The Perfect Proposal (10 page)

Only minutes after her bathroom debacle,
Annie marched out of her room, spine straight and jaw set—and still
beautiful, he noted with a flash of irritation. Notebook and pen in
hand, she came and stood directly before him. She’d left her hair
pulled up and a few wet curls clung to her creamy neck. She’d
dressed in a heavy cotton lounge suit she probably thought would
eradicate any of his baser thoughts—she’d been wrong. The image of
Annie all soft and pinkened and bathed in bubbles would undoubtedly
be a vision he’d take with him to his grave.

Which was all the more reason to get down to
business before he did something stupid—like seduce her.

“
I need to talk to you,” she
announced stiffly.

Smiling, Mitch indicated the phone presently
cradled between his shoulder and ear. “I’ll be off in a
minute.”

“
I need to talk to you
now.”

Smiling, Mitch held up one finger. “Yeah,
yeah, John, I’m still here. Great.” Mitch affected a mysterious,
delighted look and turned the smile up another notch. “That’s
wonderful. You’re the man, John! I knew I could count on you,” he
crowed. “Okay, let’s do this. E-mail me the details and send the
rest as attachment. I’ll take a look at it and get back in touch
with you in the morning. Great. Thanks, again. Oh, and be sure to
check what we talked about against licenses. Okay. Bye.”

With a covert look at Annie, Mitch ended the
call. Her pert face had tightened into a scowl, wrinkling a line of
displeasure in her brow. Mitch had the almost undeniable urge to
reach up and smooth it away. But he didn’t dare.

Given the nature of their competition, Will
had assigned certain staffers to Annie and Mitch. It wouldn’t do
for an employee to inadvertently—or purposely—slip vital
information about the other’s campaign to one of them. As a result,
teams were formed and, in this case, Mitch was the coach and John
his quarterback.

Annie drew in a long breath, opened her mouth
to say something—probably uncharitable, Mitch decided—then promptly
snapped it shut. Watching her struggle to compose herself, Mitch
resisted the urge to smile.

Finally Annie got herself together enough to
speak. “We need to talk about, um—” She waved an arm agitatedly
between them. “—this…”

“
Attraction,” Mitch supplied
helpfully.

“
Distraction is more like
it,” she replied with a huff. “But whatever.” She sighed. “Look,
Mitch, we both know that this isn’t going to work. You’re you and
I’m me and, and, and…it just wouldn’t work. We’re going to be
coworkers. Our relationship is strained at best now. If we muddle
it up with
this
,”
she said again, “then I think we’ll be making a big mistake.” She
stopped her rambling—which had oddly made sense to him—and gave
Mitch a beseeching look. “Do you understand what I’m trying to
say?”

Yeah, he did, and he knew she was right.
Still, he’d wanted to be the one to point it out and that Annie had
beaten him to the punch bothered him unreasonably. So, rather than
make it easy on her, he decided to goad her. A pastime he’d begun
to really enjoy lately.

Mitch grinned and affected an innocent look.
“I think so. You’re saying that you’re not going to parade around
naked in front of me anymore. That you aren’t going to attack me
with your lips again.”

Annie’s petite body began to tremble with
rage. She drew a quick breath through her delicate nostrils and
seemed to grow an inch taller right before his eyes. Mitch imagined
her could see the thunderclouds rallying around her stiff form. For
some perverse reason, he looked forward to the storm.

“
Of all the nerve…” she
breathed hotly. “If I recall, it was you who initiated that last
kiss. Not me.”

Mitch shrugged. “You were naked,” he said
blankly, as though that explained everything.

“
Ooooohh,” Annie fumed. “You
were supposed to be helping me! Not giving me the abridged version
of your Don Juan impression,” she accused scornfully. “What do you
do? Kiss every naked woman that you see?”

Mitch smiled lazily.
“Generally, Annie, if I find myself alone with a naked lady, then I
do much more than kiss her.” He waggled his brows. “I give them
the
una
bridged
version of my Don Juan impression.”

For a fleeting second, Mitch thought he saw a
spark of longing fire in her blazing eyes. But it vanished before
he could be sure.

“
Oh, spare me the details,”
she said mockingly.

“
Look, Annie,” Mitch said.
“The best way to deal with our problem is to meet it head on.
Despite our numerous differences, we’re both attracted to each
other. Why lie about it?” he asked. “We aren’t going to get
anything accomplished if you continue to deny a problem exists.” He
harrumphed and speared a hand through his hair. “Frankly, half the
time I’m torn between wanting to bend you over my knee and spank
you,” his gaze to hers meaningfully, “or bend you over my knee
and
spank
you.” He
paused and forced that vision away. “And I know you want me, too,
so save the indignation and let’s figure out how we’re going to
deal with it.”

Well, he’d done it. Most likely for the first
time in her adult life, Annie had been rendered speechless. She
just stood there, stone still, her face blank. He watched her
swallow, then she heaved a put-upon sigh and plopped into the
nearest chair.

“
Okay, then since you’re the
one with all the ideas, then you tell me what you think we should
do about it?”

Mitch blinked, astounded. He leaned forward
and stared at her incredulously. “You’re admitting it? You actually
conceding that I’m right?” He grinned. “That you want me?”

Annie shot him a dark look.
“Don’t push it.” She let out another beleaguered sigh. “But, yes,
for some unknown reason, my hormones,
pheromones—
whatever
—like you more than I do.” She scowled as though she couldn’t
understand his appeal. “So, I think we’ve belabored that point
enough. What’s your suggestion?”

Pleased with himself, Mitch leaned back and
affected a relaxed position. “Well, I haven’t given it a lot of
thought, mind you, but I think the solution is obvious.”

“
And that is?” she
prompted.

Mitch smiled. “We should get it out of our
systems.”

Her jaw dropped.

Undaunted, Mitch forged ahead. “Just go ahead
and follow Mother Nature’s lead. Give in to the attraction. I know
I could concentrate a lot better if I weren’t constantly thinking
about what it would be like to —”

“
You’re out of your mind!”
she interrupted, halting the long list of things Mitch had been
dreaming about with her. To her. “That’s it? That was your grand
idea?” Annie pushed a shaky hand through her gorgeous coffee curls,
then shot him another incredulous look. “Forget it, Mitch. I have
no intention of ‘giving in to the attraction’ with you. Got it? We
have to think of something else.”

Naturally, Mitch had known that Annie would
resist his idea, but he hadn’t thought she would protest it so
vehemently. Before he could ponder that notion any further, Annie
spoke.

“
Okay, Mitch. This is what
we’re going to have to do. Since your idea isn’t feasible —” She
gave him a pointed look. “—then we’re going to have to use mine.
And I think the best way to deal with it is to spend as little time
together as possible.”

Mitch nodded and looked meaningfully around
the tiny cottage. “Okay, Annie, I’ll take the east wing and you can
have the west.”

Annie attempted a scowl, but her lips curved,
destroying the effort. Mercy, she was pretty when she smiled. “All
right, I’ll concede my idea has a few holes as well.”

“
A few holes,” Mitch said
incredulously. “More like craters. Your suggestion might work if we
were back in Atlanta, but not here. Hell, Annie, we’re living
together.” Mitch slumped against the back or the couch.

Annie swallowed. “Be that as it may, it’s our
only choice. I’ll stay out of your way, if you stay out of
mine.”

Mitch felt obliged to point out the flaws
with Annie’s bright idea. “We’ve only been here a couple of days.
How do you suppose we’re going to avoid each other in this little
house for the next twelve?”

Annie sighed impatiently. “You’re making this
a lot more difficult than it has to be. Trust me, Mitch, I want to
avoid you, and I can do anything if I put my mind to it.”

Well, so could he, Mitch thought, and he
didn’t want to avoid her. Furthermore, he didn’t want her to avoid
him. Maddening though she was, Mitch was beginning to enjoy her
company. Which brought him back to his plan. The one which involved
him and her and an acre of bed, making love all night long. An idea
occurred to him.

“
Okay, Annie. We’ll try it
your way for the rest of the week.” He paused and smiled. “But if
it doesn’t work then we try mine. Agreed?”

“
Absolutely not.”

Mitch laced his fingers behind his head and
gazed at the ceiling. “Why not? Don’t have enough faith in your
power to avoid me?” he teased, a note of challenge spiking his
voice.

Predictably, Annie bristled. “Not at all. I
simply know that we won’t have any use for a back-up plan.” Annie
flipped to a clean piece of paper, presumably to outline her
confounded “avoidance” plan.

“
Right,” Mitch remarked
blandly.

From the corner of his eye, he watched Annie
still. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Nothing.”

Annie emitted a frustrated growl. “You still
think my plan won’t work, don’t you? Well, fine,” she huffed. “I’m
so confident it will, I’ll agree to your stupid back-up plan. But
we won’t need it.”

Was it his imagination, or did her voice lose
a little conviction on that final note?

Annie spent the next half hour outlining a
list of what she considered appropriate behavior. Sadly, to his
regret, kissing wasn’t on it. She also insisted they schedule
bathroom time, and since Mitch liked to shower early, they both
agreed he should take the bathroom first.

“
We will never be in the
bathroom at the same time again,” she told him, flipping the
notebook closed. Inwardly, Mitch breathed a sigh of
relief.

“
Fine by me,” Mitch told
her. “Next time you get stuck in the bathtub I’ll dial
911.”

Annie glared at him. “I don’t intend to take
another bath while we’re here.”

“
Maybe not this week,” Mitch
mumbled under his breath. He’d already come up with quite a fantasy
involving her, him and that tub. As soon as Annie’s arrangement
failed, he fully intended to reenact it—in the flesh. Naked flesh.
Complete with bubbles and champagne and—

“
What was that?” Annie
asked.

“
Er, nothing.” He grinned
and his gaze met hers. “Any shower catastrophes I should know
about?”

Blushing prettily, Annie rolled her eyes and
a small smile bowed her lips. “No.”

Mitch nodded. “Just checking.”

Annie chuckled. “Trust me, I’ve found myself
in more embarrassing situations since I’ve met you than I’ve ever
had in my life. You’re a bad influence.”

Mitch nodded, pleased. “Thank you.”

“
It wasn’t a compliment,”
Annie told him, shooting him a look.

“
That depends on your
perspective,” Mitch said. “I prefer to think that I’ve disarmed you
with my charming personality.”

Annie chuckled, then rose from her chair.

Perplexed, Mitch lifted her head. “Where are
you going?”

“
To bed. It’s getting pretty
deep in here and I can’t remember if I packed any boots.” Annie
started down the hall. “Be finished with your shower—and any other
extracurricular activities which you perform in the bathroom—by
seven, okay, Mitch? I’d hate to inadvertently disturb you
again.”

Annie awakened Thursday morning to the sound of
birds chattering outside her window. Well-rested and wearing a
sleepy, pleasant smile, she stretched lazily and opened her eyes.
Bright light spilled in through the lace curtains, bathing the room
with dappled shadows. Getting the last word with Mitch last night
had pleased her so much she’d gotten the best sleep she could
recall in years. Reveling in her uncharacteristic good morning
mood, Annie rolled over and checked the bedside clock…then
froze.

9:42!

Annie shot up in bed and grabbed the clock
for a closer look. But how could that be? she wondered. She’d set
the alarm for six-thirty. The alarm was off, indicating that she’d
either she’d never turned I on—and she distinctly remembered doing
that—or she’d been sleeping so soundly that she’d awakened only
enough to cut the alarm off and hadn’t reset it. Annie frowned.
That wasn’t like her, but of course shed been doing lots of things
lately that weren’t true to her character. Like kissing Mitch and
falling in puddles of water. While naked.

Annie sighed over the first memory, winced at
the latter, then put them both determinedly from her mind. Though
her extended slumber wouldn’t cause her to miss their lunch
appointment with Les, Annie still had some things that she wanted
to take care of this morning. Like speaking to Liz, she thought,
remembering Mitch’s phone call from dear ol’ John last night.

After she’d adjourned to her room the
previous evening, Annie’d pulled out her laptop and sent an urgent
e-mail to her own assistant for the duration of this silly contest.
She’d asked Liz to do a little snooping around about whatever it
was Mitch was so enthused over last night. Though she doubted his
campaign would be better than hers—even though she didn’t have a
firm concept per se—Annie had too much riding on it to leave
anything to chance.