A Clandestine Corporate Affair(18)

Naked. They needed to be naked, right now. She wanted to feel his skin, the hard ridges of muscle that used to be as familiar to her as her own body. She clawed at the tails of his shirt, tugging them free from his pants, and Nathan must have had the same thing in mind, because he was sliding her shirt up…

The doorbell rang, followed by frantic pounding. What the hell?

Nathan broke the kiss and backed away. “I think someone is here.”

No, no, no. This wasn’t fair. Maybe if they ignored it, the person would go away. They stood motionless, waiting. Then the bell rang again, followed by more pounding. At this rate, whoever it was, they were going to wake Max.

“I had better go see who it is,” she told Nathan. So she could kill them.

She straightened her top and darted for the door just as the phone started to ring again. This had better be damned important. She yanked the door open to find Beth standing on her porch, hand poised to knock again, cell phone to her ear. As soon as she snapped her phone closed, the house phone stopped ringing.

“Hi!” she said brightly, muscling her way past Ana into the foyer. “I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop by.”

In the neighborhood? At eight forty-five on a weeknight? Beth lived twenty minutes away. From the frantic knocking she was obviously a woman on a mission, and Ana knew exactly what that mission had to be.

Beth looked past Ana and her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

Ana turned to see Nathan walking to the door, his tails retucked, clothes neat. To look at him, no one would guess that he’d been about to jump her bones.

“Hello, Beth,” he said.

“Hi, Nathan. I didn’t realize you were here.”

Like hell she didn’t, and Ana could see Nathan’s bullshit meter zip into the red zone.

“My car in the driveway didn’t tip you off?” he asked.

“Oh, is that your car?” She cut a look Ana’s way. “I hope I haven’t come at a bad time.”

That was exactly what she was hoping.

“Actually, I was just leaving,” Nathan said, grabbing his jacket from the coat tree.

Damn it! “Beth, would you excuse us for just a second?”

“Of course,” Beth said, shooting her a look that said, Don’t try anything funny.

Ana followed Nathan onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. “You don’t have to go. I can get rid of her.”

“Is that really what you want?”

Her first instinct was a big fat yes, but something made her pause and consider what he was asking. Was it what she wanted? Thirty seconds ago she was one hundred percent sure. But now that she’d had a minute to calm down, to think rationally, she had to wonder if she was making a mistake. She would sleep with him, and then what? Have another brief affair that would end in a month or so with her heart sliced and diced again? Was that worth a few weeks of really fantastic sex? If he decided to keep seeing Max, she would be stuck with him for a very long time. At least until Max was eighteen. And weren’t things uncomfortable enough already?

“I think we both know that it would only complicate things,” he said, and her heart took a steep dive.

She knew a brush-off when she heard one. What he really meant to say was, he didn’t want her. Hadn’t she been the one to start it this time? He had probably only hugged her for comfort, not to seduce her, but she had taken the ball and run with it. He could have stopped her, but after that awful emotional display of hers, maybe he was afraid of hurting her feelings. What could be more embarrassing? Or horrifying?

“You’re right,” she said, folding her arms against a sudden gust of cool air. Or maybe that chill was her heart turning to ice.

“Are we still okay for Sunday?” he asked.

“Of course. What time is good for you?”

“Why don’t I come by around noon? I’ll bring lunch.”

That had quite the “family” ring to it. The three of them having lunch and spending the afternoon together. But she didn’t want to discourage him, not when he and Max had gotten along so well tonight. Because this was about Max, not her. “Um, sure. That would be great.”

“Great. I’ll see you Sunday.” He stepped off the porch into the darkness, and though she was tempted to stand there and watch him go, she had Beth to deal with. She stepped back inside but Beth wasn’t waiting by the door.

She found her in the kitchen pouring a glass of wine. “Rough day?”