“Do you mean the clients who would like to continue working with me?” she asked, stressing her point of being well liked by those accounts.
Chaz shrugged. Kim’s scarlet dress and her chilly vibe were at odds with each other, a dichotomy that did nothing to lessen the warmth searing through him each time she moved.
“A vice president has to oversee all accounts,” he said.
“Yes, you do,” she tossed back, emphasis on you.
“Being new, I’d like your help,” he said. “Maybe we can start small on the help, and see how it goes?”
“I’m all ears, Mr. Monroe, as to what you might require.” She did not glance at her watch, but added, “For the next ten minutes.”
“It’s Chaz. Please call me Chaz.”
He was peripherally aware of how Kim’s chest rose and fell laboriously with each new breath she took. Was that a sign of anger or anxiety? Outwardly, she looked calm enough. Cool, calm and collected. Yet she was electrically charged. He felt that charge pass through him. His heart beat a little faster.
“We’ve been asked to attend a special party for a potential new client, and I have volunteered to help make this an event. It’s a very last-minute request, so with Ms. Chang already inundated, I’d need your help,” he said.
He looked to Brenda, who passed the look on to Kim.
“Sorry.” Kim carefully folded her hands around the stem of her glass when it arrived. “If you mean helping with something right now, that’s impossible. I have the next two weeks off, starting tomorrow at noon.”
“I’d be willing to double your holiday bonus for the extra time and effort,” he said, applying a bit of preplanned pressure to see if money floated her boat. “We can talk about the clause afterward if you like.”
Brenda took a sip of her wine and continued to gaze at Kim over the rim of her glass. Brenda appeared to be nervous about being in the middle of this conversation, and had started inching her glass sideways on the table as if she and the glass might make a quick getaway the first chance she got.
Good for her, for noticing where she wasn’t needed. And to hell with the crowd. Chaz now wanted Kim all to himself. He wanted nothing more. They could hash this out, once and for all. If she remained stubborn, maybe they could arm wrestle a deal.
“I’m really sorry I can’t help,” Kim said, lush strands of gold brushing her face when she shook her head. “I’ve already made plans for my time off.”
Chaz was actually starting to enjoy this game. He had always been good at chess. He did wonder, though, how far she’d go...and how far he’d go to stop her.
“Any way you might break those plans?” he asked.
“I’m pretty sure I can’t at this late date.”
“If I say please?”
She sat motionless for a minute, and then began to turn her glass in circles on the table without taking a drink. Chaz didn’t fail to notice that she hadn’t so much as placed her lips on the glass since it had arrived.
“As a favor to a potential client, then,” Chaz said. “Not to me personally.”
Another beat of time passed while he awaited her response.
“Didn’t you just say that you read my contract?” she finally said with a subtle tone of disappointment underscoring her reply.
Chaz found himself fascinated with thoughts about how this would play out. He had said please, right? Surely she had to realize that this one decision could make or break the upward mobility of her career, at least with this agency.
He downed some beer and waited to see if she would explain herself.
“I truly am sorry,” she said seconds later. “I’d be happy to help out any other time, with any other holiday. Really, I would help now if my situation were different.”
“Different?” Chaz couldn’t wait to hear this. If she was seriously involved in a relationship with some guy, and had that kind of plans for the next week, he’d have heard it from the people feeding him office gossip that afternoon. According to Alice, his agency bloodhound, Kim was pretty much a free agent in the serious relationship department.
“I’m...” she began.
“It’s against her religion,” Brenda said for her, and immediately flushed pink for having spoken out of turn.
Kim squirmed. He saw it. In the process, her left arm brushed his. Chaz’s body responded with a jerk. The aftereffects of the surprise ignited a new and relatively irritating blaze of heat in his chest that robbed him of his next decent breath.
“Oh,” he said. “That’s what prevents you from working on all this holiday stuff?”
She recrossed her legs and blinked slowly. “Well...”
She didn’t finish her excuse. A lovely flush crept up her neck, presenting a very seductive picture, for sure. The best he’d seen in a long time. But right then he wanted badly to throw her over his knee and give her a good spanking. Bad little princess, he’d say. Why the white lies and the avoidance? Let’s get right to the truth. You could do this if you wanted to.
Or maybe he should just kiss her pouty mouth for all it was worth and see if that got a rise out of her. Maybe if they got that kiss out of the way, Kim might confess the real reasoning behind her ridiculous holiday reluctance.
On the other hand, she might slap his face and call it a night, and he’d be back to square one. Taking it further, she might take that walk, and take her clients with her.
Well, okay, there was a fine line between pushing her away and getting what he wanted, but he did owe her a shot at the title she coveted.
His inner musings on how this might go ceased abruptly when she leaned forward over the edge of the table. His eyes dipped to the sight of the dewy top of her rounded breasts and the fact that she wore nothing beneath the red dress. Nothing visible, anyway.
Although the sight doubled his heart rate, a thought occurred about this sudden closeness potentially being a purposeful move on her part to distract him, an enactment of the power of her all-too-obvious feminine wiles. Of which she had plenty.
Hell, maybe he just got turned on by the promise of a good fight. In his family, close as they were, fighting had become a sport.
The truth, though, was that he had grown tired of women who assumed they were owed something because of their looks. That aside, he had a short span of time to get this agency working better, and a Wonder Woman could help him do that.
Working this out would be the decent thing to do. The best outcome for everyone.
“Anyway, as I was saying, it’s a special event,” he continued. “If you’ll hear me out, I’ll explain.”
She had no immediate reply to that, and continued to absently fondle the fragile stem of her glass in a way that he found extremely appealing.
At the same time, he was nearing his limit on patience. He noticed Brenda looking at him intently, and that look served to clear his mind.
“I’ll find someone to help you,” Kim finally offered. “I can find someone who will do a good job and is an ace at spur-of-the-moment stuff.”
“Who would that person be?”
“Will you excuse me a minute?” Brenda broke in. “I have to, well, you know.” Her exit was abrupt.
Kim didn’t seem to notice her friend’s departure. She didn’t lean back or try to make her own escape.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll hear you out since I don’t seem