heart?”
“How do you—? All right, no I don’t.”
“Start getting used to keeping the building secure. Learn the code by heart. I’ll bet you keep the code on a piece of paper taped to the underside of your desk. You’re right-handed so it’s probably taped to the right side.”
She blew out a little breath and nodded. Bingo.
“That’s not good. From now on keep the code in a safe and memorize it. You’ve got a security system, so use it. I want this building locked down after I leave.”
“Yessir, Commander, sir.” A dimple twinkled then disappeared. “Or would that be aye aye?”
“The correct answer is—yes, I’ll do exactly as you say.”
She was so close he could have seen the pores in her skin if she’d had any. Instead, her skin was as smooth and perfect as marble, except soft and warm, he’d bet. He had one foot out the door, stepping from one world into another. He had to force himself to move.
“Lock the door, Suzanne,” he said again as he crossed the threshold, pulling on the handle.
He waited patiently on the steps until he heard the distinctive whump-ding of the Interloc security alarm going on then walked down the steps into the rainy morning.
Chapter Two
Whew.
Suzanne leaned against her door and put a trembling fist to her racing heart. Her legs felt like wax and she wanted to slide down to the floor in a puddle.
John Huntington— Commander John Huntington—wasn’t anything like what she’d been expecting.
The email had been innocent enough.
Dear Ms. Barron,
Saw your ad in The Oregonian today for the lease of office space and am interested in viewing the premises. I am looking for corporate headquarters for my company. If it would suit you, I would like to make an appointment for 10 a.m. on the 21st of December.
John Huntington, President, ASI.
How nice. A CEO , she’d thought as she emailed back. An image of a white-haired avuncular type floated in her mind. A businessman. Perfect.
Pearl was gentrifying at a dizzy pace, but pockets of it were still very dangerous. Having a businessman around would make her feel safe.
The one thing the man sitting across from her didn’t make her feel was safe. Scared, maybe. No, not scared, really, just…what?
Not a white haired fatherly type at all. Not old. Not safe. He looked dangerous. That was it. That was what had Suzanne’s entire system on alert.
At first she thought the wrong man had come. He hadn’t looked like the president of a company. He looked rough, dangerous. Like a biker, not a businessman. A big man, shoulders so broad they spanned the chair back, black, close-cropped hair with a dusting of silver at the temples, eyes somewhere between a very dark blue and brown, impossible to guess at in the uncertain watery light.
Whatever the color, though, he’d looked at her as if he were about to swallow her up whole.
She’d never seen a man so blatantly…male. Of course, she thought, with a wry shake of her head, the men she met as a decorator were a little different from the men in the Navy. Still, the brute male power he’d exuded had been overwhelming.
He hadn’t done anything, had barely moved in his chair, never fidgeting or moving position, he hadn’t said or done anything untoward, but she’d felt her entire body go into overdrive. She’d kept her hands from trembling only by sheer force of will.
This was crazy and had to stop now. John Huntington was paying a lot of money for the rental—more money, actually, than it was worth, given the location. So she was going to have to start getting used to him as a tenant. She couldn’t afford to have to stand against a door and wait for her heart rate to slow down every time she saw him.
Maybe I should get out more, she thought. Stop working so hard. Start dating. Get a life.
Maybe the next time her bank manager
“How do you—? All right, no I don’t.”
“Start getting used to keeping the building secure. Learn the code by heart. I’ll bet you keep the code on a piece of paper taped to the underside of your desk. You’re right-handed so it’s probably taped to the right side.”
She blew out a little breath and nodded. Bingo.
“That’s not good. From now on keep the code in a safe and memorize it. You’ve got a security system, so use it. I want this building locked down after I leave.”
“Yessir, Commander, sir.” A dimple twinkled then disappeared. “Or would that be aye aye?”
“The correct answer is—yes, I’ll do exactly as you say.”
She was so close he could have seen the pores in her skin if she’d had any. Instead, her skin was as smooth and perfect as marble, except soft and warm, he’d bet. He had one foot out the door, stepping from one world into another. He had to force himself to move.
“Lock the door, Suzanne,” he said again as he crossed the threshold, pulling on the handle.
He waited patiently on the steps until he heard the distinctive whump-ding of the Interloc security alarm going on then walked down the steps into the rainy morning.
Chapter Two
Whew.
Suzanne leaned against her door and put a trembling fist to her racing heart. Her legs felt like wax and she wanted to slide down to the floor in a puddle.
John Huntington— Commander John Huntington—wasn’t anything like what she’d been expecting.
The email had been innocent enough.
Dear Ms. Barron,
Saw your ad in The Oregonian today for the lease of office space and am interested in viewing the premises. I am looking for corporate headquarters for my company. If it would suit you, I would like to make an appointment for 10 a.m. on the 21st of December.
John Huntington, President, ASI.
How nice. A CEO , she’d thought as she emailed back. An image of a white-haired avuncular type floated in her mind. A businessman. Perfect.
Pearl was gentrifying at a dizzy pace, but pockets of it were still very dangerous. Having a businessman around would make her feel safe.
The one thing the man sitting across from her didn’t make her feel was safe. Scared, maybe. No, not scared, really, just…what?
Not a white haired fatherly type at all. Not old. Not safe. He looked dangerous. That was it. That was what had Suzanne’s entire system on alert.
At first she thought the wrong man had come. He hadn’t looked like the president of a company. He looked rough, dangerous. Like a biker, not a businessman. A big man, shoulders so broad they spanned the chair back, black, close-cropped hair with a dusting of silver at the temples, eyes somewhere between a very dark blue and brown, impossible to guess at in the uncertain watery light.
Whatever the color, though, he’d looked at her as if he were about to swallow her up whole.
She’d never seen a man so blatantly…male. Of course, she thought, with a wry shake of her head, the men she met as a decorator were a little different from the men in the Navy. Still, the brute male power he’d exuded had been overwhelming.
He hadn’t done anything, had barely moved in his chair, never fidgeting or moving position, he hadn’t said or done anything untoward, but she’d felt her entire body go into overdrive. She’d kept her hands from trembling only by sheer force of will.
This was crazy and had to stop now. John Huntington was paying a lot of money for the rental—more money, actually, than it was worth, given the location. So she was going to have to start getting used to him as a tenant. She couldn’t afford to have to stand against a door and wait for her heart rate to slow down every time she saw him.
Maybe I should get out more, she thought. Stop working so hard. Start dating. Get a life.
Maybe the next time her bank manager
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