Penthouse Suite (13 page)

“One day it just died. Probably from loneliness. I should have talked to it. I missed you, Kate. I missed talking to you. I missed kissing you. Kiss me, Kate.”

“Max, I can’t. Not now, I’m on duty.”

“You work for me, Kate. I’m taking you off duty. You’ve been on call for two days. Relieving you of duty for several hours is reasonable.”

Kate studied Max. Reasonable, yes. Right? She wasn’t sure. But it was hard to think about right and wrong when she looked at him. In fact, it was almost impossible.

The man didn’t simply wear clothes, he was the body they’d been created for. He was everything any woman could want, everything she could want. It made no sense. He’d seen her at her worst. Still, there he was, lips parted, eyes shooting darts of fire through her, and she knew that she was sunk.

“Kate? Please. Stay with me. I’ll order something sent up, and …” He knew that he was being unreasonable, he even understood her insisting on doing Joe’s job. But Max wasn’t a patient man. When he made a decision, he moved swiftly. And somewhere between New York and the hotel, he’d decided. He wanted Kate—at his side, in his arms, and in his bed. Yet she was standing there, holding him off, and he didn’t know how to get by the wall she’d erected between them.

“You’ll have something sent up? No, I think not. I may not be able to stay out of your arms, but I won’t compromise myself by shirking my job. I made a commitment to fill in for Joe, to do
Joe’s work for two weeks. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

“So, I’ll break another pipe. You can rewire the refrigerator. But I’m not letting you go.”

“Well, I’m scheduled for a fifteen-minute coffee break. Do you have any coffee, Max?”

“Coffee? I’m dying from wanting to kiss you, and you want coffee?”

“I always have something sweet with my coffee. Maybe we could just skip the coffee altogether. Are you sure you know what you’re doing here, bossman?” Her voice was low and hoarse.

“Sure? No, I’m not sure at all. This could be a very bad idea. I suspect it is. But I made up my mind when I left New York that I was going to reach out for life and live every minute of it, and I’m reaching.”

Kate took the tab of the zipper that fastened her coveralls and gave it a jerk. She hadn’t known she’d be so nervous about making love with Max again. But she was. On the island, it had been a fantasy. Being in the penthouse made her feel strange.

The zipper wouldn’t budge. Raising her gaze, she shook her head wryly. “I’m stuck.”

Her endearing little smile wiped away the tension, and Max felt his heart begin to sing.

“Let me help.”

At that moment, Kate looked past Max and caught sight of herself in the mirrored wall of the foyer.

“Yuck!”

Max stiffened and withdrew the hand he’d extended. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Max. I look as if I’ve been in the vacuum bag. You have weird taste in women.” She pulled
off her cap and ran her fingers through the dark tangles of her hair. “How on earth could you find me attractive?”

“Beats me. I’ve been out of control from the moment you tried to drown me that first night. Kiss me, Kate.”

“I’ll ruin your clothes if I get close to you.”

“Hell, Kate.” He lost all patience and jerked her to him. “I’ll take ’em off.” He ripped off his tie and shirt, stepped out of his shoes, unzipped his pants, and let them drop to the floor.

Shyly, Kate slid her arms up his chest and around his neck. She leaned back and let her eyes devour him. He was quite simply the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. And he was holding her against him, flexing his fingers across her lower back so tightly that she could hardly breathe. She stretched to reach his lips, feeling the distinct evidence of his desire pressing intimately against her midsection.

She parted her lips for his kiss, tasting, sampling, accepting what he was offering and returning it with undisguised passion.

The touch of his tongue kindled the ever-present flame smoldering inside her, turning her bones into hot wax. She moaned and swayed, allowing him to support her entirely. When his hand touched her breast, she shifted her position, arching herself into his palm.

“Kate, I’ve just introduced a new policy. Coffee breaks have been extended to thirty minutes.”

“Good idea, Max.”

The coveralls fell to her ankles.

Dimly, Kate heard the elevator door open.

“Hot damn!” Dorothea Jarrett slapped her knees
and clapped. “I don’t have to ask where the fire is. Poor Kate’s already been singed.”

Kate leaned against the door of her room and cringed. She couldn’t believe what had happened. It was bad enough that she’d come on to Max like some kind of sex kitten. She’d gone even further than that. She’d lost all control and practically attacked the man.

If Dorothea Jarrett hadn’t opened the elevator door and discovered Max and her kissing passionately, they’d have been making love right there in the foyer in another minute. Her heart was still pounding, and her pulse was playing hopscotch.

Kate, unable to face the embarrassment of what had happened, had pulled up her coveralls, fled through the fire escape door, and descended all ten flights to the lobby on foot. Breathlessly, she’d passed a startled Helen Stevens in the lobby and had hurried down the walkway to her room.

Both bouquets of flowers from Max were still on Joe’s dressing table, a reminder of the man from whom she’d just run.

She was tearing off her clothes when the phone rang. Her inclination to ignore it was short-lived. If she didn’t answer it, he’d only be outside her door pounding to get in.

“Hello.”

“Kate, I’m sorry. I know how embarrassed you must be. You must think I’m some kind of maniac. I lost control, and that’s something I never do. I think we ought to talk.”

“Talk? We don’t seem to be able to talk unless we make love. And I don’t know how to handle that. I never intended to let myself get involved
with anybody, Max. I don’t seem to be able to stay out of your arms now that we’ve …”

He groaned. “I know. We have to work it out. Will you have dinner with me? I promise that I won’t try to force you into anything. Just dinner in the hotel restaurant, a neutral zone.”

“Why?”

“To set some terms for our relationship.” Max kept his voice light and unemotional.

“You mean to work this out like a business negotiation?”

“Dammit, Kate. Why do you keep doing this to me? How do I know what I mean? How do I talk to you? As a businessman or a lover? I’ve never been in love before. I never wanted to be. I don’t know the rules.”

“Love? Oh, no! You can’t be falling in love with me, Max. I won’t allow it. This—whatever this is—is temporary. Temporary, you understand. I’ll finish up the job, and I’ll be gone. If you want to have any kind of relationship with me, those are my terms.”

“Fine. But I ought to warn you, I think Dorothea is going for her shotgun.”

“Shotgun?”

“She has some kind of crazy idea that you’ve compromised her nephew’s virtue,” he said with all the seriousness of a deputy sheriff reading Kate her rights. “She says that she expects me to marry you.”

“If this is an attempt at humor, I don’t think it’s very funny,” Kate said, close to tears of pure frustration.

“You’re right. It isn’t funny. Oh, Kate, this is all my fault. I blew it.” His voice was hoarse. “All I know is that I want you. Dirty, dust-covered, or
soaking wet, you’ve gotten to me, lady. And I think we should take the time to find out what we have.”

“Time? You forget, I’m only going to be here for a little over a week.”

“You can stay longer. I’ll find you another job. You can be my secretary.”

“Max, I avoided the business courses in night school like the plague. I have no talent for business. If I tried to help you, you’d fire me in one day.”

“Okay. We’ll find something. I don’t know what. Just give us a chance. Dorothea was right. I need to learn to have fun. If you won’t have dinner with me tonight, will you go with me tomorrow? I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. You won’t have to fight me off more than once or twice.”

“Tomorrow?”

“The Blessing of the Fleet, remember?”

Kate didn’t know how to answer him. Did she want to go? Yes. Did she want to have to fight him off? No. She wanted to run right back up those stairs and finish what they’d started. Could she trust herself to spend an entire day with him?

Probably not, but that didn’t matter. She wanted the day. She wanted to be with the man as long as they were away from the hotel. And she only had a short time left.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I’ll go with you, Max.”

“Fine. I’ll have the car out front at six o’clock.”

“So early?”

“Yes, we’re going to watch the sun rise, remember? Though I’d rather it be from my terrace, after you’ve spent the night in my arms.”

Kate gasped. “This conversation is becoming very suggestive, bossman. Are you standing in front of the mirrors?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because I am, and what I’m seeing is definitely X-rated. Good-bye, Max. I have some sooty fingerprints to wash off my body.”

“You mean I left my brand on you?”

“You left your fingerprints on me, Max.”
And you’ve put your brand on me in ways I never counted on
, she wanted to say. And she wasn’t certain that there was enough water in the world to wash those marks away.

“I was never allowed to write on walls, but I like the idea of putting my brand on you. Getting to know you, Kate Weston, is one hell of an educational experience.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, let’s just say that I’ve been doing a little research into the world of movies and television. At this moment, I’d rather be Humphrey Bogart than either Cesar Romero or Lorenzo Lamas.”

“Why is that?”

“I think his line was, ‘Here’s looking at you kid.’ At least, that’s what the book said. And if I were there, or you were here, that’s what I’d be doing.”

“Good-bye, Humphrey.”

“Good-bye, Kate. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Kate replaced the receiver, it occurred to her that the word
see
had taken on an entirely different meaning, and that both she and Max had to open their eyes. Could they possibly have any kind of relationship?

Max wasn’t falling in love with her. She was just different. She remembered what her mother had told her. Be careful. The first man you meet who’s different can break your heart.

She and Max both had firsthand experience with the kind of pain that love brought. They’d both
lost their mothers, and their lives had been shaped by love and the loss of it. No, it was better not to look on anything or anybody as permanent. Two weeks with pay and Max. That was all she’d let herself believe in.

“I don’t know why Mr. Sorrenson called me, Ms. Stevens,” Willie, the daytime maintenance man, said solemnly. “There weren’t nothing wrong with that door. It didn’t even stick.”

“Don’t worry about it, Willie,” Helen said with a smile. “There wasn’t anything wrong with the light bulb that buzzed on and off when you were at lunch either, but I changed it anyway.”

“Is the man freaking out?” Willie’s question was one of pure concern. “He ain’t acting right. First he gives us thirty-minute coffee breaks and now he actually wants to talk—to me.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be all right.” Helen smothered a grin. “I think he just needs a good vacation. Mrs. Jarrett tells me that he’s about to take a fishing trip.”

When Kate reached the hotel lobby the next morning, her heart took a joyful leap at the sight of Max. Wearing sharply creased jeans and a soft blue knit shirt, he was breathtaking. He opened the door and pulled her close, right there in front of anyone who might be watching, silencing her greeting with a kiss.

“I didn’t know what to wear,” Kate said, pulling away. “I hope I look all right.”

Max studied her for a moment. Her rich dark hair was caught at the sides with two combs,
revealing her small square face. She’d left off her makeup this morning, and she looked fresh and innocent in her sailor blouse with the red and blue trim. She also wore bright red slacks and matching canvas shoes.

“You look perfect. I love a blouse with buttons in front.”

Quickly, he escorted her to his car, closed the door, and moved around to the driver’s side. Once inside, before starting the engine, he looked at her and said softly, “It was a very long night, Kate. Because of you I watched three old movies and made my own dinner. Did you sleep well?”

“Not a wink. I sat up all night making lists.”

“You made lists? What kind?”

“A game plan, I guess you’d call it. I didn’t want to make any mistakes.”

“Did you bring it with you?”

“No, I decided that I don’t do things logically. I never have, so why start. I’m off duty now, Max. Aren’t you going to kiss me again?”

Kate read the answer in his eyes and leaned forward to meet his lips halfway. There was nothing halfway about the kiss he gave her, however, nor about her uninhibited response. When she pulled back, she felt his fingertips touch her shoulder possessively. She liked being joined to him, feeling a physical connection between their bodies. Kate let the cool early morning breeze caress her face. Life was good. This morning she felt right with the world.

“You look like the cat who swallowed the canary,” Max said, as he started the engine.

“I feel wonderful. Speaking of canaries, how is the victim of the attack of the vacuum cleaner?”

“I returned him to his own cage. But I doubt
he’ll ever be the same again. He seems to have fallen in love with the hair dryer.”

“Where are we going?”

“First we stop at the doughnut shop,” he said, and he promptly did, bringing back a familiar pink and white striped bag that he handed to Kate. “And then we turn down this road, where we should find just the right spot to watch the sun come up.”

Max pulled the car in, backed it up, and positioned it so that they were perched on a hill facing east.

By the time he cut off the engine and reached for Kate’s hand, the gray dawn sky was already changing. An orange ball seemed to float into the sky, and the world turned light. Kate had been holding her breath because of the sheer beauty before her. Now she released it in wonder and turned to look at Max. He was gazing at her with a hunger as powerful as the miracle of nature she’d just watched.