Her Unexpected Admirer Page 0,22
remembering his muscular chest that was less than a foot away from her fingers. Good grief, she could actually smell everything about him! His abs were tight and ridged, fascinating to touch because he’d jerked when her fingers had explored those ridges last night.
She hadn’t dared to go lower, but she licked her lips, thinking about the possibilities.
“Kate?” he prompted.
Kate blinked, focusing once more on the present. “What?” she asked, then realized what she’d just been doing and shook her head. “Right. Yes. Um, right…we can’t do that anymore.”
“Why not?”
She took a deep breath and moved away from him, walking over to the conference room table to grab hold of one of the chairs. It was a very poor excuse for what she really wanted to hold onto, but it was enough. For the moment. “Because you’re a client.”
He shrugged. “Then you’re fired.”
She gasped, swinging around to face him with her mouth hanging open in horror. “You can’t do that! Please!” She didn’t realize that she’d walked back to him and that her hands were on his chest, gripping his shirt. She glanced behind him at the closed door, her body shivering at the possibility of her father finding out that she’d lost a client because she’d slept with him the night before. “Oh please! Don’t fire me. I promise, I can accomplish any task you hand to this firm. It will be done professionally and efficiently.”
He looked down at her curiously, his hands cupping her elbows gently as he enjoyed her long fingers on his chest once more. “What’s going on between you and your father?”
She shivered, terrified that he’d gleaned the truth so quickly. But she stood up straighter. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll make sure your project is done with utmost competence.”
He thought about pushing her more, but he wanted her alone before he figured out what was going on, why she was suddenly so terrified. His instincts were telling him to get her out of this environment. He didn’t understand it, but something here was wrong. He ran his hands up and down her arms, wishing he could trash that polyester suit and drape her in silks and satins.
“Fine. You’re un-fired.” He pulled out one of the chairs for her and, when she sat down, he took the chair next to her. “Okay, here’s the project. Someone is stealing money from me.”
She blinked at that statement and reared back, shocked. That seemed extremely unlikely. Stealing from this man? Who would be that crazy? And then she asked the question she knew would drive her father ballistic, but she felt it was the only honest thing to do. “Davis, don’t you have an entire accounting staff who could investigate this problem?”
He nodded his head, appreciating her question. “I have hundreds of accounting people on staff. But I don’t know who is stealing. It could be someone with a great deal of authority or it could be just someone who has the authority to order supplies. I don’t know and until I can figure it out, or more accurately, until you figure it out, I don’t want anyone in my company to know that I’ve discovered the embezzlement. Once you find the source, then I can get my security team on board as well as the lawyers and accountants. But until that point, you’re my woman.”
Kate listened, more than a little overwhelmed by what he was asking her to do. But the sound of “my woman” coming from him sounded oh-so-delicious! Could she do this? Could she really delve into this man’s accounting data and find a thief?
She wasn’t sure she was that competent. And she needed to warn him again because he obviously hadn’t heard her last night when she’d told him about her day. “Davis, you have to understand…” she started to say but Davis interrupted her yet again.
He knew what she was about to say and he wasn’t going to allow her to put herself down again. He sensed something inside of her, a strength and intelligence that she refused to acknowledge.
Standing up, he looked down at her, but took her hands in his and lifted her to her feet. “You need to gather your things. We leave for the airport in less than thirty minutes.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer. He wanted this woman and he suspected the only way he could have her again was to get her alone, assure her that he believed in her and show