"You know, I've always wondered how this whole ladies-first custom got started." She stabbed the button for the lobby. "I'm thinking those gallant knights of long ago must've been pretty shrewd dudes."

"Why's that?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well, if there were a rotten plank in the drawbridge, who would've ended up in the moat?"

"Ahhh, I think I see your point. If the elevator hadn't been here when the doors opened, you would've gotten the shaft."

Ohhh-but if it was his shaft....She mentally cringed. She had to get her mind out of the gutter.

"Maybe the tradition came from the concept of getting women and children off a sinking ship first," he suggested.

"Hmmm, let me see." Hannah turned her palms up and hefted two imaginary objects as if weighing them. "Stay on a hundred foot vessel that might not sink if it were carrying less cargo-or climb into a tiny rowboat and bounce around on twenty-foot waves." She pursed her lips. "I don't know. It makes me wonder if those women and children might have been considered excess ballast."

Grinning, Jordan cut her off and stepped from the elevator before her. "There, does that make you happy?"

She laughed, scurried across the lobby's marble floor, and through the exit ahead of him.

"You know," he said, running to catch up with her outside, "ever since you became an official Calder employee, you've developed quite a wicked sense of humor."

It had nothing to do with her probation period ending. She couldn't believe how relaxed she'd grown with him in the last two weeks. She'd met with Diana three times and had been listening to her hypnosis CD twice a day. Each time, Hannah felt more and more confident and self-assured-and more aware than ever of how deficient her love life was.

Over and over the recording droned on until it had become a mantra. 'You're attractive and intelligent. You deserve to turn your dreams into reality. Decide what you want and take the initiative.'

She shivered as an unusually cool breeze raised goose bumps on her bare arms. "It's gotten pretty chilly."

He shrugged out of his hand-tailored jacket and hung it around her shoulders. "I'll drive you to your car."

While she snuggled into the warm silky lining of his suit and reveled in his scent, he pointed his keyless entry remote toward the sleek silver Lamborghini parked in the space reserved for the CEO. "The gull-wing doors can be a little tricky if you're not used to them," he told her, opening the hatch-like door for her.

She settled into the leather bucket seat and her mouth gaped at the luxury sports car's comfort. "Wow, this is amazing."

"A gift from Edward three years ago for my thirty-fifth birthday," Jordan told her, sliding behind the steering wheel.

"If he really wants great-grandchildren, it wasn't very smart to give you a car with no back seat."

Jordan's double take and salacious grin said he'd read some sexual innuendo into her comment.

"For a baby's car seat," she clarified.

"Ooops." He winced and stuck the key in the ignition. The powerful engine roared to life. "I have the limo in either case. I think he liked the fact the Lamborghini goes from zero to sixty in under 3.7 seconds."

"Ahhh." She smiled. "Even white-haired boys must have their toys."

"Absolutely. Any big plans for the holiday?" he asked as a flash of lightening lit up the horizon.

"No. I'll probably just take my grandma shopping. I know it's odd in this day and age, but she doesn't drive."

Hannah also had another appointment with Diana in the morning.

"My grandmother had a license, but she never drove, either. She had Robert to cart her around."

"I don't think my grandpa wanted Gram to be too independent. In her younger days, she was as beautiful as Candace. I think he was always afraid some man would steal Gram."

"Candace?"

While Jordan steered the sports car into the adjacent lot where her eleven-year-old Ford Escort sat alone, she told him about her infamous mother.

His jaw hung slack for a second. "Your mom is Candy Oliver?"

"I know, I know. I'm nothing like her."

"That's not why I'm surprised." He gestured toward her rust-speckled car. "I just thought, having a supermodel mother, you'd be doing a little better financially."

She silently thanked him for referring to her mother as a supermodel rather than a centerfold. "Right. She goes through money as fast as other people go through toilet paper. I think when she dropped out of high school to have me she must've missed the class on sharing with others."

"Then I'm glad I gave you that big raise."

"And I appreciate it. I was getting pretty low on two-ply. I'm really happy I'll be able to send my grandma on that cruise in August. She's done so much for me."

He stared at her for several heartbeats. "It sounds as if the generosity gene skipped a generation in your family."

Hannah searched for the handle, but he jumped out, dashed around the sports car, and opened her door before she could. She left his suit jacket draped over the passenger seat. While he closed the car door, she rooted in her tote for her keys. "Thank you."

The dim lighting in the parking lot emphasized his five-o'clock shadow, and his snowy dress shirt and teeth appeared fluorescent each time the approaching storm lit up the sky. He shifted his feet several times and took her key ring to unlock her car door.

"There you go." He handed the keys back and treated her to one of his sexiest smiles, complete with dimples. As she tossed her tote bag and keys onto the vehicle's front seat, her heart beat so fast and hard it sounded like the drum section of a marching band in her head.

Or was that thunder?

He stared into her eyes, and the throbbing void in her belly screamed the message from her hypnosis tape like a song she couldn't get out of her head, 'You deserve to turn your dreams into reality. Decide what you want and take the initiative.'

Him. She wanted Jordan Edward Calder.

His gaze bored into hers, and the dozens of erotic dreams he'd starred in played in her head. Hannah reacted on autopilot, feeling as if she were outside herself, watching someone else stand on tiptoe and slide her arms around his neck. Of their own volition, her traitorous hands pulled his head down. As she pressed her lips up to his, she held her breath, waiting for him to shove her away.

Yet he didn't.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and slanted his mouth over hers. With a low growl rumbling in the back of his throat, he deepened their kiss. Breast to chest, her nipples puckered against his hot body, and she shivered-although, not from the breeze.

Heaven help her, what was she doing? She was going to get herself fired. Not to mention, Jordan had made it crystal clear he had no interest whatsoever in a permanent relationship with any woman.

Regrettably, he tasted too darn good. His lips had a unique, masculine musty flavor. As in must-have-more.

Jordan couldn't remember the last time a woman felt this spectacular in his arms. As Hannah's hands moved urgently over his shoulders, his body stiffened. Or more accurately, the southern half of him. In a fraction of a second, his semi-erect flesh inflated as fast as if he had one of the erectile dysfunction implants that Calder's medical device division produced.

She moaned softly, her mouth parting beneath his, tasting of the wine they'd drunk with dinner. He pulled her closer, slipping his tongue between her lips and thoroughly exploring every inch of her delectable mouth.

It was her hair that smelled like strawberries. He panted in harmony with her erratic breaths, molding her against his aroused body.

This was a bad idea. She was his assistant. His sweet, generous, efficient assistant. The same assistant who made his whole life run smoother and made his grandfather's eyes light up.

In spite of all those things, God forgive him, Jordan wanted her. Right here. Right now. The faster the better.

Caressing her back, he spanned her midriff and groaned, sliding his palms lower. Her soft body fit him so perfectly. Squeezing her fanny with one hand, he cupped her lush breast with the other. He'd never dreamed Hannah could have such a slender waist and round bottom under her baggy, shapeless clothes. Why would she hide such ripe curves? And how the hell had he missed noticing these incredible breasts?

Her nipple swelled between his fingers. He ached to see them-taste them. Inch by inch, he scrunched her skirt higher and higher and slid his hand under it. He stroked the satiny skin between the tops of her elasticized stockings and her silky panties, elated to have an answer finally. Her lingerie was just as much of a paradox to the rest of her as her sexy stiletto sandals. He'd never ached so much to see a woman in only her underwear and shoes.

As he pressed her against his car, a tiny whimper purred in the back of her throat, making him feel as if he were thirteen again and kissing a girl for the very first time.

Lifting her onto the Lamborghini's hood, he slid her skimpy panties down, stripped them off her legs, and stuffed them into his trouser pocket. The blood thrummed in his ears, and the distant thunder grew closer by the second. Fat, cold raindrops splattered on his neck. He laid her back on the sports car and kissed his way down the column of her creamy throat, breathing in her floral scent.

"We shouldn't do this," she murmured, her hands roaming frantically over him, tearing at his shirt buttons.

"I know," he whispered in her ear, tracing its delicate curve with his tongue while he unzipped his fly. But, hell, he'd been rock hard all afternoon. A man could only take so much.

The frigid rain and the thunder booming in the surrounding hills should have cooled him down, but instead, they simply inflamed him. A storm cloud burst overhead, turning the soaking rain into a virtual waterfall. Their wet lips slid over each other's drenched faces-nipping and kissing until their mouths found each other again. His tongue danced a frantic pas de deux with hers, teasing and tasting, accompanied by the symphony of their mutual hungry moans. Her eager fingers peeled back the soaked fabric from his chest, and her palms glided over his slick torso.

He must be insane, making out with a woman in an electrical storm-particularly in the middle of a vacant parking lot. Tomorrow's headlines could very well end up reading-CEO Fried Canoodling Secretary That hint of danger simply heightened his excitement and made the encounter that much more tantalizing-and forbidden. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the naked desire in her eyes. She wanted this as much as he did.

He slid his hand between her legs and shuddered as his fingers encountered the slick crevice he'd been dreaming about plunging into for weeks.

Damn, she was wet-and not just from the downpour. Despite her drenched state, her passage was surprisingly tight-encasing his middle digit as securely as a damn virgin. Was it possible....?

No way. Earlier, she told him she'd slept with her ex-fiance for eight months before he'd cheated on her, so it was unlikely her close fit was due to a lack of sex. It could only mean the amoeba had a needle-dick.

Jordan's groin throbbed at the thought of making Hannah climax during sex, her barely-stretched flesh clenching around him while he slid in and out and....oh, man. The prospect of her extra-snug sheath squeezing and massaging his metaphorical sword was too tempting to resist.

Screw the board, he had to take her, if only to find out if she'd make him go off like a skyrocket-as he suspected she would-in a fraction of the time he usually took to come.

As he reached for his zipper, a set of headlights spun into the lot and shone on them like a spotlight. He yanked Hannah off the car and jumped in front of her, shielding her from view.

"Oh, it's you, Sir," The guard called from the security van's open window as it pulled up to them. "Sorry to disturb you. I noticed some activity on the surveillance monitor, but the rain distorted the picture. I thought maybe a couple of teenagers were using the parking lot to-"

"It's okay, uhh...." Jordan glanced at the man's nametag. Chuck Howell. "That's what I pay you for, Chuck." He fumbled with his buttons. This was just great. He'd forgotten about the damn cameras in the parking lots. By Tuesday morning, the corporate grapevine would be buzzing that he'd been doing his assistant on the hood of his car in the middle of a cloudburst.

"Aren't you normally on the eleven to seven shift?

"One of the evening guards took off for the long holiday, so security was a little shorthanded tonight. I'm putting in some overtime."

"Well, thank you. I hope I can trust you to be discreet about this incident?"

"Yes, Sir." Chuck's lips pressed together in a barely suppressed smirk.

"And I'd appreciate it if you'd erase the surveillance tape when you get back before the rest of security sees it."

"Right away, Sir. Have a good evening, Miss Oliver," the guard called, emphasizing her name. Obviously, the jerk wanted them to know he'd seen who she was.

"That guy gives me the creeps," she muttered.

"Don't worry. I'll go back to security in a few minutes and make sure he erased the tape."

Just as quickly as the torrential rain started, it stopped. As soon as the guard drove away, Jordan turned to Hannah, panting. The soaked, summery material of her outfit stuck to her curves like the skin on a succulent peach. The rain had turned the pink gauzy fabric nearly transparent, so it seemed as if her clothes had magically vanished.

She appeared to be wearing just a bra on top-a sheer bra that revealed the shadow of her erect nipples as distinctly as the dark mound that showed through the skirt plastered between her thighs. Her body was sex personified.

His grandfather knew what he was talking about. A little mystery definitely added to the excitement. Hannah couldn't look more erotic if she were stark naked.

She shivered and buried her face in her palms. "I can't believe I did that. I'm going to strangle Callie."

"Callie? What's she got to do with this?"

"The hypnosis was all her idea. I never would've kissed you in a million years if-"

"Thanks." He snorted. "You do wonders for a guy's ego."

"I didn't mean it like that. I know how you feel about office romances. I think you're wonderful. I just-" She tipped her head back, turning her wet face up to the floodlights. "Great, now I'm going from bad to worse. You have to understand, my awkwardness around men has always been a problem. But after Kevin dumped me, I felt about as desirable as an iguana."

Jordan bit back a smile. "That's pretty high on the yuck scale."

"I'll be thirty years old next week. I had to do something drastic to stop freezing up around guys. Otherwise, I'll never get married."

"Hannah, believe me, you have a lot more going for you than an iguana, and you're far from frigid. He cupped her icy cheek and stared into her eyes. "Well-maybe right now you are." But in his arms a few moments ago, she'd sizzled like Death Valley in August.

"Don't you get it? I'm not the same as I was before my hypnosis." She shivered. "Even you noticed the difference."

He opened the passenger door to his car, took his suit jacket out, and helped her into it. The sleeves hung past her fingertips, making her look like a little girl playing dress-up in her daddy's suit. "You can bring it to the office on Tuesday."

"Thanks."

"The change in you isn't a bad thing, Hannah. Wasn't the whole point of your therapy to help you relax around men?"

"Yes, but ever since I had my first session, it's been like trying to damn up Mount Vesuvius to keep my thoughts from spewing out of my mouth. It's as if I haven't any inhibitions."

She could say that again. Her enthusiastic response tonight had aroused him to no end. And, yet, it made him a bit uneasy. His experience with Marcy and her drunken friends had left him leery of women cutting loose.

Despite his understandable wariness, there was no question his previously jittery assistant had blossomed the last few weeks. If shedding some of her self-control had been responsible, he could only see it as good.

He pursed his lips, holding back his smile. "Being uninhibited isn't always a bad thing."

"It is when you hit on your boss."

He tipped her chin up and stared into her eyes. "If you recall, I didn't pull away."

"I would've died if you had."

"But I should have. I'm supposed to set an example for my employees. As it is, I'm having enough trouble convincing the board I'm a suitable choice for chairman. Next week, it could be all over the office that I seduced my secretary on the hood of my car. What do you think will happen then?"