As she got into the car, she smiled at how he waited for her, ensuring that she was safely in the car before he would even back up. Claire put the key in the ignition and turned over the engine on her little car, almost cringing as the sound broke the silence of the late night silence. Mitch’s headlights were behind her, streaming light through her little car so she quickly put it in gear and stepped on the accelerator.
She drove home with him following her all the way. He even waited until she unlocked her townhouse door and turned on the inside lights.
Leaning against the door, she considered all she’d learned tonight. Did she believe him about not knowing where Gary was? Gary had said he was an employee, but could he have lied? Why would he? The idea sounded pretty crazy, but everything about Mitch screamed out that he was telling her the truth.
Sighing, she turned off the light once again and climbed the stairs to her bedroom, pulling off clothes as she moved. She quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth and pulled on a soft tee-shirt, then climbed into bed. Her body was exhausted, but her mind wouldn’t let her sleep. She kept going over and over all the details, remembering Gary’s words and trying to figure out who wasn’t telling the truth.
Chapter 7
Mitch picked up the interoffice envelope, curious about something so low tech. Everyone in the office had e-mail and blackberries and many other high tech, under the radar forms of communication to use so it was extremely rare to receive an actual paper copy of something. But there it was, sitting in the middle of his desk. His assistant hadn’t even opened it, so unused to interoffice mail she apparently wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Looking down, he looked at the handwriting. The feminine scrawl was elaborate, delicate and very precise. If he didn’t miss his guess, this envelope was from none other than his little bombshell, Claire.
As he opened the envelope, his hands remembered how perfectly her bottom had fit into his hands last night. She’d been so warm and responsive, his body instantly reacted to the memory.
He would have to get this Gary business out of the way so he could move her past the man. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out this gentleman position with her being so…curvy. He almost chuckled out loud but there was just no other word for it. That woman had curves in all the right places. Curves that overflowed and bubbled up, just like her personality.
Slipping the papers out of the envelope, he was completely distracted by what he saw. His little bombshell had flipped through magazines, several of them in fact, and cut out pictures of furniture and accessories that she thought he should get for his great room.
He chuckled at her creativity. If only he could channel that towards his bedroom, and more specifically, his bed, he’d be in good shape.
Shaking his head, he carried the pictures out to his assistant. “Alison, can you contact these vendors and have them deliver the furniture to my home as quickly as possible?” Claire hadn’t just clipped the pictures, she’d written the contact information and price on the back of each one in case he liked any of them.
He was chucking and shaking his head as he walked into his next meeting and it took him a long time to concentrate on what was being said instead of thinking of Claire on his new sofa. Naked.
Three days later, Mitch wasn’t laughing any longer. His little bombshell was causing him an endless number of headaches with her cute little bottom wagging along the hallway and her pretty smile endearing her to everyone from the computer team to his executive management team. On more than one occasion, he’d walked into a meeting and they were discussing her, how cute she was, her latest joke or what outfit she was wearing. He was trying very hard to avoid her, but when his entire headquarters company wouldn’t shut up about her, it was proving an impossible endeavor.
Something had to be done. He had to get her out of his head, out of his system. Once he’d done that, he could forget her and get back to business.
“Allison, please call Claire Johnson to my office immediately,” he growled upon returning from yet another meeting where she was the topic of conversation during every break. How could the woman affect that many men? Had they all lost their discipline?
Five minutes later, he was sitting at his desk trying to review a report on a mission in Bosnia. But he’d read the first sentence five times, his eyes continuing to glance at his office door. Obviously waiting for her to show up, he thought with increasing menace.
When she actually did show up, he was about ready to spit nails, wondering what man on his staff had detained her this time.
“What took you so long?” he demanded as soon as she stepped into his office, her bright smile of welcome fading into a frown.
She looked around as if she were looking for something and Mitch became frustrated with her lack of response. “What the hell are you looking for?” he finally demanded, walking over to where she was standing and slamming the door to his office. He then moved to tower over her, wishing he could intimidate her like he could all the rest of his staff. She was just too…dammit, she just didn’t intimidate!
“I’m looking for the bee that got up your bonnet.”
He gritted his teeth at her reply, not sure if he wanted to turn her over his knee and spank her for being indisputably insubordinate, or kiss her until she couldn’t talk anymore. Both options seemed pretty damn good right about now. “What took you so long?” he demanded, still gritting his teeth but looking like he was going to bite her.
Claire leaned back slightly, not sure how to handle Mitch in this kind of mood. He’d always been incredibly restrained and in control. This man was definitely not in control but she had no clue what had gotten him into this foul of a mood.
“I got the call from your assistant and came up here. What more do you want from me?”
“It doesn’t take ten minutes to get from the second floor to the tenth floor. So what slowed you down? Or should I ask who?”
Claire blushed and shook her head. “Mitch, why did you call me up here?”
“Answer me!” he grated out.
That just got her back up and she stiffened at his tone. Turning to face him fully, she squared her shoulders and mimicked his stance, hands on hips, leaning forward and her expression just as furious as his now. “No!” was all she said. She then turned to walk out of his office, determined to not be treated so shabbily when she hadn’t done anything wrong.