Curvaceous Heart (7 page)

“But, Alan, surely you don’t think that I’d be involved in passing on information, do you?” Charlie took a step closer to the desk. “And I need that access. I can’t do my job properly without it.”

“Charlie Welch, you haven’t been doing your job properly to begin with. Your reports are always
late,
you’ve had more hard drive crashes, email errors, and file corruption issues than the rest of this company put together.”

“I’ve been unlucky, and I think I’ve pissed off a few people in the company so they’re…”

“Out to get you?” Alan’s jaw tightened.

“Yes, sure.”

Did the man not understand how foolish he sounded? Did he really believe that his story was plausible? “Charlie, I’m going to make this very clear to you. You will get this report done, using the files on your computer, the copies you told me you’d made when I first spoke to you about this. Now, if there had really been an issue you’d have brought it up to me this morning and shown me the proof. So it sounds to me as though you’re stalling for time.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then you won’t object to my taking a look at your computer tomorrow, or rather having our tech department do it, will you?”

Charlie shook his head. “That won’t be needed, sir. I’ve got everything I need. I just thought it would be best to double-check some of the files. I’m sorry I bothered you about this. I know you’re pressed for time.”

Alan didn’t bother to hide his smile. “You know where the door is, Charlie.”

“Yes sir, again, my apologies.” The man darted out of the office before Alan had a chance to say anything else.

Alan watched the door close, the soft click ringing through the room, his gaze narrowing. Just what was that man up to? Why would he come in to try and get the password when he had to know just how much trouble he was in? He wasn’t the first employee to try and get the new password, and no doubt wouldn’t be the last, but why take the risk when he knew he was on thin ice to begin with?

The intercom beeped on his desk.

“Yes?”

“You asked me to remind you of your appointment tonight, and now that Charlie’s gone…”
Steph’s
voice rang out through the unit on his desk.

“Thank you, I’ll be heading out shortly.” He had better things to spend his time on than wondering about Charlie Welch and his never-ending supply of excuses.

At least he’d be able to end the day on a pleasant note…

Chapter Seven

“I can’t believe you stood up to him like that.” Barb pulled a brush through Sue’s hair. “I’ve never seen you like that before, but I have to say that I like this new side of your nature.”

“I was shaking like a leaf the entire time,” Sue admitted and tried not to wince. “I’m not sure how I managed to talk back to him. It didn’t help that I kept thinking he was flirting with me. It had to be a case of the nerves, though; I’m just not his taste. Besides, he needed putting back in his place and he just asked me out to get back at me for that.”

“Are you nuts? He was flirting with you the entire time. I could have been invisible, for the most part, through that entire meeting. Why would he ask you out for revenge?”

“Then he was just trying to put me at ease, or else being polite.” Sue tried to shrug it off. “I don’t know what he’s up to, but whatever it is I’m betting he’s not just after a simple date. I don’t trust him He’s got dozens of women he could have asked out; why me unless it’s a game, a way of lashing out at me?”

“
Right,
and I’m a multimillionaire. Sue, he was really flirting with you. He liked you. God knows I’ve seen enough men flirt with women before now to know when they are hitting on someone, and when they are just trying to pass the time, or use it to distract someone. No, he really did like you. You should have seen the way his eyes lit up when you walked back to the chair. He couldn’t look away from your ass.”

“You’re nuts. There’s no way a man who looks like that would have any interest in me! He could have any woman he wanted, why in hell’s name would he want me?”

“Yeah, then why did he ask to meet you for dinner tonight? Sue, sometimes you completely miss the obvious. And no, he’s not taking you for a meal just to try and find some weird way to humiliate you.”

“All right, then, fine. He’s asked me out to discuss this whole
blogger
thing,
of course, why else would he ask me out?” So why did her heart skip a beat at the thought of meeting him again.

Sue closed her eyes, trying to find a way to calm down, but all she could think of was Alan on his knees at her feet. She could almost feel it, his lips caressing her feet, her legs, touching her, tempting her senses until she shivered and focused on Barb’s words instead.

“If it was business, or just that, he wouldn’t have invited you to join him for a meal at one of the best restaurants in town.” Barb slapped her on the arm with the back of the brush. “Stop kidding yourself. He’s interested in you.”

“
Ow
!” Sue hissed and rubbed the stinging red mark.
“Bitch!
That hurt.”

“It was meant to. Now sit still and let me finish your hair.”

Sue grumbled but tried to get her nerves, and body, back under control. “So, why do you think he invited me for dinner then, if it wasn’t to discuss business?”

“Try something simple, such as he likes you.” Barb chuckled and pulled the brush slowly through Sue’s hair.

“No, men don’t like women like me.”

“Oh, hush now. You’re an attractive woman. I don’t care what Bill, or other idiots like him say. Now just take a deep breath and calm down. He’ll be here in a bit and we really need to get you all spruced up for him.”

Sue sucked in her bottom lip and tried not to look into the mirror. “I’m just not sure about all of this.”

“If you can’t trust yourself then at least trust me. He might come off as a bit of an arrogant jerk, but you stood up to him and I think he liked that. Once he’d stopped choking.”

“Oh God, I don’t know how I managed to stand up to him like that. I thought for certain we were fucked at that point.”

“Well whatever was going through your mind, it worked. And you impressed him. I don’t think a woman’s managed to do that in a long time.”

That part she couldn’t argue with. “You know much about him?”

“Not a huge amount, but I did a little asking around after our meeting. Seems Alan has a decent reputation with women, but doesn’t date in house, not that I could find.
Keeps a separation between his work and his social life.”

“All right, that sounds good. Not everyone is like that.” How many men and women had she known through the years that took advantage of any scrap of power they had? Too many were far too willing to use it in order to get
their own
way. “So you think he’s a good man?”

“I think he might be and I don’t see any harm in having one night out with him. A good dinner might be just what you need to cheer you up. An evening out on the town with a man like that on your arm -- well, I have to admit that if you weren’t my best friend I’d make a play for him myself.”

It didn’t stop the doubts though.

“So why didn’t you? Come on, we both know how good looking he is. And he has money.
Position.
Shit, a man like that would look good on the cover of a magazine.”

“Friends don’t play games like that with each other. Besides, even if we weren’t friends it was very clear from the moment we walked into his office that the only one he was interested in was you.” Barb set the brush down and leaned forward, wrapping her arms about Sue. “You need to start believing in yourself, love. Today, yesterday, both times you let the real you come out. The strength I’ve seen in you each and every day since we first met. But you let it out fully the past few days.”

“That was different. Bill had it coming. And Alan -- well, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone trying to tell me what to do.” Sue glanced in the mirror. The woman looking back at her barely seemed familiar. Soft curls of golden brown hair hung in loose waves around her face. Her lips had been painted a delicate pale pink hue, just enough to bring them to life. Each touch of makeup had been gentle, a hint, little more than a way of bringing attention to her face, to the full, sensual lips she had never known she possessed.

“You look beautiful.”

How could she argue that, now that she could see the final results of her best friend’s hard work?

“Do you think he’ll be pleased?”

“The question is
,
are you pleased with how you look? Who cares what he thinks? I didn’t do this for him, you know.”

“I’m trying to look at it that way, really I am but…”

“But you’ve not been out on a date in a long time and you’re worried he won’t like what he sees.” Barb gave a quick squeeze and settled down on the chair nearby. “I can’t tell you if he will like how you look, but I can tell you he certainly enjoyed watching you earlier today.”

It didn’t settle her nerves.

Find an image that would help, that’s all she had to do. And one came back to her all too easily. She squirmed on the chair, her thighs pressed tightly together as she tried not to let the wicked thoughts take control of her mind.

Just the thought of him with those trails of dark, sweet, sticky chocolate smeared across his body triggered a wave of heat through her core. Would he ask her to lick it off, or keep her at arm’s length until
she
 -- no, he’d beg for her touch. After all, it was her dream and she could set it in any way she wanted.

“Do you think he likes chocolate?”

“What?” Barb shot her a hard look.

“Oh, nothing.
Just some silly thoughts I kept having earlier today, whilst we were in his office.” Silly, delicious thoughts that had warmed her heart -- and other parts of her anatomy -- but Sue was all too well aware that sometimes a fantasy needed to stay as just that.

“Share.
Come on, we don’t keep secrets from each other. I’m not about to let you start now.”

Heat flashed across her face as she shifted on the chair. “You’ll laugh at me.”

“Maybe I’ll laugh with you?”

There was always that possibility. “I kept thinking about him sprawled over his desk, his chest covered in chocolate as he begged me to touch him.”

“Oh God, you didn’t go there! Sue!”

Sue felt her cheeks turn scarlet instantly. “Well, yes.
But only in my thoughts.
It’s not as if I actually said something to him about that.”

“Now I thought I was being bad. I kept having images of him on his knees licking his way up my legs.”

“Barb!”

“Well, he is cute.”

She couldn’t argue with that one. “Do you think he has a girlfriend?”

“No, if he did then he wouldn’t have asked you out.”

Sue glanced up at the clock. “I don’t know if he’s really going to turn up. What if this is all part of some nasty joke, or he’s a member of the
blogger
ring and this is a way of smearing my name all over that nasty circle?”

Barb shook her head. “No, that doesn’t make sense and you know it. If he was a part of that ring then he’d stay well away from you. They really don’t have any time for women with any form of strength and that turned him on.
Big time.
The men on that ring are obnoxious control freaks who wouldn’t know what to do with a strong woman if their lives depended on it.”

It didn’t silence the doubts though.

“He’ll be here soon.”

“I know.”
If he ever turned up at all.
I mean, no matter what Barb says, he’s still a young, handsome, rich guy who doesn’t need a woman like me in his life
.

A loud chime drew her attention away from the mirror.

Barb hurried away to the window. “He’s here. Nice car too. BMW, I think; can’t really tell from up here.”

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can.” Barb hurried out into the living room, towards the front door.

Sue swallowed hard and tried to force her stomach into some semblance of normal behavior. This wasn’t a good idea. She’d make a fool of herself. He’d try to force her into a situation she wouldn’t be able to handle…

Did she have time to back out of this?

No, it was already far too late for that.

“Is Sue ready?” Alan’s voice carried back into the bedroom. “I don’t think I’m too early.”

“Yes, she is. Please, sit down. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Sue glanced back around the room; pity there wasn’t somewhere she could hide.

“Sue?” Barb peeked around the corner. “Come on, it’s time. He’s ready for you.”

A date, a real date after all those years of waiting for someone to take notice of her.
Wasn’t this what she had been waiting for? So why did she feel as though she was heading out for an execution?

Still, he had come to pick her up, and he was
real,
and good looking, so it wasn’t as though she’d been lied to about that. This wasn’t a bad blind date set up out of pity by someone else. She’d been through more than one of those, and had no intention of being dragged into any more.

“Are you going to keep him waiting?”

“No, I guess not.” Better to get it over and done with. Sue pushed to her feet and almost sat back down again instantly as her legs threatened to give out from beneath her. The butterflies in her stomach turned into snakes that wrapped themselves around each other and threatened to turn her guts inside out.
“Oh, God.
I just can’t do this.”

“Don’t be silly. He’s waiting out there for you right now.” Barb folded her arms beneath her breasts, her voice little more than a whisper. “Now either get out there or I’ll drag you out.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Do you really want to try me on that?”

No, she didn’t. Sue took a deep breath, wrestled the snakes under control, and stood up. “All right then, let’s
get
this over and done with.”

“Stop trying to look at this as if you’re being sent to your own funeral. It really isn’t that bad.”

There spoke a woman who had never been through the agony of a date that had gone wrong from start to finish.