Surprise Seduction (8 page)

“Easy for you to laugh.
 
You aren’t the one who’s supposed to be immune to men.”

“Lord forbid!”

Sheila could almost be accused of being a female version of Chase.
 
She seemed to have a new man in her life every few weeks.
 
This week’s lucky contender was a Channel Nine News cameraman.
 
She’d met him at her gym yesterday morning and had gone out to dinner with him last night.

“Why are you here?
 
I thought you’d be out with this week’s flavor.”
 
Adrienne put the last few items inside the stylish white oak cabinets.
 
She washed her hands and began taking out items to make a tuna sandwich.
 
“You want one?”

“No thanks.
 
I’ve already eaten.”
 
Sheila shook her head.
 
“Tim’s covering some snooty charity affair for the Mayor.”

Adrienne couldn’t help but wonder if that’s where Chase planned to take his date.
 
Probably.
 
Boston’s most eligible bachelor seemed to top everyone’s most wanted guest list.
 
Rare did a day go by that she didn’t sort through an assortment of gold embossed invites.
 
Most met their doom in his trash bin.

“You know, I believed you’d go home and marry Roger after a few weeks tops,” Sheila mused.

“I don’t want to go back.”
 
Adrienne shuddered.
 
“At least, not to the way things were.”

Wednesday.
 
Another hump day, Adrienne thought as she hit the print key on her keyboard.
 
She’d never understood the term until she’d come to Boston.
 
In Chicago, everyday had been the same as the one before--life of luxury and laziness.
 
No wonder her father had put stipulations on her taking control of her stocks.
 
She’d never shown an interest in the company or anything but whether or not her nails matched her clothes.
 
If her father hadn’t died, shook her out of her reverie, she might have turned into a carbon copy of her mother.
 
She’d been too close for comfort.

The conference room door opened, causing her to look up.
 
George, Chase, Bruce Edwards and several other execs from Weston and Miller RXs poured out of the room and into the reception area where Adrienne’s desk was located.

Chase barely glanced her way as he walked past, but George’s face crinkled in a smile.
 
Adrienne smiled back.

Chase looked especially handsome in the suit he wore today.
 
Generally he didn’t wear a suit in the office, just dress slacks with a button down tailored shirt.
 
Today he must have wanted to intimidate, because intimidate he did.
 
The crisp white material of his shirt contrasted sharply where the collar met the tan color of his skin.

Memories of how she’d ran her eyes over his body the night before flooded her with heat.

The other VIPs followed closely behind Chase and George. None of the men compared to Chase.
 
Not in looks or presence.

All disappeared from the room except Bruce Edwards.
 
He lingered at her desk.

“I’ve never been to Boston.
 
Any attractions I should see before going back to Florida?”
 
He leaned casually against her desk.
 
“I like what I’ve seen so far.”

Adrienne glanced at him.
 
Was he flirting with her?
 
In her Adrienne Morris garb?
 
Surely not.
 
She must be mistaken.

“I’m new to the city,” she admitted, looking back at her computer screen.

“Really?
 
Where do you hail from?”
 
He leaned closer.

“Chicago.”
 
What would it hurt to answer his questions?

“How did you end up in Boston?”

“Long story.”
 
She shook her head in wry humor.

“Maybe we could check out one of Boston’s restaurants tonight, and you could tell me all about it.”

Her eyes widened.
 
He had been flirting with her.
 
And he was asking her out on a date.
 
Mousy, boring Adrienne.

“That sounds lovely, but I really don’t know you.”
 
She suppressed her laughter.

“Go out with me tonight, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
 
The way he looked at her made her laughter die and her skin crawl.

“I don’t—”

“She’s not going anywhere.”
 
Chase’s barked words startled both Adrienne and the man who leapt from her desk.

She pulled her brows together in a frown.
 
She was glad to no longer be alone with Mr. Edwards, but glared at Chase all the same.

“I’ve been blessed with a tongue of my own and am quite capable of answering for myself.”
 
She gave him a pointed look.
 
“I don’t need a man running interference in my life.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed, and his lips drew in a tight line.
 
His stance warned not to push him.
 
Who put a bee in his bonnet?

“Just what did you have in mind?” she asked the slinking man who’d been watching her exchange with Chase.
 
His face lit up, but quickly faded at Chase’s sharp glance.

“Dinner on the Charles?”
 
His suggestion didn’t sound too inviting.
 
Adrienne shook her head at his lack of backbone.
 
Even if she weren’t supposed to be homosexual, she wouldn’t go out with this measly spined man.

She lifted her chin defiantly at both men.

“Sorry, but there just isn’t anyone in this room that would make interesting dining company for a woman like me.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Chase couldn’t believe his ears.
 
Adrienne was giving him the cold shoulder again.
 
How many times did that make?

He looked at the man from Miller RXs in distaste.
 
When he’d realized the man hadn’t followed the rest of the group to George’s office, he’d made an excuse to go back.
 
Something about how the man had stared at Adrienne when she’d brought a fresh pot of coffee into his office set alarm bells off.

Thank God he’d come back.
 
The jerk had actually been hitting on her.
 
Anger rose in his chest.
 
He shot the man a look that had him scurrying from the room.

Adrienne turned away from him and began typing.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

Her fingers stilled on the keyboard.

“I’ll see to it he doesn’t bother you again.”

She spun to face Chase.
 
“Maybe you didn’t understand me earlier.
 
I don’t need your help.”

His anger faded at her flushed cheeks and vivid eyes.
 
No unfashionable glasses could hide the beautiful blue-green flashes of her eyes.
 
His groin tightened.
 
He swore under his breath at his body’s unwanted reaction.

What was it about her?

“I’ll make a note of it for the next time you need rescuing.”
 
He spun on his heel and left the room before he made a fool of himself in front of her.

“Chase!”
 
Adrienne tried not to jump up to throw her arms around him as he walked out of the elevator.
 
God, she’d missed him during his trip to Chicago this week.
 
He’d barely spoken to her before leaving.
 
No wonder after his parting words after the Miller Rx guy incident.

He stopped to stare at her with red-rimmed eyes, but didn’t speak.
 
Was he still upset with her?
 
Or just at what a mess things were at Morrigan’s?
 
That she fully understood.

“I take it things didn’t go well.”
 
Okay, so she knew they hadn’t.
 
Had insured they wouldn’t.
 
Dear Lord, she hated seeing him so tired looking.

“You might say that.”

He walked over to stand in front of her desk.
 
“The board is torn in two over who should replace Ted Morrigan.
 
Stock prices dropped another forty cents a share.”

She flinched.
 
That part she hadn’t heard yet.

“I take it Drew Steinberg was not voted in?”

“No, but if Hillington doesn’t walk down the aisle with the Morrigan woman soon, I’m going to switch sides.
 
I won’t be a willing participant in tearing Ted’s company apart, and that is what’s going to happen if a decision isn’t made.
 
Soon.”

So Roger hadn’t told anyone about her attempt to return his ring.
 
She’d wondered if he would and had taken precautions in case he started to reveal their broken engagement to the other board members.

“So you sided with this Hillington?”

He raked a hand through his hair, looking tired, and nodded.
 
“Of course, George took the same stance as I did.
 
I helped Hillington plead his case, and the board voted right down the middle.
 
I hope I haven’t made a mistake.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve made a powerful enemy of Drew Steinberg by siding against him.
 
If the board votes him in, I’ll be one of the first to get axed.”
 
He sighed.
 
“George, too.”

“No.”
 
She’d never let that happen.
 
If she had to marry Roger and give him every share she owned, she wouldn’t let Drew hurt George.
 
Or Chase.
 
Never.

“After last night, I’m pretty much convinced I screwed up.”

“What happened last night?”
 
She was almost afraid to ask.

“I spent all evening and most of the night planning with Hillington.
 
It seems he’s lost his trump card.”