And The Winner Gets...Married!

Damn! He scrubbed a hand down his face. He’d always been a sucker for a woman with long hair, beginning with Miss Malone, his kindergarten teacher. Biting back a groan, Justin admitted that next to Kim, Miss Malone wouldn’t even stand a chance.

He was absolutely out of his mind, Justin assured himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out this new image of Kim. Didn’t he have enough on his plate to deal with without this? They’d yet to find out who had tried to assassinate his brother, and he was none too thrilled about his sister Alexandra’s upcoming marriage to Marsh. Add to that the problems at work and the headaches resulting from that most-eligible-bachelor status. The last thing he needed was to complicate his life even more with a woman—especially a woman he worked with on a daily basis.

The smart thing to do was to go back to his office and forget he’d ever seen this side of Kim. Which was just what he intended to do, Justin decided as he opened his eyes. Allowing himself one final glimpse of the sensual creature before him, he started to retreat into his office when Kim opened her eyes and stared straight at him.

“Justin,” she said his name in a breathless whisper that did nothing to cool the erotic thoughts that had been running rampant through his head only moments before.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to get out. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You didn’t. Disturb me, I mean,” she added while she slipped back into her shoes. “I was…I was just doing a few stretching exercises to try to work out some of the kinks in my shoulders and neck.”

Although she told him something about the importance of stretching, the words barely registered because he was far too mesmerized by her attempts to tame all that honey-gold hair into a neat twist. As far as he was concerned, she’d failed big-time, since several thick strands managed to escape the clip and now tumbled carelessly down her nape and the sides of her face. With her cheeks flushed and her hair mussed, Justin could all too easily imagine the way Kim would look after a night spent making love.

Kim took a breath. “Anyway, I guess I got kind of stiff sitting at the computer and— And here I am babbling on. Did you want me for something?”

Justin nearly groaned at the innocent remark as totally inappropriate thoughts came to mind. “No, I was just…” Damn, he couldn’t even remember what it was he’d come out here to look for in the first place.

“Justin, are you all right?”

No, he most definitely wasn’t all right. Not when he couldn’t shake the punch of arousal he’d experienced upon seeing Kim stretching a few moments ago.

“Is something wrong?”

Justin gave himself a mental slap, forced himself to focus on the present. “No. Nothing’s wrong.” He let out a breath. “It’s been a long day. And speaking of long days, what are you still doing here?”

“I had some work that I wanted to finish up.”

“Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. You should have left hours ago,” he said, more gruffly than he’d intended.

“You’re still here.”

“My family owns the place,” he pointed out.

“Yes, of course. I never meant to imply…I’ll leave now and get out of your way,” she murmured, then quickly turned away.

But not before Justin caught a glimpse of hurt in those big blue-green eyes. Damned if he didn’t feel as though he’d just kicked a puppy. “Kim,” he said, moving beside her. He turned her around to face him and tipped up her chin. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Just because I’m in a lousy mood is no reason to take it out on you.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” He captured the fist she held stiffly at her side and lifted it between them. “If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead and sock me one,” he said, jutting out his chin. “I deserve it for acting like a jerk.”

“You’re not a jerk.”

“Sure, I am. Or at least I gave a good impression of one a minute ago. I hurt your feelings, and for that I’m sorry.”

“But you didn’t—”

Justin silenced her with a look. “You may be a terrific assistant, Ms. Lindgren, but you’re a lousy liar.”

“Thank you. I think.”

He grinned at her. “Hey, I’m the one who should be thanking you. The truth is I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d manage just fine,” she said, and reclaimed her fingers. Though she stepped back, she came up against the desk, which prevented her from putting the distance between them that Justin suspected she’d intended.

“Hopefully, I won’t have to find out. But seriously, what I should have said, and botched totally, is that as much as I appreciate all your hard work, there’s no reason for you to put in such long hours.”

“I don’t mind,” she told him. “I like my job. I like working with you.”

“Darned if I understand why,” he countered, and smiled at her again. “But how about calling it a day? I bet if you try, you might still be able to book yourself a massage at the health club.”

“I probably could if I belonged to a health club. But since I don’t, there’s really no reason for me to hurry,” she said, smiling up at him.

The smile intrigued him almost as much as she did. There was something both innocent and seductive about her smile. And it did nothing to ease his arousal. Taking a step back, Justin tried to shake off this new awareness of Kim as a desirable female.

“You’re scowling at me again,” she accused.

“Not at you. At myself,” he corrected, feeling like an idiot. Of course she didn’t belong to a health club. The fact that his family and most of his friends worked out regularly at a club certainly didn’t mean that Kim did the same. Chances were she couldn’t afford that kind of luxury. Because a luxury is what it was. It was the reason he refused to join the fancy clubs and worked out at a hole-in-the-wall gym. He stared at her and suddenly realized that other than the fact that Kim was single and had no family—facts his brother had told him when he’d taken over the position of vice president of marketing—he knew very little about Kim’s personal life despite the fact that they worked so closely together. It was hard to imagine her all alone when he had such a large family himself. “I guess this is my night for apologies. That sounded terribly arrogant of me. I shouldn’t have assumed that you belonged to a health club.”

“Don’t be silly. It was a logical assumption.”

“No, it wasn’t. And I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“You didn’t,” she insisted. “Please. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Connelly Corporation is very generous to its employees, and most of the clerical staff belongs to health clubs or spas. I could, too, if I wanted.”

“But you don’t want to?”

She shrugged. “I just don’t know when I’d get the chance to use it.”

“Which is my fault.”

She tipped her head, studied him. “And how do you figure that?”

“Look what time it is and you’re still here. I work you too hard.”

“No, you don’t. Besides, I don’t work nearly as hard as you do,” she countered.

Justin snorted. “I don’t have a choice. My family is depending on me. You, on the other hand, don’t have any excuse. I mean it, Kim. No more late nights like this for you.”

“But I told you, I like my job. I like working with you.”

“Even when I’m a royal pain in the neck?” he teased.

“Even then,” she said. “Now, unless you need me for something, I’d really like to finish transcribing these notes,” she told him, and reclaimed her seat in front of her computer screen.

“The notes can wait until tomorrow.”

“They could, but there’s no reason why they have to.”