She heard the elevator door close.
A moment passed.
“Danielle, look at me,” he said softly.
“No.” She didn’t want him to see her like this. Not when she felt like a weepy female.
His hand touched her shoulder and he gently turned her around. At the oddly concerned gleam in his eyes, she moaned and did the exact opposite of what she’d told herself not to do. She burst into tears.
After a moment or two a snarling sound came from deep in his throat and he pulled her into his arms. “Shh. Don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it,” she mumbled into his shirt, hating him, wanting him. Oh, she didn’t know what she felt for him.
He gave her his handkerchief and she cried even harder, until she thought she was never going to stop. Until the tears began to dry up and she could sniff for a few more moments. And then she began to notice how wonderful Flynn smelled, the tantalizing warmth of his male body mixing with the clean scent of his shirt.
“Danielle?”
She heard the deep rumble of her name, felt the rapid beat of his heart against her cheek and couldn’t seem to pull away. She felt lethargic all of a sudden. Wonderfully lethargic. Heat was engulfing her. Male heat. And it was coming from Flynn. She had the sudden urge to take long, intimate breaths.
“Danielle?”
This time she did move back. And looked up into dark eyes that made her heart skip a beat. Up close like this, the look was much more than powerful. It was potent. And possessive. She dared not breath. Otherwise he would kiss her. Would lay his lips upon hers and ravish her mouth, and she didn’t think she would be able to resist him.
He bent his head….
The elevator jolted to a stop, making her jump back, horrified by what she’d been about to let him do to her.
He reached out to steady her as she bumped against the wall. “Careful,” he said roughly, his touch making her skin quiver, as if the thin material of her top beneath his hands didn’t exist.
She took a shaky breath. It was time to put some distance between them. “I think I need eyes in the back of my head,” she said, trying to sound glib but the huskiness in her voice gave her away.
“It would help,” he muttered, a vein throbbing at his temple, telling her he was as affected as she was. “Maybe then I wouldn’t want you.”
She gave a soft gasp. “I—”
“Don’t say a word, Danielle. Not a word or I’ll carry you back up to my office and make love to you right now.”
She’d known there was a sexual spark between them from the start, but hearing him say out loud that he still wanted her was shocking. “But…I’m pregnant.”
“I know,” he said, his mouth grim.
For a moment she stood there, stunned as the doors behind him slid open to an empty lobby. Flynn Donovan still wanted her. And dear God, she wanted him, too. But pregnant widows weren’t supposed to want a man. It just wasn’t done.
Yet how could she want a man who thought the worst of her? A man who had accused her of stealing his money? Of lying and cheating?
A moment crept by, then with a hint of regret in his eyes, he took her arm, gently pulled her past him and pushed her out into the lobby, but not before she felt his hard body brush against her own.
“The car’s yours,” he said roughly, not moving from the elevator. His eyes held hers for another instant, tiny flames firing in them, then anger flared and he reached out and shoved the car keys in her hand. “Take them.” He turned and stabbed the elevator button.
The door closed shut between them and she took a steadying breath. Flynn Donovan stirred a need within her that was more than physical. Something deeper. More intimate. Oh, God. Hadn’t she had enough heartache where men were concerned?
It was all his PA’s fault that he had to return Danielle’s purse after work, Flynn decided. If it were left to him, he would have sent it back by courier. As it was, if he didn’t do it, she would. She’d said so when he’d returned from seeing Danielle off at the elevator and Connie had stood there with the purse in hand and a worried look in her eyes. He hadn’t been about to let that happen. If Danielle got her clutches into Connie, then she would have won.
Of course, his PA was more than happy for him to return the purse. Delighted in fact. He was still in her good books after yesterday when he’d walked into the office and ordered her to go buy a new car.
“For you?” Connie had said with a frown.
“For Danielle Ford,” he’d snapped.
Her eyes had widened. “What about the loan?”
“She refused to tear it up.”
Connie had nodded, as if agreeing. “She has integrity, that one.”
He’d shaken his head, still amazed his usually perceptive assistant couldn’t see the truth. “She’s just trying to pull the wool over your eyes.”
“I don’t know why.”
He did, but he’d refused to mention his theory that Danielle was after a rich man to marry her. How else could she keep herself and her baby in the manner to which she was accustomed?
“No matter. Right now a car is her immediate concern. That’s if it meets with your approval,” he’d derided.
Her eyes had softened with understanding. “That isn’t why you did it, but thank you, Flynn.”
“Connie, don’t turn me into a saint.”
“Heaven forbid,” she’d joked. Then her forehead had creased. “Hmm. Perhaps I should go and see—”
“No,” he’d growled.
“But someone should keep an eye on her.”
“Don’t get involved, Connie.”
“But—”
“Say one more thing about Danielle Ford and I’ll fire you myself.” And he’d meant it.
She’d given him a look that said it wasn’t over, but she’d done what he’d ordered and bought a car.
So now he would return the purse, then go home and dress for his date and he’d make damn sure he enjoyed himself tonight, he decided, as he strode down the hallway toward Danielle’s penthouse door. He had a date with an ex-lover and he fully intended to make the most of his night and the last thing he needed was a glimpse of Danielle Ford to remind him what he couldn’t have with her.
His eyes narrowed when he saw her door standing open. Bloody hell, was she expecting him? Had she deliberately left the purse on his desk? Of course she must have.
Anger filled him as he strode forward, the sound of the television meeting his ears as he got closer to the open doorway. “Danielle?” he called out in a sharp tone.
No answer.
He stepped into the living room and called louder, “Danielle?”
Still no answer.
He looked around the room and over to the kitchen. Why didn’t she answer?
A muffled sound came from the other direction and a frisson of fear rolled down his spine. Despite it, he strode forward, a knot growing in his gut with each step he took. If she’d hurt herself…
He pushed the door open. And there she was, wrapping her hair up in a towel, having just stepped out of the shower. She looked up at the doorway and screamed.
Then she let out a shaky breath. “Oh, Flynn. It’s only you.”
Only him.
His eyes dropped from her face to her br**sts, over her still-flat stomach to the blond triangle of hair at the junction of her thighs. His body hardened in the hot, steamy room. This woman would turn up any man’s blood pressure. She was a seductress. A sexy witch. And he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman before.
“Flynn?”
The soft sound of his name on her lips made him want to take her in his arms. To press her br**sts against his chest. To ease the ache between her thighs, their thighs, with the sweetest possession of all.
His gaze roved back up to her face, and her eyes told him what he already knew. Danielle Ford wanted him as much as he wanted her.
“You’re beautiful,” he rasped and saw her eyes deepen to a smoky blue.
“I’m—” Apprehension flicked across her face. Suddenly she made a grab for the short robe resting on the towel rack. “Pregnant,” she said unsteadily, sliding her arms into the material and pulling it close. “I think you’ve forgotten that.”
“You’re still sexy, Danielle. Incredibly so.”
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Come in here and seduce me.”
He noted the way the soft, sky-blue material of her robe clung to her damp br**sts. “That’s funny. I thought you were the one doing the seducing.”
Color flooded her face. “How? By stepping out of my own shower?”
He straightened. “Your door was open,” he reminded her, then held up the purse. “And you left this in my office today.”
Recognition flickered in her eyes. “Oh. Yes, I know. I was going to come by and get it tomorrow.”
He sent her a mocking look.
Her eyes widened. “You think I left it there deliberately?”
“You mean you didn’t?”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, her forehead crinkling. “Wait a minute. What do you mean my door was open? It was closed. I’m sure it was. I always close it.”
“Perhaps the lock’s faulty?” he said, sneering, knowing she’d set him up well and truly.
She stiffened. “Perhaps it is. The Realtor said they’d changed the locks.” She jerkily pulled the towel from her head and combed her fingers through her hair, then stopped to look at him. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.”
He wasn’t used to being dismissed, certainly not by the woman he wanted. “Found another willing male to help you out?” he said cynically.
She bristled with indignation. “I resent that remark. I’ve never once asked for your help. You forced the car on me. I didn’t want to take it, remember?”
“You needed help for your baby.”
“We would have survived without it.”
“No doubt.” This woman was a survivor of the worst kind. She survived on other people’s money.
“You don’t seem to understand that my independence is important to me,” she said, the proud tilt of her head at odds with what he knew about her.
“Don’t I?”
She drew herself up as she tightened her robe. “In the future I’ll thank you to stay away from me. I accepted the car but that doesn’t give you the right to walk into my apartment anytime you like.”
His mouth pressed into a grim line. “That isn’t why I’m here,” he pointed out.
“Sure it isn’t,” she mocked, trying to turn the tables on him, looking so darn beautiful that she grabbed his breath away. If he didn’t get out of here soon he was going to march up to her, pull her into his arms and kiss her until she surrendered to him completely.
Drawing a sharp breath, he twisted on his heels and headed toward the front door. The woman was a danger to herself and to every man she smiled at. Even the ones she didn’t smile at would succumb to her beauty. All men were suckers for a beautiful lady with charisma.