Moment of Weakness: One Moment, Book 1 (8 page)

“Oh, I’m sure there’s no need—” she started to protest, making him squirm even more.

His hands closed around the edge of the desk. “There’s every need. It’s my business. You’d do well to remember that,” he bit out, shoving back his chair.

Shit. Marcus skulked back to his office. How the hell did she do that, turn him from his goal of winning to her pushing his buttons? His fingers drummed out a fast staccato on his thigh. One point had become abundantly clear. The
thing
between him and Abby still definitely constituted a thing.

And not only was Marcus determined to find out what it was. He intended to crush her with it.

Chapter Eight

Abby slumped in her seat the moment Marcus left her office.

Well, that’d been interesting. As soon as she’d caught a whiff of his presence, her professional demeanor had evaporated. Stacy would be jumping up and down, clapping her hands together with glee if she could see her now. Abby groaned and lowered her head to the desk. The cool wood did nothing to soothe her scrambled thoughts.

“I see you’ve already met with Marcus this morning.”

Abby’s neck cracked in protest as her head flew up. Cole stood in the doorway, a smile warming his eyes.

“You have the look of someone who’s tangled,” he said with a laugh.

“What do you mean? Actually no.” Abby shook her head. “I really don’t care.” She turned her attention back to her desk to emphasize her point.

“Don’t you?” Cole’s lips quirked and he came over to tap his fingers against the stack of financial papers. “Surely these numbers tell you something?”

Abby blinked. “What? About Marcus?” she asked dubiously. Getting into a personal discussion about Marcus wasn’t something she was going to do right now. “They’re just numbers.”

“If you say so.” Cole shrugged.

She waited until he walked away before taking a good look at the columns of figures. At first, they were just a jumble of numbers but Abby had always been able to push past the visual to what lay beneath. You could tell a lot about a man by the way he ran his business. She just hadn’t wanted to see what Marcus’s spreadsheets told her.

Abby settled her hand on her chin, her gaze flicking up and down the grid of numbers. He paid his employees well. The percentage of wages to profit was much higher than the national average. On the other hand, his entertainment expenses were low, so obviously he wasn’t one of those fat cats who spent all of their time dining out.

Abby blew out a breath and let the papers fall back into a pile. It didn’t mean anything. At the end of the day, they were just numbers. She almost had herself convinced. Anyway, she had a job to do. She checked her watch and calculated the time difference before putting in a call to Stacy.

“Have you got the details about New Zealand’s service tax for me?”

“Is he back?”

Abby gritted her teeth, holding back a sigh. “If you haven’t got anything constructive to help me with the Brookhein situation…”

“Oh, so there is a situation?” Stacy’s voice pitched higher, then dropped to a whisper. “
Soooo
, he must be back.”

Abby shook her head and counted to five. “Tell me again how you became a partner of your own consultancy firm? I could swear you were still in kindergarten.”

“It’s my damn kids.” Stacy sighed dramatically. “They sucked the IQ right out of me.”

Abby couldn’t help laughing. “Honey, no wonder you’re an accountant if you think that’s what you were feeding them.” She was treated to an inelegant snort from the other end of the line.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Stacy warned her in mock sternness. “Is he back. Yes or no?”

Abby closed her eyes. “Yes.”

“Oh, goody.” Stacy’s excitement rose a level, the sound of clapping filling the background. “Right. Have you seen him? Yes or no.”

“Yes. Obviously. How else would I know he’s back?”

“Good point. However, I just require a yes or no, so hold back on any additional comments, if you don’t mind.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, I do mind.”

“Oh, har-de-har-har. You’re in a mood today. I wonder why?” Stacy’s voice was bright with laughter. “So, did you like seeing him again?”

Abby chewed over the answer to that one. No, she hadn’t very much liked the way he’d waltzed into her office and laid down the law about who she could talk to. Fair enough it was his business, but so far everyone had been able to answer any questions she had.

On the other hand, yes, Abby had very much enjoyed laying eyes on Marcus again. She’d known as soon as she entered today that he’d returned, the buzz in the air had set her hips swaying when she walked past his office. Seeing him again was like waiting in the queue for a roller coaster. You were scared shitless of what was going to happen, but there was no way you’d step out of the line.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Stacy gave up waiting and offered her own interpretation of Abby’s silence. “Are you going to sleep with him again?” Her friend followed up with a sly little drawl.

“No! No…fuck…I don’t know…I think…” She raked her fingers across her scalp. “I think I want to come home.”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?” Abby whined.

“Because. One, you are a tax professional. I stress the word
professional
. Two, it isn’t going to hurt you to figure this thing with Marcus out. And three.” She put in forcefully when Abby started to protest. “Three. Nicky rang today.”

Abby gripped the phone as the floor seemed to disappear beneath her feet. “Nicky?”

“Yes. Sorry Abby, but unless you’re ready to have a heart to heart with your sister, you’re better off not being here. ’Cos I’m telling you, she’s not giving up.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly.”

Okay. It looked like Abby was staying in Wellsford a little longer. Because if she had to choose between seeing her sister again and spending another couple of weeks with Marcus? Marcus won hands down. No contest. Three years wasn’t long enough to get over what her family had done. Hell, several lifetimes wouldn’t be sufficient.

She hoped Marcus wouldn’t cause her to regret that decision. Which meant Abby needed to set a few things straight, because so far every move he’d made had been a Bobby Fischer special. Calculated. She had to stay one step ahead.

“Just so you know, I will require any further meetings between us to be scheduled.”

“Oh?” Marcus’s head came up as Abby entered his office without knocking and stated her demands.

“Constant interruptions are a distraction I cannot work with, not if you want me to complete this project in a timely manner.”

Marcus stared at her, unmoved. “Bending the rules again, Ms. Harness?”

“Neither was the dictatorial management style you seem to be displaying,” she challenged.

Marcus exhaled and shook his head. “Fine. I’ll set up some calendar meeting times and email them through.”

Abby’s gaze homed in on the smug smile flirting about his mouth. “Fine,” she snapped, executing a stiff about turn and stalking back to her office.

Ten minutes later she knew exactly where his self-satisfied air had come from. Meeting requests started pinging into her inbox, one after another. He was blocking out ten minute meetings with her every two hours, stretching far into the unforeseen future.

“Ridiculous man,” Abby muttered, setting about declining each and every one of them. She clicked open a new email and composed a message.
A ten minute heads-up before you require a meeting will suffice.
Clicked send.

“Agreed.”

Abby just about fell off her seat when Marcus spoke from the doorway. He waved his phone at her, from which he was reading her email. Irritation pricked when he smirked at her obvious discomfort. She rose from her seat, barely restraining herself from slamming the door in his face.

“Ten minutes,” she barked as she clicked the door shut.

Marcus’s laughter followed her all the way back to her desk.

By the end of the week, Marcus was left wondering whether he’d played it wrong. Maybe he’d pushed Abby too hard, or maybe he wasn’t pushing hard enough.

True to her word, she refused to see him unless he gave her a ten minute warning. And every time they did meet, she retreated behind a thick, professional veneer. Untouchable. Which only made Marcus want her more. His focus on the end game was the only thing stopping him from completely flipping his shit.

The end game. Initially, it’d been about wanting to know Abby and getting her to let him in. But time was catching up and his chances of winning her were dwindling with each passing day. He needed a win. Any win.

Marcus pressed his fingers against his eyelids. His usual strategy would be to keep upping the ante until something broke and he found a way in. Yet something stopped him where Abby was concerned. While most of the time she had her game face firmly in place, at other times, her façade seemed so brittle he could see clear through it. He thought she enjoyed their verbal sparring matches, the undercurrent of sexual tension sizzling the air whenever they were in a room together. But now and then he’d catch a glimpse of something else and it made him hesitate.

Who had hurt her?

Marcus looked across the dining table they were using for his team meeting today—the one he’d called to strategize about Nagasaki. And to see Abby. He was well aware she’d entered but he waited until she sat before turning his gaze on her.

She took his breath away as always. Her hair cascaded in bright flames to drip over one shoulder, clothes impeccably tailored to fit every curve. Marcus smiled as she positioned her notebook squarely in front of her and lined up two pens to the side, doing her best to ignore him.

Did she look as good spread out on mahogany as she had on redwood? Catching her frosty frown, Marcus threw her a quick smile. The heat in her eyes told him she was thinking the same thing. And she wasn’t as immune to him as she pretended to be.

But he’d already figured that out. He’d caught her eyes resting on him during his frequent visits to her office. Her lips would part and a look of hunger would flit across her face. If he brushed against her or laid his hand in the small of her back, she would shudder and lean close for a moment before pulling away. As if suddenly remembering where she was. The heat that pulsed between them hadn’t lessened. If anything, it had only grown.

Marcus frowned. She looked worn-out this morning. He moved to her side to bend in close and wrap his hand around the back of her chair. His fingers flexed convulsively. He could barely stop himself from touching her.

“You seem tired.” His breath skipped across her ear and he felt her tremble. Marcus was ever hopeful that he was the cause of her restless nights. God knows, she featured in his dreams often enough.

Abby sat up straighter. “The hotel…it was noisy last night.” She trotted out some lame excuse, refusing to look at him.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Marcus gave in to temptation and touched her arm, watching her fingers curl in response. The buzz of awareness intensified and he shifted restlessly. “You could stay here, you know. I have plenty of room.” He grinned. “Although I can’t promise to be quiet.”

“No.” The word shot out quickly and a blush swept over her cheeks. Marcus knew she was remembering their night together in the boardroom in Baltimore, on a table much like this one, where they’d been anything but quiet.

Marcus said nothing. Biding his time. She still hadn’t moved her arm and he couldn’t help increasing the pressure to turn it into a short caress. Abby gave a barely detectable twitch.

“Why not?” he asked. They both knew he meant more than just her accommodation.

“The price is too high.” She straightened the perfectly aligned pens and threw him her practiced, polished look. “Now, if we could get to business?” She arched her brow, mocking him.

Marcus bit back a growl. He was aware the rest of his team was arriving. They were watching his exchange with interest. Including Cole, who’d flopped down in the chair beside Abby.

He raised his brow at Marcus. “She’s not busy now,” he challenged, grinning.

Marcus moved back to his seat, his mind made up. Fuck going easy. It was time for a new strategy—go hard or go home. He’d have her back in his bed by the end of the week. From there, it was a short step to her giving in. Marcus needed the victory now more than ever.

The uneasiness churning his gut had returned, the same feeling that’d dogged him through his formative years. He had to win, to be the best, to overcome each hurdle, one step at a time until he reached the end. Only then could he set his sights on the next goal. The next project.

Sensing the restlessness of his team, Marcus took a breath and relaxed the firm line of his mouth. His gaze flicked around the table, stopping to rest on Abby for a split second longer than the others. He smiled. This game was all about control. And if standing by her rules was important to Abby, then Marcus was about to find out how far he could push her to bend them.

How much would it take her to break?

Marcus was everywhere Abby didn’t want him to be. If his plan was to sexually frustrate her into submission, then damn it all, it was working. And to top it off, she now had the key to his upstairs apartment burning a hole the size of Texas in her pocket. It’d been left on her desk when she’d gotten back to her office. Along with a note inviting her to come and stay.

Digging her fingers into her forehead to alleviate the pressure, Abby put her current fragile state down to being tired. Another sleepless night tangled in the bed sheets, pretending her hand was Marcus’s, that it was his fingers slipping inside her, rubbing her clitoris, pinching at her nipples. The ache for his touch never lessened, no matter how many times she brought herself to orgasm.

Sitting across the table from him in the meeting today had made it so much worse—the sensual energy a burn across her skin, heating her blood, making her want him. Because there was no use denying Abby wanted
something
with Marcus. No,
needed
it badly. It was only the nagging whispers that stopped her. They accompanied his every move, warning her not to relax her guard.

That was the only reason she rang Marcus that night, to tell him she could never have anything other than that one night in Baltimore. To make her position abundantly clear.

Doing so would be to let something
real
enter Abby’s life and set herself up for hurt. Nicky and Nathan had already stolen everything. She couldn’t go through it again or she’d lose the only thing she did have. Her sanity. They got to live out the life that should’ve been hers. They were having a baby. Wasn’t that enough?

Her resolve hardened, the tremble in her fingers easing.