Love 'N' Marriage (10 page)

“Please, don’t play games with me. You stopped by my apartment on Saturday, and I want to know why.”

The lines around his mouth deepened, but he wasn’t smiling. “I happened to be in the neighborhood.”

“But...”

“Leave it at that, Ms. Coulter. It was a mistake, and one best forgotten.”

“But I didn’t think it was a mistake.” He was closing her out; she could see it by the way he sat, his back stiff with determination. His eyes looked past her as though he wanted to avoid seeing her.

The silence was broken by Jonas. “Sometimes it’s better to leave things as they are. In my opinion, this is one of those times.”

Her hands trembled slightly but she stood her ground. “I disagree.”

His mouth twisted in a cynical smile. “Unfortunately, you have little say in the matter. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have several papers to read over.”

It was clearly meant to be a dismissal, and Stephanie wavered indecisively between stalking out of the office and trying to forget Jonas and staying and admitting that she was attracted to him and that she’d like to know him better. But for all the attention he was giving her now, she might as well have been a stack of signed papers on his desk. Out of sight, out of mind, she mused ruefully. Her pride told her that she had better things to do than allow Jonas Lockwood to poke holes in her fragile ego.

Finally her pride won, and she gave him a small, sad smile. “You don’t need to be rude, Jonas. I get the message.”

“Do you?” He focused his gaze on her.

“Thank you for that wonderful night in Paris. I’ll remember that and you fondly.’’

His hard blue eyes softened. “Stephanie, listen...”

He was interrupted by the phone. “I’m waiting for a call,” he said, almost apologetically, as he reached for the receiver.

Stephanie turned to leave, but Jonas stopped her as he reverted to French. Stephanie could tell that he was speaking to a government official regarding his contract with Lockwood Industries’ French counterpart, but the conversation became too technical for Stephanie to understand fully.

Ten minutes later, Jonas hung up the telephone. His eyes revealed his excitement.

“Congratulations are in order,” he said, coming to a stand. “Our trip to France was a success. By the beginning of the year, there will be a ground-breaking ceremony for the first foreign site of Lockwood Industries.”

“Congratulations,” Stephanie whispered. His happiness was contagious; it filled the enormous room, encircling them both.

Jonas walked around the front of the large rosewood desk, his eyes sparkling. “It seemed for a while that this deal could go either way.”

Stephanie noticed that his limp was less pronounced now than at any time she’d seen him walk.

“Do you know what this means?” He walked to the other side of the carpet, as though he couldn’t contain himself any longer.

Stephanie nodded eagerly, pretending she did know when in actuality she was ignorant of nearly all the pertinent information.

His hands locked on her shoulders. “I can’t believe it’s falling into place after all the problems we’ve encountered.” His arms dropped to her waist and circled her. With a burst of infectious laughter, he lifted her off the plush carpet and swung her around.

Caught completely off guard, Stephanie gasped and placed her hands on his shoulders in an effort to maintain her balance. “I’m very pleased for you.”

As if suddenly aware that he was holding her, Jonas relaxed his grip. Stephanie’s feet found the floor, but her hands remained on his shoulders, and her eyes smiled warmly into his.

He tensed, and the exhilaration drained from him as his gaze locked with hers. His hand slid beneath her long hair, tilting her head to receive his kiss. There was no thought of objecting on Stephanie’s part. Since the night in Paris, she’d longed for him to hold her. But she hadn’t admitted how much she’d wanted it until now. He kissed her a second time, and his mouth was hungry and demanding. His lips moved persuasively over hers, hot and possessive. She was as hungry and eager for him. A slow fire burned through her and she melted against him. “Oh, Jonas,” she whispered longingly.

He brushed his lips over hers a second time, then a third, as though he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Stephanie opened her mouth to him, drugged by the sensations he aroused.

His mouth ravaged the scented hollow of her throat and began a slow meandering trail to her ear. He paused, took in a deep breath, and waited a moment longer before releasing her. “Forgive me.” He brushed the wisps of hair from her temple. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

If he’d slapped her face, Stephanie wouldn’t have been so insulted. She felt like a fool. She’d savored the feel of his arms, lost herself in the taste of his kiss and the rush of sensations that flooded her soul, and he was apologizing.

To add to her humiliation, her eyes filled with tears until his stiff, unyielding figure began to blur her vision.

“No apology is necessary,” she murmured through the pain. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

Jonas hesitated as though he wanted to say something more, but then decided against it. Turning sharply, he stalked back to his desk.

Chapter Six

Well?” Maureen was at Stephanie’s desk early the following morning. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What happened?”

“Nothing much.” Stephanie kept her gaze lowered, doing her best not to reveal her emotions. She’d been depressed and out of sorts from the minute she left Jonas’s office.

“Nothing much? What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You had an argument?” Toni joined her friend. The two of them placed their hands on the edge of Stephanie’s desk and leaned forward, as if what she had to say was a matter of national importance.

“I wish,” Stephanie muttered, sighing heavily. “No, we didn’t argue.”

“But you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Very perceptive, girls.”  She made busywork around her desk, inserting a pencil in the sharpener at the far edge of her desk. The grinding sound followed, but neither Toni nor Maureen budged.

“I think we need to talk to the others.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Stephanie insisted, her tone determined.

“Hey, come on, Steph, we’re all in this together. We want to help. At least tell us what happened.”

It was apparent that she wouldn’t have a minute’s peace until she confessed everything to her romance-loving friends. “Meet me at ten in the cafeteria,” Stephanie told them. “I’ll get it all over with at once, but only if you promise never to mention Jonas Lockwood’s name to me again.”

Toni and Maureen exchanged meaningful glances. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s my final offer.” Replaying her humiliation was going to be bad enough; she didn’t want it dragged out any more than necessary.

“All right, all right,” Toni muttered. “We’ll be there.”

Stephanie’s morning went smoothly. Her boss, George Potter, was on a two-day business trip to Seattle, but there was enough work to keep Stephanie occupied for another week if need be.

When she arrived in the cafeteria later that morning, she found the four women sitting at the table closest to the window, eagerly awaiting her arrival. A fifth cup of coffee was on the table in front of an empty chair.

“From that frown you’re wearing, I’d say the meeting with Mr. Lockwood didn’t go very well,” Jan commented, barely giving Stephanie time to take a seat.

“There are no adequate words to describe it,” Stephanie said by way of confirmation, reaching for the coffee. “I’m sorry to be such a major disappointment to you all, but anything that might have happened between me and Jonas Lockwood is off.”

“Why?”

“What happened?”

“I could have sworn he was hooked.”

“To be honest,” Stephanie said, striving to be as forthright as possible, “I think Jonas may be attracted to me, but we’re too different.”

“That’s what makes you so good together,” Barbara countered.

“And I saw the way he looked at her,” Jan inserted thoughtfully. “Now tell us what happened and let us figure out the next strategy.”

Stephanie swallowed and shrugged. “If you must know, he kissed me.”

“And you’re complaining?”

“No,
he
was!”

“What?” All four looked at her as if she’d been working too much overtime.

“He kissed me, then immediately acted like he’d committed some terrible faux pas. The way he was looking at me, one would assume that I’d kissed him and he didn’t like it in the least. He was angry and unreasonable, and worse, he insulted me with an apology.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him never to let it happen again.”

A chorus of moans and groans followed.

“You didn’t!” Jan cried. “That was the worst thing you could have said.”

“Well, it was his own fault,” Stephanie flared, angry now. She’d been furious with him, and with herself. She’d liked it—in fact, she’d wished he had continued kissing her.

“Did you like it—the kiss I mean?” Toni looked at her hopefully.

Once again, Stephanie pretended to find her black coffee enthralling, and she centered her gaze on it. “Yes.”

“How do you feel about Mr. Lockwood?”

“I... I don’t know anymore.”

“But if he’d asked you to dinner, you would have accepted the invitation?”

“Probably.” Stephanie remembered the exhilaration in his eyes when he’d learned he’d gotten the permission of the French government to establish a branch of Lockwood Industries there. He worked so hard, and gave so much of himself to the business, that Stephanie experienced a sense of elation just watching him. She was happy for him and pleased to have played a small part in his triumph.

“But you can’t give up.”

“It was Jonas who did that,” Stephanie said sharply.

“But he hasn’t. Don’t you see that?”

Stephanie glanced around the table, thinking her co-workers were playing some kind of joke on her. “I don’t see it. Not at all.”

“She hasn’t read enough romances yet,” Jan said, defending her friend. “She doesn’t know.”

“Mr. Lockwood is definitely attracted to you,” Barbara claimed, with all the seriousness of a clinical psychologist. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted to the kiss the way you described.”

“I’d hate to see how he’d react if he
didn’t
like me,” Stephanie said sarcastically. “I’m sorry, but it just isn’t going to work. I’ll even admit to being disappointed; he’s not so bad once you get to know him. In fact, I might even have enjoyed falling in love with him.” She admitted this at the expense of her own pride.

“It’s hardly over yet,” Maureen told her emphatically.

“Whose move is next?” Jan asked, looking around the table, seeking an answer from her peers.

“Mr. Lockwood’s,” Toni and Maureen said together, their heads nodding in unison.

“Definitely Lockwood’s.”

“Then I fear we’ve got a long wait coming,” Stephanie informed them, finishing her coffee. “A very long wait.”

“We’ll see.”

That same afternoon, Stephanie was typing at her desk when Jonas entered her office. He leaned heavily on his cane, waiting for her to notice him before he spoke.

Stephanie was aware of him the second he entered the room, but she finished the line she was typing before she turned her attention to the company president. Ignoring her pounding heart, she met his gaze squarely, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing the effect he had on her.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lockwood,” she said crisply. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Miss Coulter.” He paused and looked into Potter’s office. “Is your boss available?”

Jonas had to know that he wasn’t.

“Mr. Potter’s in Seattle.”

“Fine. Take a letter.” He pulled up the chair and sat beside her desk.

Stephanie reached automatically for her steno pad, then paused. “Is Miss Westheimer ill again?”

“She was healthy the last time I looked.”

“Then perhaps it would be better if she took your dictation.” She raised her chin to a defiant angle, thinking as she did that her behavior would upset her friends. But she didn’t care. She wouldn’t let Jonas Lockwood boss her around even at the cost of a good job. Stephanie’s hold on the pencil was so tight that it was a miracle it didn’t snap in half.

“Address the letter to Miss Stephanie Coulter.’’

“Me?”

“Dear Ms. Coulter,” he continued, ignoring her. “In thinking over the events of last evening, I am of the opinion that I owe you an apology.”

As fast as her fingers could move the pencil, Stephanie transcribed his words. Not until her brain had assimilated the message did she pause. “I believe you already expressed your regret,” she said stiffly. “You needn’t have worried, I didn’t take the kiss seriously.”

“It was impulse.”

“Right.” She felt her anger flare. “And, as you say, best forgotten.” But she couldn’t forget it, even though she wanted to fling it to the farthest reaches of her mind. He’d held her and kissed her twice, and each time was engraved indelibly on her memory. Stephanie wondered if she’d ever be the same again.

Jonas scowled. “You’re an attractive woman.”

“I suppose I should thank you, but somehow that didn’t sound like a compliment.”

The frown thickened. “You could have any man you wanted.”

Stephanie gave a self-deprecating laugh. “You seem to have an exaggerated opinion of my charms, Mr. Lockwood.”

“I don’t blame you for being offended that someone like me would kiss you.”

“I wasn’t offended.” She was incensed that he’d even suggest such a thing. “If you want the truth, which you obviously do, I happened to find the whole experience rather pleasant.”

“In Paris?”

“It was exactly what I wished for at the fountain, and you know it.” Even as she said it, she knew how true it was. Since leaving his office the night before, she’d been in a blue funk, cranky and unreasonable and all because of Jonas. As much as she’d disliked him those few days she’d filled in for Bertha Westheimer, she admitted to liking him now. What she couldn’t understand was why everything had changed. For days, sparks had flown every time they were in the same room. The sparks were still there, but they set off an entirely different kind of response now.