Jackson reached out and touched her cheek. “That almost seemed sincere, Gracie.”
She jerked backward, out of his reach, and growled, “Screw it, I’m not sorry.”
Jackson’s grin disappeared. “Come into my office. I need to talk to you.”
“Jackson, this isn’t—”
He cut her off with a hand in the air. “I need a little privacy. Please?”
Grace didn’t really have a choice at that point and she damn well knew it. Jackson was simply too adorable when he murmured please in that sexy baritone of his. She stood, but before she could follow him into his office, she asked, “Were you ever in the military?”
His head cocked to the side. “Yeah, the Marines. I did a four-year enlistment right out of high school. Why?”
She sighed. “Just curious.”
“Uh, okay.” He turned and started toward his office, Grace watched the way his ass moved beneath his black dress slacks. God, the man was delicious. A squeeze. Just one squeeze and she could live the rest of her life with a grin on her face.
As he closed the door to his office, panic welled up. Most men didn’t send her blood rushing through her veins, and she never felt panicky around them. With Jackson she was the helpless field mouse cornered by the hungry tom cat. Not a happy image.
Jackson moved around his desk and sat, indicating she should sit in one of the chairs across from him. She sat and braced herself, unsure what this new mood of his was all about. He seemed pensive, and she wasn’t used to that. Jackson was usually flirtatious or ribbing her until she wanted to pull out her hair, or his. Those were moods she could handle. This serious side had her fidgeting in her seat.
“I want to know why you went to Merrick. Is it so horrible working for me?”
Grace clutched the arm of the chair. He was asking for the truth. Since the moment she’d started at Merrick’s company, Jackson had never actually pushed her into dealing with their mutual attraction. He seemed content to let them dance around each other. Dodging him and suppressing her insane attraction to him had just become a thing of the past, though.
“It’s not so bad. You pissed me off and I reacted. I’m sorry.”
He glanced down at his desk and frowned, then moved a few files around. As he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, he said, “Yeah, that’s the part I’m fuzzy on, Gracie. What set you off? One minute I was talking to you like any other co-worker, just shooting the breeze, the next thing I know you’re growling and stomping off. What did I say?”
She would have to admit it now, or try to lie. She sucked at lying to Jackson. He always saw right through her, somehow. Another infuriating thing about the man. “You were talking about your night with Ginger,” she blurted.
“Ginger? What does she have to do with anything?”
She rolled her eyes and stood. “You know, for an educated man, you can be so dense.” Grace started for the door, but she never managed more than a few feet before a pair of large, strong hands pulled her to a stop. She swung around and glared. “Let me go.”
“You were jealous,” he stated, as if she hadn’t already figured out that part on her own.
“Hallelujah! Give the man a cigar.”
“How do you think I felt when you threw Antonio in my face? And don’t say you didn’t mention him just to piss me off, because we both know the truth.”
She’d gone out with Antonio, a cute guy from accounting, on the off chance she’d be able to forget about Jackson. It hadn’t worked. She’d spent the entire evening comparing the two men, and she’d found Antonio lacking big time.
“I wasn’t talking about Antonio like he was an all-you-can-eat buffet, though.”
She watched a muscle in Jackson’s jaw twitch angrily. It made her want to lean in and lick him. “Don’t piss me off by lying. I respect the women I date. I don’t expound on their attributes with friend
s and co-workers, and you know it. I mentioned going to dinner with her, that’s all. You damn near shot out of my office like a cat that’d just gotten her tail stepped on.”
His imagery stung her pride. “That’s not true.”
He leaned close and murmured, “Stop lying, sweetheart. You were jealous, same as I was when you mentioned Antonio.”
She tugged her arm and got exactly nowhere. “Fine, I was jealous,” she admitted. “Can I go now?”
“No. We need to fix this. We can’t continue working together if you’re going to run to Merrick every time you feel cornered.”
She made a point of wiggling her arm. “Then stop cornering me.”