Absolute Zero (16 page)

“So you’re saying…?

“I’m saying that you need to run along. I have a conference call that started, hmmm,” he pulled his hand from one side of her face to check the watch on his wrist, “three minutes ago. We’ll talk about this later, eh?” His index finger trailed gently along her cheek.

She jerked her head to the side to dislodge the contact. “There’s nothing to talk about. It was a mistake.”

“That wasn’t a mistake,” he responded quickly. He took a reluctant step back, feeling the tightness of his groin, the strain of his erection. If she cared to look down, she’d realize the absurdity of her comment. His entire body was absorbed by her presence, her nearness and yet there was nothing he could do about it. He was late. He was
never
late.

“Anne? You’re making me a hypocrite, darling.” He reluctantly turned toward his desk and attempted to walk to it, ignoring the awkward bulge in his pants.

It was the strangest thing…if he had more time, how far would she let him go? The little moan and the breathless little gasps she emitted spoke volumes. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her, he was sure of it. Her flushed cheeks pretty much confirmed it.

She was utterly charming. He had to take one more look; although he knew it would only serve to distract him.

By the time he reached his desk and turned to sit, she was already gone.

If she wanted to remain obscure, her little scene in the Boardroom just made that impossible. If anything, it seemed to turn her into a mini-celebrity of sorts. Even Andrea tried to stop her as she left McClellan’s office and attempted to walk back to her desk undetected. Of course, the blush staining her cheeks as well as the just-kissed condition of her too-sensitive lips were probably a tell-tale sign that something untoward just occurred. She waved off Andrea’s attempt to console her with a polite nod and a small smile, but she couldn’t stop and hold a semi-intelligent conversation with anyone. Her body felt fevered, her speech would come out shaky as best and her brain was still a bit fogged.

She quickly walked to the nearest restroom, pleased beyond belief to find it vacant. She immediately walked to the mirror and visibly scrunched her features when she realized she looked just as bad as she thought she did. Her lips were slightly swollen and her cheeks were definitely flushed.

McClellan saw that. He saw the effect he had on her and any argument to the contrary would probably make him laugh it off as nonsense. She responded to him and quite frankly, that was alarming. Even David’s first attempt to get close to her made her apprehensive and standoffish. Of course, David was so incredibly handsome, she had doubted his interest and he made her uncomfortable with his advances at first. McClellan, on the other hand, was not nearly as beautiful as David, but infinitely more sexy than David could ever hope to be. His piercing looks, his lowly spoken words…the fact that he could make her body react wantonly to his touch. This shouldn’t be happening. This
wouldn’t
happen if she hadn’t changed herself. Sometimes she honestly wished she had stayed the dowdy, unattractive and unnoticed person she was born as. It was far less complicated. A loud sigh escaped her lips as her hands braced on the sink in front of her.

Pull it together.

The door opened with a slight squeak causing her to straighten up.

“Excuse me. Oh! Anne, right?” Anne looked up to see a middle aged woman walk in. She had never seen her before.

“I’m Nancy, from Accounting? Are you…OK? I heard what happened,” she stated in a gentle tone.

What? How would Nancy from Accounting…?
  “News travels fast around here,” Anne remarked in a serious, dry tone.

“You have no idea,” the woman answered just as seriously. “So…are you OK?” She truly seemed concerned.

The fluttering in her stomach was finally calming down and her brain was back to normal operation.

“Yes. I think so.” She pushed away from the sink, intent on leaving the small confines of the bathroom before more questions would be forthcoming.

“Thanks,” she uttered as a bit of an afterthought as she walked by the other woman toward the door. Nancy from Accounting said something else as the door was closing behind Anne. She had no idea what it was.

*****

This is almost…painful.

He looked down at the still-present bulge in his pants, his mind not quite ready to focus on the words filling the room through the phone speaker.

Anne was a phenomenal kisser. Passionate, sweet, and the taste of her was still on his tongue even though she had walked out more than five minutes ago. His mind couldn’t seem to move beyond their encounter.

It was all he could do to keep his hands on her face and not roam everywhere on her body during their kiss. To think, he almost sacked her and he would have missed the opportunity to experience her. As it was, she still had a job and he would have another opportunity, the question was, should he?

The answer, of course, was
NO
.

He fought the urge to relieve the pressure between his legs and his eyes snapped up to the phone when his name floated through it.

“Repeat the question,” he commanded in a haughty tone.

“Construction? The cost of erecting on the current site versus the building in Perth. We’re running numbers right now and we might find it more feasible to consolidate the manufacturing facility with R & D in the same building.”

“It’s 40 minutes away,” he stated in a mildly irritated tone.

“Ah…so?” the voice on the other end of the line asked.

“
So
…you’re going to ask the current employees to move or increase their transit time? Have you thought about that? Did you study attrition? How many employees would we lose? Have you factored that into your study?”

“No. No Sir, not yet…”

“Well, you should. Give me the demographics on Perth too. I’d hate to lose good employees. There’s competition in Dundee, someone else will snag them up if they don’t want to move or spend extra time getting to work. I won’t even consider Perth if the general consensus is negative. I like those employees; they make the company what it is. The last the thing I want to do is screw them over,” he stated, realizing that he was very willing to do that to the
American
employees for some reason. Of course the Scottish facility was so much more…disciplined? Their days were centered around research and production, not
Potluck Day
…

Finally the pressure in his pants was decreasing as his anger started increasing.
They’ve brought it on themselves
, he thought as his concentration on the conversation ebbed only to be replaced by his encounter with Anne once again.

Such an opinionated little snipe.
And of course now, the pressure was increasing once again.
Damn
.

“That’s all for today. Get me the information I requested by Friday and we’ll reschedule this conversation,” he stated coolly waiting for the expected reply.

“Friday? Ah…that’s two days from now. That’s a bit aggressive,” the timid statement caused a grin to form on his lips.

“Then I suggest you get started right away,” he replied before the stabbing the button on the desk phone. He sat back and ran his fingers through his hair before looking down once more.

He should call Margaret. As soon he hit the ground in Edinburgh, he should drive over to her estate, let her take care of this problem in his pants, maybe take his mind off Anne and her smart, albeit skillful little mouth.

His hand immediately reached for his cell, turning on and scrolling through his contacts until he found the one he sought. His fingers tapped impatiently on the surface of his desk as the rings multiplied before a click and a very breathy ‘Hello’ filled his ear.

“Where are you?” she asked immediately.

“America,” he answered simply.

“Hmm. I dropped by yesterday and you were gone,” she stated.

“Really? And why did you drop by?” he asked in a low voice.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh? Was that it, just wanted to talk?” he asked in an almost knowing voice.

“Seriously. I really wanted to talk,” she stated before pausing a moment. “I…we…this arrangement we have. I can’t do it anymore. And…trust me, it’s not because of you. I’m…Oh god…I never thought I’d say this, but here it is,” he could hear her take a deep breath before continuing, “I’m in love.”

Her words caused a small snort of laughter coupled with disbelief on his end.

“You’re in love,” he stated blandly.

“Yes! I know! I…alright, I admit, I chased after him for a bit. He’s a little young for me, but…I can’t get him out of my head, you know?  Last weekend, well, let’s just say that I guess he feels the same way about me,” she admitted.

“How young are we talking, Margaret?”

“He’s twenty-eight. He’s a resident at Ninewells. I met him when I was visiting Dougal.” Dougal was husband number four for Margaret. The previous three had died, leaving Margaret with a substantial bankroll. Dougal was just as old, but actually divorced her for a younger version when he tired of her. She received a healthy settlement in the divorce as a result. At this point, she was probably more wealthy than he was. Their ‘arrangement’ worked for both of them. No emotions, just great sex.

“It’s amazing,
he’s
amazing. He thought I was Dougal’s granddaughter,” she giggled into the phone. “And yes, before you ask, I told him the truth. Maybe a little late, but I
did
tell him,” she added.

“What happened to Dougal?”

“He had a heart attack but you want to know the best part? His new wife couldn’t be bothered to leave Capri to be with him. I felt bad for him. I still have a spot in my heart for that old bastard. I don’t want to talk about him, though. I’d rather talk about Eachann.”

No thank you.

She was far too giddy, but at least her enthusiasm for another man finally served to calm the pressure that was plaguing him.

“Well, I’m happy for you, Margaret,” he muttered as the ring from his cell phone interrupted his next sentence.

Picking up the phone, he saw Shay’s name displayed on the screen.

“You’re not angry, right? Are we still friends?” she asked in a small voice.

“Aye. Of course,” he answered absently as his finger pressed the volume button on the cell phone to turn it down.

“I could have fallen in love with
you
, except for the fact that you’re emotionally unavailable.”

Now, what does that mean?

“OK.”

“See? That’s what I mean!” she exclaimed on a laugh.

“I need to take a call. Good luck, Margaret. We’ll talk when I get back, eh?”

“Sure, Ian.”

He pressed the button to cut off the call before swiping his thumb on the cell screen.

“Hey.”

“Hello. You’re coming over for dinner tonight. I won’t take no for an answer,” Shay stated emphatically.

“Perfect,” he muttered.

Going to Shay’s would keep him away from Anne tonight. Shay was motoring on about something in his ear but his mind was already fixated on the next phone call he was about to make. He would have the last word after all.

Chew on that,
Ms. Bennett
.

*****

She should have stayed in the bathroom.

In the space of a few hours, she had unwittingly become some type of folk hero in the building. Standing up to the man that everyone was terrified of and bent on avoiding; somehow managing to keep her job… Even Em had called to apologize profusely after someone must have called her. For someone so adverse to attention, she certainly brought it on herself with her mouth. Her
big
mouth, as McClellan so aptly pointed out.  The mouth she kept absently touching throughout the day.

She would stay away from the house tonight, just in case he might decide to pop in and make good on his threat to talk about their little ‘mistake’.

*****

Her eyes widened in shock, then narrowed before widening again as she read through the email the next morning.

It was a mass email, sent from someone in HR announcing changes to the Employee Handbook.

According to the text, a policy had been removed as well as a few minor changes but the removal was the one that captured and held her attention.

Page 8 was no more.

Her stomach fluttered and a small knot of apprehension coiled itself along her spine. Did he do that because of her? He wouldn’t be that
obvious
– would he?

It didn’t matter. She thought about it last night while she sat in the darkened cinema watching but not really absorbing the action movie playing on the screen. She thought about him while she lay in bed, waiting to succumb to sleep. Her fingers touched the lips that he had masterfully kissed before she yanked her hand away and kept it to her side. It was maddening. For whatever reason, her body just wasn’t respecting her brains wishes.

He was only here for a few more days. It would be best to avoid him at all costs. She stayed away from the company gym this morning. She would find somewhere else to pass the time tonight and tomorrow. He would go and hopefully stay away and she would concentrate her efforts on something much more constructive than her growing sexual interest in a man who was, for all intents and purposes, completely off-limits.

*****

“So I guess we’ll have you work with Em, at least until Jay gets back. I really do apologize for this situation. It’s just, well…we weren’t really expecting you and then McClellan shows up and throws this place into a tizzy and…I’m just sorry that’s all,” Harry Kerns stated before shrugging. He stood from his desk chair and walked around it, prompting Anne to stand up.

“Let’s go to the Lab. I know some of the other techs are interested in the fact that you’re a brain surgeon. I have to say that came as a bit of a surprise. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

He seemed to pause, maybe to consider his words. “Why?” he asked simply.

“Why what?” she asked, somewhat confused.

“Why would you go from brain surgery to this?” He swept his hand around his office, indicating…nothing, really.

The question
did
serve to heighten her discomfort, however and she felt her shoulders give an answering shrug. It wasn’t any of his business. She kept her mouth in check.