Good Karma (13 page)

She swallowed and lifted her hands to his
chest, swept away on his voice as she tilted her head back ever so
slightly.

“And that you long for excitement.” His lips
brushed her skin, right below her ear. “You do long for excitement,
don’t you?”

“Yes,” she whispered. Why deny it? He would
only know she was lying.

The sky grew darker as the sun dipped behind
a building, and the lights flickered on in the parking garage,
bathing them in a milky glow.

“You’re not used to a man touching you,
kissing you…
seducing
you.” His hands caressed her back and
the sides of her abdomen. “Are you, Karma?”

She closed her eyes. When had she begun
breathing so heavily? “N-no.”

“But you want to be seduced. You want to know
what it’s like.” He waited a heartbeat before adding, “You
want
me to behave inappropriately.”

It wasn’t a question, but she felt compelled
to answer, anyway. “Yes.” The word barely escaped her throat on a
breath. Her fingers curled against his shirt, and she gulped as her
eyes blinked heavily.

His lips danced to the other side of her
neck, and his arm around her waist pulled her closer. “You’re a
woman searching,” he said softly. “You’re a woman trying to find
out who she is and where she fits in the world. You yearn for more,
hunger for a man to make you feel things you’ve never felt, but
you’re afraid because that’s not how you were raised, is it?”

He was right. In just a few hours, he really
had learned a lot about her.

“You were raised to be a good girl, weren’t
you?”

Once again, all she could do was nod and
cling to him for fear of floating away if she let go.

“That’s what I find so attractive about you.
It’s why I can’t seem to stop touching you, misbehaving around you.
You
are
a good girl. You just want to be a little bad.” He
lifted his face and looked her square in the eyes. His lips were
almost touching hers.

In the distance, the music changed to
something more down-tempo.

“That’s why you didn’t tell me you knew Sonya
Saturday night. Because you enjoyed the intrigue, the mystery. You
enjoyed keeping me to yourself and letting me think you were
someone you weren’t. You liked being a little bad. You liked that
no one knew you and that for one night you could pretend to be
someone else…to indulge your fantasy to be something you aren’t.”
His lips brushed hers so lightly that she wondered if she only
imagined it. “But what if I told you that I think you pretended to
be who you
really are
? You just don’t know how to be that
person in a reality that’s been created for you by someone else.”
Again, his lips whispered over hers, and her eyelids fluttered as
she forced herself to inhale. “And your taste for a little bad was
why you wore that dress, wasn’t it?” His index finger slowly
skimmed under her jaw and chin, leaving behind a trail of tiny
starbursts. “It surprised you how sexy you felt in that dress. You
enjoyed the way all those men looked at you even though you didn’t
want to. But you did enjoy it, didn’t you?”

She could do nothing but stare into his
mesmerizing eyes and pant.

“And you enjoyed when I looked at you, too.
You liked my eyes on you, appraising you. You didn’t want to like
it so much, but you did.” He paused, and his gaze circled her face
before meeting hers again. “You
wanted
the fantasy that I
was ready to offer. That’s why you don’t think my actions were
inappropriate. But it terrified you when you had it in your grasp.
I see that now.” His eyes narrowed. “Something held you back, and I
know you had your reasons, but something scared you away. I don’t
know what that was, but I know it’s there.” His gaze searched hers
as if looking for a chink in her defenses to expose the truth she
didn’t want him to see.

Everything he said resonated so truthfully
inside her there was no way she could deny it. She had a feeling
there was nothing he couldn’t learn about her if he wanted to.

“You want excitement and passion and
pleasure,” he said without preamble. “And I can give them to
you.”

No doubt he could. If how she felt this very
moment, pressed submissively against his body and captured by his
voice, was any indication, achieving pleasure, excitement, and
passion wouldn’t be a problem with Mark. But they were in her world
now, not his. This was Indianapolis, not Chicago. There were
expectations here. She had responsibilities. Recklessness and wild
abandon were for her fantasies.

“I…I don’t know,” she said weakly, reality
interfering once more with the fantasy of the two of them exploring
the many definitions of pleasure and passion with one another.

A wry grin played over his mouth. “You can be
my—how did you put it? ‘Little project,’ I think is the term you
used.” He tilted his head to one side. “Would you like that?”

Yes, she would. Very much. She just wasn’t
sure she could pull it off. Being with him when they worked
together would definitely be “a little bad,” and the idea thrilled
her. But it also scared her.

“What about work?” she said.

“We’re both adults. No one at your office
needs to know. As long as we’re careful.”

“What if they find out?”

“Then we’ll deal with it.”

She bit her lip, wanting to say yes while the
practical voice in her head shouted no. “I don’t know,” she said
again.

He pulled back. Not entirely, but enough that
instant disappointment rushed in to the places where anticipation
had been just a moment ago. “I know it’s risky. Yes, I could get
slapped on the wrist and lectured about the merits of not dating
the employees of the companies I work with. And there’s a slim—very
slim—possibility my boss would pull me off the assignment if he
found out.” He shrugged one shoulder dismissively. “But that’s a
risk I’m willing to take.”

“Why? Why risk your job?”

“I wouldn’t be risking my job, just a little
chastisement.” He studied her for a moment. “I met you before I
knew we’d be working together. I like you. And I think you like me.
Am I correct?”

Her face was perpetually warm. “Yes, but so
what? You could get in trouble.”

“It would be worth it.”

“Worth getting in trouble? Why? Just because
we like each other?” What was she doing? The devil on her shoulder
hopped up and down, yelling at her to shut up already, while the
angel nodded chastely and expressed how proud it was of her. If she
was being honest, she was kind of on the devil’s side, so, yeah,
perhaps stopping her protests and looking for a way a relationship
with him could work might be a good thing.

Mark reverently caressed her face. “You’re a
rarity, Karma. You obviously affect me.” His arm tightened around
her waist once more, and he took a deep, shaky breath. “I can’t
stop touching you. I can’t stop looking at you.” A gentle puff of
air burst from his nose, making it sound as if he was just as
baffled at his reaction to her as she was. “I rarely feel this way
about a woman.” He sounded like he was talking more to himself than
to her. “You excite me. I want to be inside your secrets. I want to
share the same breath with you and swallow my name when you whisper
it as I’m giving you more pleasure than you’ve ever known.”

The devil shoved the angel off Karma’s
shoulder and flipped it off as heat spiked inside her body.

“And I want to know what made you run from my
room when you clearly wanted to be there.”

Karma’s pulse raced at the thought.

“You’re a mystery, and mysteries intrigue
me.” Like an artist studying a portrait, he tilted his head to one
side then the other. “I can’t let you go when I haven’t had a
chance to solve you.”

Karma’s mouth fell open on a soft gasp that
sounded a little like “oh.”

“That’s why you’re worth the risk,
Karma.”

She closed her mouth and swallowed. “I see.”
But she still wasn’t convinced this was a good idea.

Mark took a labored step back. “Okay, how
about this? I’m driving back to Chicago tonight, just for the
weekend. While I’m gone, would you at least consider what I’m
offering? We can talk again next week…see what you’ve decided. How
does that sound? Will you at least think about it?”

“What if I say no?” After what he had just
said and how aroused she was, she wasn’t sure “no” was even part of
her vocabulary, anymore.

“I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll respect your
decision and won’t bring it up again.”

She was thrilled to know he would be
disappointed if she declined him, which should have been her first
clue as to just how deep she already was.

“What if I say yes?”

Hope flickered in his eyes and that one
dimple in his right cheek tugged at her heart. “If you say yes,
your fantasies will be my fantasies, and I’ll show you how good it
feels to be a little bad.”

With just a look, Mark could make her feel
things she had never felt. With just the subtle inflection of his
voice, he made her soul sing, her body warm, and her pulse quicken.
She barely knew him, and worse yet, she now worked with him. As
Solar’s new consultant, he held the authority to destroy her job if
he saw fit, and yet, instead of scaring her, that power excited her
more than if she had won a Pulitzer.

What was happening between her and Mark felt
like the arrival of Halley’s Comet. Something that occurred once in
a lifetime. Twice for those lucky to have been born at the right
time and live long enough. Should she revel in her good fortune
that fate had brought Mark into her life twice in only one week? Or
should she let Halley’s Comet pass her by?

Again.

Chapter 13

Focus on
the positive.

-Author Unknown

As morning dew glistened the grass and thin fog
hovered over Peterman Lake, Karma’s dad rowed them toward their
favorite fishing spot.

“You’ve been quiet this morning,” her dad
said.

Karma hadn’t said much on the trip down and
had spent the past ten minutes staring at the glassy water,
watching the ripples from the boat roll over the surface.

She reached for her fishing pole. “Just
tired.”

Her dad didn’t look convinced. “Tired? A
morning person like you?”

She brushed a wavy strand of hair off her
face and tucked it behind her ear. “Long week at work.”

It wasn’t a total lie. One week with Mark
Strong would make any woman tired…from lack of sleep…because how
could she sleep when she was fantasizing about such a magnificent
man? And then there was last night and his proposal, the main
reason for her silence. Her mind was still working over the pros
and cons of getting involved with Mark outside the office.

On one hand was the potential for pleasure
unlike anything she’d ever experienced, at the hands of the sexiest
man she’d ever laid eyes on. God, but Mark did such erotic things
to her body without even touching it. On the other hand was the
danger of being caught, as well as the risk of engaging in taboo
behavior. Getting involved with the company’s consultant could be
hazardous to her professional health if anyone found out.

“Don working you hard?”

She busied herself rummaging through her
tackle box, re-familiarizing herself with her old lures. “No, not
really.” She tried to keep her voice even. “A consultant came down
from Chicago on Monday. He’s got everyone a bit on edge.”
Some
more than others
. “Everyone’s wondering why he’s here and
expecting the worst.”

Dad dropped the red brick they used as an anchor over
the side of the boat. Rope was weaved through the holes and knotted
around the outside to keep it secure. “Do you think they’re going
to lay people off?” He took her fishing rod and plucked a floating
lure from her tackle box.

“I don’t know.” Her dad tied the lure to her
line. “I hope not, but it’s possible.” In a way, thinking she was
attracted to a man who held the power to lay off her coworkers was
a bit morbid. As if she were a traitor. Then she remembered how
Mark’s lips had brushed lightly over hers last night and how her
body lit up afterward. If being a traitor felt that good, then
fine, consider her a turncoat. Let her coworkers fend for
themselves.

“Well, whatever happens, it will all work
out.” Just like Lisa, her dad always searched for the silver
lining.

“I guess.” She took back her rod and cast her
line.

After that, no more was said. Her dad was a
serious fisherman. He had one rule: No talking. It scared away the
fitches
, as he called them.

And that was fine by her. No talking meant
more fantasizing.

With the sun climbing higher into the sky,
she wondered what Mark was doing? Was he thinking about her, too?
Yeah, sure. If he was thinking about her right now, she was Miss
America.

Chapter 14

Being
there for a friend is one of the greatest gifts you can give.
Another one is allowing them to be there for you, too.

-Doe Zantamata

Mark stood on the balcony of his Chicago apartment,
overlooking Lakeshore Drive and Lake Michigan beyond. His bathrobe
hung open, and he wore red flannel pajama bottoms over bare feet. A
coffee mug warmed his hand. He had driven home after dinner with
Karma last night and gotten in before midnight.

The sounds of Chris Botti and Sting drifted
from inside the apartment, playing a slow jazz number that fit his
pensive mood.

He sipped his coffee and smiled.

Karma. What an intriguing name.
What goes
around comes around
. Isn’t that what karma meant, generally
speaking?
What you give is what you get. What you put out you
receive. Fate. Kismet. One’s lot in life. Destiny.
How had she
been given such an interesting name? And was her name a sign that
destiny had brought them together?