How could he go on with the meeting now? Not only was his concentration shot to hell, but with the underwear hanging out of his pocket, his professionalism would surely be called into question. And all because of wretched Marisa Clair.
She had officially ruined his morning. Possibly his entire day.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to postpone this meeting,” Luke said stiffly, with as much dignity as he could muster while stuffing women’s underwear back into his pocket. “I have…urgent business to attend to. Lisa will help you reschedule.”
And without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and strode out of the office.
…
“You’re late,” Ben observed from his office doorway as Marisa flung herself back down at her desk.
Yeah, she was. But chilling out in the ladies’ room for ten minutes before she got to the magazine had been a necessity. Especially since her mouth was still burning from Luke’s kiss and she was hot and restless and unable to settle. Not to mention thoroughly pissed off with herself and with Luke.
In no mood to be told off, Marisa only just stopped from flipping Ben the one-fingered salute. Not exactly the thing to do to her immediate boss.
Like sending naughty e-mails to the über-boss wasn’t.
Marisa ignored the snide voice in her head and gave Ben an apologetic smile. “Yes, sorry about that. I…couldn’t find my other shoe.”
Ben leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “Like that’s not the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.” He gave her a gimlet stare from over the top of his glasses. “Something’s up, isn’t it, Marisa?”
Bugger it. How come Ben always seemed to know whenever she’d done something wrong? She couldn’t flirt with him to distract him and that left her with nothing to hide behind. A nuisance when her typing speed sucked, her ability to schedule was useless, and she didn’t take direction well. Really, she wasn’t the best PA in the world, and she had no idea why Ben kept her on.
Clearly, telling him she’d been called up to the big boss’s office wasn’t going to be the highlight of her day. Still, she kind of had to. Better to come from her than Luke himself, right?
She sighed. “I had to go and see Luke McNamara this morning.”
Ben’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“Because I had something I wanted to talk to her about.” A deep, masculine voice came unexpectedly from the magazine’s doorway.
A weird, electric thrill coursed down Marisa’s spine. Whipping her head around so fast her neck nearly snapped, she stared as Luke’s tall figure made its way through the office to her desk.
People were staring and she had a sudden flashback to the day Joseph had come into the office, declaring his love for Christie in front of the entire staff of the magazine.
She’d never admitted it to anyone since love sucked balls, but her knees had melted under her desk. And strangely, there was something about the intense way Luke was looking at her now that had precisely the same effect.
Trying to pull herself together, she couldn’t help licking her lips to moisten them, noticing—rather to her disappointment—that he’d wiped off the lipstick she’d left on his mouth.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice coming out a tad breathy, conscious of Ben also staring at the man like a lunatic. A visit from the CEO wasn’t exactly usual for the Total Tech staff.
Luke halted by her desk. She’d have thought that since it was her desk and he was on the other side of it, she’d feel a little more powerful. But she didn’t. He was so tall, the way he was staring at her so intense. It made her self-conscious, especially considering he’d just kissed the life out of her upstairs.
“I need to talk to you,” Luke said. “In private.”
In private? What on earth did he want now? “Uh, sorry, I have a lot of work—”
“I have something of yours I need to return.”
Oh hell. He wanted to give her back her wretched undies.
“Are you stealing my PA, Mr. McNamara?” Ben said. His tone was friendly, but the look he gave her and Luke was calculating.
Marisa opened her mouth to tell him what was going on, but before she could get the words out, Luke said coolly, “It’s a personal matter.”
Ben’s gaze narrowed. “Really?”
“Yes.” Luke stared back at him. “Really.”
The other man shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Oh. Well. Fine. As you were, then. Right, well, must get back to doing…” He stopped muttering and disappeared back into his office.
Marisa blinked. Why had Luke lied? Why hadn’t he told Ben about the real reason she was in his office? She glanced up at him, another electric shock arrowing down her spine as their eyes met.