16

BROOKE SAT ON THE FLOOR BETWEEN THE COFFEE table and couch, staring into the deep plum depths of her wine glass. She turned the stem in her fingers, her thoughts far from where they should be. Shannon was out to get her fired, which was plain to see. As soon as Brooke got home, she’d marched straight up to her studio and spent a dangerous amount of time searching for the evidence to prove it, an act that would surely get her fired if she was discovered hacking Monroe’s server. Her efforts turned up nothing. At this point, if Ethan gave Ken Stevens an ultimatum, there was enough stacked against her for him to win by default.

Neither of them wanted to openly use the darkroom disaster for ammunition, but it was certainly the catalyst for their suspicion of each other…and the building anxiety between them that seemed to trump any progress they made, no matter how small.

She closed her eyes. How could she have let herself go like that? Now she was stuck in an impossible war with the only man her body seemed to want. Even now, her thoughts veered toward a place she hated to go: his touch, his devouring kisses, their mutual urgency to join.

But that had been with the lights off. Never would she want him with the lights on. Yes, just knowing whom those hands and lips and tongue belonged to would send her libido straight into a nosedive.

“Earth to Brooke…”

Only then did she realize her eyes were still closed. Brooke opened them and blinked at the man who’d been rambling beside her. “I’m sorry, what?”

Sid watched her over his own wine glass. “You’re a million miles away.”

Her friend and liquor store hero had finally called to collect on that drink. She’d just happened to have a hundred-dollar bottle of wine she no longer viewed as a trophy. A half a glass through it, her head was beginning to swim, but the wine had failed to erase her troubles.

“I guess I have a lot on my mind.” She removed her glasses and rubbed at tired eyes. “You were probably expecting better company.”

“Want to talk about it?”

Sid was a good guy. He was much taller than she was and had an okay body, but his strong-yet-playful personality was mostly what made him attractive. They shared some things in common, like the fact they were both gingers with green eyes, they had a mutual interest in software, and they listened to the same music. He was exactly her type and seemed to show some genuine interest in her.

But the most important quality about Sid was that he was far apart from the mess at work. Though he may be able to help her find evidence against Shannon, she had no desire to tie him into something illegal. She smiled. “I’d rather forget about it.”

He tipped his wine glass and took a drink, his eyes never straying from her face. “That may be something I can help you with.”

When his gaze moved down to her mouth, Brooke knew he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to. This was not Roger or Ethan, but a genuinely decent man with no hidden agenda.

He slowly leaned forward. Brooke moved in to meet him halfway. They shared a sensual kiss that was tentative at first and then deepened into something more. His breath smelled good, like rich Napa Valley wine. His lips were firm yet soft. The way he moved told her that he knew how to please a woman.

Despite all that, her heartbeat notably failed to pick up its pace.

The doorbell rang. Brooke wasn’t sure if it was an annoyance or a blessing. She backed out of the kiss, leaving him with an unfocused look that told her he’d enjoyed it way more than she had. “It could only be Mrs. Costa from next door,” she explained as she got to her feet and put her glasses back on. “She always comes over when her computer acts up. I’ll tell her to hold off for now.”

Sid appeared in no hurry to leave his spot on the floor. He drew a knee up, but not before Brooke saw the suspicious bulge in his Bermuda shorts.

When she opened the door, a shockwave of alarm washed through her. Ethan stood there leaning against the doorframe in jeans, a black T-shirt, and an intense focus on the welcome mat. All she could do was stare in abject surprise at a man who couldn’t possibly have sought out her address.

Words escaped her. The silence stretched as he too seemed to wonder what the hell he was doing there. Finally, he looked up. His eyes darted past her and over to the man at her coffee table. Slowly, their blue-gray depths changed into something turbulent.

Her hand slipped from the knob as he stepped over the threshold. He stood so close she could feel his body heat. His voice was rough, barely above a whisper. “We need to talk.”

Now her heart was beating fast enough to power a small locomotive. Dazed and confused, she stepped back and turned to find Sid standing right behind her. “Sid…do you mind if we do this another time?”

The man stepped closer, caressed her back in an intimate way. “Isn’t this the guy you were arguing with the other day?”

“And we’ve done a lot of that since then, haven’t we, Brooke?” Ethan chimed in, sounding dangerous. “Well…not all of it was—”

“Ethan, shut up,” Brooke snapped.

A quick look confirmed that Sid was following along just fine. As he nodded at his adversary, the pulse at his freckled temple began to thrum. “I get it.” He turned to Brooke. “Are you sure you want me to leave?”

She took one of his hands and gave it an apologetic squeeze. “Yes, I’m sure. Another time would be better, when I’m all here.”

Sid hesitated a moment and then pursed his lips as he began to leave. When Ethan moved aside to give him clear access to the doorway, Sid stopped, leaned over, and deposited a tender kiss on her temple.

“I’m only a phone call away,” he said, his voice laden with meaning.

She closed the door behind him, swimming in mixed emotions. Why the hell had she just done that? And why the hell was Ethan Wolf standing in her living room? Brooke cleared the uncertainty from her throat. “I don’t want our problems inside my home,” she said.

When she turned to confront him, he was taking a good long pull from the open bottle of cabernet. Her anger rose to a fever pitch as she realized he’d just swallowed about twenty bucks worth of wine in one shot, no doubt to make a point. She moved toward him and was about to tell him to leave when he set the bottle down on the coffee table, turned, and immediately drew her into his arms.

Suddenly she was fully involved in a scorching kiss that completely rendered her senseless. It was not tender or sweet, but rough and demanding. All of her irritation melted away along with her reasons for not wanting him here. She’d been geared up to welcome Sid’s touch. Surely that’s why her body was thrumming with a need so strong, she clung to Ethan as if he were the only thing keeping her upright.

“You drive me insane,” he hissed against her mouth, closing his eyes against the inner struggle she understood all too well.

Brooke dropped her head in a desperate attempt to find sanity. This wasn’t possible. How could he turn her insides into molten lava like that when the mere sight of him pissed her off so badly? When she backed away, he let go of her waist and did the same. A moment of silence followed. “You said you wanted to talk,” she said finally.

Ethan turned his back and jammed a hand through his hair. “Give me a second.”

“Why should I?”

“Look.” When he faced her again, aggravation laced his words. “I don’t want to be here either. In fact I’m still trying to figure out why I’m not in Fort Myers.”

“Because you’d rather harass me, apparently.”

“Because no matter how hard I try with you, I can’t get my bearings—which scares the hell out of me. We’ve been taking one step forward and two steps back since the start of this competition, and for what? Because we hate each other?”

“Yes!” she threw out in a desperate attempt to believe it.

His brow smoothed out with a look of wonder. “Really? Why, Brooke? What makes you want to skin me alive and me want to shake the living shit out of you?”

“You, for one,” Brooke said with pointed finger, her chest heaving with emotion, “have looked down on me from the moment we laid eyes on each other.”

“What?”

“I was a total stranger to you. I was wet and miserable and vulnerable and you took that opportunity to laugh in my face. So, yes, after Ken introduced us, I knew I couldn’t work under a man of such poor character.”

A choked sound escaped his throat. Then he was laughing. “You set out to upend my entire life because your feelings were hurt?”

His words mocked, but his eyes held genuine amusement. Brooke waved away his accusation. “Don’t be absurd.”

The more he laughed, the more he tried to control it, shaking his head as he moved to the alcove of windows. “The absurd part is, you got it all backward. When you entered that restaurant, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was flirting with you.”

“Oh, please.” Like he wasn’t laughing at her now?

“You see…,” his amusement finally waning, he turned toward her again and propped himself against the windowsill. “You were no stranger to me. I’d already been in your office. I’d seen your pictures. I was glad I didn’t have to wait until Monday morning to meet you. That lasted all of two seconds before you stuck that entitled little nose up in the air.”

Brooke thought back, struggling to remember their first encounter word for word. Surely, he was blowing smoke, telling her what she wanted to hear. “If you expect me to believe you were attracted to me—”

“No.” His interruption was accompanied by a blank, soulless look. “It’s way too late for that, isn’t it? We’re stuck in this war you started, and I’m not sure we’ll ever trust each other enough to get past it.”

The air surrounding them grew heavy with the truth. “That’s why you came, isn’t it?” she asked quietly. “To throw more accusations at me?”

“I came to talk some sense into you.” He stood up and approached her. “If you’re doing what I think you are, the only way you’ll survive is if you forfeit. Because if you try and ride it out…you’ll get caught and you’ll be fired.”

She forced a bitter laugh. “Wouldn’t that fit right into your plans?”

He kept his voice low as he reached out and took her by the shoulders. “You’re missing something here, Brooke. I don’t want you fired. I think you’ve been dealt some pretty shitty cards, and I can understand the desire to play a dirty hand in order to win. I get it. I sympathize with it. But if you follow through with that desire, I won’t let it be at my expense.”

She lifted her chin. “And if we find out Shannon’s the one behind the leaks?”

“She isn’t.”

Damn. Of all the things Brooke had thought him guilty of, being blind wasn’t one of them. “Unbelievable,” she mumbled.

He gave her a little shake. “I know her, Brooke. Shannon may have pulled some childish pranks, but she’s no criminal. Selling bids is a serious offense, and she’s equally suspicious of you. All she’s trying to do is flush you out.”

In keeping with the respectful tone they’d adopted, Brooke asked, “When I come up innocent…what then?”

His gaze scoured her face. “Then I guess I’ll be in trouble, won’t I?”

Because he’d have to admit he was wrong? Or because he doubted she’d be of a forgiving mind? Fearing the latter, Brooke swallowed hard and backed out of his reach. “Then I guess we’re still at an impasse. I’m sorry you wasted your time.”

Ethan stared at her for a moment before looking away. “And I’m sorry I ruined your date.” He moved toward the door.

Brooke watched him with a sinking feeling, knowing that if he left now she would never get a moment’s peace. That kiss still lingered on her lips, a brutal reminder of just how much she wanted him despite their turbulent exchanges.

His hand froze on the knob. Shoulders stiff, Ethan stood there for a quiet second before he swore beneath his breath and turned back to her. “The hell I am,” he rasped as he closed the distance. The look in his eyes told her there was no escape…and Brooke had no desire to try.