Merry and Bright(23)

With a squeak, she tried to cover herself up.

“I’ve already seen it all.” He stepped out of his jeans and into the shower with her, crowding her back against the tile.

“Jacob.”

“Maggie.” He dropped his attitude and set his forehead to hers. “Truth. I guess I am feeling . . . territorial.”

She was no longer covering herself up but looking at him with a rather complimentary wide-eyed wonder. “Are we going to—”

“Oh, yeah. We’re going to.”





When Maggie finally got to work, thanks to a ride from Janie, she’d had two more orgasms and had completely revised her opinion of the dreaded “morning after.” In fact, she grinned all the way into the building, was still grinning when she passed by Alice’s desk.

Alice took one look at her face and swore. “Are you kidding me? You got laid? I can’t get a freaking return phone call from my supposed boyfriend and you, of the Church of Chemistry, got laid?”

Maggie looked around to make sure no one was listening. “How can you tell?”

“I know Scott went by your place last night, and you look all loose and relaxed. Two scientist geeks doing the nasty.” Alice sighed. “Some people have all the luck.”

“I didn’t sleep with Scott.”

“No sleeping, huh? Sure. Rub it in.”

“Alice,” Maggie said on a laugh. “I didn’t have sex with Scott.”

“Hey, you don’t want to dish. I get it. You don’t know me all that well, and—”

“No, it’s not that—” She broke off as Jacob walked down the hall. He looked . . . different. And it wasn’t just because she’d seen his big, bad body in the buff now, had in fact nibbled her way up and down every inch of that six-foot-two frame.

He didn’t look like the Jacob she’d seen every day for two months. He wasn’t wearing his tool belt, or his jeans, but a pair of nice-fitting cargoes and a white button-down. If he put on a white lab coat, he’d look every bit as much the on-the-go professional as any of the guys in this building. In fact, suddenly he looked like . . . like her Mr. Right, which should have been thrilling, but oddly enough it didn’t matter. Because sexy and gorgeous as he was, it happened to be what was on the inside that attracted her. He made her smile, he made her think, he made her feel like so much more than the sum of her chemistry degrees—he made her feel like a warm, sexy woman.

Somehow, in some way, her Mr. Wrong had become her Mr. Right.

“Ohmigod,” Alice whispered, dividing a stare between Maggie and Jacob. “Him ? You slept with him?”

Maggie gave a guilty little start. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Alice laughed. “Oh, yes, you do.” She watched Jacob walk toward them. “So was he as hot as he looks?”

Maggie bit her lip, and Alice shook her head. “You don’t have to say a word, your face is saying it all for you. So you two are what, dating now?”

“No. It was . . . a one-time thing.” Okay, two . . .

“Well, that’s just a damn shame.”

Jacob came to a stop in front of Maggie. As if he couldn’t care less that there were people milling around, not to mention Alice staring at him with open curiosity. He leaned in and gave Maggie a kiss. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She was breathless. He’d given her a peck and she couldn’t breathe.

Oh, and her nipples were hard.

But it was more than that. Just looking at him had her heart tipping over on its side and exposing its tender underbelly. Oh, no. She’d fallen for him and couldn’t get up. . . .

“You okay?” he asked.

No. No, she wasn’t. She shifted away from Alice’s desk for privacy, pulling him with her. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to say good-bye before I got on the plane. And make sure that you stay with your sister the next few nights.”

“I will, but I’ll be okay.”

“I know. But I didn’t want to walk away without making sure.”

Walk away. Damn, she’d nearly forgotten that part, which had been her own idea. “I hope you have a great holiday with your family.”

He just looked at her for a long moment, saying nothing. Then finally he nodded, his eyes fathomless and unreadable. “Thanks. You, too.”

“Maggie?” Alice called out, waving her back over. “Did you leave your office light on last night?”

“No, I—” She whipped around and saw the light gleaming from beneath the door. Not again. What the hell was going on? Pulling out her key, she let herself in and gasped. Her files, locked when she’d left yesterday, were all open and disheveled.

“So they got the chance to search this time,” Jacob said, coming in behind her. “What are they looking for, your formula?”

“I’m not sure.” There were only two people in this building besides herself who had keys to her office, she’d checked yesterday. Well, three. Alice, of course.

And Scott and Tim.

They’d been acting strange and just a little bit off all week now, and she’d ignored it. “Alice?”

“Yes?”

“Could you give us a minute?”