Totally Tempting

Once on the ground, Jodie felt giddy with relief despite her embarrassment. When she had finally let go of Dean’s hand, it still had the imprints of her fingers on it.

They took a cab to the address Dean had. Once they arrived, Jodie asked, “Is this his office?”

“No. This is a private club for local businessmen. He said to give his name at the door.”

Jodie waited while Dean spoke to the man who met them at the front door. The man looked at a list he carried on a clipboard, found Dean’s name and nodded. He escorted them to a double door that was ornately engraved.

When Jodie walked in, she looked around her. There was a large bar made of teak to the right of the entrance. A maître d’ met them at the top of the steps.

“We’re here to meet Mr. Furukawa,” Dean said.

“Right this way, sir,” the man replied.

The place was meticulously designed and elegantly decorated. The only sounds were the murmured voices of other diners, their voices muted by the thick carpeting underfoot. Pristine white tablecloths covered each table and they looked like islands floating on the deep red carpet.

The maître d’ continued through the room until he reached an alcove that overlooked the water. Once they were seated, he poured ice water into glasses and said, “Your waiter will be with you shortly.”

Once Jodie was certain he was out of earshot, she said, “The scent of money is everywhere.”

Dean grinned. “I noticed.”

She gazed at his mouth. Jodie discovered she had a little trouble breathing whenever he smiled at her. She couldn’t forget the touch of his lips on hers.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” a newcomer said from behind her.

Dean stood and extended his hand. “Perfectly all right, Mr. Furukawa,” he said.

“Please, call me Steve.”

Steve wore a custom-made suit that showed off his trim figure and tanned face. His hair gleamed like polished pewter.

“Steve, I’d like you to meet Jodie Cameron, one of the employees with our firm.”

Steve took her hand and bowed slightly. “It is a pleasure.”

While they ordered and their meal was served, Jodie watched and listened as the men discussed several topics, none of which had anything to do with a possible security installation. She couldn’t help but wonder why he’d brought her, unless the business meeting was to take place after their meal.

Dean included her in the conversation, and when Steve asked how she was enjoying Hawaii, she responded readily enough.

Once their plates were removed and they were left with fresh cups of coffee, Steve said, “I’ve been reading up on you, Dean.”

“And?”

“You and your company have an excellent reputation in the security field. What kind of security do you offer?”

“We make certain that no unauthorized person can enter your place of business without a silent alarm going off, alerting the staff. We offer hidden surveillance cameras that record everyone who goes in or out. Security codes are installed and updated regularly. In addition, we install special software on each computer in your office that will also alert you should anyone attempt to gain illegal access to the company’s computers.”

“I see.” Steve glanced at his watch. “I’d like you to see my setup and give me some idea of what your systems would cost to install and run.”

Dean nodded. “Of course.”

Steve signed for their meal and the three of them returned through the restaurant. Several people spoke to Steve while they made their way to the entrance.

By the time they reached the street, valet parking had his car waiting.

The men continued to chat during the drive. Jodie, in the backseat, made notes of the conversation that pertained to business, finally feeling as though she could be useful.

By the time they left Steve Furukawa that afternoon, he’d agreed to become one of the company’s clients. On the way to the airport Dean called the office and left a voice-mail message for the legal department that he had a new client.

Once on the plane, Jodie—determined to ignore the butterflies in her stomach—said, “Your trip has been a success, hasn’t it?”

Dean nodded. “Definitely. Thank you for taking such extensive notes. I’ll fax them to the office so Lawrence Kendall will have the information he needs to prepare the contract.” He studied her for a moment and then asked, “You doing okay?”

She nodded.

“Good. So shall we visit the volcano tomorrow?”

“I’d like that,” she replied, hoping he didn’t detect her lack of enthusiasm.

“Or we could stay at the condo and enjoy the beach area,” he said casually.

“It’s up to you.”

“My only reason for suggesting the trip was to allow you to see more of the islands.”

“Why don’t we wait until the day before we leave then?”

“Whatever you say.”

Once back at the condo, Dean said, “We have time to go for a swim before dark if you’d like.”

“I’d like that.” Jodie went into her room and closed the door. Somehow, some way, she would get through this week with the man she’d gotten to know here on the islands who only vaguely resembled her boss. The fact that she liked and enjoyed this new person unnerved her more than a little.

All she could hope was that once in the office again, he would assume his sardonic personality.

Seven

Saturday afternoon they left the condo for the last time and headed toward the airport.

They’d spent the earlier part of the day on the beach and swimming, chatting about their time there. Jodie hoped her manner hadn’t betrayed how sad she was to be going home. Dean had made her laugh that morning. She so enjoyed his wry sense of humor.

She glanced at Dean driving the rental car. He’d already returned to his terse manner and stone face, which would help her adjust to the fact that the man she’d spent the week with was nothing like the man she worked with.

Once on the plane, Jodie picked up one of the magazines she’d bought and waited for takeoff.

Dean touched her hand and she looked at him. “Thank you for being here this week.”

“I enjoyed it. I’m not looking forward to Chicago’s winter, I can assure you.”

She closed her eyes during takeoff and prayed that the pilot could get the large plane in the air without a problem since they were immediately over water.

Once they leveled off, the flight attendant brought their meals and drinks. After she ate, Jodie closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, determinedly putting the islands and the memories there to the back of her mind.

They arrived in Chicago Sunday morning. Dean gathered their bags and said, “I’ll take you home.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait here and I’ll bring the car around.”

While she waited, she looked out at the gray skies and the people huddled into their winter coats to get away from the wind. Yes, Dorothy, you’ve returned to Kansas and Oz is only a memory. There was nothing more tangible than the weather to remind her that her fantasy vacation had come to an end.

She saw a late-model sports car pull up to the curb, and Dean stepped out. She picked up her suitcase, and in a few strides he’d come inside and picked up the rest of their luggage. With customary efficiency Dean loaded the bags in the surprisingly roomy trunk and opened the passenger door for her.

Once they were both inside, he pulled away from the curb. “Where to?”

She gave him directions and settled into the comfortable seat. He drove with efficiency just as he did everything else. When he reached her apartment complex, she said, “You can let me out here. I can—”

“I’d like to see where you live,” he said bluntly.

“Why?” she asked just as bluntly.

“No reason, really. Do you have a problem with my knowing where you live?”

“Of course not. Personnel has it on record.”

“You’ve been really quiet this morning. Any particular reason?”

“I’m just tired. I had trouble sleeping on the plane.”

“Well, now that you’re home you can sleep the day away.”

She directed him to the entrance of the underground parking and showed him her second parking space. He pulled in next to her red car.

“Yours?” he asked, getting out and going to the trunk.

“Yes.”

He picked up her luggage, which included the ukulele case, locked his car with the remote and followed her to the elevator. Once inside, she pushed the button for her floor and they waited in silence.

When she opened her door and motioned for him to go ahead of her, he walked in. She’d hoped he would put the cases down in the hallway and leave. No such luck. He set them in the hallway and continued into the living room.

“Nice place,” he said, glancing around.

“I like it.”

He walked over to her and without a word took her in his arms and kissed her, taking his time. She didn’t want to respond to him; she couldn’t allow herself to respond to him and she was unnerved by how much she wanted to.

When he released her, his words were quietly prosaic. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” he said and let himself out.

Jodie stood there and stared at the door. With one kiss he had brought the fantasy home to Chicago. What was she going to do?

After she unpacked and began to wash clothes, she called Lynette. Kent answered.

“Hi, Aunt Jodie. Are you calling from Hawaii?”

“No, sweetheart. I’m back home. Is your mom there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“May I speak to her?”

“Uh-huh.”

She could still hear him breathing into the phone. She heard Lynette in the background say, “May I have the phone, please?”

Kent sounded fainter as he said, “Uh-huh.”

Lynette took the phone and said, “Do you think I need to increase my son’s vocabulary?”

Jodie replied, “Uh-huh.”

They both laughed. “How was the trip? Did you throttle your boss? Toss him in the ocean? Drop him into one of the volcanoes? Tell me everything.”

Her feelings toward Dean had changed so much in the week she’d been gone that for a moment she didn’t understand why Lynette would say those things.

“Actually he was fun to be with. I enjoyed being there with him.”

After a prolonged silence Lynette said, “Who is this? Hello? Was I cut off from my sister? Hello? Hello?”

Jodie chuckled. “Cut it out. And you needn’t worry about my sanity. He was on vacation and I had an opportunity to see another side to him.”

“Somehow I never expected to hear the words fun and Dean Logan in the same sentence coming from you. What in the world happened to turn Mr. Hyde into Dr. Jekyll?”

Jodie sighed. “Doesn’t matter. Mr. Hyde was definitely present once we landed at the airport. By noon tomorrow I’ll have forgotten completely the friendly, funny man I met on the island.” The kiss didn’t count.

“Speaking of meeting men, did you spot any good-looking hunks strolling the beaches?”

“Quite a few, actually,” Jodie replied, grinning. “Of course, most of them were accompanied by professional swimsuit models. Or if they weren’t, they should be.”

“You can hold your own with the best of them, kiddo.”

“I had at least ten pounds on the heaviest ones.”

“And all in the right places. Did you have Dean drooling?”

Her throat tightened and for a moment she couldn’t speak. Finally she said, “Not so you’d notice.”

“Plan to come over tonight for dinner. I hope you took lots of photos so I can be envious and jealous and all that stuff.”

Jodie laughed. “You are so full of it. You wouldn’t be away that long from the kids.”

“True. But I can dream. See you tonight.”

Jodie turned off the handset and said, “Dreaming isn’t real.” She didn’t need to tell Lynette that, of course. She needed to remind herself.

She took a nap before going over to Lynette and Chuck’s. She carefully dressed and hoped that they couldn’t read her face. Maybe they’d think the glow was all suntan. She could only hope.

Kent and Kyle greeted her at the door that evening with whoops and hollers that made her laugh.

“Boys!” Lynette said. “Hush or you’ll wake Emily.”

They immediately quieted. “Did you bring us something?” Kyle asked expectantly, eyeing the large shopping bag she carried.

“Kyle!” Lynette scolded. “You know better than that!” She hugged Jodie before she stepped back. “Don’t you look great! The tan really emphasizes the color of your eyes.”

Chuck joined them. “Looking good, little sis. Vacations obviously agree with you.”

Jodie sat down on the sofa and immediately had two little boys eyeing the bag. She began to pull out various gifts, explaining where she’d found different ones. When she finished, she said to Lynette, “Dean bought me a ukulele.”

“Did he know you play?”

“I made the mistake of telling him. Actually the chords came back to me fairly easily and I’m not too bad on the thing.”

“Did you bring it with you?” Kent asked. “I didn’t know you can play.”

“No, I left it at the apartment. One of these days when you come to visit I’ll get it out for you.”

Eventually they sat down to eat. Everyone was full of questions and the time flew by. It was only when she got ready to leave that Lynette walked her to the door and quietly asked, “Something happened over there, didn’t it?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because I know you. There’s a shadow in your eyes I’ve never seen before.”

“I’m just tired. Traveling really wears me out.”

“If you say so.”

“It’s probably the letdown of getting back home and picking up my routine again.”

Lynette hugged her. “Okay. Then we’ll see you Friday night, right?”

“Right.”

Jodie let herself out of the warm house and into the cold. She hurried to her car and crawled inside. While she waited for the car to warm and the heater to kick on, Jodie thought about Lynette’s comments.

Truly, nothing had happened except for a few shared kisses, and she had no intention of discussing her response to Dean with anyone. After all, the kisses had been an impulse of the moment…except for the one this morning. She hadn’t needed the reminder that she was strongly attracted to Dean Logan, which wasn’t very smart.

She turned on the car radio and listened to music during her drive home, determined to put him completely out of her mind.

Eight

“Wow! Look at you!” Betty said by way of greeting when Jodie walked into the office the next morning. “Quite a tan. You certainly stand out among all of us oatmeal-colored people. So where did you go?”

“Hawaii.”

“Ooooh, well good for you. Does the boss know you took off the same week he did?”

“Yes. Is he in yet?”

“Haven’t seen him, but that doesn’t mean much. It’s not unusual for him to get here before I do.”

Jodie nodded and headed to her office.

Once there, she almost groaned at the sight of her desk covered in papers with notes attached, files stacked high and file drawers half-open. She glanced into his office and saw Dean at his desk, frowning at something he was reading.

She put her purse away and made coffee. While she waited for the coffee to brew, she sat and began to sort through the mess on her desk.

“Jodie? Is that you?”

She stood and walked over to his doorway. “Yes. How did you manage to go through so much work this morning?”

“Oh, that’s from yesterday. I spent the day catching up on what’s been happening. Is there coffee?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Yes. I’ll bring you some.”

“Thanks,” he said absently, leaning back in his chair, still reading.

There, you see? she told herself. He’s already forgotten last week and has moved on with his life.

Or so she thought until she set his coffee on his desk and he looked up at her. The heat in his eyes made her tremble. He’d never looked at her like that in the office before.

“Was your family glad to have you back home?”

“My nephews were more interested in what I brought them,” she answered. “Lynette and Chuck agreed that I looked tanned and rested, which, according to them, was just what I needed.”

He nodded thoughtfully and straightened in his chair. “I’d like to meet them sometime.”

“My family?” She had to be mistaken. That couldn’t be what he meant.

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Have lunch with me today and we can discuss it.”

“I, uh, generally eat lunch at my desk.”

“Not today.”

“Is this business-related?”

His frown deepened. “Of course not.”

“Then don’t issue orders about my personal time.” She turned and went back to her desk. She started filing papers and folders, her back to his door.

After several minutes she heard Dean clear his throat. She looked over her shoulder and saw him standing beside her desk.

“What do you need?” she asked pleasantly.

“Some manners. Obviously. I apologize for ordering you around.”

“Apology accepted.”

“I, uh, I’d like to take you to lunch. Please?”

She shut the file drawer and walked over to him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I enjoyed the trip and appreciate your giving me the opportunity to get away from the cold weather for a few days. Now that we’re back at work, I believe it would be better if we return to our regular routine.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with having lunch together.”

“At the moment the office staff is under the impression I decided to take off a week while you were gone. Once they see us together and notice our tans, they’ll figure out we were together.”

“Do you care?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to become the stereotypical secretary who’s seeing her boss socially.”

“I’m not suggesting we date. It’s no big deal to have lunch at the same time, is it?”

“You’re being deliberately obtuse.”

“No, I’m not. I prefer to think of myself as unconsciously obtuse.”

“I’d rather not go out today,” she said politely. “I plan to study over my lunch hour. I brought a sandwich.”

He nodded slowly. “You’re probably right,” he said.

She picked up some papers and turned away to the filing cabinet.

Jodie waited until he’d returned to his desk and then rested her forehead against the filing cabinet. She hoped he hadn’t noticed that she was trembling. His attitude had caught her off guard.

If she consistently turned him down, he would soon give up and get on with his life, which was just the way she wanted things. She knew his dating patterns. The last thing she needed or wanted was to become involved with him.

And…if she repeated that often enough, she might be able to convince herself.

Dean sat down at his desk and looked at the work awaiting him. Most of it was to approve what had been done in his absence and to sign off on it. He leaned back in his chair and swung around to face the windows.

Jodie was right. Of course she was. Just because he’d enjoyed her company this past week didn’t give him the right to expect their relationship to continue in the same way here in Chicago.

She was his secretary. That’s all. The thought reminded him that he needed to call Frank. He’d leave her alone. They’d probably get back to their routine all right if he could forget how much he’d enjoyed kissing her and seeing her in a swimsuit. How much he’d enjoyed their conversations.

He shook his head to clear it. Getting emotional about the trip was ridiculous. Dean turned back to his desk and reached for his private address book. Now that he was no longer seeing Rachel, he knew of several women he could call. He only had to pick one.

He reached for the phone.

That night Dean’s home phone rang close to eleven o’clock. He glanced at the caller ID and shook his head.

“Hello, Rachel,” he said when he picked up the phone.

“Oh! There you are. I’ve been looking for you all week. Your office said you were out of town, and when I asked to speak to Jodie, I was told she’d taken a week off, so there was no way I could think of to reach you.”

“Well, now you’ve found me. Did you find something else of mine that I left at your place?”

“Oh, honey, I am so sorry for the way I treated you. I don’t blame you for not returning my calls. I don’t usually behave so atrociously. It was just a really bad day for me.”

“I noticed.”

“Please forgive me. I miss you so much.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve missed making love to you.”

He thought about the relationship he’d had with Rachel and realized that he’d put her completely out of his mind. That told him what he needed to know where she was concerned. Whatever they’d had, it was over.

“Did you remember that this is the weekend we were going up to Wisconsin to visit Winnie and Fred?”

“Rachel, I figured that when you broke up with me, we wouldn’t be seeing each other again, much less Winnie and Fred.”

“I was awful and I know I was. But I didn’t mean any of it. I was just angry and I took it out on you.”

“As I recall, I was the reason you were angry.”

“Well…but that doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things. Let’s face it, all couples quarrel. That’s the first one we’ve had in the three months we’ve been seeing each other.”

He didn’t say anything.

“Dean?”

“I’m sorry, Rachel, but I’ve already made plans for the weekend.”

“What sort of plans?” she asked suspiciously.

“Nothing you’d be interested in.”

“Try me,” she said flatly.

“I have a date Saturday evening with someone I’ve known for a long while. You don’t know her.”

“You’re seeing someone else!” Her voice lost its rounded tones.

“You made it quite clear you never wanted to see me again. I took you at your word.”

“I said I was sorry,” she wailed. “Please don’t do this to me!”

“Rachel, listen to me. There’s no reason to continue seeing each other. The points you made were valid. If it took your getting angry to tell me, then so be it. I’m not going to change, you know. You were right. I am married to my work. I forget social events. I’m bad about escorting you to everything you want to attend. Why bother to continue to see me? There are lots of men who would be eager to spend time with you.”

She didn’t reply right away. When she did, she sounded as if she might be crying. “I screwed up. I know that. I know your work is important to you. I was way out of line that night and I know it. I just want to see you once in a while.”

“I’ll call you when I can, but I picked up a new client last week and I’ll be putting in long hours coming up with the right combination of security devices to protect his company.” He thought about their situation for a moment. “I’ll give you a call in the next week or two. Have fun with Fred and Winnie.”

He hung up the phone and wandered over to the windows. His condo had a great view of Lake Michigan. As a rule he found the sight relaxing. Tonight he felt lonely, which was most unusual.

He went into his bedroom, undressed and stretched out on the bed.

He was doing what needed to be done. He’d see Susan Saturday night and catch up on her news. They’d lost touch after he’d moved his mother into the nursing home. Susan had been her live-in caregiver and a sweet woman. He’d been surprised that she hadn’t remarried by this time. She’d been a widow for six years or more.

As for Rachel…he’d have to think about whether he wanted to spend much time with her. He discovered that although he was lonely, Rachel wasn’t the answer. He refused to consider who might be.

Jodie’s phone was ringing when she walked into her office the next morning. She dropped her purse on the desk and reached for the phone.

“This is Jodie.”

“Hi, Jodie. It’s me…Rachel.”

“Oh. Good morning. I’m not sure if Dean’s here yet. Do you want me to have him call you?”