Romantic Acquisition (8 page)

When she realized what she was doing, she immediately released him and took a step back, taking deep breaths as she tried to control her body that only wanted to step back into his arms and continue with the earth shattering feelings he delivered with his mouth.

“I’d better get inside,” she said and quickly turned around.  She closed the door and leaned against it until she heard his car drive away.  Only then did she breathe more easily.

Kate was late getting to work the next morning.  She’d lain in bed tossing and turning, worrying about how she was going to face Carlo the next day.  But her worrying was pointless she found out when she walked into the conference room.  Only Jeff and Peter were working there. 

“Where’s your boss?” Kate asked as non-challantly as possible. 

Jeff glanced up from the report he was reading and smiled.  “He’s out for a while.  We’re not sure when he’s going to be back.”

“Oh,” Kate said, and ignored the sharp stab of disappointment. 

The day
turned out to be
boring.  Without Carlo there to spice up her day, she had to push herself to go through the motions. 
Jeff and Peter asked questions that she was easily able answer.  With Carlo, not only was she physically attracted to him, she was mentally and intellectually challenged by him.  His questions were difficult, forcing her to think through several issues in order to answer his question.  She tried to keep a few steps ahead of him as well, anticipating what he might need and providing it b
efore he asked.  She researched
issues that Jeff or Peter had already asked about, knowing that he would be the next to challenge her data so she turned it every which way in order to make sure she understood what she was presenting to the team. 

To add to her fatigue,
in the middle of the morning
Matt threw a tantrum in the conference room about all the work that was piling up on him. 
It was the first time that day that she was glad Carlo was not there.  She didn’t want him to witness a member of her team behaving poorly. 
Jeff and Peter were witnesses, but they just continued with their research after the initial outburst from Matt. 

As soon as Matt started in on his
paroxysm
, she tried to placate him and ease his concerns. 
“Okay, let’s take this into my office,” she said quickly, trying to calm Matt down and hide the fact that her deputy was obviously unable and unwilling to handle more responsibility
in her absence
. 

She pulled him into her office and listened with hidden frustration as Matt listed the issues that were piling up.  Kate wrote them down on a notepad, then handed the list back to him.  She went over the various ways Matt could handle each of the situations, then explained to him that he really needed to step up and take care of the
problems
until this period with the
ATI
due diligence was over
.  Once the
researching
was over, she’d be able to step back into her role
as the director of purchasing
and ease some of the burden
.  But until that time, he had to assume the role
. 

Matt
took her list and wrote down all his options.  He was clearly
relieved to have guidance on how to handle the problems.  “Okay, but as long as you’re still the boss, I’ll be good to go.  I definitely don’t want your job, Kate.  Too much pressure,” he said and walked back to his own office to
start working on the problems.

Kate looked at her desk, or, more specifically,
the pile of papers and fabric samples that covered it.  There were some issues only she could make decisions on and she needed a few days to review them.  She wondered if she could stay in here and go through the
papers covering her desk.  Would Jeff or Peter mind? 

She suspected that they wouldn’t, but she didn’t want to challenge Carlo. 
Kate didn’t think Carlo would appreciate her abandoning him and his team, not even for a short period. 
She
settled for sorting
the papers and
making
neat stacks
.  Once that was done and she was able to see the top of her desk in some spots, she
then took the urgent issues with her back to the conference room
to review
.  She hoped she’d be able to work on some of them before Jeff or Peter needed more information.

The afternoon went
by
quickly.  Jeff and Peter were able to work without her for a few hours so she settled into her office and went through her papers. 

She didn’t realize how late it was until she heard the deep voice from her doorway. 

“What are you still doing here?” Carlo asked, one shoulder leaning against the doorway
, his arms crossed over his chest
.

Kate looked up and swallowed.  He was so incredibly handsome, she thought.  He looked like he should be on the cover of some body building magazine with those bulging muscles that were evident even through his perfectly tailored suit. 

“Um…” Had he been that handsome the day before?  He was wearing a charcoal
grey
suit and a red silk tie.  Usually she liked men with a little more flair
and color to their wardrobe
but she had to admit that Carlo could definitely fill out a boring business suit with his muscular physique. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, walking into the office to stand right in front of her desk. 

Kate cleared her mind of her silly attraction.  “Yes.  I’m sorry.  I just needed to get some work done.
”  She looked down at her desk, unable to hold his gaze.  “
Was there something you needed?  I think I might have been neglecting Jeff and Peter but I wasn’t trying to.  They both said they had what they needed but if they are looking for something, I’ll get it immediately….”

She stopped when she realized she was rambling.  The silence was deafening.  She let out a deep breath and finally raised her eyes to meet his. 

He’d been standing there the whole time, waiting for her to finally look at him.  “What’s wrong,
Kate
?”

“Nothing,” she said, wishing that were true.

He didn’t say anything, just raised his eyebrow as she was getting used to after three
weeks
.  The look spoke volumes. 

“You make me nervous,” she said, dropping the papers on her desk and leaning back in her chair
, her shoulders sagging in defeat
.

“Why?” he asked, leaning over her desk. 

“Because I’m afraid you’re going to kiss me again
,
”
she whispered.

“I am.”

David interrupted their quiet conversation.  “Katherine, where in the world did you put the latest sheets….” He stopped when he realized she wasn’t alone in her office.  “Hello, Carlo.  I wasn’t expecting you here.  I knew Kate was trying to catch up on things but I thought you’re team had left.”

Carlo stood up and smiled casually at the other man.  “I was just leaving.”   He turned to face Kate.  “I’ll see you in the morning?” he asked.  He only waited for her nod before turning to leave. 

David handed some letters to Kate. “Can you clear up this issue?  It appears that something is missing with the latest delivery,” he said. “How are things going otherwise?  I heard there were some problems with the Kerry Jones line that you purchased last season.”

It took Kate a half hour to calm David down and explain how the various fashion lines work.  She had already had this discussion with him several times, but he seemed slightly more
confrontational
tonight for some reason. 

It was almost
ten o’clock
when she left the building.  She smiled at the security guard who was walking through the parking lot.  She remembered the previous evening when Carlo had driven her home and she shivered, half wishing she could repeat the evening just so she could experience his kiss again.

Kate pushed that thought aside.  Wishing for something like that was too dangerous. 

Thursday and Friday were a blur.  She worked long hours with Jeff and Peter answering their questions, researching issues or finding reports for each of them to dig through.  Carlo was mostly silent during the days, sometimes being gone for hours at a time. Other times he stopped his work and listened to her explanations.  He rarely asked questions himself.

By Saturday, Kate was exhausted.  She slept until
ten o’clock
which was a first for her.  She usually woke early even on the weekends.  But she’d been working on five or six hours of sleep each day, working twelve to eighteen hours a day in an effort to help out J
eff and Peter while still managing
the purchasing department.  There was only so much she could delegate. 
Matt couldn’t take on anymore either so that left her with the bulk of the decisions to be made and those decisions required research and comparisons. 

She hadn’t listened to her answering machine when she’d gotten in last night but, as she was making coffee, she noticed the light was blinking, indicating that she had at least one message. 

Kate groaned as she listened to the messages.  The first one was from David.  He had arranged a cocktail party for the vice presidents and the
ATI
team so they could get to know each other a little better.  He was asking her to show up and introduce the
ATI
team to the other executives. 

The other message was from her mother who was just calling to check in and see how things were going.  Kate hadn’t spoken to her mother in over three weeks which was unusual.  They tried to connect at least once a week.  Unfortunately, with her extra work load, Kate hadn’t had the time or the energy to talk with her mother. 

She thought about the two messages and what each required. 
The last thing she wanted to do was act as a hostess for David.  But she supposed there was no way she could really get out of it. 
She called her mother and chatted with her, filling her in on the latest news while she searched through her wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear for David’s
schmoozing
party. 

She dressed carefully for the evening, not wanting to draw attention to herself.  She chose a simple black, crepe dress with satin trimming.  Usually, she would add something to the dress to add some flair, but tonight, knowing that Carlo would be there, she avoided all sorts of jewelry and additions.
  She needed to be inconspicuous.

Kate stared at herself in the mirror.  She looked like she was wearing a black sack.  She’d even pulled her hair back into a simple chignon so it wasn’t flying everywhere as usual.  The image that stared back at her was so far from her usual self she hardly recognized her
self
. 

She
worried at her reflection.   What was she really trying to do?  Was she trying to avoid Carlo?  She desperately wanted to kiss him again.  But could she stop it at only a kiss?  She realized that she liked being attracted to him.
He might seem boring and stone-like initially.  But underneath, she knew there was a firestorm of intelligence and humor just under the surface that fascinated her. 
Was it just a fantasy she’d concocted to get her through the days?  She
knew she’d
been bored with life lately.  Was this just a silly infatuation she needed to ignore?  Or was she willing to pursue a more physical relationship with the man?

She shivered as she remembered her previous sexual experience.  It had been so painful, so humiliating.  Would it be again?  She didn’t think so.  Was she sure enough to try again?  Not really. 
Even with Carlo? 

No, definitely not with Carlo. 

She knew herself, despite her
flighty
dressing and somewhat ditzy demeanor.  She liked the fantasy of Carlo and didn’t want that fantasy to disappear with what could be an awful reality.