Second-Chance Seduction(16)

                She took a deep breath and struggled to maintain a carefree tone. “I guess I’ll see you Sunday, then.”

                “Yes, you will.” And with a friendly stroke of her hair, Connor opened the office door. “Drive home safely.”

                “I will. Goodbye, Connor.”

                She strolled from his office in a passion-soaked haze. But despite her earlier concerns, she somehow found her way out of the large office maze and down to the parking garage. And before she knew it, she was driving toward the Golden Gate Bridge and heading for home.

                * * *

                The kiss meant nothing, Connor assured himself as he closed his office door. He’d just been trying to teach her a lesson. Testing her. Keeping her on her toes. He’d wanted to prove she was lying when she claimed she wouldn’t dream of having sex with him. And, he told himself, he’d done a hell of a job. She had practically ripped his shirt off right there and then. Hell, if he hadn’t put an end to the kiss when he did, they would be going at it naked on his office couch by now.

                And didn’t that paint a provocative picture? Damn. The image of her writhing in naked splendor on the soft leather couch was stunning in its clarity, causing him to grow rock hard instantly. In his mind’s eye, he could almost touch the gentle slope of her curvaceous breasts, could almost taste her silky skin.

                “Idiot,” he muttered, straining to adjust himself before settling back to work. “Explain again why you stopped kissing her?”

                At the time, it had made sense to stop, he argued silently. But now, as he hungered for more…he shook his head. Maggie had always had the ability to tie him into knots and now she was doing it again. Damn it, he was a different man than he was ten years ago. Stronger. Smarter. He wasn’t about to let her call the shots again. He would be the one in control of the situation while they were together next week.

                But the voice inside his head began to laugh. Control. Good luck with that.

                He ruthlessly stifled that mocking voice. So maybe he hadn’t always had a firm grip on things when he was with Maggie before. Things were different now. He still didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her, which was pretty far, seeing as how she’d lost some weight since he’d last seen her. She was just as beautiful, though. Maybe more so. When he first looked up and saw her standing in his office doorway, she had taken his breath away. She’d always had that power over him, but he was older and wiser now and not about to fall for her charms again.

                He wouldn’t mind kissing her again, though, and was momentarily distracted by the searing memory of his mouth on hers. And it went without saying that he would do whatever it took to get her into bed with him. He was a red-blooded man, after all. Didn’t mean he cared about her or anything. It was just something he’d be willing to do if the occasion presented itself—and he had every intention of making sure that the occasion presented itself.

                Absently, Connor checked the time. Damn, he only had twenty minutes before Jake would show up to drag his ass out to shop for a new suit. He figured he’d better get some real work done in the meantime so he’d be ready to go when Jake got here. His brother had already warned him that he’d be on the phone with the Scottish lawyers this afternoon, and that always put Jake in a foul mood.

                The lawyers from Edinburgh had been trying to convince one of the MacLaren brothers to fly to Scotland to take care of the details of their uncle Hugh’s estate. Whoever made the trip would be stuck there for weeks. But that wasn’t the real reason none of them wanted to go there. No, it was because Uncle Hugh had been a hateful man. Jake, Ian and Connor couldn’t care less about the terms of Hugh’s last will and testament, despite the fact that they were his beneficiaries, in a manner of speaking.