Stranded Temptation: A Flaming Romance Read online

  Kara’s brows raised at the snippiness, but the little bitty was stabbing another poor lettuce leaf. “Since you’re asking, I’m working on contracts the company currently has with vendors.”

  “You mentioned that at the meeting. What are you looking for?” Jane asked.

  “Not looking for anything in particular,” she said. “Just getting familiar with things. If we start this manufacturing line, then there will be a lot of changes.”

  Jane frowned. “I’m sure. Glad it’s not me. Too much work.”

  Kara mentally snorted. She believed Jane’s words completely. Somehow, Kara couldn’t imagine Jane and her three-inch designer fingernails doing anything but pointing.

  “Yes,” Kara replied, “it’s work, but worth it if I can save the company money or possible conflicts of interest.”

  “Yeah,” Jane said, “how’s that?”

  Kara had to think about what the bottle-blonde meant. “You mean how am I saving the company money?” Probably just so the wench could spend it.

  “Yeah,” Jane flipped her hand in the air, “whatever.” Right, Kara thought. The bitch was trying to be nice. “I mean, you’re not really calling up everyone and renegotiating, are you?”

  “No,” Kara restrained from rolling her eyes. “I’m reading through the paperwork and file.”

  “Oh,” Dan’s wife said, “that doesn’t seem too bad. Just reading.”

  “Yes,” Kara repeated, “just reading.”

  Max’s voice caught her attention as did the man walking toward them—Frank Thomas. He scooted a chair to their table, sitting between Max’s father and Brian. Kara turned back to her salad when the men started in on business. She’d heard bits of their conversation earlier about the company going into manufacturing and figured that would be their topic of choice.

  Finally, Jane shut up for a minute. She wondered if Max’s father had to listen to her all the time. There she went, thinking the worst again. In the boardroom, the girl usually had the deer in the headlights look. With the stockholders talking financials, P&Ls, and charts, she was in way over her head. Kara wasn’t even sure why the wife came to the meetings. Surely, she would’ve rather been shopping on Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue.

  Now, their quietness had grown to the point of being awkward. Dammit. This is what she hated about being with people she didn’t know. If she asked about her marriage to Dan, was it being personable and caring or overstepping and nosey?

  When the waiter arrived with their lunches, she breathed a sigh of relief. Eavesdropping, she listened to the men discuss their current shipping issues. With the Panama Canal having finished its upgrade, bigger and more cargo ships would be making a port of call in the States. They needed to see how that would work in the company’s benefit.

  The company owned many smaller ships able to pass through the old canal system. Bigger ships had to go around the South American continent to get to the U.S.

  If they went into manufacturing in the south, a lot of their traffic would change. The bigger boats could now use the canal while the smaller fleet serviced the new business.

  All of that was boring and monotonous to Kara. She enjoyed the challenge of numbers and creating the most efficient way of running the company.

  Before she finished her chicken, Frank left with a determined look on his face. She wondered what that was about.

  Brian then mentioned to Max that he, Max, needed to attend his mother’s book signing tomorrow. Kara didn’t know much about their mother except she was divorced from their father, and she wrote self-help books.

  If Max would be gone for hours tomorrow at the signing, then maybe she’d be able to get something done before they left for South America. One of the vendor contracts was missing most of the paperwork and she had calls out to get more information. As soon as she got through with the project, she could move on to more exciting things.

  Jane made a show of looking at her flashy watch. “Oh my.” She hopped up from her chair. “I’m late for my charity meeting.” She blew a kiss to her husband at the far end of the table. “I’ll be back in a while, sweetheart. Don’t hold up dinner for me.” Jane hurried around the patrons at tables and shot out the front door.

  Kara wondered how she was getting there since she came with Dan and the car. Maybe the charity was across the street. Or something.

  6

  A few minutes before five o’clock, a squealing Meghan ran into Kara’s office. “Kara, aren’t you excited? You. Max. South America!”

  “Whoopee-fucking-doo,” Kara snapped. Did people really think she was over the moon having to miss her vacation in order to spend time with workaholic robot man, Max Richards? After the disaster of a lunch with the company owner’s wife six hours ago, she and Max hadn’t said one word to each other on the drive back to the office. Which was fine with her. Quiet after listening to that woman for an hour was heaven.

  Meghan rolled her eyes, grinned unrepentantly, and shut the door. “Oh, cut the crap, Kar. You have got to be excited, even if only a little bit. I mean, this is Max. The man we all wish to see on a males-most-likely-to-make-you-hump-a-door calendar. You’re going to see that hot body on the beach. You’re the only person who’s ever gotten to do that. We’re all super excited for you. How can you not be thrilled?”

  Meghan bounced on the chair across from Kara’s desk and smiled. Her dark curls made her look like a little girl. If they hadn’t been best friends since grade school, Kara wouldn’t have believed the woman across from her was going on thirty.

  Kara tugged off her gold hoop earring. The stupid thing kept unlocking and falling off. “Maybe because I was looking forward to my cruise instead of having to work during the time I requested off months ago. Now you get to go on the cruise without me. We no longer get to celebrate our upcoming big three-o together. Instead, I get to work on my damned birthday.” Kara’s voice rose, and she took a breath to calm her frustration. She threw the offending earring on her desk and groaned. Typical Max, he assumed everyone was willing to stop everything to do his bidding.

  Max seemed like the epitome of every wet dream. Tall, muscular, and so fine, he made her eyes water. She learned quickly that he was easy on the eyes, but extremely frustrating on her nerves. Nowadays the sight of him only brought out the urge to slap some sense into his workhorse brain.

  Meghan sighed and stopped bouncing on the seat. She reached out one of her hands to pat Kara’s. “I know you were looking forward to the cruise, but what you’re working on is major. You’ve undertaken a big project. Heck, going through a decade of records is more than most people can handle.”

  Kara pinched the bridge of her nose with her other hand, trying to keep her patience. “Meghan, I needed this vacation so badly.”

  “I know, sweetie. Go, get this done, come back, and we’ll plan a new cruise.”

  Kara’s anger abated with Meghan’s soothing smile. “It’s not just the cruise anymore. I have no life. You know why Barry broke up with me? Because he said I prefer to be at Max’s beck and call than to do something that might upset Max.”

  She tugged off the second hoop and placed it on her desk, stacking the earrings one over the other. “And though it pains me to admit it, Barry was right. I haven’t had a life since I started working for Max, and I won’t have one until I get out of here. Shit, I’ve gone on one date since Barry and I broke up, and that was over months ago.”

  Meghan frowned, placed her arm on the desk and cupped her cheek. “You know you’re Max’s right-hand man. Plus, other than me—because he adores me like the sister he never had and spends more time in my office than his own—” she said and grinned, “you’re probably the only woman he talks to for more than a minute. That’s including his secretary, Susan. Short of kidnapping yourself, how are you going to get out of here?”

  Kara leaned back in her chair and lolled her head on the cushioned headrest. “After I finish these contracts, I’m quitting.” It was difficult to say the words. Never would she
have thought to actually go this far, but damn it, she wanted to date. She wanted to take vacations. Fuck it; she wanted to have sex! She wanted great sex. Lots of it. The kind that left her breathless and so exhausted, she needed a nap to recuperate. And in order to get that, she needed to stop working fifteen-hour days and have a life.

  “You think Max is going to let you quit?” Meghan laughed, making Kara glance at her.

  “What do you mean ‘let me’? He doesn’t own me.” Kara ground her teeth in irritation. “I have an at-will contract, and the only way I’d consider staying here is if he realizes I need to work regular hours, and that’s not going to happen. I don’t know how he does it, but he can work nonstop without needing food or sleep.” And still have the audacity to look so good that she wanted to hurt him. After late-night meetings, she ended up looking ragged, and he’d looked disgustingly hot.

  Meghan smirked and shrugged, her chair creaking when she folded one leg over the other. She wiggled her leg in a nervous tick Kara was used to. “He might not own you, but he’s going to try to work his charm to keep you here. It’s what he does with everyone. Why do you think his turnover is so low? I should know. I’m the HR guru. Good luck trying to get out of his sexy claws. When Max Richards sinks them into someone, there’s no way of getting out.”

  Kara rolled her eyes and flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder, scrunching her nose in the process. “Maybe with anyone else who falls for his charm, or his physique and overwhelming sex appeal, but not me.”

  Damn straight, not her. She’d interacted with him enough that he no longer made her tongue tied. She didn’t marvel over him for the duration of their meetings. No longer was she keeping a daily regimen of Max-induced fantasies because she controlled her libido for the most part. It boggled her mind that he managed to look so good, so brawny and golden when he worked so many hours. How the hell did he do that? Still, he would not be able to convince her to stay if she didn’t want to.

  Meghan’s voice broke through Kara’s musings. “Just calm down, Kara. You love your job. Why don’t you try talking to Max about a new schedule, one that lets you see the sun at some point during the day? You’re so pale you’re starting to look like the bride of Dracula.” Meghan giggled. “No, but seriously, you have to think this through before you do something crazy. You are the top dog in the department. Are you going to leave and go somewhere you might just be another grunt? Max listens to you. He trusts you. Some women don’t even have a manager that listens to their ideas and appreciates their hard work.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’m sorry for them. No one should settle for anything less than what they want in every aspect of their lives. And I want a life. Not just a work life, I want a personal one, too.” Thinking of her personal life, she glanced at the clock. Eight minutes until time to leave. Looked like she’d be able to keep her dinner date with the only person she’d gone out with in months.

  She’d met Stefano at a sushi bar where she stopped to eat after working late a week ago. Things had gone well enough that she said yes to meeting him a second time. Of course, he wanted to meet right away, but she had to cancel the next couple nights to keep working on Max projects.

  But tonight was looking good.

  Meghan leaned on the desk. “What’s that smile for? Are you seeing someone and haven’t told me?”

  “What?!” Kara tried to feign innocence. It amazed her how well her friend read her—like a frigging open book. “Why would you ask that?” She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to admit the truth until she was sure she and Stefano were an item. Which could be somewhat soon.

  The man seemed too perfect. Attentive to her needs, listened to her. He liked to be close to her, wanted to be with her. She felt terrible having to turn him down a few times since their first impromptu dinner. But he didn’t seem to be upset. Said he’d wait for her.

  Then a deep, sexy voice came over her office phone’s speaker. “Kara?” Both Meghan and she groaned.

  “Well,” Meghan said, getting up from the chair, “I should be going. Time to call it a day.” Her friend cringed, knowing she shouldn’t have said that when she knew why Max was on the phone.

  “Yeah,” Kara sighed, “wish it were true.” She picked up the phone as Meghan wiggled her fingers bye as she closed the door behind her. “Yes, Max. I was just getting ready to leave.” Hopefully that would dissuade him from asking her to do something for him.

  “Is it that late already?” His voice sounded sincere, but that didn’t keep her anger from rising. She bit her tongue to not come back with a smartass comment. “Kara, would you mind putting together a quick spreadsheet with the liabilities, notes, and due dates for our South American client for me to take home tonight?”

  Take home tonight told her he wanted it now. That would take at least an hour to pull together with all the subsidiaries of the foreign corporation. She contemplated telling Max to go fuck himself, she had a date. But she didn’t want to sabotage the South American meeting in two days by making him wait to study the financial picture of the possible acquisition.

  She’d have to cancel with Stefano. Again. “I’ll have the spreadsheet to you as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you, Kara. What would I do without your help on this?” he said. Mentally, she snorted. What would he do, indeed? She pushed the button to release his call and get an outside line. She dialed Stefano’s number by memory.

  When the other side of the line picked up, soft music sounded in the background. Someone shushed a giggle that she distinctly heard as feminine. What the fuck? Did Stefano have a woman with him?

  “Stefano?” Kara asked.

  “Hey, Kara. Calling to ditch me again?” he said, sounding a bit slurrish.

  Kara’s heart crashed. Another giggle came over the line. Stefano jostled the phone, disturbing the sound on his side. “Stefano, who’s with you?”

  After a moment, he cleared his throat. “No one, Kara. Certainly not you.” That set off her anger. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to go out with him. It was her boss. “Stay and do what your boss wants, Kara. Don’t worry about me.”

  Maybe she wouldn’t worry about him since he had someone else there who could. “Yeah, Stef,” Kara said, “I don’t think this is going to work for us.”

  “Not work for you, you mean,” he snapped. “I got someone who wants to be with me. Have a nice life. Hope you find someone but your boss you want to be with.” He hung up.

  What was that supposed to mean? She didn’t want to be with Max. Did she? No! She didn’t. She wanted someone who loved her, who spent time with her, who wouldn’t have eyes for anyone else. She wanted a hero like those in the romance novels she read. He would take her on picnics, let her have all the green Skittles in the bag, want to hold her in his arms, walk along the beach, and be a god under the sheets.

  And when imagining this man, he always resembled Max.

  She slammed the phone down and grabbed a stack of papers and slapped them on her desk. Keyboard in front of her, she stabbed the keys, creating the spreadsheet her boss wanted. Damn prick. He had no consideration for her personal life or her time. He wanted, wanted, wanted, and never gave in return.

  She couldn’t wait to throw her resignation letter at him and watch him fumble around trying to convince her to stay. Fuck that. His charms didn’t work on her. He wouldn’t blink his dark, sexy eyes at her and get what he wanted on a whim.

  At least she could go to kickboxing tonight to work out her anger and aggression. She needed it badly.

  7

  Max watched out his office window as Kara walked across the parking lot to her car. He could tell by her quick, stomping gait she wasn’t happy. He wasn’t sure of the reason—no, he was. It was him. His fault again that she stayed late.

  Honestly, he hadn’t realized how late it was when he asked for the debt information for the foreign company. Well, maybe subconsciously he knew. But what was he to do? He couldn’t handle Kara finding someone to be with
. Someone who would hold her in his arms, kiss her full lips, take her to his bed.

  He hopped up from his chair and kicked the side of his desk. Dammit. His anger ignited at the thought of someone else doing and having what he wanted but couldn’t have. Nothing good ever came from falling in love with someone you worked with.

  His father was a perfect example of that. The moment the old man laid eyes on the new marketing assistant, he was smitten. Max knew his dad hadn’t meant to play favorites; he never had before in the company’s history, but the employees noticed the attention and extras lavished on Jane.

  It got to the point that morale fell, and the bottom line began to suffer. Only then did he see it for himself. For months, Meghan had been telling him point blank that he needed to step in and do something about it. Jane had become the most hated person in the company. To the point of being shunned and physically ousted by others.

  He wouldn’t let that happen to Kara. She was well liked by everyone—all the employees, the board, and him. The woman was amazing with a computer and her mind. What she’d accomplished in the short amount of time she’d been there was nothing less than extraordinary. She was the perfect person to help run the future company and its complex infrastructure. And he wanted her beside him always.

  The solution to Jane’s issue with the company was for his father to marry her and take her out of the organization. Max wasn’t ready for marriage. Maybe never would be.

  He’d seen the mean breakup between his mom and dad when he was younger, and it scared the shit out of him. He’d never seen his father cry except for the night his mother walked out the door for the last time. That was also the only night he saw his father drink beyond his means.

  From that point on, Dad was never quite the same man. He’d been through relationship after relationship, not ever returning to the happy, smiling, successful CEO father Max had known him as.