And how betrayed would his grandfather feel when he heard Jordan had sampled the girl Edward was taking his time to court and claim for himself?

She wiped the rain from her cheeks. "Do you really think anyone would believe something like that?"

"You mean you haven't heard the rumors about my last assistant?"

"Callie told me Renee came on to you, and you fired her. Why do you think I'm upset? I don't want to lose my job, too."

"I didn't fire Renee for making a pass at me. I let her go because she tried to blackmail me into sleeping with her after I told her I wasn't interested." He sucked in a breath, trying to slow his racing heart. "Obviously, you haven't heard what happened at the last company Christmas party."

"No. I really try not to listen to gossip."

"Well, you're a rarity among my employees."

"So what happened?"

"My date developed a case of verbal diarrhea and ran off at the mouth to a group of women in the ladies room."

"What'd she say? I assume it was something about you."

"Nothing negative. In fact, some men might consider her remarks highly complimentary. Let's just say April shared a lot of very personal information about me."

Hannah's mouth dropped open. "You mean about you in bed?"

"Exactly. I think she must've been a little drunk-or I like to think her judgment was impaired, and she didn't maliciously set out to embarrass me. By the end of the week, the entire company knew every freaking detail about my sex life."

"How awful. I hope you stopped seeing her."

"Naturally. But by then, the damage had been done. Someone eventually sent all the board members a copy of the bogus marketing ad being e-mailed around the company. It included a smutty caricature of me as Calder's new Love Machine. It was quite elaborate and the artist captured my face perfectly."

Hannah stared down at the ground. "And you thought I might be trying to make you look bad to the board with my typos?"

"Maybe now you can understand why I'm a little gun-shy."

No one had any concept of what it had done to Jordan's self-worth and trust to be used by women his whole life-if not for his bank balance, than in satisfying them in bed.

"I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt you like that."

"I deal with a lot of disgruntled employees, Hannah. Anyway, after it got around that I'd received a five-star endorsement on my prowess, half the women in the company wanted to audition as my new bed partner-including my last assistant."

He told Hannah about the fiasco with Renee, omitting the part where he'd found her stretched au naturel out on his desk.

The difference between that evening and tonight was he wanted Hannah. Whereas, gorgeous Renee and her perfect fashion model figure hadn't stirred him whatsoever. Not even stark naked.

"Now, to save face, she's telling people I gave her the axe because she refused to sleep with me."

"And you're the one who turned her down."

"That's about the size of it." He lifted his hands and let them drop to his sides. "I'm sorry. As CEO, my behavior needs to be above reproach. Becoming chairman is the least of my worries. If I want to keep the job I have, I can't let anything like this happen again. I think we should both forget about this evening."

"Right." She nodded. "That's exactly what we should do."

Even to his own ears the suggestion sounded ludicrous. He'd need the willpower of a saint to keep his hands to himself now that he knew how responsive she would be if he dared explore the curves she hid beneath her old-maid clothes again.

And how the hell would he be able to stand it if his grandfather ever succeeded in his efforts to romance her and took her into his bed?

The memory of how Hannah felt in Jordan's arms and the sounds of pleasure she made when he touched her were going to haunt him the rest of his life. Putting this night out of his mind would be like trying to forget how good chocolate tasted.

Chapter 7.

em*bar*rass tr.v. 1. To cause one to feel self-conscious or ill at ease; disconcert.

Just when you think you can't embarrass yourself any more-you do.

"I don't know what happened to me. How could I act that differently?" Hannah flopped back on the sofa in Diana Harper's office the next morning and threw her forearm over her eyes.

"The subconscious has a powerful influence over us, Hannah. It's why subliminal suggestion is so effective in advertising and why it had to be outlawed."

"So what're you saying? I've been brainwashed to be a brazen hussy?"

"Sort of." Diana shrugged, settling deeper into the armchair next to her. "Subconscious programs are sort of a deep-seated training that controls people's actions and makes them behave instinctively," she explained. "Your hypnotherapy is reprogramming your subconscious to make you respond in the new ways you've consciously chosen."

"You're saying I consciously chose to jump my boss?"

"In a way. Think back to when you were learning to type. At first, you had to concentrate on which finger to use to press each letter. After a lot of practice, it became second nature, and you just had to see or think of a word for your fingers to form the patterns to type it. You've been retraining yourself for weeks now that it's okay to take the initiative with men."

"Great. So now I'll automatically come on to any guy who strikes my fancy? I gawked at Jordan in his gym yesterday like a rock 'n roll groupie sighting Bon Jovi."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Diana tilted her head. "To be able to let men know you're attracted to them?"

"Yes." Hannah huffed. "But not my boss."

"Then I guess you should have chosen someone more appropriate to get the hots for." Diana chuckled.

"This isn't funny."

"I don't think it's as disastrous as you're making it. He wasn't offended, was he?"

Hannah recalled Jordan's response, and a flurry of butterflies did dips and nosedives in her stomach. "Hardly," she muttered, cringing at her unintentional pun.

"So he seemed receptive?"

"That's putting it mildly." In truth it had taken less than fifteen seconds for Jordan to become the aggressor. He'd even forgotten to give her panties back and had left with them still in his pants pocket. "But that's beside the point. I initiated it. I kissed the guy I work for."

"Do you think you would've done that if he'd seemed repulsed or hadn't welcomed your attention?"

"No. Except I didn't just give him a thank-you-for-bringing-me-to-my-car smooch. It was a full-fledged, smack on the mouth, take-me-right-here, I'm-all-yours kiss. Laying a sloppy, wet one on your boss is a great way to get fired. It's how the woman who worked for him before me got canned."

"But you say he wasn't upset by it."

"No, I was lucky. He was very understanding. Which I can't believe after I behaved like-like....a cat in heat." Her cheeks burned from recalling the abandoned way she'd responded to his touch. He'd gotten her so turned on, if that sleazy guard hadn't come along, she would've let Jordan take her right there on the hood of his two hundred and some odd thousand-dollar car. In the rain, no less.

"So you're saying you were really excited?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Excited is not the word I'd use to describe how I felt. I wanted Jordan so badly I didn't care if he grabbed my flab or noticed my bubble-butt. I was about to let him strip me naked in a parking lot and do the nasty with him. It was as if I had no control over myself."

Heck, if Chuck had shown up a minute later, she probably wouldn't have cared if he watched.

"All this from the girl who couldn't relax enough to enjoy sex." Diana reached over and squeezed her hand. "It sounds like a success story to me, Hannah. That's the way it's supposed to be when it's right between a man and a woman."

"Well, it scared the b'jeebers out of me."

Diana stared at her a moment, wearing a pensive expression. "I think you could benefit from some counseling along with the hypnosis. You have deeper issues about your sexuality than just being nervous with men."

Big surprise. "If you think it would help me."

"I do. I also want you to give some serious thought to whether you really want to change. Because it's very important for you to make a conscious choice as to who you want to be. You've been a caterpillar around men your whole life, repressing your sensuality. You have to really want to crawl out of your cocoon and like and respect yourself if you expect to ever spread your beautiful wings and fly."

Hannah mentally replayed the way Jordan had made her feel the previous night. Her out-of-control desire might have spooked her, but it had been a wonderful, light-headed, sky-diving kind of fear-full of anticipation and exhilaration. She swallowed hard and nodded. "Make me another appointment. I want to be a butterfly, damn it."

Maybe he could slip into his office without Hannah noticing and have a cup of her incredible coffee before he had to face her. Jordan rolled his eyes. Right. His chance at that was as good as a hooker going unnoticed in a convent.

He opened the outer door to the executive suite, silently crept in, and released a relieved breath, seeing the vacant chair behind her desk.

The door to his office sat open, so she must be here somewhere. Probably in the boardroom. He'd worry about her exact whereabouts later. Like about three o'clock that afternoon.

He dashed into his office and quietly closed his door. As he set his brief case down next to his desk, he caught his reflection in the tinted window. The sockets of his eyes looked as dark as if he'd gone ten rounds with George Forman-before the boxer started grilling steaks.

Not surprising after the sweaty night he'd spent. The anticipation of seeing Hannah again that morning had inspired dreams like he hadn't had since puberty. Of course, breathing the musky scent from her panties hadn't helped. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten he'd stuffed them in his pocket. How did a man discreetly return a woman's underwear?

Ever since she began working for him, the weekends seemed to drag on for an eternity. He actually looked forward to coming to the office and seeing her smile. He loved that she made every day exciting and kept his office running smoothly, however, at the same time, he despised how dependent he'd become on her.

His obsession with Hannah had gotten so severe, every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face and heard her laughter in his sleep. It was as if he'd been hypnotized instead of her.

Damn it. He pounded his desk. He would not let himself feel this way about her.

He wandered over to the bar, and as he filled a mug with steaming hot coffee, Hannah popped up from behind the counter like a stripper jumping out of a cake. He flinched, pouring the scalding liquid over his wrist. "Sonovabitch!" He shook his hand dry. "You scared the hell out of me. What were you doing down there?"

Her face turned an attractive shade of pink. She grabbed a napkin and mopped up the puddle of coffee without looking at him. "Uhh, would you believe, looking for an earring?"

A smiled tugged at his mouth. It was the same story he'd told her after the vice chairman had seen Bridget's face in Jordan's lap. At least Hannah hadn't said she was searching for the panties he'd stolen from her.

"You're not wearing earrings today," Jordan pointed out.

"Uhh, yeah-well, I might if I found a pair down there."

He blinked several times. Damn, she looked pretty. There was something different about her that morning. "That doesn't even make sense, Hannah."

"Okay-so I was hiding. I came in to get a cup of coffee and heard the door open. I was hoping you'd go into the bathroom or something so I could sneak out."

He sputtered and broke into a full belly laugh. She was as uncomfortable as he was.

She planted her fists on her hips. "I'm glad you find my embarrassment so entertaining."

His gaze dropped from her heaving cleavage to the trim waist just above her hands. That was what was different. She'd tucked her pale yellow blouse in that morning and left the top two buttons unfastened.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you. Honest." He jerked his head toward the door. "I closed it because I wanted to put off seeing you for a little longer, too." His attention kept drifting to her ample breasts, which reminded him how they'd filled his hands. "It would seem we're both having trouble pretending Friday night never happened."

The luscious little tongue that had dueled with his so enthusiastically peeked between her lips to moisten them. "I guess so."

He picked up his coffee mug and strode to his desk. "I suggest we get to work and just follow our usual routine."

"Okay, I'll get my pad." The sway of her hips brought to mind the gentle rocking of his sailboat.

Why would she suddenly start tucking in her blouses? "Maybe to torture me."

"Who's torturing you?" she asked, returning with her pad and pen.

"No one. I'm just mumbling to myself."

As she settled in a chair in front of his desk, the border of tiny yellow flowers circling the hem of her long, sky-blue skirt pooled around her ankles, drawing his attention to those hooker-sandals and bright pink polish she kept wearing. Man, she had the sexiest toes. Leave it to him to get turned on by a woman's feet.

He flopped into his leather desk chair. "First off, make arrangements for Calder's jet to take me to D.C. at eight next Tuesday morning. The Food and Drug Administration is holding a conference on safeguards against bioterrorism that I want to attend."

"Will you be returning the same day, or do you need a hotel reservation, too?"

"I'm playing golf with several VPs from Merck and Pfizer the following day, so we'll be coming back Wednesday evening. I want you to go along, so book two rooms at the Baldwin. Better yet, make it a two-bedroom suite so we'll have someplace to work."

Her eyes widened at his mention of the ultra luxury chain. "But when you met with the FDA last month, you told me the one of the hotels in Rockville was the most convenient hotel since it's within walking distance."

True. Except last month, he hadn't taken her with him. Normally, he considered one king-size bed as comfortable as the next, and with as little time as he spent in his hotel suite, he usually didn't care if he had all the glitz and extras. "A five-star hotel is a perk of being CEO. I've decided to indulge myself this trip," he explained, biting back a smile.

He couldn't deny his whole motivation for choosing the Baldwin was merely to give her a well-deserved vacation after all the additional hours she'd put in preparing for the board meeting.

That was his story, and he was sticking to it. He didn't dare admit, even to himself, that he might simply want time alone with her that wouldn't jeopardize their working relationship. In the end, he would probably spend the entire two days trumping up pointless tasks for her, so she wouldn't catch on to the unspeakable truth.

"On second thought-just get me the Baldwin reservation desk on the phone. I want to make the reservation myself."

"Is that it?"

"For now. Tomorrow, I'll need you to start compiling some facts and figures for the pediatric symposium. Even though the board secretary will be taking the official minutes at the meeting today, I'd like you to sit in and take notes for me while I keep the ball rolling. I'd also appreciate it if you'd work through lunch and play hostess to the directors in the dining room."