Dancing in the Dark (13 page)

“It’s already up,” he said innocently.

“So I see.” She eyed him, tempted to accept the invitation again. Firmly, she said, “You’ll survive.”

“You have no sympathy, woman.” He kissed her shoulder again. “Anyway, if we show up at work together, it’ll give the gossips something else to talk about.”

“Jake, I don’t think anyone would be surprised about anything after today.”

He sighed and slumped back against the sofa. “I’ll bet. Damn those idiots! Don’t they know this isn’t any way to run a company?”

“Probably not. That’s why they’re the board of
directors.” She pulled her blouse on, forgoing bra and stockings, then slipped her feet into her pumps.

“You sure you want to go?”

She smiled at him. “No. But I really have to.”

He stood again, putting his arm around her as he walked her to the front door.

“Ahh … Jake,” she began. “Don’t you think you’re forgetting something? Like clothes?”

“Naaa.” He grinned. “I have no shame.”

“I can tell.”

At the door he gave her a long, lingering kiss that nearly seduced her into staying. Nothing was more sensual than being fully clothed while in the arms of a naked man.

Somehow she made it out the door … more vulnerable than ever.

Charity walked by the ladies’ room without stopping.

Actually, she slinked by, she admitted to herself without an ounce of remorse. She didn’t want to face another dead-silence greeting. And she didn’t want to face further fury about the health care memo. She’d probably wind up defending Jake and blowing any last vestige of her reputation.

Face it, girl, she thought, your reputation’s long gone. She was appalled at herself for walking out of work the way she had the day before … yet she’d done what was right. She didn’t regret anything that had happened between her and Jake. She had wanted to make love. And if she had it to do all over again, she would. He was right; it was personal between them. And it had been very personal until
she’d finally and reluctantly dragged herself from his arms to go home.

She reached her desk without incident, only nodding to the few people who were already at their own desks. Her backside had no sooner touched her chair when Dave materialized out of nowhere.

“Where were you yesterday?” he asked. His tone was snide and his eyes gleamed with knowledge.

“I took the afternoon off, Dave.”

“That was obvious. So did our boss.”

“I have work to catch up on,” she said, smiling blandly and shuffling through the papers on her desk.

“See that you do,” he snapped, and walked away.

“Happy now that you got your dig in?” she muttered under her breath.

Mary was the next one at her desk, along with several others among the Wayans staff, both men and women. Charity decided it must have been an interesting morning in the ladies’ room.

“Did you talk to him?” Mary asked.

Charity cleared her throat. “Well … yes.”

“And what did he say? About the health care benefits.”

“The decision came down from the board. He said he argued until he was blue in the face, but they had to cut them to help put the company back on its feet.”

Grumbles began all around.

“He’s going to talk to them again,” she added, wondering when exactly he’d be able to do that.

“I bet it’s illegal,” one woman said in bitterly angry tones.

“We all ought to quit,” said another.

“This place would collapse if we did.”

Slowly they walked away from her desk. Charity bet very little work would be done that day. Why did management do this stuff that took the heart out of everyone?

“Keep talking to him, Charity,” Mary said before she left. “He listens to you.”

“Mary, he does whatever he has to do, no matter what I or you or anyone says. We both know that.”

“But you get through.”

Mary walked away before Charity could reply. Why, she wondered, would Mary think she’d get through when no one else would? Besides, Jake was already on their side. He had to get through to his bosses, an apparently impossible task.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was back at her desk—and they brought friends. “We want you to talk to him now,” Mary said.

She gaped at them. “Now? Me?”

They all nodded, their expressions serious. Mary came around the desk, took her arm, and urged her to her feet. “Talk to him now, tell him how we feel about this. Maybe if we put pressure on him, he’ll put it on the board.”

“But … but …” Charity stuttered as they swept her along to Jake’s office.

Oh, brother, she thought. This was going to be a humdinger of a day.

Jake looked up as his office door opened. Charity walked in, his secretary squawking behind her, and a melange of faces in turn behind her.

“It’s okay,” he said to his secretary, who frowned but shut the door.

Charity made a face as she crossed the room and slumped into a chair. “I’ve been delegated to talk to you about the benefits.”

“I figured it was either that or my lynch mob.” He came around the desk and leaned against its edge, staring down at her. She looked beautiful, a contentment in her eyes he’d never seen before. And he’d put it there. With her prim gray suit, she didn’t resemble the sensual creature of the night before. He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the chair arms, and kissed her soundly. Her arms instantly encircled his neck, her tongue meeting and swirling with his. Perfume and woman filled his senses, beckoning him into the velvet vortex.

“Good morning,” he murmured when he finally lifted his head. “How about another ‘Great Escape’?”

Her arms slid away slowly. “Very tempting, but they’d come looking for us.”

“Probably. Okay, what do they want? And how did you get delegated to do this?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, running her hand through her hair. “Mary, I think. She seems to think I get through to you.”

“She’s not wrong. Did you tell them I lost?”

“Yes. They think you ought to keep the pressure on the board, and they’re going to keep the pressure on you.”

He looked heavenward. “Wonderful. Can I see you tonight?”

She shook her head. His stomach clenched as if he’d been hit, until she said, “I have a class.”

“Can I drive you? I’ll carry your books.”

She chuckled. “You’d be bored, hanging around for me.”

“I can reread
War and Peace
. And we could fool around in the backseat afterward.”

“After my class or after
War and Peace
?”

“Whichever comes first.”

She cleared her throat. “I won’t touch that line with a ten-foot pole.”

“Better not,” he agreed.

“Will you talk to the board again?” she asked, bringing the subject back to reality. “I think you should.”

“I already have a conference call scheduled for tomorrow at ten.” He smiled wryly. “I’m doing my best, Charity. Now they”—he gestured toward his door—“have to do their best and bring in the work.”

“I’ll tell them that.”

She stood and touched his cheek. Her hand was soft and comforting … and loving. He didn’t think he’d ever been so grateful for a woman’s touch before. He took her hand and kissed her palm. She shivered deliciously … then she was in his arms, kissing him with everything she had.

Charity’s heart was pounding by the time they finally broke the kiss. She laid her head on his chest, shuddering as his hands stroked her back. “Oh, Lord, Jake. What have we done?”

“Opened the floodgates, Charity. Can I take you to school tonight?”

“Yes.” She didn’t want to go to school. She wanted to go straight to his bed. She knew she shouldn’t, but it was what she wanted with all her heart. Not yet, she told herself. “Shall I tell everyone that you have a conference call?”

“Yes. Reassure them I’m on their side. But tell them, too, we’ve got some hard choices ahead, especially if we get the health bennies back.”

“You’re talking about people being laid off, aren’t you?” she asked, not raising her head to look at him. She didn’t know if she was ready for that.

“Yes. That can happen if we don’t get the work. It’ll be streamlining, however, not mass cuts.”

“They won’t like that, but at least they’ll be prepared if it happens.” She raised her head and was immediately swept up into another kiss. She gave herself over to it gladly.

Finally, she got out the door, praying she’d managed to fix her hair and blouse properly. To her shock, the crowd was still in the foyer of Jake’s office, waiting for her.

“What did he say?” Mary asked.

Looking around at the eagerly waiting faces, Charity wished she had better news.

“He’s already got a conference call scheduled tomorrow with the board to discuss the health benefits,” she said.

“Did you put the pressure on?” another asked.

She thought about the way his hands had roamed her body so desperately and the desire in his gaze. “Ahh … we discussed it at length.”

Everyone nodded, clearly finding this good news.

“He also said,” Charity went on, “that we must get the work in, new accounts, anything that can increase our cash flow and productivity. He said that even if he gets the benefits back—especially if he does—and the work isn’t materializing, we’ll have to face some other hard choices … like streamlining personnel.”

“What!” Hard grumbles went around again. Not only did no one like that idea, they all thought it was nonsense. She wondered what they would say about upper management keeping their health benefits and decided not to be the one to tell them. Things were bad enough, and maybe Jake would be able to get theirs back.

Charity sighed. It was going to be a long day.

“How was
War and Peace
?”

Jake grinned as Charity slid into the passenger side of his car. He shut the book on page 50 and kissed her hello. “Not bad. Pierre could do with a few men’s movement lessons.”

“Oh, Lord,” she muttered, settling her own books on her lap.

He started up the car. “How was class?”

“Okay. I’ve got several spreadsheets I have to analyze before next week.” She sighed. “I can squeeze that in between brushing my teeth and flossing. There’s five seconds of free time in there, I think.”

“Charity, if this government project is too much …”

“No,” she said quickly. “As I told you, if we get that project, it’s going to look very good on my résumé. That’ll be worth it.”

He nodded, relieved. It was nice to worry about someone. As she let him more and more into her life, he would be able to watch out for her even better. The kind of watching that didn’t mean she couldn’t take care of herself, but the kind of watching that came from caring. He cared very much, more than
he had ever expected. But he wasn’t about to press her yet.

He drove out of the parking lot and toward Milton. The conversation was about nothing in particular, just easy talk, until they neared the town.

“I know it’s late,” Jake began, “but will you come to my place for coffee?”

She was silent for a long time.

“Would you rather go to your house for coffee?” he asked at last. “Or a diner? I just thought my house was a little more private for you. It’s up to you if you’re ready to reveal our relationship to the world.”

She didn’t say anything to that, only asking, “Are we talking about just coffee?”

He was silent for a moment. “No. But if coffee is all you’d like, I suppose I can live with it.”

She looked down at her hands. “I know we’ve opened floodgates, Jake …”

“But you’re cautious.” He drew in a deep breath, hating this. But he knew that now he really had to let her set the pace. “Okay, just coffee and no pressure.”

She chuckled. “You? No pressure?”

“Hey, I can do no pressure.” He turned down his street. “The point is, can
you
handle no pressure?”

This time her pause was revealing, then she said, “Yes.”

He just grinned.

Inside his house he made coffee and they talked about Wayans. He felt as if they’d talked about the company more than enough on the ride to her class, and at work that day and every day, and last night, and before and before. The truth was, he wasn’t
looking forward to his conference call tomorrow. He told himself not to be pessimistic about his chances of success. If one were pessimistic, one was sure to contribute to failure. First rule of Genghis Khan.

Charity finally set her empty coffee cup on the kitchen table. “It’s time to go.”

Jake breathed out deeply. “Okay.”

He set their cups in the sink. When he turned, she was waiting at the kitchen threshold. Together they walked down the foyer. He was close enough to be aware of every inch of her body. He didn’t touch her. He wanted to so badly, his fingers actually curled into his palms and his stomach clenched with tension. All of this should be done now, he thought. Instead, his uncertainty about her was worse.

“Thanks for driving me,” she said, “and thanks for the coffee.” She added in a lower voice, “And thanks for understanding.”

He nodded and reached for the doorknob. So did she.

Their hands touched. Jake shuddered at the warmth that suddenly encompassed him. Raising his gaze, he found her staring at him, all of her emotions in her eyes. She melted into his arms, her mouth fierce on his, almost taking him by surprise with her intensity. Almost.

His tongue met hers instantly, eagerly, swirling around in a sensual duel. He dragged her against him until every inch of her was being absorbed by him. Her hands clenched at his shoulders with a desperate need that matched his own. He forgot everything and melded with her, knowing he was home.

•   •   •

“Well?”

Charity watched as Jake grimaced and looked everywhere except at her. She’d been delegated yet again to speak with him about the health benefits. Somehow everyone had gotten it into their heads that she was the best one for the job. A few people had made snide comments about her “relationship” with the boss, but they didn’t question her integrity. She supposed it was because this affected her as much as it did them, and she wouldn’t be that stupid to give away her own benefits with her love.