One Night Forever (The Cinderella Chronicles) (8 page)

She stiffened,
her hands moving to his waist. “It’s not a question of want, and
you know it. I don’t think you would believe me if I told you I
didn’t want you.” She swallowed hard before continuing. “I can’t.”
Lauren paused. “No. I
won’t
sleep with my
boss.”

Matt opened his mouth to
protest. Understanding how she felt, he wanted to reassure her
there was no pressure. Yet, he hated for their unique circumstances
to shut down something special. He opened his mouth to say as much
when a knock sounded on the door. He cursed under his breath. Where
in the hell was his secretary? She wasn’t supposed to let anyone by
without announcing them first.

Staring down at Lauren,
he said, “We’ll finish this conversation later.” Then he released
her because he had no choice.

Lauren ran a hand through
her hair, clearly trying to compose herself. “I’ll let whoever it
is in as I go.”

Matt watched her leave
because, again, he had no option. They were at work and this thing
between them was abnormal. Professionalism had to dictate their
actions.

But no way was this
over.

Chapter Nine

Her life was
hell.

That was what rolled
through Lauren’s mind as she entered her apartment that evening.
Finding it dark, she wondered how her mother was doing. Having
moved only a few doors down, her mother seemed happy. But Lauren
missed her. Privacy wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Alone was very…well,
alone.

Dropping her purse and
keys on the entrance table, she headed straight to her bedroom. She
flung her shoes off, mumbling as she did. Once she had comfortably
donned a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, she stuffed her feet into
her fluffy blue slippers.

Her next stop was the
kitchen. After a long few moments of staring into the contents of
the refrigerator, she grunted and slammed the door shut.

No way could she eat.
Unless…chocolate. She had a stash. It might make her feel better.
Making a bit more money these past few months had allowed a few
luxuries. Not many but some. Chocolate had been the big one she
loved.

Heading back to the
bedroom she walked to the closet and flipped the light. She had a
small chest inside where she kept her stash. A few moments later,
chocolate in hand, she headed to the bed and flopped down. Remote
in hand, she hit play. It had been months since she’d watched “Red
Hot Secrets” but still she’d taped the episodes. Maybe a several
hour marathon was needed.

Once the first episode
started, she began the consumption of sweet candy bliss. With piece
number six aimed at her mouth the phone rang. She dropped the candy
in the bag. It hadn’t tasted the way it normally would. Not as
sinfully perfect. Nothing felt right. Everything felt
wrong.

Lauren shoved the bag of
chocolate aside, and reached for the phone. “How was the first day
at work?” It was Cat. No hello. Just straight to
conversation.

Lauren sighed. “You’re
never going to believe what happened.”

“
Judging from
your tone, it’s not good.” A pause. “Wait. Tell me that’s not ’Red
Hot Secrets’ I hear in the background. I thought we’d broken that
habit.”

Reaching for the remote,
Lauren hit the button and ground her teeth in irritation. “Would
you please focus? I have a problem.”

“
It can’t be
as bad as you’re making it.”

“
What’s that
supposed to mean?” Lauren asked defensively.

“
You take life
too seriously.”

“
I have
to.”

Cat snorted. “No, you do
not. What’s got you so worked up?”

Eager to prove her point,
Lauren said, “Remember Matt?”

“
As in the
only man you’ve spoken about who isn’t a part of the ’Red Hot
Secrets’ cast? How could I forget him?”

“
He’s my new
boss.”

Cat laughed into the
phone.

“
What’s so
funny? This is a disaster!”

“
A disaster?
Hardly. No food on the table. An earthquake. A tornado. These are
disasters. You don’t have a disaster.”

“
Then what do
you call it?” Lauren demanded.

“
Interesting,”
she said quickly.

“
Are you
hearing the words that are coming out of my mouth?” Lauren said.
“The man is my boss. What in the hell am I going to do?” A pause.
“
He’s my
boss
!”

Cat laughed. “Do you
still want him?”

“
He’s
my boss
.”

“
Do you report
directly to him?’

“
Not exactly,”
Lauren reluctantly admitted because clearly Cat had some
agenda.

“
And do you
want him?”

“
Cat—”

“
You do. Okay.
Does he want you?”

“
Stop
answering for me.”

“
He does.
Good. What exactly is the problem? You aren’t his direct report.
Your relationship started before you were employed. It seems fairly
simple. Have a fling and get him out of your system.”

“
Sometimes I
just don’t understand you,” Lauren said, reaching for the bag of
chocolate again. It seemed a better comfort than Cat.

“
Look,” Cat
said, “it’s not a big deal. Keep it simple, keep it
private.”

Lauren was silent a long
moment, trying to process her thoughts and Cat’s loudly spoken
opinions. The problem was she wasn’t sure her heart wasn’t already
involved. But she wasn’t about to admit that. Not even to
Cat.

“
People have
office affairs?”

Cat snorted. “Oh please,
honey, all the time. You really are naïve sometimes. Stop making it
so complicated.”

A few minutes later
Lauren hung up the phone, but she didn’t feel any better than
before her talk with Cat. In fact, she felt worse. To think Matt
might want to have a heated little office affair with her, and then
pretend it didn’t happen later… Well, any way she sliced it, she
didn’t like it. Could she have an affair and then act like it had
never happened? Or even now, in public? She wasn’t sure she was
built that way. And it had been hard enough to forget Matt after
one night. She might never recover from an affair. Lauren reached
for the remote and flipped on the television, reaching in her bag
of candy, hoping to forget Matt for only a few minutes.

A tall, dark,
and handsome hunk filled the screen.
“I’m going to make love to you, Tara. I’m going to make you
never forget me.”

Those had been Matt’s
words. Lauren hit the off button on the remote. She was really
learning to hate this show.

* * * * *

The next morning Lauren
had hardly had time to sit down at her desk when a knock sounded at
her door. “Come in,” Lauren said, trying to sound bubbly when she
felt anything but. She hadn’t slept. Fretting over the situation
with Matt had dominated her entire night. But she had awakened with
resolve to fight for her career. Today she would dig in and make an
impression based on her professional abilities.

Celia appeared in the
doorway and offered Lauren a friendly smile. With her stood a tall,
blond Adonis-looking man Lauren recognized from the board meeting.
“Lauren,” Celia said, “this is Greg Marsh.”

Greg nodded, and gave her
a really quite sexy, quite devastating, smile. If you liked his
type. Lauren didn’t. But Greg no doubt had plenty of women after
him. That was one of the things about her attraction to Matt. She
never went head over heels over a man. Except Matt. Mentally she
shook herself. Already her thoughts had drifted back to
him.

“
Nice to meet
you, Lauren.” Greg said moving toward her with an extended
hand.

Lauren accepted it
reluctantly. There was a hint of interest in Greg’s eyes she didn’t
want to encourage. “Nice to meet you,” she replied formally, and
with what she hoped was distinct coolness.

Greg held her hand far
too long. Celia and Lauren made eye contact, and Celia gave her a
silent apology before she delivered the bad news. “Greg is your
teammate for the BG account.”

Lauren managed to plaster
on a fake smile. Words, however, proved more difficult.

“
I’ll just
leave the two of you to your duties,” Celia said making a quick
exit.
Yes, run, Lauren
thought. Leave me as the victim.

“
So, Lauren,”
Greg said, making himself comfortable in a chair. Lauren didn’t
like the familiar way he used her name or the flirtatious twinkle
in his eyes. “Tell me about yourself.”

She bit back a retort.
“I’d rather talk about the campaign.”

“
If we’re
going to be working together, I think we should get to know each
other.”

“
I’d rather
get to know BG. Tell me what they’re all about.”

Lauren was relieved when
he started talking, dropping all the flirtatious undertones. Since
he liked to talk, it took several hours for him to relay all he
knew about BG. Surprisingly, he knew a lot. The problem was they
disagreed on what BG needed for the campaign.

“
Look Greg,”
she said thankful the lunch hour approached and thus an escape
route. “Why don’t you draft your ideas and I will draft mine. Let’s
meet tomorrow morning and compare notes.”

“
We’re
supposed to be working together,” he said firmly.

Painting on a smile that
was beginning to make her cheeks hurt, she said, “But you have an
upper hand. You know the account, I don’t. I need to take the
afternoon to research and understand what I am dealing
with.”

He studied her a long
moment. “How about we meet up for dinner to compare
notes?”

A bark of laughter
escaped her throat. “Ah, no. Bad idea.”

His eyes narrowed. “It
would be strictly business.”

“
Would
it?”

He grinned. “Unless you
prefer it be different.”

Her lips thinned. “I
prefer we meet first thing in the morning.”

He gave her a knowing
look as he pushed to his feet. “If you change your mind, buzz my
office.”

Relief washed over her as
she watched him walk toward the door. She had a campaign to think
about. It was important to her to do a good job on this.

Chapter Ten

Lauren opted for lunch
out, walking to a pizza place she’d seen only a few blocks away.
She never got tired of pizza and in the small deli she’d hide in a
corner and think while she devoured at least two pieces. No dinner
the night before had her stomach in knots. The comfort of the small
booth combined with her first bite of pizza delivered a rush of
peace. This was her few minutes of private time to
think.

She had just finished a
second bite when a visitor slid into the seat in front of her. It
was Matt. “What are you doing?” Lauren demanded, and then deposited
her pizza on the plate.

He looked down at the two
slices of pizza he’d set on the table. “Same as you it
appears.”

“
How… I
mean—”

“
I guess we
just have a knack for showing up at the same places.”

“
Oh,” Lauren
said, because nothing more brilliant would come. The small table
put them at arm’s length. He looked handsome with a dark suit and a
maroon silk tie.

“
I used to
come here years ago. Glad it’s still around.” Matt took a bite of
pizza. She wanted to ask for more detail but she didn’t let
herself. Dabbing at his mouth, he smiled. “Why, you ask? My father
was a workaholic so Mom and I would come by and visit him. We’d
take him pizza and sit in what’s my office now and eat as a
family.”

She reached for her pizza
feeling odd watching him eat. Clearly, he planned on staying.
“Sounds like your family is close.”

“
We are. Or
were. My mother passed away several years ago.”

Lauren swallowed. “I’m
sorry.”

He didn’t say anything
for a moment. “What about you? Are you close to your
family?”

This wasn’t a question
she wanted to answer. She placed her pizza on the plate. “Why are
you here, Matt?”

He smiled and picked a
piece of pepperoni up. “Great food.” He popped it in his mouth and
swallowed. “You know, I consider myself a connoisseur of good
pizza.”

“
Oh, I—” Crap.
Lauren started to tell him she considered herself the same. She
knew all the cheap good places. But then, cheap wasn’t an issue to
him and she didn’t need to get personal with her boss and
ex-one-night stand. “Wouldn’t have guessed.”

One dark brow inched
upward. “No?” he asked. “Well, I am. I’m the single closest thing
to a pizza expert in this city.”

Okay, that was a
challenge. She had to respond. “I doubt that very seriously,”
Lauren said.

“
Really?” he
asked a hint of a smile in his voice. “I suppose you can do
better?”