More Than Perfect

Lucius set his glass down with a decisive click that caused the ice to shiver in warning. He took a step in her direction and fixed her with a dark, impenetrable gaze. “You have an opinion to offer on the subject?”

She didn’t answer the question directly, didn’t dare. “Is this about Mikey?” She couldn’t help the softening that came into her voice when she said the name, any more than she could help the softening that invaded her whole being when she held the baby in her arms and imagined what it would be like to have something so precious come from her own body.

He hesitated and she could tell that he wanted to rip her apart in order to release some of his fury toward Ella. But he wasn’t the type to take his aggression out on an innocent. He gathered himself, banked the fire, then nodded. “Yes,” he admitted. “This is about Mikey.”

“You’re attempting to find someone who would make a suitable wife for you and a good mother for the baby?”

“Again, yes.”

“And you expected Ella to jump at the opportunity after a two-week courtship?”

His teeth came together with a snap. “I had my reasons for believing it a distinct possibility. Are you done with the cross-examination?”

He’d reached the end of his rope and she responded accordingly. “Absolutely.”

“Then may I suggest we get some work done? We still have to finalize the schedule for my meeting with Gabe Moretti.”

She touched the screen of her tablet and called up the pertinent information. “He’s agreed to go in on the Richter building with you?”

“Only if I give him majority interest.”

“No doubt,” Angie replied. “But if he remodels it the way he did Diamondt Towers, it’ll be well worth the investment, even with only a minority stake.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“No, it never is.” He was a man who needed to hold the reins. Unfortunately, so was Gabe Moretti. “Will Moretti concede the point?”

“We plan to meet and discuss terms.”

Meaning … no. Moretti had no intention of giving up majority interest, which suggested a showdown between titans. What she wouldn’t give to see that! She touched an app on the screen that accessed Lucius’s calendar. “Would you prefer a lunch meeting or dinner?”

He considered, took another sip of his refilled drink before returning it to his jaw. “Dinner on Friday. Let’s make it at Milano’s on the Sound. Speak to Joe personally about the menu, would you?”

She made a quick notation. “I’ll take care of it. Eight o’clock work for you?”

“Only if it works for you.”

Angie’s poise faltered for a telling instant before she gathered herself back up. “Sorry?”

“Now that Ella’s out of the picture, I’ll need you to attend with me. You’re one of the most observant people I know. I could use your input on this.” His smile drew attention to features devil-perfect and sinfully attractive, and her heart gave a sharp, painful tug. “Problem?”

She dragged her gaze away from his dark, angel beauty and focused on the tablet, pretending to make a quick notation. “I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.”

“Right. You do that.”

She let the hint of mockery wash over her. “Next. I have several calls from a Pretorius St. John. He indicated it was a private matter. Something about a computer program he was personalizing for you. If it isn’t anything you want me to deal with, I’ll forward it to your PDA.”

“Go ahead and do that.”

She hesitated. “That name is familiar for some reason. Should I know it?”

“It’s possible. His nephew is Justice St. John, the robotics wunderkind. Pretorius specializes in computer software.”

Wow. “Okay, color me impressed that you have a software inventor willing to tweak one of his programs in order to fit your personal specifications.”

“You know, there are some days I think you forget who you’re working for.”

“Oh, dear. Not again.” She made an exaggerated curtsy. “I do apologize, Mr. Devlin, sir. I promise I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“See that you are.” His eyes glittered with laughter while he studied her, curiosity spilling into the intense darkness. “I don’t intimidate you in the least, do I?”

“No.”

It was the truth. For some reason he didn’t and never had. That hadn’t been her problem, mainly because she’d been too busy fighting her attraction for him to worry about his standing in the business community. Instead, she’d done everything within her power to conceal her reaction whenever they accidentally touched. To hide how desperately she’d like to experience his hands on her. His mouth. His body covering hers with nothing between them but the damp sheen of want. She closed her eyes briefly, closed off those sort of painful, wayward thoughts—something that grew more difficult with each passing day—and fought to regain her equilibrium.

Lucius was a closed door to her. What she felt for him would never become a reality and the sooner she accepted that fact the sooner she could move on. Only one problem with that plan. She didn’t want to move on. She wanted … him.

To her eternal gratitude, Lucius didn’t appear to notice anything wrong. “Your self-possession and your natural way of behaving around me are two of the qualities I most appreciate about you.”

If he only knew. “Just two?” she managed to tease.

“Fishing for compliments, Colter?”

“You bet.” She pretended to cast a fishing line and reel it in, forcing out a careless grin.

“Fair enough.”

He approached, circling like a shark, unnerving her for the first time in the eighteen months they’d worked together. Until now he’d regarded her almost like a piece of office furniture. Useful. Functional. An integral, if replaceable, cog in the wheel that was Diablo. This time when he looked at her it was through a man’s eyes. Her amusement faded and it took every ounce of that self-possession he’d applauded only moments before to maintain her poise and keep a calm, cool expression on her face. Her grip tightened on the electronic tablet and stylus and she could only hope he didn’t notice the whitening of her knuckles or the tension pouring off her. Though, knowing Lucius, he not only noticed but would use it against her.

“Do you know why I picked you out of all the endless candidates to be my PA?” he surprised her by asking.

“Not a clue,” she admitted. “I’m good at my job, but so were the other applicants, I assume.”

“You’re wrong,” he said softly. “You’re not good. You’re great.”

He’d stunned her. When she’d first started working for him eighteen months ago, he’d chosen her from a pool of dozens of equally efficient and qualified PAs, women—and men—who were the best in the country. Granted, Angie had worked hard for the opportunity, particularly since she’d failed in just about every other area of her life. But Lucius Devlin could afford to hire the very best, and deep down she couldn’t quite convince herself that she was the best. And yet, here he stood, insisting she wasn’t just good, but great.

“Great,” she repeated faintly.

“Don’t get a swelled head, Colter. Though you were great when I interviewed you, there were others who were better.”

“Then why …?” Her eyes narrowed, the truth hitting like a tidal wave. After she’d been offered the position, she’d worked longer and harder than she thought physically possible, throwing herself into the job to justify having been chosen. No doubt that’s why he’d hired her. He knew she’d go the extra distance, knew on some level she’d been desperate enough to throw her heart and soul into the position. Maybe the other women hadn’t been quite as committed. The knowledge that he’d used her with such deliberation gave her heart a small, painful twist. She’d been used before by Ryan and vowed at that time to never allow it to happen again. The fact that it had been Lucius who used her hurt all the more. “Damn it, Devlin. That’s low, even for you.”

He picked up on her intensity, caught the ripple of pain in her soft words. “If I’d known you then as well as I know you now, I’d have chosen a different method. But I needed to work you—hard—to make sure we were a good fit.” An odd expression swept through his gaze, something she couldn’t quite identify, but that caused her pulse rate to kick up a notch. “And we are a good fit, aren’t we, Angie?”

Her mouth tugged to one side in a reluctant smile. “So far. But if you play me like that again, we won’t be any sort of fit.”

“Fair enough.” He shot her a quick grin. “Still, you have to admit it worked. Not only did it work, but you’ve more than proved yourself. You’ve exceeded even my high standards.”