The soothing tone didn’t seem to placate her.
“You know, Knight, I’m not one of those wait-at-home types and I wish you would just figure that out once and for all. I told you right off the bat that I’m a straight-talking career woman, and you said you liked that about me. But the truth is, that’s not what you want. You want one of those soft-spoken agreeable women who will greet you at the door wearing an apron, the kids all pink from their baths, and smiles on their faces.”
She had lost him. Completely and utterly lost him. How had they gone from Delco to his fictitious wife and kids?
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
She went on like he’d never spoken. “Which is fine, because you’re entitled to want what you want. But the thing is, I don’t like being compared to a pie-baking paragon who doesn’t even exist, and I don’t like you implying that I don’t have the brains or the professionalism to assist this investigation.”
Derek opened his mouth, not at all sure what was going to come out of it.
But she kept going, the pause apparently just for air. “So the thing is, you have to either accept me just the way I am, unable to boil water and working for Chatterton, or the whole thing is just off. Off.”
Reese tooka sip of her drink, waiting for his response. She didn’t want to stop seeing him, but she had to make her point clear. There was no way she would ever be Holly Homemaker and she didn’t even want to try. And it didn’t matter because they both knew their relationship was only temporary, but she didn’t want any misunderstanding and she did not want him talking to her like she was clueless.
Knight just stared at her, a blank look on his face. Then he said, “Does this mean you’re not going to spend the night with me?”
Brought up short by his question, Reese thought about it. Not have sex with him anymore? She really didn’t think that’s what she had meant at all. There was no actual good reason they couldn’t keep seeing each other as long as he understood the score—that this was just a short-term thing and that he could not force her to leave Delco.
Besides, she was finding out that Knight was like potato chips. Once you tasted one, you wanted the whole bag. She was pretty sure she’d only made a small dent in the bag so far and she wanted to keep eating until she was full. Engorged, really.
“Well, no, not exactly. We can still do that as long as you understand I’m not quitting the Delco job.” She quickly added, “And that I’ll never cook anything for you. Ever.”
Knight stopped peeling the label off his beer bottle. “How about you agree to stay out of my job and I’ll agree to stay out of yours?”
He grinned, a slow, cocky grin that turned her insides into spicy salsa. “And that when I hand you the scoop for this story, like I’ve been promising since day one, you will bake me a pie from scratch.”
If he wanted to throw up from her baking, that was his business. Besides, she’d never completely believed that he would give her the story. If he did, she’d gladly bake him a pie. “What kind?”
“Pumpkin.”
“Fine.” By the time this case wrapped, every store in town would have pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. She’d just buy him one and fake it.
“And I get to watch you making it.”
Dammit. He knew her too well.
“Fine,” she said, significantly cooler this time.
Knight laughed out loud.
FORTY-TWO
Derek was sittingin his cubicle, listening to the day’s recording from Markson. CJ and Maddock were next to him, taking notes as they plowed their way through hours of corporate double-talk. Markson had told them that after the lunch break on Tuesday, Chatterton had asked him how the arrangements were going for the upcoming meeting in New Zealand.
Maddock had wanted to skip right to that segment, but Derek had insisted they listen to everything.
Now he was damn sorry he had.
Every time he turned around, he could hear Reese’s voice, attending to various needs around the room. She appeared to have become quite popular in the course of her day and a half on the job. All the execs called her Reese and teased her jovially.
It made Derek insane with jealousy.
“Can you have copies run of this report, Reese?” he heard Chatterton say on the tape.
“Sure, Ashton. But it will have to wait until after lunch. I’m starving.”
Derek hung his head. Aside from the fact that she was the only assistant he’d ever heard call Chatterton by his first name,Reese was also telling the head of the company to wait for his request.