ordinary.”
“You want boring!”
“Hey, accountants or podiatrists aren’t always boring.” Carly’s voice was laced with humor. “Now, can we get back to the business at hand, and talk about you finding me a dress for Lisa’s black-tie fund-raiser? This is really important to her. She wants to raise enough money to start a counseling center for kids here in Baltimore by year’s end. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a place to go when you lost your mom? A place where other kids could relate to what you were going through?”
Julianne paused before answering. “Boarding school took care of that for both of us.”
Carly released an exasperated sigh. “Julianne, are you going to find me a dress or not?”
“Yeah, sure. But I don’t know why I even bother. You won’t wear any of the ones that I think you should wear.”
“Then pick something out you know I’ll wear, not something skimpy that belongs on the cover of
Cosmo
.” She put the picture back down on the credenza a little too roughly.
Shane bumped his knee against the metal desk at the thought of her wearing one of those sexy dresses that always taunted him in the checkout lines. He was unable to stifle a grunt, and the sound alerted her to his presence. Snatching up the receiver, she quickly ended her phone conversation and came to stand in the doorway of her office. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts—a move that further tortured him—she leaned against the door frame. Shane cleared his throat and jauntily leaned on the two back legs of the desk chair.
“I was looking for a pen.” He flicked through some papers on the desk, unsuccessfully trying to keep his eyes off her very pert breasts perfectly displayed in a T-shirt proclaiming
Smart is the new skinny.
Shane tried not to think about how sexy it looked on her.
“I guess the Pen Fairy took ’em all because there aren’t any out here,” he joked, gesturing to the desks in the reception area.
Mumbling something sounding awfully close to
smart-ass
, she pushed away from the door frame. He stood and followed her into her office. Probably not a good idea on his part, seeing as how he was already in the beginning stages of arousal. Being in the close confines of her office would only make it worse.
He took his chances anyway.
Her office was warm and welcoming, adorned with pictures of her nieces and nephew. A large spider plant crawled from its container down to the floor. Soft jazz music played over her computer speakers. She rounded her desk and picked up a Montblanc pen, then turned and nearly speared him with it, he was following her so closely.
“I didn’t want to leave town without signing this.” He held up the media plan between them.
“Of course not.” She backed up a little to put some space between them. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten.”
“Nope.” His voice took on a husky timbre as he took a step forward. She moved farther back to the wall. “You didn’t rat me out to your brother-in-law the other night. Why not?”
“Oh, well . . . now I have something to hold over you. You know, when you start telling everyone how I attacked you in Cabo,” she quipped.
“Touché,” he said, a smile breaking out across his face. “Smart, pretty, and devious. Who would have thought?”
She tried to stifle a laugh, but one escaped anyway. Soft and breathy. Somehow, she’d backed herself against the wall. He stood inches in front of her. She wasn’t a psycho chic, he’d finally decided. Just a woman. A woman who he continued to be incredibly attracted to for reasons he couldn’t quite understand. If Shane was smart, he’d leave her alone. Except his brain and his body weren’t working from the same playbook.
“About that night in Cabo . . .” he started off.
“Let’s not go there.” She shook her head from side to side.
He breathed in her scent—she smelled like Florida sunshine—as he moved his body closer. “You know, Dorothy,
“You want boring!”
“Hey, accountants or podiatrists aren’t always boring.” Carly’s voice was laced with humor. “Now, can we get back to the business at hand, and talk about you finding me a dress for Lisa’s black-tie fund-raiser? This is really important to her. She wants to raise enough money to start a counseling center for kids here in Baltimore by year’s end. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a place to go when you lost your mom? A place where other kids could relate to what you were going through?”
Julianne paused before answering. “Boarding school took care of that for both of us.”
Carly released an exasperated sigh. “Julianne, are you going to find me a dress or not?”
“Yeah, sure. But I don’t know why I even bother. You won’t wear any of the ones that I think you should wear.”
“Then pick something out you know I’ll wear, not something skimpy that belongs on the cover of
Cosmo
.” She put the picture back down on the credenza a little too roughly.
Shane bumped his knee against the metal desk at the thought of her wearing one of those sexy dresses that always taunted him in the checkout lines. He was unable to stifle a grunt, and the sound alerted her to his presence. Snatching up the receiver, she quickly ended her phone conversation and came to stand in the doorway of her office. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts—a move that further tortured him—she leaned against the door frame. Shane cleared his throat and jauntily leaned on the two back legs of the desk chair.
“I was looking for a pen.” He flicked through some papers on the desk, unsuccessfully trying to keep his eyes off her very pert breasts perfectly displayed in a T-shirt proclaiming
Smart is the new skinny.
Shane tried not to think about how sexy it looked on her.
“I guess the Pen Fairy took ’em all because there aren’t any out here,” he joked, gesturing to the desks in the reception area.
Mumbling something sounding awfully close to
smart-ass
, she pushed away from the door frame. He stood and followed her into her office. Probably not a good idea on his part, seeing as how he was already in the beginning stages of arousal. Being in the close confines of her office would only make it worse.
He took his chances anyway.
Her office was warm and welcoming, adorned with pictures of her nieces and nephew. A large spider plant crawled from its container down to the floor. Soft jazz music played over her computer speakers. She rounded her desk and picked up a Montblanc pen, then turned and nearly speared him with it, he was following her so closely.
“I didn’t want to leave town without signing this.” He held up the media plan between them.
“Of course not.” She backed up a little to put some space between them. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten.”
“Nope.” His voice took on a husky timbre as he took a step forward. She moved farther back to the wall. “You didn’t rat me out to your brother-in-law the other night. Why not?”
“Oh, well . . . now I have something to hold over you. You know, when you start telling everyone how I attacked you in Cabo,” she quipped.
“Touché,” he said, a smile breaking out across his face. “Smart, pretty, and devious. Who would have thought?”
She tried to stifle a laugh, but one escaped anyway. Soft and breathy. Somehow, she’d backed herself against the wall. He stood inches in front of her. She wasn’t a psycho chic, he’d finally decided. Just a woman. A woman who he continued to be incredibly attracted to for reasons he couldn’t quite understand. If Shane was smart, he’d leave her alone. Except his brain and his body weren’t working from the same playbook.
“About that night in Cabo . . .” he started off.
“Let’s not go there.” She shook her head from side to side.
He breathed in her scent—she smelled like Florida sunshine—as he moved his body closer. “You know, Dorothy,
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