Driven to Temptation, page 14
Aidan hesitated, chanced a quick look back. True, there was a group of people huddled around the booth, some of them even looking their direction.
But what about Delaney? She was pissed. Right now, he couldn’t blame her. She didn’t let anyone tell her what to do, and yet she’d trusted him. And he’d let her down. But it made sense to take advantage of the situation and get some business for the firm. The strange ache in his chest and the way his gut churned told him to make things right with her, first.
“Go,” she directed. “Your future is waiting for you.”
“Look.” He didn’t bother to hide the regret in his voice. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Yeah.” She snorted with a shake of her head as she stepped away. “Right.”
Aidan watched her walk away. His gut churned as she continued to put distance between them. For the first time in ages he’d allowed someone to see the real Aidan Ross…and she’d walked away because he was too methodical, because he still didn’t recognize the human element in his plans.
Just when he thought he’d found the woman to bring him out of his cave, she had to go and prove that being the Ice King wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Chapter Twenty-One
Delaney maneuvered the rental car into I-5 traffic. On an early Thursday afternoon, there shouldn’t be so many blasted vehicles on the roadway, should there?
Her heart tripped, not at the number of vehicles, but more because of what she’d gone through the last hour.
Of course she’d left. How could she not? She certainly couldn’t share another night with Aidan. Not after what he’d done, after what she’d overheard, and even though he tried to stop her from leaving, in the end he still let her turn around and walk away. No. She definitely wasn’t staying after that.
Trouble was, she liked Aidan. A lot.
And not just professionally. That was the hell of it. She could see herself with him, working on projects together late into the night, and even later nights when they were in bed.
Oh God.
She’d be on her way to kinda doing what her mother had expected her to do—go to college and find an engineer to marry.
Not that they were anywhere near the marriage stage. And her mom might’ve expected it to happen before she left college, got her degree and a great job, but it’d be a start. Next she’d insist that Delaney follow the path Harper women had walked for generations: stay home and let the man take care of her. As. If.
Delaney stifled a sob and sucked in a deep breath. She couldn’t think, and clearly traffic wouldn’t let her move more than a few feet at a time.
She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. What would Professor Keith say about all this?
Images of her old mentor, of her wisdom through college, burst to center stage in her mind. The woman was brilliant. She’d taught Delaney most of what she knew about the life of a civil engineer, and some of what she’d learned about writing computer software.
Professor Keith had instructed the few women in the program that they shouldn’t play the game, shouldn’t give the impression that they’d flirt their way—or worse—up the corporate ladder. She’d been the one to remind them to harness their inner power and find their individual successes down that path. Nothing else would do. Nothing meaningful, anyway.
Delaney reached for her cell phone and then tapped the speed dial number. It’d been a while since they’d talked, and somehow, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
“Hello, Delaney.” The woman’s crisp, cool voice came through the earbud, immediately giving her some measure of comfort.
“Hey. Long time no talk.”
“So talk.”
The woman was direct, didn’t waste time, didn’t believe in wasting time.
Still, Delaney paused.
“Where are you?” The older woman’s voice gentled.
“Heading back from Seattle.”
“You’re hesitating,” she said after a short while. “Do I need to make myself a cup of tea?”
“If you like.” Tea and talk was something they’d done off and on while she was in college. Sometimes their conversations were all about engineering; other times, they were about driving her career in the direction she wanted. After Professor Keith had helped her figure out what that was.
In the background, she heard the tap water running. “Okay, then. What’s on your mind, young lady?”
Delaney’s words were short, measured, and without emotion as she relayed the past few days’ events. Everything except the part about sleeping with Aidan, sleeping with her boss.
Damn. What had she been thinking?
“Well, I’m not surprised.”
She applied the rental car’s brakes as another vehicle cut in front of her. “You’re not?”
“No.” There was a slight pause. “Did I ever tell you the story of the first time I played with the big boys at a conference?”
“I don’t think so.” If she had, Delaney was sure she’d remember.
“I’d just accepted a position with a civil engineering firm out of Los Angeles, and was at a national conference in Dallas. There were utility companies, and city and state officials there. Even an international construction company that had a design team on staff.”
Delaney checked her mirrors as traffic picked up speed again. “What happened?”
“I was pitching to this pompous ass of a man from one of the largest architectural design firms on the East Coast. Everyone was there, trying to land the account, and my company had been courting him for years. He’d scheduled meetings with representatives in one day, in a small conference room.”
She paused. “Constance, get off the counter, sweetie.” She made a disapproving sound, and Delaney could picture her shooing the gray-and-white tabby. “Sorry about that. The poor dear still has to be reminded.”
She smiled. “You’ve been reminding her for years.”
“Well, anyway… Where was I? Oh, yes.” She cleared her throat. “When it was my turn, I was telling him about the products and services we could offer his company. Turns out the only service he was interested in was what I might be able to provide in the bedroom.”
She’d heard of that kind of harassment in the industry. She wasn’t so isolated from it that she wasn’t aware it occurred on some level. “Then what happened? What did you do?”
“The only thing I could. I dumped an entire carafe of freshly brewed hot coffee on his lap, then I politely apologized, gathered my things up, and left.”
“You didn’t.” Delaney knew her mentor was a tough lady who didn’t take crap from anyone, but she had no idea the older woman had it in her to be so ballsy.
“Oh, I did. Cost my company a bundle in legal fees when he sued for medical bills and damages. Not that he got anything when I threatened a sexual harassment countersuit.” Amusement tinged her voice as she continued. “It was so worth it to see the look on the bastard’s face when he must’ve realized he wasn’t getting a blow job anytime soon.”
Then she giggled.
The sound was so uncharacteristic, yet Delaney couldn’t help it. Once the older woman started, she giggled as well. It was like sharing a secret with a dear friend. Soon the giggles turned into flat-out laughter. The belly-shaking kind that left her wiping tears from her eyes as she motored through southbound traffic.
She missed her old professor, missed the woman’s wisdom that was so different from her own mother’s.
“Well, my first conference experience wasn’t exactly stellar, either,” Delaney said after a few gulps of air calmed her down. “Although I did nail a huge account for Ross and Associates.” Despite that, the victory rang hollow.
“Congratulations. What could’ve possibly tainted that experience for you?”
“My boss tricked me into wearing something I wasn’t comfortable with. At least, not at first. He said that he wanted me to feel powerful, and that the suit would help me own the room when I gave my presentation today.”
“And did it?”
“Yeah.” There was no denying it. “But he did it to impress a couple of jerky clients.”
“So he was a jackass about it, but I bet in a suit, with your brains and your intuition, you’re even more a force of nature to be reckoned with.”
Delaney chewed on her lower lip. Was she really a force of nature?
“After all, you’ve had lots of practice in that department, what with all those older brothers to keep up with. You had to make better grades, get better internships, and be smarter than they are. That’s something to be proud of, something to hang on to. Remember that.”
And that was the rub. Shouldn’t those things be enough? “Being smart is one thing, but why would I have to wear a pantsuit and high heels? Didn’t you tell us to use our brains to get ahead? That powerful women shouldn’t have to play the game to get to the top? Isn’t that what I just did? Played the game?”
“Oh, dear.” Professor Keith sighed as the teakettle sang a high note. “A pantsuit and heels, you said? Were they tasteful?”
“Yes. Why?”
Her professor sighed again. “Oh, Delaney. I knew you were bright since the first lecture I gave. You asked thoughtful questions and you participated in every lecture. And you also tend to overthink things.” She paused. “A pantsuit is more than acceptable. Did you feel uncomfortable in it?”
“No, the outfit was very comfortable. Even the heels, if you can believe it.” Delaney glanced at her blind spot before maneuvering into the slow lane for the rest area just ahead. “I didn’t just look taller, I felt taller.”
“And because you looked good, you felt good. Am I right?”
“I did.” To be honest, she could use some of that goodness right now. Maybe she should go back and get the suit.
The woman’s voice gentled. “When I said you ladies shouldn’t play the game, I meant that your brains, your smarts, should be what stand out in the engineering field. I didn’t mean you shouldn’t dress well or be charming. How we carry ourselves says a lot about our confidence. And confidence sells.”
That was more or less what Aidan had said. She pulled the rental into a parking spot at the rest area and put it in park. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Right.” But the word didn’t come out with the kind of force Delaney would’ve expected, didn’t carry the conviction she wanted.
Her mentor seemed to sense that, too. “Is there something else going on, young lady?”
The gently asked question jolted her out of her head. “No.” She hesitated a moment. “Well, yeah.”
Then the words spilled out, the road trip, the evening with Aidan, the way she’d left him, the way he’d let her go.
And the words weren’t mechanical, either, spilling out of her in short gasps and sobs that made her rest her forehead on the steering wheel.
All the while Professor Keith remained quiet, encouraging words of comfort interjected in all the right spots. Delaney never knew this side of the older woman existed. But right now she felt so raw, so exposed, she couldn’t keep any of it from her, had to share what was tearing her apart.
“You know, my dear, life can be as complicated as you choose it to be. But it can also be simple. It might not be easy, but it can be very simple.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? “Oh?” Delaney reached for a tissue out of her handbag. “And I suppose you think I’ve complicated it immensely.”
“Perhaps. But perhaps it also means you need to stop and take stock of your life. Maybe you need to figure out what you really want.”
“I know what I want.” She blew her nose and smiled. Her mother would’ve scolded her, telling her the noise was unladylike. Aidan would’ve handed her another tissue.
Aidan. Her heart ached, a dull, stabbing sensation that refused to be ignored.
“Do you? Being powerful means making choices that fit into the way you want to live your life and not settling for anything less.”
“What if it doesn’t work out?” she asked as she blotted her nose with a tissue. “What if it fails miserably?”
“What if it doesn’t? What if it turns out to be the best move you’ve ever made for yourself?”
Good point.
“If you decide to really face this head-on,” the older woman continued, “you also have to be ready to make a move, to take some sort of action. That’s a big part of being a powerful woman, you know. Acting on your wants, your needs.”
“It is? I thought being powerful meant shouldering your way through life, getting what you want based on your brains, not your body.”
“Perhaps. But being powerful also means owning all the parts and pieces of your life, and ultimately being happy with those parts and pieces.”
Well, damn…
That put a totally new spin on things. And for the first time since she’d left central Oregon a couple days ago, Delaney wasn’t sure what the hell she was supposed to do.
But one thing was clear. If she truly owned her life, she had to confront her parents. She glanced at the clock. They’d just left for their annual six-month stint in Hawaii. Given the time difference, they were likely just rolling out of bed. Which gave her enough time to think about what, exactly, she’d say before she called them. Good thing she still had a long drive back to Milestone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aidan stood in the doorway to the hotel room, searched for any sign that Delaney hadn’t bailed.
No clothes heaped in a corner. No chocolate bars, potato chip bags, or packages of cookies. Even the Gatorade bottles had been cleaned up.
There was a stab to his chest, one he wasn’t sure he could ignore for very long. He swallowed deeply as he looked around again, like maybe he’d missed something, anything, that told him she hadn’t gone very far.
Nothing.
Delaney was really gone.
“God fucking damn.” He stepped farther into the room, and the thud of the door closing behind him registered. Maybe she’d left a note or something.
“What?” Grant asked. “What’d I do?”
Aidan frowned. He was losing it. How the hell could he have forgotten he was on the phone with his brother? “Sorry. Not you. Now what about the new girl?”
“She’s a woman. Kaitlyn. But forget about her. What the hell’s eating at you?”
Aidan shoved a hand through his hair. “Nothing.”
There was a slight pause. “Bullshit. Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”
“I’m telling you it’s nothing.” But even as he said the words, his heart felt like it’d been ripped in half…then put through a shredder.
“I’m listening. I’ve got the time whenever you’re ready.”
Aidan hesitated. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one who solved problems, not had one he couldn’t handle. He swallowed down a lump of emotion. “I think I lost her.”
He headed toward the desk, the same desk they’d taken advantage of last night. The sight of it propelled him back to those moments. The husky noises she made when he was buried deep inside her…the way she tightly held on to him when she climaxed. All of it was here, in this room.
And she wasn’t.
“Go on,” Grant said.
“I screwed up. Bought her clothes so she’d look…” What the hell was the word? “Commanding,” he finally said. “Commanding attention. The way she deserved.” Who the hell was he kidding? It wasn’t all about her. “I did it for the company, too. I did it so that she’d impress the trade show visitors so they’d listen to her. That’s where I screwed up. And now she’s gone.”
As if to confirm what he already knew, Aidan slid open the doors to the closet. There it was, carefully hung in the garment bag. The pantsuit she’d worn earlier. On the closet floor were the heels that went with it, neatly arranged directly underneath the outfit.
“You realize you sound like a crazy person,” his brother said. “But keep talking, buddy.”
“I should’ve come clean with her yesterday, should’ve told her what those assholes had said in the hotel gym. Then she could’ve decided whether or not she wanted to change her image.” That would’ve been the right thing to do. That would’ve left the options completely up to her instead of him deciding for her. That would’ve shown her how much he trusted her, respected her ability to choose for herself.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. If he hadn’t been such a dick about everything, she’d likely be here now. With him. And they’d be celebrating Ross and Associates’ success. One she’d single-handedly orchestrated.
The realization smacked him almost as hard as his foster brother once had. Delaney was responsible for their current success. She challenged him both in and out of the bedroom. He wanted her, needed her. Not just as the CEO of Ross and Associates—but in his life, too. And now she was gone.
“Shit.”
“You know you only swear out loud when something means a lot to you. I’m guessing Delaney’s in that category.”
She was, wasn’t she? No matter how hard he tried to deny it, Aidan knew he had to face it. Still, his head tried to wrap itself around the idea.
“This is Delaney we’re talking about, right?”
“Yeah.” A tightness gripped his chest, squeezed hard.
Wait a minute… “How’d you know her name?” Aidan asked.
“I called Harold after we got off the phone the other day.”
Figured. “I care about her,” he admitted. “A lot.”
Silence.
“She’d done a great job of showing Ross and Associates as a viable industry player,” he continued. “But I also saw how she’d changed, the way she’d become comfortable with herself. The way she’d turned into an amazingly powerful woman and commanded attention.”
She’d felt it, too. She’d admitted as much.
“So you bought her an outfit. Something that made her command attention. That’s not a bad thing. You kinda did the same thing for me.”
Aidan frowned. “What’re you talking about? I never bought you clothes.”
“No, but remember when I tried to get a job in high school? Remember how no one would hire me? You told me it was important to show a potential employer I was put together well enough to be reliable. That I looked like I could hold a job.”
