Moment of Weakness: One Moment, Book 1 (7 page)

“This is gorgeous,” she murmured appreciatively.

For a moment their eyes met and that indefinable something between them flared. Heat brushed her skin as a vision of being spread across the desk, her ass in the warm grip of blood-red leather flashed through her mind. Abby could almost smell the scent of their mingled come and sweat. Her lips parted and she closed her eyes in an effort to taste the illusive flavor.

“Ms. Harkness.”

Abby snapped back to reality and heat scorched at her cheeks. She raised her eyelids, half expecting to see the shrewd look in Marcus’s eyes, telling her he knew exactly where her thoughts had been.

Somehow it was worse to find no expression at all.

“I’ve provided copies of the financial statements for each of my businesses.” It was all Marcus could do to keep the bland expression on his face, his mask of
I don’t give a fuck.
It’d taken everything in his power not to lay her across the desk and take her, just like her eyes had so clearly begged him to do.

Shit.
He thought he’d come up with the perfect game plan. Tell her he wanted her, lay it on thick, but not so much to scare her. Her reaction hadn’t been what Marcus had expected at all. Especially when she’d called him out on withdrawing the contract. That wasn’t how he wanted to win.

What he didn’t understand was when winning against Abby had become so important. Most times he was happy to evict the few women he did find time for after only one night. Get back to business. Then again, they were usually desperate to stay.

It was her refusal of him that sat like bitter acid in Marcus’s gut. She wasn’t claiming victory. But then, neither was he. He grimaced, ignoring Abby’s pained look to indicate two neatly stacked piles of folders on the desk.

“You don’t have much time left today, but if you’d like to familiarize yourself with these tonight we can discuss the finer details tomorrow.”

Marcus didn’t stay around to see her nod of approval. He stalked down the corridor back to his own temporary office in the dining room. Options for his next move ticked through his mind. Catching the glimmer of an idea, Marcus stopped and dug out his phone, a wicked grin forming as his friend answered his call.

“Cole, are you intending to stay here a few days?” He cut through the preliminaries.

Cole choked back a laugh. “What. I haven’t even arrived yet and you’re sick of me already?”

“Obviously. But I’m skipping out again and I need you to keep an eye on things a little longer. Is that a problem?”

“Nope. Anything I should know?”

“I’m taking your advice and heading over to check out this New Zealand business. Also, I have a consultant using my office.” Marcus paused, trying to find a way to warn his friend off without raising Cole’s curiosity. His and Cole’s competitive streaks were legendary and if Cole got even a whiff of Marcus’s interest, he’d go all out trying to grab Abby’s attention. While normally that wouldn’t bother Marcus—an extra layer to the challenge always made for an attractive proposition—not this time. “She’s on a very tight time-line. Don’t fuck about with her.”

“So, she’s pretty?”

“Pretty busy.” Marcus warned in a flat voice. “Look, I need her to work on my tax position for the Nagasaki deal. It’s hanging in the balance.”

“Enough said.” Cole’s tone immediately turned serious.

Marcus smiled. He and Cole may joke and compete when it came to everything else in life, but money was sacrosanct. As long as Cole thought Marcus was facing financial trouble, he’d leave Abby well alone.

Giving Marcus time to think up his next move.

Chapter Seven

When Abby left Marcus’s house four hours later, there was no sign of him. And there was still no sign of him when she returned after a few hours’ sleep.

In fact, Marcus had gone. That was according to the perky receptionist, Rosalind, who’d positioned herself behind the desk in the front room. She chirped up with the news when Abby came in the next morning.

He was playing games. Of course he was. Abby stomped to her office muttering under her breath. No sooner had she turned down Marcus’s offer than he’d made his next move like a chess champion. Last night, she’d even considered whether he might be serious about getting to know her. Not that she would have contemplated that happening…

Abby sank into her seat, a familiar hollowness settling in her bones. It’d been a regular companion since Nathan had left her and now it was back, sucking any spark of feeling from her after Marcus so easily accepted her
no
to his proposition last night. As if he hadn’t really cared one way or another what she did.

So, why had he asked?

The answer to that question was the only thing Abby
was
sure of. He was playing a game. Well, if he thought she was going to sit here all day wondering where the hell he was, he could think again. Marcus might be a sophisticated, thoughtful, thought-provoking lover, but underneath that exceedingly handsome wrapper he was just like every other Logan Abby had met in her life. Marcus had overplayed his hand. Now, not only would she never beg for him, she refused to play. Game over. No more wasting time thinking about him.

Pulling on her years of experience at burying things deep, Abby shoved the whole mess down with the last of her anger and disappointment. That was one good thing her family had taught her—how to cut off her emotions at the knees.

Seamlessly, she switched gears, her stomach relaxing its tight knotted ball as she pulled out her laptop and methodically lined up her notepad, pencils and pens. By the time Abby opened the first of the financial statements, her mind was focused on work. The black and white rules of her life. Numbers never lied and financial statements always had to balance with a perfect mix of positive and negative.

Over the course of the next few hours, she reread each of the documents and went through them more thoroughly. Marcus had twenty-three companies, ranging from IT software development to property portfolios. He also had a bright, entrepreneurial team to help run them. Various computer specialists, accountants and resource executives filtered through her office during the morning to introduce themselves.

And then there was Cole.

“Cole.” He hesitated before striding forward to Abby’s desk and offering his hand. “Cole…Langford. Won’t stay long. I know you’re busy.” His warm grip engulfed hers.

“Langford,” Abby ignored his last remark. She needed a micro-break anyway and his timing was perfect. “That’s a pretty well-known name around here.” The Langfords were one of the old, blueblood families. Serious money. And Power. One of the Langfords was set to become a senator. She smiled. “Are you anyone important?”

“Hardly.” Cole’s face screwed up. “And that’s why I generally don’t give my last name. You’re from out of town, so I thought I’d get away with it.”

“Sorry.” Abby couldn’t help but laugh. “Touchy subject?”

“I could fill your day with the details.” Cole drawled. “However, I know you’re busy.” He nodded toward her desk pointedly.

“Busy?” The word again. Had Marcus set Cole up to crack the whip at her? She couldn’t agree more. Whatever had to happen to get her out of here as quick as she could. “Sure. Yes. I have a lot to do.”

“Well, I just thought I’d check in on you. Any questions?”

Abby nearly bit her tongue in two as she held back the one thing she did want to know. Where the hell was Marcus? Instead, she nodded her thanks and promised to see Cole if she needed any help.

Work. Right.

Abby got back to it. A few hours later, she had to admit she was enjoying the clever ingenuity of Marcus’s companies and the complexity that tied them all together. A fine line was drawn between tax haven and tax evasion, and someone in this business knew exactly where that line was.

She was still caught up trying to untangle the business structure when the desk phone rang. Reflexively, she picked it up.

“Abby Harkness.”

“Abby. Why the hell aren’t you taking my calls?” An annoyed sounding Marcus grabbed her attention.

Abby sat up straighter.

Then indignation set in. “Me?” she spluttered. “You weren’t even here this morning.”

“Oh, you noticed, did you?” His tone eased and hinted at satisfaction. “That’s why I’ve been trying to contact you. Or at least I called last night when I had to urgently leave for New Zealand. Except your cell phone kept going straight to voice message.” He sounded peeved again.

Abby looked down at the new cellphone on her desk. Wait a minute… “New Zealand?” She couldn’t hide the surprise from her voice.

“Yes, New Zealand. Look, I’ve just arrived but I wanted to make sure you were settling in okay. Oh, and you’d better call Stacy. She’s been trying to call you too.”

Warmth blossomed in Abby’s chest before she could halt its flow. Marcus had flown all night to the other side of the world and the first thing he’d done was try to call her? That thought was quickly followed by another that was much more chilling.
Game.
It was all part of the game.

Her lips thinned as his plan clicked into place. “So, is that all you called for? To tell me you’re not here?”

A long pause followed her words, then a sigh. “I wanted to make sure you understood why I wasn’t there. So, if you need anything…”

“I have your number,” Abby cut him off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to work. Apparently, I’m very busy.” She hung up.

With shaking hands she punched in Stacy’s number.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me he called?”

“I wanted to see how long it took you to call me.” Her friend gave a devilish chuckle. “Huh. Twelve hours. Not bad.”

Abby groaned. “Stop right now, Stacy.”

“I can’t. This is too much fun. Oh, come on Abby, you haven’t given me anything to get excited about for ages. And I’m pregnant.” Stacy threw in a whimper for good measure.

“Why didn’t you just give him my new number?”

“I, ah, forgot. Anyway, I didn’t realize he wasn’t even in the same country until this morning.”

“Stop changing the subject. You were bad and you know it.” Abby clamped her lips together, determined not to smile. “You’re supposed to be on my side, remember?”

“Believe me when I say I’m on your side no matter how difficult that is,” Stacy said firmly.

“You could’ve fooled me.” Abby couldn’t help the little snort she blew down the phone before she hung up on her friend.

Marcus had never been more ready to come home.

Usually he enjoyed his fast-paced forays overseas. Get in and get it fixed before moving on to the next problem. But this visit had chaffed, dragged out by a sixteen hour flight as he’d hopped through California, Dubai and Sydney. And the fast-fix-or-flog-it policy he usually worked with simply wasn’t going to happen in the case of his New Zealand software company, so Marcus had ended up investing far more time than anticipated.

He might still have to sell the company off, which was always harder to do when you knew the players. Rob, his New Zealand manager, was a nice guy. Just naive when it came to working with the big guns of the gaming industry. So what had started out as a strategic move to get Abby thinking about him—missing him—hadn’t worked exactly as planned.

Marcus was looking forward to seeing her again and witnessing her reaction to his return first hand. Any reaction was good as far as he was concerned. It meant he’d gotten under her skin as much as she was worming her way under his.

Just how much so became clear the next morning when he was standing in his makeshift office talking to Cole about his trip. Marcus paused midsentence when Abby walked past, following every long-limbed stride as she strode down the hall. He shuddered. Oh yes. Abby was exactly where his attention needed to be.

“You were saying?” Cole waved a hand in front of his face. He didn’t bother hiding his smirk.

Marcus blinked, pulling up the thread of his previous conversation with some difficulty. “That, ah, we have to move on this quickly.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes and faked a yawn. “Sorry. Jetlag.”

“Sure.” Cole chuckled slyly and his gaze slid to the now empty doorway. “Can’t say I blame you.”

Marcus’s pulse sped up and he couldn’t help his immediate, kneejerk reaction. “Don’t even go there.” He warned his friend, then smothered a groan as he realized his outburst would only intrigue Cole further.

Sure enough, Cole’s smile widened. “Because she’s
soooo
busy. Right?”

“Right.” Marcus growled and stomped to the door. “And I’m busy too, so unless you want to look for other accommodation…”

“Say no more.” Cole put up his hands and backed away. “But do let me know if you need a sounding board for the Nagasaki deal.” His friend held his gaze for a moment. “And I’m glad you’re giving Rob a chance.”

Marcus nodded, watching him leave. He and Cole had worked more than a few deals together and Marcus trusted him implicitly. Just not around Abby. He glanced down the hallway toward her office. What she didn’t realize was that the more she retreated, the more Marcus’s interest was piqued and his competitive streak kicked in.

Marcus never backed away from a challenge. Boys like Logan had taught him to keep fighting until you were the last man standing. To know your enemy. So, if Abby really didn’t want any kind of relationship outside of the bedroom, Marcus wanted to know why. And what it would take to make her give in.

He gave her a ten minute head start.

“I’d like to catch up on where you’re at,” he said as he strolled into her office.

He was glad he’d already had the line rolling off his tongue, because the sight of Abby up close was like a punch low to his gut. Marcus paused by the doorjamb, taking in the sight, the sound, the scent of her. Just a hint of citrus, the perfect complement to her pale yellow shirt and her thick fall of dark, fiery hair. Impeccably groomed as always and not a lock out of place. He considered for a moment whether he preferred this professional persona or her just-fucked look, when wisps of hair unraveled to curl around her face and her eyes were wild and lust-filled.

Abby’s brow puckered with impatience as he continued to stare, making him want to reach out and rub away the crease in her forehead with his thumb. Or his lips.

“Cole is fully aware of my findings so far. I’m sure he can fill you in.” Clipped and polished, Abby’s voice still managed to send a spike of lust right through him.

Which probably wasn’t the reaction she was going for, if the chill in her tone was anything to go by. God, Cole was right. He did have it bad. Everything she did turned him on.

The question was, how bad did
she
have it?

“I’m sure you won’t mind sharing your thought process with me.” He pushed away from the door to stroll closer. The top of his thigh brushed against the desk and Marcus watched with interest as Abby tracked his every move. He hid a smile. “After all, it is my business.”

The beginnings of a flush moved up from Abby’s neck to her cheeks and she wrenched her gaze away from his crotch back to his face. She licked her lips.

“Certainly, Mr. Brookhein. If you’d like to make a time for us to discuss this.”

“Now please, Ms. Harkness.” Marcus could see she was rattled and he wasn’t about to give her space to collect her thoughts.

He pulled up a chair from the other side of the desk and sat beside her. With only inches of space between them, Abby’s heat tugged at him with sweet promise. Marcus allowed the outside of his thigh to graze her leg and he knew he wasn’t alone in feeling the stab of awareness. It traveled straight to his cock like a pleasure-tipped arrow and he noted with satisfaction the tremble in her fingers as she clicked on the mouse to close down her emails.

“Your foremost company, Brookhein International has been set up as a shell corporation.” With barely a breath to steady herself, Abby launched into a run-down of his business position as she saw it.

It took Marcus a moment to stop listening to the sound of her voice and start listening to her words. She was good. Really good. Marcus was impressed she’d gotten to the crux of his businesses so quickly. It did pose a problem, though, if she wrapped things up before he’d had a chance to convince her she wanted him. He wasn’t done playing yet. Not by a long shot.

The room was suddenly quiet. Abby had finished speaking and he looked up to find her staring at him expectantly. Mocking him.

“So you want to look at setting up some offshore funding?” He filtered through her conversation to grab hold of her final words. A trick he’d had to employ once already today, he thought with a frown.

Abby nodded briskly. “Yes. But I need to investigate some of the international regulations first to ensure there aren’t any legislative pitfalls.”

“Yes. Good.” Marcus had started down a similar path before business matters started sucking up his time.

He caught the sound of her breath releasing and the delicate sag of her shoulders. She thought he was finished with her and that she was off the hook.

“Why didn’t you take my calls?” Marcus threw out the question, knowing it would catch her off guard. He’d phoned her cell twice while he’d been away and she hadn’t answered. It’d irked him more than he cared to admit.

“I didn’t want to waste your time when you’re obviously so busy.” Abby kept her eyes fixed on the screen. “And Cole has been invaluable in providing me what I need.”

“Cole?” Marcus’s mouth tightened as red-hot jealousy poked him in the ribs.

Abby noted his reaction and smiled. Marcus’s jaw ticked when he realized he’d just conceded a point.

“I’m back now,” he said grimly. “And I’d like you to come to me in future if you have any requirements. Business or personal.”