“Let me kiss you, April.”

Rex smiled, his smile alone overloading her senses. “I promise to be a gentleman and stop when you tell me to.”

Stop? The man had her surrounded. He blocked out the whole world with his body, sparked all those achy places he’d awakened with his magic hands while massaging her.

“Just one kiss to see if you like it.” And then he lowered his face toward her with exquisite slowness, allowing her a chance to retreat.

Decision by indecision.

The instant their lips met, April knew this would be like no kiss she’d ever experienced before. He seemed to explode with emotion. His muscles gathered against hers. He tucked her into all the sculpted places of his body, enfolded her in a layer of hard, aroused male.

Her every sense was heightened, focused on him intently. The steady beating of his heart. The feel of him draped over her. Her every breath became his as his mouth prowled hers hungrily, coaxing her lips wide, thrusting his tongue inside, devouring, demanding a reply.

She replied with the only answer that made any sense. She kissed him back

Dear Reader,

Once upon a time I worked for a Fortune 500 company and lived the whirlwind life of a career woman on the road. I discovered firsthand how easy it is to get caught up in the challenge of the job to the exclusion of all else.

Rex Holt is a man who loves his life on the road—or so he thinks. Once April Stevens arrives to help him research the market for the Sensuous Collection, he realizes there is a whole lot of life he’s missing out on. It doesn’t take much more than some steamy nights between the sexy sheets to convince April that Rex is the man she wants to enjoy her life with, but there’s one not-so-little problem….

Blaze is the place to explore red-hot romance, and I’m excited to write for a series that excels in steamy happily-ever-afters. I hope April and Rex’s story brings you to happily-ever-after, too. Let me know. Drop me a line in care of Harlequin Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada. Or visit my Web site at www.jeanielondon.com. And don’t forget to check out www.tryblaze.com.

Very truly yours,

Jeanie London

Between the Sheets
Jeanie London

For Ann Josephson, Kimberly Llewellyn and Tara Randel, the brilliant brainstorming buddies who helped me fan a tiny spark into a flaming love story.

And special thanks to Francine Bauer for introducing me to the fascinating world of nibbies!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

1

To: Wilhemina Knox (mailto:president@luxuriousbedding.com)

Date: 3 Mar 2003 07:59:54-0500

Subject: Effective Stress Management

Install glory holes in the employees’ bathroom stalls for a low-cost method of stress management!

Studies prove that the regular release of sexual tension contributes to the effective management of work-related stress, improving overall mental and physical performance. Condom dispensers located beside tissue holders will adequately meet all OSHA standards and state health requirements.

“Glory holes, hmm?” April Stevens frowned down at the hard copy of an e-mail post. She’d never heard of a glory hole, much less seen one, but she had no trouble grasping the concept. Or imagining the protruding body parts and variety of sex acts that might be performed through one.

As an investigative researcher for J.P. Mooney Investigators, Ltd., the premier agency in the Dallas area, April had witnessed a variety of oddball human behaviors during her eight-year tenure. The recommendation of glory holes in bathroom walls as a way to relieve work-related stress was a definite first.

Scanning the e-mail header, she noted the address and glanced back at her boss. He sat behind his desk, primed and ready for her reaction, as though he’d sensed sex was the very last thing in the world she wanted to think about right now.

But her boss wasn’t a mind reader, so she cocked a hip against the edge of his desk and gave nonchalance a stab. “Did someone send this post to Wilhemina as some sort of joke? I can’t imagine she found it funny. It’s…well, raunchy.”

John Patrick Mooney steepled his fingers before him and grinned a grin that April imagined had stopped quite a few hearts some thirty-odd years earlier. An undeniably attractive man in his sixties with knife-creased features, steely gray hair and piercing black eyes, he had this whole I’ve-seen-it-all-and-lived-to-tell attitude that people often found intimidating. The grin softened his appearance considerably.

Not that he needed softening for April. Not at all. Years ago John and Paula, his wife, had opened their home to April. And she’d worked for John in some capacity since her junior year in high school—the year her search for her birth parents had introduced her to the world of private investigation. A world that had fascinated her enough to go into the field herself.

She’d convinced him she’d be an asset to his team despite her youth. He’d been insightful enough to give her a chance to prove herself. During her years with the company, she’d worked her way up from an administrative assistant to her current position as investigative researcher. While John Patrick Mooney might intimidate some people with his hard stare and deadpan expression, he didn’t intimidate April. She’d seen up close what a fair and even kindhearted man he could be.

“It is raunchy,” he said. “And you’re right. My sister-in-law didn’t find it remotely funny.”

April could well imagine. Professionalism was the end-all and be-all of Wilhemina’s world. She was a woman who’d forged a corporate career for herself during a time when executive management positions were filled by men through the good-old-boys’ network.

Wilhemina had chosen career over marriage and made no apologies, which meant that at holidays she showed up at John’s house to commune with family. This also meant that she and April were kindred spirits because April had attached herself to the Mooney family, too.

“Why did Wilhemina send this?” she asked. “What’s up?”

“This post isn’t the only one to come across the Luxurious Bedding Company’s computer network.” Reaching across his desk for the copy of the e-mail post, John held it up between them. “It’s one of over six dozen.”

“Oh my.” An image of the proposed glory hole sprang to mind and April shook her head to clear it. “All to Wilhemina?”

“No, she’s only one of the recipients. Someone is stalking employees at corporate headquarters with similar posts on a variety of, er, diverse topics. They’re showing up in the different departments—executive management, operations, sales, human resources, even the warehouse.”

“Suggestive e-mails popping up during business hours.” She gave a short laugh. “I’ll bet that makes for an interesting day on the job.”

“No joke. Wilhemina said the place has been bedlam. And the timing couldn’t be worse. She’s preparing to launch the Sensuous Collection. It’s a high-profile launch and a risky time for the company. These posts are distracting the employees from their work. ‘Sex on the brain’ is the way she described it.”

April would just bet. Whether a person was offended or titillated by the idea of what two employees might do with a stall wall and a cleverly positioned hole between them, one thing was clear—that person would be thinking about sex.

And thinking about sex was exactly what April didn’t want to do. She couldn’t afford a case of sex on the brain right now. No way. No how.

“The Sensuous Collection?” She urged John to get on with his point so she could figure out why he was telling all this to her. “Didn’t Wilhemina tell me at Christmas that the reason she accepted this presidency was to get the company back on its feet after they crashed with the Cuddly, Cozy Winter Collection?”

Let your nights be about more than sleep, she’d recited the jingle to April over eggnog. Get cuddly and cozy with our Cuddly, Cozy Winter Collection.

A seemingly clever marketing campaign for a collection of sheet sets that should have translated into public recognition, huge sales and a solid bottom line. However this particular marketing campaign had proven so cuddly and cozy that consumers complained the advertisements had gone too far to promote the sensuality of their product. Morality groups had protested and the backlash against the Luxurious Bedding Company had resulted in the company’s reorganization. Not to mention earning a defining nickname for the mattresses, bedding and sheet sets.

The Lusturious Bedding Company.

April remembered John telling Wilhemina she was crazy to take on a company in the throes of consumer condemnation. The board had thrown out the former president for getting them into such a mess. But Wilhemina had waxed poetic about the challenges and argued that she had a blowout strategy to turn the disapproval rating around by capitalizing on their new image.

“Is the Sensuous Collection Wilhemina’s blowout strategy?”

John nodded. “It’s a line of luxury bedding that will compete with the European manufacturers, who apparently dominate the market. She’s hooked up with a high-ticket marketing consultant to help capitalize on their lusturious image.”

“Is someone unhappy with the plan? Is that why they’re stalking the employees with these sorts of posts?”

“The posts are being generated in-house at corporate headquarters.”

“Oh.” A disgruntled employee then. “Where do you fit in? Can’t security track down the stalker with the network administrator’s help? Shouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Apparently that’s not the case.” He set the e-mail post back on the desk and lifted his black gaze. “The posts are originating from computers all over headquarters, forwarding files to everyone in the address book.”

She whistled. “That must generate a ton of traffic. I don’t imagine it’s feasible for the administrator to monitor all the posts.”

“It’s not. Wilhemina tried curtailing network activity in various departments to give the administrator a chance to track the problem posts, but every time activity slows down, the stalker stops sending the raunchy posts completely.”

“So our suspect is operating on the same premise as a computer worm or a virus. Very clever, really.” Good, bad or otherwise, April appreciated resourcefulness when she saw it. “What files get forwarded?”

“Mainly information dealing with the Sensuous Collection, which has raised the issue about whether these posts are meant to obstruct the collection’s launch.”

“You’re talking about corporate espionage?”

“It’s a concern. Selling details about the Sensuous Collection could translate into big bucks if a rival manufacturer introduces a competing product line before the Luxurious Bedding Company launches. Wilhemina has turned the problem over to in-house security to conduct an internal investigation.”

“Has she asked you for advice on the investigation?”

John tapped his fingers on the desktop and met her gaze thoughtfully before answering. “The investigation is pretty clear-cut. The only thing they can do is eliminate their employees one by one. This isn’t a mom-and-pop organization. While it’s not Fortune 500, the Luxurious Bedding Company is large with the opportunity for spectacular growth if this collection takes off like the projections indicate.”

Which still wasn’t explaining why John was holding on to that post. April must have looked confused because he said, “Wilhemina’s got a rogue element—a high-ticket independent marketing consultant. Rex Holt’s his name.”

“Never heard of him.” And she’d prefer to keep it that way. She didn’t need to be thinking about any man on a list of suspects who had the potential to get his jollies from stalking an entire company with the kind of posts she’d just read.

Not at this particular time in her life, at any rate. “If he’s independent can’t she just replace him? She’d eliminate one suspect from the equation.”

“He’s not a suspect.”

“No?”

“Wilhemina has worked with him a number of times before when she was running Duval Foods International. She doesn’t think he has anything to do with the posts or corporate espionage. She’s so sure that she’s betting her career on it.”

That was saying something. “Yow.”

“Yow is right,” John agreed. “She’s got a mess on her hands. The board of directors is understandably edgy after being burned with the Cuddly, Cozy Winter Collection and they’re pushing to opt out of their big bucks contract with this guy. Wilhemina says it’s way too close to the launch to bring in another independent consultant and she needs Rex Holt to pull off this launch. Apparently he’s big potatoes.”

“If she’s so convinced her big spud isn’t guilty, what’s worrying the board?”

“Aside from the fact that Holt is the only one besides Wilhemina who has free run of the company at every level from operational to executive management, he also has means and opportunity. He consulted for a competitor a few years back. Wilhemina believes his past experience in the industry is working to their benefit but the board thinks it means loyalty to a rival manufacturer. Given the fact that he’s out-of-house, I see their point. The guy’s positioned to do a lot of damage.”

“Do you think Wilhemina’s made a mistake?”

“I’ve been married to her sister for thirty-five years. Trust me, that one doesn’t miss a trick.” He shook his head decidedly. “But even so, I’ve been looking into this guy’s history the past few days and Holt’s MO doesn’t jive by a long shot. He’s got references up the wazoo and he’s considered one of the top marketing consultants nationwide. Big-name corporations are lined up for his services.”

“Then she wants you to find out who’s sending these posts?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Wilhemina has decided to buck the board on this but she’s up against a time limit. Holt will be moving his base of operations out of corporate headquarters to conduct marketing studies around the country. She needs to cover her ass—and his, too—while he’s out on the road. This is where we come in.”

We. That one word and the way John leveled a steely gaze her way shot April’s internal alarm system into the red zone. “But you just said her in-house security is investigating and they’ve exhausted the computer angle.”

“I’m pulling you off the computer.”

April knew what was coming next and launched into evasive maneuvers to avoid yet another lecture about how twenty-five-year-old women should be out living life, rather than viewing it through a flat-screen computer monitor.

“I’m an investigative researcher, remember? I’m supposed to work behind a computer.”

“You’re an investigator. You call yourself a researcher, but I don’t have researchers on my payroll. Only investigators.”

“But that’s what I do. I investigate through the computer. Some agencies would call me an information specialist.”

“You work for my agency, April. I employ investigators who can work behind a computer and in the field.”

Could she help it that she was more comfortable with binary and circuitry than she was with English and humans?

John heaved a sigh that drove the alarm indicator in her head right off the gauge. The man was gearing up for an argument. She recognized the raised brows, the stiff neck and the squared shoulders as surely as if the word A-R-G-U-M-E-N-T had been tattooed across his forehead.

She took a judicious step back. Unfortunately, her sweater caught the edge of his in-box as she did. John came halfway out of his chair in a vain attempt to catch it, but the whole tray toppled off the desk with a clatter.

“No, no, don’t get up,” she said, sinking to her knees to collect the scattered papers. “I’ve got them.”

She could feel his gaze on her as she gathered the various documents and envelopes and quickly restacked them. By the time she returned the tray to his desk, her cheeks were hot and John was watching her with an expression of resignation that only made her blush burn hotter.

Backing away to minimum safe distance, she took a calming breath and another crack at appearing nonchalant. But John still looked resigned, which meant he wasn’t buying her act.

“Do you know what a nibbie is, April?”

A nibbie? Definitely not the question she’d expected. A change of tactic, then, so he could try to make his case for getting her off the computer. “Yes.”

“Would you mind explaining the term to me?”

“Nibbies are teeny-tiny tufts of fabric that ball up on sheets. It’s a casual term. You might have heard them called piles or pills.”

He shook his head. “These…nibbies are a big deal?”

“To some people, I guess.”

“Well, I suppose that fits. Wilhemina made a point of saying that whoever I sent needed to know what a nibbie was. She called me obtuse when I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about.”

Under any other circumstances April would have smiled at John’s indignation. Most people wouldn’t consider calling the man anything but sir. Then again, most people weren’t his wife’s sister, a formidable woman who was more than up to the task of handling her sister’s equally formidable husband. But April couldn’t even rally a grin. She’d walked right into this one.

“Sort of like the Princess and the Pea,” he said, grinning at his own cleverness, which in April’s mind only supported the accusation of obtuseness.

She only shrugged, afraid to open her mouth and step in any further. Personally, she couldn’t see what the big deal was. She’d never noticed whether she slept on sheets with nibbies or not. The only time she was horizontal in a bed was when she was fast asleep, unconscious of nibbies, piles or pills. Unconscious enough to be unaware of anything else that might take place in a bed, either.

He leveled that steely gaze on her. “Sounds to me like you’ve got a good bead on the subject. You’re the right person for this case.”

“And what exactly is this case?”

“Inside surveillance.”

A moment passed before she managed to speak past the alarm shrieking in her head. “Inside surveillance? You want me to go…undercover?”

“As Rex Holt’s in-house marketing assistant.”

Undercover? A laugh sprang unbidden to her lips, along with a denial that she managed—barely—to squelch before it actually popped out of her mouth. Good thing, too, because butting heads with John would only make him dig in his heels.

She started to pace. She didn’t sit still well on the best of days, but with John springing fieldwork, no, undercover fieldwork on her…

Glancing at the most recent Mooney family portrait that included a stoic John, a smiling Paula, their daughters, sons-in-law and seven grandchildren, she clasped her hands behind her back and forced herself not to pace, although the urge to move was physical.

She was manic at the best of times but when she got nervous…April Stevens aka April Accidentally had learned to curtail her actions rather than risk knocking anything else off John’s desk, or heaven forbid, the étagère, which housed all sorts of sentimental items.

John knew more about her than anyone on this planet. Surely he could be reasoned with. “Wow, real undercover work,” she forced herself to say lightly. “Why don’t you take the case? You live to go out in the field and it’s been a good year since you’ve gotten out of this office.”

“Aside from the fact that I don’t know a damned thing about nibbies, I promised my wife that I’d get you out from behind the computer. She said you’ve been holing up since you and Jeff broke up. She thinks you’re pining.”

“I’m not pining.”

Man, she should have known she’d wind up back here despite diversionary tactics. The planets must be aligned, because short of quitting her job and moving to Canada, April couldn’t seem to avoid John and Paula’s attempts to force her to get social.

“I appreciate the concern, John, but what is it you don’t understand about hard work? I like working hard. I’m good at my job. Where’s the problem?”

“You’re good at the computer end of your job. You don’t have enough experience in the field. And like Paula pointed out, you need to make time for a life.”

“I have a life. A good one. You know how active I am in the adoption society—”

“More time spent behind the computer.”

“If memory serves, I just took off a morning last week to attend the preschool graduation of one of your little rug rats.”

“A real life. You barely come out from behind the computer for holidays. When was the last time you were out with friends? Or on a date?”

April could hear Paula’s arguments as though she were actually broadcasting them through her husband’s mouth. “I was just out with the girls a few weeks ago for Marietta’s bachelorette party. I’m sure every female in this place will corroborate my story.”

“What about a date?”

“I haven’t met a guy I’m interested in.”

She wouldn’t mention that if she happened to meet one she’d run in the opposite direction.

“Cut me a break, April.” John spread his hands in entreaty. “What am I supposed to do? This is Wilhemina we’re talking about here. Paula’s on the warpath. She wants me to help her sister and she wants you out from behind the computer. This is a straightforward job. You pretend you’re this guy’s assistant and keep your eyes on him. You can handle this. Getting out of the office will be a challenge.”

Challenge? Oh, John was right about that. She inhaled deeply and tried to appeal to reason. “Send Sherry. She’s much better at this sort of thing.”

“Sherry’s married. We don’t have any idea how long it’ll take in-house security to complete their investigation. It makes more sense to send single you.”

“Just because I don’t have a husband doesn’t mean I don’t have important things going on in my life, you know. I happen to be in the middle of an adoption search.”

A bald lie, since she’d just reunited Dawn Conover with her birth sister and hadn’t been assigned another search yet.

“Bring your laptop. You can work your search into your cover. An occasional break will keep you fresh.”

“Sherry will blend in much better.”

His dark gaze settled on her thoughtfully. “You’ll blend in just fine. Don’t borrow trouble.”

John didn’t have to define borrowing trouble, and while April appreciated his confidence in her abilities, the simple truth was that jumping into new situations was not one of her strengths, at work or in her personal life.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been nicknamed April Accidentally for no reason. She was high-strung by nature and whenever she got nervous, accidents were the likely result, which didn’t make her prime undercover material.

Of all the crosses she might have to bear in life, April considered this one tame, if rather unfortunate. She accepted her flaws right along with her strengths and coped with them.

“John, this isn’t a good idea.”

He arched a grizzled brow at her. “Is the sex part making you uncomfortable? I was sure you could handle it.”

Before her breakup with Jeff, April might have been able to handle glory holes and bedding companies. But now…

“The sex does bother me a little, to be honest.” Unwilling to elaborate on the reason why, she quickly added, “I’ll have to be close to spy on this guy and you said everyone in the company has sex on the brain…shouldn’t you send a man?”

“I told you, I checked him out. He’s okay. This is a baby-sitting job, April, plain and simple. All you have to do is make sure Rex Holt doesn’t make contact with any rival manufacturers. This is not difficult stuff.”

“A baby-sitting job?” She tried not to sound panicked or resentful and didn’t think she succeeded on either count. “Since when have you had baby-sitters on your payroll?”

John steepled his hands before him and looked at her over his fingertips. “This is the perfect job for you. Wilhemina needs a professional in place and she trusts you. She asked me to send you specifically, if that makes you feel any better. If anything unusual catches your attention, you report it. Should any questions be raised about this guy’s integrity, you’ll be able to testify that he conducted good business on the road.”

Both Wilhemina and John had lost their minds, April decided. It wasn’t that she wasn’t well trained or competent, but just the thought of heading into the field made her adrenaline pump so hard she could barely hear past the rush of blood in her ears.

“I know you’ve said Wilhemina’s people exhausted the computer angle, but give me a crack at it. They’re not as good as I am. I can track those posts. I’m sure of it.”

“We’re not being hired to investigate. We’re being hired to baby-sit. Wilhemina wants you. Besides, who else in this firm will be able to hold his own with nibbies, piles and pills?”

“Nibbies, piles and pills, oh my!” She pushed off her perch on the chair arm and started pacing again. Babbling was not a good sign, it usually indicated another step toward panic. If John had been paying attention, he’d have noticed.

He wasn’t. Or perhaps he was just ignoring the symptoms.

April could have appealed to him to send someone else. If she was pathetic enough, she might just wear him down and she wouldn’t have to make excuses to Wilhemina until Easter. But that would mean standing up for herself and she wasn’t so hot at standing up for what she wanted on the best of days. And especially not with John.

So she scowled instead.

He scowled right back.

Whoever lasted the longest would win.

Unfortunately, John had the edge. If he was determined to send her to the Luxurious Bedding Company how could she possibly refuse him? Besides being her boss, John Patrick Mooney was also the closest thing she had to a father. He’d come into her life at a time when she’d desperately needed a friend, after her adoptive parents had died tragically in a ski-lift accident during a long-anticipated second honeymoon.

Learning of her situation through their church, John and Paula, whose own daughters had been either married or attending college at the time, had opened their home to April so she could avoid toughing out four years of foster care until reaching eighteen and adulthood.

A very decent thing to do, considering the circumstances of their first meeting.

She certainly hadn’t meant to trip John as he welcomed her into his home, but she’d nearly sent him sprawling right through the decorative glass door. The poor man had still been sporting the goose egg a week later when she’d moved in.

Fortunately, he hadn’t held the accident against her. He’d taken her under wing through the ups and down of her high school years, including her decision to pursue her birth parents.

Though she’d been unable to locate her birth parents, April had found a family with the Mooneys. They’d become her family-by-love, as she liked to call them. She’d become a friend to John’s daughters and Auntie April to the grand-kiddies. Aside from occasional bouts of too much concern for her well-being, they were perfect. She honestly didn’t know what she would do without them.

No, she wasn’t going to practice her standing-up-for-herself skills with John. And he knew it.

Leaning back in his chair, he stared at her with dark eyes that saw right through her.

“Why are you so worked up about this job? What’s the real problem? I can’t help unless you tell me.”

Busted. April clasped her hands behind her back and stared hard at the Mooney family portrait. The last thing she needed was a case that would put her in direct contact with sheets—which would invariably lead to thoughts about what couples did between them.

But she couldn’t tell John that now, could she? Telling the truth would mean admitting she’d sworn off relationships that involved sex for the rest of her life because she was a disaster in bed. Bonafide hopeless. Evidenced by the fact that Jeff had nearly aspirated during their last sexual encounter, in the very whirlpool tub he’d sworn would help her relax.

In all fairness, April couldn’t have known he was going to lick her there. He’d been underwater, after all, and if she’d known he’d been perched so precariously on the bench, she would never had jumped, no matter how ticklish she might be.

But she hadn’t known, so she had jumped and Jeff had lost his balance, cracked his head and almost drowned.

Bum luck? Not exactly.

She’d had three lovers in the space of six years and enough near-misses to come to the conclusion that April Accidentally was simply too high-strung to have sex. She could barely stay in one place long enough to run a background check on a suspect.

She worked in front of a computer all day, true, but she didn’t sit, she stood, with the keyboard taped to a treadmill no less. The only time she ever got horizontal was while sleeping.

She simply couldn’t handle another romantic encounter that wound up with some form of CPR, or worse yet, a body. Jeff had claimed she was being ridiculous, accidents happened—especially to her, she’d silently agreed—and had refused to let her break up with him.

But that was a refusal more easily made than kept. April had broken off with him and sworn off men—for their protection and her peace of mind. After serious soul-searching, she’d made the decision to give up the one thing that she’d wanted all her life—her very own family. She’d never have a husband or children. She’d never even have an orgasm, for goodness’ sake.

But this was all need-to-know information that John didn’t need to know. Not only didn’t he need to know, she was fairly certain he wouldn’t want to know. The idea of his own daughters having sex had him waxing poetic about storks flying around with pink and blue bundles. She had no intention of admitting any of this. Not even to get out of this case.

April had handled losing her beloved adoptive parents to tragedy. She’d handled the defeat of sealed state records after an exhaustive search for her birth parents. She’d handled accepting that her future didn’t include her own family or happily-ever-after or mind-blowing orgasms.

She could handle going undercover to spy on Rex Holt. Even surrounded by sexy bedding and a slew of raunchy e-mail posts.

All things considered, life could be a lot worse.

She met John’s searching gaze and forced a smile. “I don’t have a problem with the sex. No problem at all. I’ll go undercover as the in-house marketing assistant.”

And try not to get nervous, cause accidents or think about the family she’d never have and all the sex she was missing.

2

To: Rex Holt (mailto:consultant@luxuriousbedding.com)

Date: 7 Mar 2003 08:55:41-0000

Subject: Interoffice Relations

Weekly group sex sessions will promote teamwork between departments!

Studies prove that sex promotes closeness and cooperation; group sex will offer a budget-friendly method of improving interoffice relations. The confidentiality clause of the P&P manual will protect all parties from personal repercussions.

Rex Holt frowned at his computer screen, right-clicked his mouse button and forwarded this and the accompanying 162 e-mail posts to the Luxurious Bedding Company’s president, Wilhemina Knox. Contemplating group sex as a viable support skill wasn’t exactly how he’d planned to start off his Monday morning. While he could live with the thought of two women pleasuring a male co-worker, the flip scenario made him cringe.

He found the effects of the sexy Sensuous Collection and these suggestive posts far too distracting for his taste. Trying to concentrate on work when his blood was maintaining a constant temperature somewhere between simmer and boil was proving damned difficult.

Reaching for his coffee mug, Rex took a healthy swig. Maybe caffeine would help. Then again, maybe not. At least not with a dozen promotional photos of the Kama Sutra Sports Set littering his desk. Bedding the company classified as “gaming sheets,” the 720-thread-count Egyptian cotton set was imprinted with adventurous sexual positions and included a game piece for consumers to spin and add variety to their erotic lives.

A variation of Twister, he supposed.

Averting his gaze from the zoomed images of couples with twining legs and thrusting parts, Rex gulped more coffee. At this rate he’d show up for his ten o’clock marketing strategy session with a hard-on.

Again, not exactly how he’d planned to start off his week. But then, this job at the Luxurious Bedding Company wasn’t turning out to be what he’d expected either.

The titillating sheet sets in the Sensuous Collection were the topic of every marketing strategy session, budget meeting and operational planning review. But Rex hadn’t felt any threat to his professionalism until some clown had started sending these suggestive posts through the company network, lending the whole project a decidedly raunchy edge.

Fetishes, fantasy role-playing, bondage, glory holes…the posts ran the gamut. Sex had become the topic of conversation among employees in corporate headquarters—over the water coolers, in the copy room and even on the lunch line in the cafeteria.

Sex on the brain, Wilhemina had called the phenomenon, which begged the question: who needed group sex in the conference rooms to improve interoffice relations?

No one, as far as Rex could tell. Everyone appeared to be relating fine. The warehouse supervisor had caught two employees testing out the stock in a shipping truck, and a petition urging executive management to implement the glory hole proposal had circulated through the departments. While no one had actually been bold enough to sign it, the petition had left more buzz in its wake that had spurred the sexy talk even hotter.

Unfortunately, Rex was no better than the rest of this bunch. Though he’d had no lapses in professionalism to his credit, he’d been thoroughly preoccupied with all the sexy distractions. Had he known that sex would start occupying a top slot in his thoughts when he’d contracted this project, he might have reconsidered accepting the job, even though it had meant a chance to work with Wilhemina again.

His gaze slid back to the Kama Sutra Sports Set. Most companies wouldn’t have taken so much risk, which is exactly what had made this project appealing. Rex understood and agreed with Wilhemina’s position—capitalize on their image and turn a negative into a positive. It was a bold move, one the company needed at this stage of the game. And Wilhemina Knox was just the woman to make it. Rex planned to make sure she had all the statistical ammunition she needed to make her new company gain big.

Gathering up the photos of the Kama Sutra Sports Set, Rex made the trip between his office and the conference rooms, wishing San Francisco rather than Atlanta was the number one stop on his itinerary. At least in the Golden Gate City a lovely flight attendant named Susan would be ready to help him satisfy his overactive libido.

It was the only city with such a distinction.

The migratory nature of his life precluded long-term relationships. He stayed in a place only long enough to get a new project underway. Then he headed out on the road to conduct marketing studies that provided him with the demographics he needed to offer the cutting-edge marketing strategies that had earned him a name in the industry.

Mobility suited him. He scheduled holidays in his Chicago hometown to visit his family—including four younger sisters and their broods—and managed somewhat of a social life despite his global geographic workplace. He had annual skiing buddies in Aspen, fishing chums in Miami and hunting pals in Albany. His social circles even included an occasional female acquaintance.

But his rather single-minded focus on work had been interfering with his social life recently, not leaving him much time to cultivate any new relationships with the fairer sex. He didn’t have one potential date in his black book for Atlanta and not much time to meet anyone while in town.

Rex had been so distracted by spending every waking moment surrounded by sexy sheet sets and suggestive e-mail posts that he’d even considered breaking his rule and mixing business with pleasure. Unfortunately not one woman at the Luxurious Bedding Company had even piqued his interest. Maybe his sisters were right—he was so wrapped up in his work that he forgot to live.

With these sobering thoughts in mind, Rex arrived in the conference area in time to meet Wilhemina before she made her entrance.

Wilhemina Knox was the reigning corporate queen of the Luxurious Bedding Company. A formidable-looking woman somewhere in her late fifties, she favored designer suits that sat well on her statuesque shoulders and exuded a no-nonsense competence that had earned her staff’s respect.

Flagging him in the hallway outside the conference room, she motioned him to hang back while the vice president of sales and the marketing director continued inside.

“I’m glad I caught you before you went in.” She met his gaze, an action that barely required she tip her head back, though he stood well over six feet.

“You got the posts I forwarded?”

“I put Jacqui to work on them.”

He nodded. “I know the drill.”

“Unfortunately,” Wilhemina said with a frown, “I’m discouraged that between her and security they haven’t been able to find anything, but trust me, Rex, we’ll get this sorted out.”

“I have no doubt.”

And he didn’t. Wilhemina ran a tight ship. Even with a rat running loose on board.

Inclining her head in acknowledgment of his compliment, she said, “I imagine you’re looking forward to a break from this madhouse.”

“I’m always glad to get out on the road. Traveling is one of the job perks.”

“Very diplomatic. But you’ll be missed, I promise. You’ve been a smooth fit again. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks. Smooth transitions facilitate my work and as always your staff has been top-notch.” The sex on the brain issue aside, of course.

“Good. And speaking of, I’m providing you with a support person for the marketing studies.”

That got Rex’s attention. “We agreed that given the nature of the Sensuous Collection and the current climate around here I should work alone.”

“After reviewing the launch schedule, I reevaluated. We’re running close here. Decisions need to be made and I don’t want to risk running behind. Everything depends on the success of this launch. You know that.”

He nodded. Contractually Wilhemina had the right to insist on in-house representation for the upcoming marketing studies, which didn’t give him much room for an argument. But the last thing he wanted to tackle right now was the vast amount of work in front of him with an assistant who had sex on the brain.

The logistics of the marketing studies and focus groups he’d be conducting shortly not only meant traveling to various cities to interview respondents but also recording their reactions to the Sensuous Collection products.

By the time he’d concluded this project, he would know whether men and women had more orgasms on red satin sheets or fewer, more powerful orgasms on gray jersey. He’d know what percentage of single women between the ages of 21 and 35 slept naked. He’d be able to estimate how many children were conceived every twenty-three seconds on a Luxurious Bedding mattress.

This abundance of information would have to be compiled after each study, which translated into hotel suites with two bedrooms, a shared office and lots of conversations about sex.

“I understand your position, Wilhemina, and your caution,” he said. “But I thought you understood my concerns about distractions. I appreciate that we are on a close schedule and I don’t want the chaos happening around here to follow me out on the road.”

“You’re absolutely right. So I brought in someone from our West Coast operation. Someone familiar with the Sensuous Collection but unaffected by our current network dilemma. That should solve the problem, don’t you think?”

“You’re providing me with an assistant focused on work rather than sex, right?” He smiled to segue them through the moment. “Are you willing to put that in writing?”

“Only after I run it through the legal department.”

“You’re not inspiring my confidence.”

“I promise she’s very competent.” Wilhemina motioned to the conference room. “Go meet her. She’s already inside. I need a word with Leah first.”

Wilhemina glanced in the direction of the approaching human resources manager, but Rex didn’t move because her statement had just registered.

She?

Tossing a glance back over her shoulder, Wilhemina asked, “Is there a problem?”

Maybe. Maybe not. The answer to that question all depended on his new assistant.

Turned out today was his lucky day.

He knew both men sitting at the conference table, flanking a wisp of a woman with light brown hair, translucent skin and wide eyes so deep a shade of blue they seemed almost violet.

Growing up with four younger sisters had given Rex a unique perspective on the fairer sex—of their temperaments, their quirks and their differences. As the odd men out, he and his father had developed a sense of humor to cope and their standing joke had been that all women were flowers. His sisters ranged from the high-maintenance hothouse variety to a sturdy weed that thrived in the toughest conditions.

Given that take, his new assistant was a wildflower, or maybe a wild violet with her unusual eyes. He could only see her from the waist up, but in a glance, he took in the slender body and slightly too-erect posture, pegged her in her mid-twenties, right about the same age as his youngest sister.

“Hey, Rex,” Dalton Tucker, the VP of sales, said, before turning his attention back to the woman beside him.

Rex inclined his head in greeting, his curiosity piqued by his new assistant. He’d made a career out of evaluating people and translating observations into marketing strategies. Everything about this fresh-faced woman told him she was a fish out of water.

“The man of the hour. Wilhemina brought this lovely lady into corporate to assist you,” the marketing director, Charles Blackstone, said, smiling down at the lovely lady in question. “April Stevens, this is Rex Holt, our independent consultant.”

Charles reached for April’s hand and damned if he didn’t bring it to his lips in a move reminiscent of some silver-screen movie star.

Not to be outdone, Dalton reached over the table to pour a glass of water, which he offered to her. “Here you go, April. You’ll need this. Trust me. These marketing strategy sessions tend to get steamy ever since we started gearing up for the Sensuous Collection launch.”

Squaring off in one corner was Charles, the heavyweight champion trying to hang on to his belt. In the other corner was Dalton the challenger, the hotshot VP of sales—ten years younger, better-looking and a well-liked guy who was a serious threat to the title without any effort.

But Dalton typically went above and beyond the call of duty, which upped the level of competition between these men to include every interaction Rex had ever witnessed. Who was the most competent at his job? Who made the brightest light shine on the company? Who had the most impressive conquest of the previous evening? These two were a regular half-time show.

They’d made every effort to include him in their testosterone war, but Rex had declined the invitation. He did wonder what April thought of all the attention, though. Her smile was in place but she looked breathless.

“Hello,” Rex said, pouring a cup of coffee from the sidebar. More caffeine was definitely in order. “A pleasure.”

She gave him a high-beam smile and he was surprised at just how much that smile did to relieve the tension radiating from her. She was a very beautiful woman. And one who should have had eyes in the back of her head because she slid her chair out just as he circled the table and walked behind her.

He’d meant to put his cup down and then shake her hand, but he wound up scuttling backward instead to avoid a collision, barely avoiding the hot coffee that spilled over the rim.

She shot to her feet in a fluid motion that made him do a double take at all the long slim curves her blue silk suit didn’t hide. She wasn’t so much wispy, as willowy…and embarrassed, he decided, as his gaze settled back on her face.

She obviously realized that she’d almost taken him down, because a blush stole into her cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and extended his hand, aware that all eyes were on them. “Welcome to the team.”

That high-beam smile returned, despite the blush that didn’t look as if it would be fading anytime soon. “I’m looking forward to working together. Wilhemina told me about you.”

Their hands met and sparks flew literally. Static electricity snapped. April turned to pull away.

Rex didn’t let her go.

She was one jumpy lady but the shock of the moment quickly passed as he guided her slim fingers into his and squeezed reassuringly. “Good things, I hope. I wouldn’t want you to regret becoming my assistant.” He certainly wasn’t.

“Oh, no. I’m counting on learning a lot.”

“We both will, I’m sure.”

He’d already learned a lot today, starting with just how much he’d been ignoring his sex life lately. One look at April Stevens and his mood improved big-time.

Strands of fine hair had escaped from the clip at her nape and she blew them from her eyes before tucking them behind her ear. Rex dragged his gaze from that manicured pink fingertip as it threaded through her hair.

Now if his luck just held, April would be single.

Forcing himself into motion, he set his cup on the table and took his seat just as Jacqui Scott appeared in the doorway. “Good morning, everyone.”

She moved into the office with confident strides that encouraged the notice of every man in the room. An attractive woman with an abundance of curly hair she wore loose around her shoulders, she wasn’t too far behind him in age, probably around thirty.

“What are you doing here, Jacqui?” Charles asked.

“Kaye asked me to sit in for her. She’s on a conference call with the L.A. office. Some crisis with an order.”

Rex had dealt chiefly with executive management during his time in-house at the Luxurious Bedding Company, but Jacqui Scott had been the exception. As the network administrator, she’d crossed his path every time he’d been the unlucky recipient of a suggestive post. And the one he’d received this morning would guarantee him yet another visit.

Her gaze rested briefly on April, but she dismissed his new assistant with the barest smile of greeting before sliding into the seat beside Charles. Her gaze skimmed across the product display boards at the front of the room that depicted the lovemaking couples of the Kama Sutra Sports Set.

“Wilhemina told me you received another post, Rex,” she said. “I’ll need to check out your system after the meeting.”

“Drop by my office.” Drinking his coffee, he affected a slightly bored mien. As usual, the Sensuous Collection and the suggestive posts placed sex front and center.

“So you’re the poor Joe of the day,” Dalton said. “What was it this time? I hope not another suggestion to supply male employees with panty hose so we can develop our sensitivity.”

“You can ditch that idea completely,” Charles said. “Not going to happen in this lifetime.”

“I think you’d look good in a pair of thigh-highs with garters, Charles,” Jacqui said silkily, glancing at the men from beneath her lashes and saving Rex the trouble of managing a diplomatic reply. “But you’ll like today’s suggestion much better. Group sex to improve interoffice relations. Isn’t that right, Rex?”

He nodded.

“As in you and a friend paying me a visit in my office?” Dalton asked Jacqui hopefully.

Jacqui’s gaze shot to Charles before she said, “Or you and a friend visiting me.”

Charles laughed and Dalton cast a sidelong glance at the water glass in front of April, a warning about the oncoming conversation. She only smiled.

“I hadn’t noticed interoffice relations suffering, which makes this recommendation moot.” Rex tried to move them past this topic and give his wide-eyed new assistant a break.

Unfortunately, Jacqui dismissed his attempt with one wave of a manicured hand. “It’s my experience that interoffice relations can always use improvement.”

“Given your managerial experience, we’ll have to take you at your word.” Dalton hoisted his mug in salute. “Rex is a corporation of one.”

“The lone ranger.” Charles laughed.

“We happened to have designed the Rodeo Line for lone rangers,” Jacqui said. “‘Rope ’Em and Ride ’Em with Supple Leather Sheets Made from Doeskin, Calfskin and Suede,’” she recited the slogan, an obvious attempt to inspire images of what roping and riding in bed might entail.

Both Charles and Dalton watched her with glazed expressions. April didn’t say a word, but he sensed she paid close attention to every word of the exchange.

Rex took another shot at interjecting sanity into the conversation. “You seem very well-informed about the line’s marketing and you’re the network administrator. I don’t see much room for interoffice improvement.”

Jacqui frowned. “Spoilsport. I thought you were the man who came up with the slogan ‘Experience the Bed, 1001 Things to Do Between the Sheets.’”

“For the Sensuous Collection,” he pointed out.

“Between our sheet sets and the suggestive posts, everyone is in the mood around here,” Charles said. “Except you, Rex. What’s up with that?”

“I’m here to work.”

“Admirable.” Jacqui shrugged in a way that conveyed she didn’t believe him. “Most men would be enthusiastic about the idea of a few women pleasuring him.”

“The opposite scenario undermines my enthusiasm.”

Now she laughed, obviously letting go of her irritation. He noticed April couldn’t contain a smile, either.

“You should enjoy yourself while you’re here,” Dalton said.

“He’s right.” Jacqui smiled. “Everyone else is.”

Rex was spared from further comment when Wilhemina and Leah entered the room and forced the conversation back to business.

“Good morning, everyone.” Wilhemina greeted her staff and took her place at the head of the long table. “Have you all had enough coffee to tackle the Kama Sutra Sports Set?” Then she glanced his way and said, “Rex, I trust you’ve met April.”

“We’ve been introduced.”

“Then let’s get to business. Are you ready to brief us on your objectives for our gaming and adventure lines?”

“My focus for these lines will be to assess how far we can push the public with our advertising.” Reaching for his folder, he went to stand beside the computer where his presentation was set up and ready to roll.

“You’re planning the usual run of studies?” April asked in that pleasant, breathy voice that fit right in with the overall excitable impression he’d gotten of her. “Accompanied shopping observations, focus groups, blind testing against our competitors’ products.”

Rex nodded, before casting his gaze around the table as a distraction from her big violet eyes. Flipping on the display, he pressed a series of commands to bring up his first slide.

“Everyone here will monitor several online discussions and consumer panels. Given my preliminary studies and hindsight from the response to the Cuddly, Cozy Winter Collection campaign, it’s clear the key to success will be in proper market placement and how well we reach the target audiences. We can’t know where to hit hardest until we have an idea of how consumers will react to the overt sexuality of these lines.”

“Which is exactly why Rex is here to advise us.” Wilhemina said. “Let’s face it, folks, we’re dealing with tricky products to place in a mainstream market.”

“No joke.” Dalton shook his head. “I don’t have a clue how I’m going to instruct my sales force to sell sheets that come with a dual-temperature vibrator and a cock ring.”

“You will after I turn in my executive summary.” Rex motioned to a product display board beside the viewing screen that depicted the “Kama Couple,” as the couple demonstrating the Kama Sutra Sports Set’s sexual positions had been unofficially named. While not a cartoon, the Kama Couple was animated with very lifelike flexing muscles and twined limbs. “Don’t discount the impact of the new terminology, either.”

Missionary Mania, as this particular position was called, depicted the Kama Man on top of the Kama Woman, whose legs were hooked around his waist.

Rex glanced around the table to find April looking at the display. Her wide eyes grew even wider, just about the same time Rex’s pulse kicked up a notch.

“That’s right, Dalton,” Wilhemina said. “Rex’s suggestion to have product development rename the positions on the Kama Sutra Sports Set will make the line much easier to present.”

Leah nodded. “Missionary Mania isn’t nearly so clinical as the missionary position. The term invites fun.”

“You’re right about that.” Charles laughed. “Posterior Passion sounds more inviting than doggie style.”

Rex resisted the urge to massage the growing ache in his head. He assumed Wilhemina’s executive staff had been a normal group of people before corporate headquarters had been inundated by sex. But that was a big assumption. He hadn’t seen much proof and he’d been in-house for several weeks already.

He launched into a translation of his slide show before any more conversation could start up. Part of his job as a marketing consultant was to effectively present complex statistics to businesspeople who weren’t statistically oriented. Only two of the six people seated around the conference table had a clue what he was talking about.

At least he assumed his new assistant did.

She never took her eyes off him while he presented the numbers. To Rex’s amazement, he found her gaze made his blood pump hard. He was aware of this woman and the way her every breath made her chest rise and fall invitingly.

And the way she shifted around in her chair, giving him prime glimpses of her curves, as though sitting still was testing her patience. And the way she nibbled on her lower lip as he directed everyone’s attention to the Kama Couple and discussed potential target markets for the gaming sheets.

He obviously hadn’t been making enough time for women lately because he was reacting to April Stevens with an intensity he hadn’t experienced before. Keeping to the point of his presentation proved damned near impossible when his thoughts kept snagging on her every reaction to the sexy Kama positions.

Did the way her eyes widened when he presented Her Tip-Top Thrill mean she liked to make love on top? Or did the way she gnawed on that full lower lip when he presented Bound Boy Bliss mean she liked to take charge and bind her lovers?

Had she ever had any lovers?

Something about her fresh-faced looks and that tentative demeanor made him wonder. And her sexual status wasn’t the only thing he was wondering about. Why was he tripping over his words as he addressed the Jackhammer, a sexy position that had the Kama Man pleasuring his Kama Lady standing up? Did her blush extend below her collar, down to the swell of her breasts?

April definitely wasn’t the only one demonstrating a propensity for hot blushes at the moment. Rex was feeling his fair share of heat, only it wasn’t rushing north into his face but south, proving beyond a doubt that he hadn’t been making nearly enough time to date lately.

Something about the way his new assistant was checking him out undermined his usually solid control in a way she shouldn’t have. April hadn’t spoken a dozen sentences yet he found her reactions to his presentation a lot more stimulating than the presentation itself.

Luckily he’d be wrapping up things in corporate headquarters today and leaving for Atlanta first thing in the morning, which meant he would have April Stevens all to himself in less than twenty-four hours. Sharing a hotel suite with this lovely lady suddenly seemed to be the perfect way to kick off his week. He could investigate consumers’ reactions to the sexy sheet sets and perhaps explore this unexpected, yet undeniable chemistry he felt for her.

To: J.P. Mooney (mailto:john@mooneyinvestigators.com)

Date: 7 Mar 2003 05:02:12-0800

Subject: First Contact

Hello my favorite brother-in-law,

I promised to keep you posted about the investigation and I’m happy to report that it’s underway. My security chief has his people working hard running background checks on my employees and he was agreeable to your suggestion that we start looking very closely at the network administrator. In the three months I’ve been here, I’ve found Jacqui competent at her job as long as I keep a tight rein on her. But the same could be said of all my staff. Unfortunately with the launch, everyone is behaving very out of character and as my experience with them is limited, I’m at a disadvantage.

Sex on the brain. You laughed at me, John, but I wasn’t kidding. If you could have been a fly on the wall at our marketing session this morning—half the time I marvel that I’m able to keep a straight face, which leads me to…April.

Paula mentioned how worried you were about forcing her out from behind that computer so I thought I’d let you know how she made out. Fine, so stop worrying. I know she’s a daughter to you and you’re understandably concerned for her welfare. I also know you’d rather keep her hidden away at work with you, where she’ll be comfortable and you can keep away all the bad guys. But, John, April will never be comfortable unless she gets out to meet new people without you hovering over her shoulder.

Paula is right about giving her a little nudge. There, I’ve said it. In thirty-five years, I’ve done my level best never to take sides but April is a smart, beautiful girl who should have a life. If I wasn’t convinced before, I was the minute I saw her with Rex today. I got them together during that meeting I mentioned above and stood outside the door to watch. You should have seen her! She almost swallowed her tongue when he walked in the room. I know she found him attractive because she almost torched him with a cup of hot coffee. Rex took it in stride and behaved very gallantly. I told you he’s perfect for her. I’ve never met a man so gifted with handling people. He’ll have her eating out of his hand in no time.

Which would make me very happy. He’s a wonderful man who works too much and she’s a normal healthy young woman who should have a wonderful man in her life, i.e. sex. There, I’ve said that, too. You’ve got to toss her out of the nest and give her a chance to fly. She’ll soar. And she knows her Auntie Wil is just a phone call away if she needs me. Trust me, John, she’s not going to want anyone but that to-die-for man she’s working for.

I know she technically works for you, but I don’t mean you. Although you know if you weren’t my dear sister’s husband…

Wil

John stared at the computer screen and decided sex on the brain sounded about right. He’d warned Wilhemina she’d have to be crazy to consider taking this job. Turned out he was right. She was damned certifiable.

3

SOMEHOW APRIL had gotten it into her head that a man who commanded as much respect in his field as Rex Holt had to be middle-aged with a serious type A personality.

Wrong-o.

The Rex Holt she’d been sent to baby-sit was about the last man on earth to need a baby-sitter. He was laid-back, very charming and positively drop-dead gorgeous, which meant that every time he turned that dark chocolate gaze on her, she went straight to pieces. Every time he spoke with that rich silk voice, her insides fluttered and her memory echoed with the sound of his voice as he’d calmly discussed sexual positions from the Kama Sutra Sports Set.

Ladies’ Luxury Laptop and the Sexy Slam-Dunk.

She was in so much trouble here.

To add insult to injury, Rex Holt had to be a gentleman, too. He hadn’t said a word when she’d arrived at the airport late this morning, even though he’d been specific about the time to meet. He hadn’t asked for an explanation either, which was good because April hadn’t wanted to explain how she’d accidentally packed her purse in the frenzy to get out the door, which had meant searching through all her suitcases while the taxi waited….

As they moved through the line toward the ticketing counter in the airport, he kept eyeing her rolling luggage.

“Can I help you with all those bags?” he asked.

“I’ve got them, thanks,” she said again. Granted, he’d packed light by comparison. But he was a man. A garment bag, suitcase and laptop case might outfit him for their Atlanta stint but she wasn’t so lucky. Glancing up, she met his gaze. Mistake. One glimpse into those eyes made her breath catch.

“You’ll check them?”

“Except the ones I need on the flight,” she said around that trapped breath. “I want to use the downtime to review the product line.”

Learn the product line was a more like it, but April couldn’t tell Rex Holt that. She’d spent the entire weekend immersed in Market Analysis 101 to learn what acronyms like ESOMAR, ANOVA and CAPI meant so she could play a convincing marketing research assistant.

There’d been so much to learn that she hadn’t had a chance to even glance at the Sensuous Collection, an oversight that was bound to blow her cover if she didn’t get a grip on the product line PDQ.

The product line wasn’t the only thing she had to get a grip on. She chanced another glance at Rex, who was still frowning down at her luggage, an expression that didn’t minimize his good looks one tiny bit.

And he looked so good with his deep russet hair and olive skin. Too good. Even though she wasn’t conducting an investigation, this man was technically a suspect until cleared of complicity by in-house security. She cautioned herself that suspects were suspects no matter what they looked like, but Rex’s mouth kept doing her in. He grinned wickedly. He frowned intensely. He made a woman who’d sworn off relationships that involved disastrous sex think about what she might be missing.

That mouth could make her imagine the soul-deep sort of ache that would build and build toward a mind-blowing climax, an explosion of the senses that could eradicate reason and make a woman swoon—or so April had heard. She’d never actually experienced the phenomenon firsthand, had never been able to relax long enough to reach the finishing line.

Oh, she wasn’t incapable or anything like that. She had absolutely no problem satisfying herself when she was alone. Being alone with a man was the problem. She got so nerved out that the experience always ended up in disaster long before she or her partner ever reached fulfillment.

Exactly what had happened with poor Jeff.

Then there’d been Vic. He’d wound up with a dislocated shoulder and a sprained ankle when a foray into light bondage had ended with a broken bed frame, a mattress on the floor and a trip to the emergency room still locked in the handcuffs that had done him in.

He’d been convinced she could relax if she was in control.

Wrong.

Kenny had wound up in surgery to repair torn ligaments after an unexpected make-out session in the front seat of his classic Firebird. He’d totally wiped out his knee wrenching it between the gearshift and the steering wheel.

He’d been convinced spontaneous had been the way to go.

Wrong again.

The memories only reaffirmed that she’d made a logical decision to give up sex, which also reestablished that she was in way over her head on this case. That fact had been obvious the instant Rex Holt had stepped foot in the conference room at Luxurious Bedding Company’s corporate headquarters yesterday.

It wasn’t bad enough that the man was too good-looking to be allowed. No, he had to be charming, too. And so tall that she felt like a china doll standing beside him, those broad, broad shoulders taking up more than his fair share of space.

Inhaling deeply, April reined in her thoughts, only to find Rex still eyeing her bags, as if it was killing him to let her carry them unassisted. Which was just so gentlemanly, darn it.

Finally, the line shuffled ahead and they reached the ticketing agent, where all her plans to work on the flight were almost waylaid before they got off the ground. She had to fight to keep her carry-on bags and only won the battle after the ticketing agent made a big show of measuring the large one to ensure it would fit in the overhead compartment.

By the time she fell into step beside Rex for the walk to the gate, April wished she’d just checked the bags in the interest of time.

When airport security personnel swarmed the monitoring station while their carry-ons were undergoing inspection, April knew she should have checked the bags.

Whatever the problem was, it had to do with her luggage.

“What do you have in there?” Rex asked her.

“Just some work.” She didn’t volunteer any more information. She didn’t need to because two security workers were currently opening the bags to begin a search. Rex was about to find out exactly what she’d packed, along with everyone else within ten feet of the monitoring station.

A man standing in the line behind them complained loudly enough for them to overhear. “Now what’s wrong?”

Rex shot the man a frown, then glanced at her, brow raised in question. “The Fetish Collection?”

She only nodded, unable to do anything more than stare as the security people pulled out items from her bags, painstakingly examining each one before laying it on the immobile conveyor belt in full view of the crowd.

The black sheet set with pockets built into the sides to hold sexy goodies like…

The dual-temperature vibrator with a clear plastic casing that could be filled with ice water for a sensual experience guaranteed to earn a shiver…

The pair of Pleasure Pearls Ben-Wa balls that clicked together noisily in their clear plastic box….

“An impromptu consumer study. I wouldn’t have thought of it,” Rex said conversationally. “Got a notebook? You can start documenting peoples’ reactions.”

April didn’t bother answering what she assumed had been a rhetorical question. She didn’t bother looking at Rex either. She didn’t need to see his face to recognize his amusement.

But she couldn’t figure out what he found funny about the looks the security personnel kept shooting their way. Or their suggestive sniggers. Or the nearby passengers’ barely muffled comments about where they were planning to use those sheets.

“We’ll have to confiscate the handcuffs, sir,” a security worker said.

“Think we’ll be able to manage without them?” Rex asked.

Another rhetorical question she didn’t bother answering, not when his question was drowned out by the amused voices all around them and the sound of blood pounding hard in her ears. She just glared up at Rex, scowling her displeasure that he had all these people thinking the Fetish Collection belonged to them for personal use.

“We’re marketing consultants working on the launch of a new product line,” April explained.

Maybe it was her squeaky-voiced delivery. Or maybe it was the blush. But her explanation only drew more attention. The crowd inched closer to the monitoring station, every pair of eyes within ten feet darting down to assess the neatly packaged leather restraints, stainless steel nipple clamps and the—what on earth was that? Oh, that must be a cock ring.

The expressions ranged from shock to amusement and strongly suggested no one was buying her explanation. Rex only snorted when the impatient man behind them didn’t bother lowering his voice to make a crack about perverts sleeping with women young enough to be their daughters. A gross exaggeration as Rex was only thirty-two.

To Rex’s credit he didn’t seem bothered by the stares and lewd comments, although he would have been well within his rights to blame her for this whole embarrassing delay. He remained good-natured in the face of adversity, which showed a great deal of restraint under the circumstances.

She, on the other hand, demonstrated no such restraint. The security personnel took their sweet time cramming all the items back inside her bag and the attached case. By the time they’d made room for the Naughty Nipple Cream and the Kegel Balls and snapped the latch on the case shut, April was barely containing the urge to run back in the direction of the terminal.

What on earth had John been thinking? What had Wilhemina been thinking? They both knew better than anyone that she simply wasn’t cut out for fieldwork. Not even inside surveillance. And especially not to surveil a man who was so darned handsome that her tongue tangled in a knot every time he looked her way.

She was screwing up already and she wasn’t even out of Dallas. Not good. But she didn’t get a chance to dwell on how she’d just cost them another ten minutes before Rex touched her. One brush of his warm fingers on her hand, and she felt a jolt that zapped every thought out of her head.

“It’s okay, April,” he said. “There’s no law against sex toys in Texas. We won’t wind up in prison.”

And now he was on to her. She couldn’t decide if she was annoyed that he’d noticed her anxiety or touched that he’d made an effort to reassure her. Not that she could be reassured with everyone in a ten-foot radius thinking they liked kinky sex.

“I had no idea those gizmos would cause a problem,” she said as soon as she’d caught her breath and they were on their way again.

Several flights appeared to have arrived, slowing their progress by forcing them to pick their way through the crowds. “I even remembered to take my pepper spray off my key ring.”

He only shrugged. “It’s the tightened security measures. Slows down the travel process.”

“Well, we’re almost at the gate, hopefully with no more—”

April cut off abruptly when the luggage handle was ripped forcibly from her grasp. Spinning around, she realized that someone’s garment bag had snagged the wheel of her roll-on, sending it thumping along the floor and nearly tripping an inattentive passenger, who hop-skipped over it at the last possible second.

But not before he kicked the smaller case—which security obviously hadn’t reattached properly—and knocked it away. The latch burst open as soon as it hit the floor. There was a loud crack and the items spilled out.

Here we go again. April winced as the plastic casing on the vibrator shattered. The box holding the Pleasure Pearls exploded in a burst of clear plastic shards. The balls shot away in different directions.

“Another impromptu consumer study?” Rex asked.

April didn’t dignify that question with an answer, but leaped into motion, deciding damage control was the better part of valor. Diving for the case, she missed the ball she’d been reaching for when an errant foot kicked it away.

Suddenly Rex appeared at her side, shielding her from the crowd with his big body.

“Hey, lady, you lost your dildo.” Some jokester handed her the vibrator with the cracked casing.

April issued a weak, “Thanks.”

Rex plucked the vibrator from her hand and said, “Grab the rest of these things. I’ll get your bags back together.”

He sounded positively jolly and she glanced around to find him reattaching the case to her roll-on with a wicked grin.

April didn’t need to be asked twice. Lunging forward, she grabbed the leather restraints, which were still bundled inconspicuously in their packaging, handed the bundle to Rex and took off for a Pleasure Pearl Ben Wa ball that had landed under a newspaper dispenser.

It was while on her knees reaching for the ball that she noticed the sneakers. A pair of spiffy clean child’s sneakers attached to two sturdy legs. Lifting her gaze, April took in the fists jammed into the shorts pockets, the bright print Hawaiian shirt covering the solid body of a towheaded boy who couldn’t have been more than four years old.

People were whizzing past them at rush hour speed but he didn’t appear to have a parent nearby. Sure enough, one look at those round blue eyes revealed the little guy was positively terror-stricken.

Wedged in the shadows between two newspaper dispensers, he looked as though he’d been overwhelmed by the crowd and had sought the nearest hiding place. At the moment, April could completely relate with the need to hide.

“Hello.”

No reply. The child was clearly too scared to even cry and the sight of him toughing it out in the shadows tugged at her heartstrings. She could relate to losing parents. She’d lost two sets in her lifetime, though never at this little guy’s age.

Sitting back on her haunches, she met his gaze at eye level. “Did you lose your mom and dad?”

Still no reply, but she caught the flicker in those big blue eyes and knew she’d hit the bull’s-eye.

“I lost my mom and dad once, too. We were at Disney World. I wasn’t holding my mom’s hand because I was eating an ice-cream cone. All of a sudden I was alone.”

She smiled reassuringly. “I was really scared, but I knew my mom would come to get me. So I tried to remember exactly what she’d told me to do if I ever got lost. She’d said to find a policeman or someone with a name tag that worked close by. And she told me not to talk to strangers. Did your mom tell you something like that, too?”

He blinked, which April interpreted as a yes.

“Great. Well, since I’m a stranger, you don’t have to talk to me, but how about if I ask one of the airport people with the name tags to call your mom and tell her where you are so she can come get you. I’ll bet she’s looking for you right now.”

He managed a small nod.

April kept smiling and stood, hoping to flag down a passing airport employee. She had no intention of leaving this little guy alone and wouldn’t traumatize him any further by forcing him to leave his hiding place to go in search of help. She turned to find Rex right behind her.

“Oh, Rex. I’m glad you’re here. Would you mind—”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, indicating that he’d overheard the exchange. He parked her roll-on beside her and headed back into the crowd.

“That’s Mr. Rex,” she explained to her new charge. “He’s a friend of mine so he’ll go get someone who can find your mom.”

The little guy kept his hands jammed tightly in his pockets but April noticed the Star Wars light saber attached to his belt. John’s grandson had one like it, so she struck up a one-sided conversation about how she and little Joel liked to play Jedi knights.

She hadn’t yet heard a page over the intercom system before a woman burst through the crowd. “Jake!”

One glimpse at the petite blonde and the little guy dissolved into tears. So did the panic-stricken mom.

Rex appeared a second later with an airport security officer and a man who was obviously the dad, judging by the two other towheaded children hanging on to him.

It turned out that Jake’s family was on their way to a vacation in Hawaii—a fact corroborated by their matching Hawaiian shirts. While Jake was still too traumatized to smile, his mom and dad offered profuse thanks.

“Glad we could help,” April said, grabbing her roll-on bag, afraid to look at her watch because the chances of making their flight after this delay were slim. “You all have a nice time on your trip.”

She wasn’t quite sure what she could say to Rex that might make up for causing so many delays, so she just held up the Pleasure Pearl and said lamely, “Got it.”

Turned out no explanation was necessary. Rex led her to the gate, explained the situation to the agent, grinned that killer grin and managed to make arrangements for the standby list on the next flight to Atlanta.

“We’ve got an hour to burn,” he said. “Let’s get coffee.”

He didn’t come out and say he needed a cup, but April got the distinct impression he did, especially when he stood at the counter and ordered five additional shots of espresso.

She had the most amazing effect on people. It was a gift.

After receiving her own decaf cappuccino—heaven knew she didn’t need any caffeine—she sat across from him at a table, used a stirrer to swirl the foam and contemplated what she wanted to say. This morning had not gone according to plan. She’d needed to slip smoothly into this man’s life, not convince him he’d been saddled with a total idiot for an assistant.

April knew she’d be okay if she could just get a grip on her nerves. Unfortunately, Rex Holt was exactly the kind of self-assured man who made her a nervous wreck. He was just too personable, too charming…. She should have stood up for herself and insisted that John send Sherry on this case.

“You handled that boy very well,” Rex said.

“Oh, thank you.” She glanced up into dark chocolate eyes that studied her curiously. “The poor little guy was terrified.”

Rex nodded and reached for his coffee. He had long, tanned fingers with neatly trimmed nails, and she followed them as he tipped the cup to his lips.

“Sorry we missed the flight,” she added.

“We have some breathing room.”

“Thankfully.”

She must have sounded too relieved because he arched a dark brow. “You don’t go out on assignment often, do you, April?”

Definitely the last question she wanted from him. “Actually there’s another assistant who does most of the out-of-house work, but she’s…on maternity leave,” April lied, seeing a pregnant woman walk by and spouting the first thing that came to mind. “Why do you ask?”

He sat back in his chair. The grin was twitching around his mouth and she was struck again by what a handsome man he was.

She really didn’t need to be testing out her field skills in front of this man.

“You seem nervous,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out if it’s you, me or the situation that’s making you feel that way.”

He was much too gallant to come right out and say that it would be a long few weeks of working together if she couldn’t relax. He didn’t have to. April had known that from the instant she’d laid eyes on him.

“I assume all the responsibility,” she said with forced lightness. “I’m pretty high-strung on the best of days.”

“So you’re okay with the logistics of us working together? I can get you a separate hotel room. We’ll manage.”

She was so tempted to accept. The absolute last thing she needed was to be sharing a suite with this utterly attractive man. She’d never maintain her composure having conversations about the kinds of items that had been rolling all around the airport today.

But accepting Rex’s offer wasn’t even an option. She needed to be close to see what he was up to. She couldn’t get much closer than sharing a suite.

Unless she was sharing his bed.

That thought appeared totally out of the blue and April squelched it as images of the broken vibrator and the leather restraints popped into her head. She had enough against her without letting her imagination run wild. “The logistics are fine, Rex, but thanks for the offer.”

He nodded and his hair caught the light overhead, drawing her attention to the glimmers of rich russet in brown hair not quite as dark as his eyes. Such an unusual color. Such an attractive color.

“You’re okay with our topic of study?” he asked.

“Of course. What’s not to like about dual-temperature vibrators and nipple clamps?”

He chuckled. “I’m going to take the Fifth. Given the responses we’ve gotten today, I’m hoping this isn’t indicative of the consumers’ reactions to all the lines. Amusement and shock don’t translate into high-gross sales and I don’t want to be called a dirty old man again.”

“Which part bothered you—the dirty part or the old part?”

Her question earned a full-fledged laugh and April felt the sound straight down to her toes, another example of the way this man was affecting her. And shouldn’t be.

“Both.”

“Forget it. That guy had to have been blind. We look like businesspeople, certainly not a couple having a May–December romance. You’re not old enough for one thing. And I’m not young enough.” She frowned before adding, “That’s a dismal thought.”

He cocked that brow again, as though not quite willing to debate the point, and set his cup on the table. Leaning forward, he closed the distance between them. “I found your impromptu consumer study very interesting. We got some varied reactions.”

She only nodded, thinking him very gallant to find something positive in that debacle.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us trying to figure out how to market this product. If what I saw today was any indication, establishing a baseline about who’ll be receptive to the sexier sheet sets isn’t going to be easy. There was a middle-aged woman nearby who couldn’t stop laughing. I’d have pegged her as the one to call me a pervert.”

“The guy who did the honors couldn’t have been much older than you are. His younger girlfriend probably just left him.”

“I hope he didn’t offend you.”

“At least he didn’t call me old, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed.” That was saying something. April Accidentally was very familiar with embarrassment.

“I’m surprised you brought along the whole collection. The literature wasn’t enough?”

“I suppose it would have been if I’d have thought about it. But I didn’t want to forget anything so I just stuffed everything in my bags.”

“You’ll do just fine on this job, April. Try to relax.”

She’d heard that before—from John just a few days ago, in fact. She forced a smile, but there was something about Rex, a perfect stranger—a suspect, for heaven’s sake—making the effort to reassure her that touched April someplace deep inside.

As deep inside as Rex seemed to see with his melting dark eyes. He’d seen right through her to recognize she was completely nerved out about doing her job, even if he didn’t know exactly what that job was.

It wasn’t enough that this man was so gorgeous she couldn’t forget she was a woman who would never have a normal relationship or a mind-blowing orgasm or a happily-ever-after. No. Rex Holt also had to be so nice that he made it difficult for her to remember that he was a suspect.

So she sipped her cappuccino as the million-dollar question roared through her head: just how was she supposed to conduct inside surveillance when observing the suspect made her think about what they could be doing between the sheets?

4

REX PLUGGED the last surge protector into the wall outlet and stood back to survey his handiwork. He’d transformed the suite’s formal dining area into a work center to rival his high-tech office in Chicago with an array of computers, peripherals and telephone/copy equipment.

He made it his practice to ship his office equipment ahead so it awaited his arrival in each scheduled city—a trick he made a mental note to share with his inexperienced new assistant before they moved on to Tampa. Given that she’d brought what must have been half her house to the airport today, she clearly didn’t appreciate the terms drop and ship.

Glancing at the closed bedroom door April had disappeared behind an hour before, he smiled. The suite at Atlanta’s exclusive Bancroft Hotel seemed uncharacteristically homey today with its plush sitting room, spacious dining area and small kitchen where he could cook, a hobby he enjoyed whenever time permitted. No doubt the prospect of seducing a very lovely lady accounted for the change.

There would be a seduction—if he could figure out what was making her so nervous. She was wound way too tight and it was a problem he intended to make every effort to handle because he found April an interesting woman and a study in contrasts.

He liked her ability to laugh at herself. She’d blushed furiously while people had commented about her suitcase of sex toys, yet she’d exhibited a calm, take-charge compassion that had managed to reassure a frightened child.

He’d wanted to know more about her and got her talking on the plane. She wasn’t currently involved with anyone—a good thing—but given her hesitation to discuss her love life, he questioned whether her experience included casual affairs, which was all he could offer.

His mobile lifestyle made the logistics of conducting long-term relationships ugly at best, so he avoided them at all costs and contented himself with casual affairs when mood and time permitted, which definitely wasn’t often enough. But he intended to go for it with April if she was interested.

The opening bedroom door dragged his attention to the lovely lady herself who appeared with a laptop case slung over a shoulder. She still wore her traveling clothes, jeans and a sweater, which alone was nothing more than a comfortable outfit. Yet on April, casual clothing clung to her every slim curve as though it had been poured on. The woolly pink sweater molded her full breasts in staggering detail.

“Wow! You’ve been busy.” She gave a low whistle, her gaze skimming over the equipment. “Got any room for me in here?”

She patted her laptop case absently, but there was nothing absent about the way Rex found himself taking in her appearance from the top of her soft brown hair to the tips of her manicured fingertips. His powers of observation were on in full force.

“Of course,” he said. “What have you got?”

Slipping the case from her shoulder, April deposited it on the table. “Just my laptop. You’ve got everything here. I won’t need to use the business center downstairs for much.”

“I’ll network you to my system so you can access all the equipment.”

“Great.” She moved around the table through the small pathway between the table and the desk, her gaze darting from scanner to laser printer to fax machine.

He watched her feet skim inattentively across the cable connecting his late-model system to the power supply and made another mental note to tape down the cable before his system wound up a pile of electrical circuitry on the floor.

Too late.

She snagged the cable. Rex saw the exact moment reflected in her face, in her mouth that formed a perfectly round O. She stumbled and reached for the table edge.

Grabbing the monitor before it went over, he had the wild thought that it might be safer on the floor beside the mini-tower, protected from the hotel sprinkler system and his whirlwind assistant. If he could just work lying down…

The keyboard went over in a clatter and April lunged for it, catching the cord in a spectacular save just before it hit the floor.

“Got it.” She heaved a relieved sigh when their gazes met across the table.

Her eyes reflected her emotions like a window and he recognized relief and embarrassment, not only in her face, but in the way she held herself frozen in midwince. A blush stole into her cheeks, a color that made her violet eyes seem even richer in hue, her skin even more translucent.

Something about her reaction suggested this wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with such accidents and her look of inevitability brought Rex to his senses. Relinquishing his hold on the monitor, he plucked the keyboard from her grasp and returned it to the table.

“Nice catch.” He smiled.

His smile had an incredible effect. April exhaled a pent-up breath, relaxed her primed-and-ready-for-disaster stance, and he realized then that she’d been awaiting his reaction, hadn’t expected him to make light of the incident.

Rex couldn’t say what it was about her relief that affected him, but it did.

Then with a light laugh, she breezed away and the moment passed. But not without leaving Rex with a few new insights. The first was that April was vulnerable behind that breezy laugh and her blushes, no matter how quickly she rebounded.

The second was that she had the most curious effect on him. Technically he shouldn’t be feeling anything but relief that he wouldn’t have to rush to an office supply store to replace his monitor. But segueing her through that uncomfortable moment made him feel ridiculously pleased with himself.

“Let’s look at your laptop and get you set up,” he said. “This is top-of-the-line equipment. The Luxurious Bedding Company issued you this?”

She lifted those big violet eyes to him again and damned if his pulse didn’t step up its beat.

“No. It’s mine. I need an up-to-date system to conduct adoption searches.”

More unexpected information. “Your own?”

“Afraid not. I abandoned my search years ago. I was born in a sealed record state. The woman I’m helping out now has a real good chance of tracking down a birth sister. She’s been waiting a long time and I’d rather not let the trail get cold. But my search won’t interfere with my work. I promise.”

She seemed so earnest that Rex had no doubt she meant what she said. Leaning back against the table, he folded his arms across his chest and pursued the topic, curious. “You couldn’t locate your family, but you help other people find theirs?”

She nodded, her gaze flicking up to high beam. “I learned so much with my own search it seemed a shame not to put the knowledge to use. I’ve been active in my local adoption society ever since college.”

“Really?”

Really, he soon discovered when she launched into a breathless tale of winding, often frustrating searches into the adoption system and how some states facilitated search efforts while others used legalities to thwart them entirely. She explained how luck could play a huge role in a search and how the outcomes weren’t always happily-ever-afters, although even unhappy answers were often better than unanswered questions.

Clearly these searches were her passion and he found her passion fascinating. As fascinating as he found watching her, her excitable movements drove home the fact that he had a long way to go before he could even contemplate seduction. Her nerves were making her downright dangerous, he decided while watching her sweep a hand around to illustrate a point, only to miss wiping out a table lamp by a bare inch.

“You’re knowledgeable,” he said hoping to keep April in her comfort zone, now that she’d finally stopped talking long enough to draw air. “I imagine the people with the adoption society consider themselves lucky to have you around.”

She shrugged, looked slightly embarrassed. “I’m sure that’s more than you ever wanted to know about adoption searches.”

“Not at all. Turns out that I’m very interested in things that interest you.”

“Oh.”

“Did you bring your cords?” he asked, deciding his best bet was to keep her off balance and reacting so she didn’t have time to analyze what was happening between them. “If not, I should have something that’ll work.”

She circled the table to unzip her laptop case and whipped out a tangle of electrical cords. “Here you go.”

The instant their fingers met sparks flew. April gasped and said, “Oops, sorry,” before spilling the cords into his hand, careful to avoid touching him again.

She bolted toward the sitting room and leaned against the sofa, her nerves clearly back in force. Rex watched her retreat, glancing at her sneakers with rubber soles that should have grounded her from creating static electricity on the carpet.

He had the vague thought that this woman conducted more voltage than a lightning bolt and made a mental note to call the front desk to have the hotel provide a mat for the floor of their work area. An extra precaution since April would be networked to his system and might inadvertently share her electromagnetic gifts.

“Great, you’ve got everything you need here. Give me a minute and we’ll be all set.” He connected her system to the switch box. “I’ve got cable access to the Internet. Do you need anything else?”

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