Jessica glanced up as soon as she felt his presence. Not Dane. Storm. Or rather, Rafe. Damn, she’d never get used to thinking of him as Rafe Ranier.
She remembered her brother telling her that Storm had gotten that name because when he played guitar, he took the audience by storm. The moniker suited him so well, she couldn’t imagine him by any other name.
As she stared at him standing in her doorway, dressed in an expensive suit, looking way more like Dane than she ever would have imagined, her heart stammered.
He was Storm, with his gentle eyes and the slight curl to his lips as he watched her, yet he was a stranger.
“What is it?” she finally asked, since he seemed determined to just stand there.
“I’d like to talk to you.”
She pushed her keyboard tray under the desk and sat back in her chair. “Okay, go ahead.”
He crossed his arms. “Not here. My office would be more private.”
She frowned. “What if I don’t want to be somewhere private with you?”
He compressed his lips. “You do realize I’m your boss, right?”
She frowned. “Actually, Dane’s my boss.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Dane? You call him by his first name?”
Damn, she hadn’t meant to do that.
“No, I call him Mr. Ranier, but his first name is Dane and that’s the only way to differentiate the two of you.”
He gazed at her speculatively, then continued. “Dane and I both own the company, so I qualify as your boss, too, even if you don’t report directly to me.”
She stared at him defiantly.
“Miss Long, I want you in my office now.”
His words sent a quiver through her … of anxiety, but also of excitement. He was more like Dane than she’d thought, especially when he pulled that commanding boss thing on her.
She pushed herself to her feet, then followed him to his office. When he closed the door behind them, she felt another shiver. Other than their short interaction in Dane’s office yesterday, she hadn’t been alone with him since the time he’d walked out on her. But she’d dreamed of him. Longed to be with him.
But he’d broken her heart and she didn’t want that kind of pain again. Not only that, he’d lied about who he was.
He stepped behind her and as soon as she felt his hand on her shoulder, she shot forward a step, her heart racing. She reached for the stone in her pocket and stroked it.
He walked toward his desk, then turned to face her.
“Jess, we have a lot to talk about. I know you probably don’t want to do it here in the office, so I want you to come to my place for dinner this evening. We can discuss what happened and I’ll answer all your questions.”
“I can’t. You had your opportunity and you broke my heart. You can’t just waltz back here and expect to pick up where we left off.”
“Jess, come on. Give me a chance.” He reached for her and stroked her hair behind her ear. The gentle touch sent tingles through her, and a dangerous desire to lean into his hand. To nuzzle his palm, then press her lips to his skin. “I made the biggest mistake of my life. Now let me spend the rest of it making up for it. I’m ready to be the man you deserve.”
As if sensing her capitulation, he stepped closer and leaned toward her. He was going to kiss her. And she wanted him to. To feel his lips against hers again. His solid body pressed tight to hers.
The door opened.
“Jessica, we have to go. We have a plane to catch.”
She jerked back from Storm, her gaze darting to Dane’s. “Yes, Mr. Ranier.”
She felt guilty having been caught almost kissing Storm. Even though Dane knew about their past, and her relationship with Dane was only physical. Still, she was with him, no matter how casual the relationship and she felt as if she’d almost cheated on him.
Storm’s highly observant gaze locked on her and her heated cheeks. Then he glanced at Dane. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“Right now what’s going on is that I need my assistant to accompany me to the airport. I’m going to Chicago to close a deal—something you’d know if you’d been here where you should be.”
“Is she accompanying you just to the airport, or to Chicago?”
“To Chicago, of course.”
“And do you have separate rooms?” Storm’s eyes flared with anger.
“That’s none of your damn business,” Dane retorted.
“Yes, they’re separate rooms,” Jessica snapped, then turned and left the office.
* * *
Jessica sat beside Dane on his private jet as it sped along the runway, then lifted off. The off-white leather seats were very comfortable and she settled back as they accelerated into the air.
“So, do you want to talk about you and Rafe?” Dane asked.
She pursed her lips and shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. It was a shock to find out he wasn’t who I thought he was, and the fact he’s your brother is…”—she glanced at him—“really awkward.”
“That’s an understatement.” He glanced out the window and asked casually, “Do you think you want to take up where you left off with him?”
“Where we left off was him walking out on me.”
“But he’s back now. When I met you, it was clear you were still in love with him.”
She shook her head. “I was in love with Storm. I don’t know who Rafe is. And Storm broke my heart.”
Dane nodded, his expression giving away nothing.
Once the plane was in level flight, the steward brought them lunch and offered them a selection of drinks. When they arrived in Chicago, they would go straight to their first client meeting. Dane had told her it would probably take a couple of days to hammer out all the details of the contract before they could close the deal.
It wasn’t a very long flight, so she ate quickly, but ever aware of Dane’s powerful presence beside her. The steward cleared away their dishes and poured them coffee. Dane filled the time between them with conversation about their upcoming meeting.
Once the steward disappeared, she glanced at Dane’s profile as he stared at his tablet, going over some of her notes for the meeting. If Storm hadn’t walked back into her life, she and Dane would probably not just be sitting here. They were high above the air in a luxurious private jet. It would be exhilarating to take advantage of this exciting situation.
She gazed at his handsome profile and imagined unfastening her seat belt and lowering to the floor, then stroking his crotch. She could imagine him quickly rising to attention. Would he then decide to punish her, or order her to unzip him then bring him to climax?
He glanced toward her, catching her staring at him.
She smiled. “Is there anything you’d like me to do for you, Mr. Ranier?”
“No. Just relax until we get there,” he said with a deadpan expression. “It will be a busy afternoon.”
Was he just focused on the important meetings to come, or did he have an issue with the fact she used to be his brother’s lover?”
She needed to talk to him about it but before she could find the words to start, the pilot announced that they were approaching Chicago and they should fasten their seatbelts.
She would have to bring it up later.
The afternoon rushed by in a flurry of meetings, followed by dinner with the key players at Bright Lights, a company that that did research into green technologies.
By the time the day ended, and she and Dane walked down the hotel hallway to their rooms, she was dragging her heels.
“Get a good night’s sleep,” Dane said as they reached her doorway, then he continued on to his suite next door.
“But—”
“Goodnight,” he said as he opened his door, then disappeared inside.
She sighed and stepped inside. Their luggage had already been delivered to their rooms and her bed was turned down and was oh, so inviting.
Even more inviting was the thought of sliding into Dane’s bed, naked and ready for him.
But she knew deep inside that what she was really looking for was a distraction from thoughts of Storm and what his return meant to her. How would it change things?
Was she still in love with him?
* * *
Rafe tried to get work done, but he found himself just staring at the document on his screen, one of the many Melanie had gathered together for him to summarize what had been going on at Ranier Industries in his absence.
Thoughts of Jessica kept pushing through every effort he made to concentrate on work. She’d been gone a day and wouldn’t be back in the office until Monday. Not that he’d wait until he saw her in the office. He would fly to Chicago right now if he didn’t think that course of action would cause more problems than it solved.
Damn it, he just didn’t know if he’d been imagining something between Jessica and his brother. When she’d used Dane’s first name rather than calling him Mr. Ranier, as Dane would expect of any of his employees, it threw him. She’d claimed to use his first name to differentiate between him and Dane, but he had his doubts. Then her cheeks had flushed when Dane came into the office, as if she’d been caught cheating on him.
He pushed his chair back from the desk and stood up, then paced across the office. He was probably reading way too much into the incidents. Old fears rising. There was not substantial evidence that Dane was stealing Jessica from him. His lips compressed. Maybe it was time to let go of the past and move on.
* * *