known. He probably ran right over to Tim Morris’s house. The thought made her doubly angry. Even his lawyer didn’t work in the office, which was testimony to the fact he didn’t truly need people onsite to get work done. Kevin had made certain her goal of making this Tampa visit quick and painless was nothing more than a pipe dream.
A week at the most, that’s what she’d told herself. Now, no matter how much she wanted that to be the case, her intuition told her she was going to be around much longer. Weekends.
Unbidden, his smile flashed behind her eyelids. Wow. The man had a fantastic smile. Full sculpted lips, straight white teeth. That intriguing sliver of a gap. That potent, almost animal, sexuality. Huntington shook off the image. That’s probably where it started with Nicky. She couldn’t believe she was being such an idiot. Maybe her mother was right…she needed a boyfriend. Perish the thought.
“Yep, he had something to take care of today. But, that’s all right, like I said, we already discussed what you’re going to present at the board meeting on Wednesday. So, you and I can go over some things without him.” Gina leaned over and pulled a notepad out of a drawer in her desk.
“Excellent,” Huntington answered finally feeling some of her old control and sense returning. Time to forget what had transpired earlier. After she was around him a bit more, she’d get past the looks and remember that this man was nothing more than a heartbreaker. One of those in her life had been enough.
After a moment, Hunny noticed Gina staring at her. It took only a second to realize the woman was staring at the coffee stained jacket Hunny wore, mainly because she’d felt next to naked while she met with Kevin earlier that day. Sad to say, she obviously hadn’t realized just how ridiculous the jacket looked. Hunny offered bashfully, “I spilled coffee on my jacket this morning, I’m sorry for looking such a mess.”
“Oh girl, you’re fine.” Gina smiled warmly. “If you wanna wear breakfast tomorrow, I’m okay with that, too.”
“Very funny.” Huntington snipped, noticing how amused Gina Morrow appeared. Come to think of it, Gina had been tickled, it seemed, the whole time they’d been chatting. Huntington wondered absently just what had been so humorous. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if Carter had said something about meeting her. Gina stood and sauntered over to the credenza. She retrieved a tin of cookies and sat it on the desk between her and Hunny. She bit into buttery shortbread and marked the galleys she approved. “He said something about meeting tomorrow. Did Mr. Carter tell you he wanted to get together?”
“Oh, please, Hunny. Don’t ever call him that. Kevin will do. No one around here calls him Mr. Carter. But, no, he said he’d rather see you again for dinner this evening. I already made reservations at Café Firelli. I hope you don’t mind.”
Huntington tried in earnest to decide between frustration and out and out fury. Okay, maybe she’d agree to stay and to work on the account personally, but this time was squarely on his shoulder. She was going to have to nip his high-handedness in the bud.
“Uh oh,” Gina whistled.
Huntington turned her icy glare on her.
“Oh dear,” Gina went on. “Who shot your dog?”
Hunny ground her teeth and considered whether she should confide in Gina or not. She did, after all, work with him. In Hunny’s mind that was about right up there with consorting on moonless nights with the devil. “I’m not sure I can even talk about it.”
“Kevin,” Gina guessed. She tried, earnestly, to pull a serious face, but failed miserably when she let out a soft chuckle. “What did he do?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. Hunny, we’ve gotten to know each other really well. I consider you my friend. What is wrong?”
Hunny tried to make her face devoid of emotion, she really did. Instead, she just resisted the need to tuck her head between her knees. “I...I...I just didn’t think...” Huntington’s face heated. The room seemed to shrink. She’d never been a victim of claustrophobia, but this could mean she was having her very first attack. Her hands clenched into tight little fists as she took in a raspy gust of air. At least she had finally stopped gulping for air. She didn’t know how to say it. Fortunately, she didn’t have to.
“I see.” Gina said shaking her head, “He didn’t invite you to dinner. He just expects you to be there.”
Huntington remained mute.
“And he didn’t ask you to stay and work on this project, which you’re obviously willing to do, he told you to.”
“He doesn’t have the right to do that.”
“I know, but he’s just like that. You don’t get to be where Kevin is in life as young as he is without taking the bull by the horns from time to time.”
“Do you let him do that to you?”
“Hell, no.” Gina squealed. “Shoot, he knows better. Besides, it doesn’t matter to him whether I agree to dinner or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if he tells you to do it without even being around him, how can you say no?”
The message was not lost on her. “Are you saying this is his way of asking me out?”
“I know what you expected, but I’m asking you to be patient. He likes to use his looks and charm and even his position to his advantage. I tell you, he’s a character, but believe me, he’s real sweet. You’ll get used to him. You’ll like him.”
Hunny glared at her.
“Maybe you should go back to the hotel,” Gina suggested. “You know how sometimes you get up in the morning and nothing goes right that whole day, and you wish you’d just gone back to bed? Well, you can, y’know. That’s the benefit of being away from the home office. It’s just a like a paid vacation.”
“I wish.” Hunny rolled her eyes. “But, he wants me in the office, and I’m no coward.” Unfortunately, she had another image of that fantastic physique dash through her head. Of course, it was accompanied by a vision of a smile with just a hint of a gap. “I’m not. I’m going to be fine, and I’m going to be sane. I had a little episode there but you know, I think it’s just trying to finish out this account. There seems to be no end to it. You and Arthur both promised that this was it, the final negotiation. Yet, it’ll be another couple weeks-months at least by your own estimation.” She shivered again.
“Hunny, calm down. You’re getting worked up over next to nothing. Everything’s going to be fine. It might even be better. And as for all of Kevin’s publicity, tell me, how often does an African-American man who’s not in Hollywood, the music biz, or sports get on America’s Most Do-able Bachelor list?” Gina tried to reassure her.
“What happened to ‘eligible’?”
Gina shrugged with a grin. “Do-able, eligible… These days, what’s the difference?”
You can say that again. Hunny mumbled to herself something about clients and patience. Then she closed her eyes, took another deep breath and pulled herself together. “Just out of curiosity, will you be coming tonight?” She reached for her last lifeline.
“Of course not. You know I won’t be attending. The Green Man’s Banquet is tonight. And, as you recall, Med Sol is sponsoring that golf tournament. Upon your suggestion, I am representing the company at this illustrious affair.”
“At least it’s got something to do with pharmaceuticals. It’s so rare that any of your social functions are actually beneficial to the company,” Huntington remarked. Gina just winked at her. The woman was incorrigible. “Why isn’t he going?”
“Kevin hates golf. And as I mentioned earlier, you, our consultant on these matters, were the one who suggested I take his place,” Gina explained, then had the nerve to smile. “Kevin