Alison Roberts - Dreaming Of… Italy

Two men bounced off the sofa and raced to greet Tucker.

“Hey, Tuck.” The first one—a guy who was a lot older than she’d expected, extended his hand. “Big day for us.”

“A big day for all of us,” Tucker agreed. He motioned to Vivi. “My assistant, Miss Prentiss.”

He shook her hand. “I’m Rick Langley.” With black hair and silky brown eyes, he was gorgeous. She could understand how he’d meet a woman who wouldn’t want to let him go. “The guy with the good fortune to be stalked.”

She laughed.

“And I’m Elias Greene.”

Vivi shook his hand, surprised when he gave an extra squeeze before releasing her.

Rick bounded to the bar. “Do you want a drink while we wait for our perpetually late lawyers?”

“Miss Prentiss and I are good.” He turned to Vivi. “Unless you’d like a water?”

She smiled her appreciation. In one easy sentence, he’d gotten her out of a potentially uncomfortable situation. He really, really wasn’t so bad.

She faced Ricky. “Water would be great, thanks. I’d also love a place to set up the laptop.”

Elias raced over and took the laptop from her hands. “We’re using the dining table as our conference table.”

“Sounds great.”

Tucker directed her to follow Elias to the table. When she reached it, he pulled out her chair. Ricky handed her a bottle of water as Elias sat beside her.

“So where are you from?”

She cleared her throat. “Kentucky.”

“No kidding?” Elias smiled broadly. “Are you a farm girl or something?”

She laughed. “No. I grew up in a small town.”

“I’d love to hear about small-town life, if you’d like to have dinner.... Maybe tonight?”

She stared at him. He was serious? Asking her out in front of her boss? But, worse, he was a stranger. And he was asking her out—

She hadn’t been out with anyone since Cord.

Heat filled her. She wasn’t freakishly afraid of men or dating. After the attack, she’d simply focused on getting her degree. She’d also become selective—too selective to go out with a guy she didn’t know.

She drew in a slow breath. “I’m sorry but I don’t date people I don’t know.”

Ricky laughed. “You could always run him through Jason Jones.”

She laughed, too, though Elias’s proximity suddenly shot shivers of fear through her. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she chalked his enthusiasm up to excitement over the big, big deal represented by the agreement he was about to sign. But that didn’t make his nearness any less overwhelming.

She rose. “Could you direct me to the powder room?”

Elias popped off his chair. “Sure. It’s right back along this hall.”

Her nerves went on red alert as they walked down a long dark corridor. A memory flashed. Cord leading her down a dark hall. Her giggling. Him forcing her into a room. Her fighting to get away and eventually freeing herself. But she’d lost a shoe and her blouse was torn—

Oh, God. This was bad. She’d put all this behind her. Why was it coming back to her now?

In the half bath, she took a few slow breaths. In the quiet, she realized Elias reminded her of Cord. Not looks-wise, but personality-wise. A little too pushy. A little too sure of himself.

That’s why she wasn’t going back out there until the lawyers arrived.

She washed her hands, combed her fingers through her hair and realized she wouldn’t hear the attorneys arriving. Nice as he was being on this trip, even Tucker Engle would have his limits. He would be angry with her if she wasn’t around when they came.

With a deep breath, she left the bathroom and returned to the main room as the elevator door opened and three gray-suited men stepped out.

Relief stole through her and she quickly made her way to her chair and her laptop.

Laptop! She’d left the laptop containing all of Tucker Engle’s business information—information he wouldn’t even put on his own company network—unattended.

He was going to kill her.

* * *

Tucker watched Olivia with something akin to pride as she not only got herself away from Elias, but also stayed as silent as a church mouse through the entire signing. No smart remarks. No unwanted questions. Just a nice, quiet assistant.

When the papers were signed and after they’d toasted with champagne, which he noticed Olivia refused, they headed for the limo.

As the car wove into traffic, he couldn’t stop the compliment that rose up in him. “You did very well in there, Miss Prentiss.”

“I did nothing.”

“That was your job. You were there in case we needed you. Since we didn’t, remaining silent was your only job.”

She rubbed her hand down her thigh. “I...um...left the laptop unattended.”

“If I remember correctly, you needed to get away from Elias.” The memory of Elias ogling her sent a wave of dislike through him, but she’d handled him, and in such a way that there had been no scene and no resultant bad feelings. “And I was in the room. No harm done.”

“Really?”

The anxiety in her voice again struck that nerve that told him something about this woman was off or wrong. For a second he toyed with asking her. After all, if she were someone he wanted to do business with he wouldn’t hesitate. He always needed to know everything about his partners. But this wasn’t a potential business partner. Olivia Prentiss was a temporary assistant. A young, single woman. Did he really want to risk hearing about her bad weekend or latest breakup?

No.

He picked pretend lint off his black trousers. “As I said, you did very well in there.”

“Thanks.”

She hazarded a glance at him and gave him a shy smile. His instincts hopped again. Trapped by her pretty blue eyes, he sat frozen as the urge to smile back plucked at the corners of his mouth and an unexpected desire to flirt with her rose up in him.

Fortunately, that brought him to his senses. She was a pretty girl and like any normal man, he was attracted to her. But she was an employee. A struggling working girl who shouldn’t have to worry about her boss hitting on her.

This “attraction” he felt was purely sexual. The normal reaction of a man to a very pretty woman. Not a big deal. And certainly not something he’d pursue.

* * *

The limo pulled up outside the office building. Tucker exited first and offered his hand to Olivia to help her out.

She took it instinctively, then was sorry she had. Little sparks of electricity spiked up her arm.

Confusion rattled through her. She had been pleased that he’d treated her normally during the limo ride to the signing and again as they drove back to the office. But what she felt right now wasn’t boss-employee goodwill. These sparks were attraction.

Really? After Elias had just scared the snot out of her? Three years since she’d even been on a date, she picked today to be attracted to someone? Her boss?

But she hadn’t really “picked” anything. This feeling was natural, an instinct. And Tucker Engle wasn’t anything like Elias. He wasn’t sleazy or overly complimentary or all over her the way Elias had been, the way Cord had been the night he’d attacked her. Tucker was mature, savvy, handsome—sophisticated.

Sheesh, no wonder she was attracted to him. Personality-wise he was Cord’s polar opposite.

Fortunately, she didn’t think he liked her.

So her being attracted to him was irrelevant.

Thank God.

She slid out of the limo and stopped in front of him on the sidewalk. Their gazes caught and held. Her breath slid in then stuttered out as he just stared at her. His smoldering emerald eyes held her captive. Tingles danced along her hand where their palms touched.

Their palms touched!