TIS THE SEASON...FOR ROMANCE (WESTMORELAND/MASTERS/JEFFERIES) Page 17

  He glanced around as well, and then returned his gaze to hers. “Yes, it looks that way.” And then as if he wasn’t ready for their company to part, he asked. “So, are you ready for our trip?”

  A lot more ready now than I was earlier today, she wanted to say but didn’t. Especially since I know there is some interest on your part, although you’ve tried to deny it. She smiled and said. “Yes, I’m ready. It’s been years since I’ve been to New York and hope there will be sufficient down time for shopping, plays and sightseeing.”

  “I’m sure there will be. In fact I promise to make sure of it. You deserve it. You always work hard.”

  “Thanks.” She paused for a moment and then said, “Well, I better get back.”

  “Yes, you do that. I’d hate for your date to wonder where you are.”

  She nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. Goodbye, Orin. I’ll see you back in the office on Monday,” she said moving to walk off.

  “Okay. I’ll see you Monday.”

  “Bright and early,” she threw over her shoulder smiling.

  His features were still serious as a heart attack when he said, “Yes, bright and early.”

  When Cathy rounded the corner she would have loved to give anyone a high-five. Orin wasn’t as immune to her as she’d assumed. She felt happy. She felt giddy. And for the first time in years, she felt like a woman capable of sparking a fire in the man she wanted.

  The way she saw it, Jen was right. It was way past time to take matters into her own hands. And if she had to be the one to make the first move, then so be it. She loved Orin and it was time she opened his emotionally scarred eyes so that he could see her for the woman she was. One capable of bringing happiness into his life and showering him with love for the rest of his days.

  No matter what it took, she intended to conquer Orin’s heart.

  Three

  “Welcome to New York, Ms. Bristol.”

  Cathy smiled at the hotel clerk at the front desk. “Thank you, I’m glad I’m here,” she said, accepting the passkey.

  A short while later she was opening the blinds to her room. She then glanced around thinking how nice the room she’d been given looked. It was a spacious suite that included a small refrigerator and microwave, although she doubted she would need either. And there was a huge balcony with a beautiful view of the Hudson River.

  But what had surprised her was the vase of fresh cut flowers that were sitting on the desk. At first she’d assumed they’d been compliments of the hotel but when she pulled off the card and read it, she’d smile to see they had come from Orin. And the card had simply said. Thanks for being so flexible with your time.

  Okay, so they weren’t the words of love she would give anything to have gotten, but still, the flowers were beautiful and he was once again letting her know how much he appreciated her. As his administrative assistant. She was more determined than ever for him to both see and acknowledge her as something more than that.

  She took a quick minute to set up her laptop and pulled files out of her briefcase. The next two days would be busy ones since most legal matters involving the trade show would arise within the first twenty-four hours. It was essential that Orin be available to address any and all legal questions any of the managers might have.

  She had sat down behind the desk in the room to look over a few files when her phone rang. She figured it was either the front desk or Orin. The thought that it might be Orin filled her with an intense degree of warmth. She hadn’t seen him since he left for New York yesterday, a full day before she was scheduled to leave.

  When she’d arrived in the office Monday morning, she hadn’t known what to expect after seeing him at the rodeo on Saturday night. But if she hadn’t known for certain the conversations between them had taken place she would have doubted her sanity. Not once did he bring the subject up and there was nothing amiss in his behavior. It was back to business as usual.

  Never the less, she had made a few decisions on her own and moving ahead to get Orin to notice her was at the top of her list. Jen had talked her into a new hairstyle and she rather liked it. And she had gone shopping and brought a few new items as well as taking the time while out shopping to be introduced to a new line of makeup.

  “Hello?”

  “Cathy, this is Orin. I just wanted to make sure you’d arrived.”

  She couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips. “Yes, I’m here and thanks for the flowers. They are beautiful.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do since I’m sure you rearranged your schedule for this trip. It’s not like I gave you a lot of notice beforehand.”

  “But that’s okay. It’s nice getting out of Atlanta to see the rest of the world sometime.”

  “Go ahead and use the rest of today to relax,” Orin said. “But we’ll need to meet later to go over those legal binders to make sure they’re okay before giving them to the production team. We can do it in my room or yours.”

  Do it in my room or yours. Doing something other than going over the legal binders flashed through her mind, and she suddenly felt sensations twirl around in her stomach. She took a deep breath to bring her thoughts back around to where they should be.

  “That’s fine, either room will do, I’m sure. I really like the one I have.”

  “The set up is probably similar to mine since I’m right across the hall.”

  She lifted a brow. “You are?”

  “We’ll be spending a lot of time together so I requested that our rooms be in close proximity as a matter of convenience.”

  Her heart had begun pounding at the thought that Orin was right across the hall. “That was a good idea,” she heard herself say.

  “And so not to skip dinner we might want to do room service.”

  Cathy believed that every cell in her body quickened at the thought of spending an entire evening in a hotel room with him. “All right.”

  “How about meeting in your room around six. Will that be okay?”

  She quickly spoke up and said. “Yes, that’s fine.”

  Moments later she hung up the phone and stared into space while deep in thought. Knowing what a sticker for professionalism Orin was, she knew that somehow she would have to get him to cross the line. That would be her challenge because in all the years they’d worked together he hadn’t done so.

  Even when he’d taken a notion to run for the senate and she had volunteered to help out by editing his speeches, performing various jobs within his campaign, and just being a person he could depend on when things got somewhat crazy, they hadn’t done one single thing that anyone would consider inappropriate.

  However, a few times she would admit feeling sparks and a certain degree of sexual tension flowing between them, like the time they had worked through the proposal to present to the city to expand their facilities in an area previously zoned residential. She had fallen asleep sitting next to him on the sofa in his office, but when she’d awaken hours later it was to find she had shifted and slid closer and her head was resting on his chest while he also slept. Again, he had played it off as nothing out of line and that she was nothing more than what she always was – his ever-efficient administrative assistant who made his job easier.

  She had considering turning in her resignation a few times but never could follow through with it. After all, she had a good salary and Orin was a good boss. She’d always reasoned that it wasn’t his fault that she had fallen in love with him. Besides, being around him every day in a professional capacity was better than not being with him at all. The thought of pursuing employment opportunities elsewhere and not seeing him had only depressed her.

  But she would have to admit Jen was right. With some men you had to take the bull by the horn and starting this evening she intended to do just that.

  * * *

  Orin rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the phone he’d just hung up. Cathy Bristol was his weakness and it was becoming harder and harder to pretend i
ndifference around her.

  He’d known he was in trouble years ago and had done everything within his power to resist the magnetic pull whenever they were together. And the comments his offspring had been making lately made him wonder if they’d picked up on anything. Now that Olivia had moved from Paris and had gotten married, he saw her more often than he saw his two sons, and Libby had always been one who’d noticed everything.

  Like Saturday night. When he’d returned to the stands, she had questioned what had taken him so long when he’d left to go buy a bag of popcorn. When he’d mentioned he had run into Cathy, a smile had touched her lips and instead of saying anything else other than an, “Oh,” she had seemingly dismissed any further conversation about it and instead had turned to Reggie to discuss what would be going on after intermission.

  But he knew his daughter well enough to know how her mind worked and it wouldn’t have surprised him to discover that Olivia had known he had left his seat, claiming he needed to go get a snack as soon as he’d seen Cathy leaving her seat.

  Over the years a number of women had tried coming on to him and he’d been careful not to give any indication that the interest was in any way reciprocated. His ex-wife had left a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to the sanctity of marriage; although he’d never expressed such a thing to his two sons and daughters. After Susan had left him for another man – a man he’d considered a friend – he’d become a single dad. He was proud of the adults they had become and the four of them shared a rather close relationship.

  Orin stood and glanced at the clock sitting on the desk. It wasn’t quite three in the afternoon yet, so he decided to take a quick nap. When he woke up he would get together everything he needed for the meeting with Cathy, and that also meant his self-control. She was the first woman since his divorce from Susan who could rattle that part of him.

  * * *

  Cathy glanced around the room. Everything was in place. She had room service deliver a work table where they could place all the legal manuals and binders once they’d gone through them. It was important that they check to make sure no pages were missing. That was basically her job, but whatever project or task she and Orin had to do they did it as a team. He didn’t mind rolling up his sleeves and assisting her with anything that needed to be done. That was one of the things she admired about him.

  And more than once he’d tried encouraging her to consider going back to school to get a degree, complimenting how bright she was and how quick she was to catch on. He thought she would make a good paralegal. When she’d mentioned the thought to her sons, they had both said it was a great idea, although Shandon had joked about it being a good idea as long as she didn’t think about enrolling in the college he was attending in Savannah.

  She turned toward the door when she heard the knock. Glancing down at herself she pulled in a deep breath. She had decided to wear a pair of black slacks and a white blouse. There was nothing about her outfit that would jump out at you other than the way it fit her body.

  She prided herself on how she looked both in and out of the office and Orin had never been stingy when it came to giving her compliments. She paused to glance out the peephole and when she saw it was Orin she reached for the latch to open the door.

  He expected professionalism and she would make sure he got it. Only, she intended to give the word a whole new meaning when it came to a boss-employee relationship. He wouldn’t know what she was about until it was too late.

  * * *

  “Hello, Orin.”

  Orin blinked. Cathy was wearing a new hairstyle and it looked good on her, he thought. The way her hair curled around her face gave her a sexy look and it did something to her eyes. And then there was that little mole above her lip. He’d always thought it was cute and tonight his gaze was drawn to it.

  His gaze shifted downward and he saw she was wearing the necklace he’d given her for Christmas last year. For all her hard work and for agreeing to work on his senatorial campaign he’d wanted to get her something nice and had asked Olivia for her advice. She had been living in Paris at the time and had offered to shop for something over there. What she’d purchased had cost a pretty penny but he’d known Cathy was worth it, and from the surprised and happiness on her face when she’d opened the gift he’d known right away that she liked it.

  “Would you like to come in?”

  Her words interrupted his thoughts and it hit him that he’d been standing there staring. He cleared his throat. “Yes. Thanks.”

  He then entered the room when she stepped back. He took a whiff of her perfume when he passed her. It was different than the scent she usually wore in the office, the same one she’d been wearing for years. He’d like it and had gotten used to it, but the one she was wearing now was nice and he could get used to the scent as well. He knew at that moment he could get used to anything about Cathy.

  “I took the liberty of ordering a work table so we’ll have the area and space we needed to check those binders. I got a call from Maureen Beckman earlier and she offered to come up and help us, but I told her that I thought we could handle things.”

  He nodded, glad she had. Maureen, a forty-five-year-old divorcée who’d been hired last year to supervise the Products Management Division, had let him know that she was interested in him. He’d told her in a nice way that he was flattered but wasn’t interested. But that hadn’t stopped her from making a pass or two at him whenever she could.

  “I’m glad you did. I think this is something we can manage ourselves. We work well together anyway,” he said removing his jacket and placing it across one of the chairs in the room.

  “I agree. And the hotel is aware we’ll be doing room service later, but in the meantime, knowing how you like to snack, I ordered a few items,” she said, gesturing to the chips, cookies and sodas on ice that sat on a tray on one of the tables.

  He couldn’t help but smile. She knew him well and always made sure his needs were met. “What would I do without you, Cathy?” She was so efficient he was convinced he’d be totally lost.

  “So, what do you think will be the quickest way to accomplish this task?” he asked, rolling up his sleeves, knowing she already had a plan.

  She placed her hands on her hips as she glanced around at the stack of binders that had already been placed on the worktable. Instead of his gaze following hers, he was drawn to her hands on her hips. He’d always thought she had nice curves but the slacks she was wearing today seemed to emphasize that fact more so than ever. Maybe it was the soft looking material her pants were made from.

  His gaze then shifted upward. The blouse looked cute on her and when he saw how the hard nipples of her breasts were pressing against the silky looking material, he felt a deep sensual hunger in the pit of his stomach.

  “So what do you think?”

  He blinked and shifted his gaze to her face. It was then with the expectant look on her face that he’d became aware that she’d asked him a question. “Sorry. Could you repeat that?”

  She smiled. “Yes, I was stating the best way to proceed is to…”

  He watched her lips move; liking the new color she had spread across them. More than once he’d imagined how it would feel to kiss those lips, draw them into his mouth and suck on them a minute or two before lapping them with his tongue. Devour them like they were the last pair of lips on earth, and in a way for him they were, since they were the only pair of feminine lips he’d ever considered tasting. But like every other time he’d indulged in fantasies regarding Cathy, he would push them to the back of his mind.

  This time he was aware of when she stopped talking, although he hadn’t really been paying attention to anything she’d said. He hadn’t needed to. He trusted her judgment on all things. “Whatever you think is best,” he said. A smile touched her lips and he felt another pull, this time deep in his gut.

  “In that case, we might as well get started. We have over two-hundred binders to verify. We can try to make it through half
and then break for dinner and finish up. I figured if we work at a steady pace we should be through before nine.”

  He nodded. “Okay, let’s begin.”

  Four

  Cathy tried to keep her attention on the task at hand and not glance across the table at Orin. But she couldn’t help herself. Unlike her, he seemed focused on what he was doing, and it was a good thing that he was. These legal binders had been her idea a few years ago to assist those merchants under Nettleton Industries umbrella who would often get confused as to what they could or could not do with a purchasing order that totaled over a million dollars.

  The trade show pulled in vendors and smaller companies from around the country and it was important that everyone got a firm hand on what to do. Orin’s specialty was in the courtroom, handling legal matters on an executive level. She had witnessed him in the courtroom before and in her opinion, he was simply brilliant.

  She had been his secretary a couple of years when she was informed her job title would change although her duties would basically be the same. At times she still considered herself as his secretary but being a stickler for company policies and procedures, he was quick to remind her …as well as others, that she was his administrative assistant.

  As she continued to study him, she thought he wore that too serious expression more often than not to suit her. No one had to tell her about the pain he’d had in his life and why he found it hard to trust another woman. Susan Jeffries had betrayed him by having an affair with a man who’d been his business partner when he’d had his own private law practice. The publicity, as well as the money she’d taken when she’d skipped town with her lover, had forced him to close the business and take a job as a corporate attorney for Nettleton Industries.

  He glanced over at her and she watched as one dark brow rose. “Don’t tell me I’m that slow.”