Free Penthouse Suite by Sandra Chastain Page B

should have been there. Just as I shouldn’t be here this morning.”
    “Why? Were you uncomfortable with my friends?”
    His friends? Truthfully, she couldn’t recall a single one of them. “No, it wasn’t that. It’s just that I’ve never been in a place like this, with a man like you. You overwhelm me and I—we—oh, Lordy, this is coming out all wrong. Just go on to your meeting and forget about me, Max Sorrenson.”
    He was leaning forward, with one arm against the car on either side of her, pinning her down. She was doing her best to say no to a man whose very nearness was scrambling her brain and turning all her logical thoughts into confusion.
    “No. I’ve tried all those arguments. They don’t work. I mean, I think that we have to consider all the possibilities before making a decision. A relationship with an employee is something that I’ve avoided in the past. And I’m still not entirely sure that it’s wise.”
    “Then why?”
    “Because—because—oh, hell, because I want you with me. Isn’t that enough?”
    “Yes,” she said simply. She was rewarded with a smile of pleasure that made her want to hug him. But what she did instead was kiss him. It was a quick, spontaneous kiss, the kind that any friend might give another friend, even if Max’s groan and intake of breath threatened the friendship right from the start.
    “Great,” he said, pulling back. “Now we’d better hurry, or I’m going to be late for my meeting.”
    “No, wait. Do we have five more minutes?”
    “Sure, why?”
    “I want to change my clothes.”
    “Okay, but I like the shirt. It’s … awesome, or it will be once it gets wet.”
    Kate gave him a playful slap and ran down the walk. She tried not to imagine what the day would bring as she exchanged her bag lady outfit for trim white shorts, a clean Braves T-shirt, and a fresh pair of white sneakers. The baseball cap gave way to a perky visor, and she was back at the car before she had time to change her mind.
    They were just two people, a guy and a girl, out for a day in the Florida sun. She’d leave it at that for now. No use anticipating trouble before it arrived, she decided.
    Max watched Kate slide into the passenger seat, and then he started the engine. Throwing propriety to the winds, he flung back his head and let out one of his aunt’s favorite expressions of approval. “Yahoo!”
    He drove the sports car down the road beneath moss-draped trees, alongside squatty palms growing in gray-black dirt. Kate loved reading the names of the streets on the signs at the intersections of the narrow little sandy lanes that led off toward the water: Seagrove, Grayton, Blue Mountain Beach.
    The sun was shining. The ocean breeze was tugging at Kate’s hair like a lover sneaking secret kisses, and Max, watching Kate, couldn’t stop smiling. Every time he stole a look at her, she was looking at him, and finally they both gave in and laughed out loud.
    “What kind of car do you have, Kate?”
    “Nothing like this, I’m afraid.”
    “Is it a sports car?”
    “No, just a plain old Chevy.”
    “Perfect, we should have driven it.”
    “Why on earth would you want to trade this beautiful machine for my ratty car?”
    “Because,” he said as he turned down a gravel road toward the ocean, “it probably doesn’t have bucket seats.” Max brought the car to an abrupt stop at the private parking area adjacent to the Hidden Cove Yacht Club. He turned off the engine, reached across the gear box, and pulled Kate close.
    “It also doesn’t run,” she whispered breathlessly.
    Max groaned softly, twisting his head so that his mouth fit perfectly against hers. She’d known his kiss would be hot, hard, and demanding. What she hadn’t known was that she would lose herself in its power.
    He pulled back and nuzzled her cheek as he steadied his breathing.
    “You may have to move your meeting here.”
    “Meeting! Oh, hell. We’d better get going. I’ll get the cooler. You