Summer Heat (10 page)

She was completely
alone in the room, having had an incredibly real fantasy that had caught her up
in a maelstrom of earth shattering delight until she couldn’t tell fantasy from
reality.

With a sigh she turned
on the shower. While she waited for the water to heat up, she heard the sound
of distant thunder.

Maybe a storm was
coming after all.

Bound and determined to
change things between her and Aidan, Melissa charged into the hotel’s
conference room. She was tired of being alone, tired of masturbating herself to
orgasm, and was more than ready for some rip-roaring sex of the Aidan Storm
variety.

Yes, she’d screwed up
with Aidan. She should have taken the hot sex he offered instead of worrying
about where it would lead.

It wasn’t going to lead
anywhere. They both knew that, and it was time she stopped trying to make a
relationship out of a little casual fling. He wanted the sex, she sure as hell
needed it, and she was going to get it.

She’d even dressed a
little differently today. A suit as usual, but this time she’d chosen one with
a little more color. The green matched her eyes, and the skirt was a tad on the
short side. Which was just fine. The more skin she revealed, the better.
Instead of her usual short-sleeved silk blouse, she’d slipped on a white silk
camisole that hugged her breasts.

Today might be a
working day, but that was no reason to miss an opportunity for a little
seduction. By the end of the day she’d have Aidan ready and willing to fuck her
until she screamed.

She set her briefcase
on the table and looked around, disappointed that he wasn’t there waiting for
her. The smell of strong coffee sailed under her nostrils and she strolled to
the bar and poured a cup. She turned quickly and smiled as the door opened.

Only it wasn’t Aidan,
it was Shannon.

“Morning,” she waved
and grinned. “I thought I smelled coffee in here and the pot by my office is
empty. I started a brew but I was too lazy and too desperate for caffeine to
wait. And why am I explaining all this in such boring detail, anyway?”

Melissa laughed. “I
know the feeling. I have a tendency to over-explain myself on a regular basis.”

“Mind if I sit?”
Shannon asked, pointing to one of the empty chairs.

“Not at all.”

Shannon slipped in to a
chair. She looked so cool and professional, no matter what time of the day or
night Melissa saw her. Today she was dressed in a pale blue dress. Simple, yet
very crisp. Her hair, thick and soft like fine sable, lay straight against her
shoulders.

“How goes the marketing
plan?” Shannon asked.

“Slow,” Melissa
admitted. “We have so much leg work to do first to make sure we have all our
ducks in a row, that we haven’t really settled on the official strategy yet.”

“Leg work? What kind?”
Shannon leaned back in the leather chair and sipped her coffee.

“For example, last
night we spent some time at the casino down the street to get a feel for their
setup, and maybe grab a few of their brochures and handouts.” Which, Melissa
reminded herself, she’d promptly forgotten to do. Where was her head these
days?

Not that her thoughts
needed an answer. She already knew where it had gone last night. Straight to
Aidan.

“Great idea. I’d love
to take a peek at the marketing brochures and your overall plan when you have
it drafted. It will help me develop the public relations angle so we’re
consistent.”

“Definitely.”

They talked about sales
and PR ideas for a few more minutes, until Shannon piped up with, “So, how do
you feel about my brother?”

Melissa nearly choked
on her coffee. “Excuse me?”

The corners of
Shannon’s lips curved. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. He’s
sharp, professional, really knows the sales aspect of the hotel business.”

“Not what I meant, and
I think you know that.”

It figured Shannon was
too smart to be waylaid, but Melissa wasn’t certain she was ready to discuss
how she felt about Aidan. As it was, even she couldn’t figure out her feelings for
Aidan. “Why don’t you tell me what you meant, then?”

Tapping a long
fingernail against the china cup in her hands, Shannon said, “I have a feeling
there’s something more than just business between you two.”

“No, there’s not,”
Melissa lied, unable to meet the probing stare of Shannon’s blue eyes.

“Hey, I’m not saying
there’s anything wrong with it. If you two want to dally, that’s your
business.”

“We’re not dallying.”

She arched a brow.
“You’re not?”

“No. We’re not. Well,
not really,” Melissa admitted.

Shannon laughed. “But
you’d like to?”

“I don’t know.” Which
was the truth. She was so confused about which direction to head it made her
crazy.

“Let me give you some
advice,” Shannon started, then turned when the door opened and Aidan walked in.
His gaze flitted to both Melissa and his sister, and he nodded.

“Mornin’,” he mumbled,
then averted his gaze and headed straight for the coffee.

“Good morning.” Melissa
figured she might as well start friendly, then she could work her way up to
steamy.

Shannon seemed in no
hurry to leave. “You look awful,” she said to Aidan, who glared at her.

“Gee, thanks.” He
stared down into the steaming brew in front of him.

But Shannon was right.
He didn’t look well at all. His face was drawn and dark circles had puffed up under
his eyes.

“Don’t you sleep at
night?”

“No. I’m a vampire.”

“You sure look like
one.”

Aidan lifted his head
and glared at his sister. “Is there a point to this inquisition?”

Shannon grinned. “Not
really.”

“Don’t you have work to
do? Preferably somewhere else?”

“Maybe.”

“Good.”

“Then again, I might
just want to hang out here with you two all day and listen to the marketing
angles.”

Aidan rested his head
in his hands. “I need aspirin.”

Melissa watched the
exchange, fascinated at the comfort level Aidan and his sister had with each
other, despite the overt sniping between the two of them. She felt no tension
in the room. It was almost as if this type of banter were a normal occurrence
for the siblings.

A pang of remorse
squeezed her heart. She’d missed out on so much being an only child. And now
that she was more or less estranged from her parents, who were both cold as a
Boston winter anyway, she felt more alone than ever before.

Shannon’s husky laugh
brought Aidan’s head up. When she stood, Aidan did too and she wrapped her arms
around her brother, who hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

“Brat,” he said.

“Ah, you love me.”
Shannon smiled at him.

Aidan shook his head
and smiled back. “Get out of here, will ya? I have work to do.”

Shannon stopped in
front of Melissa and said, “He’s all yours and good luck.” With a glance over
her shoulder at Aidan, she added, “Looks like you’re going to need it.”

“Thanks a lot.” She’d
need good luck, all right. In more ways than one.

After she left, Melissa
returned to her seat, wishing she’d had the chance to finish her conversation
with Shannon. What was it she was going to advise Melissa about?

She turned to face a
scowling Aidan.

“Ready to get to work?”
He turned toward the binders on the table.

Not really. She wanted
to talk about last night, about how stupid she was to push him away. But she
also sensed now was not the right time.

“Sure. Let’s do it.”

That sentence awarded
her yet another angry glare. Okay, poor choice of words. Maybe another couple
cups of coffee and getting down to work would loosen Aidan up a bit.

Or, maybe not. Four
hours later he still hadn’t surfaced from his irritated mood. Melissa couldn’t
figure out if she was to blame for his current state, or something else
entirely.

Frankly, she was too
cowardly to ask him, afraid he’d jump down her throat if she got the slightest
bit personal. He’d spent the entire morning steering her away from any
conversation about the two of them, despite her best efforts to subtly weave
last night’s events into their marketing strategy.

By lunchtime she’d
figured out that he was well and truly pissed at her for pushing him away last
night. From the way he was acting, it was clear he’d decided that a personal
relationship with her was a colossal waste of his time.

“Hungry?” she asked,
hoping for some sort of feedback other than grunts.

“No.”

At least it wasn’t a
grunt.

“I’m starving. Would
you like to go get something to eat?”

Head buried in
paperwork, he shook his head and mumbled.

“Was that a yes or a
no?”

“I said no.”

Wow, when he got
grumpy, he got very grumpy. “Fine. I’m taking an hour. I’ll be back.”

No answer. She heaved a
sigh and left the conference room, glad for once when the humid air hit her as
she walked outside the hotel. Anything was better than the freeze-out she’d
endured in the conference room.

* * * * *

Aidan shuffled papers
around the mahogany table, staring at his haggard face in the reflective top.
He looked horrible. No surprise considering he hadn’t slept more than an hour
or two last night, and those had been fitful at best.

First, Melissa had
churned his insides out at the casino, then stroked him with her hot little
hands until he’d come all over, followed by her abrupt about face and the
return of the ice queen. Then in all his fury he’d gone home and thrown himself
on the sofa, intent on drowning his sorrows with a couple beers and a wrestling
match on TV.

But did that happen?
No. The infernal magic leaped upon him and he’d found himself in Melissa’s
bathroom, forced to watch and feel her masturbate with a goddamn hairbrush.

A hairbrush. Not his
cock, which had been hard and aching for her. He sure didn’t rank high on her
to-be-fucked list, did he?

His guts felt twisted
in ten different directions. He didn’t know what the hell the woman wanted, and
frankly he was tired of trying to figure it out. By the time dawn rolled around
this morning, he’d resolved that trying to have a little fun with Melissa Cross
wasn’t worth his time. For the remainder of the time she was here he’d give her
professional courtesy only. No kissing, no touching and absolutely no sex.

And dammit—no magic. He
was already tied way too closely to her on a psychic level. Time to pull their
connection apart so he could sleep at night, and maybe find a willing participant
to satisfy his sexual desires.

Melissa wasn’t even
close to willing, so she was off his list.

He snorted out loud at
that one and scrubbed his hand over his face. Right. Like he even had a list.
But if he had, she wouldn’t be on it. She wasn’t interested at all.

Except this morning
she’d smiled at him, looking fresh and damned attractive in a short-skirted
suit that showed off her legs. She hadn’t seemed at all irritated about what
transpired last night, and in fact tried to bring it up on several occasions.

What kind of game was
she playing with him now?

The door opened and
Melissa came in.

“It hasn’t been an
hour,” he grumbled, refusing to look at her. He didn’t want to see that golden
hair streaming down her back, or the way the suit she wore brought out the
bright sparkle in her eyes, or her long, lean legs. If he didn’t look at her,
he wouldn’t have to feel her as if she were part of him.

“I know. I brought the
food back with me. I got a sandwich for you in case you changed your mind. I
didn’t know what you liked, so I bought turkey, figuring that would probably
work for just about anyone. But if you don’t like it I’ll trade my sandwich for
yours.”

“I told you I’m not
hungry.”

She ignored him,
chattering on while unpacking paper plates, napkins and wrapped sandwiches. “I
know you told me that. But it’s here if you want it.”

Truth was, he was
starving. But damned if he’d let her fuss over him as if she knew exactly what
he needed.

If she 
really
 knew
what he needed she’d be naked and lying spread eagle on the conference room
table right now so he could have 
her
 for lunch.

Melissa sat and ate,
reviewing the notes they made this morning about the new brochures. Aidan eyed
the sandwich she’d pushed across the table at him. His stomach finally grumbled
loud enough to catch her attention. When she arched her brow so smugly at him,
he thought about refusing to eat, then felt childish about the entire thing so
he grabbed the sandwich.

He had to admit he felt
much better after downing some food. At least appetite-wise. The rest of him
still suffered, and it appeared that pain was going to continue.

After they’d gotten
back to work, Melissa made a point of leaning against him, or touching the
sleeve of his shirt, or peering over his shoulder while he made some notes on
the laptop as she was doing right now.