Absolute Zero (41 page)

“Annie?”

“Hmm?” She turned back toward the bed and padded around to her side.

“Why’d you do that?”

“Do what?” she asked absently as she settled herself next to him once again.

“Lock the door? Are you afraid someone’s going to steal you?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“I have no idea,” she answered back honestly. She kissed his lips to avoid any further questions.

*****

“This is Dr. Anne Bennett. She’ll be consulting on the Oxford Project.  She currently works in the American facility.”

All eyes around the table were pointed in her direction, causing her to shift in her chair.

“Hello,” she breathed out with what she hoped was a confident smile on her face.

“Right. So Lachlan has a desk for you, I’ll have you go with him after the meeting,” Ian stated. He seemed so poised, so professional it was almost difficult to imagine the stoic face at the head of the table was the same one that was gazing at her softly after pounding into her relentlessly the night before.

Do NOT blush.

She sat through most of the morning meeting, amazed at his interaction with the Scottish team. He was at ease, sometimes amused, talking freely and quite intelligently about the projects they were working on, almost as if he were personally involved in most of them. 

What a difference from his American visits. Of course, in the back of her mind, it only seemed to strengthen her belief that he was truly planning to sell the facility. His questioning of the team was minimal, his looks in her direction, on the other hand, were frequent causing her eyes to shift elsewhere.

If he was trying to get under her skin, he was succeeding admirably.

Operations, R&D and Finance had all given brief reports. Human Resources was last on the agenda.

“So we were thinking of having a picnic or maybe…well, we’re still meeting on that. What do they do in America, Anne?”

Anne’s eyes flitted up to the woman on the opposite side of the table. The HR Manager…
what was her name?

“Umm…well, I haven’t been there all that long,” she started. Suddenly, her eyes widened toward the woman. “We do have this…
thing
on a regular basis, though,” she purposely kept her eyes on the younger woman.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Potluck Day.” The resulting slap on the table’s surface caused her to blink but her eyes never moved even as she watched the other woman jerk involuntarily from the sound.

Something that sounded like a growl mixed with a quick blow of agitated breath erupted from Ian’s direction. She wouldn’t look. She could imagine his expression and it was all she could do to hold back that laugh that threatened to spew.

“Was it something I said?” she mumbled quietly, still looking ahead.

“All right, we can talk about that later,” his voice stated sternly. “We’re done here. Lach? I’ll send Ms. Bennett down to you in few minutes. Everyone else can go. Ms. Bennett? Please come with me,” he ordered crisply as he stood and walked from the room.

She stood up, returning smiles from the other meeting participants as she attempted to walk confidently toward the door in spite of her fluttering nerves.  She passed by a few doors before turning the corner and eyeing his open office door at the end of a short hall.

Her steps slowed considerably as she neared. Luckily his assistant wasn’t seated at her desk to witness the audible gulp that just sounded from her throat.

Here we go again
, she thought as she stepped through the threshold to see him standing in the middle of the room.

“Close the door,” he grated out, causing her body to turn and immediately do his bidding.

“I was only kidding, you know. Don’t you dare yell at me, I…” she started as she began to turn toward him. She couldn’t finish her sentence because all at once he was pressing her body against the door, his tongue overtaking her mouth. Her soft gasp of shock morphed quickly into a moan as she matched his movements with her own. His hands pressed her to him and any thought of propriety seemed to fly out the window when she felt his erection pressed against her.

“Mouth,” he whispered in an almost half-growl as his lips attached to her neck.

“I thought we had a no-accosting rule in the office,” she gasped out, her hands tightening on his shoulders before sliding to the back of his head.

“Only in America,” she could hear his muffled voice.

“Anywhere. This is a clear infraction of Page 10 Section 10.4,” she stated with her head thrown back to allow him better access to her neck.

“What’s that?” He was licking that spot right below her ear, causing her walls to clench.

“Sexual harassment,” she rasped.

He pulled back to study her. “You’re not going to recite it to me, are you?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I don’t know,” he seemed to contemplate seriously, “it depends. It
does
make me hot.”

He took a reluctant step back and grasped her hands in his. “Unfortunately I have a call starting in few minutes. Otherwise I’d lay you on my desk, push up that little skirt of yours …” he stated with a far off look. “Why don’t you come here for lunch?” he quickly added with a hopeful expression.

“Can’t. I’m having lunch with Lachlan. Besides, totally inappropriate, Mr. McClellan. You should probably take the time to read your own handbook,” she shot him a scolding look.

“Why? I have you,” he replied cheekily. “Now, turn around and run along. Stop coming to my office to try and seduce me. I’m a busy man, I don’t have time for this,” he stated in a mocking tone, turning her body toward the door and giving her rear a quick swat eliciting a surprised squeak from her mouth.

*****

“What are you
doing
?” she quickly grabbed the knife from his hand and placed it on the cutting board later that evening. “I said
cut
them, not
decimate
the damn things.”

He looked down at the mass of brown and back up to her. “I told you I don’t cook, besides, I like little chunks…”

“They’re mushrooms, they turn to mush when you cook them,” she stated on a frustrated breath. “Here,” she grabbed his glass of wine and placed it in his hand before tugging his arm. She pulled out a stool and nudged him to sit. “Just sit there and watch, then.” Without thinking, she gave him a quick peck on the lips and stepped away quickly when his hand reached out to grab her.

“No,” she admonished, swatting his hand away. “I’m starving,” she walked around to the ‘safe’ side of the island. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you did that on purpose,” she smiled before grabbing the pan of chicken and opening the stove to set it inside.

“You know me so well,” he quipped before taking a sip and setting the glass down.

“So, how was your day, Ms. Bennett?”

“I would say it was rather productive, Mr. McClellan. Of course, not nearly as
eventful
as the morning meeting…” she trailed off as she slid the cutting board toward her and contemplated the mass sitting on it.

“That’s right. I need to punish you, I almost forgot…” the tone of his voice caused her eyes to snap to his.

“For saying potluck?”

His eyes gave a small flare.

“It’s funny how a word turns you into a lunatic.”

“It doesn’t turn me into a lunatic; it just annoys me; that’s all.”

“It’s just a word. Potluck,” she added with widened eyes.

“Stop it,” he stated with a stern expression.

“Potluck,” she smiled slyly.

“Annie…?”

“What? Potluck,” she added watching his face turn into a scowl. “See? You’re about to go nuts. Potluck…”

“That’s it,” he gritted out, quickly pushing the stool away from the island and stalking around it. Her body automatically moved in the opposite direction. His forward progress only intensified causing her to jump and take off through the kitchen and out toward the living room.

“Potluuuuuuck!” she yelled out before her body was pretty much tackled from behind and dumped on the couch.

*****

“Shit,” her eyes were huge as they looked up at him. “The chicken. Do you smell that? Let me up,” she pushed against his bare chest and tried to disentangle her limbs from his.

Moments later they stood staring at the pan of burnt chicken breasts on top of the stove.

“All right. I’ll just make something else. You killed the mushrooms anyway,” she reasoned.

“Nah. I’ll take you to my Pub. Come on,” he said as he threaded his fingers through hers and pulled her from the room. He was only wearing his pants leaving his torso bare, she noticed as she watched the muscles in his back and arms contort. She had to avert her eyes lest she start salivating.

*****

“When you said you were taking me to your Pub, I didn’t think you meant
your
Pub,” she stated in a low tone an hour later.

Ian’s eyes were still glaring at the rather large, burly man behind the bar. His name was Jack and it seemed very clear that they were rather close.

“What?” the man asked innocently as he placed two pints in front of them.

“Technically, yes, I guess it’s mine, but I have no hand in running it. I bought it for purely selfish reasons,” Ian stated.

“I was this close to shutting down, so he bought it. Besides he’s here at least three nights a week. I couldn’t let him starve,” Jack answered. A smile was evident through his thick beard.

“See? Purely selfish.” Ian answered, shifting his gaze toward Anne once again.

“Besides, he owed me anyway,” Jack shrugged his massive shoulders before leaning both hands on the bar in front of them.

“Broke my nose twice, he did. Once on purpose, once by accident.”

“Really?” she asked with a raised eyebrow in Ian’s direction.

He only shook his head, averting his eyes to the low ceiling.

“We played rugby together. Best team in history, I swear,” Jack stated.

“That’s a rather violent sport,” Anne commented watching Ian’s profile.

“Yeah, well…Ian’s a verra violent man. Look at this,” he was waving his hand in front of his face.

“How about you go put in my food order before we make it three times?” Ian stated in a low tone.

“Hoh! See? Verra violent,” he laughed out.

“Jack?” Ian leveled a look at him that she was all too familiar with herself.

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’,” he pushed from the bar, still shaking his head before disappearing through a swinging door near the end of the bar.

“Rugby?” she asked.

“Aye,” he answered before taking a long swig of his pint.

That would explain his physique, she thought as her eyes swept over his torso.

“Did you really break his nose two times?” she asked his profile. He hung his head and shook it.

“Ian?” A woman’s voice sounded out causing his eyes to lift and a soft “Aww, geez” to come from his mouth.

“Halo! Well, it’s been too long. Ian, this is Eachann. Eachann, I told you about Ian.”

“Hello Margaret,” Ian stated on what seemed like a reluctant sigh.

He turned toward the source of the sound causing Anne’s eyes to follow. The woman could only be described as drop-dead gorgeous with her long, dark hair and perfectly proportioned facial features. The man standing next to her was extremely attractive also and younger looking.

“Mind if we join you?” she asked already pulling the stool situated next to him out from under the bar.

“Umm…actually…” Ian started.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” she turned her eyes to Anne. “I’m Margaret. Ian and I are old friends, and you are?”

Completely intimidated
, Anne thought as she gazed upon the woman’s face.

“Anne,” she stated instead.

“Well, it’s verra nice to meet you, Anne,” she stated with a smile. Her eyes seemed to assess her for a moment longer than necessary, at least in Anne’s opinion.

“So we just popped in for a bite. It’s so good to see you, Ian. Where’ve you been keeping yerself?” she asked in a soft brogue.

“I’ve been…around,” he answered cryptically.

“Hmm. Well, Eachann’s on call tonight so no drinks for him,” she patted the man’s hand next to her. “You can buy
me
a drink, though,” she stated as she rested her chin in her hands, her elbows resting on the bar. Her attention shifted toward Anne once again.

“So, Anne. Where are
you
from? I haven’t seen you around,” she asked.

“Anne’s from America. She’s visiting the facility here,” Ian answered for her.

“Oh! America! You work for Dunmed?” Margaret asked.

Anne gave a quick nod in answer.

“Well then, what do you do there?”

“I…work in R&D?” Anne answered.

“R&D? Are you a scientist then?”