A Match for Celia

He pulled her effortlessly back into his arms. And then he kissed her until she went limp against him, until she wouldn’t have been surprised if smoke had come out of her ears.

“Don’t even suggest,” he said in a low growl, “that I don’t want you. I want you so much it’s eating me alive. I’ve wanted you from the first minute I saw you, damn it. So much that I almost…almost lost my head,” he finished, sounding as though he’d started to say something else and had changed his mind at the last minute.

“Would it really be so bad to lose your head just once?” she asked wistfully, her cheek against his pounding heart. “Do you always have to be the careful, logical accountant, Reed?”

He inhaled, his chest swelling against her. His hand tightened at the back of her head. When he spoke, his voice wasn’t quite steady. “This isn’t the right time, Celia. I’m sorry, but you have to trust me on this one.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else she could say. She drew slowly away from him, her arms crossed in front of her. “Then I guess I’ll say good-night.”

He reached for his shirt. “I’ll walk you back.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Damn it, Celia, I said I’d walk you back!” It was as close as he’d come to really losing his temper in front of her.

Celia nodded stiffly, determined not to show him that his anger intimidated her a bit. Hurt pride and dull disappointment warred within her. She fought to hide both when she spoke. “If you insist.”

He swiftly donned his shirt and shoes. Celia noted that he left his glasses lying on the nightstand, but she didn’t say anything about them. She assumed he could see well enough without them to walk her to her room.

“Let’s go,” he said without looking at her.

She nodded and followed him to the door.

They crossed the compound in silence. A few others moved around them, but Celia made no effort to recognize anyone. No one else mattered to her just then. No one except the distant, complex man at her side.

Reed checked the corridor that led to her suite, seeming relieved that it was empty. He walked her to the door and waited until she’d unlocked it before he spoke again. “I want you to go home, Celia. If you’ll agree, I’ll make the arrangements for you so that you can leave first thing in the morning. I have a few business matters to clear away, but then I’ll be in touch with you. I promise.”

She could have screamed. “Why do you keep trying to send me home?” she demanded, barely remembering to keep her voice low.

“Do you really blame me?” he demanded, swinging a hand toward Damien’s door. “You’re here with him.”

“Oh,” she said, biting her lip.

She should have realized that Reed would be bothered by those circumstances, being the kind of man he was. Was that the main reason he hadn’t made love to her tonight? Because she was here as the guest of another man? It made sense—or was her battered ego only grasping for straws?

“I suppose I’ve been taking advantage of Damien’s hospitality,” she admitted. “But how could I have known I would meet you here? It’s not as though I came here expecting to meet anyone else.”

Reed touched her cheek. “I know. I wasn’t prepared for you, either.”

She covered his hand with her own, searching his unreadable expression. “I’m going to tell him tomorrow. And, if it makes you feel any better, I’m going to offer to reimburse him for my stay here. He probably won’t let me, but I feel as though I should offer, anyway.”

Of course, she’d probably have to get a loan from the bank where she worked to cover the expenses, but she supposed it would be worth it.

Reed was frowning again. “You don’t have to see him again. You could leave him a letter.”

“I’ll do no such thing! I could never do anything so rude and ungrateful.”

He made a face. “No, I suppose you couldn’t, at that. But, Celia, about Alexander—”

A door opened abruptly down the hallway. Jim Bennett, Damien’s beefy security man, suddenly appeared. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Jim,” Celia assured him hastily. “Everything’s fine. Don’t wake Damien.”

“Mr. Alexander is still in his office,” Bennett replied, looking suspiciously at Reed. “You want me to give him a message?”

“No, thank you. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Bennett nodded curtly, shot Reed one last glare, then disappeared again.