Filthy Rich Alpha - Virna DePaul Page 0,17
since she’d seen the photo, her shoulders relaxed and she started to breathe easier. “I assume you didn’t miss the bit about you muscling in.”
“No.” He seemed almost bored. “Most takeovers could be described that way. But even a hostile takeover isn’t illegal. Insider trading, market manipulation, now those would be bad. I’ve never been accused of either.”
She bit her lip. “Well, if you’re not concerned, I guess I shouldn’t be.”
“I’m really not. If you want me to have a word with Mike Gaunt—”
“That’s all right. I’d rather you didn’t.” Cara didn’t want that man’s laser-beam focus turned on her, even though she had nothing to hide. “I just wanted to talk to you before anyone else did,” she added.
“I appreciate that.” His tone was smooth. “But rest assured, it’s not something that bothers me.”
“Um, good. Well, thank you. I should be going now.”
“Cara.”
The way he said her name made her blink. In a split second, his entire demeanor had changed. Gone was the laid back but authoritative boss. In his place was the dreamy, desirable man she’d met in his mansion.
“Yes?” she managed to reply.
“As far as this photo is concerned, I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be. As far as what we’re going to do about the attraction between us? Well, that’s a different matter.”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t understand. You said it yourself. We need to forget that ever happened.”
“I said we had to keep things professional. Maybe that means we should forget what happened, but I’ve been having a difficult time doing that.”
“Really? You stayed away yesterday and somehow I think if I hadn’t come here to see you about the picture, you would have managed to stay away from me today, too.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she tried to back track. “I mean—”
His brows furrowed and he leaned forward, his forearms taut and defined on his desk. “If you truly think that’s the case, then you’re misinformed. I stayed away yesterday and would have continued to stay away in part because I thought I was respecting your wishes. But maybe you don’t know what you really want, after all.”
She swallowed hard. Cursed herself for challenging him. What had that been about anyway? She’d actually sounded like she’d felt he was neglecting her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why—”
“Don’t you, Cara? Because I certainly do.”
She shook her head. “We can’t—”
“We’ll discuss it later. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable at your place of business.”
But he’d be fine making her uncomfortable out of the office?
She raised her chin. “I really don’t see the purpose of looking for trouble twice.”
“Generally, I’d agree with that,” he said softly. “But I find that with you, things are different.”
“But—”
Branden got up and walked around the desk, stopping just short of touching her. “I said we’ll talk about it later, Cara. But if you continue to push things, I’ll be glad to set you straight about my level of interest in you. Is that what you want?”
She was sucking in breaths like a locomotive now.
She immediately turned and walked out. She took the long way back to her office, through the maze of right angles, and fantasized about doing him on Long Leather Couch Number Two, really aggressively. Scratching. Biting. Kissing him hard. Riding him harder, straddling him, on top. Making him pay for the intensity with which she wanted him.
She closed the door to her office once she was inside. Anyone who needed to talk to her could take a hint and save it for later. She paced for several minutes, trying to quash the instinct to return to Branden’s office and beg him to touch her. She didn’t care where as long as she finally felt his hands on her again.
Lord, what was wrong with her?
When her heartbeat stopped thundering and she’d finally calmed herself down, she plopped down in her swivel chair and glanced at the phone. No red light, no voice mails. She tapped a key and looked at the monitor. No new emails, either. She turned and gazed at the slice of river view without seeing it.
Her mind was whirling.
She stared at the phone, half expecting it to ring off the hook and force her to field what-were-you-thinking questions from colleagues and curious friends.
Hours passed. Nothing happened.
Despite her mind continually replaying her earlier encounter with Branden, she got a lot of work done. She supposed her brain was getting used to the multi-tasking. Still, her worry began to outshine even