24 Lunchtime

As the second day of her new assignment progressed, Meaghan had a chance to meet her new co-workers. They were a chatty bunch, exuberant and friendly, and she felt comfortable with them.Like her, they were fans of Korean drama, and never ceased to talk about their favorite actors or idol stars.

The work of reviewing the reports, however, was more tedium than skill, requiring only a small part of her concentration. Part of her wanted to work more on the file from Ivoire, but she resisted the urge, wanting to leave it until she got home.

One name caught her eye as somewhat familiar; Chiang Mei Investments, a Shanghai-based company. Meaghan wondered where she had seen that company. It appeared to be a smaller organization, delving mostly into oil and petrochemical concerns, but the reason she remember it was frustratingly illusive.

She concentrated on following the lines of commerce, blocking out all other distractions until she felt a cool breath behind her as someone brushed her hair off her nape. She suddenly sat up, striking her head against something. She heard a grunt behind her and swiveled in her chair to see Rickie straightening up and rubbing his nose. She stared at him in surprise.

~~~

"It's lunchtime," he said sheepishly, "Everyone else has already headed out." He didn't include that he had waited for her to leave the office; when she didn't show at the front door, he looked until he found her at her cubicle concentrating on the reports. He had been staring at her for a time before giving into the urge to get closer.

She looked at her watch, and then said, wonderingly, "That was almost two and a half hours."As if realizing she was hungry, her stomach gave a loud growl. She blushed furiously, much to Rickie's amusement.

"I'm meeting my sister at Bourbon's; would like to come with me? She asked me to include you if you wanted to go." Meaghan looked like she would refuse, but her stomach made another protesting noise. She nodded, and Rickie felt an answering smile bloom on his face, in spite of the lingering pain. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her out of the chair a little too strongly, causing her to collide with his chest.

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For a moment, he felt her soft curves mold against his before she pushed him away. The sizzle in his nerve endings seemed to coalesce around his heart, making it beat erratically. He took a deep breath, turned, and said, "I'll meet you at the front door when you're ready." Walking away was difficult, but both of them needed a moment.

~~~

Meaghan stared at his retreating back before sinking back down on her chair, her heartbeat loud in her ears. Her reaction to his nearness set off warning bells in her head, but her body still felt the hard planes of his chest. Numbly, she reached down to the bottom drawer, retrieved her bag, and followed him to the door. Wordlessly, she got into his SUV, buckling herself in before he could assist, and nothing more was said until they reached the pub.