Chapter 19 #2
“Technically, I have a bunch of assistants, I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Some rotating temps that Ginny hires, that kind of thing. We’ve got the travel agency. And I know how to use a calendar,” he added.
Her eyebrow quirked. “And that works?”
He smirked at the doubtful surprise in her voice. “More or less.”
Before he knew it, she was standing next to him again. He caught a whiff of her perfume—something sunshiny and floral today.
“At the very least you need a better filing system,” she mused. Then, without warning, she scooped up the folders.
“Hey!”
She scanned the papers, then scooped them up as well. He watched in shock as she sat down in his leather chair.
“This is like four months old… these are copies… this is a newsletter, on paper, really? You’ve got a file for this, don’t you, over there,” she muttered, biting her lower lip as her glasses slipped a bit lower on the bridge of her nose.
She absently pushed them back up. “These can go here, and you’ve got a ‘to read’ folder that’s ready to explode, might want to revisit or just purge.
If you haven’t read it by now, it probably doesn’t matter.
Otherwise, these things go here, this goes in interoffice, and voila. You’re good.”
She replaced folders in the standing rack, leaving his credenza gleaming.
“Damn,” he murmured. “I’m not kidding. I really, really want to hire you.”
She grinned, looking cocky, her chin up. “Blinded by my mad filing skills. I get that all the time.”
He grinned back.
Then, due to the outrageously crazy cocktail of sheer relief that she hadn’t died, admiration of her competence, all piled on top of the ridiculous, powerful, persistent attraction he already felt for her… He leaned forward, framed her face with his hands, and kissed her.
The last thing he consciously registered was a squeak of surprise from her, before he just felt the soft, warm heat of her lips under his. It had been a long time since he’d kissed anyone. It had been a favorite pastime, he vaguely remembered, before all this. So there was the comfort of that.
Then there was just her. Pure, unadulterated Kate.
She tasted like chocolate, he realized, just an undercurrent of sweet and rich. He didn’t mean to deepen the kiss, but he’d already come this far, and the thought of stopping made his whole body shudder in protest.
He figured she’d either kick the shit out of him or sue him, and rightfully so. He’d hadn’t asked her consent, he was her employer. There was so much wrong here, he couldn’t begin to rationally think about it.
Alas, right now, he didn’t care. He’d temporarily lost his mind, and was just going for it.
She sighed, and he realized there was a third option when she smoothed her hands up his shirt, under his jacket, and nestled in.
It was like pushing the launch sequence on a rocket. He wove his hands into her hair, freeing it from the last restraint of the ponytail, feeling it wash like a silk wave over his fingertips. He kissed her harder, ignoring everything else, even the vague, nagging sounds of something…
“Thomas!”
He tore away on a gasp. Kate was pulling his jacket lapels, and she looked dazed, her glasses fogged up.
“What?” he snapped.
Ginny was standing in his doorway, looking scandalized — and hurt.
“You’ve got a call coming from Tokyo,” Ginny said, her voice breaking. Then, after leveling a murderous glare at Kate, she turned on her stiletto heel and stalked out.
I’m going to pay for that one, he thought, and guilt stabbed at him. He stepped back from Kate.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he blurted out. “That was so inappropriate. I just… you’re really funny, and I like you, and I… shit. I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “You’re funny, and I like you too,” she said, then cleared her throat briskly. “And wow, that was a mistake, so let’s just pretend it didn’t happen, okay?”
That grated at him, but he nodded. “Good idea. I’ll, uh, be more careful next time.”
“Me too.”
He smiled. “You’re pretty cool, Kate. Think the job offer over?”
“Sure.” She nodded, even as her eyes said hell, no. “I’ll, um, see you tomorrow.” And she hurried out.
Thomas rubbed his hands over his face. What the hell was that? What just happened?
Whatever it was, can it happen again? Soon?
Logically, he knew that it was foolish. Probably just some combination of attraction and timing and… Damn it, it felt really good. There. He’d admitted it.
Still, it would be beyond foolish to pursue it a second time. It would be dangerous. For both of them.
When he moved his hands away, Yagi was standing there, arms crossed, face placid as a mirror calm lake.
“Well,” Yagi said, “she’s not dead.”
“No, she sure isn’t.”
Yagi’s eyebrow quirked for a second with that, then he frowned. “Which leaves us with one question.”
“What’s that? She’s not signed to anyone.”
“True,” Yagi countered. “And she’s not possessed. I don’t know why, but she’s somehow immune.”
Thomas frowned. He hadn’t thought of that. “Which means—”
“Which means we don’t know what she is. I’m calling the private investigator. I want to know everything there is to know about Kate O’Hara,” Yagi said, shrugging. “We may have to kill her, after all.”