankles and feet.
One dark eyebrow lifted very slightly. "If my high school chemistry teacher had looked like you, I might be in a different line of work today."
She shrugged. "Just part of the job. Can't work for Tarrant and be a slob."
His eyes twinkled. "Why does that make me want to change into jeans?"
"I thought you didn't work for Tarrant. Yet. Or did you decide to stay?" Her stomach clenched inside the fitted waistline.
"Any reason why I should tell you?"
"None whatsoever."
The elevator doors opened and he gestured for her to go in first. She couldn't stop her hips from swaying slightly as she stepped over the threshold.
Reality came back with a crunch as the doors closed. She swallowed hard. "Did you tell him about me?"
"No." He leaned against the wall.
A rush of relief made her light-headed. "Thank you."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Not yet." She bit her lip. "It's got to be there somewhere."
"What if it isn't?"
"It is." The door whooshed open and several people entered. Dominic's steady gaze heated her skin but she didn't flinch.
On the ground floor he waited until everyone else had left, then offered her his arm. "Where would you like to eat?"
"I usually get a hot dog in the park."
"If eating a hot dog for lunch every day got you that body, I'm not inclined to mess with a good thing."
They pushed out through the revolving door into the sharp midday sunshine. Her new heels clicked on the tarmac as they crossed Fifth Avenue and went into the park. Beneath the thin layer of civility suggested by his expensive suit, Dominic's thick arm held hers tight.
"What do you want with me?"
"We have a deal, remember?" He tilted his chin, enjoying the sun on his face. "Or is breaking your word a habit with you?"
"I've never broken my word."
"Oh, you told my dad you're working against him?"
"I'm not! Well, I want my own father's work back, but I haven't been backpedaling on the science. I'm very proud of what we've achieved."
"But you plan to take it with you?"
"No. I would never take work I've done for Hardcastle. I just want the basic research back. I won't sue for any products I've developed here using it. My dad had no interest in cosmetics. His work had to do with the perception of reality."
"Which I guess can translate into making people appear more trustworthy than they are."
"I can't believe I confided in you."
He looked back at her. "You trusted me."
"Why would I trust you?" She spoke her own question aloud.
"I have that kind of face." His mouth widened into a predatory smile. "Mustard? Ketchup? Sauerkraut?" They'd reached a hot dog cart.
"The works."
Dominic ordered their lunch from a vendor, then led her to a bench in the shade of a large oak. He took a big bite of his hot dog and chewed it. "Tarrant wants me to take over the company. Asked me what I want. He'll give me anything." He took another bite.
Bella frowned. "You mean, like, if you asked for my father's research … " She blinked. Her Diet Pepsi bubbled in her nose.
"The thought did occur to me." He sipped his iced tea.
Her heart squeezed. "Would you do that for me?"
"Nope." He took another bite. Chewed it, inclining his head to the sun again. Light and shade danced over the hard planes of his face and glinted in his black hair.
Bella tried to keep her breathing steady. "Why not?"
"Because if I did he'd figure out who you are and sue your dress right off you for breach of contract."
Her dress tickled her hot skin. "Breach of contract?"
"As an employee you are contractually obligated to support the best interests of the company. What you're doing is no different than a store clerk sticking their hand in the till."
"The only contract I signed was the one agreeing that any scientific discoveries I make here are the intellectual property of Hardcastle. I already told you I don't want to take that."
"Doesn't matter. You came here to take something. You think that's legal? Check your employee handbook." He sipped his tea without looking at her.
Employee handbook? She recalled a thick, red, spiral-bound book she'd filed away unopened. She wasn't planning to run for Employee of the Month.
"Are you saying I can't sue Tarrant, as I will be in breach of a contract I didn't sign?"
"I didn't say a thing." He popped the last piece of hot dog in his mouth and chewed it. His dark eyes never left her face. "Want another?"
"No." She glanced down at her uneaten hot dog. Her appetite had vanished. "So what should I do?" Her voice was shaky.
"You're asking me how to screw over my own dad?" His dimples appeared. "You may look hot in that dress, but I have my limits."
As if to test those limits, he gave her a once-over that threatened to scorch her skin. "Okay, so maybe I'm not sure where those limits are, but I'd give up your Quixotic quest to save the family fortunes if I were you, and enjoy the good gig you have going." He tilted his head. "Perhaps that's what your dad would have wanted."
He said the last part softly. Not a hint of accusation or condescension. The thought turned over in her brain-which instantly rejected it.
"My dad lived for his work. It was everything to him. Without it he felt like an empty shell. He begged Tarrant to allow him to continue it here, but Tarrant wouldn't let him."
Dominic exhaled. "That does sound harsh."
"I guess a white-haired scientist who still wears suits from the nineteen sixties didn't fit his company image." She dropped her unbitten hot dog and its wrapper into her lap. "If he'd just left my dad alone and let him continue his work, I wouldn't be here. I'd be doing my own thing somewhere else. But as it is? I can't. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
Dominic looked at her steadily. "Regaining his research won't bring your dad back."
But it could bring my mom back.
She swallowed. "I know that. But to know his work is in safe hands, that it won't be forgotten, that's priceless to me."