Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It (32 page)

He turned to watch through the opening over the breakfast bar as the door opened to reveal Jenny. Her hair was the same color as Ronnie's, but cut short. He wondered if that was because of the treatment she'd undergone in France.

She dropped her backpack on the table by the hall closet and then moved toward the kitchen. She stopped when she saw him standing by the active coffeemaker. Hazel eyes went wide as her gaze traveled over him.What ? Had she expected some kind of monster? It wouldn't surprise him.

Ronnie would have had to explain to her kid sister why she hadn't told him about Aaron. He could imagine just what kind of role he'd played in the story.

"Hi, Jenny. I'm Marcus." Might as well get the introductions out of the way.

She regarded him with a steady gaze, hazel eyes expressing knowledge beyond her seventeen years. "I figured that out. Veronica doesn't date much and lately the only man on the horizon has been the ogre she was terrified of telling about her son."

"Jenny!"

Both he and the teenager turned toward the sound of Ronnie's shocked voice. She stood in the entrance to the living room from the hall, her expression full of chagrined embarrassment.

He looked at Ronnie, though he answered Jenny. "I'm the ogre."

Ronnie's mouth drew in a familiar tight line. "I did not call you an ogre. Not once."

"No, I did," Jenny said, with sassy candor.

He found himself laughing and winked at Jenny. "I prefer Marcus, but if you really feel the need to call me by a nickname, ogre will do in a pinch."

Surprisingly, she smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

He turned to pour himself a cup of the finished coffee. "Anyone else want some?"

Ronnie came into the kitchen and pulled out the sugar and a spoon for him. "No, thankyou."

"I'd love some, but Veronica thinks it's bad for me." Jenny smiled at her sister to soften the complaint and Ronnie smiled back, her face going soft in a way that made Marcus feel protective.

She'd been through hell with her sister and he wasn't going to let her go it alone any longer.

"It is bad for you," he said.

"Then why do you drink it?" Jenny asked, with a superior tilt of her youthful face.

He shrugged. "Because I like it."

"A cup a day is supposed to be good for asthma. Do you have asthma?"Jenny asked, her eyes twinkling with humor.

"Nope."

"Too bad. I guess you just have to call it a vice then."

He stirred a heaping teaspoon of sugar into the steaming liquid and nodded. "I guess."

He took a sip of his coffee. It tasted Puerto Rican and it smelled like Heaven.

"So, what did you think of Aaron? "Jenny asked.

The spoon Ronnie had picked up clattered into the sink.

She'd done it on purpose, the little scamp.

He forced himself to swallow the hot liquid without choking, then turned his head to give Jenny the benefit of his undivided attention and answered her with absolute honesty. "He's completely amazing."

Jenny's face, which had been lit with mischief, sobered and her eyes warmed. "Yes, he is. He's a wonderful little guy, even if he doesn't sleep at night when he's teething."

He leaned back against the counter, crossing one ankle over the other, and took another sip of his coffee. Jenny scooted around the counter and took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar while Ronnie hovered near the sink, wiping a nonexistent spot on the Formica with a dishcloth.

"So, like, are you two going to get back together, or what? "Jenny asked, in another bout of grueling candor.

Ronnie froze and her gaze flew to Marcus, pleading, but for what? Didn't she want him to say anything about his offer of marriage? Too bad. He wasn't going to be the bad guy in everything.

"I'd like to," he admitted truthfully. "I've asked your sister to marry me."

Ronnie laughed at that. "Yeah, right."

"You're saying he didn't ask you to marry him?" Jenny demanded, with avid interest written all over her thin but youthful face.

"Yes."

"Like hell—" he exploded, but Ronnie cut him off.

She fixed him with her librarian look. "You didn't ask. You told. There's a big difference even if you can't see it."

Hell. Is that why she'd balked at the idea?

"It's been a rough day. I wasn't at my romantic best," he admitted, feeling the skin on the back of his neck heat.

She probably thought he'd make a good running for Neanderthal man.

"You're serious?"Jenny asked, all mischief, humor and teenage superiority wiped from her expression. "The ogre wants to marry you?"

Ronnie glared at him as if saying,look what you've stirred up now , while nodding for her sister's benefit.

"I thought he was no ties, no commitments." Jenny sounded dazed.

He felt his jaw clench. "Your sister didn't know me as well as she thought she did."

"Excuse me, Idid ." Ronnie slapped the dishcloth into the sink. "You told me you didn't want a commitment, that it was all about sex, and you can damn well accept it."

Jenny sucked in a breath when her sister uttered the uncharacteristic swear word. He was getting used to it. When Ronnie got mad, she lost her grip on the controlled facade she always wore.

He took a deep breath and let it out. He couldn't deny her words. He had spouted that garbage, because he'd believed it. It never had been anything more than sex before with a woman, and it had shocked him that the little automaton could be the one to spark deeper feelings in him, feelings he'd never before believed in.

Rather than try to explain the inexplicable, he focused on something he could get his teeth into. "I don't think we need to discuss our sex life with your teenage sister."

"Why not? I've been living with the results of it for ten months. "Jenny quipped.

Ronnie's hands fisted at her sides and her eyes filled with painful confusion before she turned her head away. Marcus had this crazy urge to pull her close and tell her everything was going to be okay.

Instead, he frowned at Jenny. "You've had a privilege I would have given anything to share."

She nodded, sympathy softening her expression for a second. "I bet. I told Veronica that just because you didn't want her didn't mean you didn't want to know about your kid."

Jenny had a point. Even if Veronica had believed he didn't want to make a commitment to her, there was no reason for her to assume that meant he'd feel the same way about a child. Except her fear that he might try to take that child away. Had she told Jenny about that? He didn't think so.

Hell, he bet she hadn't even told Jenny about the fiasco with Hypertron and how she'd managed to raise the money for Jenny's treatment in France. That would be just like Ronnie to hide the ugly reality from her sister and carry the burden alone.

He poured the remaining coffee in his cup down the sink and headed for the door. Ronnie re-mained in the kitchen in frozen silence while Jenny watched him with assessing eyes.

He stopped at the door and spread his gaze between the two women. "But the point is that I do want your sister."

Chapter Eighteen

"What in the h-e-double toothpicks is this?"

Allison flicked her gaze to the piece of paper in George's hand.

"I believe it is self-explanatory." It was her resignation with a request to be released from employment as soon as a suitable replacement could be found or two weeks from yesterday, whichever one came first.

She'd spent the night before considering her future and coming to the conclusion that it would not include George Kline. She respected herself too much to be any man's sexual fix, and since that was all she was to George, 3he had to get out of his life.

"You are not quitting over that dumb-ass argument we had yesterday."

"No, I'm not."

That stopped him. "Then what is this about?"

"It's about respect. You respecting me, which you don't, and me respecting me, which I do. Too much to continue working for you."

He crossed to her desk and pulled her out of her chair. His hold wasn't harsh, but it was firm. "I'm not letting you go."

Being this close to him was killing her, but she stuffed her emotions… like she always did in the office. "I realize it will be inconvenient for you to hire and train another PA, but it can't be helped."

"Am I supposed to train another lover too?" he asked, his tone biting.

She winced. "Yes."

He shook his head. "It's not going to happen. You aren't leaving me, lady. You belong to me, you got that?"

"An employment contract is not a slave agreement. I can move on to another job if I like."

His face went ashen. "This isn't about your job, darlin'; this is about us."

He'd never called her darlin' in the office before. Why had he waited until today to do it? It-might have meant something before.

"My job is the only role you really care about me playing in your life. You proved that yesterday. I'm not staying and you won't seduce me into changing my mind."

"Why didn't you answer the phone last night?"

"I unplugged it."

"Did you unplug the buzzer for your apartment building too?"

She shook her head, her throat clogged with emotion. She'd ignored the multiple buzzes, just as she'd ignored the pounding on her door when he'd obviously gotten another resident to let him in.

"I hurt you yesterday."

"You think?" Sarcasm wasn't her thing, but sometimes it was all that would do.

"I didn't mean to."

"I don't care."

He dropped his hands and stepped back. "I never suspected you of the espionage."

"You didn't tell me about it."

"That was me being independent and dumb."

George admitting fault? Unbelievable. "It doesn't matter."

What they had was over.

"It matters all right. I'm not letting you walk out of my life. I can't force you to work for me, but I'm not giving up on us, and you can take that to the bank, darlin'."

Then he kissed her. Right there in the middle of her office, where anyone could see. And it wasn't a quick kiss either. It was long and slow and sensual.

When he pulled back, she was swaying.

He gently propelled her backward until she landed in her chair. "You belong to me and don't you forget it."

He kissed her again, hard and fast, and walked back into his own office.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me that you and Marcus were an item." Sandy's voice rose in chagrined condemnation as she walked with Veronica toward the cafeteria.

Coffee had sounded good to Veronica's sleep deprived brain. How was she supposed to get even a partial cycle of REMs with the prospect of marriage to Marcus dominating her every waking thought,waking being the key word?

Still, she almost wished she'd refused the lure of caffeine if it meant dealing with Sandy in a thwarted mood. And her gorgeous blond friend was feeling very thwarted that morning.

"I mean, can you imagine how I felt when he told me you guys were dating? Here I'd just made a play for my friend's boyfriend? It was so embarrassing. " Sandy didn't look embarrassed. She looked aggravated.

"You didn't have anything to be embarrassed over," Veronica tried to say soothingly, but she realized her voice had come out sounding a tad annoyed.

It wasn't as if Sandyneeded another conquest. The woman had more than her fair share of men.

"You didn't know Marcus was interested in me."

"You could have told me. Idid ask ."

Remembering the message Sandy had left Monday morning, Veronica felt the stirrings of guilt. "I didn't call you back because I got busy. And you asked if I knew if he was involved with anyone, not whether or not he was involved with me."