Looking down at the old man, Falon allowed himself to feel a margin of sympathy for him. Ralph Maxwell was a dinosaur in a world where you needed to remain cutting edge or risk losing it all. The man had to be in his mid-seventies and Falon couldn’t fathom why he was still in the business instead of selling out long ago. It was poor business sense and if there was one thing that broke through his icy resolve, it was poor business. Why hadn’t the man passed the company on to his children to run?

“There will be a lot of work that needs to be done to save the place, Mr. Maxwell. If I’m going to get your company back up to par, you are going to have to be willing to make the changes necessary.” He couldn’t give in to the questions circling in his mind. He learned early on to never get personally involved with a client. It only led to emotional entanglements that he could ill afford.

“Yes, of course.” The older man extended an arm for Falon to lead the way. “Let’s get you settled into your office and we’ll get things started.”

Waiting for Ralph to exit the conference room, Falon caught himself looking for signs of the imp from the meeting. Not that he was interested in what she was doing. No, he wanted to make sure that he steered clear of her. At least for the next ten minutes or so.

Shaking his head at the path his thoughts seemed to have wandered down, Falon walked beside Ralph in the direction of the various offices the building held. Looking through the glass walls that separated each room from the hall, he noticed that they all had a large window overlooking what must be the street and the park beyond that. Not bad digs for a company on the outs. Lucky for Ralph Maxwell, he purchased the building nearly fifty years ago and didn’t have loan payments to contend with. At least that was one point in his favor.

The idea of leasing the extra space while the agency found its footing flitted around his thoughts and he made a mental note to look into the profit margins of leasing office space. Keeping his eyes on the glass walls to his left, Falon nearly tripped over what he would later convince himself was a wrinkle in the rug. Surely the sight of a compact, lithe body topped with cascading red curls hadn’t been the reason his body refused to follow his brain’s instructions to keep moving.

Watching her march around the office gesturing wildly while the woman who was seated next to her earlier looked on in horrified amusement, he couldn’t help but think what a pity it was to have all of those lush curves and slender lines attached to such a mouth. Not that her mouth didn’t appear perfect when closed, he mused as she stopped her rant long enough for her friend to get a few words in. The problem was, it didn’t stay closed for long.

“I apologize for her behavior earlier,” Ralph said. The man had obviously doubled back for him when he realized Falon had been struck dumb by the strange combination of lust and morbid curiosity that was now pumping through his system. Not that the old man knew what he was struggling with. Well, he hoped not.

“I take it this isn’t normal behavior?” He pointed to the obviously outraged woman on the other side of the glass.

“Not at all, Sarah is usually the only level head in the place.” Ralph chuckled. “Most people drawn to this business are nearly as high-maintenance as the clients they represent.”

“And Sarah would be?”

“Accounts director, strictly behind the scenes.” He watched the old man watch Sarah through the glass with a familiar softness to his features that pricked his curiosity. “I will say that she was in rare form today.”

Rare form indeed. Falon watched as she threw her head back and laughed at whatever her friend was saying. That nagging pull on his memory returned with a vengeance stirring up thoughts of warm sheets and entwined limbs.

Whoa. Where had that come from? Clearing his throat and forcing his brain onto the task at hand, he figured he better get down to business before he embarrassed himself in front of a man who obviously had some connection to the firecracker.

“Right. So my office?” He needed to get himself behind a closed door and out of temptation’s way as soon as possible.

“Oh yes, right over here.”

Of all the offices, it would be the one right next door to the current object of his lustful imagination. Only a thin wall separated him from the woman that got his blood pumping in more ways than one. He could only hope the annoyance won out because he wasn’t sure how long he could last if he actually found her personality marginally appealing. Lord knows marginally appealing was what he traditionally aimed for. It was easier to leave them when he could barely stand them.

“Something wrong with the office?” Ralph asked looking around the bare space.

“No. Nothing wrong.”

He hadn’t realized he had been grimacing and schooled his features into his typical mask of bland indifference as he walked further into the room. No use letting the old man know he was hot for this accounts director. Ralph nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Stifling a groan, he slumped in the desk chair and threw an arm over his eyes. He could safely add yet another thing to the list of reasons he shouldn’t have taken this job.

Chapter Two

Sarah stared at her blank computer screen. She couldn’t believe she actually said those things. Out loud. In a room full of people she had to see on a daily basis. It had been four hours and she could still feel her face burn every time she thought how she went off on Falon in front of everyone. It was so unlike her, but the surprise of seeing him walk through the door and straight into her life for the next few months had pushed her over the edge. So really, it was all his fault.

Oh, God. What must he think?

Sarah buried her face in her hands. At least he didn’t seem to recognize her. She didn’t know what she would do if he came storming through her office door demanding an explanation. She didn’t have one. Not for this morning and definitely not for what happened nine years ago. Even though she wasn’t the only one to blame for that night, she still felt guilty. Yet another incident Falon Wolfe had made her act completely out of character.

The sudden staccato knock on her door had her heart attempting an escape through her throat.

“Hey girl, Frank and I were wondering …”

She looked up when Marcy’s voice cut off. “You were wondering?”

“You okay?”

“You and Frank were wondering if I was okay?”

“No. We were wondering if you wanted to get some lunch with us.” Marcy waved a hand at her. “Coming in here finding you like this has me wondering if you’re okay.”

She looked down at herself and felt the millionth blush of the day coming on. She had kicked off her shoes hours ago while ranting Marcy’s ear off after the meeting that morning. In fact, they were still flung on opposite sides of the room. She’d gotten herself so worked up over the startling turn of events this morning she shed her usual conservative button-down. It was now a wrinkled heap on the corner of her desk. She sat before Marcy wearing only a thin camisole, a pencil skirt, and her shame.

Marcy raised a questioning brow. “Lunch then?”

“Uh—yeah.” Sarah bent and slipped on the closest shoe. “Just let me put myself back together.”

“I’d nix the shirt,” Marcy said when she held the offending article of clothing up for closer examination. “The thing has more wrinkles than my great aunt Nancy.”

“You don’t have an Aunt Nancy.” She placed the shirt back on the desk and picked up her purse.

“It’s a euphemism kid, let’s go.”

Marcy held out Sarah’s other shoe to her as they walked through the door. She struggled to put the pump on while keeping up with Marcy’s long-legged stride. Marcy stopped in her tracks causing Sarah to nearly slam into her as she hopped along behind. Finally sliding the stubborn shoe onto her foot, she felt the hairs on her neck stand to attention again. Great. Not bothering to look, she knew Falon was standing in the doorway to the office next to hers and knew his eyes were on her. Lowering her foot to the ground, she peeked over at him and didn’t miss the way he watched her actions. Like she was some strange bug yet to be cataloged by science. Double great.