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stepped back two steps but her face was red and her breathing was slightly increased.  He noticed that she wouldn’t look him in the eyes either. 
     
    Interesting, he thought.  Had he been missi ng something all these months?  Max considered all the possibilities to see if there was something more to her feelings for him.  Was she attracted to him as well and just not showing it?  He liked that idea. 
     
    “I brought you some tea,” she said and wave d a hand at his desk where a fresh cup of tea and his favorite biscuits were sitting in the middle.  “I’m sorry to disturb you.   I know you’re extremely busy today. ”
     
    “That’s okay.  You didn’t disturb me.  And I needed to apologize,” he said, and waved her into the chair she’d vacated over an hour ago.  Once she was seated, he sat down in his own chair behind his desk.  “I’m sorry about my comments this morning.  They were out of line and uncalled for.   I guess my only excuse is that I wasn’t used to you looking like you did last night and it threw me for a curve ball, ” he explained.  He watched her eyes, wondering if she understood
     
    “Thank you,” she whispered.  “I’m sorry I was late this morning.”
     
    Max grimaced at her polite tone.  “You probably weren’t late, just on time and I’m used to you being in the office when I get here in the morning around seven.”
     
    She smiled tentatively at his sincerity.  “Well, either way.  I’m sorry.”
     
    “Me too.  So tell me about your date last night?  Did you have fun?”
     
    Tara smiled wryly, trying to hide her reaction to his smile which caused the normal butterflies to flit inside her tummy .  Max had a devastatingly handsome smile and used it to charm even the most sophisticated women.  She had to concentrate hard in order to answer his simple question.   “We went to the opera,” she said finally, thankful her mind started working again after his smile .
     
    Max raised an eyebrow at her answer .  “You hate the opera.”
     
    “I know ,” she laughed but it came out tense even to her own ears.   “ It was a Chinese opera.”
     
    “Uh oh ,” Max’s mouth twisted at the thought .  “ Even I don’t like those.  I need more movement.  I guess it ’ s our impatient western personalities, huh?”
     
    “I guess so.” 
     
    “So where did you go to eat?”
     
    Tara laughed again but it turned into more of a grimace in the end as she remembered her horrible night of hunger and fatigue .  “I had a package of jelly beans during intermission.”
     
    Max’s face showed his concerned thoughts.  “When did you have dinner?  I know you didn’t eat before you left.”
     
    Tara felt a warm glow inside with the realization that he was actually concerned about her.  In her smile-weakened mind, she pretended that it was because he felt something more for her than just an employee.  “How did you know?” she asked, curious. 
     
    “There’s very little you do that I don’t know about,” he chuckled, thinking about her filing of a few minutes ago.   He wasn’t about to reveal his voyeurism though.  Especially not to her.  Or any of his other thoughts that revolved around her legs, or her lips…his eyes dropped slightly and only for a moment as they rested on her breasts before he stopped himself from having more unprofessional thoughts about those perfectly pert, hidden treasures. 
     
    “Oh,” she said, unsure of what that meant.  She blinked and smiled a little unsteadily before continuing, “ Well, anyway.  I haven’t had breakfast either, so I’m going to load up on cream in my coffee, ” she said and stood up to do just that.
     
    His next words stopped her from leaving his office which was exactly what he’d intended.  “Why don’t you order something from the kitchen to be brought to you?”
     
    Tara was horrified at the suggestion.  “Oh, I couldn’t do that,” she said, shaking her