Bordering on Obsession

by Susan Kearney

• ISBN13: 9780373791002
• ISBN10: 0373791003
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Harlequin

Excerpts

"'You're obsessed with me,'" he said, looking up from the script in his hand.

Yes, I am. More than you know.

But Maggie Miller suppressed the thought, and instead dutifully recited her line. "'And you can read my mind.'" She kept her eyes lowered to the bound pages on her desk so that her boss, legendary movie writer-director-producer Quinn Scott, wouldn't read more in her expression than she wanted him to see.

Like the fact that she found Quinn's mouth more tempting than a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and a lush cherry on top. Like the fact that her heart battered her ribs like a sledgehammer. Or that if she hadn't been sitting behind her desk, her legs might not have supported her.

It was all Quinn's fault for providing a show she couldn't ignore. In his excitement over the script, he may have forgotten he'd been on the way to his shower, but she hadn't. His sweatpants hung low on his hips and, bare from the waist up, his shoulders and chest glistened with moisture. His angular frame made her mouth water as he strode into the office after his daily workout. A script in his hand, a white towel around his neck and yards of bronzed skin beckoning, he could have been half Greek statue and half movie star.

Totally yummy. And off-limits. Maggie Miller wasn't some newbie secretary enamored by just any man. Oh, no. She'd been working herself up into a lusty lather over her oh-so-handsome, oh-so-sexy boss for a good four years now. Playing the good administrative assistant, she'd tried to keep her tongue from hanging out of her mouth, but, damn it, when Quinn asked her to read hot lines from his latest script, the fantasy seemed too real.

It was bad enough that Maggie dreamed of him all night and woke up with thoughts of him every morning, but reading love lines back to him bordered on insanity. Especially when Quinn didn't have the slightest idea of Maggie's feelings.

Unfortunately for her, Quinn regularly dated voluptuous blondes, international beauty queens and Hollywood's leading ladies - not the efficient secretary he'd inherited from the man he'd replaced.

Maggie drummed her fingers on her desk. Quinn would never suspect her feelings because he never even really looked at her. How could he when she hid the real Maggie behind her businesslike clothes? To keep her position as Quinn's oh-so-capable assistant, Maggie had buried her real self. Well, she was done watching Quinn go from one lucky woman to another.

Quinn's cell phone rang before he could read his next line. He checked caller ID, and tossed his script onto Maggie's desk. "We'll finish reading the scene later. I need to take this call." Then he disappeared into his office.

Maggie stacked the scripts on top of a towering pile and sighed. Doing something, anything, to get over her uncontrollable preoccupation with the man had become not only necessary, but absolutely imperative. However, since her goal of becoming a casting agent might very well depend on Quinn's goodwill, she didn't want to risk their working relationship by making a move in his direction.

And after this morning's phone call, Maggie had the chance to lure her boss into bed. Maggie had answered the phone to hear Laine Lamonde's harried agent explain, "Laine's jet had engine trouble. She's landed safely in London, but I'm afraid she won't cross the Atlantic in time for her date with Mr. Scott."

Of course the French film star wouldn't be caught dead traveling on a commercial airline. And since Laine was stuck in London, Maggie had the opportunity to take the actress's place - if she dared to seize the moment.

Maggie wanted much more than to arrange Quinn's day - now she intended to rearrange his night. She wanted her turn. Just one luscious night. A wild fling.

This time, instead of some vapid starlet, Quinn was going to escort the woman he depended on to keep his extraordinary life in perfect working order. If Maggie's plan succeeded, and her plans usually did, Quinn would never know his secretary had taken Laine's place for the evening's masquerade party. She would get her night of passion - and without risking the loss of her job, her future as a casting agent, or the friendly rapport she shared with her brilliant boss. With Laine's cancellation, Maggie had a doozy of an opportunity. And she intended to make the most of it.

"Knock. Knock."

Maggie looked up from her desk to see Kimberly Hayward, Quinn's protégé and Maggie's friend walking into her office, carrying spools of film under her right arm and the dress that she had picked up from Laine's hotel room in her left. Acting like a thief afraid of being caught, instead of Quinn's favorite production assistant, Kimberly glanced right, left, and back over her shoulder. She even checked Quinn's closed office door, before holding up the dress and whispering, "What do you think?"

Maggie had no trouble imagining herself dressed in the cerulean satin strapless gown with bead-encrusted bodice, and despite the butterflies swarming in her stomach, she grinned. "It's perfect."

Kimberly reached into her pocket and handed her an envelope with a receipt attached. "The concierge signed for these babies then sent them up to Laine's hotel room."

With her hand only trembling slightly, Maggie opened the envelope. A sapphire-and-diamond necklace with matching dangling earrings poured into her hand. "Nice."

"If you're still going through with your plan -"

"Of course I am." The image of wearing that dress for Quinn excited her almost as much as the idea of taking it off for him. She'd never been an exhibitionist, but now ... her lust for Quinn was causing her nipples to harden and stand out enough that she wrapped a sweater around her shoulders and let the sleeves dangle down to conceal her arousal.

"You'll need this, too." From her leather bag that hung from a thin shoulder strap, Kimberly pulled out a mask that matched the gown and that would cover the wearer's face from eyebrow to upper lip.

A thrill of anticipation chased away most of Maggie's lingering doubts. Never mind that Quinn had never noticed her body. Never mind that in the last four years he'd never once so much as flirted with her. With the mask and the dress to hide Maggie's identity, she could be her real self. Slightly breathless at the boldness of her plan, Maggie stroked the blue feathers along the edges. "Thanks. I couldn't pull off my little deception without your help."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Bordering On Obsession by Susan Kearney Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.