Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(9)
Completely confused at this question Claire looked at Liz and said, “do you mean how long have I been working for Jason?”
“No," replied Liz, "how long have you been dating him?” For some reason, this struck Claire as hysterical, and she began to laugh.
When she could finally catch her breath she looked at Liz and said between peals of laughter, “Jason would probably be surprised to realize I’m female; much less the object of his romantic interests!”
Liz joined in her laughter and said, “Oh, I think he knows you’re female alright from the vibes I was getting across the table. I think there was more than the chili steaming over there.”
“Trust me Liz, he would have more romantic vibes towards Wolf than towards me; we’ve a strictly professional relationship.” Claire was vastly amused to think of how shocked Jason would be to think that Liz would consider he had feelings for her. His first question would probably be ‘Claire who?’ and the second would be, ‘are you kidding?’
At just that moment, the object of their laughter strolled into the kitchen and, God help her, Claire had to admit he looked better than any man had a right to. Why must she always feel like she was in perpetual heat around this man? She’d actually been around other hot guys before and hadn’t felt like her underwear was on fire, so what was the problem here?
“Claire, are you ready to work for a few hours before we have to break for the evening?”
“Yes, that’s fine; I’m ready if you are.” Oh yeah baby, I’m more than ready… She shared one last secret smile with Liz before once again letting Jason lead the way as they went back upstairs.
Chapter Five
Jason's room had the same comfortable theme. The walls were painted a pale blue color with a matching comforter on the queen-sized bed and another chest at the foot of the bed. “I love the antique touches that Liz and Harold have in their home,” said Claire appreciably as she pointed to the chest.
“Collecting antiques is a hobby they have and when Liz can find a bargain on a rare piece, Harold says she’s in sheer bliss for days,” replied Jason with an affectionate smile. She couldn’t help but think of how nice it would be to be the object of that affection. Claire quickly looked away from Jason and walked towards the desk he had set up in the sitting area.
“Claire I’ve forwarded the first draft of the contract to your email address; I have the printer ready to connect to the laptop computer for you to work on,” said Jason. She started to go under the table to retrieve the printer plug when Jason said, “No, Claire let me do that!” She jumped in surprise banging her head on the underside of the table with the cord clutched in her hand. She winced in pain, reaching up a hand to rub her head. Claire crawled from under the table and sat back on her heels while she surveyed her latest head injury with her hand.
“Damn, Claire I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have startled you like that, are you ok?” Jason gently removed her hand and ran his own over the area she’d been holding. “I don’t see any blood this time, but you’re probably going to have yet another bump. You really weren’t kidding about the mishaps were you? I have to take the blame for this one though since I scared you.”
Jason extended a hand to help Claire to her feet. He then took the cord from her hand and plugged it into the computer. He led her gently to a chair and said in an amused tone, “Let’s keep you away from all sharp objects and for God's sake, please don’t go near the scissors.” She laughed and marveled at how relaxed she felt around Jason for the first time since she’d started working for him. He seemed to be a different person away from the office and unfortunately, despite her best efforts, Claire found 'this' Jason far too attractive for her own good. She tried not to dwell on that disturbing fact as she powered her computer.
Claire took a quick glance at her watch and saw that it was now almost two thirty. She would need to be on the road by five to allow time to travel to the bachelor party this evening. She said a quick prayer that they were finished with work in time for her to get ready.
“Claire I’ll need you to start making the changes that I’ve listed on the notebook on the desk; the first change will go in paragraph one.” Jason leant over her shoulder and started pointing out the area to make the change and Claire caught the fragrance of his cologne. Distracted by just how good the musky fragrance smelled on Jason, Claire really hoped that she didn’t look like a complete idiot when Jason started asking her for suggestions on the wording of the phrase he wished to insert. What’s wrong with me today? I’ve worked for the man for three years, and I’m now suddenly a constantly drooling idiot like the other women at work! Maybe Suzy is right; I do need to get a life!
“Claire, did you hear me?” Giving a guilty start, Claire asked Jason to repeat his question in hopes that he would not think she was a complete incompetent. Claire went to work on the first draft while Jason took a chair on the other side of the desk and started booting up his computer. She couldn’t help but notice the way the sunlight made Jason’s hair shine, and she also saw red highlights that she’d never noticed before. Claire quickly looked away before Jason caught her staring at him. She lost herself in the revision and was startled when Jason looked up and said, “We should probably call it a day; it’s close to five, and I need to get ready; and I believe you also have plans for the evening?”