The security guard leapt up from his desk to get the door. ‘Goodnight, Penny.’ His smile widened as he watched her walk across the foyer towards him. That smile faded when he glanced behind her and registered Carter’s frown. ‘Goodnight, sir.’ Suddenly all respectful.
Carter made himself nod and smile.
‘Hope Maddie’s better when you get home,’ Penny said lightly.
‘Me too.’ The guard’s smile spread again. ‘See you tomorrow. Not too early, you understand?’
She just laughed as she went through the door.
‘Have fun, Penny,’ Carter drawled softly as they hit the pavement.
She turned and fluttered him a look one eyelash short of do-me-now. ‘Oh, I plan to.’
So she couldn’t resist striking the sparks either. And he knew the kind of fun girls like her liked—the eat-men-for-breakfast kind. He smiled, happy to play if she wanted, because experience had made him too tough to chew. She could learn that if she dared.
She walked away, her legs ridiculously long in that sexy strip of a skirt, her balance perfect on the high, narrow heels. Her glossy brown hair cascaded down to her almost too-trim waist. He bet she worked out in the pursuit of perfection. Not that she needed to bother. She nailed it on attitude alone.
Testosterone—and other things—surged again. So did his latent combative nature. That vulnerability he’d seen upstairs when he’d startled her, and again after he’d kissed her? A mirage—she’d been buying time while assessing her position. For Penny the PA knew how to play men—the slayer look she’d just shot him proved it. Mason thought the world of her. The security guy was falling over himself to help her. She’d want to bring Carter to heel like every other man she knew. Yeah, he’d seen her vixen desire for dominance. She thought she could toy with him as some feline would a mouse.
She was so wrong.
But he could hardly wait for her to bring it on.
PENNY winked at Jed as she walked back into the building just over nine hours later—three of which had been spent dancing and six sort-of sleeping.
‘Too early, Penny.’ The security guard covered his yawn, clearly barely hanging out the last half-hour before clocking off.
‘Too much to do.’
First in for the day, she wanted to get ahead and be fully functioning by the time Mason showed. Definitely by the time Carter Dodds rolled in. The super-size black coffee in her hand would help. But she’d barely got seated when there was movement in her doorway.
‘Thought I’d bring this up before I left.’
Jed walked in—well, from the voice she knew it was him. His body was completely obscured by the floral bouquet that was almost too wide to fit through the door.
‘They just arrived,’ he puffed.
‘Not more?’ Penny shrivelled deeper into her seat. She knew who they were from. Aaron—a spoilt-for-choice playboy type with several options on the go—the kind of guy Penny always looked for when she needed some company for a while. Only the spark was missing. Last week she’d told him no and goodbye—thought she’d made it clear—but the flowers continued to prove otherwise.
‘Thanks, Jed,’ she said as he offloaded the oversize blooms onto her desk. ‘Have a good sleep.’
‘Not me who needs it.’
Penny held back her sigh. She’d take the bunch back down to Reception again but she’d wait ’til Jed had gone for the day—he was exhausted after the night shift and had to go home to a sick preschooler. He didn’t need to be hauling flowers back and forth for her.
She picked up her phone and hit one of the pre-programmed buttons.
‘SpeedFreaks.’
‘Hi, Kate,’ Penny said. ‘I’ve got a floral delivery please.’
‘Penny? Another one?’
‘Yeah.’ She tried not to sound too negative about it. It was pretty pathetic to be upset by having masses of flowers delivered; most women would be thrilled. But cut flowers didn’t make her think of romance and sweethearts, they made her think hospitals and funerals and lives cut way too short. ‘Can you pick them up as soon as possible?’
She heard a movement behind her and turned, smiling in anticipation of Mason. But she forgot all about Mason, or smiling, even the flowers. Only one thing filled her feeble mind.
Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair dangerously leaning towards shaggy—she shouldn’t be thinking shag anything. But she was. Because his eyes were leaning towards dangerous to match. She half waved with her phone hand to let him know she was occupied. But he didn’t go away and she really needed him to because her head wasn’t working well with him watching her like that. She pointedly looked past him to the corridor—didn’t he know to come back in a few minutes?
No. He just thudded a heavy shoulder against the doorframe, becoming a human door—blocking her exit and anyone else’s entry to the room.
And he smiled. Not just dangerous—positively killer.
She tried to look away, honest she did. But that ability had been stolen from her the moment her eyes had met his.
‘Can you get them picked up asap?’ she asked on auto, her brain fried by Carter’s perfectly symmetrical features. Other parts of her body had gone on quick burn too. Thank heavens she still had her jacket on, because her boobs were like twin beacons screaming her interest through her white blouse. Memories of that gentle stroke last night tormented her. ‘They’ll be at Reception.’
He was even more handsome in the morning light. Even more now she wasn’t blinded by fear and her senses weren’t heightened by a surge of adrenalin. No, now it was some other hormone rippling through her body making her shiver.
He stared back as if he were mentally undressing her as fast as she was him. There were no black jeans and tee today, it was suit all the way. Dark, so understated it actually stood out, its uniform style showing off the fat-free frame beneath. Penny’s heart thundered.
She turned back to her desk, her voice lowering. ‘Thanks, Kate.’ She wanted off the phone.
‘Are you sure you don’t want them? Or him?’ Kate didn’t pick up on Penny’s need-to-hang-up vibe. ‘He must be loaded to keep sending you these massive bouquets. And he’s obviously dead keen.’
Penny winced. Then winced again as she realised Carter would be able to hear Kate too—the phone volume was too loud. She glanced over her shoulder and jumped. He wasn’t in the doorway any more. He was about three inches away—at the most.
‘No. I’ll spell it out in single syllables.’ But Penny tensed. She didn’t know how more obvious she could be. She’d thought Aaron would be fine with a few dates’ fun before saying goodbye. Only they hadn’t got anywhere near that far. She figured the over-the-top floral attention was just him not being used to hearing ‘no’ and now he was determined to make her change her mind for the boy sport of it. But she couldn’t be sure. And because she couldn’t be completely sure, she couldn’t be completely harsh. Not ever again.
‘Where do you want them to go?’
‘What about the hospice? But send them to the staff room. Those guys work so hard.’
‘Sure.’
Carter