LITMIR.BIZ

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hadn’t intended to call him Matthias, and now she wasn’t sure what to do to take it back, or if she even wanted to take it back. What was strange was that Matthias didn’t want her to take it back. In fact, he wanted her to say it again. Even more surprising, he realized the context in which he wanted to hear her say his name had nothing to do with her job, and everything to do with, well, other reasons people came to Lake Tahoe.

      “Don’t,” she said again, more softly this time. Omitting the use of his name.

      This time, too, she extended her hand toward the small envelope he still held tucked between his index and middle fingers. Not sure why he did it, Matthias pulled his hand toward himself, out of her reach. She took another step forward, bringing her body to within touching distance of his, then hesitated. But she didn’t drop her hand, and for a moment, he thought—hoped—she would trail her hand after his to retrieve the card. He even found himself looking forward to her fingers tangling with his as they vied for possession. And although it was clear she was grappling with the possibility of that very thing herself—or maybe because she was grappling with it—she dropped her hand to her side again, ceding to him with clear reluctance.

      The victory was strangely hollow, but Matthias shouldered it anyway. Opening the envelope, he withdrew the card, then scanned the sentiment upon it. He wasn’t sure if it was DeGallo’s writing, but it was masculine and forceful, and he suspected DeGallo himself had indeed penned the words. The task hadn’t been left to an assistant to complete, which was what Matthias would have done in the same situation.

      Then again, Matthias would never have been in this situation. Oh, he might have wooed someone away from one of his competitors specifically to learn more about that competitor’s practices, but he would have been straightforward about it. He wouldn’t have set up the new hire in a honeymoon suite with a breathtaking view of a romantic environment and called it orientation. And he wouldn’t have sent flowers—with anyone’s signature.

      He shook his head as he read aloud the sentiment DeGallo had written. “Kendall,” he said, “Can’t wait to have you navigating our PR waters. Welcome aboard!” He looked up at Kendall then, but she was staring at the wall. “Navigating our PR waters?” he repeated. “Was that the best he could do?”

      Now Kendall turned to look at Matthias, her huge, clear green eyes penetrating deep enough to heat something in his chest. “Well, there is a lake out there,” she said lamely. “Besides, what would you have said to welcome a new employee?”

      “I would have said, ‘Get to work,” ’ he replied. “And I would have said it to that new employee’s face. I wouldn’t go through all this ridiculous pretense to make her feel like she was more important than she actually is.”

      Two bright spots of color flared on Kendall’s cheeks at that. She nodded brusquely. “Of course you wouldn’t,” she said. “Because no one is important to you. You think the success of Barton Limited is because of you and you alone. You have no appreciation for how many people it takes to make a company prosper, and you have no clue how to take care of the ones who are doing the best work. And if you’re not careful, then—”

      She halted abruptly, her eyes widening in what he could only guess was horror that she’d just leaped like a gazelle across the line she had previously only overstepped. Matthias narrowed his eyes at her, his own lips parting now in surprise. Kendall had never challenged him like this before. Hell, challenged? he asked himself. Compared to her usual self-containment, she’d just read him the riot act. With a bullhorn. Sure, she’d taken exception in the past to some of his decisions—okay, edicts—but she’d always pointed out her concerns with discretion. And deference. But this reaction was completely unlike her. Totally unexpected. And extremely…

      Matthias stopped himself before allowing the impression to fully form. Because the impression had nothing to do with his reaction to Kendall as an employee, and everything to do with his reaction to her as a…a person.

      “Is that what you really think?” he asked, deciding to focus on that instead of…the other thing.

      She hesitated only a second, then nodded. And then, a little less forcefully than she’d spoken before, she added, “Yes. Sir.” And then, a little more forcefully, she altered her response to, “Yes. Matthias.”

      There it was again, he marveled. That ripple of heat that should have been disapproval of her familiarity by using his first name, but which was instead…something else. Something he told himself to try to figure out later, because he really needed to respond to Kendall’s allegation that he was so self-centered. But because of the way she was looking at him, all clear-green-eyed and hot-pink-cheeked and tumbling-silky-haired, all he could manage in response was, “Oh, really?”

      A moment passed in which neither of them spoke, or moved, or even breathed. Then Kendall’s lips turned up almost imperceptibly, into a smile with what only someone who had the vast experience Matthias had with the emotion could identify.

      Victory.

      Kendall Scarborough had it in her head that she’d just won whatever the two of them had been engaged in. Now if Matthias could just figure out what the two of them had just engaged in, maybe he’d know what to do next.

      Kendall, however, didn’t seem to be having the same problem he had. Because she settled her hands on her hips in a way that was at once relaxed and challenging, and she asked again, “Was there some reason you came here this afternoon, Matthias? Is there something you wanted?”

      He honestly had no idea how to answer her. Because for the first time in his life, Matthias didn’t know what he wanted. He was too off-kilter looking at Kendall and thinking about Kendall and listening to Kendall saying his name and marveling at how Kendall had thrown him so off-kilter.

      But he didn’t want to look foolish, either—that would have been another first he would have just as soon done without. So he reached into his trouser pocket and removed a small gadget he’d purchased for himself the day after she’d left his employ. Something called a… Well, he couldn’t remember what it was called now, but it was supposed to be even better than the… Whatever that other thing was he used to use for keeping track of his appointments and obligations.

      Then he held it out to Kendall and replied, “Yeah. Do you have any idea how this thing works? I keep getting e-mail from some deposed prince in Nigeria who needs my help freeing up some frozen assets he’s trying to get out of the country, and I’d really like to help him out, because he promised me a more than generous share once he’s fluid again. Plus, this woman named Trixie just got a new Web cam she wants to show me, and I’m thinking it might be technology I’d like to invest in.”

      He looked at Kendall, who was looking back at him as if he’d just grown a second head. “What?” he said.

      She crossed the room in a half-dozen long strides and opened the door. Then she pointed to the hallway beyond with one finger. “Out,” she said. “Now.”

      His mouth dropped open in surprise. “What, you’re not going to help me?”

      “I’m not your assistant anymore, Matthias.”

      Oh, as if he needed reminding of that. “But—”

      “Out,” she repeated. “Now.”

      He shook his head in disbelief. But he did as she asked him to. Told him to. Demanded he do. The door was slamming shut behind him before he’d even cleared it, missing his backside by that much. He spun around, and went so far as to lift a fist to pound on it again. But he stopped himself before completing the action.

      There was a better way to go about this, he told himself. He just had to figure out what it was. Because Kendall was making a mistake, thinking OmniTech was the place she needed to be. Where she needed to be was with him. Or, rather, with Barton Limited, he quickly corrected himself. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to make her realize that, too.

      Three

      Kendall leaned back against the door through which Matthias had just

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