Falling for the Boss (20 page)

“And what happened?
  Obviously you had no burning desire to be a doctor’s wife.
”

“Nothing really,” she said evasively.  “Things just didn’t work out.”

He noted the way her eyes slid away from his and he knew there was more than she was telling him. 
His eyes showed his curiosity. 
“
I’m sensing a deep, dark secret. 
What went wrong?”

Victoria
laughed at his persistence.  “The lawyer thought he was too good for everyone and myself specifically. 
I got tired of him treating the world like we were his servant or doormat and got rid of him.  I heard he married a young lady his senior year and
they probably lived happily ever after.”

“And what about the other guy?  The doctor?” Thomas asked, encouraging her to talk more about her past. 

“
The doctor….well, he always wanted to play doctor and it got old quickly.”

“Ah!” Thomas
replied
, hiding his jealousy over the two men who were able to openly date this amazing woman. 
Fortunately for him, they had both been too stupid to know what they had. 

“How did you end up with such sterling characters in the first place?”

Victoria
thought back in time for a moment.  “I was set up on a blind date with the lawyer.  The doctor was a friend of a friend and we met at a party I think.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of person to waste your time on superficial or irritating men.  Why did you date them beyond the first date?”

Victoria
shrugged slightly.  “Most people are on their best behavior initially.  So I didn’t realize how obnoxious they were until we were into the relationship for a few months.
”

“A few months seems like a long time.”

“I don’t like to judge people too quickly.  Besides, as soon as I told them to get lost, they cleaned up their act and started acting charming, so I gave both of them a few more chances.  Eventually, I realized that they really weren’t going to change and I got rid of them.  I’ve never been someone who has to be dating a man in order to feel like my life is complete.”  She smiled cheekily before continuing, “Irritating men need to be eliminated as superfluous parasites, in my mind.”

Thomas chuckled over that description.  “Do I fit into that category?”

“Heaven’s no.  I’ve known you for months and you’ve never been on your best behavior.”

Thomas threw back his head and laughed.  “Am I so awful to work for?”

“You’re challenging,” she countered, her eyes twinkling. 

“Is that good or bad?”

“Yes,” she said, and took a sip of wine.

He waited a moment.  “Are you going to elaborate,”
he asked
when she didn’t go on?

She shook her head
, her blond hair swaying around her shoulders
.  “No.  You’re my boss, remember?  One of the reasons we’re here tonight trying to get over whatever is going on between us?”
Victoria
played with her fork and looked down at her plate.  “Let’s just say I’m a dedicated employee and leave it at that.”

“Will you tell me once we get to know each other better?” he asked. 

She thought about it for a moment.  “Probably not.  We’re supposed to be fighting this thing, remember?”

“Exactly,” he
sighed
.  “So you should elaborate all of my fau
l
ts and irritate me even mor
e.”

Victoria
laughed at his enthusiasm.  “Nice try, but I see through your ploy. I tell you all of the times you’ve been mean, then you fire me and I’m unemployed.
  How does that serve me?
”

His eyes showed his satisfaction and he leaned back.  “Aha!  So you do like working for me!”

Victoria
coughed as the wine went down the wrong way.  How had she revealed so much?  “I didn’t say that.”

Thomas leaned forward, triumph in his eyes as he said conspiratorially, “You didn’t have to.”

Thankfully, their meal arrived at that moment and
Victoria
was able to
retreat slightly behind the act of tasting her meal.  She’d ordered roasted salmon and it was heavenly.  She closed her eyes as she took her first bite.  “Oh, this is wonderful,” she said as the subtle herbs came to life in her mouth.

Thomas watched as she tasted her meal.  He enjoyed the look of rapture and the thought occurred to
h
im that he wanted to put that look on her face.  Then he pushed the thought aside.  He was supposed to be getting over this attraction, not increasing it. 

“What’s your sister like?” he asked, looking at anything but her beautiful face.  But he glanced back at her
in
time to see t
he softened look on her face.

“Laci is my only sibling and she’s great.”

“I thought sisters were supposed to hate each other.
  I know I don’t always love my siblings.  They are a pain in the ass most times.
”

“I know.  And when Laci was first born I was furious.  I wouldn’t talk to my mother for about three months.
” 
Victoria
laughed as she thought back to that period when her life was turned upside down.  “
I was so mad at this little creature who took my mother and father away from me, I used to hide her toys.  My parents would find things in the refrigerator, the pantry, under the cushions of the sofa.  It was getting pretty out of hand.  Finally, when my mother cooked one of Laci’s rattles
because I’d hidden it in the oven
, my parents sat me down and taught me how to play with Laci.  I wasn’t impressed.  It wasn’t until Laci was about three that I realized she could be kind of neat.  I got to teach her how to read, tie her shoes and lots of things.”

Thomas shook his head.  “Sal is only a year older than me and he took all my toys apart.”

“Was he mad at you
too
?”

“No, he just wanted to see how they worked.”

Victoria
laughed.  “You look very abused.”  He shook his head at her lack of compassion.  “What about all your younger brothers?”

“They were okay.  Like you and Laci, it wasn’t until they got older and I was able to torture them that I learned to like having siblings.”

Victoria
couldn’t help but laugh. 
“Thomas, that’s awful.  Didn’t you get along with your brothers?”

“Sure, as long as they did what I told them to do,” he smiled unrepentantly. 

“Do you have any sisters?”

Victoria
saw the hint of sadness that entered his eyes but he quickly hid it. 
“I had an older sister but she died
her second year of college.  She ran into a burglary in progress and the guy killed her.  I also have a younger sister.”

“Oh Thomas!  I’m so sorry,”
Victoria
said.  

“It was pretty rough for a long time.  We’re a close family.  We’re probably overprotective of my younger sister because of it
.” He grimaced at the memory of previous discussions with his little sister.  “
At least, that’s what she says but I don’t agree with her
.”

“It’s nice that you all look out for her.”

Thomas laughed derisively.  “I think it drives her a little nuts.
  At least it did until she met her husband.  Now they are pretty much
inseparable
.  It can get a little nauseating at times but I’m glad she’s happy.  It’s also a relief to know that she’s safely married.  She ran us a merry chase for a while, trying to keep her safe.
”

They talked about their respective families for the rest of the night and on the short walk back to the hotel.  The two of them were standing in front of the door to the suite, neither wanting to go inside just yet. 
It was apparent that they wanted to continue to be in each other’s company longer but didn’t have any excuse to continue.  It was also very late and they had early meetings in the morning. 

They were standing in the hallway of the hotel, laughing about the last story about their families but the silence became awkward after a moment. 
Finally, she asked shyly. 
“Thomas, we leave for Paris Monday, right?”

“Yes.”
  He was leaning against the wall, his large body blocking her from anyone who might come down the hallway. 

“Why don’t I have my sister fly
out
and join me, show her around
Paris
?
  Laci and I will
tour the city in my off time.  That way,
you and I
won’t have the temptation we currently have.”
  She wouldn’t look up from her view of his shirt front while she made the suggestion. 

“You mean you want your sister to come out and babysit,” he said grimly.

“Well, in a sense yes,
”
she said in a near whisper. 

“And what about once we leave
Paris
?’ 

She raised one shoulder delicately. 
“Maybe by then it will have gone away.”

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up. 
“And maybe
you should leave the baby-sitter in
Washington
, D.C,
I should show you
Paris
and we should investigate this
issue
further,” he said, leaning down to whisper in her ear
, nibbling on her neck
.

Victoria
couldn’t pull away.  She loved the way he made her feel and she didn’t want it to end
.  Her hands had already strayed to touch his chest, feeling the muscles through the fabric of his shirt
. 
She loved the feeling of his muscles tensing to her touch.  She sighed, wanting the feelings he stirred within her to continue. 
But one of them had to be reasonable. 
She sighed
again as his lips moved to her earlobe, his teeth took the sensitive skin between them and nibbled softly. 
Victoria
shook her head.  “No.”

“Yes,
”
he countered and she felt his lips on her neck, whisper soft, barely there.  But her knees went weak and her mind stopped functioning. 

“Thomas…”

He put a finger over her lips to silence her. 
“I know
Paris
better than your sister
,
I promise.  I’ll send Mike and Bob home for a long weekend and it will be just the two of us exploring Paris together,” he said, nibbling her earlobe, then moving down her neck, making her gasp when he found a spot just below her ear.  “Spend the next few days with me and we’ll work on getting rid of this attraction.  I promise I’ll work it out of my system by the time we leave for
Rome
next Wednesday.”

“I think..”
she said and stopped, unable to form any words. 

After a moment, he said,
“I’ll take that as a yes,” and moved to the other side of her neck. 

All she could do is nod her head, the feelings that were rushing through her right now were too new and too intense. 

Thomas pulled back and
Victoria
looked down at the floor, trying to get her breathing back to normal.