Page 29 of Adam’s Obsession

“Not well. I had Shannon drive her to the airport. Buthere’s the problem.” Tristan’s gaze narrowed on Adam. “Sara was supposed to dothe presentation at ComputerCon with you.”

Adam glanced at Katherine. Her eyes were trained onTristan’s face, his mouth, watching intently as the words emerged. Adam foundhe didn’t like her attention fixed on another man’s lips like that. He didn’tlike it at all. So he cleared his throat and was gratified when she turned tohim instead, her eyes wide and damp, like a doe’s. Almost immediately, Tristanspoke again.

As irritating as it was to have him steal her attention oncemore, his brother’s words were fascinating. “Katherine, I’m going to have toask you to take Sara’s place. You worked with her on the PowerPoint and knowyour way around the presentation.”

“Me?” she squeaked, flicking a panicked glance in Adam’sdirection.

He smiled encouragingly—although inside he was grinning likea wolf. If Katherine took Sara’s place, she’d be traveling with him to Vegas.

They’d be alone, together, for two whole days.

Who knew what might happen?

What would happen.

Adam bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crowing. “Idon’t know.” He tipped his head to the side and furrowed his brows. “Are yousure you can handle the equipment?”

An affronted expression crossed her face. “Of course I can.”

Yeah. He thought, I’ll just bet you can.

Chapter Seven

Before Katherine knew what had happened, she was packed onan early morning flight headed for Vegas with Adam by her side. Sitting next tohim—his thigh warm against hers, his muscled arm brushing hers, his scentdrifting toward her with every breath—was torment.

She’d never been so close to him and to be plastered againsthim like that for an hour and a half had her mind and senses in a tizzy. Sheclosed her eyes and tried to sleep but that only made the sensations that muchmore intense.

The lack of activity started her mind wandering. Fantasieswere not far behind. That’s the way it was with Adam. He got close and shestarted thinking about sex. Then again, when he wasn’t close, well, she thoughtabout sex then too.

He, on the other hand, was oblivious to her existence. Oh,he smiled and chatted and handed her drink over when the flight attendantbrought it by. But for the entire duration of the flight, he kept the traytable down with his notes for the seminar spread out upon it. He alternatelystudied the pages and tapped them with his pen, undoubtedly preoccupied withthoughts of the coming presentation.

As he should be. This was a huge opportunity for Adam, forthe whole company. As soon as they landed, they would have to rush to theconvention center and get set up for their session. It made sense that he wouldbe preoccupied.

But deep down, Katherine couldn’t help but feel slightlymiffed.

Maybe she should have worn Sara’s red vest. She’d packed itafter all. Even that, she feared, wouldn’t be enough to snag Adam’s attention.He was known around the office as being a single-minded businessman. Nothingderailed his train of thought when he was on a mission. Certainly not a dreary,dreamy coworker.

Fortunately, all of Adam’s preparation paid off. Thepresentation went over perfectly and was a brilliant success, creating anenormous buzz with the attendees. He spent several hours afterward withKatherine by his side, fielding questions about Trillo–Maris products, takingdown orders and collecting business cards. By early afternoon when the crowddribbled to a handful, they were exhausted.

Because of the timing of their workshop, they hadn’t hadtime to check in to the hotel. They’d merely dropped their bags at the belldesk and gathered all their handouts and presentation materials before rushingover to the annex where their session was held. So once they finished up withall their potential customers, they headed back to the hotel to check in andget some much-needed rest before the reception that evening.

As she stumbled into their suite, Katherine was once againimpressed with Shannon’s competence. Not only had she made the planereservations at the drop of a hat, she’d handled all the tiny details of thistrip, including reserving a digital projector, copying and overnightingpresentation materials and making sure a light breakfast was waiting for themwhen they arrived at their assigned breakout room.

But the suite was the pièce de résistance. Laid outlike an apartment, it had a kitchen, living-cum-dining room and three bedrooms,each with a private bath. A balcony overlooked the sparkling lights of theVegas Strip in the distance.

Katherine didn’t notice much of this at the moment. Herbleary-eyed focus was on that bed.

Adam glanced at her. “Go lie down. You’ve worked hard todayand you deserve it. Besides, we both need to be on point tonight.”

Katherine nodded. “The reception.”

“It’ll be a great chance to network some more.”

Katherine fought back a yawn. “Okay,” she said, resigningherself to the prospect of another late night. “Do you care which room youhave?”

Adam opened his mouth and then closed it again as though thequestion had caught him off guard. He shook his head. “No. You pick.”

She grabbed her bag and plodded back toward the bedrooms.She opened the first door she came to, dropped her suitcase on the floor,plopped her laptop on the desk and fell face first onto the bed, fully clothed.She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.