His capable hands settled over her shoulders, and he pulled her back until his hard chest was pressed against her back. She wanted to lean into him, to let him share some of the burden she carried, but she didn’t dare. That would bring a new sense of intimacy between them that would only increase their awareness of each other.

“We won’t fail, honey. We can’t, so we won’t.”

She couldn’t halt her reluctant laugh at his confidence. “You make it sound easy.”

“It is. We have five days to plot our strategy. I have some ideas I think will help, and we’ll convince the board that it’s the only way to go.”

His fingers targeted her tense muscles and began slowly working out the kinks. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against him, letting herself drift with the sensations he stirred inside her. His words were so simple, so basic, she could almost convince herself to believe him.

Her mind wandered. She could get used to this, could become accustomed to his touch, his voice…to him.

The blaring ring of the telephone broke the mood, and Darci jerked away from those tempting hands. Snatching up the receiver, she listened to the voice on the other end, trying to stave off the panic growing inside her. Finally, she nodded her head, forgetting the caller couldn’t see her, and blindly set the receiver in its cradle.

“Darci?”

She felt numb, wooden. But she forced herself to look at Cole. He needed to hear the words, to know that all their plans were about to disintegrate. She just didn’t want to be the one to tell him. But there was no one else.

“That was Alex.”

“Your secretary?” Cole came toward her, grasping her shoulders gently. “What’s the matter? What did he say to upset you so much?”

Her numbed mind tried to sort through the words she needed to say. “The board meeting. It’s been changed. The next meeting is tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.”

She sagged against him, needing his strength now more than ever. “I think we’ve just run out of time.”

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The day had proved grueling so far. Darci told Alex to. cancel all her appointments, then shut herself in her office with a pot of coffee and Cole. The tension still hummed between them, but her entire focus was on the candy-making company her step-father had built and turned over to her with complete faith that she’d make it work.

And now she was about to fail him.

She smoothed her tightly bound hair as she tried to stretch the kinks out of her neck. “This is impossible.” Her pencil tapped her irritation out on the desk.

“Nothing is impossible.”

She glared at Cole, tired of his positive attitude, tired of his unfailing energy, tired of his total support. There was a strong urge in her to pick a fight with someone, to let off some of the tension building inside her, and he was handy.