Free Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance by Samantha Westlake Page B

how gossip spreads in a town like this one."
    "But you can't fire me," Tanner countered, also standing up. Alicia was tall, he noted, but he still had almost two inches on her. He used that extra height to his advantage, looking down at her as he took a step forward.
    "And why not?" She didn't back away, even as he loomed over her.
    "Because you need me, just as much as I need to preserve my own reputation." Tanner didn't know if this was the truth, but it was the only conclusion he'd reached this morning that made sense, and it felt right to his gut intuition. "You're new here, out of your depth. Despite your attitude, this aura of competence that you project, you know that you need my help if you want this bill to have any shot in Hell of passing. If you fire me, you'll be dooming yourself."
    He'd drawn closer to Alicia as he spoke, and now stood less than a foot from her. He could practically feel the heat of her body, could look down into her face and see those big, green-blue eyes moving back and forth across his own features as she tried to determine whether he was bluffing. He kept his own face clear, not giving out any hints. He'd played this game before. He knew how to hold a poker face.
    She drew a deep breath. Tanner felt, rather than saw, her chest rise; even her well-tailored blouse couldn't contain the raw biology beneath it. Strangely, he felt an answering surge of warmth course through him, the heat of raw, primal attraction, but he pushed that sensation off to the side. Instead, he waited, knowing that he could outlast her.
    And then, after an eternity of silence, she blinked.
    "Very well," she said quietly, her tone barely above a whisper. "You're right. I do need your help. We both need each other."
    "Glad to hear you admit it," Tanner answered. In the back of his mind, a little part of him noted that hearing Alicia say those words sent another little rush of warmth through him. Why? He ignored it. Probably just pent-up frustration with her, not finding any other outlet in his head except through the suggestion of sex.
    Whoops. Don't think about sex. It had been at least a full week since the last time Tanner had a girl - an eternity, in his life - and he felt an uncomfortable stiffening. Push it down, don't let that come up now, he commanded himself. Think soft thoughts.
    "Listen," he said to Alicia, wanting to diffuse the tension still sparking between them. "Let's go out, get some coffee, chat for a little while before your meetings start. We can talk about strategies for selling the bill, some emotional hooks that you can use, ways to really show your passion for this."
    Alicia started to nod, but stopped. "No can do - my first meeting's in just a few minutes," she said, glancing down at the delicate watch on her wrist. Tanner's eyes moved along with hers, downward, and he caught another quick little glimpse down her blouse, catching the swell of her breasts. Shit. He closed his eyes, trying to think of anything non-sexual, anything neutral. Coffee. Biscuits. Milk - no, where did milk come from, that wasn't helping-
    "But I'm free tonight," Alicia went on, looking back up at him. Just in time, he drew his eyes off of her breasts as they nestled together inside that tight blouse, back to her face. "Maybe we could plan out some possible speech topics over dinner?"
    "Yes, that sounds good," Tanner replied quickly. He could work with dinner. What was important was that he was a part of these speeches, that he knew every step of the Stone campaign before it happened - so that he could plan out a countermove. "I'll pick the place, get us reservations. Let's say, around seven?"
    "Perfect," Alicia answered. "Seven."
    Tanner expected her to turn away, gather her notes and head off to her first meeting of the morning. Instead, however, he saw Alicia hesitate for a fraction of a second longer, looking up at him. Those faintly red patches of heat in her cheeks suddenly flared up again, just before she turned