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  She lowered her hands, but she still could not look at him. “I offer you my sincere apologies, Mr. Rutledge. You will, of course, have my immediate resignation along with my promise to not say or do anything that will compromise your reputation or further embarrass or humiliate you.”

  She felt his weight sink down on the couch next to her. Then there was a long moment of silence. Full-blown anxiety raced through her body, touching every corner of her consciousness. She couldn’t stand it any longer. She glanced at him, and what she saw truly stunned her. No contempt, no disgust, no condemnation. She saw only tenderness and caring…and confusion.

  “I don’t understand, Miss Andrews. Why did you do it?”

  “I…” Trish quickly averted her eyes, choosing to stare at the pattern on the carpeting. She didn’t know what to say or how to answer his question. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. As I said, you’ll have my resignation immediately.”

  “I’m afraid I have to disagree with you. It does matter. I want to know. What prompted you to go to such lengths? To perpetuate such an elaborate deception?”

  “It’s—I just wanted one night—”

  “One night?”

  “One night that became two nights—”

  “For three years you’ve been in my office five days a week, and you never let on—I never suspected…” He drew in a deep breath, held it for several seconds, then slowly exhaled. “I’m not sure what to say, Miss Andrews.”

  “You don’t need to say anything. What I did was inexcusable. You don’t need to ask for my resignation. I’ll have it on your desk within the quarter hour.”

  Jonathon placed his fingertips under her chin and gently lifted until he could look into her eyes. They were the same eyes that had been so filled with fire and heated passion. Now he saw anxiety and trepidation, and it upset him. It also left him slightly bewildered. The very special woman who he thought he had lost turned out to be someone he knew well…yet apparently didn’t know at all. He wanted to see the fire of passion again, to know the heat of their combined desires.

  “I won’t be asking for your resignation.”

  She wrinkled her brow in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “Well, Miss Andrews…” He plucked the pins from her hair until it fell loose to her shoulders. “I was about to ask for something, but it wasn’t your resignation.”

  The mesmerizing control of his stare, combined with the way he had undone her hair, left Trish speechless. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she knew his closeness robbed her of the ability to muster even a mild protest.

  He reached for the top button of her blouse and slowly unfastened it. Then the next and the next. Her insides quivered with a combination of excitement and anxiety. She finally forced herself to move. She placed her hand on top of his, stopping him before he unfastened the next button.

  “Please don’t, Mr. Rutledge—”

  “I think in light of everything that’s happened, it would be okay if we dropped the formalities…Trish.” Jonathon closed his eyes for a moment. The perfect breasts with the deliciously puckered nipples, the incredible body that could drive any grown man to distraction, the blonde curls decorating the entrance to a treasure worth fighting for. And all of it topped by a beautiful face he saw every day yet never really noticed.

  He pulled her into his embrace. Oddly enough, it was not the call of hot sex that propelled his actions. She felt good in his arms. It all felt right. Could it be that he had finally found what had been missing from his life?

  He lowered his mouth to hers. The spark of desire ignited the moment their lips came in contact. But again, the spark was not one demanding the pleasures he knew her body held. It was a spark of emotional need, a desire for closeness.

  Trish wrapped her arms around his neck, melted into his embrace and fully responded to his kiss. The kiss deepened. He twined his tongue with hers in a sensual mating that fed his emotional desires as much as his physical ones. His thoughts filled with the two times they had made tender love, the emotionally fulfilling intimacy. That’s what he wanted at the moment. But he couldn’t assume she wanted the same thing.

  He reluctantly broke the kiss, but continued to hold her in his arms. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I’ve been exploring every avenue I could think of in hopes of finding my mystery lover. It never occurred to me to look in my own office.” He unbuttoned the final button of her blouse, then seductively ran his finger along the edge of her lacy bra.

  “I don’t know what to say, Mr. Rutledge—Jonathon.”

  “Say you’ll make love with me, right here, right now.”

  Was this the way it was going to be? She would now be nothing more than his office play toy? It was a possibility Trish hadn’t considered. But then she had also admitted to herself that she hadn’t thought out the plan very carefully, at least not the part about the consequences should he discover her identity. Nor had she thought out what she wanted after the second night. Would there have been a third and then a fourth night of hot sex and unbridled passion?

  Hot sex with Jonathon Rutledge had been indescribably incredible, but this was so much more. There was a physical connection that throbbed between her legs, but there was an emotional connection that went directly to her heart. Could he possibly be feeling the same thing she was?

  She couldn’t keep the hint of disappointment out of her voice. “Well, I guess it would be somewhat silly of me to offer any objection at this point.”

  He cradled her head against his shoulder. “I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me. I’m not dictating or assuming. I’m not talking about hot sex or recreational fucking. I’m not expecting you to be at my beck and call whenever I feel the urge. I’m asking if you will make love with me. It has nothing to do with your job or my job, nothing to do with anything in the outside world. It has to do only with you and me—a man and a woman. And then I’d like for us to have dinner tonight, a romantic restaurant at the beach.”

  Had she heard him correctly? “Dinner at a romantic restaurant?”

  “You left me with two very unsettled weekends. I ended up with one pair of red high heels and more thoughts and feelings than I could handle. For three years, we’ve been working together in a smooth and efficient relationship. I think after what happened the last two Saturday nights, it would be safe to say we also have an incredibly hot physical relationship. So…” He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips as he caressed her cheek. “I think we should explore what exists between those two extremes, find a solid footing for a lasting relationship.”

  He brushed another tender kiss against her lips, then offered a hopeful smile. “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

  The biggest risk of her life, what minutes ago had seemed to be a total disaster, had just paid off in the most unexpected way. His smile totally melted her insides and any concerns she still harbored.

  “Yes, I’d be honored to have dinner with you.” She placed a soft kiss on his lips. “And if that offer to make love is still open, I’d be honored to accept that, too.”

  “You can consider that a standing offer. Any time and anywhere.”

  She pointed toward the office door. “Perhaps you’d best lock the door. I don’t think this is proper office protocol, and it’s definitely against company policy.”

  He ran his hand seductively across her rear end, locked the door, then gave her his sexiest grin. “I have a feeling there will be lots of things happening in here that won’t be proper office protocol…beginning right now.”

  She returned his smile as she slipped out of her blouse. “I think you’re right.”

  He pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor, then kicked off his shoes. “I’m going to reserve the caveman room for after dinner tonight. Now that we don’t have to contend with your mask, we can enjoy everything the room has to offer.” He cocked his head and stared at her for a moment. “Tell me, my sexy vixen, have you ever made lo
ve in a hot tub? Or participated in a quick hot fuck standing up in a waterfall shower?”

  “No, I haven’t. But I had never done several things before the night of the costume party. It looks like we have a whole new area of excitement we can explore.”

  Jonathon stopped dead in his tracks, a startled look on his face followed by a moment of irritation. “Damn…I don’t keep any condoms in my office.”

  The tingle between her legs had turned to a throbbing need. Her pulse raced and her heart pounded. “Then I guess we’ll need to make a slight change in our plans.”

  Words were lost, clothes fell away. The image of the caveman room and what the after dinner hours would bring quickly heated up the mood. Two hungry mouths each with tongues twining together in a seductive ritual. Her hips bucking frantically against his hand as he manipulated her swollen clit. Her hand working his shaft with tantalizing strokes. Neither held back, each pushing for the ecstasy that built to a fever pitch.

  She shoved him back onto the couch and climbed on top, her throbbing pussy hovering over his mouth as she wrapped her lips around his pulsing cock. He flicked his tongue against her engorged clit, then sucked it into his mouth. Each of them had been so close to the edge that torrid orgasmic waves came quickly. It took several minutes before their breathing returned to normal.

  Jonathon leaned back in the corner of the couch, Trish cradled in his arms. “I hate to disturb this moment, Miss Andrews, but I think we need to get back to work. I have several phone calls to make.”

  “Of course, Mr. Rutledge. And I have that report to type and distribute to the department managers.”

  “Well, then…” He flashed a sexy grin. “Until tonight, Miss Andrews? Dinner followed by dessert?”

  “Yes.” She returned his smile. “Until tonight, Mr. Rutledge.”

  Steamy Encounter

  Chapter One

  Afton Pendleton stared out the large oval windows set in the oak double door entrance to the lodge. The last five days had been pure hell and now this—the perfect capper to a miserable week.

  The local television newscast referred to the non-stop snowfall that had started night before last as the worst storm in the last fifty years. She slowly shook her head as she emitted a sigh of resignation. Not a thing she could do about it. The local airport closed yesterday afternoon with the snow coming down faster than it could be cleared.

  She had busted her butt, making sure everything was in order and ready for the ski resort’s grand opening party. As the event planner, a million details had fallen on her shoulders. It was bad enough the resort’s owner, Gage Brennan, had made it nearly impossible to do her job from the moment he arrived at the resort. And now it looked as if all her efforts had been for nothing.

  The remaining workers had gone home yesterday evening before the snow shut down the entire city. Unlike Afton, most of them were local residents. She had ended up stranded in a luxury ski lodge with Gage Brennan, just the two of them, for who knew how long.

  Another ripple of anxiety assaulted her senses. Every verbal exchange with Gage had turned into an argument except for those occasions when she gave in to avoid the inevitable disagreement. And they disagreed about almost everything.

  His company had hired her and everything had been running smoothly until five days ago when he arrived in town, unexpected and unannounced. She closed her eyes and visualized the handsome man who had been making her life miserable. He looked to be in his late thirties, much younger than she had assumed—tall, with an athletic build and dark hair. There was no denying his physical appeal and sexual magnetism, in spite of his arrogant attitude.

  A tingle of excitement swept through her body, confirming how long it had been since she had sex, at least the scrape me off the ceiling and fuck me again type of sex that screamed out for more.

  “It doesn’t look like it’s ever going to stop.”

  A gasp escaped her throat as she whirled around and found herself staring into the bottomless depths of Gage Brennan’s deep blue eyes.

  “Oh…Gage. You startled me. I didn’t hear you come into the lobby.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up behind you. It’s all this damned snow. It muffles sound, even inside a building.” He stared out the window for a moment. “The way things look now it could be days before this stops and people can get around enough for the ski slopes to open.”

  He flashed what she had come to appreciate as the sexiest smile she had ever seen. In fact, it was that very smile that resulted in her letting him have his way more often than she should have when they disagreed on some facet of the grand opening party. They had been snowed in together since the previous afternoon, and for the entire time she had been fantasizing about him being the one to give her that scrape me off the ceiling orgasm she was so in need of. She had even dreamed about it last night.

  And for the entire time he had been the perfect gentleman. It was almost as if the circumstances of just the two of them being snowed in at the lodge had put him on his best behavior. He had been overly polite, courteous and so very charming. He had even gone to the lodge’s kitchen and prepared dinner for them. Definitely not the same man who had been giving her nothing but grief.

  “Well, I guess things could be worse.” She tried to put an upbeat sound to her voice. “We have plenty of food and the electricity is still on.” She walked across the lobby toward the large fireplace. “And we have lots of firewood in case the power lines go down and we end up without a furnace.”

  “I’ve turned the heat way down for most of the lodge. No sense in heating an empty building. The utilities in this part of town are underground, but that doesn’t mean the power lines servicing this area couldn’t go down. Fortunately, we have generator power as back up. That will be enough to keep the necessities going, such as the kitchen refrigerators and freezers along with the inside emergency lights and outside security lights.”

  “And there’s always those marvelous natural hot springs that feed directly into the pond. Fresh powder on the ski slopes during the day and the hot springs to get the kinks out of the muscles at night. Isn’t that what your advertising claims?” The words felt forced, as if she were trying too hard to think of something to say to keep the conversation going.

  He crossed the lobby to where she stood in front of the fireplace. “I was just thinking about that. Even though I should take advantage of having all this time to catch up on some paper work, the idea of using the hot springs without anyone else around is very appealing. It was those hot springs that were responsible for me deciding to build this ski resort. It was the one thing that no other resort around here could offer.”

  Gage moved even closer until their bodies almost touched. He readily admitted that they had certainly engaged in more than their share of disagreements and almost all of them had been instigated by him. There was his vision of how he wanted the grand opening to be, then there was her acknowledged expertise as an event planner. But by no means had all the sparks been irritation, annoyance or anger.

  He didn’t know about her, but for his part, a lot of those sparks were a lustful desire to be naked in the steamy hot springs with this incredible woman’s body rubbing up next to his. Her short red hair and green eyes had immediately captured his attention the moment he met her. She looked to be in her early thirties and didn’t wear a wedding ring, not even an engagement ring. That made her available as far as he was concerned.

  His plan had been to hit on her after the party when their work relationship had concluded. But also at a time when she was free to leave if she so desired, rather than needing to stay in what she might consider an awkward atmosphere in order to finish her job.

  Then the snowstorm hit, and he didn’t know what to do. They were stuck together, just the two of them. She had no means of leaving, regardless of how badly she might want to. He felt decidedly uncomfortable with the idea of pressing that kind of an advantage, yet her physical proximity drove him crazy. Last night, alone i
n his bed in the owner’s suite and knowing she was in her room on the second floor, he couldn’t think about anything but her.

  Just the thought of having his cock buried inside her had resulted in a very hard erection. He wanted to know the taste of her delicious mouth, the texture of her creamy skin and the moist heat of her pussy. But the situation was a tricky line, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to navigate, considering their current circumstances.

  He placed his fingertips beneath her chin and lifted until they had eye contact. He saw intelligence, curiosity and a sensuality that made his cock twitch and nearly knocked his socks off. He didn’t see any anxiety or fear. His intention had been to kiss her, but caution prevailed. “Tell me about yourself. I don’t really know anything about you other than you’re an event planner and you’re from Los Angeles.”

  The physical contact sent Afton’s pulse racing and her heart pounding. The two of them may have been at odds over the grand opening party, but at that moment, she wanted to know him much better, intimately know all of him. Her pussy tingled. The dampness spread to her panties. She wanted that scrape me off the ceiling type of hot sex he exuded.

  She couldn’t stop the slightly husky quality that surrounded her words. “What would you like to know?”

  His warm breath whispered across her cheek. “Everything.”

  For a moment, it seemed as if he had intended to kiss her, but then he apparently changed his mind. Relief or disappointment? She wasn’t sure which one she felt.

  Granted, the circumstances surrounding them were unusual. They could even be called awkward. But if he was even half as turned on as she was…well, it might be a few days before they could get out or anyone else could get in. A crackling fire in the fireplace, a bottle of champagne, the steamy waters of the hot springs and a building full of bedrooms. Could there be a more perfect set up for seduction?

  A more perfect setting for a steamy encounter?

  Her words were barely above a whisper. “I’m thirty-three years old, divorced a year ago from a controlling man who didn’t think I needed an identity other than being his wife.” It took a moment for her to realize exactly what she had said. What she didn’t know was why she had said it.