Romantic Acquisition Page 0,54

kitchen right now,” she said, rolling over to prop her chin on his chest.

He stared back at her, one eyebrow raised in question. “Are you going to explain why?” he asked when she didn’t comment further.

“It’s a mess,” she said, in a matter of fact tone. “I went to the store and bought cookie ingredients. It is now all over the kitchen.”

“Why were you upset?” he asked.

Kate blinked. “Upset?”

“You told me you baked or tried a new recipe whenever you’re upset,” he ran his fingers through her silky hair, straightening out some of the tangles he’d just put into the strands.

“Oh, yeah.”

“So?” he asked, pulling her hair slightly.

“Well, I guess I got a little depressed last night.”

“What about?” He was completely still, waiting for her answer.

Kate wasn’t about to tell him that she’d missed him so much she could barely think about anything else. “My mom called,” she lied.

“Don’t you and your mother get along?”

“Sure we do. She’s great. I started thinking about the holidays coming up and got a little depressed. I’m starving. What are you going to do about it?” she asked, changing the subject to something she didn’t have to lie about.

“But we can’t go into the kitchen?” he clarified.

“Correct,” she answered, smiling brightly at his handsome face.

“Okay,” he laughed and reached for the phone. “There’s only one solution,” and he dialed information to get the local pizza delivery store. An hour later, they were sitting on her sofa devouring a pizza with extra cheese, sausage, pepperoni, green peppers and black olives. Kate was laughing as he told her stories about his sisters-in-law and the way each of them met his brothers. They all seemed like very romantic stories and Kate liked the way the family stood together, as if the rest of the world were outsiders.

They made love again and fell asleep early. Kate awoke early the next morning to find Carlo already showered and dressed again. He leaned over her and gave her a hard kiss. “I’ll see you a little later at the office,” and he was gone.

Kate sighed. It was Monday. She glanced outside and didn’t see anything. It was still dark outside. How could that man survive on so little sleep? she wondered.

Kate rolled over, pulling the covers over her nakedness. There had been no reason to put on a nightgown last night since Carlo would just take off her clothes again to make love to her throughout the night.

Kate slept until her normal waking hour of six o’clock. The alarm went off and she rolled quickly out of bed, both eager and wary of seeing him this morning. She dressed in an antique pink skirt with embroidery on the bottom edge and a pink, V neck sweater. She felt extremely feminine this morning as she drove into the city.

The office was busy as usual when she arrived. She dropped off her purse and coat in her own office then headed directly for the conference room, eager to see Carlo this morning so he could wink at her, give her his secret look that told her he was thinking about the night before, just as she was. But the conference room was empty. With a frown, she made her way back to her own office. At the last minute, she turned directions and went towards David’s.

Kate didn’t know why she went that direction. Something just told her she needed to check in with him. It was an odd feeling since she usually avoided his office as well as several of his other vice presidents, feeling as if there was something wrong about her being in that area of Jamison’s headquarters. She didn’t have anything specific to report, nor had he asked for a status on any of the issues brewing.

The door to David’s office was cracked and his secretary was away from her desk. Kate was about to knock, but the voices inside stopped her hand. “Don’t let this out of the bag,” David was saying angrily. “There’s a lot at stake. If ATI gets wind of this, everything will fall apart.” She recognized David’s voice and wondered what he was talking about.

“Do you think the rest of the staff know anything about it?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“No. They keep their noses out of my business and I stay out of theirs. We all like it that way,” he laughed humorlessly.

“What about that woman you’ve put as their point of contact,” the new voice questioned.

“Kate? She’s oblivious. Too much loyalty to my