She cut short the embrace, working to cover her unease. “We’ll draw a crowd if we keep this up.” She tapped his mouth. “But I promise we’ll pick up where we left off. Tonight, I’ll feed you while nak*d.”
“It’s a date.” He winked his promise before stepping out of the car and around to her. He dropped a final quick kiss on her forehead, then climbed back behind the wheel.
Could she actually be watching his car pull away like the love-struck teen she’d once been? The twinge of uncertainty stirred inside her again, the fear he was playing along simply because of the baby as he’d done when Sophie entered their lives.
When would she believe he pursued her for herself? It all circled back around to trust taking time.
She backed toward the entrance, spinning along the door as she pushed inside. The lounge area buzzed lightly with piped in Muzak, their receptionist off to the left—and to the right, Ross waiting in her office door.
He shot her a wave. “Marianna, I need to speak with you for a minute.”
“Sure,” she answered, snagging her mail from the receptionist on her way to her office. “What do you need?”
Her boss closed the door after her, shutting them in the warm décor of her space, a place she’d decorated as a haven, complete with a soothing view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Ross followed her with lazy but even steps. “You can’t actually be planning to take him back.”
“You were watching us?” She tossed the mail and her purse onto her desk.
“Difficult to miss when you’re right outside the building in broad daylight.” He stroked his beard, his face tightening as if he was searching for words. “I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”
Her skin prickled and not in a good way. This wasn’t playing out like a professional meeting. Could there have been something to Sebastian’s suspicions? “While I appreciate your concern, this really isn’t any of your business.”
“I like to think we have more than a boss/employee relationship. I consider you a friend.”
Friend. She relaxed a little at the word. But not even for Ross could she hold back the tide of her emotions and the habit of speaking her mind. “As do I, but even friends need to be careful where they tread in offering relationship advice.”
“See, here’s the thing.” He hitched his hands on his jeans loops, parting his jacket. “I did my level best to keep my emotions in check and my hands to myself while you were still with him. Married women are off-limits in my book.”
Holy crap. Her feminine radar blared. “As they should be.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and if he knew anything about body language, he should read her back-off stance. Sebastian’s sensors about Ross had been right. The man had feelings for her, even if he kept them to himself. How could she have missed picking up on that all these years they’d worked together?
Ross ambled a step nearer. “But you’re not married now. I had planned to wait for you to get over the divorce, but I’m getting the sense that I may be short on time.”
She swallowed down a hint of resentment for the sake of professionalism, even as it angered her that he would tread into this terrain when she’d never given any indication she harbored those kinds of feelings for him. And he had seen her kissing Sebastian not five minutes ago.
“Please, don’t say anything more.” This conversation was spiraling out of control as fast as her spinning thoughts. She needed to make him understand he didn’t have a chance with her—and she needed to do it before he messed up their working relationship forever.
“I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t speak my mind.” He crowded closer to her, backing her until her legs smacked an end table. “He doesn’t appreciate you that way I do. Just give me a chance to show you how it could be between us.” He pulled her to his chest.
She flattened her hands to his lapels to shove him away before he did something he would regret—or she said something she couldn’t take back because it was getting harder and harder to put a cap on her mouth. “Ross, let’s talk reasonably for a minute—”
The door clicked open, almost thudding against her as it swung wide. God, what would the receptionist think? Marianna shoved harder but Ross wouldn’t budge.
“Hey, beautiful,” Sebastian’s voice echoed along with his footsteps against the carpet. “You forgot to eat breakf—”
She looked over Ross’s shoulders as Sebastian came into sight. His gaze went from open to angry in a flash of dawning realization.
Marianna twisted free, searching for something to say other than the too cliché: This isn’t what it looks like. She gripped Sebastian’s arm, still so flustered at Ross’s physical play for her she could barely comprehend this new turn of events. “Let’s be reasonable adults—”
Sebastian shook his head without taking his gaze off the other man.
She felt so damn bad for Sebastian and how angry he must be over walking in on them, basically confirming for himself what he’d feared all along. “If you’ll just step outside with me, we can sit in the car and talk.”
“Talk?” Sebastian turned narrowed eyes toward her. “I don’t think so, but I do think it would be a good idea if you step out of the room.”
“Ross?” Again she tried to intercede. “Leave my office, please.”
Her boss loped closer. “You’re not going to be alone with him, not when he’s in this kind of mood.”
Sebastian eased his arm from her grip and turned his full attention to Ross. “Are you daring to insinuate I would ever hurt Marianna? You’re the one hurting her by hitting on her in the workplace.”
She stepped between the two men, certain neither of them would actually harm her. “Both of you, please take the testosterone level down a notch.”
But neither of them was listening to her anymore.
Sebastian set her to the side with gentle hands at complete odds with the fury on his face. He pivoted on leather loafers to confront Ross. “I’m only going to say this once. Stay away from my wife.”
Her boss didn’t advance but he didn’t back down either. “She’s not yours anymore.”
“Like hell. She’s carrying my baby.”
Marianna might have been tempted to laugh at the stunned expression on Ross’s face—if she wasn’t so steaming mad at the pigheaded father of her child for telling about the pregnancy. Even if he’d been right about Ross harboring feelings for her, she still stuck to her guns in believing Sebastian should know he could trust her.
How much better this would have played out if he’d simply put his arm around her and said they were working on their problems. Apparently Sebastian could only change so much at a time. She opened her mouth to demand Ross deliver an apology and explanations for stepping out of line.
Only to stop short as her ex-husband hauled back his fist and decked her soon to be ex-boss.
Sebastian might have been tempted to smile over how fast and hard Ross fell back onto the sofa.Might have.
But rage steamed too hot and furious. The bastard wasn’t wasting any time moving in on Marianna. Having all those jealous convictions confirmed only served to fuel Sebastian’s anger.
He shook out his fist, angling toward Marianna, who must undoubtedly be shaken by what her boss had done. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a flurry of movement. Ross Ward surged up from the floor, tackling him at the waist. What the—?
Sebastian slammed back against the wall, rattling the Monet print by his head. Nose to nose with the object of too many marital fights, he couldn’t hold his fury in check any longer.
In some distant part of his brain, he heard people gathering in the open doorway as Marianna shouted, “Stop!”
He stole a quick glance to make sure she was staying a safe distance away. Ward clipped him across the jaw.
Damn, that actually hurt. Sebastian threw all his muscle into sending the poaching jackass crashing back into the tapestry chair.
The fight visibly slid out of Ward as he sagged into the seat. “Baby?”
Marianna nodded, her lips tight with unmistakable frustration. “It’s true. I’m two months along.”
Frustration? If anyone deserved to be mad, he did. Ward had plastered his slimy hands all over Marianna. Even thinking about seeing her so close to the other guy sent Sebastian seeing red. He kept an eye on Ward in case he decided to launch a surprise attack.
Gasping in the armchair, her boss worked his jaw. “I’m going to sue your ass for assault.” Ward looked over at the three people standing in the doorway—the receptionist and two strangers who must be clients. “You’re all witnesses to what happened here.”
Sebastian stepped closer, staring the man down. “Go ahead and try it. I’ll smack a countersuit against you so fast it’ll fry that overly groomed beard off your face. Even a first-year law student could see your behavior constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Marianna’s mouth went tighter as she strode across the room to close the door on the now gaping onlookers. She pivoted back around, her hands behind her on the brass knob.
“Both of you, stop it. I don’t belong to either one of you.” She turned to her boss. “I intend to speak with you later, but not now. Will you please step out so I can talk to the father of my child?”
As Ross left the room, Sebastian blinked back his surprise at Marianna’s words. Hearing her officially acknowledge their child for the first time sent a charge through him like nothing he’d felt since…since they brought Sophie home. And damn, that thought sideswiped him far harder than any punch from Ward. Except for once, Sebastian didn’t want to close off that thought.
He willingly let a happy memory of his daughter flood his brain until Marianna slid into his line of sight, cutting short the moment.
“Sebastian, you were right about him having feelings for me. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”
He hadn’t expected that to come out of her pretty mouth. “Okay then. We’re on the same page. Do you want me to get moving boxes or are there some around here that we can use to load up your office supplies?”
She patted his chest softly, unmistakably conciliatory. “You’re steamrolling me again. If I decide to quit, I can pack up my own office.”
“If?” His frustration shifted from Ward to Marianna. “What the hell are you talking about? Your boss just hit on you.”
“You seem to be missing the most important point.” She smoothed his tie, tightening the knot, which must have gone askew during the fight. “You had absolutely no reason to be jealous.”
He grasped her wrists to stop her nervous motions. “The guy wants to have sex with you. That’s reason enough.”
“There are women out there who want to have sex with you. Should I tear their hair out? Of course not.” She eased her hands from his grip, the six inches between them suddenly seeming a helluva lot wider. “I need for you to trust me, trust that I will make the right decision here. I’m not an unsure teenager anymore. I can take care of myself.”