He prepared to analyze her response, but it seemed innocent. “Not usually. But as you must realize, Mitch had been wrapped up with your auditors and computer people.”

“And you had to assume his duties alone?” Kane guessed.

“Not entirely,” Erin conceded. “Olivia took over a few of Mitch’s clients…”

“Olivia? Parsons? The executive secretary?”

“She’s more than that. Actually an assistant officer,” Erin explained, thinking about the sultry woman who had once so openly flaunted her affair with Lee before the divorce was final.

Kane’s eyes never left Erin’s face. He noticed the embarrassed burn on her cheeks, the furrowed brows and the slight droop of her shoulders. Something was definitely bothering Miss O’Toole, and he meant to find out exactly what it was. He noticed that she picked up her purse, a gesture that indicated that she intended to leave. She couldn’t, not yet.

“If you’ll excuse me, Mr….Kane,” she requested. She started to walk past him, but his hand reached for her arm.

“You’re leaving?”

“That’s right,” she agreed but remained standing still, conscious only of the warm touch of his hand on her arm.

He grimaced. “I was looking forward to having someone here while I set up my desk.”

“But you didn’t expect anyone, did you?” she reminded him.

“No, I didn’t. But since you’re here, you might as well give me a rundown on exactly how this department functions—or at least the way it did in the past.”

“Sorry—I’ve got plans this afternoon,” she lied. He was still touching her and the feeling was delicious, warm, inviting. The dimly lit room was beginning to close in on her, and she knew that she had to get away from him and clear her head.

“What about tonight?” he persisted.

“Still busy.” She smiled up at him but felt her lips begin to tremble. He eyed her curiously and she wanted to shrink away from him and melt into him all in the same motion. As if he understood her feelings, he pulled her a little more closely and asked his final invitation in a whisper, his breath fanning lightly across her face. “What about tomorrow?”

Her eyes reached for his and she found it impossible to lie. “I…I don’t know.”

“Come on,” he persuaded. “I’m new in town. You can show me the sights.”

“I thought you wanted to discuss business….”

“We will.”

“I don’t date anyone I work with.” His eyes touched her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, her throat.

“Don’t think of it as a date,” he murmured enigmatically. “Consider it…an orientation meeting.”

“But…”

“I won’t take no for an answer. I’ll pick you up at ten.”

“No!”

Kane released her. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he stated as if it were already a fact.

She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. But she found the strength to tear herself away from the imprisonment of his stare and walk out of the office with as much pride as she could muster. She wasn’t thinking clearly; her thoughts were tangled in a web of emotions. Her mind was as ragged as her breathing, and there was an impulse and yearning that she had never experienced in her lifetime.