In Good Hands (19 page)

O
KAY, SO EVEN DRUNK,
Amber was brilliant, and he was down to trousers and one sock. It's not that his answers were bad. Hell, he'd gotten them
right
. But she had gotten them right faster. All except for one question and that's because she'd wasted time arguing with the computer's answer. The software itself was flawed, she'd claimed.

And to make matters worse, what was the one item she'd taken off? Her thong. Yes, her thong. She'd stood up, reached under her dress, and slid it down her legs. He didn't get to see anything good. Didn't even get to touch the lacy thing, as she tossed it to the opposite side of the room. Then she sat back down and crossed her beautiful legs, driving him nuts with the idea that she was completely naked beneath that dress. Hell, she wasn't even wearing stockings. Meanwhile, he was half naked and harder than a rock.

“So, what have we proved here?” she asked.

He leaned forward. “That you still think like a scientist. That mentally you still hang out in the realm that Sam and his geeks do. You even describe your energy healing as research, not fact. Ergo, you're more
scientific
than I am.”

She squirmed as he pinned her with his gaze. “Ergo?” she mocked.

“I passed the test, too, Amber. I live and work with you people every day. Some of the lingo wears off.”

She blinked at him, and he saw reluctant agreement come over her features. “Fine. You win that one.” She obligingly kicked off her shoes. “I'm a geek. What about it?”

“So that pulls you back from the far end of the weirdness scale. You're not swallowing the latest fad whole hog. You think about it. You study it. In fact, I'd bet that you're proud of that. You look for the reasons behind, the physics and the spiritual combined.”

She'd dropped her chin into her palm, and stared at him unblinkingly from that position. He thought for a moment that she might have zoned out, but he was wrong. A second later, she straightened and pulled off her necklace. “Good bet. You're right.”

He exhaled in relief. “Now for phase three. Thank God, because this is the part where you get naked.”

“Oh, really?” she drawled.

“Really,” he shot back. “This is where I prove that I've been living in the woo-woo world much longer than you have.”

“Ha!” she shot back, and he grinned.

“True or false—I've been doing astrology almost since before I was born.”

She didn't even think twice. “False.”

“True.” Then as proof, he pulled open his bottom drawer. He had to unlock it first which just went to show how embarrassed he was about this whole thing, but humiliation was a necessary evil tonight. And there was too much on the line to avoid revealing this to her.

As she watched in shock, he pulled out his astrological chart, then another one for his perfect mate, and then there was hers—or as much of it as he could do given that he didn't know the exact time she had been born.

She frowned as she carefully paged through the charts.
He didn't miss that she understood what she was looking at. Astrology must have been one of the things she'd studied.

“You did my chart yesterday,” she said softly, lifting up her sheet.

“Yeah.” He leaned over her, and her hair brushed across his naked skin. It was all he could do not to extend that caress across his chest and to slip his hands around her in the process.

“Impressive,” she said softly. “How did you learn this?”

“My mother was deeply into astrology but Dad kept having a fit at how much she was spending on it. So he offered me a deal. He paid me to learn everything I could about it and figure out how to chart Mom. I needed the money, so I agreed.” He noticed that his hand had trailed across her shoulder and had to force himself to step backward. “It's really rather scientific once you get into it. A whole system of numbers and computations.”

She nodded. “I know.” Then she pierced him with her dark gaze. “And how accurate has it been for you?”

He shrugged. “Anywhere from twelve to seventy percent depending on how accurately you label the predictions. You know, ‘significant breakthrough in career' might mean that Sam gets a new idea for a product. Or it might mean that we'll get a new contract. Or it could just mean that I'll have one day where nothing goes wrong. That would be a miracle in and of itself.”

She tilted her head. “So you don't really believe.”

“Do you?”

She hedged as she flipped to the chart of his ideal mate. He'd highlighted the areas where she and his ideal lined up, and her fingers danced over one bright yellow streak after another. “I believe that belief creates more belief. And that even with a chart that points to the exact opposite direction, people will see what they need to see in it.”

He lifted his chin. “So we're agreed.
Exactly
agreed on astrology. I believe you owe me a dress.”

She laughed as she pulled a diamond stud out of her ear. “You get an earring.”

He sighed. Just as well. He was having a hard enough time keeping his hands off her as it was. Take her out of that dress, and he wouldn't see this game through to the end.

“Next question,” he growled at her. Predictably, she just smiled and he lost himself for a moment in her beauty. And damn her, she took advantage of his distraction.

“This has been lots of fun, but we're not really making progress here.”

And right there he got angry. He'd held it together so far because he'd spent hours on this particular game and was determined to see it through. And also because he was slowly and surely getting her naked. That always brightened his mood. But she wasn't
listening
and she sure as hell wasn't
seeing
what he wanted her to. And so he let his temper out to play.

She'd been turning his desk chair to stand up, but he didn't let her. Instead, he dropped his hands on the armrests, blocked her into the seat, and lowered his face to hers.

“Next question,” he said. “Do you know why I'm a leader? How I make more money than Sam in his own company? How not-so-brilliant me can lead an entire herd of genius cats?”

She swallowed, obviously startled by his suddenly aggressive stance. But she wasn't one to back down, so she simply looked him in the eye. “Because you're not as stupid as you pretend.”

He snorted as he jerked his chin back at the computer. “Do I have to show you my scores again? Compare them to yours? Or Sam's, by the way? Or just about anyone else in this company? Believe me when I say that
everyone
at RFE knows that they're smarter than I am. And yet I still lead them. And even Sam knows I'm the best man for the job. Why?”

He could see her struggling with that answer because in her world, the smartest ought to be the best leaders. And, of course, she and every other academic in the world was dead wrong.

“Because I see strengths where they just see data sets. I feel when someone's about to break under the strain and when someone needs to be pushed. I study the market and the world, and figure out what works and what doesn't.”

She nodded. “Of course. You're marketing—”

“I'm intuitive, Amber. You honestly think I understand half of what passes for conversation around here? Dream on! I don't read their memos, I read
them.
I don't look at the client specs, I look at their lives and their needs. I
intuit
what has to happen next, and if you don't think that's out on the woo-woo edge, then you haven't sat one day in my office and seen anything I do.”

She blinked, obviously stunned by what he'd revealed. “You don't read their memos?”

“Have you ever tried to read a geek memo? It's either so technical I need a translator or it's all rambling thoughts—”

“—that can't possibly make sense to someone else.”

He nodded at the understanding that had come into her voice. At the shift from shock to awe with an underlayer of delight. “You understand,” he whispered, thrilled beyond measure. So he kissed her. He pressed his lips to hers and just feasted as he'd wanted to all night long.

She arched into his touch, opened for his plunder, and even wrapped an arm around his neck to draw him closer. He did what she wanted—what they both wanted—for a moment. And then he pulled himself back, pressing his forehead to hers as he caught his breath.

“We're a lot closer than you think,” he whispered.

“You're right,” she said. She stood, pushing his office chair away as she did. Then she reached behind her back and pulled
down the zipper of her dress. It fell apart slowly, the sound going straight to his groin. And shock of all shocks, she was braless beneath the dress. It had a tight bodice inside it, and now she peeled it away.

One second, she was demurely clothed except for her bare feet. The next second, she stood before him in nothing at all. Oh, God, he was going to explode. Then she stroked her hand down his chest, her fingertips trailing fire across his skin.

“Come closer,” she urged.

He groaned. His stomach was still rippling with her touch, and his dick did its best to push its way through his pants. Any other day, he would have succumbed right then and there. She was hot and he was hard. And better yet, he'd just forced a huge concession from her. She'd admitted that their world-views weren't quite as far apart as she'd thought.

But Sam had just married his true love. Roger had seen the joy and the terror that had gripped his best friend during the entire courtship. And it had taken a great deal from Julie to get his friend to see what they both wanted.

It was no different with Amber. And this time, it had to be him—the leader—to help her take the last step. And he couldn't allow himself to sink into her sweet body until she had.

“Amber,” he said as he began kissing down the side of her face. “I love you. And I intend to marry you.”

He felt his words hit her like little bombs. Her body abruptly went tight, her breath stuttered in tiny gasps, and her hands slowly pulled backward off his body.

Oh, hell. She was pulling away. Time for phase four.

A
MBER STRUGGLED WITH PANIC.
He had
not
just said those words. He had
not
just said
marry.
Except he had. And she was all but hyperventilating at the thought.

“Don't panic,” he said softly.

“I don't panic,” she returned tartly. But of course she did panic. She
was
panicking. Things were progressing way too fast. Fifteen minutes ago, she'd told him she was going out to Arizona for a job at Mandolin. Now he was talking marriage? She bit her lip, wondering how quickly she could get her dress back on. She needed to think and standing here naked was not the way to do it.

Snick.

She looked down at her wrist in shock. She had to blink twice before her brain could process what she saw. Had Roger just handcuffed her to his desk? No way.

Yes, way. How had she not seen when he'd pulled open one of his desk drawers? How had she not noticed when he'd reached in and retrieved a cuff? Now it was around her wrist and the other end was attached to—she jerked her hand upright—an incredibly solid bar. On the inside of his desk drawer.

“What the hell is this for?” she demanded. “And why do you have it in there?”

“It's to keep you from running. And I installed it yesterday for just this event.”

She gaped at him. “What?”

“Phase four,” he said. “Hold on. There's something on the other side.” He pulled open the other drawer. She should have seen it coming. I mean, how stupid was she to fall for the same trick twice? But she leaned over to see what he was pulling out of his other desk drawer, only to see that it was another handcuff as it snapped on her other wrist.

She was now held arms apart facing him, with her butt braced against his desk top. And she was naked.

“Not the typical marriage proposal,” she drawled, but with an edge of anger to her voice.

“This isn't a proposal,” he said. “I said I
intend
to marry you.”

One look in his eyes told her that he was serious. Perversely, that eased some of the fear in her chest. But if he wasn't asking her to marry him, what was he doing?

“Most ministers balk at the sight of a handcuffed bride.”

His lips twitched, but he didn't smile. “As I said, this is phase four. The lie detector test.”

She glanced around the room. Nowhere did she see electrodes or a machine to read biosignals. All she saw was Roger, looking almost grim as he ran his hands lightly down her body.

She shivered at his caress, trying to tell herself it was from cold or fear or any one of those emotions. But it wasn't. Whatever “phase four” was, it wasn't going to hurt her. On some level, it was kinda fun.

So she leaned forward as far as she could reach, and began licking tiny nips across his chest. “Kinky,” she murmured. “But apparently, I'm into it.”

His belly tightened and she could hear the hammer of his heart. If she didn't know for a fact that his blood pressure was down, she might even be worried. As it was, she smiled when she heard his groan rumble through him.

“Amber,” he growled. “You're distracting me.”

“It's only fair. You handcuffed me.”

He reached forward, cupped her face in his hands, and drew it up to his. His fingers were gentle as he stroked her cheeks, and his eyes were dark with hunger. “You realize what you just said doesn't make sense.”

She shrugged. “Bondage doesn't make logical sense.”

He pressed a long, slow kiss to her mouth. He started simply, nipping along her lips, but she quickly grew tired of that. Let him find out that there were a ton of things that she could do without the use of her hands.

So she abruptly invaded his mouth, and a moment later, they were fused together, dueling as only two alpha mates can. His hands slid up her hips to cup her breasts. Now she was the one growling as his fingers found and pinched her nipples.

Her thighs widened and he stepped between the V created. Her legs wrapped around his, drawing him closer against her. She wanted to rub her body along his. She wanted him inside her. She wanted to do all of that right now because otherwise she might have to think about what he had said not more than a minute ago.

Then he pulled away. He didn't step backward; her legs were too tight for him to move far. But he broke their kiss and his hands stilled on her breasts.

“I think you're afraid of commitment,” he said.

“Wrong.” She made a loud buzzer noise. “Now take off your pants.”

He shook his head. “Let's look at the facts, shall we? We'll start with your move to Chicago. You got put in a terrible
position—caught between your desire to heal and the politics of the hospital. So instead of fighting, you up and move to Chicago.”

She blinked. “I got fired, Roger. That's not—”

“It wasn't leaving Arizona that's the issue, Amber. It's that you didn't go work in another hospital, that you didn't open your own practice how you wanted it. You disappeared into Cherry Hills.”

She tilted her head back, trying to fight the tears. After all this time, didn't he understand? “I don't know that I could have been hired anywhere else—”

“Bullshit.”

She jumped a little bit at his harsh tone. Then she was forced to nod. “Okay, maybe I could have. But I needed time for the research. I didn't just magically understand astrology. I had to learn about it. Same with all the other modalities.” Then she straightened as much as she could. “And here's the really important part, Roger. I'm going back. I'm stepping back into the fight.”

“Are you? Or are you just running from me? From us?”

She blinked, wondering at his words. Then she forced herself to look him in the eye. “I'm not running,” she whispered. “I'm torn up about it. I want to stay, Roger. But I want to go back to Mandolin, too.”

He touched her face, a slow caress that ended with his thumb on her lower lip, slowly stroking back and forth. Her mouth swelled under his touch and her mind fuzzed out. “Progress,” he whispered. Then he abruptly straightened. “Next piece of evidence—the way we met. You approached me under a false identity, seduced me in the elevator and told me it was all because of a bet.”

“It was! And because you're kinda sexy hot,” she added, wiggling her hips enough to make him gasp.

“Right,” he said, his hands going to her hips to hold her still.

“That's not fear, Roger. That's lust, pure and simple.”

He nodded, and she was pleased to see that he was having trouble keeping focused. Good thing because she was, too. “Actually, it was you making it clear that we were just a one-time thing. A bet. A hot elevator hookup. Not a relationship.”

“Well, I got that wrong, didn't I?”

“Yeah, you did. Because I pursued you. I got you to help me. I went on your diet, and I basically forced myself into your life.”

She frowned. He had forced himself in, hadn't he? And she had fought him all the way, to no avail. “But I wasn't panicking,” she said, as much to him as to herself. “We had a great couple weeks.”

“Yeah, because you knew that you had an escape—your old job in Arizona.”

“That was the point of connecting with you. As an excuse to get back to Mandolin to check things out.” She huffed. “Roger, this is ridiculous. I am not afraid of commitment!”

“Really? Then why is it that the moment we start getting serious, we suddenly have irreconcilable differences?”

She shook her head. “That's not how it happened.”

“Wasn't it? I've been calling your work energy voodoo from the very beginning. But only after Arizona did it become a big problem.”

She would have slammed her hands on his chest, would have shoved him away and walked out on his silly theories, but he had cuffed her to his desk. Cuffed. And so she could only shove him back from her with her head. He moved, but only an inch and her traitorous legs missed his heat and pressure immediately.

“This conversation is over,” she snapped. “If this is what
you call your intuition, then I'm here to tell you that your radar is definitely off.”

“Really?” he said, his voice dropping to a sultry challenge. “Care to put the theory to the test?”

She blinked. She hadn't expected him to get all calm and cat-ate-the-canary happy at what she'd just said. It took her a moment to put the pieces together, but then she did. Phase four was a lie detector test.

“You want to prove that I'm lying with some sort of detector.”

He nodded. “Yup.”

She huffed. “There's all sorts of problems with that idea, you know. The reliability is shaky, you don't have the equipment, and besides, it would test beliefs, not truth. If I believe what I'm saying, the test will read true.”

He folded his arms. “And I'm saying that your body knows the truth even if your mind doesn't. You game?”

“You're being ridiculous. Just because I'm nervous about getting serious with you doesn't mean that I'm afraid of commitment.”

He snorted. “I have news for you, Amber. We are serious.
I've
never been more serious in my life. So I ask you again, are you willing to put it to the test? Do you want to know if you really are afraid of commitment?” He leaned forward until they were nearly eye to eye. “Of becoming committed to
me?
”

She swallowed. It was a trick. Another tease in an entire evening of games. But if there was one thing she was good at, it was games. So she lifted her chin in defiance. “Bring it on. But when we're done, you're going to uncuff me. And then you're going to do exactly what I tell you.” He arched his eyebrows, but she didn't let him ask the question. She just barreled on. “
Exactly
what I tell you, even if it's to drive me home and never contact me again.”

He blanched at that, but she wasn't going to let him off the hook. After all, she was the one sitting spread-eagle, naked and cuffed to his desk. He needed to risk something, too.

“Deal,” he said.

“Deal,” she echoed.

Then his expression slid into a grin. “One more thing, Amber, you're correct about us not having the right bioelectrical whatever they're called. Fortunately, Sam rigged up an alternative.”

He held it up in front of her, and she felt her mouth go slack with shock. It took her at least seven seconds until she could find her voice. “You're kidding me.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Most sensitive biosensor we could find.”

“And you put it in a
dildo?
”