Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series (14 page)

“
Not a nut, just
interested,” he disputed from behind his desk. “There’s a
difference, Edna. And how many times do I have to tell you to call
me Nathan?”

“
Mr. Cole is proper. I’m
sure Melinda insists on calling you Mr. Cole, as well, don’t you,
Melinda?”

Melinda turned to Nathan, grinning.
“Yes, Edna, I think Mr. Cole is proper.”

“
There, you see?” Edna
nodded smugly to Nathan. “Don’t argue with your elders, Mr. Cole.
Where would this world be without a little decorum between a boss
and his employees?”
Melinda blushed as Nathan looked down at his desk, containing his
smirk. “Yes, you’re right, Edna,” he nearly laughed out the words.
But when he glanced up at Melinda, the insolent smirk disappeared
and that torrid heat returned to his eyes.

Melinda went weak in the knees. “I,
ah, think I’ll get some water,” she blurted out.

“
You do that, dear.” Edna
wiggled into her desk chair. “When you come back, I’ll show you how
to pull up Mr. Cole’s itinerary on my computer.”

Melinda rushed out the office door.
She went to the kitchen and reached into the refrigerator. When she
found the row of bottled water on the top shelf, she greedily
grabbed one and held it to her face.

Relishing the touch of the cool bottle
against her hot cheeks, Melinda closed her eyes. She heard Edna’s
perky voice coming from the office and silently groaned.

“
At least I know one
thing.” She twisted the cap off the bottle. “Those visions of the
two of us weren’t my imagination.” She took a quick sip of
water.

Squaring her shoulders, Melinda walked
out of the kitchen, heading back to the office. It was time to get
down to the business of acting like Nathan Cole’s assistant, at
least until the effervescent Edna went home.

* * *

After Edna had showed her how to
download Nathan’s itinerary from the computer, sort his mail, take
down his messages just the way he liked, and completed a detailed
tutorial on her filing system, Melinda was given a reprieve when
Edna wanted to go to the kitchen for a cup of chamomile
tea.

“
Why don’t you sit here and
go through some of these files?” Edna prodded Melinda into her desk
chair. “Then you’ll get a good idea of how I type his letters and
keep track of his billing.” She waved a pudgy finger at Melinda.
“You’ll need to do all of this for him in case I’m out one day. His
office must run smoothly.”

Melinda didn’t bother to enlighten
Edna about her real job description. She had discovered Edna talked
better than she listened.

With Edna out of the room, Melinda’s
eyes made their way back to Nathan. He had taken up residence
behind his desk ever since his secretary’s arrival. Spending most
of the afternoon talking on the phone and working on his computer,
he never once looked over at Melinda. But as soon as he saw Edna
leave the office, he bolted from his chair.

Melinda’s heart rose to her throat as
he came bounding up to her. When he shot past her and quietly shut
the door, she hoped they would pick up where they had left
off.

Leaning his head against the door, he
released a pensive breath. “I don’t want you to think … I can’t
imagine what you think of me.” He faced her. “We should forget
about what almost happened here. Like I said before, you’re my
employee and I didn’t hire you to—”

“
Nathan, if you hired me to
work with Mary Poppins out there,” she thumbed the office door, “I
quit.”

“
Edna can be a little
trying on the nerves, but she’s a great secretary.” He wiped his
hand over his brow. “You know why I hired you, but you also have to
make it look good for my staff. I don’t want any rumors floating
around about you or me.”

Melinda nodded to the door. “Then
perhaps you should leave that open.”

He came toward her and gripped her
hand. “Come on.”

“
Where are we
going?”

“
I’m taking you back to
your place. You’ve spent enough time with Edna, and I can’t
concentrate when you’re in the room.”

When he reached for the doorknob, she
pulled at his hand, stopping him. “What do you mean you can’t
concentrate with me in the room?”

He opened the door, ignoring her
hopeful grin. “You know what I mean.”

When they stepped outside, Nathan let
go of her hand. “Edna,” he called out. “I’m taking Melinda back to
her place.”

Edna waddled out from behind the
breakfast bar with a mug in her hand. “Is something
wrong?”

“
No, Melinda’s had a full
morning of meetings with me, in addition to spending the afternoon
with you, so I’m letting her cut out early for the day.”

“
Lucky girl.” Edna waved.
“See you tomorrow, Melinda.”

“
Good-bye, Edna.” Melinda
went to the sofa to retrieve her purse and briefcase.

Nathan said nothing as he escorted her
across his knotted-pine floor. She caught glimpses of his thin lips
pressed into a mild grimace, and for a moment thought perhaps she
had done something wrong. But once they stepped into the hall
outside his penthouse doors, Nathan’s mood changed.

“
I want to thank you for
today,” he commented as they headed down the hallway to her
apartment.

“
You’re paying me, Nathan.
You don’t have to thank me.”

“
Am I paying you enough to
put up with Edna?”

“
No, I’m gonna need a lot
more.”

They both laughed and then ambled on
in silence. Melinda’s nerves were fraying at the edges as she kept
sneaking peeks at him. She tried to open her mind and read his
thoughts, but all she could see were shadows.

“
How long have you been
interested in pre-Civil War history?” she asked as they approached
her door.

“
Ever since I was a
teenager, I found the whole plantation-era culture
appealing.”

Melinda pulled her keys from her
purse. “Really, why is that?”

“
I’ll tell you about that
another time, perhaps.” Nathan cleared his throat as she placed her
key in the lock. “I need to know that you understand we have to
conduct ourselves in a certain manner.”

“
I understand, Nathan.” She
pushed her door open and stepped inside. “I promise to be your
assistant, read your friends and enemies, and block out every
thought you might have about me.”

He hovered in her doorway. “Hopefully,
not every thought.”

As Melinda explored his face, the
onslaught of images began. She was naked beneath him in the walnut
four-poster bed as he had her hands secured above her head and
slowly traced his lips down her stomach to the valley between her
legs.

“
You’re reading my
thoughts, aren’t you, Melinda?”

Melinda shook her head, scattering the
visions to the wind. “Stop thinking of me in that way, Nathan. It
only makes it harder for both of us.”

He cupped her slender face. “Tell me
what you saw?”

“
We were in your bed,” she
replied in a shaky voice. “You were … kissing me.”

He lowered his head to hers. “Did you
like the way I was kissing you?”

Melinda wanted to push him away, but
couldn’t. “Why are you doing this?”

“
Did you like what I did to
you in your visions?” he demanded, his tone harsher than
before.

She hesitated. “Yes, I liked
it.”

He lowered his lips, and right before
he was about to reach her mouth, he turned his head and kissed her
gingerly on the cheek. “I’ll make sure I keep having those thoughts
then,” he whispered against her skin.

Melinda vibrated with longing. Every
atom of her being wanted him, and Nathan knew it.

“
Do you enjoy doing this to
me, Nathan? I thought you were a gentleman.”

When he stepped back, there was a
contented smile on his lips. “How many lovers have you had,
Melinda?”

She stumbled against the door, shocked
by the question. “How many…?”

“
Lovers?” he reminded her.
“For some reason, I get the definite impression there haven’t been
that many.”

“
Ah …” The blush rose on
her cheeks. “Is that relevant to my job?”

His smile deepened.
“Absolutely.”

She dropped her eyes to the doorknob.
“Josh was my only lover. There hasn’t been anyone since he
left.”

“
No one?” Nathan appeared
perplexed. “Why haven’t there been any more than him? Surely, you
wanted to.”

“
I’ve dated a lot of men,
but I haven’t slept with them. I’m not a whore, Nathan.”

His smile vanished and his charismatic
brown eyes narrowed on her. “Forgive me. I never meant to imply you
were. I was just curious about your … experiences.”

“
Is that why you’ve been
teasing me with your thoughts? Because you thought I was
easy?”

His thumb brushed against her bottom
lip. “I wasn’t teasing you, Melinda. I was tempting
you.”

“
It has to stop,” she
pleaded, a rush of heat spreading throughout her belly.

“
I’m not going to stop.”
Nathan backed out her doorway. “I’m never going to stop fantasizing
about you.” He then strode toward his penthouse.

Melinda slammed her front door closed.
Never before had she known a man to purposefully torment her with
his lurid thoughts. If anything, she had spent her life running
away from such provocative visions and the men who had concocted
them. But Melinda no longer wanted to block out such images. It was
as if Nathan’s desire had awakened something raw and forbidden in
her. Even Josh had not enthralled her quite like this.

Infuriated, she threw her purse and
briefcase to the floor. “I can’t take any more of this. It’s sheer
torture.”

Walking into her living room, a sliver
of light from beneath the door to the storage room caught her eye.
Slowly, she made her way down the hall, and when she placed her
hand on the silver handle, she sensed danger coming from the other
side. Pushing her instincts aside, Melinda yanked the door
open.

A white mist quickly ran from one end
of the room to another. Melinda could make out long, slender legs
appearing in the mist. There was no body, no arms, and no head;
just legs, running across the room to the far corner.

Run
, a woman’s frightened voice said in her mind.

Then the mist was gone, and all that
was left was the hum of the fluorescent lights above.

Rolling her eyes, Melinda flipped off
the light switch and shut the door.

“
You should join forces
with Nathan.” She eased the jacket from around her shoulders. “That
way you can both drive me to an early grave.”

Chapter 10

“
Ellie, he’s driving me
nuts,” Melinda told her friend as they sat at a table outside the
Café au Lait Coffee Shop. “I’ve gone to three meetings so far this
week with him and it has been unbearable. You should see the images
that keep popping into my mind about the two of us.” Melinda rested
her head in her hands. “I had to leave in the middle of a meeting
yesterday and go to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. I
kept seeing these visions of him going down—”

Ellie held up her hands, interrupting
her. “I get the idea, Melinda.”

“
Every meeting where I’m
supposed to be reading the others in the room, all I can see is
him. Sometimes I even glare at him to let him know I can see his
thoughts, and the son of a bitch just grins at me.”

Ellie let out a loud belly laugh.
“He’s probably having the time of his life. He can think out all of
his fantasies and you can see them.”

Melinda lifted the coffee cup to her
lips. “It’s not funny. I haven’t been able to concentrate on
anything since I moved into his building.” She drank from her
coffee.

“
He certainly has found a
way to push your buttons.”

Melinda put her coffee down. “What are
you talking about?”

“
You’ve never wanted any
man before Nathan Cole. Look at the line of losers you’ve gone out
with over the past few years. You were just passing time with them,
but this man … well, he’s found a way to make you want
him.”

Melinda fingered the rim of her coffee
cup. “You almost make it sound like he’s planning this.”

Ellie tilted closer. “Isn’t
he?”

Melinda shook her head. “I told you,
he wants to keep it platonic. He doesn’t want sex to interfere with
my job.”

“
I think that’s exactly
what he does want, kiddo. It’s almost like he’s baiting you,
waiting for you to crack, so he can have you in all those ways he
keeps seeing in his mind.”

Melinda bit her lower lip, flustered.
“So what should I do?”

“
Sleep with him!” Ellie
shouted.

More than a few of the other patrons
of the coffee house seated outside on the sidewalk gave the woman
with the shocking pink hair a bemused look.