Secrets & Seductions (12 page)

Morgan had learned of a possibility that the unsuccessful kidnapping attempt had been the work of an organized ring. If the news were to leak out, the resulting publicity could damage the agency's reputation and jeopardize the financial support by its wealthy patrons.

As if that wasn't weighing heavily enough on his mind, he now had the incident with Emma to deal with. He worked with Heidi, a caseworker, at Children's Connection, while two other counselors, Derrick and Jeff, worked at the hospital next door. Normally Morgan trusted their discretion completely, but he was also well aware of the overactive employee grapevine winding through the complex.

Perhaps Morgan was being entirely too paranoid, he realized as he stepped onto one of the boats. It rocked back and forth, sending ripples out over the calm water.

He had worked damn hard to build up the agency's spotless reputation and he didn't intend for a thoughtless remark or a bit of juicy gossip to alter that. His facial muscles ached from smiling whenever both he and Emma were around anyone else. She, too, appeared to be making the effort.

Was Morgan the only one able to read her face well enough to see the strain at the edges of her smile, the shadows in her eyes? How unfortunate for them
both that they hadn't decided to loathe each other
before
the hike.

How he wished, as he inspected the oarlocks, that he could wipe from his memory bank the intimacy they had shared. How long would it take to forget her scent and taste, her touch and the feel of her slick, moist skin sliding against his?

He straightened, listening to the gentle lap of water against the old wood pilings. Thinking about her, despite the way she had used him, still made him as hard as the anchor in the nearest boat. He had dated a fair share of women, come close to marriage once or twice, and wouldn't have called himself naive, but Emma's eagerness to spend time with him, her soft purr in his ear and her eager kisses had fooled him completely. Had blinded him to reason and shattered his common sense like a Chihuly glass sculpture.

What Morgan needed was a return to real life where he wouldn't be constantly reminded of one night spent at the edge of the forest near a mountain lake—with a woman who had made him think, for a few hours, that he had discovered a treasure.

No, what he
needed,
he thought grimly as he climbed back onto the dock, was a vacation from his vacation. He allowed himself one last look at the peaceful scene laid out before him with the beauty and serenity of a postcard. Giving the nearest boat an impatient push with his foot, he resisted the urge to wrap the anchor around his fool neck and jump.

 

When Emma finally, finally got home, walking through the front door of her apartment, relief swelled over her like a welcoming wave.

“Hi, baby,” Emma cooed, dropping her purse and suitcase as Posy stalked disdainfully in her general direction. Emma knew from experience that the cat would eventually forgive her.

Closing the gap between them, Emma crouched down to stroke the soft cream-colored fur. After a few more moments of feigned disdain, Posy relented. She arched her back and began to purr.

“That's a girl,” Emma murmured. “Sorry I was gone for so long, but I know Ivy was good to you.”

Finally Posy's manner thawed completely. She butted Emma's hand with her head as her rumble of pleasure grew louder.

When Emma straightened back up and walked over to the table to sort through her mail, the cat tagged at her heels, meowing repeatedly.

Ivy had left a note next to the stack of bills. “Call me” was all it said.

Emma wasn't yet ready to admit to Ivy that her dire predictions had been right. Not only had Emma failed big-time in learning anything more about her birth parents, but she'd fallen hard for Morgan, just as her know-it-all friend had predicted.

Emma planned to call and thank her just as soon as she unpacked and started a load of laundry. Or
maybe she would wait until after she wrote up a shopping list and went to the store.

Meanwhile, Emma glanced over at the answering machine on the kitchen counter. There were several messages, the first two from the Wrights. Even though she deleted them both without listening first, she felt a spark of reluctant warmth at their persistence. As she had recently learned, trying repeatedly in the face of rejection was damned hard.

Head bowed, Emma drummed her fingers on the worn Formica countertop. She had gotten nowhere in her apologies to Morgan, even though she spent the remainder of her time at camp trying to show her remorse.

She'd followed his request that she pretend in front of the others that there was nothing wrong between them. Every time she saw him, right up until the arrival of the bus and van this morning, she had hoped to see a hint of genuine forgiveness in his cool blue eyes.

Before their departure from Camp Baxter, he had thanked each member of the staff with a handshake or a hug. She'd been afraid that a quick squeeze of his hand was all she would get, but she should have known he would play his part till the end. When his arms closed around her for a brief moment and she pressed her cheek against his heart, it nearly killed her to let him go.

When she did, his gaze was already on Sarah, next in line.

“I'll see you all later,” he'd said with an impersonal wave before he stepped on the bus with the kids.

As it pulled out of the parking lot with a throaty engine roar and a belch of diesel smoke, she'd had to fight back tears.

Heidi noticed, misinterpreting her reaction.

“Oh, don't start that, girl, or I'll cry, too,” she whispered with a sympathetic wink. “I always miss everyone so much. We try to get together at Christmas. Be sure to give me your number so I can call you.”

Heidi's warm gesture had made Emma feel like an even bigger fraud. She doubted she would see her fellow staffers again, not if Morgan had a say. She had lost some friends after her divorce from Don, either because she was no longer part of a couple or they preferred not dealing with divided loyalties.

All of the women had hugged and cried after the van dropped them off in the employee lot for Portland General, where they'd left their cars. Dutifully, Emma had accepted the cell numbers that were thrust at her with good-luck wishes on her job search. She'd promised to stay in touch. Everyone had things to do, so the goodbyes had been mercifully brief, but she'd still felt drained when she drove away. Hands gripping the wheel, she'd stared at the street through her tears, missing them already.

Now her hand hovered over the telephone receiver. She regretted deleting those first two
messages without listening to them first. The last one was a call from a temp agency where she had registered for work. Grabbing a pen, she wrote down the number.

 

Morgan was in the middle of a staff meeting at Children's Connection, trying hard to remain focused with only partial success. The report that Heidi was giving was routine, the couple she had interviewed eager to adopt after repeated fertility treatments had failed.

“What's your recommendation?” Morgan asked when she finished and no one else voiced a question.

“They're willing to adopt a Russian orphan if one becomes available,” she replied, closing the file that was thick with papers, including a background screening, credit reports and personal references. “I see no reason not to proceed with a home visit.”

Morgan glanced at the circle of faces. They were all wondering how badly their overseas program might ultimately be affected by the threat of a baby-stealing ring.

“Go ahead with it,” he told Heidi. “We can't cease operation based on unfounded rumors.”

Last night he'd given in to her hounding. He'd met her and Derrick at a local watering hole for beer and a pizza. The place had been crowded with people they knew from the hospital, including a smorgasbord of attractive and available single women.

He had chatted with a redheaded nurse and a long-
legged X-ray tech. Neither they nor the busty blonde who sent him a drink had sparked his interest past mild appreciation of the fairer sex in general.

It had nothing to do with Emma, he insisted to himself, nor the feeling of sinking into her heat with her legs wrapped tightly around him and her soft little moans tickling his ear.

A business meeting was the last place to be mooning about great sex. Quickly he shifted his focus onto the business at hand.

“Anything else?” he asked impatiently, pushing back his chair.

Several pairs of eyebrows rose, their owners probably irked at his tone. Just yesterday, Cora had asked him if something was wrong. She had accused him of being testy.

“I do have other work to do,” he added, “as should all of you.” He heard the sarcasm in his own voice, but couldn't work up much remorse.

“There is one other item,” Heidi replied hesitantly. “With Sasha leaving next week, I wanted to suggest that we consider Emma Wright for her position. She'd be well qualified to screen applicants. I think she'd fit in well here.”

“Who?” asked one of the other caseworkers as Morgan bit back a snarl of immediate refusal.

“Emma worked with us at Camp Baxter,” Heidi babbled enthusiastically. “She was a school counselor until recently when she got laid off.”

Heidi's patently innocent gaze shifted to Morgan. “What do you think, boss? Wouldn't Emma be perfect?”

His normally sharp mind went blank. “Uh, I don't think her experience would be a good fit,” he stammered. “She's been working in a different field.”

His face grew hot as Heidi continued to stare with a puzzled expression. What was wrong with him, he thought. He
never
blushed.

“But Emma's got a Master's. She could learn the job,” Heidi argued.

“I can train her before I leave,” Sasha offered, oblivious to Morgan's resistance.

“I have her number,” Heidi said. “Shall I find out if she'd be interested in filling out an application?”

Morgan felt like a steer being herded into a tight corner. “You're a caseworker, not a headhunter,” he pointed out. “It's not your job to round up job applicants.”

Heidi's eyes widened and her face went pale. “Uh, I understand.” She returned his gaze with a resentful glare.

He felt bad. She didn't deserve his annoyance.

“Is the meeting adjourned?” she asked. “I, too, have other work.”

She must give Derrick one hell of a run for his money, Morgan thought distractedly.

“Yes, of course.” He glanced around the table. “Thank you, all.”

Reluctantly he looked back at Heidi, who was shoving papers into a folder. A spot of color stained each of her round cheeks. “Would you stay for a minute?”

She hesitated and then nodded silently.

Morgan gazed out the window, hands in his pants pockets absently jiggling his change as he waited for the rest of the counseling staff to file silently out of the meeting room. They would probably attribute his short temper to the ugly threats of baby thefts, but he knew the overseas trouble was only part of the reason.

“Please sit down for a minute,” he told Heidi as he shut the door.

She plopped into a chair, her indignation justified.

“Tell me why you brought up Emma's name,” he said, trying to appear no more than mildly curious.

“She has the right attitude for the job,” Heidi replied with renewed enthusiasm. “We can teach her the rest.”

She ran her hands through her spiked blond hair. “I like Emma a lot. She really interacted well with the kids at camp. As a school counselor, she's used to talking to parents, and I think her skills would mesh well with the opening here.”

“We have other candidates,” he argued. “And I'm not sure Emma would even be interested in something so far out of her field.”

Heidi leaned forward. “I know there was some strain between the two of you, but I hope you won't let whatever happened color your attitude. She needs a job.”

Morgan wasn't sure what to say. Apparently he hadn't been as adept at hiding his feelings as he'd thought.

“I don't think anyone else noticed,” Heidi continued. “At least, I never heard if they did.” She took a deep breath and slapped her hands on the tabletop. “Maybe you know something about Emma that I don't, but I trust your judgment and I know you'll be fair.”

“Thank you for that.” His tone was dry. “I'll consider your suggestion, okay?”

“Can't ask for more than that,” Heidi said brightly. “Anything else?”

Morgan tugged on the knot of his tie. “Sorry if I sounded gruff.”

She smiled as she pushed back her chair. “No problem.”

After he'd held open the door, Morgan went back into the meeting room to collect his papers. On his way back to his own office, he stopped at Cora's desk.

“Anything implode while I was in the meeting?” he asked when she was done speaking into her headset.

“Nothing I couldn't handle,” she replied.

He figured, in Cora's mind, that covered everything short of another world war. “Would you get me the file on Emma Wright?”

Although she could be opinionated on occasion, Cora was adept at knowing when to keep her mouth shut. Morgan knew she'd figure out this was one of
those times. She brought Emma's file to his office a few moments later. Thanking her absently, he sat drumming his fingers on the folder without opening it.

Morgan liked to think of himself as a decent human being. He followed the lessons his parents had taught him, especially those about keeping personal feelings and business decisions separate.

The afternoon sun shone through the blown-glass vase, making a wild pattern on the wall that he looked at absently while he mulled over Heidi's suggestion.

The moment Sasha first gave her notice, he had thought of Emma as a possible replacement. Then he had selfishly dismissed the idea. On an intellectual level, he realized she might be a good fit. On an emotional level, he wasn't sure he could bear to see her on a daily basis.