My excuse is that I seem to have given up sleeping. To add insult to injury, the less sleep I have, the stupider I get. So thats pissed me off even more.
Ah, Ill run for the hills then. I wouldnt want to risk pissing off a hotsy-totsy corporate magnate.
Im not a corporate magnate.
Well, youre certainly crabby, whatever label you want to call yourself.
His gaze narrowed with interest. So why arent you running away?
You think I should?
Everybody else does. It was her own doing that he ended up beside her. He could have stayed in that hunched position indefinitely. She was the one who lifted the blankets and unrolled a few extra feet of tarp. The tarp had obviously protected her from the damp deck, which she was willing to extend to him, as well.
Her kindness was definitely appreciated, because damn, it was cold up there. Only being half-prone next to her immediately provoked the idea of kissing her.
That idea had been growing on him since, oh, around a second after laying eyes on her. Itd be funny if it werent so incomprehensible. Inheriting the business had sliced his sex drive in half-or thats what hed been trying to tell himself. Since his uncle had died, hed been hurling himself around the country nonstop, thrown into legal and ethical situations that just kept getting deeper and darker, so obviously, thered been no time to meet a woman or form a relationship. Harm had rationalized for some time that all the stress had obliterated his sexual needs.
Looking at Cate forced him to recognize that need was alive and clamoring-noisy. And the more he felt the nearness of her, the more he realized that need hadnt been satisfied in a long, long time.
You dont take nonsense from anyone, do you? he asked curiously.
Sure I do. Everybody does.
But he didnt. And hed long wearied of people who took it from him. From school to the military, to the business crisis he was in now, people had always deferred to him. Always expected him to find answers, to come through. To not show weakness. Cate had challenged him from the start. It was refreshingbut yeah, a little unnerving. And rather than think about that unwanted sexual tug, he started a conversation. What was your impression? Of my guys, the team at dinner?
She leaned up on one elbow. When you told me what the situation was, I specifically set the table with good crystal, the white tablecloth. Probably sounds silly to youbut Ive always found that atmosphere affects behavior. I also think having strangers around your group-like me and Ivan and Hans-probably brought out more manners in your guys. People always behave better around strangers. Likewise, if you give boys mud and water, theyll end up getting dirty. Put on the crystal, and theyll tend to be more polite, to get along.
He said, I dont know about the crystal. But you sure did something because you got them talking.
Not real talking. Just polite talking. I was hoping the atmosphere would help you figure out the crux of the problem.
Who my thief is.
She frowned. Where the poison in your company is, she corrected him. Same thing.
I dont think so. The person who stole the formula not only stole the formula. He betrayed the team, hurt the other players-financially and job-wise-and is doing a pretty effective job of tearing down the company. Your uncle had lofty goals. So did they. The one who ripped that open took away some serious big dreams and goals, as well.
Youve been thinking about this, he said slowly.
Not really. I dont know anything. Its justan interesting problem. If the person did this right after your uncle died, then your uncles death must have provided them with an opportunity. Access. But I dont get at all why someone would have done this. Id think your whole team would have made a lot of money if that drug came through. So thered have been no reason to steal. And then you described this group working as a team for quite some time. Working together, hoping together. So he was willing to tear apart the team, his friends, for some reason that I sure cant imagine. I think youve got a guy on your hands whos really, really angry. Angry about something that means a lot more than money to him.
He absorbed what shed said. Hed had no one to share the puzzle pieces with before-except for the P.I. company hed hired, but they didnt know enough about science to evaluate the possibilities for the how and why of a formula theft. Harm already knew hed likely have to figure this out himself.
Cate, though, had different perceptions than he did. And he found himself staring into those soft, liquid eyes. He was taken with her spirit, with her zest, with her fearlessness. But he was also concerned about letting her any closer-to him, to his men, to his problems. He didnt want her exposed to danger.
He wasnt positive shed recognize danger if it bit her on the tush, which was possibly what prompted his change of subject. Ivan give you any serious trouble?
Instead of an answer, she smiled. Im not the kind of woman who needs protecting, Harm.
And then-proving irrevocably that she needed serious protecting-she reached over and kissed him.
Nothing much shocked Harm, not anymore, but this sudden streak of lightning startled him completely. A dank, chill night turned sultry out of nowhere. Her lips were soft and warm and sassy. Her skinny body gave off more eclectic tension, more edgy hormones, than an invitation from any woman he could remember. Ever.
She lifted her mouth moments later, opened her eyes, looked straight at him. If she was shaken, it didnt show.
What was that for? he asked, as if she hadnt just rocked his sanity.
Youre not really interested in me. Im not really interested in you. But its been there, that littlesizzle. So I figured itd be a good idea if we got it out of the way so we could both quit wondering about it.
He almost denied that wondering, but there seemed no point in lying.
So you think that settled the issue?
That was the idea. To settle it. I didnt want it to be a problem for you. Or me.
Clearly, she didnt know him well enough to realize that he was morally, ethically and emotionally incapable of turning down a dare.
She was damned right. He wasnt interested in her. Didnt think for a second that she was interested in him. She was justfull of herself. And since she wanted to get something straight, he figured hed better get something straight, too. Kittens shouldnt risk playing with cougars.
So thats why he kissed her. More or less because shed kissed him, because
Aw, hell. He forgot the reason the moment his lips sank against hers, and she sank back, back into that nest of warm blankets. Apparently, she liked playing with dynamite, because those light, lithe arms skidded up his shoulders, scooped around his neck.
He looked for caution. Brains. Fear. Nobody home there All he found was naked curiosity and tantalizing interest and her returning his kisses as if she was determined to pile more tinder on an already thriving fire.
Her lips felt softer than a cushion. The taste of her was exotic and different and alluring. She made a sound, as if shed found a new flavor of chocolate she liked. Opened her lips, invited his tongue. Damn woman.
She arched her flat chest against him, pushed up a knee in a gut response to that kick of lethal hormones. It wasnt need bubbling up, Harm told himself. He didnt acknowledge need, didnt have time for need. That was something a man overcame to achieve what he wanted in life. So it couldnt be need.
He was justcurious. That was all.
Unwillingly, his eyes closed. It was her fault, her witchery, because her arms seemed to wrap him up in a place that wasnt cold or damp or needled with problems. For two seconds, he forgot about huge stakes and betrayal and embezzlement. He forgot about the women hed failed in the past, the ones whod failed him right back.
He forgot his own name.
She sipped and sucked. He tasted and teased right back. He rolled her on top of him, creating a tangle of blankets that he found some way to push aside. He had to get a grip on her. He had to run his hands down that lithe, skinny body, to see where on earth all that evocative, provocative power was coming from.
Only thenhe found out. When he stroked down her spine, she parted her legs, rubbed against him. He turned into rock. He hadnt had a chance to turn into solid rock in a very long time.
He skimmed his hands back up, stroking the same bones and soft flesh, into that messy short hair. She made those soft, appreciative murmurs again, as if shed like him for brunch. Dinner. Breakfast. An all-day meal.
And abruptly, he rolled her on her back again and shifted away from her. This was insanity. It just couldnt be happening. He never lost his head, not with a woman and not in life, ever.
And there she was, panting a little breathlessly-as he was, damn it. But her eyelids slowly opened, and there was a moment of stillness. Then her gaze narrowed and her body tensed. He didnt know what she saw in his expression, but it was obviously something that made her wary.
She said, You get away with that once. Because thats probably what you do. Establish that youre the alpha wolf, no matter who youre with or what youre doing. But I dont do wolves, and I dont give a hoot about power. So dont you kiss me again unless
Unless?
Unless you plain old want to. No agendas, nothing to gain, nothing to win, no power thing. Just wanting. In a real frump now, she coiled to her feet and gathered up a messy scoop of blankets. Damn it, Harm. Now youve forced me into going below deck to sleep in that claustrophobic cabin.
You dont have to go anywhere. Ill leave.
No. This way, you owe me for being an arrogant clod. And just so you know-Im a score keeper.
Just so you know, Ill remember your orders.
She cocked her head, asked in confusion, What orders?
That order about not kissing you the next time-until I want to.
She didnt respond, just whirled around and headed below deck. Hed gotten the last word in, he told himself, but long after shed disappeared from sight, he was still sitting on the damp, cold deck, feeling both sexually frustrated and flummoxed.
What a piece of work she was.