Jule Mcbride - Night Pleasures

OBJECTIVITY WAS impossible, Edison admitted an hour later, putting down his briefcase, his eyes riveting where the hem of a silk, navy-and-tan-checked dress swirled against Selena’s delicate ankles. Looking unsettled by the curious male attention Edison wasn’t bothering to hide, she leaned against a copy machine in the hallway and said, “Well, I believe I’ve shown you everything, Mr. Lone.”

Not everything. One look and he’d felt sure there was more to her than met the eye. Oh, she probably wasn’t a spy—he figured CIIC had just gotten overly cautious—but she was even more intriguing in the flesh. He just wished the black-and-white slides had provided some warning about how the low, honeyed quality of her voice would affect his heartbeat. A slow, suggestive smile curled his lips. “Shown me—” he arched an eyebrow “—everything?”

“Well…” Remarkable eyes that were outlined by unattractive, bookish, black-framed glasses drifted over him, as if drawn downward against their will, compelled to survey the fit of his tan slacks and black V-neck sweater. When those eyes found his again, they glinted darkly as if she were steeling herself against him, determined to ignore his flirtation at all costs. Before he could ask why, she continued, “Well, I’ve shown you the coffee machine and your personal shelf in the refrigerator. And—” Now she patted the copy machine lid affectionately “—our copier. After you’ve read the employee manual for our division, you’ll want to further familiarize yourself with this machine. Because people call from all over the world for copies, our billing system’s a little complex….”

What was complex was his reaction to this woman. As it turned out, she had skin that flushed the color of dusky-orange roses; hair that was probably technically termed auburn—pure autumn, all glorious golden sunbeams shooting through dark-brown chestnuts and rust-red leaves. Steady topaz eyes peered from behind those ugly glasses he was itching to remove. She had charm, intelligence and a compelling gangly grace, as if she’d recently experienced an unwanted growth spurt and hadn’t quite caught up to it yet.

Realizing his eyes had settled once more where the dress brushed her ankles, Edison lifted his gaze, his body tightening when he noted how the silk brushed—and revealed—other parts of her: full sloping breasts, a nipped waist and lush backside. Just like color, movement did wonders. Still photographs hadn’t captured the roll of her hips, the gentle sway of her breasts.

“Any questions about the copier?” When he didn’t answer immediately, she squinted, raising eyebrows the same autumnal color as her thick, shoulder-length hair. “Mr. Lone?”

“Uh, no. Copier seems fine.” He smiled. “You, however, are an original, Selena.” Before she could respond, he absently murmured in afterthought, “Selena. Pretty name. And please call me Edison.”

She shot him a glance of censure that was one part surprised annoyance, two parts female pleasure, and then her gaze softened as if she’d finally decided he might be worthy of consideration. “Original?” She tossed the word over her shoulder as she motioned for him to follow her down the hallway. “You don’t even know me.” After a pause, she added, “Edison.”

Enjoying the slow, easy sway of her backside, he murmured, “I’m beginning to think I’d like to.”

Blowing out a soft, disapproving sigh, she led him into an open-concept work area. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the perimeter, encasing forty or so identical glassed-in cubicles, the partitions of which muted sounds of humming printers and swiftly clicking computer keys. “Cozy,” he pronounced dryly.

She shrugged. “Martha Stewart wasn’t available.”

“This office looks like it was decorated by The Terminator.”

“Futuristic,” she agreed, then pointed. “Voilà. Welcome to your work station.”

A shiny steel desk topped by a computer, faced an identical computer on an identical shiny steel desk. He motioned a thumb toward the other computer. “And that?”

“Is my work space.”

“So…” Seating himself in the regulation chair provided, he set his briefcase beside the desk and shot her a playful glance, realizing that somewhere during the introductions, he’d decided to seduce the truth out of her. The woman couldn’t be a spy. No way. “This could get dangerous,” he began. “Am I really supposed to face you all day, with nothing between us but a thin partition of glass?”

“Plexiglas,” she corrected mildly, circling it. “And don’t get any ideas. Big Brother is always watching.”

“Ah…” His throat went dry as he surveyed her. “You have a sense of humor.”

“Don’t tell anyone.” Her lip-glossed mouth suddenly came to life, twitching with amusement, making him realize how unusually full it was, how kissable. “As you know,” she continued, “everything here at IBI is top secret.”

He raised a dark eyebrow. “You included?”

She shrugged, the lift of her inward-curving shoulders correcting her posture, making him notice the enticing tilt of her breasts once again. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to feel left out.”

For a second, he almost forgot she was a suspect he’d been sent to investigate. “I’d ask you on a date,” he said, surprised by and enjoying their banter, “but I’m afraid we’re being taped.”

“And photographed.” Selena nodded easily at a ceiling-mounted camera. “Say cheese.”

“Cheese,” he repeated, wishing she wasn’t quite so obviously aware of IBI’s security system. Playing the part of a temporary worker, he added, “The last division where I was sent had cameras everywhere. Do you mind being watched all day?”

Her alluring eyes suddenly seemed too sharp, too intelligent. She surveyed him a long moment, then finally shrugged. “Depends who’s doing the watching.”

Everything about her bespoke the tension of contradictions, he decided. She wasn’t noticeably pretty, but she was sexy as hell. Her eyes had remained unconsciously seductive, even as her obviously intelligent mind assessed him. He said, “What if I’m doing the watching?”

She smirked, those tantalizing lips twisting again, almost petulantly. “Then cameras would make me feel safer.”

“You don’t like men to provide your feelings of safety?”

“Men are hardly safe,” she retorted. In the wake of a revealing blush that followed, she quickly added, “What? Do women always ask you to play the role of Great Protector?”

“Do you distrust men in general,” he pressed trying not to sound too curious, “or did some specific male hurt you?”

Now she didn’t look the least perturbed. “I asked first.”

“Do woman ask me to protect them?” he repeated. “Never. I think they find me too dangerous.”

“Or commitment shy.”

Hearing the truth from her tasty-looking lips was more annoying than it should have been. This was supposed to be his game. His turf. His rules. He was here to watch her, and decipher her diary, which he felt more sure than ever wasn’t in secret code. He fought the urge to tell her their sparring was getting a little too personal. Mostly because he had a suspicion that everything about him and Selena Silverwood was about to get personal. “I commit to plenty of things,” he said, running a palm over his jet hair, loosening the waves as he brushed them back. “I’ve made a fledgling commitment to a dog named M, for instance.”

The truth was, he’d never stayed with a woman longer than six months. That was his rule of thumb. Leave them before they leave you. Suddenly feeling edgy, Edison considered telling Eleanor she’d have to send down one of the other guys. Tom. Steve. Gary Hughes. Anybody. Selena Silverwood was going to be a royal pain in the butt. In her pictures, she’d looked unattractive. In person, she was more physically alluring than she knew. But her presumptive air was now threatening to bring out the worst in him. “You know so much about me,” he continued, chiding. “What? Did somebody send over my dossier?”