Ruthless Temptation (11 page)

She
blinked a few times. “Are you serious?”

“
Of course. I told you I wouldn’t leave you with no
employment, and I meant it.”

“
But don’t you need more information?”

He
shook his head. “What you got today is more helpful than you know.”

She
look so conflicted Viggo wished he knew what to say to help her make what to
him was an obvious decision. “Won’t Ralph become suspicious if I quit just like
that?”

“
Don’t tell him where you’re going.”

“
He’ll find out.”

“
Probably, but it will take a while. By that time,
we’ll have Dave.”

“
How do you know that?”

Viggo
smiled. “Once Brent Easton finds out why we need him, we’ll have him. Trust
me.”

“
You scare me a bit.”

He
laughed and pulled her close again. “You have nothing to fear from me.”

She
sighed, and then he felt her nod. “All right. I’ll quit today.”

Viggo
kissed her hair. “Welcome to Ingram Properties, Miss Overton.” He had no idea
how this would turn out, but it felt right, and Viggo always trusted his gut.

Chapter
Twelve

Thursday
morning, Madison had thought she’d be afraid to confront Ralph in person, but
the conversation wasn’t filled with anger. It was merely a bit terse. He asked
her why she was leaving and she told him she’d found an opportunity where she
could use her marketing skills. He had snorted and said he knew this job hadn’t
given her the chance for that, and then he’d wished her well.

She
carried her small box of personal items from her desk straight to the building
that housed Ingram Properties, where Viggo came down to the lobby to greet her.
“Do you think he knows you’re here?”

“
No. Not unless he had me followed.”

“
Come on up. I’ll introduce you to everyone and have
one of the other analysts help you get settled. I’d do it myself, but I have
another conference call with all the Weathermen shortly.”

He’d
been on his computer in a series of video calls most of Wednesday evening.
She’d gone to bed while he was still working, and he hadn’t woken her up during
the night. This morning, he’d apologized for letting her sleep, explaining he
was exhausted. She’d told him he had no reason to apologize to her, and thanked
him again for the new job.

She
waited until they were alone in the elevator to ask about the call. “What’s it
about this time?” The evening before, he had sent the others the recording
Madison made, and they’d discussed the contents and devised a plan. She hadn’t
been in the room during the calls, but whenever he’d taken a break, he’d
summarized them for her.

“
We finally have the thirteen, and we picked up Rob.
Now all we need to do is find Dave.”

“
Wow. That was fast.”

His
grin sent shivers down her spine for two reasons. One, she wanted to make love
to him again in the worst way, and two, she was finally beginning to understand
the far-reaching power he and the others had. It was intoxicating to be near
someone who could make things happen with a single phone call.

Her
new office was in the marketing department, which was on the same floor as his
office. The entire department reported directly to him. She couldn’t stop
smiling as he led her inside. What a strange set of circumstances that had
finally led to her landing a job where she could use her skills.

He
asked her to put the box on her new desk, then introduced her to the
department’s two administrative assistants and the other three analysts. She
also met Oscar Velez, whom Viggo introduced as his head of security and IT
team.

“
Oscar is setting up a new system in this department,
so you’ll be seeing a lot of him.” Viggo asked one of the analysts, Lisa
Kinder, to help Madison settle in. Then he gave Madison a wink and told her
he’d see her later.

Based
on the lust coming off him in waves as his gaze lingered, if anyone in the
department wondered whether she was dating Viggo, they wouldn’t now. Madison
wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she’d deal with it another time. For now,
she needed to begin learning her new job.

She
didn’t see Viggo until it was almost time to leave for the day, when he stopped
by and asked if she’d like to go out to dinner instead of having it at home.
Madison grinned. “You call it ‘home’ as if I live there now.”

“
You might as well. Most of your things are in the
guest suite.”

Madison
wasn’t sure if he was happy or not about that fact, so she decided to take the
coward’s way out and ignore the remark. “Where did you want to go to eat?”

“
Cibo Delizioso
. Have you been there?”

“
Are you joking? Of course not.” It was crazy
expensive. She felt guilty just walking past it.

“
Great. I love introducing you to new experiences.”

The
way he said it made her shiver again. He’d introduced her to more new
experiences this past week than she’d ever imagined would happen for her. “In
that case, I’d love to go.” She glanced down at her jeans. “But I probably
should change first.”

“
Definitely. There’s a dress code.” He held out his
arm. “Come on. I’ll help you choose something.”

She
laughed and took his arm as they made their way toward the elevator. “We might
not make it out of your apartment in that case.” The last time he’d offered to
help her choose something to wear, which happened to have been Tuesday morning,
they didn’t get to the office until almost ten.

He
cupped her face and kissed her, hard and rough. Madison was dimly aware that
several people passed them in the hallway, but she didn’t give a shit. When he
finally released her mouth, food was the last thing on her mind.

“
Later,” he said softly. “After dinner. We might have
to work from home tomorrow.”

She
let out a shaky breath. “In that case, I’d better go back and grab my laptop.”

“
Good idea.”

****

The
meal was incredible. The dress Madison wore was one she’d never worn before.
Viggo had taken one look at it and grinned in a way that had her wet in
seconds. She hadn’t bothered looking at the others she’d stashed in the closet
of the guest suite.

He
looked as handsome as she’d ever seen him in a suit and tie, and he smelled
heavenly. It had been more than a bit overwhelming to walk inside, be shown
instantly to a secluded table, and have their picture taken at least ten times
before they sat down.

Viggo
seemed totally unfazed by it. Madison opened the menu and closed it again. Most
of the dishes cost more than she paid each month for Internet access.

“
Will you order for me? Too many choices.”

“
I’d be delighted to. Any food allergies or extreme
dislikes I haven’t heard about yet?”

“
No. I’m sure I’ll love whatever you choose.”

She
didn’t know one word of Italian, but it sounded to her as if he spoke it
perfectly when he ordered.

“
Is there anything you can’t do?” she asked, once their
server retreated.

He
tilted his head to one side for a few seconds. “I can’t make anagrams as fast
as you can.”

She
laughed. “I’d hardly call that a life-changing skill.”

“
On the contrary. You never know when switching letters
around in your head at lightning speed will be the key to saving the world.” He
reached across the table and took her hands. “Have I told you how beautiful you
look tonight?”

“
A few times.”

“
I can’t wait until we’re back in my apartment. I want
to make love to you again.”

She
shivered. “Not tired of me yet?”

“
Not even close.”

His
eyes blazed with lust, but there was something else, deep in them. This wasn’t
just sex for him. She knew that, but she didn’t dare go there in her mind or
get her hopes up this might last longer than any of his previous relationships
had. The longest one she could find had lasted three months, and that was four
years ago. It had ended publicly at a charity event.

She
wondered if he ever thought about any of the women he’d dated. She’d almost
asked him a few times, but it had never seemed like the right question and she
didn’t want him to think she was fishing.

Their
wine arrived, and once they each had a glass and their server retreated again,
Viggo clinked his glass gently against hers. “To saving the world.”

“
I’ll drink to that.” She took a sip. “Wow. This is
amazing.”

“
I was hoping you’d like it. It’s very rare
underground.”

“
Of course it is. You never do anything half-assed, do
you?”

“
Not if I can help it.”

She
glanced around as a flash caught her attention to find yet another person had
taken their picture.

“
You’ll get used to it,” he said quietly.

“
Really? When?”

He
put his glass down, and she did, too. Then he took her hands again. “Does it
bother you a great deal?”

“
I’m learning to ignore it, but how do you deal with
it? I mean, this happens to all of you, right?

“
It does.”

“
Do your friends’ wives and fiancées find it
bothersome?”

“
I believe some deal with it better than others.”

“
What about the weddings? Aren’t they overflowing with
reporters?”

He
shook his head. “No. We keep them out. Those are private. Speaking of weddings,
I had hoped to take you to Dominic’s and Angela’s next month, but they’ve
postponed it until February.”

He
wanted to take her to one of the Weathermen’s weddings? Oh my… “Why did they
postpone it?”

“
Because of everything going on in Central. The others
had decided to have them each six months apart so we could all attend, but
there’s talk of having them all within a couple of months in Central, early
next year.”

A
cold chill settled over her heart. “Oh my God. You’re afraid you all won’t be
alive long enough to see each other get married.”

He
nodded slowly, and the most profound sadness spread over his face. Madison had
to blink back tears. This had to be stopped, but how?

“
That’s exactly why they’re talking about doing it that
way. No one wants to risk waiting.”

 
“
What
are you all going to do? This has to be stopped.”

“
I couldn’t agree more.”

She
was about to say something else, but their appetizer arrived. Viggo released
her hands. “I don’t want anything to spoil this. You’ll love it. I’ve never
tasted calamari the way they make it here.”

“
Can you believe I’ve never tasted it at all?”

He
gave her a long, searching look, and once more she had the feeling something
deeper was going on, but didn’t have a clue how to address it. He speared a
piece with his fork, then dipped it into one of the sauces. “Open your mouth.”

She
had to bite back a moan at the tone in his voice. It was as seductive as if
they were in bed and he had just asked her to take his dick into her mouth. She
did as he asked, and then closed her eyes as she chewed. “Oh wow. Wow.
Delicious.”

He
watched her, a tiny smile on his face and his eyes filled with amusement. “Do
you know what I like the most about you?”

“
I think you were pretty clear on that the other
night.”

His
laugh sent shivers down her spine. “Well, all right. I did say that, didn’t I?”
He’d told her loved her boobs more than anything else on her body, and thought
they very well might be the nicest ones he’d ever seen. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“
Really? I’m shocked. Truly, because you’re a boob man
if ever I met one.”

“
Careful, smart-ass. I might have to spank you in
public.”

She
nearly came at those words. “Oh … I might like that.”

“
You might. You might also turn as red as the
tablecloth if I do.”

Madison
squirmed slightly. Time to change the subject even though the idea of him
bending her over and smacking her ass right now was a total turn-on. “So tell
me, please. What do you now like most about me?”

He
waved his hand in a small circle. “This. The way you embrace every new
experience and dive right in. I’ve never seen anyone take so little in their
life for granted. Everything is fascinating to you. You make me feel young
again, Madison.”

She
almost choked on her food. No one had ever said such a wonderful thing to her,
and certainly not a man she’d dated. She was stunned and unable to completely
process what he’d just said, so she simply stared into his beautiful eyes.

“
Have I offended you?”

“
God no. I’m … I don’t know what to say. You’re larger
than life, and to hear you say something like that to me, well, I don’t know
how to respond. My life is so different from yours. It’s so different from the
life most of women you’ve dated lead.”

“
Not that much. Not really.”

“
Seems that way from what I’ve read. I’m not fishing.
I’m merely starting observations.”

“
I know you’re not fishing.” He took her hands again.
“I’m happy you walked into my office that morning. I was pretty upset at the
time, but now I’m grateful you did.”

“
So am I,” she whispered.

He
glanced up as their server approached, carrying salads. “Let’s enjoy this
meal.”