Beyond Business. Elizabeth Harbison
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touch the spot and grazed her hand instead. For a moment they lingered, fingertip to fingertip, and something coursed through Meredith’s chest with the power of a freight train.
She drew her hand back and tried to look as if she hadn’t noticed the accidental contact or felt the intense reaction.
Evan touched the spot on his cheek. “Perfect.” He looked into her eyes. “You could have a future in nursing.”
“I hope not,” she said absently, still thinking about his touch. “I’m already working two jobs.” As soon as the words left her lips, Meredith clapped her mouth shut. How could she be so stupid? She was never that unprofessional. It was absolutely imperative that she keep her secrets under wraps. And Evan Hanson was the last person in the world she should let her guard down in front of.
There was so much he must never know.
“Two jobs?” he asked, of course.
She thought fast. “Yes, working for Hanson Media and working with you.” The explanation wasn’t hard to come up with, but trying to make her voice sound light and casual was almost impossible.
He laughed. “I see. I’m a whole additional problem, huh?”
She let out a tense breath. He’d bought it. Thank God. “I can’t believe it’s the first time you’ve heard something like that.”
“Hell, Meredith, it’s not even the first time I’ve heard something like that from you.”
Thank goodness he was good-humored about it, but she really hadn’t wanted to insult him. “I was only joking, Evan. You’re not that bad.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” His brown eyes caught hers again and held.
Meredith’s breath caught in her chest and lodged there like an iron fist. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even move, for fear of stopping something that she knew in her mind should never happen.
He was going to kiss her.
She wanted him to kiss her.
His gaze lingered one, two, three beats longer than she expected. Inside, she squirmed under it, hoping like a schoolgirl that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Finally, without saying a word, he scooped her into his arms and put his mouth over hers.
A small voice inside of her resisted, almost begging her to pull back before it was too late. Meredith knew herself well enough to know that she had never been able to resist Evan, no matter how hard she’d tried. Though years had passed and granted her more self-control where Twinkies and pizza were concerned, it seemed she still had an irresistible weakness for Evan Hanson.
She sank against him and deepened the kiss, momentarily heedless of good sense. Lots of time had passed since they’d last met like this, and part of Meredith still held the energy of waiting for him. It was as if she was righting some long-standing wrong—even though she knew in reality she couldn’t do that.
Still, she could have kissed Evan for a week. A month. A year.
Twelve years.
Evan held a piece of her that had been missing all that time.
His mouth moved gently across hers, tentatively feeling for her reactions, clearly reaching the end of his ability to stop.
She didn’t want him to.
His tongue touched hers, and every nerve in her body tightened like strings on a dulcimer. She ran her hands up his back, languishing in the feel of his muscled back beneath her touch, until she reached his upper back and pulled him closer to her.
Closer, something in her cried to him. Come closer. Don’t let go. This time, never let go.
He ran strong hands down to the small of her back, holding her firmly against him. She felt safe in his embrace. It felt right. When his fingertips slipped under her shirt and pressed against her lower back, the feel of his skin touching hers in such an intimate way made her wild with desire.
As if reading her thoughts, he dipped his hand lower, sending shivers of pleasure through her core.
As Evan’s mouth moved against hers and his hands played against her skin and held her close to him, Meredith felt the ache that had sat hollow in her stomach for so long finally beginning to ease.
The voice within her still tried to insist that this was wrong, that Evan had betrayed her heartlessly before and he might well do it again, but it didn’t matter what she thought was wrong.
It only mattered what she felt was right.
Whoa, what was she thinking? Since when did Meredith Waters allow herself to do something she knew was wrong?
She pulled back abruptly. “I forgot to ask if you wanted some ibuprofen or something.”
Evan looked surprised. “I’m good, thanks.” He reached for her again, but she stepped back.
“Shot of whiskey?” she tried halfheartedly. “You must need something for the pain.”
“No, really, Meredith, I’m fine.” He eyed her, and hesitated before adding with finality, “In fact, I should call a cab or something and get out of your hair.”
“No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “Evan, there’s no way I’m letting you go back to sleep in the office, for crying out loud. You need to stay here.”
He did a slight double take. “Stay here? Where here?”
“Here. Up in the guest room. In fact, you can have your pick of three guest rooms.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Any of them?” he asked with a lascivious grin.
She smiled lightly. “As long as it’s not already occupied.”
He snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. “I hate to sleep alone.”
“Yeah, and I’m guessing you haven’t had to do it that often, either.” She was joking, but something about the words stuck in her craw a little bit.
“More than you’d think, Meredith,” he answered, his voice serious.
Their eyes met, and a frisson of energy zapped between them.
She could have thrown herself right back into his arms and kissed him until she forgot about every other thing in her life and in the outside world, but she knew better.
She had to keep reminding herself, of course, but she definitely knew better.
“Anyway,” she said pointedly. “The fact is that tonight you’ll be sleeping alone and you’ll be doing it here.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“What kind of person would let someone risk life and limb to get a stupid purse back and then just send him on his way?” She shook her head. “Not me. Now get upstairs, mister. You need to rest.”
He stood up and faltered, losing his balance ever so slightly, but enough for her to say, “See? That proves my point.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I have some big old T-shirts,” she went on. “I’ll get you one and you can sleep in that.”
“I sleep naked,” he said, a sly grin playing on his lips. “Have you forgotten?”
She sucked in a breath. No, she hadn’t forgotten. When she was sleeping with him, she slept nude as well.
It saved time.
But she wasn’t going to think about that and she wasn’t going to give Evan any indication that she’d thought about it, so she simply said, “I thought the circumstances might make you more modest.”
“The circumstances are making me more.” He shook his head.