Business Affairs
Автор
Shirley Rogers
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19,6K
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12
One
“And the winner for the final drawing this evening, for Bachelor Number Ten, is…Jennifer Cardon!”
Jennifer’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the emcee of the charity event she’d attended with her best friend, Casey McDaniel. Hoots, screams and thunderous applause exploded around her in the classy ballroom located in a hotel alongside the Elizabeth River in downtown Norfolk.
She’d won? Oh, my God! Struggling to breathe, she began to grasp the ramifications of her actually bidding for a date with a man.
From the moment she’d agreed to attend the event where prominent bachelors were to be auctioned off, she’d questioned her sanity. That she’d won erased any remaining doubts.
She’d actually paid for a date with a man!
A stranger!
As the chaos around her began to subside, she clenched her teeth and glared at her best friend, who was sitting at the table with her. “Casey, I’m going to kill you.” Silently, Jennifer chastised herself for the three glasses of champagne she’d consumed during the evening. Not much of a drinker, the alcohol in combination with Casey’s urging had driven her to this ludicrous moment.
“Kill me? Are you kidding? This is the best thing that could’ve happened to you,” Casey replied, her grin wide. “Congratulations! This is fantastic!”
“I can’t believe I actually let you talk me into bidding,” Jennifer said between her lips as she forced a smile.
“You’re the one who wants a baby,” her friend bluntly reminded her.
“Not with a stranger!” With her thirtieth birthday looming, Jennifer felt her biological clock ticking. She did want a baby. Badly. But without anyone special to share her life with, and no possibilities on the male horizon, her chances of having a baby were slim to none.
In desperation, she’d begun investigating artificial insemination. After learning of her plans, Casey had suggested she have a fling with a stranger, then have his baby without his knowledge. It was a bizarre idea, but it had started her thinking.
Unlike Casey, who was wild and crazy, Jennifer couldn’t do anything that reckless. But she had found herself fantasizing about the bachelor auction—the perfect opportunity to meet someone special, a man she could eventually have deep feelings for. Maybe a man who could father a baby for her.
“Well, having sex with a stranger is better than visiting some sterile clinic like you’d planned,” her friend teased.
“This isn’t funny. What am I going to do if this gets out at the office?” As executive vice president of a prosperous software company, if word leaked out she’d paid more than a thousand dollars for a date, it would put her in a deplorable light. Never mind that she’d participated for charity. Who would care about money going to a good cause when they could gossip about her?
“Have fun with it, Jennifer. Loosen up. Maybe this guy will turn out to be the man of your dreams.”
“Right,” she practically snarled. Jennifer knew that wasn’t possible. Alex Dunnigan, her boss and CEO of Com-Tec, only appreciated her business skills. In the five years she’d worked with him, he’d never once looked at her as a desirable woman.
“Jennifer, please come on up and join the other lucky ladies on the stage,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the speakers.
Shrinking in her seat, Jennifer covered her eyes with her hands. “Oh, please, this can’t be happening!”
Casey laughed. “Jennifer! They’re calling you. You’ve got to go. Now!”
“I can’t.” She took her hands down and pleaded, “You take my place! Please!”
“Jennifer!” Casey grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair. “They’re waiting!”
As soon as Jennifer stood, the ballroom erupted into even more commotion. Her gaze swept the crowd, her cheeks burning. The euphoria surrounding her was unbelievable. Women were cheering and clapping, their faces exuberant. Jennifer’s legs went weak and she grasped the table to steady herself.
“Go!” Casey gave her a shove.
“All right!” She slapped Casey’s hands away from her. A spotlight appeared out of nowhere and followed her as she wove through the tables toward the front of the grand ballroom. Her face grew hot and she prayed the floor would open and swallow her up. As she approached the stage, her steps grew even more hesitant. If only she could go back and start the night over. The emcee, an attractive woman of about forty, smiled at her as Jennifer smoothed her hands down her gold lamé evening gown.
This is what she got for doing a favor. She scanned the room for Mary Davis, her boss’s aunt, the elderly woman who had convinced her to come in the first place. Jennifer hadn’t been able to refuse when she’d asked her to attend tonight’s charity event for support. She needed to find her to explain how impossible this whole thing had turned out.
She cringed when she thought of Alex finding out. Surely his aunt would mention this episode to him. It was bad enough having to endure her attraction to him knowing he’d never shown any sign of being interested in her. Along with the rest of the firm, he’d tease her for weeks.
Truthfully, their platonic relationship worked for the best. If she and Alex ever had a relationship, with his track record, she’d end up getting hurt. Alex Dunnigan didn’t believe in long-term relationships. And she couldn’t bear to be one of his many conquests.
As she approached the steps, her legs began to tremble. She would have tripped if it hadn’t been for the escort who met her. A young man, who looked about the age of her twenty-eight-year-old brother, he gave her a broad smile and a wink. She felt her cheeks burn as she struggled to walk in her spiky high heels. Accepting his help, she took her place on the stage with nine other women.
Great, Mary Davis was nowhere in sight. Jennifer groaned. For the time being, she was condemned to go through with this ridiculous ordeal.
Her heart racing, she stood in a line across the stage, a smiled plastered on her face, her heart thumping. She did her best to pretend she was enjoying herself. Somehow she’d get through the next few minutes, then she’d hunt Mary Davis down and find a way out of this mess. She’d just thank her and donate the money she bid directly to the charity, then politely turn down her date with her winning bachelor. That would do it!
“All right, ladies. It’s time to meet your dates!” the emcee announced, beaming with excitement. The audience erupted with cheers and thunderous claps, and she raised her hands to hush them. Once they quieted, she continued. “Okay, now don’t turn around yet. We’re going to line your dates up right behind you. They’ll be blindfolded so they won’t be able to see you, either. When we give you the cue, turn around and remove your date’s blindfold.”
Jennifer heard the sound of footsteps across the wooden stage, and her chest expanded as she felt the presence of someone behind her. Applause and laughter exploded throughout the room.
This was ridiculous. What kind of man would let himself be auctioned off in the first place? Her face flushed even hotter. The man she’d won had to be thinking much worse about her. After all, she was paying for an evening of his company.
Resigned that for the next few minutes she was trapped, she willed herself to breathe deeply. A scent of musk filled her senses, heightening her awareness of someone coming up to stand behind her. Jeez, he smelled wonderful. Better than wonderful.
Intriguing.
And familiar. She wrinkled her nose. How ridiculous. No man she knew in his right mind would agree to participate in anything this absurd. But she definitely recognized his cologne as the same brand as…
Jennifer never heard the command to take the blindfolds off of their dates. She only turned because she saw the other women spinning around and she copied their movements. Blood roared in her ears, blocking out the noise of the audience and the excited chatter of the women on the stage with her.
Her gut churned as she looked around. They were already taking the blindfolds off their dates. Gathering her courage, Jennifer lifted her face to the man paired with her.
Her heart thumped.
Alex!
She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her boss stood in front of her, his lean body filling out his black tux as if it had been made for him. And it probably had, she thought appreciatively as she stared unabashedly at him.
Her gaze drifted from the black band of cloth covering his eyes, to take in his dark hair and finely chiseled, handsome face. His full lips were smiling, but the pulse beat at his throat gave her a hint of his true feelings. Anyone else would think he was enjoying himself. But she knew Alex too well. He wasn’t at all pleased about being here. Jennifer could just imagine his expression when he discovered she was the woman who’d won him.
Well, that made two of them. Her distress eased just a bit. If Alex wasn’t happy about participating, like her, he’d be looking for a way out. With them paired together, this might just turn out for the best. The two of them could figure a way out of this mess.
Her gaze slid over his body, then up to his face again, and her breath caught in her throat. The man radiated sex appeal from head to toe. If nothing else, she owed Mary a big thank-you for giving her the chance to ogle Alex without him knowing.
“It seems like our last winner is a bit shy,” the emcee commented to the audience. Laughter exploded throughout the room. “Everyone is waiting for you to reveal your date.”
Jennifer cringed when she realized she was the only woman who hadn’t removed her date’s blindfold. Because there was nothing else she could do, she moved closer to Alex and raised her shaky hands to his face. His big hands covered hers, causing flutters in her stomach. With his help, they removed his blindfold.
Their gazes collided.
“Jennifer?” Alex had recognized the enticing, recognizable scent the moment he’d stood behind her, but he’d assumed she was someone who wore the same perfume as the woman who was second in command at his software company. Never, not even for a moment, had he thought that the woman was Jennifer.
But he wasn’t complaining. She was beautiful. Her gold evening gown flowed over her slim figure, the neckline dipping mischievously between the swells of her breasts. His stomach muscles tightened and a spiral of awareness coiled through his body.
“Hi.” Still shivering from the heat of his touch, Jennifer looked into his sexy blue eyes. “I can’t believe you’re the man I bid on!”
Continuing to hold her hands, Alex smiled at her. Relief flashed through him, replaced in an instant by a sense of exhilaration.
This was Jennifer!
His Jennifer!
Unable to believe it, Alex glanced around them. Each woman stood with the bachelor she’d bid on. So it was true! He’d actually been won by Jennifer. His gaze went back to her. He realized that even though he couldn’t hear her, she was speaking to him. “What?” he asked over the clamor of claps and cheers reverberating throughout the room.
Jennifer leaned closer to Alex, close enough to breathe in the essence of him. Her senses whirled. “What are you doing here?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard.
“I got roped into this by my aunt.” Gazing at Jennifer, Alex’s brain kicked into logical mode. For more than an hour he’d been pacing in a room with the other bachelors, wondering why he’d let his great-aunt talk him into doing something this crazy. Though he ran a Fortune 500 business every day with ruthless precision, when it came to his favorite aunt, he just didn’t have the power to say no.
Well, he couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion. Hopefully, Jennifer would agree to keep this under wraps. No one at his office would even find out, and he wouldn’t have to endure being harassed by his staff.
She blinked. “Oh.” Great. So she was right. He didn’t want to be here, either. Which was just as well because she was already attracted to Alex, and she certainly couldn’t take advantage of him, could she?
“I didn’t know you’d be here this evening,” Alex said, raising his voice above the noise around them.
Jennifer tried to pull her hands free, but he held on to them. “It wasn’t my idea. I, uh, I came as a favor to your aunt, too.”
“I see.” But he really didn’t. She would have been the last person he’d guess to bid on a date with a man. At five foot nine, she was about five inches shorter than him. While Alex usually dated voluptuous women, Jennifer’s slim figure had intrigued him from the moment he’d hired her. The generous amount of skin exposed by her dress wasn’t helping. Her dark brown hair, pulled into a soft twist, left an enticing view of her neck as well as the delicate curves hidden beneath her dress. His body stirred with awareness.
“It isn’t what you think,” she said hurriedly, not wanting him to get the impression she had to hire men to go out with her.
He smiled, revealing a dimple in his left cheek. “It isn’t?”
“I never planned to bid on anyone.” Oh, but the thought of going out with Alex was awfully tempting. Too tempting.
But she knew all about his aversion to commitment. The revolving door effect of the women in and out of his life was proof of his playboy lifestyle. She’d be a fool to waste her time hoping anything could come of her attraction to him. The smart thing to do was to call the date off as soon as possible.
“Yeah?”
“No, really.” She could see he didn’t quite believe her. Turning, she glanced out at the audience in search of her friend. “See, there’s Casey.” Grinning, her friend waved at them, then began clapping. “You remember her?” Alex and Casey had met on numerous occasions.
Casey knew of Jennifer’s attraction to her boss. Seeing them paired together on the stage, Jennifer could just imagine what was going on in her best friend’s conniving mind. Managing to extricate one of her hands from Alex, she pointed to her. “She instigated it. I mean—”
Jennifer broke off her own sentence. How could she ever explain why she’d taken a chance on bidding for a date with a man? Casey knew how bad she wanted a baby, but she could never admit it to anyone else—least of all, to Alex.
“Casey thought it’d be fun, and we sort of got caught up in the moment. She bid, too, but someone outbid her,” she explained. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie, either.
Alex frowned. “Oh.” Meaning what? he wondered. She was disappointed she’d won him?
“Look, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go through with this date,” she said hurriedly before things got further out of hand.
“Why not?” he asked, a bit annoyed she was already reneging on spending an evening with him. “If it were any of the other men, you’d go, right?”
Her admission came grudgingly. “Maybe, but—”
“Then what’s the harm in an innocent night of fun, Jennifer?”
“We work together, Alex.”
She had a valid point, Alex thought. Their work relationship had to come first. He’d hired her because she’d been employed by some of the most well-known computer software companies. During her initial interview, Alex had admired her sense of integrity, even more so her ambition.
And she’d lived up to his expectations. Hell, she’d exceeded them. Like him, work was vital to her, and she was damn good at getting results. He’d assigned her some of his more difficult clients, and she’d handled each one with poise, patience and what seemed like unending attention.
“It’s just a date, Jennifer.”
Before she had time to answer, a huge surge of excitement permeated the room.
Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!
The chant from the audience grew louder. Several couples complied instantly, putting a show on for the crowd with long, drawn-out kisses. Alex looked around, taking in their reaction, then his gaze landed on Jennifer’s generous mouth. He’d been tempted for years to taste her. Fate was giving him the perfect opportunity.
Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!
The crowd seemed to have their attention centered on them. Then he realized why. They were the only couple not kissing.
Tugging Jennifer to him, he slipped his arm around her. He guided his hand to her neck, his palm cupping her face, lifting her chin. She stared up at him, her eyes aglow. Alex had often imagined kissing her, but none of his fantasies compared to this exquisite moment. His anticipation building, he leaned down, his lips hovering a breath away from hers.
“Alex—”
“Shh,” he murmured, and lowered his mouth. An explosion went off inside him as he kissed her. The audience cheered wildly and deafening applause filled the room, but Alex was unaware of anything except the velvet softness of Jennifer’s lips beneath his.
In a million years he could never have imagined she’d taste this magnificent, this perfect. Her hands came up to his arms, grasping them tightly, as if she needed to hold on to him for support. Her lips parted slightly and he felt, rather than heard, her moan of pleasure. Spirals of desire surged through him as their tongues met briefly, retreated, then touched again.
Alex groaned. She tasted sweet, enticing, and he moved closer. As their bodies touched, he became aroused. Stunned by his response to her, he broke off their kiss.
Their eyes met and he sucked in a ragged breath.
What the hell had just happened? Jennifer was staring at him, her eyes wide, her lips damp from their kiss. His kiss. Alex fought the urge to drag her back into his arms and kiss her again.
His attraction to her had skyrocketed, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. His fantasies of kissing her hadn’t come close to the reality of his mouth claiming hers.
Damn. It was going to be a few minutes before he felt anything close to normal again. He wasn’t even sure he could walk. Unnerved, he remained rooted to the stage floor.
For the first time in his life, Alex was tempted to throw caution to the wind and to pursue Jennifer as he would any woman he wanted.
No. You’ll only hurt her.
As much as he desired her, he couldn’t ignore the betraying thought that crept into his mind. He wasn’t the settling-down kind of man. He’d learned the hard way that marriage and commitment were merely empty words spoken by two people who felt nothing more than lust for each other.
His own parents were proof of that. After twelve years they’d ended up in a nasty divorce. Jacqueline Dunnigan had wanted nearly everything his father had worked all of his life for, including their palatial family home, her Mercedes and her share of their small computer software business.
The only thing she hadn’t wanted was her son.
It had taken years, but Alex had worked through the pain of his mother’s abandonment. He’d vowed never to let a woman have any kind of hold on him.
Kissing Jennifer had been an earth-shattering experience. Now that he knew her taste, more than ever he wanted to make love to her. But as was always the case when he started dating someone new, his attraction would diminish in a short amount of time. He enjoyed women, had dated his share and probably more, but no woman had ever held his interest very long. Not one.
Would Jennifer?
He didn’t want to hurt her. And he damn well couldn’t risk ruining their working relationship.
As the emcee bid the audience farewell, a large black curtain slowly closed across the front of the stage, shutting the couples off from the noise of the observers.
Great timing, Jennifer thought with a shiver. What was she supposed to say to Alex after the way she’d kissed him? It was just for show? Yeah, as if he’d believe she wasn’t affected by their kiss! She had known kissing him would be wonderful. But…oh, it had been so much more amazing than she’d ever dreamed.
“Well, okay, then,” she stated, making an effort to keep her tone level as she stepped back.
“We must have given them what they were cheering for,” Alex replied, aware she had physically distanced herself from him.
“Yes.” Jennifer’s heart sank. So she’d been right. Trying to please the audience, he’d been playing his part to the hilt. Apparently their kiss had only curled her toes. The best thing to do was to remove any kernel of a chance of following through with her plan. “You know,” she said, boldly looking him in the eyes, “I couldn’t have asked for this to turn out better.”
Alex studied her. “What do you mean?” He studied her features, tried to glean what she was thinking.
She gestured with her hands. “I really didn’t want to come this evening. I was just trying to help your aunt’s charity event, and with Casey’s goading, I kind of got carried away with my bidding. So we can just call the date off.”
“Call it off?” He frowned. He hadn’t expected her to suggest calling off their date. But he should have. He’d probably scared her off when he’d kissed her. His reaction to her had scared him.
“Well, yes. I mean, under the circumstances, I don’t expect you to honor your agreement.”
“You won, didn’t you?” he asked, put off she could so easily dismiss going out with him.
“Well, yes. But, Alex, we can’t go out on a date together.”
Alex didn’t like the way she’d said that, as if the idea of dating him was repugnant. He’d sensed her response to him. Unless she’d missed her calling as an actress, she damn well wasn’t immune to him.
“You bid a considerable amount of money.” While waiting in a soundproof room backstage, he’d been stunned when he learned the amount of Jennifer’s bid. “And I made an obligation to my aunt and to the charity. I’m not going to back out. Besides, my aunt would be crushed.”
“But surely she’ll understand when she realizes we got paired together.” She crossed her arms in front of her to stop her hands from shaking.
“What difference does it make?”
“We work together!”
“So what? It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s probably only dinner or something. We’ll keep it simple,” he told her, trying to suppress his growing need to kiss her again.
Simple for him, Jennifer thought, but not for her. Looking away, she considered her situation. Of course the date wouldn’t mean anything to Alex. He didn’t have feelings for her. But she was already attracted to him, and she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her attraction under control. And since she’d kissed him, well, all she could think about was how much she wanted to kiss him again.
Simple? No, not simple at all.
But could a date with Alex lead to more? Could she sleep with him—possibly even become pregnant by him? Her conscience taunted her. She glanced back at him and her heart did a little flip. Licking her lips, she could still taste him, could still feel the heat of his kiss flowing through her.
The temptation to try to seduce him grew even stronger. But if she agreed to accept the date, was she making an even bigger mistake?
