Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls: Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls. Michelle Celmer

today flitted through her mind.

      Lusty Frenchman.

      Burlap sack.

      Get you into bed.

      James Robinique was certainly charming, but Gina wasn’t interested in him. At one time in her life, she might have agreed to spend some time with the handsome man. Now all she wanted was to do a good job. She was here on business and she needed to keep her head in the game. She opened her mouth to answer, but Wade beat her to it.

      “I plan to keep Gi-Miss Grady busy most of the night…working.” One side of Wade’s mouth quirked up.

      James Robinique blinked his eyes, then darted a glance her way before looking at Wade with a hint of envy. “I see. You are very dedicated then.”

      Wade nodded. “This project is important to my company.”

      Robinique gazed at Gina again, this time with more discerning eyes. “Yes, I can see that.”

      Gina’s face flamed but, lucky for her, she’d always been able to hide her embarrassment under her olive complexion. Inside, she fumed. Wade had practically announced that they were lovers and all three of them knew it.

      Nothing was further from the truth. Despite her need for job security, she couldn’t let Wade get away with this. “I’m sorry, Mr. Beaumont, but I must take some personal time today. I’ve suddenly developed a terrible headache.”

      Blinding anger offered up the courage she needed to march out the front door of the restaurant and never look back.

      * * *

      Gina walked along the main streets of town until her feet ached, her anger ebbed and her heart had stopped racing like she’d just run a marathon. She peeked into shops but had no urge to stop. When tourists smiled at her she didn’t smile back. She felt trapped on this island. Trapped in a job she shouldn’t have taken—one she couldn’t afford to lose.

      She’d been out for two hours, enough time to simmer her hot Irish-Italian temper. She headed back to the hotel, contemplating a quiet night with a good book. As soon as she entered her suite, she kicked off her shoes. One flipped up and back hitting the wall behind her, the other slid across the floor to meet with another pair of shoes—a pair of man’s shoes.

      She looked up.

      “Where the hell have you been?” Wade’s angry voice startled her. He glared at her, arms folded, his face as firm and set as his tone.

      “What are you doing in here?” she asked, none too pleased to find her boss invading her private space. “How dare you show up in my room like this!”

      “You’re on company time, Miss Grady. And this is a company suite.”

      “Oh, no. No way, Wade. This is my room and while I’m on this island, you have no right entering it without my permission. You’re not paying me enough to…to—”

      Wade stepped closer, until he was nearly in her face, his green eyes, holding hers, his voice menacing. “Sue me.”

      Gina blinked. Anger she’d ebbed earlier rose up again with striking force. She turned her back on him, opened the front door and spoke with a quiet calm she didn’t know she possessed. “Get out.”

      Wade strode to the door and, staring into her eyes, shoved it shut. “No one walks out on me, Gina. And no one dismisses me.”

      “You’re so wrong. Maybe I can’t throw you out of here, but I’ve already dismissed you.” On shaky legs, she moved away from the door, away from him.

      “What’s got you so riled up anyway?”

      Gina twirled around. Was he serious? Didn’t he know how he had portrayed their relationship? “You deliberately let Robinique believe we were lovers, Wade. You staked your claim, though nothing’s further from the truth. But more than that, you had no right to make that decision for me.”

      “Sleeping with Robinique would compromise the company.”

      He was serious. He’d actually thought she would— Furious, Gina calmed herself and took a different approach. “Quite the contrary, Wade,” she began with a slow easy smile, “if I slept with him, the company would only benefit.”

      Wade couldn’t really argue with that, though it galled him just thinking about Gina with James Robinique. Visions of making love to Gina, her soft pliant body meshed with his as they laid down on a soft cushion of hay, were never far from his mind. He remembered her, every inch of her, all too well. That night in El Paso had been magical. Though not experienced, Gina had pleased and pleasured him like no other woman had. “So, you’re willing to take one for the team, so to speak?”

      Her dark espresso eyes turned black as ink. She stood barefooted, hands on hips, looking at him with defiance. Only the king bed separated them and Wade’s thoughts turned to it and how making love to her here would be on a soft mattress and silky sheets.

      Gina’s voice was deceptively calm, but the fury in her eyes gave her away. “I came here to work with you. Whether you believe me or not, I can be trusted. And if you’d given me the chance, you’d have seen me refuse Mr. Robinique’s offer. I have no intention of sleeping with him or any other man. So no, I wouldn’t have taken one for the team, Wade. Not like that. Now, please, it’s been a long day. If there’s nothing else you need from me, I’d like you to leave.”

      Wade stood his ground. He’d never trust Gina again, but he felt great satisfaction knowing that she would have refused Robinique. Though she’d been wrong on one account. She would sleep with one man while on this island. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you’re forgetting who’s the boss. And there is something else I need from you. I wasn’t lying to Robinique when I said we’d be working into the night.”

      Gina’s ire seemed to vanish. “Oh?”

      Wade headed for the door. “We have a dinner meeting in exactly two hours. Be ready when I pick you up.”

      Gina stood there with a confused look on her face, her eyes softening, her rigid body relaxing. He glanced down at her red toenails and had never wanted a woman more.

      Wade whipped the door open and exited.

      Before he told her what he really needed from her.

      The dinner meeting, held at a small eatery on Avalon’s main street boasting buffalo milk, ended after ten o’clock. Gina had eaten quickly and immediately returned to taking notes. Wade had set up this dinner with local shop owners and proprietors to gain their support and trust, to get to know them, to assure them that if Triple B won the bid, their workers would add to the economy and not cause any trouble. Gina learned from day one that Catalina island thrived on the tourist trade. It was essential that there be no unsavory incidents and no bad press on the island. Wade was smart enough to know that, to understand their concerns.

      When all was said and done, Wade escorted her outside and, as they headed toward her hotel suite, he asked. “How do you think that went?”

      “By their own admission, not one of the other builders had approached them. Your assurances went a long way. I’d say you scored points.”

      Wade nodded. “I want to be on friendly terms when we win the bid. Our crews are the best, but get a bunch of men working in a confined area for too long and that might spell trouble. They needed to know I’d do everything in my power to keep things running smoothly.”

      “I think you convinced them.” Wade wasn’t just blowing smoke. Gina really believed he meant what he said. Nine years ago, she would never have believed that the roughriding rancher with the sweet nature would become such an astute businessman. She never pictured him in that role. Yet here he was, talking the talk, making the deals. Gina shook her head.

      Wade caught the slight movement. “What?”

      “Nothing, really. It’s nothing.”

      Wade was silent