Soliman, Wendy - The Name of the Game (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (20 page)

“Not that simple. The local press is sniffing round. If we try to settle quietly, they’ll be all over it like a rash, seeing conspiracies where they don’t exist.” He clenched his hands, glowering. “Although perhaps they do.”

“Either way, it’ll weaken your position in the amalgamation talks. This can’t be kept from Stevenson’s, can it?”

“No chance.” Matt shook his head. “They probably know all about it already.”

“What will you do?”

“Hell if I know.” He thumped the surface of the table, causing everything on it to jump. “But I’d give a lot to know how Charlie’s pulling it off.”

“Me too.”

“Well, for starters, he has to have someone in systems rigging the stuff online.”

“Yes,” Ashley said quietly, thinking of her skittish friend. “And I think I know who.”

Matt’s brows shot skyward. “You do? Who?”

“You wouldn’t know her. Anyway, let me talk to her first.”

“Well, be careful what you say.”

“Rigging the company computer records would be a doddle for someone who knows what they’re doing. But how have they made medical records disappear from three different doctor’s offices
and
made the policyholder’s personal records evaporate?”

Chapter Eleven

“Come on.” Matt held out his hand. “We’ve talked this thing to death, and we’re both beat. Let’s go to bed.”

“At last the man says something sensible.”

He chuckled, the gesture briefly eradicating the tiredness etched in his face. “You want sensible?”

“No,” Ashley said, taking his hand and following him to the bedroom, “I just want you.”

This time his chuckle took on a wicked edge. “And the two are mutually exclusive?”

She grinned at him. “You said it, not me.”

He kicked the bedroom door closed, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her as though absorbing her essence into his very cells. His desperation communicated itself to Ashley, his needs seeming to transcend the mere physical. The realisation that only she could truly relieve, albeit briefly, the stress he was living with, empowered her. She returned his kiss with passion, never wanting it to end. When he finally broke it, they stared at one another for a protracted moment, startled by the intensity of their emotions, before frenetically shedding their clothes.

“I can’t believe we’ve spent the entire evening talking about bloody work when we could have been in here,” he said, tumbling her onto the bed.

“I’m a slave to duty, boss.”

“So I see.” Matt buried his face in the valley between her breasts. “This is only our second entire weekend together, you do realize that?”

Ashley did. Before, he’d always had to be with Eve for at least part of the time, keeping up appearances, even after he moved to Reigate. Her trip to the West Country this weekend was an unexpected bonus, but thoughts of her still spoiled the mood. She’d done a better job of unsettling her than Ashley had previously realized. Eve was the elephant in the room, coming between them, even from a distance.

Ashley squirmed as Matt’s tongue made its way toward her nipple, rasping at its sensitised peak. She tried desperately not to think about Eve, but images of her refused to be dispelled. She’d put herself in the centre of Ashley’s life in Southampton, and now she was here, too. It was as though she’d won.

“Oh God, Matt, please don’t stop!”

“I wasn’t going to.”

He took her entire nipple in his mouth, sucking, tugging at it with his teeth, sweeping her away on a wave of pleasure that emptied her mind of fraudulent death claims—and almost everything else, except the feelings of desperate desire building deep within her core. Her fingers gouged his back as his tongue travelled lower, lapping like a thirsty cat. She bucked against him, finally dismissing images of Eve as his tongue touched her cervix and she climaxed immediately with a wild cry of surprise. He lifted his head, watching her intently, gauging her reaction as pleasure continued to spangle, sending shock waves through her entire body.

“Wow!” was all she could think of to say.

Matt smiled and kissed the end of her nose. “I guess you needed that.”

“I guess I did.” She lifted herself up and straddled him. “And what do you need?”

He quirked a brow. “I get to choose?”

“Why not?”

“Go down on me, baby.” He gently pushed her head toward his groin. “Return the favour.”

Ashley slithered down his body, already slick with perspiration, and took him in her mouth. She sucked him in slowly, only to release him again and turn her attention to his sac. Sometimes, especially when she had him at her mercy like this, she wondered if there was some mistake. He was gorgeous, and she found it hard to accept that she would ever be enough for him. As the thought passed through her head, she felt his prick expand in her mouth. A deep groan escaped his lips, and she knew he was on the brink. She let him go, and he slid out of her mouth with a soft plop.

“Ash, Don’t I—”

She offered him a wicked grin. “Now you know how I feel when you tease me.”

“Just carry on. I need to—”

“Hmm.” She flicked his erection with two fingers. It twitched. “I guess you do, don’t you.”

Ashley bent her head and sucked deep. He exploded at the back of her throat mere seconds later.

They lay in one another’s arms afterward, temporarily satiated, waiting for their breathing to return to normal. Ashley shot a glance at Matt’s profile. His eyes were closed, all the tension had left him, and he looked ready to fall asleep. But she knew that he wouldn’t. Matt would soon be ready for a repeat performance.

So would she.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, eyes still closed.

“Now isn’t the time.”

“Eve?”

“Yeah.” Ashley let out a long breath. “I wish I could get her out of my mind, but I can’t.”

“Not surprising, after the way she behaved.”

“I know that. What I can’t figure out is why she’d go away this weekend, leaving us alone, when she’s spent the entire week trying to drive me away from you.”

“Her mother. She loves going down there and being fussed over. It’s a hell of a way to go for a weekend, so she didn’t even ask me to go, too.”

“Because she knows how busy you are?”

“Yes, and because of the tension between Stephanie and me.” He paused, strain already creeping back into his expression. “She was a thorn in my side when Eve and I first married, always trying to interfere.”

Ashley grimaced. “The mother-in-law from hell.”

“And some. She’s remarried to some rich guy who likes Eve.”

“Did she drive herself down there?”

“Lord no. Phil took her.”

Ashley frowned. “Phil?”

“Yes, Philip Roker.”

“I wondered why Eve came to dinner with us the other night, but if she’s so friendly with Roker, I suppose that explains it.”

“Phil’s a friend of the entire family.” Matt glanced at her. “What’s wrong? You’re frowning.”

“Nothing, really.”

“I know you don’t like him.” Matt smiled. “He’s an acquired taste.”

“You two obviously get along okay.”

“I’m grateful to him. When Dad died, he’d already left the company but was a tower of strength. He took a lot of the pressure off Mum.”

“She still sees him?”

“Yes, I think he still stops by occasionally.” Matt settled her more comfortably at his side. “Phil’s a very pedantic man. Everything’s black or white, with no wiggle room in between.”

“He’s not married, is he?”

“No, he never took the plunge. He lived with his mother until she died. Now he lives alone.”

“I still don’t see why he’s getting involved in all the nitty-gritty to do with the amalgamation. The stuff Stella and I can do without any directors getting involved. And yet he came to dinner with Charlie and me the other night and she didn’t.”

“That’s why he’s so effective. He’s a control freak and wants to be involved with absolutely everything from the ground up.”

“Even so, Stella should still have been there. He’s undermining her.”

Matt shrugged. “She’s probably used to the way he does things.”

“Well, you know Roker better than I do, but if I had to choose between him and Charlie, then it would be no contest.”

“Ah, so Charlie’s working his magic on you as well, is he?” There was an edge to Matt’s voice.

“I have to keep reminding myself what he did to you,” Ashley admitted. “He’s very charismatic, and good at his job, but then you already know that.”

“Oh yes, Charlie could sell ice to Eskimos.”

“It’s such a shame that his hang-ups make him want to destroy the company.”

“If you’re trying to make me jealous, then you’re succeeding.”

“Aw, poor Matt.” Ashley pouted. “Not up to a little competition, eh?”

“Now that you mention it, I might be up for something else.”

He rolled her onto her back, growling at her. They made love again, but slowly this time. Matt was a master of procrastination, punishing her for her remarks about Charlie by allowing the anticipation to reach almost unbearable heights.

“Who’s the better man then?” he purred, almost but not quite sliding into her.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly. “I give in. You’re
numero uno.
”

“So I should bloody well think.”

She gouged his buttocks with her fingers, lifting her hips at the same time, too impatient to wait any longer. He chuckled as he ground himself into her. That chuckle turned into a deep groan just moments later as they climaxed simultaneously.

Ashley felt asleep in the arms of the man she loved, but it wasn’t his face that haunted her dreams.

It was that of his wife.

Matt woke her with a searing kiss. Ashley felt groggy, disorientated, and didn’t immediately respond. His face, creased with concern, hovered above hers.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ashley stretched and wound her arms round his neck. “I didn’t sleep well, I guess.”

“Damn the bloody woman!” Matt thumped his thigh. “Even when we’re miles apart, she still manages to come between us.”

“How did you know that’s what kept me awake?” She strived for a lighter tone. “It might have been indigestion. All that curry.”

“But it wasn’t?”

“No,” she said with a soft sigh. “It wasn’t.”

“Come here.” Warm breath peppered her brow as he leaned close, devouring her features with a hungry gaze. “I don’t know what else I can say to make you understand. But believe this, Ashley, nothing in this world is more important to me than you. Nothing. Not even the bloody business.”

Ashley was moved to tears. “I know that, Matt.” She reached up to stroke his face. “I guess I just needed to hear you say it.”