Return to You

explain." Olivia pushed away her
hands and buttoned up the blouse herself. She turned Lainie around
to face the mirror again. "There."
    Lainie blushed. "I look—"
    "Like a sex kitten librarian." Olivia
grinned. "Men love that."
    Olivia was right. Lainie usually buttoned
her blouses all the way to the top, but now the collar fell open,
but not revealing but hinting at a whole lot. She could see the
lace of the bra through the white silk of the shirt. She squinted.
Was that a hint of nipple?
    "This is the first stage of the plan,"
Olivia said. "You'll tease him for a few days like this. Wear your
little suit coats, but leave them unbuttoned. In a few days, we'll
tackle your makeup, and then later we'll soften your hairstyle a
little. If you don't have him on his knees in a couple weeks, the
man is more machine than flesh."
    "You really think this will work?" Lainie
asked, staring at herself in the mirror.
    "Yes."
    Lainie turned and grinned. "I think you may
be right."

    His stare was hot and heavy, and it took all
her willpower not to fidget under it. Lainie kept her head lowered
to the laptop in front of her, but her attention was completely on
the man sitting across the table.
    She asked Everett to meet at Grounds for
Thought today, Eve's cafe, partly because she loved Eve's cafe and
wanted to support her and partly because the thought of being alone
with him unnerved her. If she was a wreck, she'd never pull this
scheme off.
    She sighed silently and nudged her glasses
up. She didn't have to look up to know Everett's gaze on her
sharpened. She could feel it piercing through her.
    Why wasn't he talking?
    Panic clawed at her. What if Olivia's subtle
makeover didn't work? What if she was just making a fool of
herself? How would she ever be able to face him again if she threw
herself at him and he politely declined. Or worse—laughed.
    Of all the people she had to fall in love
with, why did it have to be her boss? She was such a cliche. She
could have been original and fallen for a gaffer.
    "For God's sake, Elaine. What's the
matter?"
    "Excuse me?"
    He gestured in her general direction. "You
can barely keep still."
    "I'm perfectly fine," she said in her cool,
work voice.
    "Hmm."
    "I was going over the budget and it seems
like we're overspending in a couple areas."
    "Hmm." His pale green eyes never wavered. One long hand curled around
the handle of a coffee mug, the other tapped the tabletop in an
insistent, almost impatient rhythm.
    Impatient? Everett
was never impatient. He could be thinking about any number of things.
Just because he was restless didn't mean it had anything to do
with her presence.
For all she knew, it was the movie, not her choice in
underwear.
    She needed a test.
    Taking a deep breath, she shrugged out of
her coat as casually as she could. Draping it on the bench next to
her, she pretended to resume working but really peeked at him
through her lashes.
    He scowled at her.
    This had been a bad idea. She reached for
her coat to put it back on, but something made her stop and
actually look at him.
    His eyes were trained on her—right at chest
level. Under his tan, he was flushed.
    Which made her
flushed. The more he stared, the more she
swore it felt like a large, tapered hand caressed her. Her breasts
grew heavy and taut, which made her more conscious of the
unfamiliar feel of lace rubbing her sensitive skin.
    Everett mumbled something that sounded
suspiciously like a curse.
    "What was that?" Lainie asked.
    He pushed away from the table. "Pick up a
bottle of scotch for me."
    "Yes, sir." She opened the
Tasks feature on her laptop and typed in Macallan fifty year . "Anything
else?"
    He looked as if he was about to say
something, but he just shook his head. She admired his powerful
gait as he left the cafe.
    The second door swung shut behind him,
Lainie smiled slowly. Maybe Olivia was right. She couldn't wait to
launch the next attack.
     

Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    "Remind me again when you're going to give
me grandchildren."
    Olivia rolled her eyes.
" I'm your
grandchild, Gran."
    Gran glanced up from the potato she was
cutting and gave her a look.
    Well, it was true. "I don't understand this
crusade you've been on for the past six months."
    "No crusade." She swept the carrots into the
stew pot. "It's just time."
    What it was time for was a change in
subject. "I don't understand why you have to feed them every night.
How much are they paying you to stay here?" She opened the fridge
and pulled out salad