“Is that how you still think of it, as Mitch’s office? If so, you had better change your mind. Mitchell Cameron is gone. He was an embezzler—a thief—and he’s no longer with Consolidated Finances. I hope that fact doesn’t hamper your work.” He strode across the room to the desk. “We can discuss this later…tonight if you like. But right now I’m very busy.” He sat at the desk and started reading the reports that he had received from Olivia.
Erin watched him with disbelieving eyes. How could he change so rapidly? It was as if he were a kind, considerate gentleman one moment and a heartless bastard the next. He looked up at her and flashed a perfectly condescending smile at her, but she knew it was an act. She had been with him enough to recognize the cool distance in his gray eyes.
“You’re the one who called me in here,” she reminded him, and waved the green personal memo in the air. “Just what was it that you wanted to discuss?”
The petrified smile fell from his face and a darker, more volatile expression took over. “I wanted to ask you to dinner tonight.”
“You’ve got to be kidding! First you call me in here. Then you nearly throw me out. And now you expect me to go out with you?” Sarcasm dripped from her words. “Not a chance!”
“Why not?”
Erin sighed wearily, tired of the argument. “For the same reasons that I spelled out to you yesterday.”
There was a pool of darkness in his eyes. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?” he suggested, and then continued. “Or is it yourself who scares you?”
“It has nothing to do with fear, and you should know it! It’s just that I don’t think it would be good for either of us, professionally that is, to be the subject of office gossip or speculation.”
“Don’t you think that you’re putting the cart before the horse?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she sighed.
“In order for there to be any gossip, there’s got to be a glimmer of truth. Someone has to start the rumors, and since I’m not one to ‘kiss and tell,’ I’ve got to assume that you are. Otherwise, there would be no cause for concern, would there?”
“You don’t understand,” she accused with a vehemence that interested Kane. “Gossip…it can be vicious—ugly! It can ruin your life!”
“Only if you let it—the same as anything else. Now, why don’t you be honest with me—no, make that honest with yourself—and tell me what’s really bothering you. I can’t believe that a little innocent speculation about what you do after-hours is all that traumatic. For God’s sake, Erin, you’re a thirty-year-old divorcée, not a whimpering virgin! What kind of lily-white reputation are you trying to create?”
Her eyes narrowed and she planted her hands firmly against her hips. “The point is that I like to keep my personal life just that—private! And even though you and I won’t go around telling anyone that we’re seeing each other, believe me, the word will get out.”
“And everyone will just naturally assume that because we’re dating we’re sleeping together, right?” he surmised, elaborating on her logic. He threw the neatly stacked reports down into an unruly pile on his desk and covered the floor space that separated them in long, swift strides. He didn’t touch her, but he was close enough that she could feel the delicious warmth of his breath as it fanned against her hair. She stood her ground, not moving an inch, but every nerve ending of her body was rigidly aware of him and his nearness. “And even if some of the people around here think that we sleep together”—his fingers touched the silken skin of her cheek softly—”what’s so bad about that? What do you care what other people think?”
Erin’s lips thinned into a white line. She tried to control her temper and ignore the warm feelings that Kane was commanding from her. She pushed herself away from him in order to think clearly and avoid the compelling magnetism that seemed to surround him. “I’ve worked very hard to get where I am with this bank, and I don’t need the frustration of knowing that co-workers think that I sleep with the boss to promote my career.”
“Would you mind it if they thought you slept with the boss because you wanted to and not for career reasons?”
“You can’t possibly understand!” she whispered, and turned on her heel to leave.
As she pushed open the door to make her exit, she heard Kane’s parting words. “You, Miss O’Toole, are paranoid! And I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty!”
Kane’s voice boomed through the open door. Several of the secretaries looked up from their typewriters to stare openly at Erin. She tried to ignore their curiosity and continued toward her office. She could feel their speculative glances boring holes into her back, but she managed to return to the security of her office with a modicum of poise.
Outwardly she controlled her ragged Irish temper, but once in the sanctity of her own office, she could feel the fumes of anger rising steadily within her. No doubt half of the legal department had already sized up her situation with the new boss, and it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet! She tried to concentrate on her work, and she told herself not to be childish, but she couldn’t help but feel that Kane had betrayed her trust by announcing that he planned to see her after work. To make matters worse, he had brushed off the subject of Mitch’s dismissal with an arrogant wave of his hand and very little explanation.
During the remainder of the day Erin saw little of Kane. All of his contact with her came via his secretary in the form of interdepartmental memorandums. They had no personal contact. She had seen him only in passing, and he had smiled at her with the same polite but less than enthusiastic smile that he rained upon all of his employees. He showed her no special attention, which was exactly what she had wanted. And yet, a small and very feminine part of her yearned for the vaguest sign of emotion from him. Affection, endearment, friendship—anything that demonstrated that he cared for her in a more intimate way.
For most of the afternoon she attempted to bury herself in her work to avoid any further confrontations with Kane. It also helped her ignore the whispers about Mitch and the speculations about the embezzlement.
It was long after five o’clock when she rose and tucked away the paperwork that was still spread unfinished on her desk. Although she had worked diligently, she had accomplished very little because of her preoccupation with Kane. He had asked her out early that morning, and she had refused, but her mind had wandered relentlessly back to the invitation. What would it hurt? her persuasive mind taunted.
But what good would it do, her more rational nature inquired. Yes, Kane was an interesting man, and yes, she would like to spend some time alone with him, and perhaps she would, if circumstances were different. But as things stood, she couldn’t reconcile herself to live a double life of daytime employee and nighttime lover. No matter how she would try to convince herself otherwise, she was attracted to Kane as she never had been to any other man. Given an alternative set of circumstances, she knew that she could fall deeply in love with him. But, as fate would have it, she couldn’t allow herself the pleasure of falling in love with a man for whom she worked.
It had taken her all day to come to the decision that she would have to explain her position to Kane once and for all. She threw her coat over her arm and clicked off the lights to her office. Most of the staff had left the building, but she knew that Kane was still working. She could hear his voice through the door. Rather than disturb him, she continued past his office toward the elevator.
Before the elevator doors parted, the door to Kane’s office opened. Erin quickly resolved to herself that this would be as good a time as any to have it out with him. She turned to face him and discovered that he was
n’t alone. Olivia Parsons was with him, looking as if she was hanging on his every word. Rather than intrude, Erin whirled and faced the elevator. Just as the doors were opening, Erin heard Kane call out to her.
“Erin, wait!” Kane hurried to Erin’s side. “I’m glad I caught up with you. Do you need a ride home?”