Hightower Affairs 2: Bedding the Secret Heiress by Emilie Rose Page A

Today was very interesting and informative. But I haven’t been to San Francisco before, and I’d rather see more of it than the inside of a computer parts plant. My daddy always said take a little piece of everywhere you go home with you even if it’s only in your heart, and I aim to do that.”
    If he turned her loose, she’d go back to that damned Internet café. “We’ll work in the morning then sightsee in the afternoon and have dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf tomorrow night. That means we’ll have to work Monday morning, as well, and leave after lunch.”
    “We?” Equal parts wariness and excitement warred in her teal eyes.
    “I’ve been here a few times. I’ll show you around. But in return, you come to the plant and work with me.”
    Silence stretched between them. Her ankle kicked. “Another command appearance?”
    “This is more of a personal request. I appreciated your assistance today.”
    “I guess that would be all right.” She swiveled back to the computer. “Here’s the document. I’ll get out of your way.”
    She made to stand. He put a hand on her shoulder, holding her in her seat. The firmness of her muscles surprised him. It shouldn’t have, not with the way she easily controlled her seven-hundred-pound motorcycle or an airplane that weighed several tons. “Don’t move.I’ll read over your shoulder. That way if I have questions you can see to what I’m referring.”
    “O…kay.”
    Gage set his drink on the desk, braced one hand on the polished surface and the other on the back of her chair and leaned forward. Her scent wafted up to him, floral, but faint enough he suspected it might be her shampoo rather than perfume. It took several moments for him to be able to focus on the words on the screen. As soon as he did she hooked him with her unique premise.
    He reached past her to hit the key to turn the page, his forearm brushing hers. Heat scattered through him, but he disregarded it. Or tried to. Ten pages later, he nodded as he read the closing line.
    An even deeper appreciation for her intelligence filled him as he turned his head to meet her gaze. “You’ve argued your theory quite well. Did you come up with the idea or did your professor assign a topic?”
    “It’s my idea. I like coffee, and I tend to buy a cup whenever I’m out running my weekly errands. I never have to drive more than a half mile out of my way to get it. But a lot of coffee shops don’t stay in business long.
    “In the rush to have a store convenient to every consumer, most franchises allow branches to open up too close together, thereby sabotaging their revenue base and dooming themselves to fail. Even some grocery stores have coffee shops now. The same applies to restaurants and retail chains. The businesses are their own worst enemy.”
    She bit her bottom lip as if expecting him to contradict her. But he couldn’t. She was right. Too much of a good thing was never a good thing. But seeing doubt instead of her usual cocky confidence revealed a vulnerable side she’d been careful to hide from him up to this point.
    Could this woman be the conniving bitch Trent claimed? She seemed too smart, too capable and too willing to work hard. Sure, Trent had been right about Angela, but Gage had become a decent judge of character since his ex-wife’s stormy, expensive departure a decade ago. None of the women he’d allowed into his life since his divorce had fooled him.
    Lauren dampened her lips again, drawing his attention to her mouth. The memory of the kiss they’d shared ambushed him with sensation and need. She must have read the hunger on his face because she gasped and her eyes widened.
    “You’re quite an impressive woman, Lauren Lynch. If you weren’t such a damned good pilot, you’d make a good business consultant.”
    “Gage—”
    He ignored her warning tone, leaned in and stole his name from her lips. She went rigid. But she didn’t pull away. After a moment her mouth relaxed beneath his,