Never Tell

She shoved her hair back from her face with both hands and realized that she was trembling. “I thought you were Jason.”

“Not even close.” Grinning, he moved his gaze to the door where Michael was now kicking and banging and cursing.

“Damn it, let me out of here, Erica!”

Hunter winced. “If this is the way you treat interested suitors,” he said, “it’s no wonder you’re still single.”

“I have no interested suitors and that’s the way I like it,” she said. Ignoring the racket Michael was making, she told herself she hadn’t felt so much threatened as outraged. And it was adrenaline making her a little shaky, not fear. “And how did you get in here?”

“I came in the front door.”

“That’s impossible. Jason locked up.”

“This is crazy, Erica. Open the door this instant!”

Controlling his smile, Hunter glanced at the door. “I think he means business.”

“And I think he can stay in there until hell freezes over, which is what he deserves.”

Now grinning, Hunter asked, “Will you let him out before morning?”

“I suppose I’ll have to.” She didn’t want to admit it, but she was just now realizing that opening the door to let him out might be a bit risky. He’d revealed a surprising streak of aggression. But he could hardly do anything with Hunter here. With a look of disgust, she flipped the lock and took a hasty step backward as the door was flung wide. It brought her up against Hunter’s solid, male frame.

Breathing hard and flushed with fury, Michael opened his mouth to say something, but Hunter firmly cleared his throat, and whatever it was died unspoken. Settling for a dignified retreat, Michael said stiffly, “That was totally unnecessary, Erica. You completely misunderstood my intentions, but we can discuss it another time.”

“I don’t think so, Michael.”

Hunter stepped around them to pick up Michael’s briefcase. “Are you going to introduce us?” he said, handing it over.

“My former financial adviser, Michael Carlton,” she said, then added in a frosty tone, “On your way out, leave the papers I just signed on the counter, Michael. The only thing we have to discuss is whatever arrangements are necessary to dissolve our association, which we’ll do first thing Monday morning by phone. Don’t—” she put up a hand as he tried again to speak “—don’t insult me further with a lame explanation for what you did. Just consider your apology offered and be thankful I don’t mention this to your father. Goodbye.”

“His father?” Hunter repeated as they watched Michael skulk out.

“Stanley Carlton. He’s a senior partner in the firm and the person I originally consulted.”

“How’d Michael get in the picture?”

“After a while, Stanley began to suggest that Michael fill in for him. Since I knew Stanley was still overseeing everything, I didn’t particularly object.” She breathed out a long breath and resisted an urge to wrap her arms around herself. “It just never occurred to me that he had anything like this on his mind,” she muttered, looking around in a distracted way for her keys. She was more than ready to go home. “All he ever seemed interested in was how to increase dividends and shelter money.”

“I don’t know why you’d assume that,” Hunter said, taking her jacket from a coatrack. “He was handed a golden opportunity, he’s male, he’s apparently not gay. I, for one, am not surprised.”

She swept up her keys and snapped off the light. “If you’re suggesting that he has an eye on my portfolio, you don’t have to draw me a picture. I get it. Now.” She paused, looking over the interior of the shop to be sure no other customer had wandered in after closing hours. Seeing no one, she allowed Hunter to help her into her jacket. “It just irritates me that I was caught off guard. I didn’t have a clue what he was thinking.”

“I can’t help feeling a little sorry for him,” Hunter said.

“You’re kidding.”

He shrugged. “Seeing you on a regular basis and being forced to keep your relationship strictly businesslike must have been torture for the poor bastard. And I wasn’t suggesting he had designs on your portfolio. I was suggesting he had designs on you, ‘the sexiest woman in the world.’” He made quotation marks with his fingers.

Okay, he was amused again, at her expense. But now Erica was beginning to see the humor in it, too. She made a disgusted sound and laughed. “You heard that?”

“It’s a good line.”

“Well, I never gave him any sign that I’d welcome that…or any line.” She sighed and looked at him. “And I should apologize that you were dragged into something so distasteful.” She paused, wondering now at his reason for stopping in. She glanced at the counter, expecting to see the gift box with the jacket he’d bought for his mother. Except for the papers that Michael had left, the counter was clear. “I assume you’re here to exchange your mother’s gift?”

“Why would I do that? She loved it.”

“Oh. Well—”

“I was driving by and realized it was closing time. I thought you might let me buy you a drink. My mother went speechless when she opened that box. Do you get that reaction often?”

Erica stuffed the financial papers in her purse. “We haven’t had a problem selling that particular style. I’m glad she liked it.” She was also glad that Jason had adjusted the lights into overnight mode so that the place was dimly lit. The way Hunter was studying her face, he’d be able to tell she was a little flustered. It was beginning to dawn on her that if she hadn’t managed to slam the door and lock Michael in her office, he might very well have finished what he started.

She blinked when, with a finger beneath her chin, Hunter tilted her face up. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No.” She shifted away from him, looked down at her keys. “It was just that he surprised me. I wasn’t expecting anything like that and he’s always seemed so…well, harmless.”

“No man’s harmless in a situation like that. He’s probably been fantasizing about you for a while and thought he’d take his chances. I’m glad I happened to show up when I did, but to tell the truth, you didn’t look as if you needed much help.”

“Well, he made me mad. I told him to stop and he didn’t.” The adrenaline rush was fading a little now, and standing alone in her shop with a man like Hunter gave her an entirely different feeling. “Maybe the next time a woman tells him no, he’ll believe it,” she said with a militant look in her eye.

“I think he got the message,” Hunter said dryly. “If not, his bruised knuckles will remind him.”

She smiled in spite of herself. “He was banging pretty hard on the door, wasn’t he? I hope he has trouble typing on his stupid computer.”

Grinning, he propped an elbow on the counter. “Seeing how ticked off he was, I’m wondering how you were going to let him out of there. Did you realize you had a tiger by the tail?”

“Not until I slammed the door. I owe you for arriving when you did.”

“Then how ’bout that drink? I’m thinking a margarita, top shelf. Cuervo Gold.”

She felt a new rush of nerves. “Oh, I don’t—”

He straightened up with a pained look. “Please don’t say it. You don’t drink.”

“I do, but—”

“Good. There’s a quiet little bar about three blocks away. You can follow me in your car or I’ll drop you back here when we’re done.”

A few minutes ago, when she’d turned and found Hunter and not Jason at her back, she’d been surprised by her reaction. In his battered leather jacket, his worn jeans and boots, he’d looked a lot more dark and dangerous than Michael, who’d just assaulted her. But it wasn’t fear that had streaked through her. Just the opposite. Something more elemental and exciting. She wasn’t used to reacting to a man in that way, and had almost forgotten what it was like.

“I’ll follow in my car,” she said. And without giving herself time for second thoughts, she walked with him to the door.

Five

Hunter picked a booth toward the back of the bar for its privacy. This was his first opportunity to spend one-on-one time with Erica and he intended to make the most of it. Since buying the jacket, he hadn’t been able to put her out of his mind. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, but sitting across from her now, he knew he didn’t want to be anywhere else at the moment.

When their margaritas were set in front of them, he lifted his, waited for her and then touched his glass to hers. He’d like to say something she’d find sexy and charming, but he had a feeling she was a woman who wouldn’t appreciate anything that sounded like a practiced line, and besides, she struck him as needing a slow hand. He had a feeling, too, that it would be worth the wait. “To a new financial adviser,” he said.