LITMIR.BIZ

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this afternoon. So vulnerable. I’ve never seen him like that. Not even when Mom died. And he still has a major surgery to get through.”

      “Your father has more strength and determination than any man I’ve ever met, and he’ll be receiving excellent care at the hospital. He’ll come through this, Sally.”

      The words seemed to be what she needed to hear to pull herself together again. She looked up and gave him a weak smile. For a second he caught a glimpse of the woman he’d danced with last night, but then she was gone again. Kirk waited for Sally to settle in the passenger seat and buckle her seat belt before he closed her door and went around to the other side. She was still pale, but she appeared completely composed and in control. Not quite the woman he’d met last night, but not the woman caught in the grip of the anxiety attack from this afternoon, either.

      He pulled out of the parking garage and headed down the road.

      “Any preference for dinner?”

      “Something fast and hot.”

      “Chinese okay, then?”

      “Perfect.”

      A few blocks down, he pulled into the parking lot for a chain restaurant he knew always had good food.

      “Looks like this is us.”

      He rushed around to her door and helped her from the car and they were seated immediately.

      “A drink?” he asked Sally when the waiter came to bring their menus.

      “Just water, thank you.”

      Probably a good idea for both of them, he thought, and gave his request for the same to the waiter. “Do you mind if I order for us?”

      Sally shook her head, and he turned to the waiter and requested appetizers to be brought out to their table as soon as possible and ordered a couple of main entrées to share, as well.

      Her lips pulled into a brief smile. “You really are hungry, aren’t you?”

      Sally slipped out of her jacket and put it on the seat beside her. He looked at her across the table, noting again the imprint of her lacy camisole beneath her blouse. “You could say that,” he replied with a wry grin.

      Oh, yes, he was hungry for a lot of things, but only one of his desires would be satisfied by this meal tonight. To distract himself, he also shrugged off his jacket and undid the cuffs on his shirt and began to fold them back. He looked up and saw Sally’s gaze riveted on his hands. Even in the dim light of the restaurant, he saw the rose pink stain that crept over her cheeks and her throat. Was she remembering exactly what parts of her body his hands had touched last night? Did she have any idea of how much he wanted to touch her again?

      As if she sensed his gaze, she shook her head slightly and stared off into the distance, watching the other diners. Then, with a visible squaring of her shoulders, she returned her attention to him.

      “Okay, so what was so important that you couldn’t tell me at work?”

      Kirk shifted in his chair. “It’s about last night—” He paused, searching for the right words.

      * * *

      Sally felt her cheeks flush again. Did they really need to hash this all out? She’d much rather they just moved on.

      “We covered this already,” she interrupted. “Yes, it’s awkward that we’re working under the same umbrella after spending last night together. It happened, but it won’t happen again. I’m sure we can be grown-up about it all and put it very firmly in the past. It doesn’t have to affect our working relationship, such as it will be, and I’d prefer we just forget about it entirely.”

      She ran out of breath. Kirk eyed her from across the table.

      “Are you quite finished?”

      “Finished?”

      “Your commendable little speech.”

      “Oh, that. Yes, I’m done.”

      “Great. I’d like to agree with you. However, we have a problem.”

      Sally looked at him in confusion. Did he think he couldn’t work with her? She knew he’d mentioned redundancies in his announcement today. Surely he didn’t mean to dismiss her from her job? Could he even do that? Was that what this dinner was about? Cold fingers of fear squeezed her throat shut.

      “A problem?” she repeated.

      “The condom broke.”

       Five

      Of all the things he could have said, that was the last she’d expected. Sally felt the tension inside her coil up a few more notches. The condom broke? It kind of put her fear of redundancy in the shade, didn’t it? She became aware that Kirk was watching her intently, waiting for her reaction. She forced herself into some semblance of composure. He’d seen her at her absolute worst already today—she couldn’t afford to appear that weak to him again.

      “Is that all?” She smiled tightly. “For a second there, I thought you were about to give me notice that you were terminating my job.”

      “You thought I was going to terminate you? Hell, no. But seriously, Sally—the condom. You have to let me know if—”

      “You really have nothing to worry about,” she interrupted him. She didn’t want to hear him verbalize the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Didn’t want to believe that pregnancy was a possibility, even though children were something she’d always desperately wanted. But not until it was the right time and, more importantly, with the right man. Certainly not with a man who would hide his identity and sleep with her while knowing exactly who she was.

      “I’m on the Pill,” she continued. “We’re fine. Absolutely, totally and utterly fine.”

      “If you’re sure?”

      “One hundred and ten percent. Actually, no—just one hundred percent. One hundred and ten doesn’t exist, really, does it? Percent meaning per hundred, right? So how can you have one hundred and ten hundredths?”

      Darn, she was rambling. Nerves, combined with a healthy dose of anger, often did that to her in one-on-one conversation with people she didn’t know well. It was a shame her phobia about public speaking didn’t extend to rendering her mute in a situation like this, too. Kirk gave her a gentle half smile that made her stomach do a dizzy little flip, and beneath the lace cups of her bra she felt her breasts grow heavy and her nipples harden. Her body’s helpless reaction to him served to stoke the fire of anger that simmered deep inside. He’d used her, she reminded himself.

      “Okay then,” he said with a gentle nod. “We’re good. But if anything did happen, you’d let me know, right?”

      “Of course,” she answered blithely.

      To her relief, the appetizers arrived and she helped herself to a lettuce wrap. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk, and thankfully, now that Kirk had obviously gotten the business of the broken condom off his chest, he was far more invested in alleviating his hunger than indulging in idle chatter.

      It didn’t take long, though, before he steered conversation to work matters. It took a while to warm up to the discussion, and he seemed far more interested in asking questions than answering them, but overall she was surprised to find that Kirk agreed with and supported most of the principles she was passionate about for the company—especially her pet project of steering the head office at HIT, or HTT as it was now, toward more sustainable energy technologies and policies.

      She wasn’t certain if it was his skillful questioning or the energy burst she’d received from eating her first proper meal in twenty-four hours, but she found herself becoming quite animated as she delved deeper into her vision for the company.

      “We could be

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