Deadly Temptations (2 page)

This was going to get
ugly. He wasn’t about to lose everything he’d worked so hard for over an
obsessed slut.

Grabbing his briefcase
and coat, he walked out of the office. Gina’s voice stopped him. He hated the
power she wielded over him. Mader turned slowly and fixed her with an impatient
gaze.

“What do I tell your
eleven o’ clock?” She actually had the nerve to smile.

“Mr. Olsen wanted to
discuss minor details. Call and inform him there’s a pressing matter.
Reschedule for Friday.” Mader left without another word.

GINA
twirled her hair to keep from smashing something. They thoug
ht her
stupid because she was a blond sporting a healthy rack. A blind man would have
seen the sparks flying around between those two when she had walked in on them.
Bright red lipstick on Maders’ lips sealed the deal. Fuck them. The bitch would
get what was coming to her very soon.

DENISE
walked through the parking garage and added a meeting to her iPhone calendar
that wasn’t really going to happen. She hated the lie but it was necessary.
They were dealing with a mental case and she wasn’t about to take a
ny
chances. Gina was obviously hot for Mader and that spelled all kinds of trouble
for him.

Footsteps echoed
behind her, she glanced back and hit the keyless entry. Mader stopped before
catching up to her, his eyes bulging out of his head. She gave him the
what’s wrong
gesture with her hand. He pointed at the tail-end of her vehicle.

Someone had keyed the
shit out of it. The scratch wasn’t of the small variety either. The thing
started at the back light and went across the trunk, digging through the black
paint like a wound. Denise couldn’t believe her eyes as she stepped away from
her brand new Camero.

“That little bitch,”
she murmured.

Mader swore under his
breath. “This is getting out of control.”

Denise turned to him.
“Ya think?” She walked to the other side to make sure there was no more damage.
Relieved, she used her iPhone to snap several pictures.

“Listen, let’s take
your car. This way we can still go and I can file the report with the Risk
Department when we get back.”

Mader nodded his head.
“File a report?”

Denise glared at him
as if his marbles had finally deserted him. “Hell yeah.”

Mader ran his hand
through his hair, something he always did when he was ticked off. “You’re
right.”

Peering over at her
car again, Denise clenched her jaw and wanted to hit something, preferably a
head with blonde hair.

Someone shuffled to
their car behind them. Denise glanced back. Angie Bomstead clutched her bag and
searched for her keys. Her big blue eyes widened with terror when she saw them.
The poor girl was afraid of her own shadow.

Denise waved at her.
“Hey Angie. Going out?”

Angie studied Denise’s
car and shook her head, her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

“Y...yes, Ms. Milton.
Going to run some errands.” Her eyes betrayed her again and moved back to the
damage on the Camaro before she got in her little Ford Focus and sped away.

Mader watched her go
and scowled. “She knows something.”

“You’re damn right she
does and I’m going to find out what it is, but first there are some things you
and I need to discuss.”

THEY
drove to Denny’s in record time and boy did she appreciate a man who knew how
to work his stick. The suit he was sporting wrapped around his biceps when he
downshifted and didn’t she just stare. Hell yeah. A quick recap of a hot kis
s
and his arms all around her was just enough to have her studying the landscape
flying by the window instead. Much safer.

Moments later, they
walked in and the hostess pasted a huge smile on her puss when she saw Mader.
Denise rolled her eyes and followed the bouncy brunette.

They were seated
immediately and their order arrived within minutes. Denise spooned her cup of
hot chocolate and got right to the point. “So, how long have you been banging
Gina?”

MADER
CHOKED on his coffee, coughing
several times to clear the blockage. His
chest heaved and he cursed on a deep breath. The cute hostess ran over with
some more water and insisted on pounding him on the back.

He held up his arms
and warded her off. Clearing his throat, he thanked her and wiped his mouth
with a napkin.

“Jesus Christ, Denise.
What the hell?” he croaked.

Denise leaned forward
and smiled. “It’s pretty obvious since you haven’t torn into her yet, well, at
least not in a disciplinary role. I mean, she is seriously not doing a good job
and her attitude is crap.”

Mader took another
chug of his coffee before setting the mug down on the table. He might as well
tell his partner, who he happened to be interested in, what was going on.

“The problem started
at the Christmas party. She
claims we slept together.”

Denise stirred her hot
chocolate and quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t remember?”

“No.” He looked
embarrassed.

“Do you believe her?”

Mader leaned back and
blew out a breath. “I seriously hold some doubts considering the condition I
was in. But everyone saw us leave together and you know how people talk shit.

“Yeah, I sure do.”

“She promised she
wouldn’t cause problems if I got her in with Marketing in my division. She
agreed it had all been a mistake, especially on her part. I knew she was giving
me no choice so I took her deal hoping the issue would blow over.”

A Senior Manager
sleeping with an employee was frowned upon by the powers that be and under the
downsizing pressures they faced, did not speak favorably. A one sided love
connection made it all kinds of complicated.

“I think you have a
stalker problem here.” Denise murmured.

“For sure.” Mader
stared at her from under his lashes. After a few seconds he unloaded the nasty
weight on his mind.

“I am sorry about your
car. I never thought she would take it this far. I guess she had no reason to
go Fatal Attraction on me until you.” He stared at her mouth. It was full and tempting.
He knew just what those lips were capable of. Mader glanced away before
continuing.

“Working with her has
been a challenge and I’m not talking about all the screw-ups.” He looked into
his coffee mug as if searching for some answers.

“The woman throws
herself at me constantly. I seriously don’t want anything to do with her. I
should have just let her go to corporate with her bullshit, but with everything
going on, rocking the boat didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do.”

Denise fiddled with
her ring and stared out the window. She jumped when he grabbed her hands and
squeezed.

Mader watched the
faint blush creep up her neck and smiled. He was making her uncomfortable in a
warm fuzzy way.

Hell, he felt it too.
If he was true to himself, he had been hot for her for a while why should he
hide it now? Hadn’t they shared one hell of a kiss to prove it? People didn’t
come together like that and walk away.

Denise tried to pull
her hand back. “I don’t think...”

Mader wasn’t having
it. “I do. And so do you. I felt it when we kissed.”

Denise took her hands
back. “A mistake—“

“Bull. Shit.” He
whispered.

“Ok. I was into it at
the time but that can never happen again. I mean...”

Mader leaned into her.
His jaw clenched when she sat back trying to avoid his gaze.

“I’ve wanted you for a
while now. It’s not going away, believe me I’ve tried.”

Denise dropped her
shoulders. “Damn it, will you stop this? We have a stalker psycho to deal with
and you’re thinking with your…

THE
wicked smile that spread across his face took her for a little joy ride to
sexville. She squeezed her legs together when the pressure below her wai
st
got dangerously delicious. Her nipples ached and she cursed silently.

Mader’s gaze dropped,
and shit, went right to her chest. Of course she left her blazer at the office
and yes, her camisole was about as thick as an onion skin. Damn.

He blinked slowly and
returned his gaze to hers. His eyes were full of “gotcha” and masculine “I told
you so.”

Denise thanked God
when his phone went off. She buried her nose in her chocolate and looked on as
he read the text message.

Gone was the sexy
smirk he had been sporting. Eyebrows drawn together, he looked up at her. “Gina
took off sick. Apparently she left right after we did.”

Well, wasn’t that a
coincidence? What was the little bitch up to now? Denise got with the program,
her horny gone for the moment. The bitch was going to cause trouble. Now was
not the time to be thinking about a romp with the sex-god. “You understand she
needs to go. With the downsizing, now is your chance to get rid of her.”

Mader glared at the
window and breathed in deep. “I know, but if this is any indication of how she
reacts, I don’t want to imagine when she gets the pink slip.

“I agree.” Denise
glanced at her phone. She still had to prep for her meeting and file the
property damage report for her car. “We better get going.”

At Mader’s nod they
got up and headed over to the pay counter.

THEY
stepped out into the bright sunlight and Denise slipped on her sunglasses. “I
guess I still owe you a drink.” Now why the hell did she remind him of that? It
wasn’t like she needed to go somewher
e and pile alcohol on top of an
already dangerous situation.

Mader smiled. “You
damn sure do. How about we meet after work? I could use your expertise on the Hansen
deal. I’ve got a one o’clock and should be done by three-ish?”

Denise tried to stop
herself but the “sure” slipped out anyway. As his partner, she needed to
continue their work relationship. The tongue wrestling in his office couldn’t
interfere with the job.

Denise blew at her
long bangs and felt like stomping her feet in utter frustration. H
er car
was damaged and now she would be stressing out over the
work date
. She really needed
to get her crap together. It’s not like they had jumped in the sack and had
sweaty, hot… Okay time to change the picture in the noggin. She was a
professional, alwa
ys had been. One little kiss shouldn’t change years of
training.

So, she smiled back at
him and got in his car. The damn thing was small and although she loved the
power of the engine under the hood, she almost wished he drove a minivan with
more space between the seats.

WHEN
they returned to the office, Denise reported the damage to her Camaro. After
what seemed like hours, all the paperwork and police reports were finally done.
She barely made it to her meeting.

An hour of serious
brainstorming later, she felt whipped as she dropped into her chair. She had
never seen Mader with his guard down like today. He was usually a hot-headed
pistol with Einstein brain power for business. It was the reason colleagues who
had been with the firm much longer, followed in his footsteps. Not to say he
hadn’t ruffled a few feathers.

Mader was the type of
person to point out that if someone had busted their balls enough working weekends
instead of hitting the golf sessions, they may have gotten the corner office
which he now occupied.

Denise respected his
abilities even when he had his bastard suit on. It’s what made him successful.

Today for the first
time, she had caught a glimpse of the man behind the Armani armor. He was
vulnerable. Gina literally had him by the balls.

GINA
stretched out on her bed and moaned. Johnny was heading south and she wasn’t
about to stop him. Though she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering.

Everything had worked
out beautifully. The bitch had it coming and Gina would be only too happy to
stand on the sidelines and watch it all go down.

Did Mader think she
was blind? Obviously he lusted after the red-haired bitch. Mader was like a dog
in heat. So like a man to go for what he couldn’t have.

Gina knew the depth of
his determination with his career. He would do just about anything to preserve
it.

She smiled and focused
on what was going on down below. “Oh yeah, baby. Do it right there.” Gina
lifted her hips to give him better access. She gazed downward and was
momentarily disappointed with the blond head between her legs. No matter how
many men she fucked, she always saw Troy. Closing her eyes she threw her head
back and roared Troy’s name.

“CRAP.”
Denise groaned. She would have to go carless for an entire day thanks to that
scratch. Her in
surance company wouldn’t cover a loaner for anything less
than twenty-four hours. That’s what you got for going the cheap route.