His hands locked on her shoulders. “I can’t believe it’s falling into place after all the problems we’ve encountered.” His arms dropped to her waist and circled her. With a burst of infectious laughter, he lifted her off the plush carpet and swung her around.
Caught completely off guard, Stephanie gasped and placed her hands on his shoulders in an effort to maintain her balance. “I’m very pleased for you.”
As if suddenly aware that he was holding her, Jonas relaxed his grip. Stephanie’s feet found the floor, but her hands remained on his shoulders, and her eyes smiled warmly into his.
He tensed, and the exhilaration drained from him as his gaze locked with hers. His hand slid beneath her long hair, tilting her head to receive his kiss. There was no thought of objecting on Stephanie’s part. Since the night in Paris, she’d longed for him to hold her. But she hadn’t admitted how much she’d wanted it until now. He kissed her a second time, and his mouth was hungry and demanding. His lips moved persuasively over hers, hot and possessive. She was as hungry and eager for him. A slow fire burned through her and she melted against him. “Oh, Jonas,” she whispered longingly.
He brushed his lips over hers a second time, then a third, as though he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Stephanie opened her mouth to him, drugged by the sensations he aroused.
His mouth ravaged the scented hollow of her throat and began a slow meandering trail to her ear. He paused, took in a deep breath, and waited a moment longer before releasing her. “Forgive me.” He brushed the wisps of hair from her temple. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
If he’d slapped her face, Stephanie wouldn’t have been so insulted. She felt like a fool. She’d savored the feel of his arms, lost herself in the taste of his kiss and the rush of sensations that flooded her soul, and he was apologizing.
To add to her humiliation, her eyes filled with tears until his stiff, unyielding figure began to blur her vision.
“No apology is necessary,” she murmured through the pain. “Just don’t let it happen again.”
Jonas hesitated as though he wanted to say something more, but then decided against it. Turning sharply, he stalked back to his desk.
Chapter Six
Well?” Maureen was at Stephanie’s desk early the following morning. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What happened?”
“Nothing much.” Stephanie kept her gaze lowered, doing her best not to reveal her emotions. She’d been depressed and out of sorts from the minute she left Jonas’s office.
“Nothing much? What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You had an argument?” Toni joined her friend. The two of them placed their hands on the edge of Stephanie’s desk and leaned forward, as if what she had to say was a matter of national importance.
“I wish,” Stephanie muttered, sighing heavily. “No, we didn’t argue.”
“But you don’t want to talk about it?”
“Very perceptive, girls.” She made busywork around her desk, inserting a pencil in the sharpener at the far edge of her desk. The grinding sound followed, but neither Toni nor Maureen budged.
“I think we need to talk to the others.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Stephanie insisted, her tone determined.
“Hey, come on, Steph, we’re all in this together. We want to help. At least tell us what happened.”
It was apparent that she wouldn’t have a minute’s peace until she confessed everything to her romance-loving friends. “Meet me at ten in the cafeteria,” Stephanie told them. “I’ll get it all over with at once, but only if you promise never to mention Jonas Lockwood’s name to me again.”
Toni and Maureen exchanged meaningful glances. “This doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s my final offer.” Replaying her humiliation was going to be bad enough; she didn’t want it dragged out any more than necessary.
“All right, all right,” Toni muttered. “We’ll be there.”
Stephanie’s morning went smoothly. Her boss, George Potter, was on a two-day business trip to Seattle, but there was enough work to keep Stephanie occupied for another week if need be.
When she arrived in the cafeteria later that morning, she found the four women sitting at the table closest to the window, eagerly awaiting her arrival. A fifth cup of coffee was on the table in front of an empty chair.
“From that frown you’re wearing, I’d say the meeting with Mr. Lockwood didn’t go very well,” Jan commented, barely giving Stephanie time to take a seat.
“There are no adequate words to describe it,” Stephanie said by way of confirmation, reaching for the coffee. “I’m sorry to be such a major disappointment to you all, but anything that might have happened between me and Jonas Lockwood is off.”
“Why?”
“What happened?”
“I could have sworn he was hooked.”
“To be honest,” Stephanie said, striving to be as forthright as possible, “I think Jonas may be attracted to me, but we’re too different.”