He stilled on a long exhale without letting go of her, the tension in his bunched muscles like a caged lion clawing to be set free. ‘You really mean that?’ Then he lifted his head and stared at her, the heat in his eyes giving way to surprise. He touched fingertips to her cheek. ‘You’re not crying?’
She took advantage of his concern and wheeled away, swiping at her face with one hand. ‘I have to go.’
He moved to bridge the gap, and she moved still farther away, closer to the door that would take her from this room, take her from Maverick—remove her from temptation.
‘Morgan,’ he urged. ‘What’s wrong?’
Me! she wanted to scream. I’m what’s wrong, can’t you see that? But instead she said, ‘I don’t want to make love with you. Don’t you understand? Just like you really don’t want me.’
‘What are you talking about?’ he protested. ‘That’s not true. I do want you. You know that.’
She shook her head. Morgan had told her exactly how things were between her and her boss, and Tegan knew exactly how Morgan would expect things to be when she came back Monday morning. The last thing she would be expecting would be her boss wanting to carry her off into his den at the drop of a hat.
‘It is true!’ she flung at him, her chest heaving, her defences at breaking point—because if this didn’t work she would be lost. ‘What was the line you used when I started work here? “I don’t do PAs.” Isn’t that what you said from the very beginning? So what the hell do you think you’re trying to prove now?’
White-hot fury devoured him like a lava flow. Yes, he’d told her that—maybe not as crassly as the words she’d employed, but he’d made his position clear.
But it was his line. It had been his decision. And to have it thrown back at him by her…
‘Go home,’ he said once the rush of blood in his ears had finally settled down to a dull roar. ‘Take the afternoon off.’
‘I have work to do—’
‘Go home!’ he repeated, louder this time. ‘You’ve already done enough.’
More than enough, if it all came down to it. And she’d reminded him of too much in the process, of a woman who’d wanted everything and had left him with nothing, and of a vow he’d made never to let that happen again.
He picked up his shirt from the floor, shrugged it on and did up his buttons with a hell of a lot less satisfaction than he’d undone them a few minutes before.
Damn that vow. But he’d had good reason back then to make a vow like that. He’d had good reason to make it clear to anyone who worked that closely with him that they shouldn’t get ideas.
Which hadn’t stopped him getting ideas.
What was happening to him? Morgan had worked for him for eighteen months and he’d never so much as looked at her, and now suddenly it was like he’d taken the blinkers off and discovered the woman who hid behind her ‘repel all boarders’ outfits.
And he wanted her.
And why shouldn’t he have her? She was nothing like Tina. If she had been, she would hardly have put up with him without making a move for the time she’d been with him. She would have been off to secure another, more receptive mark. And even now she wasn’t racing to fall into his bed. She wanted him, he could tell, but she was fighting it.
Which made her all the more refreshingly attractive.
So why was she holding back? It wasn’t like they didn’t know each other. So what that in the past he’d barely got past ‘Good morning’ and ‘Type this up’ on the conversation scale, it wasn’t like they were strangers. So what was her problem? Why should she drag up something he’d said so long ago and use it against him?
He tucked in his shirt and raked his fingers through his hair, feeling a familiar tension curling inside him. He needed a woman, and there was more than one way to skin a cat.
He strode into his office, picked up his PDA and threw himself into his chair. He had a list of phone numbers as long as his arm. He’d find someone more accommodating with no trouble.
He scrolled through the numbers, finally coming to a halt when he found one that halfway appealed. Sonya—all short, sleek black hair and greyhound leanness—she’d do fine. And she’d never been able to say no to him. He was halfway through dialling when he slammed the phone down in disgust.
He didn’t want Sonya. Not when he had a different face taunting him, a different body telling him she didn’t want him, turning him down flat.
And all because of something that had happened years ago.
Damn it! Tina was still finding a way to ruin his life. That damned promise he’d made because of her was coming back to haunt him. As far as he was concerned, it was his vow and nobody else’s. It was up to him if he damn well broke it.