This book is dedicated to
Doss, for his encouragement;
to Pete, for typing it;
and to my children, who were patient with me.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
A Biography of Mary Kay McComas
“WHAT AM I doing here?” Jan Harper had asked herself that same question at least a hundred times since she’d arrived in New York. “And where is that old poop, Toliver? I can’t stand around here all day.” Jan eyed what she supposed was a piece of modern art standing in the corner of the boardroom of Toliver, Inc. “And what the hell is that?” To her it looked like a collection of scrap metal welded together haphazardly with no regard to symmetry, purpose, or even pleasure to the eye.
Her own eyes were dry and scratchy from lack of sleep. Her lids felt heavy, and she was afraid to blink for fear they would remain shut. Every muscle in her tall, slim body was threatening to go on strike if she didn’t find someplace to lie down soon. Her headache had subsided to a dull throb in her temples, but her nerves were still standing on end. Jan’s cool, calm front threatened to shatter into a million pieces.
The heavy oak doors of the boardroom opened finally, and Jan’s eyes turned toward it, as did the other eight pairs of eyes in the room, belonging to the various heads of departments gathered there for an executive committee meeting of Toliver, Inc.
In her fatigue-induced stupor, it took several seconds for Jan to register what she saw. She’d been expecting an older man, but this was ridiculous. This man had to be over eighty if he was a day. He was shorter than Jan’s five feet seven inches, and very thin. Well, how am I going to jump all over that poor little man, she thought with disappointment.
Her summons for a command performance at this meeting had been waiting for her the night before when she’d returned to the Western Division of Toliver, Incorporated, in Denver after two very long days of researching and visiting possible sites for the ever-expanding Toliver empire. She’d been very surprised at first, as she’d never had any contact with the hierarchy of the company before. She was an industrial site planning consultant who did most of her work for Toliver, Inc., but whose only contact was Gil Anderson, Director of Planning in Denver. He sent her reports and recommendations on to New York. Here they were considered by this executive committee, then reconsidered by the board of directors. The decision to accept or reject her recommendations came to her by reverse order through Gil.
At the moment she was more than a little disgusted with this Mr. Toliver. She’d done several projects for him and was still miffed about a particularly juicy stretch of industrial land in Arizona she found for him the previous year. She’d sent her report in, convinced that he would send her a Nobel Prize by return mail. Three weeks later she’d been informed that he had gone with his own original choice in the L.A. area. She had plotted and researched that area for him, too, but the Arizona land was cheaper and a more accessible location with equal resources. At the time she had decided he was a total fool, but, seeing him now, thought that maybe he was a little senile.
Jan’s time was sorely limited at present, so she’d flown cross-country overnight to spend the day in New York discussing her latest project, which she’d submitted over a month ago. It wasn’t quite the first-prize job the Arizona deal had been, but her recommendation beat the stuffings out of both of his preferred land choices. Jan was bound and determined to make him see reason this time. Then again, at his age maybe he had more money than sense.
The little man cleared his throat and spoke clearly but softly. “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Toliver has asked me to beg your patience. He has been detained, but plans to make his appearance as soon as possible. He indicated to me it would not be more than thirty minutes.”
Looking around, Jan noticed that after their initial inspection of the little man, the others in the room had dismissed him and gone back to their own private thoughts and discussions. They took his announcement in stride and didn’t seem to notice that he didn’t leave the room.
He walked somewhat slowly but steadily to a small cart to the right of the large double doors. He poured a cup of coffee and placed it on a silver tray with the cream and sugar. Picking it up, he turned slowly and began walking in Jan’s direction.
The closer he got, the more Jan realized her initial impression wasn’t completely correct. He looked to be in his sixties and he was far from senile. His eyes, watching and assessing her in return, were a sharp, clear pewter gray. He had a thick thatch of gray hair, which was neatly groomed. The gray of his hair, the gray of his eyes, and the erect carriage of his small body all distinguished him as a man of great wisdom and knowledge.
It may have been all the years she’d spent with her own very wise grandfather that prompted Jan to instantly respect this little man, or it may have been the fact that he was also bestowing on her the first friendly smile she’d had all morning. For both reasons she smiled back.
“Ms. Harper?” he asked softly.
“Yes.”
“My name is Hobbs. Mr. Toliver asked me to make sure you were comfortable until he got here. Would you like some coffee?” he asked, offering her the tray.
She had already drunk enough coffee in her effort to stay awake and the mere smell of this rich brew almost made her nauseated, but she took the cup, saying, “Thank you, Mr. Hobbs.”
“Have you had time to get settled in the hotel suite, or did you come straight from the airport?” he asked politely.
“Well, no, I …” Her voice trailed off as she heard her name coming from someone seated at the large oak table in the middle of the room. Glancing over, she couldn’t tell at first who was speaking.
“Harper? Did you say your name was Harper?”
“Yes.” She turned to a slightly overweight man on her left. He was a balding, dark-haired man with dark eyes and pinched lips. His face looked to be on the angry side with some apprehension mixed in. The combination gave Jan the feeling of being an unwelcome adversary and put her on the defensive immediately.
“J. P. Harper? From Denver?” the man continued.
“Yes,” she repeated.
“What are you doing here?”
Jan almost laughed, as she had been asking herself the same question, but he had directed it at her with such hostility that she thought better of it. “I was asked to come by Mr. Toliver,” she replied calmly in her low, husky voice, made huskier from lack of sleep.
“Why?” he demanded.
“I’m not sure, Mr. …”
“Talbet. Charles Talbet,” he filled in the blank for her.
The name was familiar to Jan. Charles Talbet was vice-president of operations for Toliver, Inc. It was to him her reports and recommendations were submitted for presentation to Mr. Toliver, this committee and the board of directors. Obviously, he knew who she was.
“I’m not sure why I’m here, Mr. Talbet. I presume it has something to do with the plats I recommended for the Computer Research Center and Assembly Plant last month,” she informed him. While she spoke she watched the anger in his face increase and she instinctively stood taller and straightened her tired shoulders in preparation for battle.
“That’s ridiculous,” he stated flatly, his voice rising angrily. “I’ve already presented that proposal and I’ve recommended the southern California site.”
“The southern California site …” She trailed off, confused. That was ridiculous! The Nevada land was cheaper and larger, so both units could be built together to make it even more economical. The natural resources were perfect, not to mention the sociological makeup of the surrounding communities. Suddenly her fatigue began to dissipate, taking with it her calm, her patience, and her temper, all of which she would normally have had more control over.
She thrust out her strong, determined chin. Her moss-green eyes began to darken and snap with anger. She flipped her head to one side, tossing her shiny shoulder-length auburn hair to one side.
A wiser person would have detected these subtle changes in Jan and would have considered it a day and gone home. Mr. Talbet was not a wise man.
His eyes slowly moved down her obviously feminine form, taking in her pale pink cotton shirt with its rolled-up sleeves that fit her loosely but showed off her curves in a very appealing fashion. He glanced at the apple-green pullover sweater tied loosely around her shoulders by its sleeves then moved down her body to take in her slim waist and lean, softly rounded hips and long, firm legs wrapped in the form-fitting jeans she’d worn for comfort on the plane. He briefly noted her white running shoes, then began his slow ascent, his eyes resting on her breasts once more before he began to speak again.
“You know, Ms. Harper,” he said snidely, emphasizing the title before her name, “the casual work atmosphere in the West may work … in the West, but it doesn’t make much of an impression here. It’s my impression that a person’s personal habits reveal volumes about his … or her work habits.”
Practically blinded by red hot anger, and with her hands fisted, she walked lithely past Hobbs and halfway down the table until she was directly opposite Charles Talbet. She slowly laid her hands, palms flat, on the table and met Talbet’s gaze with her own.
“You pompous …” She stopped herself, thinking name-calling wouldn’t be a terribly mature move, and although she had a whole list of things she’d like to call him, it would serve no purpose.
“Mr. Talbet,” she started over, taking in a slow, deep breath, “I would like to apologize for my attire this morning. You might like to know, I did bring something you would have found more appropriate for this auspicious occasion, but I foolishly set my bag down in the ladies’ room at the airport, and when I went to retrieve it, it was gone. The authorities at the airport advised me not to expect to see it again.” She paused briefly to take another deep breath, then continued, her eyes never wavering.
“As to your insinuation that my casual attire reflects casualness in my work, I’d like you to know that I have spent the last two days crawling through courthouse records, talking to some very boring real estate agents, and slogging around in mud up to my knees, plotting lots for a floppy disk factory for this company. This is my third day without sleep, Mr. Talbet,” she went on in a low, husky voice that did nothing to conceal her fury, “but I’m still strong enough to tell you I do damn good work for this company. And I’m still awake enough to see that only a fool would pick the southern California sites over the site in Nevada. Since you’ve already proven my point there, then I’ll concede a point to you, Mr. Talbet. It is ridiculous for me to be here.”
Taking one last look at an astonished Talbet, she straightened to her full height, turned on her heel, and walked briskly to the door.
Thank God for Hobbs, Kevin Toliver thought as the elevator doors swept open on the fourteenth floor and he headed for his office at a harried pace. That damned Jeff Manning can talk your face off.
The early morning breakfast meeting had been Manning’s idea of a good time to discuss the Toliver purchase of a Manning subsidiary. Manning was a tough, shrewd businessman and Kevin respected him for that, but the man could talk forever on any given subject and now Kevin was late for his own executive board meeting.
It was a little embarrassing, especially since he’d wanted to make an impression on J. P. Harper this morning. With any luck at all today, he’d convince Harper to come to work for him permanently and take Talbet’s place on the board. Last week when he had discovered what Talbet was doing, he’d almost fired him on the spot. After careful consideration, and with Hobbs’s restraining hand on his shoulder, he had decided to give the man a chance to retire gracefully. Talbet was basically a good man and had served the company well for twelve years. Kevin had been vaguely aware of some domestic problems in Talbet’s life lately, and he was sorry they had gotten so far out of hand, but dishonesty was dishonesty, and Talbet had cost the company millions of dollars last year with the Arizona proposal he had concealed.
This Harper guy did great work. He’d definitely be an asset. To top it off, when Kevin read over Harper’s employment record, he’d discovered that J. P. Harper had worked his way rapidly through the ranks at Manning Industries and had left the position of vice-president of operations there two years before to strike out on his own as an industrial site planning consultant.
This morning when Kevin had mentioned to Jeff Manning that he was going to try to get J. P. Harper for the same position on his own board, Manning had appeared startled, then somewhat thoughtful as he’d said, “Well, I never had any complaints about the kid’s work. The move back to New York will be your biggest obstacle.”
“I’ll just have to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” Kevin decided.
Approaching the boardroom, Kevin noticed that the doors had been left wide open. As he slowed his pace to glance into the room, he saw that everyone’s attention was riveted to the far wall. There, standing beside Hobbs, was an incredibly lovely sight to behold at this time of morning—actually, she’d be a pleasure to look at any time of the day.
The woman had reddish-brown hair the color of chestnuts. Even under the concealed fluorescent lighting it sent off sparks of copper and gold. He couldn’t see what color her eyes were, but they were large and expressive. She looked tired, and angry about something. His eyes slid down her figure of soft curves and swells, and even dressed in jeans—or maybe because of the jeans—he felt his breath catch in his throat.
Who was she? Maybe Harper’s wife or girlfriend? The thought that she might belong to Harper sent a sudden flash of disappointment through him. Oh, he’d known and had his share of beautiful women, but this one was exquisite and, oddly enough, it rankled him to think that he wouldn’t be able to touch her because she belonged to someone else.
He glanced around the room for Harper. The only unfamiliar face in the room was hers.
With eyes squinted in speculation, he continued on down the hall to his office. After a brief good morning to his secretary, Katherine, Kevin was pushing aside papers on his desk until he came up with the file he was looking for. There it was. “J. P. Harper. Industrial site planning consultant. Denver. Last employed at Manning Industries as …” Yes, yes, he knew all that.
Flipping to the back pages of the file, he read, “Janelle Patrice Harper. Female. Twenty-seven. Single.”
He shook his head in amusement.
With a light step and an exciting sense of anticipation he gathered up the rest of the materials he needed and set off back to the boardroom, his secretary in tow.
A normally easygoing, relaxed Jan could remember only one other time in her life when she’d been this angry. Two years ago, here in New York, she had raged with anger and pain and frustration at her father, whom she had once loved very much. Just recalling that day brought back the disappointment and disgust she felt for him in wave after wave of intense pain.
The memory helped to fuel the anger she felt for that pompous Talbet. Her brisk pace had picked up the momentum of a locomotive by the time she reached the boardroom doors. Still blind with fury, she nearly knocked herself out cold when she collided full force with what she thought was a wall.
Dizzy and winded from the force of the impact, Jan was stunned when two large hands grabbed her upper arms as her knees buckled under her. Gradually things began to register in Jan’s overused head. The wall smelled good; it was warm too. This wall was wearing a blue shirt. Lifting her head, her eyes slowly, numbly, looked up a good six or seven inches and fixed on a pair of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. They were the same color as the sky on a clear summer afternoon, and just as warm. She felt her body go from shocked rigid to stunned limp and yet still felt secure in the protective embrace.
His eyes were so close, she could see little gray streaks of color radiating out from the pupils, and she vaguely wondered if they changed color with their owner’s mood. She could feel a warm, moist breath on her face. She stared for what seemed like a long time before her eyes shifted down to the mouth that was spread in a warm, friendly grin, which she instantly decided went very well with the eyes. The lips looked soft, yet malapert over even white teeth, and the full lower lip had a decided sensual appeal to it. Darting back to the eyes, Jan noticed they had taken on a teasing, amused twinkle.
A queer feeling passed through her as the masculine chest rumbled against her breasts and the mouth opened to emit a low, throaty chuckle. The man breathed a low, raspy “Hello,” and the spell was instantly broken.
A warm flush of embarrassment throbbed in her cheeks. Slowly Jan tested her legs and, finding them weight-bearing, she slowly disengaged herself from the man’s embrace.
“J. P. Harper?” he asked, his voice a deep, soft timbre that warmed the insides of her bones.
She nodded her response.
“I’m Kevin Toliver. Thank you for coming today. I hope I haven’t disrupted your schedule too much. I know it was pretty last-minute of me, but I didn’t see your report until late last week,” he said with a pointed glance at Talbet, who began to look anxious and pale, “and I wanted you here when we discussed it at this meeting.”
As he talked, he had been gently leading Jan down the table to an empty chair just past but facing Talbet. He offered her a chair, and when she was safely seated, he returned to the head of the table near the door and took his rightful position.
Jan dragged her eyes off him and looked down at her hands, which were clasped gently in her lap. She knew if she kept staring at him, she’d look like a starry-eyed teenager, or worse yet, she might start to drool. More embarrassment she didn’t need. Concentrate, Jan! Stradford Boarding School. Poise and deportment. Deep breath. Head high. Calm features. You can do it!
Obviously not as shaken by their collision as she was, Kevin Toliver had opened his meeting and was rapidly clearing away subjects on the agenda. “You all have copies in front of you of Ms. Harper’s report on the possible sites for our new computer research center and for the computer assembly factory,” she heard him say, and finally, gratefully, the fog in her head started to lift and Jan’s thoughts began to clear.
“I’m not sure how it was overlooked at the first discussion,” he went on to say, “but on the basis of this report, I think we should do some reconsidering on our choice of project sites.”
Jan glanced at Charles Talbet. His face was very pale and his eyes were darting from one member of the board to the next. A film of perspiration had formed on his upper lip and balding forehead. Jan debated the possibility that maybe Talbet had been filing her reports without even presenting them and that’s why none of her recommendations had come to light. But why? Her newfound suspicion coiled in her stomach like a snake.
“Ms. Harper?” Kevin Toliver was calling from the other end of the table.
“Yes? I’m sorry,” she apologized for her obvious lack of attention.
“I was saying that I for one recognized this as an excellent piece of work. I want to thank you for your efforts on this project as well as on the others, including the one for the Arizona site last year,” he complimented her, gratitude in his intense gaze.
“You’re welcome,” she said softly.
“Combining the two projects on one site will be extremely cost efficient. …”
He continued to speak, and Jan continued to draw in the warmth from his voice, but she lost track of the words and their meaning. As she leaned back in the comfortable chair, she thought, So that’s what this is all about. He dragged me all the way to New York to thank me for doing my job. Seems a little extreme; he could have sent me a letter, or called. Still it is awfully nice. …
From the other end of the table Kevin continued down the agenda, stealing frequent glances at J. P. Harper. The little vixen was actually falling asleep in the middle of his board meeting. He watched as she snuggled back into the soft green leather chair and got comfortable. He saw her eyelids start to get heavy and droop and applauded the valiant effort she made to keep them open, then smiled inside when her head bobbed to one side and didn’t bounce back up again. When her soft rosy lips fell open and a quiet little snore escaped, he chuckled out loud and held up his hands to stop the meeting.
“Katherine, gentlemen, will you excuse me just a few minutes? Watching her is driving me crazy,” he said with a low laugh.
He got up and walked down to Jan’s chair, pulling it out gently so as not to wake her. Gently he slid his arms behind her back and under her knees, and brought her up to his chest. She was surprisingly light and she felt good in his arms.
As he walked toward his office with Jan held tightly to his chest, her head lolled onto his shoulder and fit neatly under his chin. She sighed in her sleep and he felt her breath through the heavy cloth of his shirt. A warmth spread through his veins as Kevin again decided that he was very glad that J. P. Harper wasn’t the man he’d thought she was.
KEVIN HAD GONE back to the boardroom and had sat out the meeting only to return to his office, where he had been at his desk for the past five hours trying desperately to get some work done. He couldn’t remember ever having been so distracted. He had already read over several reports two or three times each before he’d felt able to understand them enough to responsibly initial his satisfaction with them.
Then again, he couldn’t ever remember having enjoyed a distraction more. It came in the form of the beautiful woman sleeping on his couch directly across the room from him.
He had lost count of the times he’d found himself just sitting, with his elbows on the desk, the heels of his hands supporting his chin, and watching her sleep, like he was now. Oddly, he found that he was truly enjoying it.
When she mumbled softly in her sleep, Kevin leaned closer to make out what she was saying. When she sighed and cuddled deeper into the pillow under her head, he thought of how he’d like to make her sigh like that and have her cuddle closer to him. When she unconsciously stuck the tip of her pink tongue out and wet her soft, rosy lips, he fantasized about licking her lips with his own tongue, and groaned inwardly. Then, when she tossed herself over onto her side, and the rounded curves of her buttocks faced him, his hands began to shake with his effort to control the throbbing in the lower half of his body. He quickly and quietly left the room in search of a cup of coffee, and to make a very necessary phone call.
“I owe you one, Manning,” Kevin threatened benignly several minutes later. “When you recommended J. P. Harper as a planning consultant, you could have just mentioned in passing that he was a she … and a beautiful she at that. I could have looked like a huge fool at that meeting this morning.”
“You mean you didn’t?” Manning asked, sounding disappointed before he released a low, throaty chuckle. “I swear, boy, you’re getting quicker every year. It’s getting harder and harder to pull the wool over your eyes. And here I’ve been waiting for more than a year now for you to meet up with her face-to-face. You’re no fun anymore, Toliver.”
“So how come I still feel like I’m being set up for something?” Kevin asked warily.
“Tell me, have you stumbled across the offer she can’t refuse yet?” Manning wondered, ignoring Kevin’s suspicions.
Smiling, and recalling the sleeping form on the couch in his office, Kevin replied, “Actually, we haven’t had much of an opportunity to discuss it. Got any suggestions?”
“If I did, she’d still be working for me,” was his derisive answer. “I’m the last man in New York to ask for advice on women, Toliver, and you know it.”
Kevin was silent for a moment, his heart going out to the man on the other end of the line. Jeff Manning did, indeed, have lousy luck with the women in his life. A widower, and later a divorcé, Manning had often spoken of his late first wife in tones that exposed his everlasting, deep love for her, his loneliness, and his sorrow. There was a daughter, too, but his friend rarely spoke of her. When he did, it was with frustration and grave remorse. Apparently Jeff Manning, loving and adoring his daughter like any man would, made several well-intentioned but miscalculated judgment calls affecting her life, as every man has at one time or another during fatherhood. On the few occasions he’d discussed it with Kevin, Jeff had openly admitted to hurting his daughter and understanding her resentment, but he’d never been able to hide that he was also racked with pain by her refusal to have anything to do with him even long enough for him to explain and apologize.
“Your daughter still won’t answer your calls?” Kevin stated more than questioned.
“No.”
“How can she be so coldhearted?”
“She’s not. She’s just the opposite, in fact. But I hurt her—more than once. She’s just protecting herself,” Manning defended his daughter.
“At your expense.”
“I can afford it a little longer. She’ll come around one day,” Manning stated firmly, but Kevin could hear the hope and desperation in his tone. “In the meantime, use your best instincts on J. P. Harper. As far as I’ve seen, they’ve never failed you before.”
When Kevin returned to his office, he found Jan lying on her back with both arms flung carelessly over her head. He sat for what seemed like hours just watching her firm, round breasts rise and fall with her respiration. He was indeed having an enjoyable day.
She had since rolled back to her side, facing him, and he had completely given up any attempt at finishing his work. He sat quietly and watched her sleep.
Vaguely, Jan became aware of reality as it worked its way through the mists of her consciousness. She felt warm and comfortable. She wasn’t sure where she was, but she thought she wouldn’t mind staying for a while.
She was very content in her sleep-induced stupor, very content indeed, except for that smell that would occasionally drift past her nose. It was a disturbing, spicy smell, not unpleasant in itself, but it brought back elusive memories. Confusion disturbed her tranquility.
She heard someone gently clear his throat. Her eyes shot open and made direct contact with a pair of clear blue ones that were very familiar. In fact, she thought she’d just been dreaming about them. They were smiling at her with kind amusement. Funny, that’s not how they had looked in her dream.
Her eyes snapped shut again as reality hit her in the face like a fist. Oh, God, it was Kevin Toliver. “I’m so embarrassed,” she groaned, not realizing she had spoken out loud.
“Please don’t be,” he said casually, leaving his desk and coming over to squat down beside the couch next to her. “Hobbs explained what happened before I got to the meeting. I feel like the one who should apologize. I had no idea what kind of schedule you had been keeping when I had my secretary call and ask you here. And if I’d been on time, you wouldn’t have had to deal with Talbet. I truly am sorry … but Hobbs said you did a superior job of making Talbet look the fool he really is,” he finished on an amused note.
The incident washed back to her with shameful clarity. She raised a hand and rubbed her brow several times, as if the memories were causing her head to ache. Then she let her hand drop to the couch. She opened her eyes and looked at Kevin. He could see the shame and self-disgust in her eyes.
“No,” she said softly, shaking her head, “I shouldn’t have done that. I could have handled it much better. Poor Mr. Hobbs must think I’m a shrew.”
“No, he doesn’t,” he assured her. “He thinks you work too hard. So do I, for that matter. Do you often go days at a time without sleep like this? Have you thought of getting some help?”
Jan could see the concern on his face and thought it was very nice of him to worry about her. She smiled at him.
“I’m not that overworked, Mr. Toliver,” she explained. “I was in a hurry to get home from this last trip. I decided that instead of spending the night in Seattle, I’d go on to Portland Monday night and get an early start Tuesday. I wanted to catch an earlier flight home Tuesday afternoon. As it turned out, when I got to Portland, I couldn’t find a place near the airport to stay, so I thought I’d forgo the sleep, get my work done, go home to Denver, and get rested there. Needless to say, I hadn’t planned on your invitation.”
“So you took the red-eye out of Denver last night to be here on time this morning, right?” he finished for her.
“Right,” she said with a rueful grin.
Kevin liked it when she smiled; she had a small dimple in her left cheek that was very appealing. “And you don’t sleep on airlines, right?” he guessed with a smile.
Chuckling, she sat up and put her feet on the floor. “Right,” she repeated. “It’s silly, I know, but staying awake somehow makes me feel like I have a little more control over my life up there.”
He had been watching her closely while she spoke. She had a low, husky voice that he found extremely sexy. Her eyes were a forest green, and he got the impression that they were truly the windows to her soul. They were quick and intelligent and revealed her thoughts and feelings. At the moment he could see she was still very uncomfortable in her present situation, and she was going to bolt.
“Ms. Harper …”
“Mr. Toliver …”
They spoke simultaneously, then smiled at each other. The room grew silent as their eyes locked, each assessing the other as if what was said next would be crucial to whatever kind of relationship they would have from that point on.
Jan broke eye contact first and began to speak slowly, meticulously. “Mr. Toliver, I appreciate what you said at the meeting this morning. You pay me well for what I do, but it’s always nice to hear that my work is valued. Thank you for inviting me here.”
“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” he said, his eyes shining with a light Jan hadn’t seen before. His look made her more uncomfortable as he continued speaking. “And since you’ve been sleeping with me all day … so to speak … why don’t you call me Kevin.”
“All right,” she agreed as a flush rose to her cheeks, and she forced herself to remain calm.
“J. P. Harper, you blush wonderfully,” he said softly, intimately.
Completely flustered, Jan turned her eyes from his and glanced nervously at her watch in a desperate attempt to find a subject that would neutralize his topic of conversation.
“Good Lord. It’s nearly six.” She was extremely dismayed. “I have to go. I’ve already missed the first plane.”
She was on her feet and halfway to the door when she stopped and spun around, thrusting her hand in his direction.
“It’s been nice meeting you, Mr. … ah … Kevin. Thank you again.”
He had taken her hand, but rather than release it when she finished speaking, he retained it in his firm clasp and covered the back of her hand with his other one. Shaking his head slowly, he asked, “What’s your hurry? I’m sorry if I upset you when I teased you about your blushing, but …”
“No, no. That’s not it at all,” she broke in distractedly. “I really do have to catch the next plane out of here. I only came for the meeting. I’m sorry to rush like this, but I can’t stay. I have to get home.”
Worry lines creased Kevin’s face, and the muscles in his chest began to constrict.
“Are you eager to get back to someone at home?” he asked, his throat tight.
She studied his handsome features, memorizing the details so as to recall them at a future date—the exquisite blue eyes trimmed with thick, dark lashes, the straight nose and lean cheeks, the firm, square chin beneath the sensuous curve of his lower lip, and the thick, dark hair that was not quite black but very dark brown.
Kevin Toliver made a picture to cherish. When it occurred to Jan that she’d probably never see him again, she experienced a disappointed that was almost tangible.
Impulsively her hand reached out to touch his cheek, but she caught herself and lowered both her hand and her eyes. “Yes, I guess you could say I’m eager to get home to someone,” she said in a low voice.
A man, Kevin thought, and spoke the words at the same time, feeling resentful and foolish.
Hearing the disappointment in his voice that matched her own, Jan felt strangely happy. She flashed him a breathtaking smile that sent lights flashing in her eyes and said, “Two men.”