Morgan turned her gaze to Tara. "I've gone through those contracts. They're on your desk to finalize."
Tara nodded and stood. "Nice to meet you, Tony," she said, then shook his hand with fervor before running off toward the offices.
Morgan took the seat Tara vacated. "Don't hit on my staff," she said, her displeasure clearly noted in the frown on her face.
"I wasn't hitting on your staff," he defended. "I was asking her some questions about living and working at the resort."
"Well, I don't appreciate you doing that without my knowledge. In the future, check with me first."
For some reason her irritation amused him. "Why? Are you jealous?"
Her eyes widened and she immediately shot back a retort. "Of course not! Why would I be jealous?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
She bent forward and whispered, "You and I are not involved other than sexually, and that's only for the duration of your time here."
Irritation prickled on his skin. "I see. So, in other words, what we've been doing together is purely physical, and the sooner it's over the better."
She lifted her chin. "That's not what I said."
"Hey, no problem with me." He'd been looking for a way to disentangle his emotions from Morgan. Here was his opportunity. "I think I've done more than enough to get you back to a sexual comfort zone."
Her eyes narrowed. "Fine. As far as I'm concerned, we can be finished now."
"Works for me. We're done." Now he was pissed. So much for 'thanks for helping me get through my aversion to sex'. They'd gone from intimate sharing of sexual pleasures to done-and-over-with in less than a day.
He felt used. If that thought wasn't so pathetic he'd laugh out loud. He'd never met a guy who wouldn't sell his soul to be used sexually by a beautiful woman. What an idiot he was. He looked for Morgan for a response, but she'd closed her emotions and he couldn't read her. Her lips were tight, her shoulders thrown back as she stood.
"I've got work to do," she said, her gaze not meeting his. "I'll pick you up at the front desk in an hour. Choose the adventure you'd like to tour."
After she walked away he was half tempted to participate in some sexual adventure. That would show her he had no feelings for her. Problem was, he wasn't the slightest bit interested in having sex with any one, or two or three for that matter, other women.
He really was pathetic. The only woman on his mind was Morgan.
*
Morgan viciously applied her signature to the documents in front of her. She could barely hold the pen because her hands were shaking.
How like other men Tony was. She should have known better. Put an attractive woman like Tara in front of him and he was hitting on her before the sheets on her bed were cold from their lovemaking.
Correction. It wasn't lovemaking they'd shared. It was sex. Fucking, to be more precise. After their beach sex this morning, Morgan had realized she was in trouble. Falling headlong into emotional attachment to Tony. And that couldn't be. She'd stood outside and watched the ocean after that, contemplating how to break things off between them. She couldn't--wouldn't--fall in love with him.
And now it looked like she'd made the right decision. To him, she was another notch on his keyboard, and that was all she'd ever be.
She lifted her head and smiled when Tara knocked softly on her open door. "Come on in," she said.
Tara chewed her bottom lip. "I need to talk to you about earlier."
Raising a brow, Morgan motioned Tara to sit in the chair across from her desk. "Sure. What's up?"
"I wasn't flirting with Tony Marino, honestly."
Watching Tara wring her hands together nervously, Morgan said, "I didn't think you were."
"I know, but you seemed so upset and I didn't want you to think I would ever hit on your man."
"He's not my man." Never was, never would be.
Tara tilted her head. "I thought you two..."
"You thought wrong. Really, Tara, you have nothing to worry about. I was merely trying to keep him from asking you too many personal questions."
Tara relaxed her shoulders and smiled. "You know me, Morgan. I talk too much, anyway. He wasn't asking. I was over-volunteering information."
Morgan wasn't buying it. She knew Tony was a hard-hitting journalist and would pry as much as he could get away with. Either way it didn't matter. He hadn't been given the opportunity to bug Tara for too long.
"I'm glad he didn't make you feel uncomfortable, then," she said, hoping to end the conversation by returning to her paperwork.
"He sure is good looking."
Morgan's head shot up and saw Tara's grin. "Yes, he is."
"Great body, too."
Didn't she know it. Every square inch of it, in fact. "I guess so."
Tara pursed her lips and raised a brow. "And you're not involved with him?"
"No."
"Well, why not? He's perfect for you, Morgan. Smart, handsome and funny. You really need to find someone."
Morgan set the pen down and laced her fingers together on top of the papers. "Why do you think that?"
"Because you're lonely."
This was something new. Tara had never gotten personal with her before. Friendly, always, but never pried into her personal life. "I'm not lonely."
Tara's lips crooked into a half smile. "Yeah, you are. You just don't know it. We're all lonely. Unless you have someone, we're all kind of isolated here."
"Then why don't you find someone?"
Tara turned her gaze to the window behind Morgan. "Some people aren't meant to have a someone."
Yes, Morgan thought. Some people like her.
Returning her gaze to Morgan's, Tara said, "But I think you have found someone. And if he's the right someone, don't let him go."
Morgan thought about what Tara said as she headed out of her office to meet Tony.
Had she been giving off signals? Somehow Tara had gotten the impression that Morgan had some sort of relationship with Tony.
Okay, maybe she did look at him more than she'd ever looked at another man at the resort. And maybe they had been spending a lot of time together the past several days, but that was due to his job. He was there to interview her, after all.
Right. Like there'd been any interviewing going on. No, her time and attention hadn't been spent on Tony the journalist. She'd been focusing on Tony the man.
For someone who'd always managed to keep her personal life personal, she'd been doing one damn lousy job lately.
Spying Tony loitering at the registration desk, her heart thudded against her chest. As it did each and every time she saw him. He was such a beautiful man, so tall, dark, roguishly handsome.
Hell. No wonder Tara suspected something was going on. She was all but drooling as she approached Tony.
He offered a tentative smile. "You ready?"
She nodded, distracted by the memories of his body on hers.
"If this is a bad time..."
"No, it's fine. Have you decided which event you'd like to check out?" She tried to keep her tone impersonal. They'd officially ended their intimate relationship, and Morgan was going to make damn sure they didn't pick it up again before he left.
"Yeah. How about Sensuous Spanking?"
Why did it have to be that one? "Fine. Let's go."
She turned, but Tony's hand on her arm stopped her. "Is this event going to bother you?"
When she didn't respond, he added, "You know? Personal memories and all?"
She shook her head. "Not at all. Follow me."
Bother her? Attending Sensuous Spanking would bother her all right. But not in the way he thought.
Chapter Twelve
Admittedly, Tony had purposely chosen Sensuous Spanking because he knew Morgan might be turned on by watching. Perverse, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Men and their egos were nothing to fuck with. Since he was like most men, his ego resided in his pants. And she wasn't currently fucking with it in a fun way.
Which annoyed him. And shouldn't. It was his idea too to cool things down between them.
Then again, watching her backside sway seductively as she walked the path in front of him, he began to wonder if he'd made a huge error in ending things too quickly with Morgan. Surely he could enjoy some simple sex with her for the next couple days without getting emotionally involved, couldn't he?
She stopped in front of a small house with a thatched roof, the windows darkened with some kind of film so people walking by couldn't look in. Her hand reached for the doorknob, then hesitated.
Smiling innocently at her, he asked, "Something wrong?"
Sucking in her lower lip for a second, then letting out a sigh, she shook her head. "No, everything's fine. "
It took him a few minutes to adjust to the darkness inside. Candles seemed to provide the only illumination in the small foyer. Morgan nodded to the woman at the doorway, then took Tony through.
A long hallway led to various doors, with mirrors lining the walls. As Tony stepped past the first door he noticed the mirror was actually glass. He could see into the room. A very tall, very slim, leather clad dominatrix stood in the middle of a room equipped with paddles and whips. A naked man was bent over a stool, and the woman was lightly paddling his ass. The man sprouted a huge hard-on, so he must like it.