Unbuttoning the CEO (4 page)

“One. A sister. Her name’s Emily. We call her Em.”

“Are you close?”

“Very.” His head dropped a fraction. Nothing overt, but she could tell by the set of his shoulders that something about their relationship bothered him.

“Do you see each other often?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Not since I moved out here. She’s settled in Pennsylvania. Has a husband who adores her. And a crazily advanced toddler who happens to be the cutest baby I’ve ever seen. I see them for the holidays, when I can get away. But it’s not enough. And I missed Sophie’s birth.”

“Sophie. Is that your niece?”

“Yeah.”

“And your parents?”

He didn’t answer, and Gracie wondered if she’d asked one question too many. The planes of his face were etched with tension.

Finally, he broke the silence. “My parents are hardworking people. They’ve always wanted me to have what they didn’t. Opportunities. A chance at a better life.”

“And you have that?” Gracie asked.

“I do,” he said.

Gracie caught the hesitation in his voice. Two definitive words wrapped in a cloud of doubt. This man’s layers fascinated her, and she could spend all evening trying to peel them away, but judging from his tight expression, it was time to change the subject. “What brought you to D.C.?”

Leaning against the booth, Nic repeatedly tapped the table with both hands. “It was happenstance. The right opportunity at the right time. I knew I wouldn’t stay in Pennsylvania, but I had no idea where to go. After college, I was recruited by a computer consulting firm in New York. That didn’t work out, so I decided to give D.C. a try.” He leaned forward to sip more of his shake.

When the waitress arrived with their food, Nic lifted his head. After giving the waitress a polite nod, he rubbed his hands together, welcoming his meal in earnest. So he didn’t like talking about himself.
Interesting.

Gracie bit into her cheeseburger and moaned. “So good,” she murmured.

Nic stared at her face. Then he zeroed in on her lips.

“What?” Gracie asked. “Do I have ketchup on my face?”

Nic leaned toward her and swiped his thumb over her bottom lip. “Nope. But I wanted to do that anyway.”

Gracie wanted to suck his finger. Instead, her gaze fell to her plate.

“Sorry,” Nic said. “That was
not
smooth.”

“It’s okay. I just—”

“No need to explain. I was out of line. It won’t happen again.”

Gracie searched for something to ease the tension, but she came up empty. So she sighed instead. “Let’s forget about it. Deal?”

“Deal,” he said. Then he grabbed his burger and began eating it with comical enthusiasm. “Damn, that’s good. You were right.”

“Told you so,” Gracie said as she wiped her chin with a napkin.

They chatted about LTN and the Gray Ladies for the remainder of the meal. After that, they each paid for their respective portions of the bill.

“I’ll walk you back to the office,” Nic offered. “I need to grab my bag.”

“All right. Thanks.”

They walked the half block in companionable silence. Just before they reached LTN’s door, Nic’s cell phone rang. Gracie wasn’t surprised. Over the past month, the ring of his cell phone had become commonplace, just like the grimace that distorted his face when he was called away to deal with an emergency.

After unlocking LTN’s door, Gracie veered toward her office while Nic headed to one of the workrooms with his cell phone against his ear. “Come and see me before you go,” she called behind her. “I’ll need to lock the door behind you.”

“Sure,” he said.

When Gracie returned to her office, she closed the door and collapsed onto her chair. Nic unsettled her, which made the simple act of having dinner with him an exhausting exercise. Her attraction to him didn’t surprise her. After all, he was a handsome man. But Gracie knew better than to be charmed by good looks and a smile. What sounded the alarms in her brain was the fact that he listened to her. And he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. He engaged her on an intellectual level, which made him hard to resist.

Gracie had no choice but to resist him, though. She’d welcomed a man into her life once, and the results had had been ugly. When it came to men, her new manifesto was simple:
Don’t let them distract you, don’t expect much, and engage on your terms.
With LTN’s future riding on her shoulders, she needed to abide by that manifesto more than ever.

She saw the blinking light on her phone indicating that she’d missed a call. She hit the message button and listened: “Gracie, this is Robert Banks. I’m calling to give you a heads-up that the Onyx Foundation will not be able to renew its funding commitment for the next fiscal year. The foundation itself has fallen on hard times and has a lot less money to go around. The director wants us to reapply next year, but for now it’s a ‘no.’ I know it’s disappointing, but we’ll work this out somehow. Talk to you soon.”

Robert Banks was a dedicated member of the LTN board. Until now, the Onyx Foundation had been a consistent supporter.

Gracie’s head pounded, and she slumped her shoulders in defeat. LTN’s Washington facility was on its last legs. If it failed, she’d have to return to New York, with a sign of defeat taped to her back. She’d given the board hope. Had told the board she’d devote all of her energy into reviving the D.C. facility. But so far, her energy hadn’t produced results. And she was running out of time. A single tear dropped to her desk.

Hearing a knock on her door, she wiped her face and schooled her features.

“Come in.”

E
than opened Gracie’s office door, and what he saw startled him. Gracie sat in her chair, her back straight as an ironing board. Her eyes glistened. He’d never seen anything other than a cheerful or befuddled look on her face, so her tense expression did something to him.

For weeks, he’d suppressed the urge to pursue her, and he’d done so by erecting a wall between them. By thinking of her as nothing more than the friendly director of the organization where he was completing his community service. He’d breached that wall tonight, when he’d asked her to dinner, when he’d swiped his thumb across her lip, and when he’d asked her about her family. Ethan was on a roll apparently.

During dinner, she’d described her ideal future. And it bore no resemblance to the life he could give her. He suspected Gracie wouldn’t be interested in hanging on the arm of a CEO who was invited to every ball, gala, and fund-raiser known to man. Granted, he hated the hoopla, but it was a necessary evil of his position. She was looking for a simple guy. He was anything but. So his resolve to avoid a romantic entanglement with her had solidified as they’d sat across from each other in the diner.

Now he wasn’t sure of anything. Seeing her in a vulnerable state reminded him that she was a woman with a life outside these walls, and picturing her outside these walls led to dangerous thoughts.
Suck it up, Hill, and find out what’s wrong.
“Is everything okay?”

“We’ve just lost another source of funding,” she said. “The situation is getting bleaker by the minute. I’m just frustrated. It’ll pass.”

She bowed her head and placed her fingers at her temples.

Although he wished to, he knew better than to ask the board to help. The board wanted Ethan to serve his sentence quietly. A donation to LTN—which, under the company’s policy, couldn’t be made anonymously—surely would undermine that goal.

Plus, he wasn’t ready to reveal who he was. If Media Best gave LTN money, Gracie would look up the company and learn he was its CEO. Ethan liked the way she looked at him now. That would change once she knew who he was.

After he finished his community service hours, he’d figure out a way to help her. For now, though, he’d do what she asked of him. He stepped closer to her desk. “I’ve got something that might help.”

Her head whipped up. “You do?”

Ethan was drawn to the hope that shone in her eyes. He sat in front of her desk and gave her the sheets of paper in his hand. “This is the list of potential donors you asked me to create.”

She looked down at the papers, blinking rapidly—to stem the tears, he guessed.

“It’s in two parts,” he continued. “The first part lists all potential donors. The second part lists donors I think are a good fit for the organization—they’re techies, they’re interested in education, they’re interested in issues affecting seniors, and so on.” As Ethan had planned, Media Best was not on the list.

She studied the list, and then she smiled. “Thanks so much, Nic. This is wonderful. I’ll ask Brenda to start making information packets. I’ve got the letter of introduction ready to go.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

She set the list on her desk and sat back in her chair. “You’ve been incredible. I hate to admit it, but I’m glad you’re a speed demon. I’m lucky to have you. Well, I don’t
have
you. I mean,
LTN
is lucky to have you.” She blew out a breath and rolled her eyes.

Ethan stared at her, not trusting himself to say anything. Her eyes were dark and hooded, and her chest rose in a steady tempo. He fisted his hands at his sides and leaned forward, pulled in her direction by the force of their mutual attraction. The desk was no barrier to the pull between them.

Her shoulders rose as she took a long breath. “Am I wrong in thinking you want to kiss me?”

And as soon as the question left her mouth, Gracie’s eyes went round.

Ethan was surprised, too. Okay, then. No more avoiding the issue. With shaky hands, he smoothed the tops of his thighs. He could be honest about this. “I’d like to, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

Her eyes fluttered, and then she opened them wide, waiting for him to say more. She watched his every move, her gaze following his hands as he searched for something to do with them. Ethan wanted to hide, but somehow he knew there wasn’t a place he could run to get away from this . . . thing between them.

“Are you uncomfortable with the situation?” she asked. “Because you’re here to perform community service?”

That wasn’t the reason, but he couldn’t tell her the truth. Not yet anyway. “It’s complicated, Gracie. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “You’re not married, are you?”

“No, I’m not married.”

“Engaged? Girlfriend? What?”

“No, no, and hard to explain. It’s just . . . I can’t be in a relationship right now. My choice.”

She set the papers on her desk, the tremor in her hands betraying her composed demeanor. Her gaze swept over the list, and then she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. Those questions were inappropriate. Let’s pretend they never came out of my mouth. Believe me, I’m not usually this forward. I just . . .”

She was torturing him. Absorbing the questions in her eyes, he suspected she really wasn’t sure whether he was attracted to her. Ethan could disabuse her of that notion easily. But he wouldn’t.

Ethan drove fast. He liked his women faster. Gracie was different. She didn’t saunter, didn’t bat her eyes, didn’t lick her lips, or do any of the other things some women did to try to catch his attention. Flirting didn’t appear to be in her repertoire, and that fact alone signaled danger ahead should he try to pursue her.

What’s more, he considered himself an honorable man, one who wouldn’t start a relationship on a foundation of lies. Sure, some assumed he was a player, but when it came to the opposite sex, he’d always been honest about his intentions. He couldn’t afford to change his record now.

Despite all this, he knew his resolve wouldn’t last long if he hung around. He had to get out of here. He stood and straightened his jeans. “I’m going to head out for the night.” Then he turned and walked toward the door. He was on the verge of escaping, his hand on the doorknob, when her voice called out to him.

“Nic?”

He wasn’t Nic. Not in his real life. And hearing her call him by that name reinforced his belief that walking out the door was the right thing to do. But he wasn’t going to be rude about it, so he turned to face her. “Yeah?”

“I don’t care. Whatever it is. I just—”

Her head lowered.

“What were you going to say?” he asked.

She blew out a soft breath and raised her head to the ceiling. He was sure she had no idea the move exposed her neck, enticing him to lick his way from there to her lips. She lowered her head and shook it. “Nothing. Never mind. I thought . . .”

The insecurity in her voice shattered his resolve. Propelled by his need to correct her misimpression of the situation, he strode across the room. She swiveled her chair toward him and braced her hands against the armrests, her big, brown eyes watching his progress. When he reached her, he bent to her eye level, cupped the sides of her face, and kissed her as she rose from the chair.

She stumbled into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, humming her pleasure as he deepened the kiss. Her lips were soft and warm, just as he knew they would be. Wanting more of her body on his, he shifted so he could sit on her desk and nestle her between his legs.

He maneuvered his hands under her curtain of hair and brushed his fingers along her neck. He breathed in the smell of lilacs, welcoming the onslaught of sensations overtaking him. She ran her hands along his waist and slipped them under his sweater, her soft fingers trailing a slow path across his skin. Heat spiraled from his stomach and radiated through his limbs. And soon, his erection strained against his pants. He was rock hard. Painfully hard.

She groaned when his thighs squeezed her hips. “More,” she whispered.

Her voice held no pretense. Every single one of his actions did, however. She had no idea who he really was, which meant he had to stop. With regret, he dropped his hands and shifted her to the side so he could stand. Backing away with his hands in the air, he chastised himself for being so careless. “Sorry. That shouldn’t have happened.”

Her steady gaze held his. She wasn’t even trying to tempt him. She just did. After a taut moment of silence, she licked her lips and returned to her chair. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Ethan barked out a laugh, and she regarded him with a dazed expression. No, she didn’t understand. But he wasn’t going to enlighten her. “See you next week,” he said. Then he turned and walked out the door.