The two of them approached the rental car they’d picked up that morning upon landing at the Boise airport.
“I always hate it when I have to fire someone who’s worked for the company for so long,” Byron said as he unlocked the car and peeled off his jacket, setting it and his briefcase in the backseat.
“It’s always troubling to fire anyone,” she said as she climbed into the passenger side of the car and waited for him to climb in and start the engine so she could point the vent in her direction and cool off.
“At least when I threatened to close the entire operation down, we finally got some answers.” He loosened his tie before pulling it off and tossing it over his shoulder into the backseat, and then he started the car.
She hated that his small stunt with the tie made her stomach clench with desire. He wasn’t stripping for her; he was simply making himself more comfortable. But all she wanted to do at the moment was climb over the console and right into his lap.
It was Friday afternoon and nothing had happened between them since the dinner three days before. He’d come into work, behaved like a complete professional, and hadn’t even attempted to touch her — shades of the way he’d left her on her front porch. And her job at Knight Construction was coming to a close. She only had a week to go. In the beginning the month had seemed like forever. Now, a week seemed so short.
She had her own business to run and didn’t have time to be working on Byron’s books, but in an amazingly short time she’d grown used to walking into his office in the morning when he was there, exchanging a few quick pleasantries with him, and speaking to him throughout the day.
When the man wasn’t trying to intimidate her, he was actually pretty decent company. And the longer she was around him, the more she desired him. Was it because he wasn’t doing anything lately to provoke that reaction?
But, hey, his loss of interest was the best thing that could have happened. He thought of her as a whore, so if she were to jump into bed with him, she’d be proving that’s exactly what she was. And as her eyes traced the slight opening at the V of his neck, she knew she needed to get out of this car as soon as possible. She’d be fine as soon as they were back in Seattle, safe and sound, and miles away from each other. Yes, it was Friday. She’d have all weekend to pull herself together. And then only one week left with him.
Byron pulled out of the attached parking garage and they began rolling down the road. The air conditioning should have cooled her off, but her body was too heated for anything to have that effect. She was again tempted to ditch the jacket, but at this point, her blouse was slightly damp, and the last thing she wanted to expose was her lacy bra, so she’d just have to suffer in silence. They’d soon be at the airport. She’d rush to the bathroom and splash cold water on her face.
“I’m starving,” Byron said, startling out of her train of thought. “Are you at all hungry?” he asked.
She tried to figure out exactly where they were, but she was about the most directionally challenged person around, so she stopped trying. “A little, but I can grab something at the airport.” She didn’t want to string this out any further.
“We have plenty of time, McKenzie.”
His vague reply made her uneasy.
“What time is the flight?”
“We’re taking a little side trip before heading home.” He didn’t elaborate, and McKenzie grew even more heated as nerves shot through her.
“What kind of side trip?” she asked. “And is it hot in here, or is it just me?” She reached over to fiddle with her vent again, feeling on the verge of fainting.
“It’s not too warm,” he said, a sparkle in his eyes that had her breathing even more heavily. He knew she was close to panic, and he also knew exactly what was making her that way.
“Side trip? Where?” Maybe if she talked with less words, he would answer.
“You’ll see.”
Ugh! She looked out her window and focused on breathing. Coming along on this trip had been a bad idea.
“I don’t want to miss our flight,” she finally said.
“McKenzie, I own the jet. It leaves when I’m ready, and you know that.”
“Your brothers might need it,” she pointed out.
“We have two of them. And if suddenly Blake and Tyler both need to go somewhere, it’s only a one-hour flight back from here.”
She really didn’t have any more arguments for him, so she remained silent as he drove for another half an hour. He was moving farther and farther away from Boise, and she had a feeling they weren’t going to be making the flight home tonight.
When they still weren’t stopping, she had to say something or she was going to explode. “I’m not staying overnight with you, Byron.” She really wished her words had come out with more oomph. But at least she’d managed to get them from her throat.
“Do you want to be more specific?” he asked, the weasel.
“We are not having sex.” There. It didn’t get more specific than that.
He was silent for a moment before he turned and looked at her for several heartbeats.
“Are you trying to convince me of this…or yourself?” he asked quietly.
“Look at the road!” she gasped, and he turned back forward.
It took a moment before she had anything to say to that, but then she decided to go on the offensive. “As one of the infamous Knight brothers, you’re clearly used to getting women to jump into your bed, but I think you should know that I’m not a typical woman.”
He laughed again. “I love what you must think of me,” he told her. “But I’ll promise you this — we won’t do a single thing you don’t want to do.”
That didn’t reassure her in the least.
Chapter Seventeen
Silence stretched thick and long in the car, and finally, McKenzie had no choice but to remove her jacket. She was going to pass out if she didn’t. Even with the air blowing full blast on her face, she was sweating, uncomfortably hot.
“How hot it is out?” she gasped, grabbing her purse and pulling out a magazine she’d brought for the plane ride, fanning her face.
“Sixty-two degrees,” Byron said with a knowing chuckle that had her grinding her teeth together.
“It must be the sun pouring in through the windows. It’s magnifying the heat or something,” she lamely said.
“Sure…” The word was drawn out, but she would choose to think that he believed her explanation.