Photo credit: @Ekachailo Depositphotos.com

Danielle Hughes sighed as she sat in the plush seat to await takeoff. She had flown in the Kane's private plane many times before, but never alone. When she and Kasper flew out to LA, she worked the entire flight. Too tired to work, she hoped to sleep.

Her mind buzzed as her day played through like a movie. Stopping Kasper from giving into the tenant's demands was the first of a double feature. The exchange in the bar was the second. Kissing his cheek had been cute and platonic, but she crossed the blurry professional line when she kissed his lips.

For a formidable family, the Kanes had accepted her as an extended family member. She always reminded herself she was Baxter's employee. Kissing his brother was unprofessional.

Having a crush on Kasper was also inappropriate. It had started before he was on TV, but his beautiful face on the flat screen was easy to love. His eyes were definitively green unlike her employer's hazel ones. Watching him had only deepened her attraction. If he took business seriously, he could be a success off screen. As she drifted off, she put her finger to her lips. She shouldn't still feel the kiss, but the tingling hadn't faded.

It was three am when she landed in Boston. As she stepped out of the executive terminal, her boyfriend stood against his car, a Honda Accord.

She smiled. "You didn't have too."

He shrugged. "I wanted to. Unlike you, I don't work in the morning."

"Did you work tonight?"

He shook his head. "I was off and you weren't home."

He leaned down and kissed her. Lingering, he ran his tongue along the seam where her lips pressed together. He pulled away when she didn't open for him and gathered her in a hug. As he opened the passenger door and held it for her, she smiled.

Once in his driver's seat, he turned to her. "Am I just bringing you home."

Dani liked sex, and with very little time for a relationship, noncommittal and casual sex was her modus operandi. The reason it worked with Mac was because he was usually off when she was, unless he drove Mr. and Mrs. Kane, either together or separately. Mac was short for MacIntyre, the Kane family's second shift chauffeur, except he preferred the term driver.

"Um, you can stay."

"Don't sound too excited."

"Sorry. I'm tired, but I want you to stay."

"So did you get an update on the doctor's appointment?"

"Remember, I'm not supposed to know and you definitely aren't."

Mac laughed. "You think you're the trusted employee in the know, but I know all their secrets. They forget I'm in the car."

Dani hadn't been looking for a relationship the night Mac asked her to go for a drink after a gathering at Baxter's. Mac had dropped Kasper and Doyle off first, and Gray was out of town which was just as well. Dani felt strange around him. She kept telling herself to get used to it. Maybe she felt slighted because Gray hardly remembered her. At least she remembered the guys she slept with.

She accepted Mac's offer because she could and he was good looking. It wasn't like she was holding out for Kasper, because it was just a crush.

Unlike the first night when she invited him up after standing pressed together in a crowded bar, they didn't undress each other. Smiling, the bar was nothing like the quiet, sophisticated hotel lounge where she had sat with Kasper earlier.

"What are you smiling about?" His blue eyes sparkled.

"We're tame. Undressing and climbing in bed."

"You're the one in the suit. You can throw my tee shirt around the room."

"It's okay." None of the Kane's had seen him in jeans or in the buff. Some naked men were hard to look at, and with others, it was hard to look away, like Gray. She needed to erase her memory. She could look at Mac, although no one was commissioning a sculpture.

They hooked up the first time over the summer and had been seeing each other longer than any guy she had been with since she moved north from Kentucky. It was nice to be with a guy who knew how to please her. He never confused her by having two fingers going off in two different directions. Find the right spot and stay with it. Mac got that unlike most men. 'Right there' didn't mean more pressure or increase the speed. Stay the course, man.

Blame it on the travel, but when she felt the bundle of nerves as Mac slid in and out of her, she wasn't going over the edge. A vision of Kasper's face when she kissed him sent her over. Mac, ever the gentleman, followed with a smile.

"Sweetheart. I thought I was gonna be a one-man band and where's the fun in that?" He gave her a searing kiss as he rolled off her.

Three hours later, she was in the shower. Mac rolled over and watched as she dressed. "I can drop you off."

She looked at him. "You should sleep." He pushed himself upright. Her eyes lingered as the sheet barely covered his goods. She nodded. "Down the block."

"I know. Not that anyone would recognize me like this."

She looked at his bedhead, just as he pushed back the sheet to stand up. It took him only a minute to put on his jeans and tee. Meanwhile, she had spent ten minutes doing her makeup and almost as long dressing, including jewelry.

On the ride to her office, Mac said, "I'm off Sunday and want you to meet my mother."

Dani froze. Meeting family was a step she hadn't taken in years and never planned to again. "Um, I'm not ready. You know my goals are my career, not settling down."

"Kane will never promote you. You're invaluable as his assistant."

"If I don't move ahead at Kane Properties, I'll move to a new company."

"I'm not asking you to give up your career. I thought we were at the place where we should meet friends and family."

"I'm not ready." And may never be. "Is that okay?"

"It'll have to be. I like my job and took a risk with you, so let's always be honest."

She smiled. "Honest. I'm enjoying the distraction, but I'm not in high school, love isn't on the table."

Stupidly, she thought she was in love in high school, but she was just stupid. Mac frowned. "I'm not sure if I should feel slighted or glad you only want to use me."

"We're friends, right?"

He nodded as he pulled his car to the curve. "Go to work. I'll see you when I see you." With his schedule of working evenings, they never knew if they would see each other. Whenever she worked late, Baxter asked Mac to drive her home.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Get some more sleep. Thanks for picking me up."

He smiled. "Thanks for letting me stay over. Have a good day."

As Dani walked away, her mind was already on her to-do list for the day. She glanced at her watch. Late, but she traveled half the night. After she put her bag down and turned on her computer, she entered Baxter's office.

He was concentrating on something on his screen. She cleared her throat, and he turned. "I didn't expect you this early. When did you get in?"

"Three. How was the appointment?"

"Fine. Mundane. I thought maybe we would see it."

Dani shrugged. She knew from her sister seeing a heartbeat guaranteed nothing. "She's feeling okay?"

"A little nauseous, but that's supposed to be good right?"

Again she shrugged. She didn't want to offer any knowledge about something she had no experience with. "Did you read my email?"

"Yes. They agreed." She bit her lip as she nodded. Baxter's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I had to stop 'mister big heart'. He needs negotiation training."

Baxter sighed. "Jimmy can teach him."

"You could too. It worked out, and he felt contrite."

"He's not a boy who knocked over the cookie jar."

As Dani imagined Kasper as a young child, she felt a fullness she hadn't expected. Her mind wandered back to the kiss. Mac's mouth had erased any residual tingling. Her mouth should remember the passionate kisses she shared while skin to skin with her lover, not the kiss she had no right to steal.

Once Dani returned to her desk, she was too busy to think about her personal life. Baxter counted on her to anticipate and prevent problems. The challenge fueled her like pasta the night before a marathon.

She stepped out of Baxter's office in the middle of a conference call to get a file and found Tate by her desk. "Is he available?"

She shook her head. "A conference call." The call had taken up most of the afternoon and Dani hadn't realized it was after five. "I have to go back. I'll let him know you stopped by."

"Fine. I'm going home."

Home for Tate was a large mansion on Beacon Hill. She married the very wealthy, Jimmy Sinclair. Dani didn't see the point of marriage. Her career took priority and men didn't like successful women. The risk wasn't worth the benefits. Risk/reward assessments preceded every business decision and sex was easy to get without giving up a piece of herself.

When she and Baxter finally finished for the day, Mac was waiting. After Baxter exited the car in front of his house. Mac returned to the driver's seat. "I'll take you home, but I have to pick up Mr. Kane later."

"Where is he tonight?"

Mac chuckled. "I may not make the big bucks as the boss's right hand, but I like my job."

As Dani waved goodnight, a feeling covered her like a fog. She and Mac were doomed, beyond not wanting a serious relationship, they would always keep secrets from one another.

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