In Bed With The Devil

Three

Jack spent a couple of hours in the loft office, working. He called his assistant back in Dallas.

“They’re building more roads in Afghanistan,” Bobbi Sue told him. “They’re looking at maybe an eighteen-month contract, but we all know those things take longer. And Sister Helena called. They want to take in another convoy of medical supplies.”

His business provided protection in dangerous parts of the world. His teams allowed building crews to get their jobs done and get out. The work was dangerous, often a logistical nightmare and extremely expensive. His corporate clients paid well for what they got.

The corporate profits were channeled into funding protection for those providing relief efforts in places often forgotten. He’d grown up in the shadow of the Howington Foundation, a philanthropic trust that helped the poor. Jack hated having a number after his name and had vowed he would make his own way.

He had. He’d grown his company from nothing, but he couldn’t seem to escape that damn sense of duty. The one that told him he needed to use his profits for something other than a flashy lifestyle.

His critics said he could afford to be generous-he had a trust fund worth nearly a billion dollars. What they didn’t know is he never touched it. Another vow he’d made to himself. He’d grown up with something to prove. The question was whether or not he would have achieved enough to let that need go.

“Get Ron on the contract,” Jack told his assistant. “The usual clauses. Tell Sister Helena to e-mail the best dates for the convoy and we’ll get as close to them as possible.”

“She’s going to want to leave before you’re back from your vacation in Tahoe.”

“I’m not on vacation.”

“Hmm, a month in a fancy house with nothing to do with your time? Sounds like a vacation to me.”

“I’m working.”

“Talk, talk, talk.”

Bobbi Sue had attitude, which he put up with because she was the best at her job. She was also old enough to be his mother, a fact she mentioned on a regular basis, especially when she hounded him on the topic of settling down.

“Someone else will have to take Sister Helena’s team in,” he said. “See if Wade’s available.” Wade was one of his best guys.

“Will do. Anything else?”

“Not from my end.”

“You know, I looked up Hunter’s Landing on the Internet, and the place you’re staying isn’t that far from the casinos.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“So you should go. Gamble, talk to some people. You spend too much time alone.”

He thought about Meri, sleeping in the room next to his. “Not anymore.”

“Does that mean you’re seeing someone?”

“No.”

“You need to get married.”

“You need to get off me.”

Bobbi Sue sighed. “All right, but just in the short term.”

Jack hung up. He glanced at his computer, but for once he didn’t want to work. He paced the length of the spacious bedroom, ignoring the fireplace, the view and the television. Then he went downstairs to confront the woman who seemed determined to think the worst of him.

Not that he cared what she thought. But this wasn’t about her-it was about Hunter.

He found Meri in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, eating ice cream out of a pint-size container.

“Lunch?” he asked as he entered the room.

“Sort of. Not exactly high in nutrition, but I’m more interested in sugar and fat right now.”

He stared at her miniature spoon. “That’s an interesting size.”

She waved the tiny utensil. “It’s my ice-cream-eating spoon. I try to avoid using food as an emotional crutch, but sometimes ice cream is the only solution. I use this spoon because it takes longer to eat and I have a better chance of getting disgusted with myself and stopping before finishing the pint. A trick for keeping off the weight. I have a thousand of them.”

“This situation required ice cream?”

She licked the spoon. He did his best to ignore the flick of her tongue and the sigh that followed, along with the rush of unwelcome heat in his body.

“You pissed me off,” she told him.

Translation: he’d hurt her. Hunter was her brother. She wouldn’t want to think his friends had forgotten him.

He leaned against the counter as he considered what to do. His natural inclination was to walk away. Her feelings didn’t matter to him. At least they shouldn’t. But this was Meri, and he was supposed to be looking out for her. Which meant not making a bad situation worse.

Maybe a small concession was in order. “I don’t want to think about Hunter,” he admitted. “I’ve trained myself not to. But he’s there. All the time.”

She eyed him. “Why should I believe you?”

“I don’t care if you do.”

She surprised him by smiling. “Okay. I like that answer. If you’d tried to convince me, I would have known you were just placating me. But your stick-up-the-butt attitude is honest.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused.”

He frowned. Had she always been this irritating?

“You getting much work done?” she asked as she checked her watch. “I’m not. There’s so much going on right now and I really need to focus. But it’s tough. Being here, seducing you-it’s a full time job.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “You need to let that go.”

“The seduction part? I don’t think so. I’m making progress. You’re going on the defensive. What happened in the gym was definitely about taking charge. So that means I’m getting to you.” She held out the ice cream container. “Want some, big guy?”

She was mocking him. She was irreverent and fearless and determined. All good qualities, but not in this situation. She was right. He wanted to get control. And he could think of only one way to do that.

He moved close and took the ice cream from her. After setting it and the spoon on the counter, he cupped her face and kissed her.

He took rather than asked. He claimed her with his lips, branding her skin with his own. He leaned in, crowding her, showing her that she hadn’t thought her plan through.

She stiffened slightly and gasped in surprise. He took advantage of the moment and plunged his tongue into her mouth.

She was cool from the ice cream, cool with a hint of fire. She tasted of chocolate and something that had to be her own erotic essence. He ignored the softness of her skin, the sensual feel of her mouth and the heat that poured through him.

She pulled back slightly and gazed into his eyes. “Is that the best you can do?” she asked before she put her arms around his neck and drew him in.

She kissed him back with a need that surprised him. She opened for him and then met his tongue with darting licks of her own.

She’d parted her legs, so he slipped between her thighs. Although she was much shorter, with her sitting on the counter, he found himself nestled against her crotch.

Blood pumped, making him hard. Desire consumed him. Desire for a woman he couldn’t have. Dammit all to hell.

Then he reminded himself that his reaction was to an attractive woman. It wasn’t specific. It wasn’t about Meri. As his assistant enjoyed pointing out, he’d been solitary for a long time. Even brief sexual encounters no longer intrigued him. He’d been lost in a world of work and nothing else.

He had needs. That was all this was-a scratch for an itch.

He pulled back. “Interesting.”

She raised her eyebrows. “It was a whole lot more than interesting and you know it.”

“If it’s important for you to believe that, go ahead.”

“I don’t mind that you’re not making this easy,” she told him. “The victory will be all the sweeter.” She picked up her ice cream and put the cover back. “I’m done.”

“Sugar and fat needs met?”

“I no longer need the comfort. My bad mood is gone.”

So like a woman, he thought as he leaned against the counter. “Because I kissed you?”

She smiled and jumped to the floor, then walked to the freezer. “Because you liked it.”

He wasn’t going to argue the point.

She closed the freezer door with her hip, then looked at him. “Tell me about the women in your life.”

“Not much to tell.”

“It’s tough, isn’t it?” She leaned against the counter opposite his. For once, her eyes weren’t bright with humor or challenge. “Being who we are and trying to get involved. The money thing, I mean.”

Because they both came from money. Because they’d been raised with the idea that they had to be careful, to make sure they didn’t fall for someone who was in it for the wrong reasons.

Without wanting to, Jack remembered sitting in on a painful conversation between Hunter and Meredith. He’d tried to escape more than once, but his friend had wanted him to stick around to make sure Meri really listened.

“Guys are going to know who you are,” Hunter had told her. “You have to be smart and not just think with your heart.”

Meri had been sixteen. She’d writhed in her seat as Hunter had talked, then she’d stood and glared at him. “Who is going to want me for anything else?” she demanded. “I’m not pretty. I’ll never be pretty. I’m nothing more than a giant brain with braces and a big nose. I’m going to have to buy all my boyfriends.”

Hunter had looked at Jack with an expression that begged for help, but Jack hadn’t known what to say either. They were too young to be guiding Meri through life-what experiences did they have to pass on? Doing twins from the law school hardly counted.

“I have it easier than you do,” he said, forcing himself back to the present, not wanting to think about how he’d failed both Hunter and Meri. “The women I go out with don’t know who I am.”

“Interesting point. I don’t talk about my family, but word gets out. I’ve actually reached the point in my life where I have to have men investigated before I start dating them. It’s not fun.”

“You’re doing the right thing.” Not that she was the only one checking out her dates. He ran a check on all of them, too. For casual dates, he only bothered with a preliminary investigation, but if it looked like things were getting serious, he asked for a more involved report.

She glanced at her watch again.

“You have an appointment?” he asked.

She grinned. “I have a surprise.”

“Another one?”

“Oh, yeah. So there’s no little woman waiting in the wings?”

“I told you-I’m not the little-woman type.”

“Of course. You’re the kind of man who enjoys a challenge. Which is what I am.”

Okay, so kissing her hadn’t gotten her to back off. He needed another direction. He refused to spend the next three and a half weeks dodging Meri. All he needed was a plan. He’d never been defeated before and he wasn’t about to be defeated now.

“But I want something different from the men in my life,” she continued. “Maybe my tastes have matured, but I’m looking for someone smart and funny-but normal-smart. Not brainy. I could never marry another genius. We’d have a mutant child, for sure.”

He chuckled. “Your own version of genetic engineering?”

“Sort of. I made a list of characteristics that are important to me. I used to have a whole program I wrote one weekend, but that seemed so calculated. A list is more ordinary.”

“Not if you wrote it in binary code.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. I’d never do that. C++ maybe.”

He was going to guess C++ was another computer language, but he could be wrong.

“Not that I needed a computer program to know Andrew is a great guy.”

Jack stared at her. “Andrew?”

“The man I’ve been dating for a while now. He checked out great, and things are getting serious.”

Jack didn’t remember hearing about any guy named Andrew. Not that he got personally involved unless things were heating up-which, apparently, they were. Why hadn’t he been told?

“How serious?” he asked as he heard the sound of a truck heading toward the house.

“I’m probably going to marry him,” Meri said, then ran out of the kitchen. “You hear that? They’re here!”

Marry him?

Before he could react to that, he found himself following her to the foyer and beyond that to the front of the house. A shuttle van pulled to a stop in front of the porch, and the door eased open.

“Who’s here?” he asked, but Meri wasn’t listening.

She bounced from foot to foot, then threw herself into the arms of the first person off the shuttle. He was short, skinny and wearing glasses thick enough to be portholes. Nothing about him was the least bit threatening, and Jack immediately wanted to kill him.

“You made it,” Meri said, hugging the guy again. “I’ve missed you so much.”

The guy disentangled himself. “It’s been a week, Meri. You need to get out more.”

She laughed, then turned to the next person and greeted him with exactly the same enthusiasm. Okay. So nerd guy wasn’t Andrew. Good to know.

Meri welcomed all eight visitors with exactly the same amount of enthusiasm, then she turned to Jack.

“Everybody, this is Jack. Jack, this is my team.”

“Team for what?” he asked.

She grinned. “Would you believe me if I said polo?”

Judging from their pale skin and slightly peering gazes, he was going to guess none of them had ever seen a horse outside of the movies or television.

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. This is my solid-rocket-fuel team. We’re working on ways to make it less toxic and more efficient. There’s a technical explanation, but I don’t want to watch your eyes glaze over.”

“I appreciate that. What are they doing here?”

“Don’t freak. They’re not all staying in the house. Only Colin and Betina. The rest are staying at nearby hotels.”

Jack didn’t like the idea of anyone else hanging around. He needed to concentrate on work. Of course, if Meri were distracted by her friends, she wouldn’t be such a problem for him.

“Why are they here?” he asked.

“So we can work. I can’t leave the mountain, so they agreed to a field trip.” She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “I know you’re going to find it difficult to believe, but this is a really fun group.”

Most of her colleagues were squinting in the sun and looking uncomfortable. “I can only imagine.”

She walked over to the oldest woman in the group-a slightly overweight, stylishly dressed blonde-linked arms with her and led her forward.

“Jack, this is my friend Betina. Technically she’s a liaison-she stands between the team and the real world, taking care of all the details the scientifically gifted seem to be so bad with. In reality, she’s my best friend and the reason I’m just so darned normal.”

He eyed the other woman and wondered how many of Meri’s secrets she knew.

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook hands with Betina.

Betina smiled. “I’m enjoying meeting you, as well,” she said. “Finally.”

Finally?

Meri grinned. “Did I tell you or what?”

Tell her what? But before Jack could ask, the group went into the house. He was left standing on the porch, wondering when the hell his life had gotten so out of his control.

Meri sat cross-legged in the center of the bed while her friend unpacked. “He’s gorgeous. Admit it-you saw it.”

Betina smiled. “Jack is very nice-looking, if you enjoy the tall, dark and powerful type. He wasn’t happy about us arriving.”

“I know. I didn’t tell him you were coming. It was fabulous. I wish you’d seen the look on his face when I explained why you were here. Of course, it was right after I told him I might marry Andrew, so there it was a double-thrill moment for me.”

Betina unpacked her cosmetics and carried them into the attached bathroom. “You know you’re not marrying Andrew. You’re baiting Jack.”

“It’s fun and I need a hobby.” Meri flopped back on the bed. “Why shouldn’t I bait him? He deserves it. He was mean to me.”

“He was in college. At that age, men are not known for their emotional sensitivity. Actually, they’re not known for it at any age. But the point is, you bared your heart and soul and he reacted badly. I agree some punishment is in order, but you’re taking it all too far. This is a mistake, Meri.”

Meri loved Betina like a sister…sometimes like a mom. There were only twelve years between them chronologically, but in life experiences they were light-years apart.

Betina had been the project manager’s assistant at the think tank that had first hired Meri. The second week Meri had been there, Betina had walked into her lab.

“Do you have anything close to a sense of humor?” the other woman had asked. “I don’t mind that you’re brilliant, but a sense of humor is required for any kind of a relationship.”

Meri hadn’t known what to say. She’d been eighteen and terrified of living on her own in a strange city. Money wasn’t an issue-the think tank had hired her for more than she’d ever thought she would earn and she had a family trust fund. But she’d spent that last third of her life in college. What did she know about furnishing an apartment, buying a car, paying bills?

“I don’t know if I would qualify as funny,” Meri had said honestly. “Does sarcasm count?”

Betina had smiled. “Oh, honey, sarcasm is the best.”

At that moment their friendship had been born.

Betina had been turning thirty and on her own for over a decade. She’d shown Meri how to live on her own and had insisted she buy a condo in a good part of D.C.

She’d taken care of Meri after both her surgeries, offered fashion advice, love life advice and had hooked her up with a trainer who had pummeled her into shape.

“Why is getting revenge a mistake?” Meri asked as her friend finished unpacking. “He’s earned it.”

“Because you’re not thinking this through. You’re going to get into trouble and I don’t want that to happen. Your relationship with Jack isn’t what you think.”

Meri frowned. “What do you mean? I totally understand my feelings about Jack. I had a huge crush on him, he hurt me and, because of that, I’ve been unable to move on. If I sleep with him, I’ll instantly figure out that he’s not special at all. He’s just some guy and I’ll be healed. The benefit is I get to leave him wanting more.”

Betina sat next to her and fluffed her short hair. “I hate travel. I always get puffy.” Then she drew in a breath. “You didn’t have a crush on Jack. You were in love with him then and you’re still in love with him. You’re emotionally connected to him, even if you refuse to admit it. Sleeping with him is only going to confuse the matter. The problem with your plan is that, odds are, the person left wanting more could easily be you.”

Meri sat up and took Betina’s hands. “I love and admire you, but you are desperately wrong.”

“I hope so, for your sake.”

But her friend sounded worried as she spoke. Meri appreciated the show of support. They were never going to agree on this topic. Better to move on.

She released Betina’s hands and grinned. “So Colin is right next door. Whatever will the two of you get up to late at night?”

Betina flushed. “Lower your voice,” she whispered. “He’ll hear you.”

“Oh, please. He wouldn’t hear a nuclear explosion if he was focused on something else, and when I walked by his room, he was already booting his laptop. We’re safe. Don’t you love how I got the two of you into the house while everyone else is far, far away?”

“I guess,” Betina said with uncharacteristic indecision. “I know something has to happen soon or I’ll be forced to back the car over him. He’s such a sweetie. And you know I really like him, but I don’t think I’m his type.”

Meri groaned. “He doesn’t have a type. He’s a nerd. Do you think he dates much?”

“He should. He’s adorable and smart and funny.”

Her friend had it bad, Meri thought happily. And she was pretty sure that Colin found Betina equally intriguing. Usually Betina simply took what she wanted in the man department. But something about Colin made her nervous.

“He’s afraid of being rejected,” Meri told her. “Something I can relate to.”

“I wouldn’t reject him,” Betina said. “But it will never work. We’re on a project together. I’m too old for him and I’m too fat.”

“You’re six years older, which is nothing, and you’re not fat. You’re totally curvy and lush. Guys go for that.”

They always had. Meri had spent the last decade marveling at the number of men her friend met, dated, slept with and dumped.

“Not Colin. He barely speaks to me.”

“Which is interesting,” Meri said. “He talks to everyone else.”

It was true. Colin was tongue-tied around Betina. Meri thought it was charming.

At first, when her friend had confessed her interest in Colin, Meri had been protective of her coworker. Colin might enjoy the ride that was Betina, but once dumped, he would be heartbroken. Then Betina had admitted her feelings went a whole lot deeper. The L word had been whispered.

After getting over the idea of her friend being in love with anyone, Meri had agreed to help. So far, she’d been unable to think of a way to bring the couple together. Hunter’s lodge had offered the perfect opportunity.

“You have time,” Meri pointed out. “Jack and I never come down here, so you have the whole floor to yourselves. You can talk to each other in a casual setting. No pressure. It will be great.”

Betina smiled. “Hey, it’s my job to be the positive, self-actualized one.”

“I know. I love being the emotionally mature friend. It doesn’t happen often.”

“It happens more and more.”

Meri leaned in and hugged her friend. “You’re the best.”

“So are you.”

Jack looked up as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Seconds later, Meri appeared in his loft office.

She’d changed into a tight skirt and cropped top, curled her hair and put on makeup. Always pretty, she’d upped the stakes to come-get-me sexy.

A quick bit of research on the Internet had told him that the guy she’d mentioned wasn’t one of her scientists. Instead he worked for a D.C. lobbyist and was safely several thousand miles away. Not that Jack cared one way or the other. The only issue for him was researching the man more thoroughly. If things were getting serious, it was his job to make sure Meri wasn’t being taken.

His low-grade anger was something he would deal with later. He didn’t know why he minded the thought of her marrying some guy, but he did.

“We’re going to dinner,” she announced when she stopped in front of his desk. “You might not believe this, but we’re actually a pretty fun group. You’re welcome to join us.”

“Thanks, but no.”

“Want me to bring back something? The fridge is still fully stocked, but I could stop for chicken wings.”

“I’m good.”

She turned to leave. He stopped her with, “You should have mentioned you were engaged.”

She turned back to him. “Why? You claim you’re not sleeping with me. What would an engagement matter one way or another?”

“It makes a difference. I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

“Ah. Then I’m glad you didn’t know.” Her blue eyes brightened with amusement. “Does the fact that I belong to someone else make me more tempting? The allure of the forbidden?”

He had to consciously keep from smiling. She’d always been overly dramatic.

“No,” he told her. “Sorry.”

“You’re not sorry. And, for what it’s worth, the engagement isn’t official. I wouldn’t be trying to sleep with you if I’d said yes.”

A cool rush of relief swept through him. “You said no?”

“I didn’t say anything. Andrew hasn’t actually proposed. I found a ring.” She shifted on her high heels. “I didn’t know what to think. I’d never thought about getting married. I realized we had unfinished business, so here I am. Seducing you.”

He ignored that. “You’re sleeping with him.” The point was obvious, so he didn’t make it a question.

She leaned forward and sighed. “It bothers you, doesn’t it? Thinking about me in bed with another man. Writhing, panting, being taken.” She straightened and fanned herself. “Wow, it’s really warm here at the top of the house.”

He didn’t react, at least not on the outside. But her words had done what she’d wanted them to do. He reacted on the inside, with heat building in his groin.

She got to him. He would give her points for that. But she wouldn’t win.

“So no on dinner?” she asked.

“I have work.”

“Okay. Want a goodbye kiss before I go?”

He hated that he did. He wanted to feel her mouth on his, her body leaning in close. He wanted skin on skin, touching her until he made her cry out with a passion she couldn’t control. “No, thanks,” he said coolly.

She eyed him for a second, then grinned. “We both know that’s not true, don’t we, Jack?”

And then she was gone.