HEATHER MACALLISTER - Tall, Dark & Reckless

“Whatever you call yourself.” BT was insultingly dismissive.

Mark could understand why the man was angry at him, but from what Travis had told him, Piper Scott had been responsible for a nice uptick in OMG’s bottom line.

“Mark, the point is, if you had a partner to answer to, you’d think twice.”

That didn’t sound like a partner; that sounded like a babysitter. “Thinking twice is how reporters miss stories.” He shifted, deliberately softening his body language. “I chose to work at OMG because you gave me a freedom other journalists envy. In return, my reporting has enhanced OMG’s reputation—and profits.”

Mark hated playing the money card, but it always came down to money.

“And he’s ready to do it again, too.” Travis slapped the arms of his chair, mimicking one of his father’s gestures. “I say we stick with what works for him.”

“But it’s not working for me.” BT leaned forward and laced his fingers together, telegraphing that he wasn’t budging.

Hell. It had been a good run at OMG. He hated to see it end.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark saw a movement and knew Travis’s sister and Piper had exchanged a look. They knew what was coming, too.

“Mark.” BT gazed steadily at him. “This hasn’t been the first time you’ve stepped on governmental toes. I’ve got a budget item called ‘news support services’ that’s nothing but money I use for bribes—excuse me—fines to either get you out of a mess or ensure the local authorities leave you alone. You disappear for days at a time without checking in. You change your travel plans without telling anyone. I think you’re in one country and you pop up in another. You ignore me and, frankly, without somebody riding herd on you, you’re not worth the liability, aggravation and expense.”

“Dad!” Travis looked genuinely shocked.

Mark had been worth it before and he’d be worth it again. This was all about Travis’s father showing everybody who was boss. Mark didn’t mind up to a point, but forcing a partner on him was that point. “I work alone.”

“I’ll take the responsibility, Dad,” Travis offered.

Sounded like a plan to Mark. He nodded his thanks to Travis.

BT shook his head. “You’re not part of the news division. You’d have to get up to speed on everything we’re doing and you’re overloaded now.”

“It seems as though Mark isn’t the only one who needs a partner,” Dancie said.

“I work alone.” Mark subtly shifted the emphasis.

“Make me an OMG partner and I can take some of the extra responsibilities from Travis,” Dancie offered. “I could handle Mark.”

That was the most alarming thing Mark had heard so far.

Travis slowly shook his head. “Oh, nooooo, you couldn’t.”

“There’s not going to be any extra work because I’m sending someone with him. Okay, Mark, let’s call it a producer, since you don’t work with a partner,” BT said. “A female, because I don’t want two men getting into a pissing contest. Pardon my French, ladies. But it’s gotta be a woman who can stand up to him.”

A woman? It kept getting worse. “I work alone .” Th is time the emphasis wasn’t subtle.

No one paid any attention to Mark. He wasn’t accustomed to being ignored—at least not as an adult.

But the twins were now arguing with their father. Travis was going to bat for him, and he appreciated it, but no way was he going to be handicapped by a handler. A woman? He lived pretty rough when he was in the field. And taking a woman to the Middle East would be just insane.

BT was right about one thing, though. The reason Mark wasn’t involved in a relationship was precisely because he put himself in situations no family man should.

The Pollards grew louder as the discussion became more heated. Unless BT could be talked out of his producer edict, this was a massive waste of Mark’s time and he had a one o’clock class he needed to prep for.

He looked across the table. Piper also sat silently while the Pollards hashed things out. She was mad, though, and rightly so.

Her profile was to him, so Mark took the opportunity to check her out. She wore square glasses with dark frames the way pretty women sometimes did when they wanted to be taken seriously. And she was pretty, in a church picnic kind of way, the sort of girl his grandmother would like. Sweetly pastel and prim. Too girlie for his mom, though. And to be honest, for him, as well. A life with her would mean drinking tea from china cups and taking off his shoes before he walked on the carpet. At least that’s the impression he got. Mark had no personal experience with her type. He smiled to himself. Her type avoided his type.

She must have sensed him looking at her, because she slowly turned her head and met his stare with one of her own.

Big brown eyes gazed directly at him from behind the glasses. That was no Sunday-school stare. And now that he thought about it, there hadn’t been any coyness about her the other times they’d studied each other. Mark felt a stirring of interest. There was something more here. Hidden depths. And nobody loved hidden depths more than Mark.

“Coffee?” she mouthed slowly. Her upper teeth dragged over her bottom lip drawing his attention to its plump pinkness.

Something else stirred as his interest shifted from intellectual to physical. Had she done that on purpose? If so, then she was Sunday school on the outside and Saturday-night party on the inside. Every man’s fantasy woman.

He nodded in answer to her coffee question and nudged his mug across the table. Rather than take it to the credenza, Piper reached behind her for the thermal pot. Doing so stretched her top across her chest. Nice.

Yeah, nice . Remember that. Nice girl. Okay, nice girl with some moves.

Piper leaned forward to pour the coffee and the V-neck of her top gaped enough for Mark to take in nicely rounded flesh and some lace. The coffee filled his mug in a slow stream that gave him plenty of time to stare down her top and plenty of time for her to be aware of it.

He might be in a little trouble here. He hadn’t been with a woman in way too long. Between his injury and the offlimits students, he’d had to freeze those urges. Piper Scott was definitely thawing them and at a most inconvenient time.

He forced his eyes downward a few more inches so they were focused on the coffee mug and not on Piper Scott’s surprisingly deep, lace-outlined cleavage.

The instant he saw the spout of the coffeepot tilt back, Mark grasped his mug and risked a glance upward, aiming for Piper’s eyes without traveling over her breasts. “Thanks.”

She smiled in response, and he smiled back because it would be impolite not to.

But then her smile grew and he knew she’d caught him looking down her top. She’d flashed him deliberately as repayment for their little thing earlier, before the meeting started, when they’d been sizing each other up.

Nicely played. Grinning, he dipped his head and raised his mug a fraction of an inch in acknowledgement. And then their gazes connected in one of those “hey, there could be something here” moments. Finding out could be fun. But Mark’s style was intense and temporary, no muss, and no fuss when his work ended the relationship.

Too bad Piper Scott wasn’t the type. Too bad one of the more attractive things about her was that she knew it.

The connection lasted long enough for both of them to realize nothing was going to happen between them and feel a twinge of regret—well, Mark sure did.

BT interrupted the moment by roaring, “Enough!”

Piper flinched and set the coffeepot down.

“You—” BT pointed at Mark. “I don’t care what you call her, but you’re taking somebody on assignment with you from now on. And you will consult with that somebody and if you don’t, I’ll pull your press credentials. And you—” he pointed to Piper. “If you and Dancie want OMG’s backing for your project, then show me this compatibility theory of yours works. Find Mark somebody he can get along with and who can stand up to him. That last part is very important.”