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Rowena shook hands with all three men as they stood up.
As they
walked out the door, she sat back down and turned her chair back to
the
window, sighing. She’d dodged that bullet ... it was a good thing
Martin
hadn’t thought past her initial explanation.
And, god damn her hormones, anyway. She’d felt Kevin watching
her through the whole frigging meeting, and her pulse had fluctuated
embarrassingly. One of the Backstreet Boys. Jesus Christ,
that was just her
luck.
“Rowena?”
The voice startled her, and she whirled back around. Kevin
was still
standing in front of her desk. “Yes?”
“It’s nice to see you. I didn’t get your name last night.”
“Well ... you have it now.” She watched him expectantly.
“Can I ...”
Whatever he was about to ask was cut off by Brian’s voice, coming
from the doorway. “Kev! We’ve got to go ... are you coming?”
“I’m sure I’ll see you again, Kevin. Have a good day.”
She turned
back to the window, having memorized the way his slacks fit around
his
hips and waist. Once out of sight, she blushed, hoping he hadn’t
noticed
where her attention was focused.
She turned back around when she finally heard her office door
close. A couple of simple breathing exercises brought her pulse
back to its
normal rate. “Oh, for god’s sakes,” she chided herself aloud.
Letting a
member of a boy band get her in such a state -- really! It wasn’t
like she
was anywhere close to being a teenager any more. She was 28,
a
businesswoman, and didn’t have time for that kind of silliness.
Unlike, say
...
“Ro!!!” The door burst open once more, and Lorraine came
flying
in. “I can’t believe it! You just had Brian Littrell and
Kevin Richardson in
your office!!”
“Yes ... so what?”
“So what??” Lorri squealed. “You mean you didn’t notice
that they
were two of the hottest men alive??”
Lorri planted herself on the desk and reached out for her arm,
pretending to take her pulse. Rowena silently was glad she’d
already
calmed herself. “What are you doing?”
“Checking to see if you’re alive.”
“I admit, they were cute ... I’m glad you didn’t have this freak-out
session while they were still here, though.”
The seventeen year old tossed her long, dark hair. “Oh,
please, I do
have *some* dignity. Besides, I had to go call Catie and tell
her.”
“And what did she say?” Rowena was actually half-surprised
that
the twins didn’t communicate psychically, like they sometimes seemed
to.
“You mean after she stopped screaming? She wanted to know
if
you were taking advantage of having them behind closed doors.”
Rowena rolled her eyes. “You two have one track minds.”
“Damn straight, we do. Besides ... didn’t I see Kevin come
back in
here after they’d walked out? Huh? What was up with that?”
Lorraine
looked at her expectantly.
“Nothing was ‘up with that’,” Rowena replied, feeling a slight
flush
come to her face.
“Oh, really? Then why are you red? Spill it, Ro!!”
“I’m not red.”
“Yes, you are.”
Rowena made a pretense of shuffling papers on her desk.
“Oh, very
well. I actually met Kevin last night, at the Indigo.”
Lorraine’s squeal was loud enough to nearly pierce an eardrum.
“What?? What did you do? How?”
“We danced. That’s it. I had no idea who he was.”
“You danced with him?? What kind of dance?? Was it sexy?”
“It was a dance. That’s it. Let’s change the subject,
shall we? Are
you and Derek going home for the weekend?”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. “I’m not done with you yet.”
“But I’m done with you. Do you need a ride home, or what?”
“Are you going?”
“For a night. I have to talk to your father.”
“All right, let me go call Derek, see if he’s going home or not.
But,
you do realize, if you’re stuck in a car with me for two hours, you’re
going
to have to give me the details on Kevin?”
“You have all the details already. Now, shoo, go call your brother.”
Sighing, Rowena watched Lorraine walk back out to her cubicle.
Sometimes she almost regretted letting the girl be her intern ... not
that she
didn’t love Lorri -- she and her twin were the younger sisters she’d
never
had -- but, normal people didn’t let their sisters work for them.
Sisters
didn’t let you hide behind professionalism when you were embarrassed
to
the core.
“It’s not Lorri’s fault that you’re in hormonal overload, though,”
she
muttered to herself. It had been too long since she’d had a man,
that was it.
When she got back from Allegra Island, she was going to have to find
someone to spend a night with ... someone to take her mind off of Kevin
Richardson.
