NextMoves by Sabrina Garie Page A

value the firm
offered if it stayed open. They agreed, even talked about expanding the site.
It was too easy. They rolled over too soon. Now I see why. They used it as a
financial cover.”
    “That’s what you were doing when we met at the airport.”
    “Yes, and that’s what we were celebrating when you arrived.
You were too busy mauling me in the conference room to take notes.” She allowed
herself a smile even though her life had just been slammed headfirst into the
toilet.
    “I’d like to be mauling you now but finish the story.” His
hold tightened around her, a temporary sanctuary against the chaos banging at
the front door.
    “Two of the vice presidents who negotiated the deal were
fired so we can assume the deal’s off and they’ll close Health Corp as
initially planned. We’ll lose those jobs and other health care companies that
can’t adjust quickly enough to the loss of Health Corp’s contracts. The
economy’s fragile, barely recovered from the decline of manufacturing. This
will be a serious blow.”
    “What happens now?”
    Although all she wanted to do was lose herself in the man
next to her, that wasn’t her way. “We get to work.” Ripping herself out of his
embrace, she gathered her laptop, the portable phone, her Blackberry, a pen and
paper, and dumped it all on the kitchen table amidst their half-eaten
breakfast. She cupped his face between her hands and kissed him, fast and hard,
a last indulgence before she dove into the problem at hand. “Roll your sleeves
up, good-looking. We have a town to save. You’re on the computer, I’m on the
phone.”
     
    Jocelyn’s shift from playful, affectionate lover to
tough-as-nails CEO kicked his ego in the balls with a metal-tipped boot. He
knew he was being unreasonable, but anger ground up what was left of his
breakfast, whether it was warranted or not.
    Instead of fucking her to heaven and back, which was what he
should be doing, he’d morphed into her assistant, caught up in a flurry of
business meetings, phone calls and intelligence gathering. This was Joci’s
world and he understood why she fought relationships. A town sat on those
slender shoulders and she dragged it around without a word. When she thought no
one was looking, she ducked into a corner, wiped off the sweat, sewed a smile
on her face and came back swinging. If he wanted her, he’d have to lift some of
the weight, not jump on the crush wagon. Association of Executive Assistants,
here he came. “More coffee?”
    “Please,” she said, not looking up from the notepad, her
hand scribbling.
    Coffee mugs on the table, he massaged her shoulders, his
fingers kneading through knotted flesh. “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here
for you, baby.”
    “You’ve done this before.”
    “Of course, I have physical education and kinesiology
degrees. I know all the muscles in the body, every nerve ending,” he nipped at
the pulse beating in her neck, “and all pleasure points.”
    She sighed and leaned into his hands. “If only…but there’s
too much to do.”
    The frustration in her voice had him backing off and
stuffing down the image of her riding tile marks into his back on the kitchen
floor. He threw himself in a seat to hide the tent that had set up camp in his
pants and focused on the computer screen.
    Giggled goodbyes and a slamming door startled them to
attention. Kylie had come home.
     
    Wide eyes and unhinged jaw, Kylie’s stare volleyed between
Jocelyn’s blue silk bathrobe and Jared’s naked chest.
    “Coach Wyatt, what are you doing here…without a shirt?”
    Shit. “Kylie Johanna Wade, that is not how I taught
you to talk to adults.” Sheer willpower held the flush of embarrassment from
creeping up her neck to her cheeks. Not the way she planned to tell her
daughter about Jared, but this had to be addressed now.
    Kylie kicked at the floorboard of the living room. “No, Mom.
Sorry, Coach Wyatt.”
    “Guess we need to talk, baby girl.” She took Kylie’s