He chuckled as he turned into her parking lot. “I think you’re forgetting that I’m now your management.”
She gritted her teeth to keep herself from responding. “Thank you again for dinner,” she said when he turned the corner into her parking lot.
He pulled into a parking space near her building and turned off the engine. When she started to reach for the door handle, he stopped her with his strong hand on her forearm. She turned back to him, wanting to just jump out of the car, but something in his tone stopped her, made her listen. “Sierra, just a head’s up that you’ll be working on a special project starting tomorrow.”
That captured her attention and her hand on the door froze. “What kind of special project?” She was both wary and alert, trying to read the truth in his eyes through the darkness. She shook her head suddenly. “It doesn’t matter. I have too many projects right now. I mentioned this earlier today. I can’t take on anything else.” She remembered her manners and forced a smile. “Thank you for the opportunity though,” she said, even though she had no idea what the opportunity was.
He ignored her rejection of the new project and continued on as if she hadn’t said anything at all. “Come to Todd’s office tomorrow morning at nine. Everything will be explained to you.”
She sighed with relief. Todd’s office was safe. She didn’t need to be wary of having to speak with this man tomorrow. “I’ll be there. Thank you.”
As she quickly left his car, completely aware that he was watching her while she walked into her building, Sierra wondered what the special project might be. But she resisted the urge to turn around and ask him. She didn’t want to give him any encouragement. The man was confident enough as it was and she’d just told him unequivocally that she wouldn’t have the bandwidth to take on any new projects at this point.
She didn’t sleep well that night, her mind going over the conversation with Drake during dinner, wondering how she could have gotten so wrapped up in both the laughter as well as the ever increasing sexual tension and had such a nice evening. Well, except for the moments when he was being irritating, that is. And the times when he’d kissed her. She definitely hadn’t enjoyed those moments.
She punched her pillow and glared out the darkened window. She was lying again. It was one thing to lie to him because she told herself she was protecting him. But even that was a lie. She was protecting herself. She was protecting her job.
She sighed, feeling sad all of a sudden. She didn’t know what to do or how to deal with this man. For the first time in a very long time, her future was unclear in her mind.
Chapter 3
She tossed and turned that night, staring at the ceiling for hours until she finally went into her kitchen to get a cup of warm milk. That put her to sleep, but because she was so exhausted from a rough night, she didn’t wake up with enough time to get ready.
There was a text on her cell phone from the very man that had invaded her dreams last night, informing her that he’d arranged to have her car delivered to her apartment. And even at such a thoughtful gesture, she refused to give him points for being considerate. If he hadn’t forced her to dinner, she wouldn’t have left her car at the office.
Good grief, she thought s she pushed herself to move faster. She was even being petty now!
Mentally reviewing her schedule while she jumped into the shower, she knew that she didn’t have any clients today, nor any meetings that would put her in the hallways too often. So instead of the normal, stiff business suit she wore to the office, she pulled out a pair of black slacks and a soft, pink sweater. It was much more comfortable and, hopefully, she could get more work done today. She didn’t even bother to pull her hair back, just blow drying it straight and letting it hang over her shoulders and down her back. It felt good to be so free and she chose flowery shoes that would match her pink sweater. Feeling pretty and courageous, she grabbed her purse and headed out into the day. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t run into one outrageous, gorgeous and sexually enticing male, but if she did, she felt better prepared today.
As she drove into the office, only a little later than normal, her mind went over different ways she could avoid Drake if he actually showed up in the office. She doubted he would be there. She knew that the man had massive construction projects all over the world. So he definitely didn’t have the time to schmooze with all the little people two days in a row.
It worried her that the acquisition might force them all to move to a different city. She loved the Denver area and would fight to stay here if that was possible. But if it was a non-starter, if Harrison Holdings was going to move everyone to their headquarters in Chicago, she would just resign and find another job. She definitely couldn’t move back to Chicago. Too many people knew who she was and she didn’t want any connection to her old life. She’d created a new one and she much preferred this one to the life her father had created around his criminal enterprises.
Maybe she could go out on her own. If Drake wanted to move everyone to Chicago, would she have the courage to start her own architectural design firm here in Denver? The thought was enticing but could she afford it? What would she really need to get started? Besides clients, that is. A website, definitely. But her sister Marissa was a genius at that. So no problems there. What else would be needed besides office furniture and an advertising budget? She wasn’t exactly sure what she had in her bank account, but surely it wouldn’t require too much up front money to get started. And if it kept her away from one gorgeous, dangerous male that scared the heejeebees out of her, wasn’t it worth it?
She was lost in thought as she walked into the office, smiling absently at Belinda, the receptionist, who always had a bright, happy smile for everyone that came through the doors.
When she reached her office, she saw the note attached to the middle of her current work project. It was written in a bold scrawl and just reminded her of the nine o’clock appointment with Todd. Something inside of her started to get that funny feeling again as she read and re-read the words on the note. No matter how many times she tried to rationalize the message, she knew with certainty that it had been personally written and placed here by Drake.
He was getting around her forgetfulness about reading her e-mail messages. Drat the man! Why was he always one step ahead of her?
She glanced at her watch as she stored her purse in her desk drawer. Glancing at her watch, she knew she didn’t have much time because of her sleepless night and her late arrival. So instead of sitting down and going through her projects one more time, she crumpled the note, tossed it in the recycling bin and grabbed her notebook so she could head down the hallway towards Todd’s office. She would get there a bit earlier than needed, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on something for a short period of time, knowing she’d have to stop in only a few minutes.