Page 24 of A Night To Remember

“Don’t try to lie to me again, because your body will tell me the truth every time. You can’t use the excuse of your dead husband this time can you?” he accused before crushing her lips with his.

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. “Jake, Steve is outside waiting for you and he’s insisting that he sees you,” Jennifer called through the intercom.

“Tell him to go away,” Jake growled. Charlie used Jake’s distracted state to twist out of his arms and get dressed in a hurry.

“This will not happen again,” she hissed as she buttoned up her blouse. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes and patted her hair back into place in hopes she at least looked presentable again.

Jake didn’t respond. He merely grunted while he adjusted his own clothing. In his rush to possess her, he hadn’t even undressed.

“Steve, you are going to pay for this,” he muttered under his breath, but Charlie could still hear him. For once, she was thankful Steve had shown up.

Jake watched as Charlie finished adjusting her clothing. “Damn, my make-up is probably a mess”

“You look beautiful as always, but when you get a chance, you may want to repair your lipstick.”

She glared at him. “And you may want to wipe it off your lips.”

Jake picked up a tissue from his desk and rubbed it against his mouth. “Better?”

Charlie nodded and made a move to leave, but Jake halted her by grabbing her wrist.

“Regardless of what you say, this is far from over.” His ice blue eyes glittered with determination and Charlie found herself shivering under his intense stare. How was she supposed to respond to that?

Charlie turned to flee when he let go of her wrist. She went flying out the door as if the devil himself was at her heels. Steve came strolling into Jake’s office, and he didn’t look happy. Whatever his problem was, Jake was not in the mood.

“What was so important it couldn’t wait?” Jake asked, taking a seat behind his desk.

“I came by a half hour ago looking for you, but Jennifer told me you were in a meeting going over the monthly figures.”

“And?” Jake shrugged.

“And you told me to let you know when the Garrison deal came through. You were insistent that I interrupt you when I received the news,” Steve reminded him.

“And so I did,” Jake conceded. “How did it go?”

A stormy expression crossed Steve’s face. “What the hell was she doing in here?” Steve demanded.

Jake decided to play dumb. Regardless of what had just happened, it was none of Steve’s business. “Charlie?”

“Who the hell do you think I’m talking about?” Steve, his face getting redder with his apparent anger, demanded.

“She came in here to drop off a report, is that okay with you?” Jake asked sarcastically, in no mood to have this conversation.

“Do me a favor and don’t insult my intelligence. I saw how Charlie looked when she tore out of here. What the hell happened?”

“Steve, I don’t think you’re in a position to demand anything right now. Either you want to tell me how the Garrison deal went or you can come back later. I have far too many things to do with my time than to play twenty questions.” Jake realized he was coming off a bit heavy-handed, but he’d be damned if he told Steve about anything that just happened. It was strictly between him and Charlie.

“I know something happened in here, Jake. For one thing, you always go over the financials with Brian and not his subordinates.”

“There’s a first time for everything, Steve. What’s your point?”

“Why did she go tearing out of your office? What did you do to her?”

“What makes you think I did something to her?”

“Don’t be a jackass. I told you how I felt about her. She’s mine!” Steve exploded.

“For God’s sake, she’s a woman, not a thing. And I should think the decision belongs solely to her. The whole office knows how you’ve been sniffing around Charlie, and they also know that she doesn’t want anything to do with you,” Jake pointed out cruelly. “Didn’t I tell you Charlie and I had met before?”

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