A Little Moonlighting

She remembered well the incident when she’d tried out the new perfume her friend Julie had told her was a surefire attention-getter. She’d stood very close to Carter and wafted the scent around her in his general direction whenever she got the chance. And suddenly, it seemed to work. He was sniffing the air.

“What’s that smell?” he asked her, frowning.

But before she could answer, while she was still busy producing her most flirtatious smile, he decided he knew.

“Someone’s ordered in pizza,” he said decisively. “My God, I’m hungry as a bear. Hold down the fort, Pendleton. I’ll go get us something to eat.”

Being mistaken for a freshly baked pizza was something a girl just didn’t get over all that quickly. That had been the last straw. She’d pretty much given up now.

And here he was going on and on about Paris as though this trip was going to be something special. Well, not for her.

“I’m not going,” she announced when he paused for breath.

He looked at her as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “What are you talking about?” But before she could answer, he noticed the shattered remains littering her desk. “Pendleton, why are you destroying your pencils?”

She glared at him. “Because I am slowly going mad,” she told him grimly. “And that is why I am going to quit.”

She pulled open a desk drawer with a flourish and took out a sheet of paper that had her resignation printed on it. She’d been holding it there for weeks, waiting for the right moment. That moment seemed to have come.

“Here. Take it. I think it covers all the bases.” She winced, feeling suddenly emotional. She loved this job. She’d even come pretty close to loving her boss a time or two. But if she was going to have any sort of life at all, she was going to have to leave this all behind. “I—I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to work here anymore.”

He glanced at the paper, read a line or two, and gave her a long-suffering look. “Rubbish,” he said, and he dropped it into the trash can. “What do you want, Pendleton? A raise? A new title? More responsibility?”

He really didn’t listen. Suddenly she felt so tired.

“I don’t want any of those things. I want…” She hesitated. She’d never really told him this before, though she’d hinted at it often enough lately. But what good were hints to a man who never listened? Taking a deep breath, she launched into her new anthem of need.

“I want a home. I want a husband. I want babies, and a cat, and long mornings in bed and walks on the beach and…”

He laughed. Far from being offended, she stared at him in wonder. He didn’t often laugh right out loud, and when he did, the effect on her pulse rate was astounding. His brilliant white teeth gleamed against his tanned skin, his blue eyes sparkled against the thick, dark lashes, and his face softened for a moment. Laughing made him look so human, so approachable…so sexy. Her heart skipped a beat and a familiar longing rose in her chest, a longing she’d been beating back lately. But it just wouldn’t seem to die.

“Pendleton…” Reaching out, he took her chin in his hand and smiled into her eyes.

She smiled back, yearning for him, savoring his touch. That didn’t happen very often. He seemed to avoid it most of the time. But maybe he was waking up. Maybe he’d finally seen something in her to care for.

And his gaze did darken as he sobered. He looked more deeply into her eyes and for a moment, he seemed almost puzzled by what he saw there.

“Don’t you know that I can’t do without you?” he said softly.

Her heart was thumping in her chest. Had he finally noticed?

“You’re my other half,” he went on. “Without you I’m pretty good at this business. But together, we knock ’em dead.”

She sighed, shoulders sagging. Business again. She should have known. It was always business with Carter.

“You and I were made for this line of work,” he told her, dropping his hand from her chin but maintaining his hold on her gaze. “You know I’m right. You’re a born negotiator. I’ve seen your eyes light up when you see a chink in the opposition’s armor. I know how cool and silky you get when you know you’ve found a negotiating ploy that’s going to leave the other side gasping. I’ve seen your elation when we get a settlement that favors TriTerraCorp.” He grinned at her, very sure of himself.

He was right. They were very important to their company. TriTerraCorp was a large real-estate development firm with ongoing projects all over the world. The four-story, steel-and-tinted-glass headquarters here in the California central coast town of Rio de Oro was an imposing structure as was fitting for such a consequential corporation.

“And we always get a settlement that favors TriTerraCorp,” Carter was reminding her. “Because we’re the best.”

They were the best. He was right. She was good and he was better. He was so good, in fact, that he knew there was a good chance he could manipulate her. She knew it, too.

But she wasn’t going to give in that easily this time.

“I’m thirty-two years old, Carter,” she told him earnestly. “I’m edging into the zone of no return. If I don’t get started on finding someone to have a family with, I won’t ever have one.”

“Why do you have to quit your job in order to start a family?” he asked her, quite sensibly. “Lots of women keep working.”

“Your average job may allow for such things,” she said, shaking her head. “Being your sidekick is a little too nonstop for that. I barely have time to breathe. I don’t think I could fit in finding a mate and popping out a couple of babies while marking up contracts at the same time with my free hand.”

“Babies.” He shuddered. “Believe me, you don’t want to get mixed up with any of those. Messy, smelly, noisy things. A few all-nighters with a baby will sap all the fight right out of you.”

She turned her palms up. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I can’t do both.”

Rising from the desk, Carter began to pace restlessly, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. She was being more tenacious than usual. She might actually mean it this time. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose her. Somehow over the past two years, their work patterns had become so intertwined, he couldn’t imagine setting up a series of important negotiations without her.

He looked at her sideways. Why hadn’t he seen this coming? He made it a practice to keep his distance, even from Pendleton. He’d learned early in life that human relationships always ended badly. It didn’t pay to let your heart get involved, not if you wanted to avoid getting it broken. Life was so much safer when you cruised the surface instead of plunging down into the deep.

He’d made a promise to himself never to let anyone become so important that his happiness depended upon keeping them in his life. Bad things happened when you did that. And yet, here he was, on the verge of losing her, and scared it just might happen.

Oh, what the hell! He could go on without her. He could get another associate, train her just the way he’d trained Pendleton. It would work out fine. No one was indispensable.

And then he turned and looked at her, took in her porcelain-fine profile, her beautiful blond hair, her trim figure, the graceful curve of her neck, and something seemed to quiver deep inside him. He couldn’t lose her.

“Not so fast, Pendleton,” he said calmly. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through. There are things in the works that could change your mind.”

She shook her head. “There will always be something coming up that would tempt me to stay,” she admitted. “I love working here and you know it. But my full nature isn’t fulfilled with work. I need more.”

He nodded dismissively and his face took on a pensive look.

“I talked to the Joliet Aire people this morning,” he told her with exaggerated casualness. “And Monsieur Jobert has agreed to meet with you.”

Her head snapped up and she stared at him. “What?” Monsieur Jobert was an illusive contact she’d been going after for six months. She jumped up, facing Carter and beaming. “You’re kidding!”

He nodded, gratified by her delighted surprise. “It’s true. That is exactly what we’re going to Paris for. He finally read one of your letters and wants to meet the lady behind the persuasive words.”

“I knew I could get to him eventually,” she said, eyes shining with triumph, her hand tightened in a little fist. “Now, to make sure I’ve got the right ammunition to convince him once we meet face-to-face…” Her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying.

He studied her closely, one eyebrow cocked. “One more trip to Paris, Pendleton,” he said softly. “Come on. You know you can’t pass this one up.”

She turned away, thinking hard. He’d won again. But still, an interview with the famous Monsieur Jobert!

Carter watched her, his eyes filled with worry now that she wasn’t gazing into his. The last thing in the world he could afford was to lose Amy Pendleton. Together they were a well-oiled machine. Their successes were legendary at TriTerraCorp.

Besides, there was a part of him, deep down, a tiny part he didn’t often allow to surface, that would miss her in other ways. No, he couldn’t do without her. His throat tightened as he thought of it. He’d already lost too much, dammit. This was someone he wasn’t going to let walk out of his life.

“All right,” she said, turning back to look at him with stormy eyes. “One more trip to Paris. But after that…”