Read Online Can't Buy Me Love by Maggie Marr - Free Book Online Page B

ground-vibrating kisses were a semi-regular occurrence for Cole? How about never for her. Never had she experienced such a soul-shattering kiss. And with it, perhaps the end of her future, or at the very least her career at Comnet.
    “We are business associates,” Meg said. She willed her tone to remain light, noncommittal.
    “We’re more than that,” Cole said. He bent his chin down and looked at her with those aqua-colored eyes. “I think we both know that we’re more than that, especially now.”
    “I can’t…we can’t be more than that.” Meg said.
    “Of course we can,” Cole said playfully. The right side of his mouth pulled upward into a playful smile. “I’m the boss.”
    The boss.
    Panic careened within Meg. Like the flip of a switch, the electricity stopped. Yes, Cole was the boss. Meg swallowed and looked into his eyes. She would not be known as his office tart. She would not become her mother. She’d spent a lifetime ensuring she never became her mother. Meg stepped away from Cole, lengthening the distance between them.
    “Like I said, we are business associates and—” Meg’s BlackBerry vibrated in her purse. She pulled it out. Comnet business affairs flashed across the screen. She turned the phone so that Cole could see who was calling. “And we have a whole lot of work to accomplish before we return to Los Angeles.”
    Meg placed the phone to her ear, spun away from Cole, and closed her eyes. Thank goodness for work. She would concentrate on work. She took a deep breath and answered her phone. “Hello, this is Meg.”

Chapter Nine
     
    “You kissed Cole Jackson!” Prim shrieked into the phone.
    “No, absolutely not.” Meg tried to escape the memory of Cole’s lips on hers. “He kissed me.”
    Meg stood on the deck off her bedroom suite at Casa del Mar and watched the beach surrender to the bright blue waves. In the distance, Cole, shirtless, took his late afternoon run.
    “Whatever, there was a liplock. What are you going to do?”
    What was she going to do? She had to ignore the feelings that fought to shake her from her professionalism and make her into some shadow of her mother. She needed more from life than hastily left jobs and reckless relationships. Meg needed stability, continuity, security—all the things that an affair with her boss would definitely destroy.
     “I’m going to pretend it never happened, close the Morton deal, and get my promotion.”
    “Forget you kissed Cole? Ha!” Prim chortled. “How could anyone forget kissing Cole Jackson? He’s absolutely the most kissable.”
    “Not helping,” Meg said. “If not forget, then how about ignore. This is a blip in our relationship. This is not important. Besides I’m not his type—”
    “I know!” Prim cut in. “He loves heiresses, and models, and actresses—absolutely gorgeous women.”
    “Again, not helping,” Meg said.
    “But that’s what makes this so different,” Prim said. “You’re not his usual lot as far as women are concerned. Plus, I’ve never heard a hint of Cole ever, you know, taking a dip in the company pond.”
    The company pond was not a place in which Meg wanted to swim. People talked. Careers ended. Women cried and moved their children to the next big company town.
    “What if this actually means something to him?” Prim asked. “What if he wants to date you? To—”
    “Stop,” Meg said. She didn’t want to walk down that path—not even in the confines of her mind. “ That isn’t going to happen.”
    “You can say that now but this is Cole Jackson. One of the most charming men in the world, and maybe you haven’t noticed but also one of the best-looking.”
    Yeah, she’d noticed. The sun glistened off of Cole’s sweaty body as he ran in what appeared to be an effortless near sprint. Gorgeous. Wealthy. Brilliant. Cole was magnificent in a myriad of ways, but he was also an impossibility where a relationship was concerned. Even if she had discovered a heart that