Head Over Heels for the Boss (Donovan Brothers) (9 page)

He ran his hand along the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”

“But you know you don’t like it.”

He gaped at her. “Did you read my mind?”

“No.” She laughed. “I just know you. We seem to be a lot alike.”

He sniffed a laugh. “So what am I thinking now?”

“That you’re glad I left your mother’s sweater back in the office so you can look at my boobs anytime you think I can’t see.”

At that he out and out laughed. “Right.”

“It is right. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, yeah. You think you’re so smart, but you forget that if you understand me because we’re so much alike, that also means I can figure you out.”

“Give it your best shot.”

“You’re thinking you wish I would have kissed you on Saturday night.”

Wow. The man was just a bit full of himself. She laughed. “What a load of crap.”

He whipped over and grabbed her arm, hauling her up against his chest. “Liar.”

And here they were. Butt up against the truth. Moving to Myrtle Beach might tempt her, but she liked him. Hell, she’d made a play for him at a wedding and he’d had to tell her to back off. Then she’d overheard gossip that reinforced what he’d said. But…

She liked him.

And now that they were getting to know each other, he liked her, too. He saw her as a beautiful woman… No. He actually
saw
her. Up until today, he’d looked through her. Today, he wasn’t just talking with her like a peer. He found her attractive.

And now she was in his arms.

About to become the town’s official gold digger.

Piper was the runaway bride. Ellie the prodigal daughter. And she’d be Isabelle Cooper, Gold Digger.

She couldn’t do it.

“You can’t kiss me.” She meant it. She really did. As soon as she figured out how to get out of her parents’ agreement with him, she intended to leave. She had to be strong. But her voice came out soft and breathy. Her words sounded like a token protest at best.

His throaty laugh was all the answer he needed, as he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers.

The zing that raced through her like a lightning bolt nearly buckled her knees. His mouth moved across hers roughly, sending arousal careening from her center to her toes. Her nipples blossomed to life.

Dear God, the man could kiss.

She pressed her palms to either side of his face, taking control of the kiss for fear he’d stop. They shifted from hot presses of their lips, to long, open-mouthed kisses that swept his tongue across hers and forced her to her tiptoes. His arms tightened around her, angling her breasts into his chest.

She groaned. All thoughts of moving to Myrtle Beach fled. She’d work her way around the gossip.
This
was what she wanted.

“Yoo-hoo, I’m home.”

LuAnn.

They jumped apart. Devon pivoted around and spun two paper towels off the roll behind him. He whispered, “Fix your mouth,” at the same time that he swiped the towel across his lips and tossed it into the convenient stainless steel trash can.

LuAnn stepped into the open area from the foyer. “Hey.” She walked over to Devon and kissed his cheek, Bob only a few feet behind her.

Devon cleared his throat. “What’s up?”

LuAnn laughed. “We forgot the whole reason we asked Izzy to have dinner with us tonight.”

Isabelle said, “I thought you were being polite.”

LuAnn faced her. “Oh, we were, dear. We love you. But we also need help with our wedding. We thought since you already work for the family, we could steal you for a few hours a week to get help with our wedding.”

“You want me to be your wedding planner?”

“You have done hundreds of weddings.”

Bob said, “Maybe even thousands. I know the whole fire hall bit inside and out. We can hire the Dinner Belles to do the meal. We figured you could handle the flowers and all those details we don’t know we need to handle.”

She glanced at Devon. He was the one who’d instigated that kiss. Almost as if he couldn’t resist her. She’d wanted him most of her adult life. And now that he was interested, wouldn’t she be a fool to leave without giving them time to figure out if they were meant to be together? Plus, she had two months before she had to give her parents an answer. LuAnn’s wedding might be the perfect reason to give to her parents for why she was staying in Harmony Hills.

She smiled at LuAnn. “I’d love to help with your wedding.”

Devon waved his hands for everyone to stop. “Wait a minute.” He held his mother’s gaze. “You’re a billionaire and you’re having your reception in the fire hall.”

“Everybody has their reception in the fire hall,” his mother reminded him. “Besides, we stayed in Harmony Hills because the people who live here are our friends. Sort of a surrogate family.” She faced Isabelle. “Back me up, Izzy.”

“That was my guess about why you stayed.”

“So why would we make our friends drive two hours to Pittsburgh, to go to a wedding in some swanky hotel just to prove we have money, when they already know we have money?”

Devon closed his eyes.

Isabelle stepped forward and gripped LuAnn’s hand. “I totally agree. And I will help you any way I can.”

LuAnn squeezed her fingers. “Money’s no object. So whatever you need, you buy. Any help you need, you hire.”

Isabelle grinned. “Sounds like fun.”

Bob leaned forward and whispered, “It will be.” Then he took LuAnn’s hand, turned her in the direction of the open area and the foyer, and said, “Good night, you two.”

When the door closed behind them, Devon crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the counter. “So, Benedict Arnold, that’s how you plan to get yourself respected by the people of this town?”

“First, I’m not betraying you. Second, this is temporary. This is me helping my boss’s mother.”

“Which isn’t going to look at all like you’re sucking up to me?”

She hadn’t forgotten that if word got out she and Devon were involved, she’d look like a gold digger, but she decided to worry about that if the time came. They had two months before she and her parents had to make a decision on the flower shop in Myrtle Beach, and for all she knew, the man would go back to ignoring her.

But if he didn’t…

“Hey, who, two seconds before your mother walked in, was kissing whom?”

“I think we were kissing each other.”

She grabbed her purse from the counter. She really needed to think this through a little more before she said or did something she’d regret. “Remember that. We are equals.”

And somehow during the time she had to plan LuAnn’s wedding, she had to figure out her future.

Move to Myrtle Beach and run her own shop, with her parents, in a new town where she might find everything she wanted?

Or stay with a man who kissed so well her toes still tingled?

Chapter Eight

D
evon closed the dishwasher door. The dishes had all been stacked inside. He’d cleaned the counters. Swept the kitchen floor. He turned out all the lights and climbed the flight of stairs to his master suite. Still, the effects of that kiss raced through his blood.

He couldn’t believe she’d tempted him into kissing her, but now that he had, he didn’t regret it.

He just didn’t know what to do about it.

Rinsing off in the big travertine shower of his master bath, he reminded himself that he didn’t want to hurt her. But that reminder was instantly countered by the fact that she planned on leaving him. Her parents were talking to her about a flower shop in Myrtle Beach. If he factored in things like negotiating the sale, the time it took the Coopers to get a loan, and closing, she could be here as long as two months—or as little as three weeks—depending on how eager the sellers were to get out of the business.

If they went into a relationship with the knowledge that it was temporary, didn’t that totally negate the possibility that he would hurt her?

Of course, it did.

He got out of the shower, dried off, and brushed his teeth before slipping naked under satin sheets. He thought of Isabelle there with him and knew that wouldn’t do.

Her car in his driveway overnight?

Every gossip and her dog would have a field day with that.

So an affair was out of the question.

Unless—

As much as he hated to think about it, hadn’t his mom said how much fun it had been to sneak around?

And hadn’t his mom and Bob kept their relationship a secret for two long years?

Even so, as “possible” as an affair now sounded, he reminded himself that Isabelle could sue him for sexual harassment if things ended badly, but knowing her the way he now did, he trusted that she wouldn’t. But even if she did, she’d made the first move. Hell, she’d basically made all the moves. Not only that, but at the wedding it had been clear that she’d hatched some kind of plan with Piper and Ellie. She couldn’t accuse him of sexual harassment when his very own sisters-in-law knew this was her idea.

His mind calmed because he made his decision.

If his mom and Bob could hide an affair for two years, then he and Isabelle could hide an affair for a few short months.

Now all he had to do was convince her of that.

A
t seven o’clock Tuesday morning, Isabelle tiptoed into her office. She wasn’t entirely sure of the point of trying to be silent, except that Devon had two months to make a play for her and she wasn’t helping him. If he wanted her, it had to be his idea.

“Good morning.”

Devon’s low, smooth voice stopped her in her tracks. As always, he was already here. He’d probably had three overseas calls.

She took a second to compose herself, turned with a smile, and said, “Good morning.”

He waved her into his office, where he sat behind the big mahogany desk. “I’ve been thinking about some of the things my mom said yesterday.”

And even though it was early, he wasn’t still in pajamas or sweats. Nope. He looked showered. His tan suit had been pressed to perfection. His apricot tie brought out the best in his coloring. Not one strand of his black hair was out of place.

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Sleep is overrated.”

“I’m serious.” She walked into his office. “Maybe if you gave yourself eight good hours of sleep you wouldn’t be so hyper about things.”

“I’m not hyper about things.”

“You’re not exactly thrilled about your mom.”

“I know.” He sat back. “And I have a plan to take care of it.”

She plopped down on the chair in front of him. She hadn’t dressed as cute and flirty as she had the day before, but when she’d opened the door to her closet that morning, she couldn’t bring herself to wear jeans or the ugly gray suit. So she’d put on a respectable navy blue skirt of Piper’s and paired it with a peach top and white beads.

“Don’t ruin this for your mom.”

“I’m not. Look at this from my perspective. She’ll be a lot more hurt if she finds out Bob’s a jerk after she marries him.”

“He’s not a jerk.”

“Then his life should stand up to a little scrutiny.”

She shook her head. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” He smiled. “And that’s where thinking about things my mom said comes in…for us.”

“For us?”

“Yes. We like each other.”

Not sure where he was going with this, she nervously shifted on her seat.

“But we’re both very cautious about gossip.”

“You worry about gossip. I want to keep my reputation intact.”

“Same thing. Anyway, my mom said she’d been seeing Bob for two years.”

“Which should make you feel a lot better.”

“It does…in some ways. Especially since I didn’t think it was possible to keep anything a secret in this town.”

“Lonnie Simmons kept the secret of her baby’s real father for twelve years.”

“Yeah, but she moved away. My mom and Bob kept their relationship a total secret while living in this town. Right under everyone’s nose.”

She sat back, put her elbow on the arm of the chair, and thought about that. “It is amazing.”

“It makes me wonder what else is going on in town.”

“I think you have enough to worry about.”

“I don’t plan on worrying about it. I plan on using it.”

“Using it?”

He rose, rounded the desk, and leaned against the edge. Close enough to touch, but not so close as to be intimidating. Still, ripples of attraction shivered from her shoulders to her stomach. The passion of their kiss filled her.

“If my mom and Bob could keep a relationship a secret, so could you and I.”

It was a struggle to keep her eyes from popping with surprise. “
That’s
where you were going with this?”

“Think about it. We both have more reason to keep it quiet than announce it. You want to protect your professional reputation. I want to protect my family. But you can’t deny there’s something between us.”

She cleared her throat. Given that just being close to him made her heart stutter then, no, she couldn’t deny it. And she had wanted him to be the one to make the next move. But sneaking around? Even the idea felt hollow, empty.

Her gaze rose to meet his. “You want to have an affair?”

“I told you that at the wedding.”

“I know, but it seems sleazy.”

He shoved away from the desk. “Okay, you think about it.”

“No.” Disappointment skittered through her. Though he really had told her at the wedding that he was an affair kind of guy, that hardly seemed like reason enough to give up a business opportunity. She wasn’t so stupid as to think he should immediately ask her to marry him, but she’d hoped the time they had together would be a time to get to know each other, consider things. But if he was this set in his ways, then this was a no-brainer. She rose and headed to her office to work.

His laugh followed her out the door. “I’m very persistent.”

“No kidding.”

“Like a dog with a bone.”

“Don’t make lewd comments.”

He laughed again, but the silence from his office told Isabelle he went back to work.

She opened the file she’d been reading the day before, but remembering Buds and Blossoms had another wedding on Saturday, she flipped the page over in her notebook and began a to-do list. Seeing that Devon was deep in thought and technically she was working for him when she did flower shop business, she placed a few calls ordering flowers and checking up on the Benjamin Brats. At ten, Devon told her he had a conference call and closed his door. She rose from her desk and got a cup of coffee. At noon, she told him she needed to go to the flower shop, but would be back and, true to her word, she returned a little after one.

The next day fell into a similar comfortable rhythm with both of them working and neither one of them talking about their attraction. Isabelle was glad. Even without any interaction between them, she thought about their kiss at least once an hour. But when days went by without any personal interaction, it started to bug her. Not because she was warming to his idea of an affair. She wondered how a guy could basically proposition her one day and then leave her totally alone the next.

Had he changed his mind?

She remembered their kiss, the passion, the heat, and fanned herself. She didn’t think he could change his mind after that…

So what the hell was he doing, ignoring her?

At five till five on Friday afternoon, he called her into his office. She took the seat in front of his desk.

“So…”

She frowned. “So?”

“Have you thought about what we talked about?”

Only every ten minutes. The part of her that had crushed on him for what seemed like forever pouted that the intelligent part of her refused to even consider it
.

“I thought you’d forgotten.”

He laughed. “Not hardly. What I was doing was showing you we could work together and still…you know…have a relationship. I was showing you I could keep the two separate.”

Well, wasn’t she the simple girl for not figuring that out on her own. “Oh.” She let it all sink in. “It was a rather easy work week.”

“I notice you also did some flower shop business from your desk.”

“I do work for you in both capacities.”

“I’m not criticizing. I’m noticing that you’re becoming better at time management. That you’re getting accustomed to working in an office. To having a boss.”

She sat back. One of her biggest concerns about working for him seemed to have solved itself. “Huh. I guess I am.”

He got up and walked to the front of his desk. “You’re showing signs of having the makings of a very good employee.”

Though she loved being her own boss, the thought that she was developing a new skill pleased her enormously. “I really am.”

“And you thought this would be difficult.”

“It
was
difficult the first week. It was odd and confusing.”

“And like a champ you stuck to it and this week you’re a star.”

“I wouldn’t say star.”

“Oh, come on, take a compliment.”

Realizing how normal she felt, she basked in the thought that she really was adjusting. She had a job, worked in an office, wore clothes that didn’t look like they came from a Dumpster. She was becoming the adult Isabelle that she’d always wanted to be.

She deserved this.

“Okay. I take the compliment. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He glanced at his watch. “And it’s five-oh-one.”

“What?”

He displayed his watch. “Little hand’s on the five. Big hand is on its way to the one. It’s after five.”

She rose from her seat. “If that’s a hint that I need to go, I’m going.”

He pushed away from the desk. “I pointed out that it’s after five because as of about a minute ago, I stopped being your boss.”

“You did?”

He sighed. “Isabelle, get with the program. From nine to five we work together. After that, all bets are off.” He took a step closer. “And now we’re just ourselves. Two people who are really hot for each other.”

When his voice dipped, goose bumps rose on her back. “You’re talking about the affair again, aren’t you?”

“Why not? We’re young. We’re attracted to each other. No, let me correct that. We’re
hot
for each other.” He smiled. “Aren’t you even a little curious?”

With him standing this close and memories of their kiss flitting through her brain, hell yes, she was curious. But she didn’t want an affair. She wanted so much more from him. “I can’t risk it.”

His head began to lower. “Really?”

His lips met hers.

And she melted. This kiss was slow and romantic, and maybe sexier for it. His lips brushed hers sweetly, sending heavenly tingles of delight down her spine. She raised her arms and slid them around his neck. He put his hand on the small of her back and edged her closer. Sweet, syrupy delight filled her with warmth that would soon turn into a fire. Her breasts tingled for his touch. Every inch of her yearned to be naked against every inch of him—

“Yoo-hoo! Anybody back here?”

LuAnn.

Again
.

This time Isabelle and Devon broke apart slowly. The volume of LuAnn’s voice told them she might be coming down the hall but she had some distance to go.

Shaken, barely getting her wits about her, Isabelle said, “This is the second time your mother’s interrupted us. If that isn’t proof we need to back off, I don’t know what is.”

“We don’t need to back off. We just need to find a place we can be alone.”

Isabelle marveled at the shine in his eyes, the happy expression on his face. “You’re enjoying this!”

“Hey, my mom and Bob said sneaking around is fun. I’m just getting into the spirit of things.”

LuAnn rounded the corner and entered Isabelle’s office. “There you are,” she said as she walked into Devon’s. “I’m so glad you’re here, Izzy. I was thinking a million thoughts about the wedding today, and I realized I have got to get a hitch in my get along.”

Isabelle said, “I’m sure we have plenty of time,” but LuAnn interrupted her.

“Did Bob and I not mention that we booked the fire hall for the last week in July?”

Devon’s eyes bulged. “The last week in July?
This
July. Six weeks from now?”

“We’re in our fifties, Devon. Time flies as you get older. We’re done wasting it. Otherwise, we’d still be having fun sneaking around.”

Devon caught Isabelle’s gaze, as if to ask her if she’d picked up on the having-fun-sneaking-around comment.

Before she could roll her eyes, her cell phone rang. She pulled it from her skirt pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and said, “It’s my mom. I’d better take it.” She pressed the button to answer the call. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, Izzy.”

“How’s it going in the golf capital of the world?”

As she spoke, Devon pulled his mom to the side. “You can’t seriously be getting married in six weeks.”

LuAnn said, “Devon, I’ve already told you. I’ve been dating this man for two years,” at the same time that Isabelle’s mom said, “I’m not calling to push you for an answer about the flower shop.”