Cinderella And The Ceo. SUSAN MEIER

were occupied with their jobs in different sections of the cage before she confronted him.

      “So, Deke,” she said, standing beside his desk and feigning interest in the stack of documents in front of him, “you have me completely baffled.” Pretending to be occupied with checking his workload, she asked, “How does an absolutely gorgeous man who can cook get to be thirty-three without getting married?”

      Her description made Deke laugh, though he wasn’t surprised she asked. After that little rendezvous in the alcove the night before, neither of them could act as if they didn’t find the other attractive. And straightforward Laurel wouldn’t beat around the bush. Just like with those ridiculous pajamas, she would find the fastest—never mind most embarrassing—way to diffuse this problem.

      “I guess I’ve never wanted to get married,” he said, glancing up at her.

      Looking at her expectant face, he wished the eagerness he saw in her eyes meant that she had changed her mind about their situation and was anticipating he would tell her something that would give her the green light to pursue the attraction. But he knew better. Laurel was too practical, too blunt, too pragmatic, too honest. If she wanted to pursue him, she would just do it. She wouldn’t ask permission.

      Disappointment flooded him, but he ignored it. “As silly as this is going to sound…” he began, sorting through some packing slips on his desk and feeling that they should try whatever means available to diminish the attraction. It was imprudent and irresponsible to be unhappy that she had somehow made up her mind he wasn’t worth pursuing. No matter how much electricity sizzled between them, they couldn’t have a relationship. There was no sense in being dumb about this.

      “…for every one of the ten years I played minor-league ball, I thought I was going to be picked up by a major-league team.” He paused, looked into her eyes again and wasn’t surprised when the click of their gazes caused his pulse to pick up.

      In fact, since she was being so strong, he decided he could relax a little and enjoy the surge of excitement just being near her gave him. Unfortunately that quickly turned into the need for a kiss, and he found himself wanting to press his palms to her cheeks, to bring her face to his so he could feel the softness of her mouth against his. Though he knew he would never kiss her in a million years, somehow the longing, the wanting, was its own reward, and he let himself savor that, too.

      “But I never got the big call. I never came out of the minor leagues. I would probably still be there now, except my stepfather—”

      Deke stopped himself, face-to-face with the problem he had been worrying about all along. His preoccupation with her had almost caused him to make a monumental slip. He couldn’t afford any kind of mental lapse. He was supposed to be sharp. Investigating. Not taking advantage of her discipline so he could enjoy feelings and sensations he wasn’t supposed to have.

      “Your stepfather what?”

      He drew a long breath and returned his attention to assembling the tasks on his desk. “My stepfather convinced me that I should find a more stable job.”

      Laurel shrugged. “He was probably right.”

      For the first time Deke admitted to himself that he wasn’t sure he agreed. He wanted to take over the company. He wanted his stepfather to retire and enjoy what was left of his life. But Deke missed baseball. He missed that piece of his identity; there was a part of him that felt empty and lost without it. Business gave him purpose and responsibilities, but baseball had given him heart, and maybe a soul. Coaching the girls provided a little relief, but not enough, and he still felt the loss. Part of him now wondered if that wasn’t why he was so drawn to Laurel.

      “But that doesn’t explain why you’ve never married. Was it because you thought no woman would want to be stuck with a man who traveled around the country playing sports? Or did you refuse to tie yourself down to one woman?”

      Deke only stared at her. Because he had taken a long mental side trip, he wasn’t surprised she’d dragged him back into the conversation. But he hadn’t expected her to be so desperate to be rid of him that she would be brutally blunt. “You really don’t mince words, do you?”

      “I can’t,” Laurel said, then dropped a stack of green papers onto the desk in front of him. “I’ve already gotten a million questions from the girls at break time. Tomorrow is our one-hour lunch. I won’t survive if I don’t have some details to give them.”

      “Oh,” Deke said, suddenly feeling foolish. She was asking for her friends? He couldn’t believe he’d mis-interpreted her intentions. He knew she found him attractive. He also knew from those pajamas that she didn’t want to find him attractive. Still, her reason for probing made more sense than to think she was so determined to be rid of him she would be rude. She wasn’t rude. She was sweet and kind and deliciously wonderful.

      Which was exactly why he had to stay the hell away from her. Rude he could combat. Sweet, sensitive and considerate made him want to confide in her. Trust her. And that was the bottom-line problem. He wanted to trust her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t trust anybody. Especially not the woman who might know exactly why Tom Baxter had sent him to this tiny factory on the edge of nowhere.

      The crazy part of it was, if he told her the truth about why he hadn’t married, their chemistry wouldn’t be a problem anymore, because she would stay away from him. She might even stop being nice to him—which would probably take away his desire to confide in her.

      Suddenly he realized the truth would set them both free.

      “I haven’t gotten married because I don’t think I’m a good candidate for marriage. I’ve always been very happy with my life exactly the way it is. I’m free to do what I want to do when I want to do it.” And free to take over when my stepfather stops working. No worry that I’m shortchanging a wife, no commitments to consider, no complications. Just a clear path to do what was required as heir to the Graham fortune. Getting married had never once entered his head because it would have confused things.

      “I can’t understand why anyone would voluntarily make a commitment like marriage,” he added, so honest even he felt like a heel. “Except to have kids,” he decided on the spot. “I never realized how much I liked kids until I started coaching your daughter’s softball team.”

      “Well, they certainly love you,” Laurel stated emphatically, then turned her attention to the green papers on his desk. “Anyway, these are purchase orders,” she said, realizing she had dodged a bullet by making that quick decision the night before not to kiss him. Just like her first husband, Deke Bertrim wasn’t right for her. He might not be the kind who would pick a wife to enhance his career, but in some respects his reasons for not getting married were actually more deadly. He was self-centered, self-absorbed and unable to commit.

      Thank God. Now they could get on with the rest of his training.

      “Purchase orders are issued by the Purchasing Department when they buy goods and supplies. So, every time something comes through that door,” she said, pointing to the Shipping and Receiving bay, “we should be able to find a purchase order for the goods received.”

      Because this was a standard operating procedure for most manufacturing plants, Deke nodded his understanding as Laurel expected him to.

      “When a delivery arrives, we look in there,” she said, pointing to a gray metal filing cabinet, “and find the purchase order that matches it. Once we check the packages to be sure they contain the items on the purchase order, we stamp both copies with our Received stamp and send the supplies to Inventory with the pink copy for verification.”

      Studying the stamped green copy of the purchase order, Deke again nodded.

      “Then we go into the computer, look up the purchase order and mark it in electronically.” She said this as she continued to sort and stack papers on the table in front of her. “After everything is recorded in the computer, the green copies are thrown away.” She nodded in the direction of the papers Deke held. “Those copies are from items received yesterday. This morning I’ll show you