She sat in spite of herself. He dragged another chair up and sat right in front of her, running his hand over his face in a frustrated gesture.
“That shouldn’t have happened.”
“You bet it shouldn’t have happened,” she said, crossing her arms defensively. “You are way out of line, Mr. Harrington. However, if you’ll just transfer me to another department—”
“Is that what you really want, Latonya?”
She nodded. “Yes, it is. I think it’s best.”
“We’re clearly attracted to each other. What would you have us do with that?” His eyes narrowed and his voice took on a slightly suggestive edge.
“Transfer me to another department,” she snapped in retort.
“That won’t work. The company is not that big. Besides, I’d much rather examine our attraction. I’m tired of ignoring it. I think it’s time we did something about it.”
Swallowing, she stared at him and her eyes widened as she realized what he was insinuating. “How do you intend us to do that?”
“Spend the night with me.”
The way he nonchalantly dropped the suggestion almost made her fall out of her seat. “You must be crazy! There is no way I will have sex with you, Mr. Harrington!” She started to get up and he placed his hand on her knee, staying her.
“Given the way you kissed me just now, Latonya, it’s obvious that you are attracted to me, too. Why are you being so difficult?” he asked with a chuckle.
I kissed you? What play are you in? In her script she was the one who had a right to be irritated. She was the one who just had all of her senses attacked by a moody, but oh-so-fine man. She should be upset just because he’d had her body at war with her mind from the moment she met him.
“I’m being difficult, as you state, because I’m not accustomed to thinking that I can go around scratching each and every one of my annoying itches. No, Mr. Harrington, I won’t do it. Now, either you transfer me to another department or I’ll have to take other avenues.” Latonya slanted her eyes just a little to let him know that she wasn’t playing.
The only other avenue she could take if he refused to transfer her would be to file a sexual-harassment charge. Since his grandfather owned the company, she doubted it would do much good.
Carlton leaned forward and kissed her again, a softer, sweeter kiss. Her lips opened as if they had a mind of their own, and her tongue darted into his mouth as if on a mission of destiny. She felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach.
This. Is. So. Wrong.
He pulled away, his gaze intense and seductive. “I’ll tell you what. It is rather late and you’re right that we should wrap things up here. How about I treat you to dinner for working so hard on the Biltmore project?”
She stared at him. And even though a small part of her mind screamed do not go to dinner with this man, other parts whispered seductively how gorgeous he was and how attracted she was to him. When the words reached her mouth, she was startled to hear her own traitorous voice say, “Okay, I’ll go to dinner with you. But that’s it.”
He smiled and his hand brushed her cheek. “Fine, let’s go. I’ll have my driver take us to Manny’s. It’s a small Cuban restaurant I think you’ll like.”
She never thought she would see the day when Carlton Harrington III actually smiled at her. Her mouth almost went dry. Gathering her things, she followed him out of the conference room.
Chapter 3
She looked like a woman riding to her death sentence, Carlton thought wryly as he eyed Latonya in the back seat of his limousine. It almost seemed as if the warm, vibrant woman who had been in his arms fifteen minutes ago had been a mirage. The expression on her face showed a woman not too happy about the prospect of having dinner with him.
After crossing the line and kissing her, he knew that he wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to have her more than he’d ever wanted anything else in his entire thirty-five years of life. But if he were honest, he’d admit he’d known that before he kissed her. He’d tried to ignore his feelings. Hell, he even tried to be extra harsh on Latonya, hoping it would force her to stay clear of him. However, when he found she could gladly stay away from him, he’d started coming up with reasons to make sure he could be around her.
He wondered if working on the Biltmore project had caused a wrinkle in whatever relationship she had with Jeff Weatherby. The two of them were always flirting. Hell, Latonya always playfully flirted with the rest of the guys in the department—everyone except for him. What he wouldn’t have done to have her bat those sparkling eyes at him.
In the short time that he had known her, she had managed to get under his skin in a big way. The way she kissed him once she had loosened up suggested that sex with her would be a delightful encounter. Passion leaped from her at his touch. When he kissed her, he swore he felt electric currents shoot through his system. He needed to find a way to get her out of his system and—after kissing her—he figured a more intimate arrangement might just do the trick. If they had sex, he’d be over his infatuation and they would be able to continue working together. He usually didn’t hold any woman in his mind very long after he’d been inside her.
Permanent relationships just weren’t his style. He’d learned early in life that love and commitment never came to a good end. The things he’d witnessed with his own parents made him more than a little gun-shy when it came to long-term relationships. Love wasn’t something he was looking for.
Carlton glanced at Latonya again. Calling her a very beautiful woman felt like a huge understatement. Her flawless face was the color of rich toffee. And when she was happy, her brown eyes danced with passion and vibrancy. Her auburn hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. He’d always imagined what her hair would look like when it wasn’t pinned up. When she’d come into the office with it down, she looked prettier than he ever could have imagined. She wore a pair of drab navy-blue slacks, and even they were sexy on her. Her body had such delicious curves that he salivated just thinking about them. She made those boring nondescript business suits she wore look like something that could be found in a lingerie shop.
He’d been struggling to keep his eyes off her all day. When she’d come and stood by him, it was all he could do not to pull her onto his lap and kiss her senseless. He barely made it out of the office to catch his breath. No woman had ever had such an impact on him.
It was a good thing she’d been able to work, because he could barely focus on anything but her. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t kept catching him while he stared at her. Always in control of his emotions, he felt thrown off balance by the woman.
That’s why he’d made up his mind to face whatever attraction there was between them head-on. He was tired of running from it. It was out of character for him to run from anything or to deny himself something he wanted. He decided that must have been the reason Latonya was causing such strange feelings in him. Once he faced the feelings and they explored them, he would be fine.
Sitting as far away from him as she could possibly get, Latonya twisted her hands nervously in her lap as she gazed out the window. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was running scared.
He pulled out a bottle of wine from the minifridge, hoping if she had something to drink that she would loosen up a bit more.
Clearing his throat, he implored, “Latonya, look at me.”
She turned slightly and glared at him.
Well, that’s progress, he reasoned. At least she showed some emotion. He handed her a glass of wine and she took it hesitantly.
“You can drink it. It’s not poisoned.”
Rolling her eyes, she turned to face the window again. Her hand shook as she sipped the wine.
Her jittery nervousness sparked a deep desire in him to ease some of her discomfort. Sliding closer to her in the seat, he placed his arm around her. She jumped and spilled the glass of wine.
“Why are you so jumpy? Relax,” he whispered softly, picking up the glass and placing it in a holder.
