Читать книгу Courting Danger - Kimberly Dean - Страница 7

Rielle looked dazedly at her boss, trying to figure out where she’d come from…what she was saying…why Mel had rushed off so fast…She pushed back her hair as she watched the car go down the street and out of view. Her lips were pulsing and her body was thrumming.

‘Rielle!’

‘I got the license-plate number. Looked like a car service.’

It was the lower voice that finally penetrated the haze in her head, and Rielle turned sharply. Her lips parted in surprise. Tall, dark, handsome and glowering. It was Detective Morgan.

What was he doing here? Had Nina called him?

‘Who was that?’ Her boss caught her arm, and Rielle felt the tremble in her touch. ‘Are you all right? Tell us what happened.’

Why were they coming at her like this? Why was everyone so upset? She appreciated that they were protective, but she could kiss someone if she wanted. She lifted her fingers to her lips. It had gotten out of control, but it had been consensual.

Or hadn’t they seen her mauling him, too?

Embarrassed, she stepped deeper into the shadows. Was it that shocking that she had a libido?

‘But I did. I sent you a text message. I…’ She glanced at the detective. They had to talk carefully with him here. Nina knew that. Why was she putting Luxxor at risk this way? ‘I went out with him. Mel Summers. He’s a client.’

‘I got your text. That’s why I’m so confused.’ Nina was clipping her words, and her normally sleek hair was mussed. ‘We haven’t done any business with a Melvin Summers.’

‘Yes, we have. He’s in the database. I looked him up.’

‘Well, he’s not there now.’

Rielle sighed. She wasn’t up for dealing with computer issues. It was too late and her head just wasn’t functioning right. ‘He has to be.’

‘He isn’t. More importantly, I don’t know him.’

Rielle went still. Her body was warm and fluid, but the still night air was beginning to feel heavy. ‘What are you saying?’

‘Maybe we should go back inside to the office.’ The detective held out a hand.

Both he and Nina were outside without coats. It was late, and the parking lot was nearly empty. Stars glittered against the pitch-black sky. Rielle accepted the detective’s assistance, because between the kiss and the confusion she was suddenly unsteady. She saw him swing an arm around Nina’s waist to herd her along, too.

And Nina accepted his touch.

What was going on? Had the whole world gone topsy-turvy?

They entered through the first-floor office where Luxxor’s Security division was housed. Rielle saw Twining and Howard, the two men who’d accompanied her and Mel to the White House. ‘Wait! They knew where I was and who I was with. They followed us to the reception. I told them everything.’

Twining hung up the phone, and his shoulders relaxed. ‘Rielle, you were supposed to call to tell us when you were coming back. We would have come over to escort you.’

She shot a look at the detective. She didn’t want any talk of escorting. Not now.

‘I felt safe.’

She met Nina’s gaze, and her boss’s chin wobbled. She, better than anyone, knew how much it would take for her to get to that point.

‘You haven’t been answering any calls,’ Howard said, chastising her.

‘I put my phone on vibrate after I sent the message to you. I didn’t want it ringing during dinner.’ Rielle talked directly to Nina. It was clear how shaken her friend was. For God’s sake, she’d contacted Detective Morgan. Nina had been doing her best to shake the persistent detective with all his questions about their business. ‘I’m sorry if I made a mistake.’

She didn’t usually do this. She wasn’t the one who went out with clients. She stayed behind at her desk, where it was safe and sheltered. She hadn’t been trained in the procedures that escorts followed.

‘I checked him out before I agreed to go out with him,’ Rielle insisted.

‘See?’ Howard said. ‘I told you he was in the database. Melvin Summers. We verified him, Nina.’

Rielle nodded, thanking the Security guard for the backup. They’d both looked. They’d both followed proper procedure on that.

‘Let’s go up to the main office, and you can show us,’ the detective said.

Nina’s eyes narrowed. The detective was not getting a look at their database, it was clear.

But the fewer ears on this, the better. Rielle was becoming overly warm, wrapped up in her winter coat. Her lips still tingled from the kiss Mel had dropped on her. She was confused, tired, and she just wanted to go home.

She didn’t understand why everyone was so bent out of shape. She’d gone on a date. She shouldn’t have to get approval to do that.

Was Nina unhappy he’d circumvented their process for hiring a companion?

She got into the elevator and leaned against the railing that encircled the interior. Nina stood stiffly at her side, but reached out and squeezed her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Rielle saw the detective stroke Nina’s back. Nina stiffened for a moment. Rielle thought she’d pull away, but instead the powerful CEO’s tension released. Her shoulders lowered, and she started blinking fast.

Rielle blew out a breath. She wasn’t in trouble. Nina had been scared.

Why was everyone overreacting like this?

The elevator was quiet the rest of the short ride to the fourth floor. Nina fumbled for her keys to the office, but the detective smoothly took them from her shaking hand and opened the main office door for her.

Rielle looked around. It seemed like a million years since she’d been here, and it had an entirely different vibe from when Mel had filled the space with that impatient, driven energy.

Why was it that she could remember his name so well now?

Because she remembered the names of the men who kissed her like demons?

That energy that he encapsulated so easily filled her, and she whipped off her coat. ‘I’m getting to the bottom of this.’

‘Holy…shit.’

Rielle glanced towards the detective. What had he seen? What had he figured out?

He’d seen something, all right, but it wasn’t any clue Mel had left behind. The detective was staring at her with his jaw dropped open. He snapped it shut, but in that moment, he wasn’t looking at her as a cop but as a man.

A rough-hewn, sexy hunter.

It was a look he usually saved for Nina, and he quickly shot an apologetic look her way. Even if they supposedly had no relationship beyond the professional.

‘She looks good,’ he said. He rolled his shoulder uncomfortably and put his hand on his hip. ‘Well? She does.’

Rielle blushed. As much of a nuisance as the detective was, as much as he intimidated the bejesus out of her, she liked him. Nina liked him, too, loath as she was to admit it.

Rielle took the compliment because it wasn’t threatening – and because he was talking to Nina as if nobody else was in the room.

‘Thank you. It’s Nina’s dress,’ she said, trying to break the tension. She grimaced. ‘I hope it’s OK I borrowed it.’

Although, apparently, she shouldn’t have gone out at all.

‘Of course it’s OK.’ Nina’s composure finally broke, and she closed the distance between them for a tight hug. ‘It looks better on you than it ever looked on me, anyway. Keep it.’

Rielle hugged her back.

‘I’m so relieved you’re all right,’ her boss said.

‘What did I do wrong?’ Rielle asked. ‘He took me to the White House. We had a wonderful time.’

‘You didn’t do anything wrong. If you felt safe with him, then I know you were.’ Nina pulled away and rose to her full stature in her five-inch heels. ‘I just got nervous when I received your message and didn’t recognise the name. Then I came here and found your clothes.’

Oh, her clothes. Rielle spotted them folded up on the coffee table. That must have looked bad.

‘I’m not angry with you. I’m just not comfortable with how any of this went down tonight.’

‘Me either,’ the detective said. ‘Rielle, can you walk us through the evening? When did he approach you? What did he say and do?’

‘I was just closing up for the night when he showed up.’ As badly as things were going, she left out the part about forgetting to lock the office door. ‘He was looking for an es– He was looking to talk to you, Nina. He mentioned his date for the event had gotten sick, and he asked me if I’d like to go.’

She shook her head. ‘He’s in there. I know he is.’

She went to turn on her computer. She had to look for herself.

‘Wait,’ the detective said. ‘Don’t touch that. We may end up needing to dust this room for fingerprints. Was he ever in the back rooms?’

‘What?’ Rielle said in surprise. ‘No.’

‘Fingerprints?’ Nina said, echoing Rielle’s concern. ‘Why would we need those?’

‘What crime has been committed?’ As confused as Rielle was, she didn’t want Mel hunted down like a common criminal. All he’d done was take her out for dinner and dancing at an incredible venue. Maybe he’d lied about being a client. Someone had to have referred him.

‘My computer is already up and running,’ Nina said. ‘Use it.’

The long ballroom dress swished as they moved down the hallway as a pack. Rielle gathered the skirt in so it wouldn’t wrap around the detective’s legs. She moved swiftly to Nina’s desk while Nina blocked Morgan’s view of her monitor. He lifted an eyebrow. He turned instead towards the display of blue glass figurines, and her boss shifted in discomfort.

When their gazes connected again, the combative clash of personalities was back. ‘There’s one missing,’ he said coolly.

‘It didn’t belong here,’ she replied.

Rielle frowned, not understanding, but the intimate rapport between her boss and the cop was suddenly strained and back to normal. It made her feel somewhat better, like she was back on an even keel. She punched Mel Summers’s name into the search box and waited for his bio to pop up. Her stomach sank when the database came back with no results. They’d told her they couldn’t find him, but she was sure there was some kind of mistake.

‘He was in here. Howard saw him, too,’ she insisted. ‘It said he was a client, and the last time we’d…worked with him was two years ago.’

The detective wandered closer to the desk, and Nina folded her arms over her chest. His lips twitched as if he found that amusing. ‘And what kind of client is that, exactly?’

There were going to have to be careful saying any more. The detective had been snooping around their agency for too long now. Rielle knew he’d focused on Nina for other reasons, even if they didn’t acknowledge it out loud. It was apparent to anyone who came within fifty feet of the two together. Nina must have been very upset to call him.

‘Maybe I accidentally deleted his file.’ Rielle began trying to retrieve it, and did her best to skirt the detective’s question. ‘It said he was an accountant.’

Although she’d questioned that from the very beginning. The way he’d carried himself…how in shape he was – and in tax season, too…and his hands…

She pressed her lips together tightly. She’d felt those hands on her enough to know they were rough. Callused. They weren’t the hands of a man who spent all day on a computer or calculator.

‘An accountant for a timber firm that has subsidiaries in Sweden.’

Her heart began to pound faster, and her palms became slippery. Who had she been out with? Who had she just kissed?

‘Have you been at the reception this whole time?’ Morgan was now ignoring Nina and focusing on her.

‘Yes.’ And it had been wonderful. A fairy tale.

A fairy tale that was now turning twisted. Her Prince Charming was changing into a villain before her very eyes. Had he hacked into their database? He had high-tailed it out of there pretty fast once he’d seen Nina. Why would he do that?

The detective cocked his head. ‘Why did you go with him? You seem like a smart girl. Why go out with a stranger like that?’

Because he was hot and deceptively charming – as intense as he was. Because she hadn’t wanted to give Luxxor a black eye. Because she’d checked him out every way she’d known how, and he’d come up aces.

‘It was a black-tie reception at the White House,’ Nina said dryly.

‘And that’s the part that’s stumping me. He must have had an invitation.’ The detective rubbed his chin. ‘Those things are planned well in advance, and invitees have to RSVP. He had to be vetted by the Secret Service and White House staffers. Maybe they’ll share information with me if I explain the situation.’

Rielle closed her eyes. She hadn’t meant to cause an uproar. Couldn’t they just drop it and have their IT staff close the apparently gaping hole in their software system?

‘The invitation was real,’ she insisted. ‘I saw it.’

She’d touched it.

That wasn’t all that she’d touched. She’d wanted to touch more. Her hands clenched to stop the sensation ringing in them. Damn him. He’d made her drop her guard, and she’d begun to fantasise.

‘I suppose Mel Summers could be his real name.’ The detective rubbed his chin, and his five-o’clock shadow rasped. ‘We could have missed one.’

Rielle spun in the chair so fast, her hair flew around her shoulders. ‘What did you just say?’

‘We don’t think that’s his name,’ he said. ‘When you remained out of contact, we tried to call him. We managed to make contact with every Mel Summers in the area, but none of them knew anything about you. That’s why we got so worried.’

‘But…’ Her heart began pumping so fast, her head got dizzy. ‘Are you sure? How do you know you called them all?’

‘He could be new to town,’ Nina suggested. ‘Or maybe he travelled here for the event.’

But he hadn’t.

Rielle didn’t know why she was fighting. She’d known his name wasn’t Mel!

She collapsed back into the big leather chair.

Who had she just spent the evening with?

‘Could you give me a description of him?’ The detective cleared his throat. ‘We couldn’t see him very well with you…uh, in the way.’

Oh, God. Could it get any worse?

She dropped her face into her hands. She hadn’t only spent the evening with him, she’d danced with him, rubbed her body against his and kissed him silly. ‘He’s tall, dark-haired and fit. Blue eyes.’

And callused hands and a devastating mouth.

She felt Nina’s hand close over her shoulder and squeeze.

She didn’t want to believe he was a bad guy. She wanted to keep her memories of going to the ball, being on his arm and sharing stories about the other guests.

Being on his arm…

She scrubbed her face and turned weary eyes on the detective. ‘They took a picture of us in the receiving line, but I didn’t get a copy.’

Yet. He’d promised to send one to her.

‘That would help, if I could get my hands on it.’ Morgan tapped his pen against the pad. ‘Is there anything else you can tell me about him?’

‘He was complicated,’ she admitted. That was part of what had intrigued her. He’d hidden as much as she had, but both of them had pulled back layers as the night had worn on. ‘Secretive, now that I think about it.’

‘How?’

‘He evaded the paparazzi – and he hid me, too.’

Damn him. She hated how every little good thing was being contorted.

‘He’s quick on his feet.’ He’d answered every question she’d fired at him, including the ones about accounting.

But, through it all, she hadn’t truly bought any of it, had she? She’d questioned everything about him.

Everything but that kiss.

It had stopped the questions that had been whirling in her head dead in their tracks.

‘And observant.’ Her chin snapped up. ‘He was watching people – a brunette in particular.’

The detective’s eyes narrowed, and he flipped to a new page in his notepad. ‘Can you describe her to me?’

‘Red dress. Long black hair. Olive skin. Exotic-looking, but stern. Pretty, but she didn’t look like a happy person.’

Rielle remembered the woman getting into the car ahead of them. ‘She attended the event alone.’

‘What was the theme of the evening?’ the detective asked. ‘I can find out, but –’

‘Sweden.’ Rielle swallowed hard. ‘The Prince and Princess of Sweden are visiting.’

The detective’s expression darkened. ‘I’ll find out who she was, too.’

His dark gaze pinned Rielle. This was the hard-boiled detective she knew. The relentless pursuer. ‘Is there anything else you can remember? Anything that struck you as odd?’

The whole evening had been out of the ordinary, but she shook her head.

The detective’s stare was steady. ‘Did he hurt you in any way?’

Nina flinched, but Rielle’s lips tightened. ‘No.’

Whoever the stranger had been, he’d done his best to put her at ease. He hadn’t hurt her or forced himself on her in any way.

He’d given her the best night of her life.

‘Good.’ The detective put his notepad back in his pocket. He nodded towards the door. ‘Nina? Want to make sure you lock up after me?’

To Rielle’s surprise, her boss followed. She heard the murmur of their voices as they headed to the lobby together.

‘Oh, God,’ she groaned. She raked a hand through her hair and wandered over to the panoramic windows of Nina’s office. She hated people worrying about her, trying to protect her. She’d been so close to making her way back from that.

She stared through the window at the Washington Monument. The white pillar glowed against the dark night sky. It was a postcard-perfect evening outside. Too bad she was only feeling the chill. She caught Nina’s reflection in the pane of glass.

‘You called your arch enemy?’

Her boss shrugged and swept her hand across the back of a chair. ‘I didn’t think it all the way through.’

So she’d been scared, and he was the person she’d called?

‘He’s a good man, Nina.’

Their gazes connected in the window. ‘He’s a bull in a china shop. Aggressive, persistent, male.’

‘And you like all of that about him.’

Silence greeted her in return, but for once Nina didn’t deny it.

‘I’m not the only one attracted to a man I shouldn’t be.’ Her boss toyed with her earring. ‘I saw that kiss.’

Rielle closed her eyes.

‘If I hadn’t been so afraid for you, I’d be happy for you.’ Nina’s voice was low and empathetic.

Rielle turned. The swish of the dress sounded out of place in the large office.

‘Did you tell Morgan the truth?’ Nina asked. ‘Are you really OK?’

‘I’m upset, and I’m angry. He lied to me.’

‘True, but you made some good points. Maybe some of it was real.’

Her attraction to him had been real.

Rielle shook her head. ‘He lied.’

He’d wined her and dined her. He’d kissed her goodnight. She didn’t know what his endgame was, but she should have trusted her gut from the very beginning. Instead she’d gotten caught up in the fantasy, and he’d told her it had been the best night of his life too.

‘That’s the truth,’ he’d said.

Maybe, but, if so, it was the only true thing he’d said all evening.

She’d probably learned by now that his name wasn’t Mel.

And she was probably pissed as hell.

He could picture the way her lashes would flutter in surprise, and how her doe eyes would fill with disappointment, betrayal and fear.

He’d seen the goddamn fear in her eyes too many times tonight, and he hadn’t liked it. He hadn’t liked it one bit. He hated that he was the one putting it there again.

Yet it couldn’t be helped.

His fingers drummed along the steering wheel as he sat half a block down from Luxxor Limited in a spot between streetlights. The Jeep was his own. The address he’d given the car service was nearby, but random. Neither they nor his escort could trace him back to his home or his vehicle. He knew he should just keep going, but something inside him had called him back. He’d used her, and he’d done it intentionally for his own benefit.

He just wanted to make sure it didn’t have lasting repercussions for her.

The tapping of his fingers slowed. He hadn’t thought that part through. He’d been honest with her about some things, and having to improvise on a date for tonight’s reception had been one of them. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time – from her vantage point anyway.

He didn’t want that to cost her her job.

‘Damn it,’ he swore. His breath shone in the cold confines of the car, but he didn’t turn on the engine. He didn’t want her Security boys to see that he’d returned. He could deal with the cold.

Hell, he needed a cold shower anyway.

He dropped his head back against the headrest. He was used to adjusting course when plans fell off the rails, but he hadn’t been ready for her. When she’d come around the corner in that office upstairs, his train cars had smacked into one another until the only thing left revving was his engine.

God, she was something. Beautiful, sweet, smart and yet in some ways hardened and skittish.

He’d been trained to hunt, but he’d found himself in the strange position of gentling her and getting her to trust him. He’d needed her for tonight, and she’d come through with flying colours. He’d been the one who’d been a trainwreck. Around her, he’d never really gotten his cars back on the rails. She was sharp enough to notice.

His phone rang, punctuating just how bad that was. He answered, but kept his gaze on the scene around him.

‘Yeah?’

‘Who the hell was that on your arm tonight?’

‘A date.’

‘I could see that. Who was she?’

‘Nobody you need to worry about.’

‘Where did you find her?’

Oh, no. That bit of info wasn’t on the need-to-know list.

‘I picked her up when Romero went down with food poisoning. Don’t worry, she’s none the wiser. She got to eat some good food and dance to a decent band.’

‘I saw the dancing. Looked like you were both starstruck.’

She’d been clear-headed enough to make you, buddy. He kept the thought to himself. They were trained to blend in, but she’d noticed the man on the other end of the line.

The more he could divert attention away from her, the better.

‘You’ve cut her loose, right? One and done?’

He was working on it. ‘You let me worry about her.’

‘She can’t get in the way.’

‘She won’t.’ He wouldn’t let her.

‘All right. We’ll talk more tomorrow.’

Not about her they wouldn’t.

He hung up and smacked the steering wheel.

‘Hell.’ He’d nearly fucked everything up tonight. He’d gotten sloppy. Why couldn’t she have just been an escort? This would have been so much easier if she were.

Yet Rielle Sands was better than that.

Way better.

Movement caught his attention, and he stilled. They’d been in there for ever, but he finally saw a big guy exit the building. It was the one who’d been with her freaked-out boss.

Crap. He hadn’t only drawn the attention of private security. The guy had cop written all over him. He watched as the man checked the shadows as he moved to his car. His jacket hitched up an extra inch on his right-hand side, where the bulge of a gun was barely noticeable.

But he noticed.

He kept a close eye on the man until his dark sedan pulled away from the kerb. Only then did he shoot another look at the fourth floor. The lights were still on up there.

He waited in the darkness as the temperature dropped. Two cars stopped at the Security entrance to drop off a man and then a woman. Escorts, he assumed. They checked out together and headed for the Metro entrance a block away.

It was only a few minutes later when the upstairs office went dark. His gaze focused on the employee exit. Counting in his head, he timed the elevator’s descent. He was only two seconds off before two women appeared in the lit Security office.

The plate-glass windows offered no shield to his view.

‘Rielle.’ She wasn’t wearing the dress any more, but he could have ID’d her a mile away without a scope.

Finally. She and the shorter blonde walked out to the parking lot together, and he nodded. That was good. They didn’t seem to be arguing. Her boss seemed to have calmed down. Nina, Rielle had said her name was.

He barely noticed her.

It was the taller woman with the light-brown hair that had all his attention. That hair felt like silk. He knew, because he’d been fighting to keep his hands off it all night.

He just needed to see that she was OK. If she was angry, so be it. The strong emotion would serve her well, although it didn’t fit her sweet personality at all. He just couldn’t take tears. He couldn’t hurt her. She was like that pretty doe in the forest. He didn’t want his harsh world encroaching upon hers.

He blew out a breath when the two hugged and got into separate cars.

‘OK, good.’ He could leave things now.

He watched her get into the grey SUV, and he started the engine of his car. Air began to blow from the heater, but it was just as cold as the air outside. He’d been sitting long enough for the heating coil to cool down. It was time to put the transmission in gear and drive away.

But he waited.

She was driving home alone, a pretty young female, way too late after dark in DC. It wasn’t safe.

He knew.

So, once she pulled out of the parking lot, he positioned his vehicle behind hers. He stayed half a block back and didn’t make any sudden moves.

He might not be a gentleman, but he was making sure she got home safely.