Free Penthouse Suite by Sandra Chastain

her pillow and tried to suppress the unexpected happy feeling that came over her. She allowed herself to consider the possibility of going with Max, of the two of them sailing down the coast like ordinary people on a Sunday cruise.
    But, no. She doubted that they’d get out of the harbor. Kate swung her feet to the floor and sat up. She wanted to go with Max Sorrenson. There was a sense of power about him that was intoxicating. But he was the man in the penthouse, and she knew that she belonged there about as much as beer in the boardroom.
    “Max, it wouldn’t be smart for me to go with you.”
    “At least let’s talk about it.”
    He wasn’t going to give up. Sooner or later somebody else in the hotel was going to see or hear him pounding on her door. “All right,” she agreed, “I’ll come to your office and discuss the situation.”
    Max had heard her voice change from dreamy to irritated to resigned. Irritation was an emotion that could be teased into excitement. But resignation was more difficult to deal with.
There you go again Sorrenson
, he told himself,
you’re being stuffy
. He wanted to hear the dreamy voice again, and he didn’t know how to coax it back.
    Maybe he could challenge her. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to resist replying to the kind of lightheartedbanter they’d exchanged the previous night.
    “Good. I’m always willing to hear any employee’s grievance. Never let it be said that Max Sorrenson isn’t open to compromise,” he ad-libbed.
That ought to do it
. “I’ll meet you in my office in ten minutes.”
    His office? Too late she remembered that Max’s office was in his penthouse suite. She’d be the one who was compromised. “No. I think that would be a mistake. I’ll met you in the manager’s office, or,” she announced bravely, “or not at all.”
    “That isn’t a good idea, Kate. There are too many people there. I really think we ought to keep this discussion private.”
    He was right. How would it look to have an audience when the pompous eccentric and his plumber discussed their impossible relationship? Kate couldn’t hold back a smile. She was beginning to realize that Max and his aunt were alike, even if they didn’t recognize their similarities. They were both a bit daft.
    First Dorothea had forced her into a situation where she didn’t belong, now Max was doing the same. It didn’t make sense for him to be interested in her. He should be able to see that there was no future for them. She was only there temporarily.
    Kate wrapped the sheet around her, came to the door, and leaned her head against it. “Please, Max. Last night was a mistake. I didn’t know that you were Mrs. Jarrett’s nephew when I agreed to go with her. I was out of line. Just go away and leave me here to do my work. Don’t make this into something that it isn’t.”
    An irrational flash of anger roared through Max.He was known as the man who was always in control. Yet this time he couldn’t stop his words. “All right. Let me put it another way, Ms. Weston. You will get dressed and sail down the coast with me, or there will be two unemployed people in this hotel by noon. You and the day manager who hired you.”
    Kate opened the door. “You wouldn’t dare! It isn’t Helen Stevens’s fault. Your aunt browbeat her into giving me this job. What kind of man are you?”
    She was wrapped in a thin sheet. He could see the shape of her small breasts with their dark nipples jutting proudly beneath the fabric. Her hair was softly tousled, and her eyes sparkled defiantly.
    Max swallowed hard. He’d done it now. He’d made himself into Simon Legree when all he’d wanted to be was Lorenzo Lamas. She should never have opened the door. “An impatient one,” he said, biting off the words with clenched teeth. “And you’re right. I’m not going to fire Helen. Because you’re coming, if I have to kidnap you. Fifteen minutes. In front of the hotel. And, Kate, do put on something that will