“Thank you,” she said, barely able to get the words past the lump clogging her throat.
“Are you all right?” He reached out to put his arm around her, then, moving his jacket out of the way, pulled her to the middle of the seat. “I know being stuck here is upsetting, but—”
“I’m fine. Really.” Wanting to change the subject before she made a complete fool of herself, she asked, “Do you really think going on picnics and getting closer with the employees is going to make Skerritt and Crowe a more efficient consulting firm?”
He nodded. “Let me ask you this. How much do you know about the people who work under you?”
Thinking hard, she shook her head. “Not much.”
“Exactly.” Twisting in the seat to face her, he leaned back against the driver’s door. “Would you say Geena Phillips has been working up to her potential lately?”
She didn’t have to think twice about the matter. The woman had been late several times in the past couple of weeks. “No. Lately, she’s seemed distracted and I’ve been meaning to talk to her about it.”
“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “A disciplinary talk will only add to the problem.”
“I take it you know something I don’t.”
His mouth flattened into a grim line. “She’s battling a case of morning sickness. It’s her first pregnancy, she doesn’t know where the father of her baby disappeared to and she’s scared witless that she won’t be able to handle things by herself.”
Alyssa was shocked. “I had no idea Geena was going through anything like that.”
“That’s because in the past it’s been company policy to check your private life at the door when you come to work.” He shook his head. “Geena’s a good accountant who’s hit a rough patch in her life. She needs our support and assurance that she’s not going to lose the job she’ll need to support herself and the baby. That kind of encouragement from an employer can go a long way to instill loyalty in an employee, as well as inspire them to work harder for the company.”
She could see where a change was definitely in order in that area. “I’ll talk to her about coming in a couple of hours later until she starts feeling better.”
Yawning he nodded his approval. “Now you have the right idea.” It seemed that he’d no sooner gotten the words out than he was sound asleep.
As she leaned her head back against the seat and tried to get comfortable, she had to admit that Caleb’s approach to management made a lot of sense. By the book wasn’t necessarily the best way to handle employees.
But the idea of letting her employees know her better still made her extremely nervous. The more someone knew about you, the more they could use against you. At least, that was the philosophy her father had preached to her for as long as she could remember.
She sighed. If she stayed at Skerritt and Crowe, becoming friendly with those around her was definitely going to take some getting used to.
Reluctant to open her eyes and end the dream of having two strong arms holding her securely to a wide masculine chest, Alyssa burrowed deeper into her dream lover’s embrace. It felt wonderful to be held while she slept and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could, even if it was just a dream.
“Good morning.”
Her eyes flew open and she started to pull away. Dear heavens, she wasn’t dreaming. She was lying on a very real Caleb Walker, who, at the moment, seemed intent on keeping her right where she was.
“I—I’m sorry,” she stammered, trying once again to extricate herself from his hold.
He tightened his arms around her and his deep chuckle beneath her ear vibrated all the way to her soul. “Don’t be sorry. I’m not. You were comfortable and I thought I’d let you sleep.”
Her heart did a funny little flip. “It was nice of you to think of me,” she said, straightening her glasses. She managed to put a little space between them to look up into his twinkling hazel eyes. “But—”
“Sweetheart, I think about you more than you realize.” He gave her the sexy grin that never failed to curl her toes as he drew her closer, then rested his forehead on hers. “In fact, you’re about all I’ve been able to think of since night before last.”
Shivers skittered up and down her spine from the mere memory, but the only way she’d been able to face him had been to tell herself that she’d dreamed it. “Nothing happened,” she insisted.
He chuckled. “Then I must have a real vivid imagination, because after that kiss, I walked out of the motel room hotter than a two-dollar pistol at a skid-row pawnshop.”
Alyssa felt as if her heart had stopped completely and even if her vocal cords hadn’t suddenly become temporarily paralyzed, she couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Leaning back, he gazed at her for several long seconds. “You want to know something else?”
“I—I’m not sure,” she said, feeling extremely short of breath.
“I want to do it again.” He removed her glasses, then placed them on the dash. “Do you want me to kiss you, Alyssa?”
Mesmerized by his remarkable gaze and promising smile, she didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
He removed first one, then another of the pins holding her hair up. “You have beautiful hair. You should wear it down more often.”
“I’ve always hated my hair,” she said honestly.
“Why?” Running his fingers through it, he cupped the back of her head and started to draw her forward. “It feels like strands of silk.”
Unable to breathe, much less think, Alyssa’s eyes drifted shut as she allowed Caleb to nibble at her lips, then cover them with a kiss so tender it made her feel as if she were the most cherished woman on earth. What was there about this man that she couldn’t resist?
She’d never had trouble rejecting advances from other men. But when Caleb touched her, rational thought seemed beyond her capabilities. All she wanted was to feel his big, hard body pressed to hers, to taste the desire on his lips and hear his sexy Southern drawl as he said her name.
When he used the tip of his tongue to coax her to open for him, she decided it didn’t matter that she had no will of her own where he was concerned. The truth was, she liked the way he made her feel when he kissed her and the last thing she wanted him to do was stop.
As Caleb slipped his tongue inside, Alyssa met him halfway in a sensuous game of advance and retreat and he felt like his heart would pound a hole right through his rib cage. He’d tried to tell himself to leave well enough alone, that Alyssa Jane Merrick was off-limits.