One Night Standards by Cathy Yardley Page B

to,” he responded.
    â€œMark…in case we never do this again,” she said, and the very words caused a pang in his chest, “we’d better make tonight worth it.”
    He rolled off her, but refused to release her, stroking at her sweat-moistened skin with his fingers.
    â€œI’ll do my best,” he promised, and then proceeded to do exactly that.

4
    â€œY OU ’ D BETTER LET ME DO ALL the talking,” Carol reminded Mark for the fortieth time.
    Mark sat in a large conference room at a hotel in Vegas, getting ready for the first big Marion presentation. Carol, when not reminding him that she was the one in charge of the presentation or letting him know “how particularly important this meeting is,” was muttering over her slides, practicing as if she were some kind of Shakespearean actress. Despite his best efforts, she’d managed to veto most of his suggestions and had what was possibly the world’s most boring presentation. She’d only made the barest of mentions as to what sort of products they’d be designing for Marion & Co., focusing more on showing Marion & Co. that Trimera traditionally sold well for them.
    Which wasn’t the point at all.
    She was allowing him there to keep her promise to Roger and Simone, which irritated the hell out of him. Still, he’d prepared as diligently as he could. He’d even developed a short bullet-point presentation of his own in case he somehow got the opportunity to speak. Say, if someone decided to drop a house on Carol.
    He grinned. It was unkind to think, but after all her dismissive remarks, he didn’t really care too much.
    Carol and he were early at arrive to the conference room. The huge cosmetics convention was being held at the Monte Carlo, a posh hotel on the strip in Las Vegas. The room was elegantly appointed, and they were still setting up. He saw Mrs. Marion’s assistant—Lily, if he recalled correctly—placing easels on either side of the room, one labeled Trimera and the other labeled Diva Nation.
    Stupidly, his pulse picked up.
    Maybe it’s just as well I’m not speaking today.
    He had promised Sophie that their last encounter would not affect the competition between their two businesses whatsoever. He was intent on keeping that promise. What he hadn’t known then was how much he’d be thinking of her when they weren’t together…. And how distracting thinking of her could be. The slightest thing would set him off into a fugue of fantasy. The midnight-blue shade of one of their skin-care boxes reminded him of her lingerie. The slight waft of sandalwood and rose from a candle in a store left him reeling with the memory of the scent of her hair. He’d itched to call her, even though he’d promised that they would have no more contact until after the competition was over. He’d only been thinking to comfort and reassure her.
    He’d had no idea what sort of impact their night together would have on him.
    â€œCan I get you two anything?” Lily, Mrs. Marion’s second in command, asked both him and Carol, interrupting his thoughts. “We’re bringing in refreshments, but if you want water or a soda or anything, I’ll be happy to get them. Oh, and will you be needing help with your laptop, hooking it up to the projector?”
    â€œNo,” Carol said irritably, and to Mark’s chagrin, she actually waved Lily away with her hand in a dismissive motion. He noticed Lily’s eyes narrow for a second before pasting her smile back in place.
    â€œThanks, Lily,” he said quickly, but she was already gone.
    â€œYou’re going to have to watch it,” Mark cautioned Carol, causing her to shoot him a look of annoyance. “Lily Hunter isn’t some nobody secretary you can dismiss. She’s important.” In fact, that small sign of disrespect might cost them dearly. He’d need to make it up to Lily later, he