Читать книгу Courting Danger - Kimberly Dean - Страница 8

Rielle didn’t sleep well that night. In fact, she didn’t remember sleeping at all. She played over everything in her mind, but she couldn’t figure out where she’d gone wrong.

Other than to trust her hormones over her head.

How had he done it? Why had he done it?

She kept alternating between anger, fear and unrelenting curiosity. How had he fooled everyone? Or was it only Luxxor he’d tricked? Had he needed an escort, but didn’t want his name associated with them? If so, how had he gotten into their system? Twice? He couldn’t have made it into the White House with a false identity, could he?

The questions were driving her nuts, so she gave up on sleep and dropped into the Apple Tree Grille for breakfast before work. She blew into her coffee and watched the people walking by outside. What were their stories? Was the man with the scuffed shoes scraping by in some government job or did he just have a new puppy? The young woman with the computer bag…had she just come from the gym or was that raggedy ponytail supposed to be fashionable?

She and her date had played the game last night, but she hadn’t even been able to read him.

Yet in many ways she had – and he’d known it.

He’d evaded her at every turn. He’d always had an explanation. She was furious at having been played, but when she thought of the things that might have happened, going out with a stranger like that…

But she hadn’t been afraid of him.

She thought of the kiss they’d shared, and she burned her lip on her coffee.

‘Have you decided?’

‘Mmm.’ She pressed a napkin to her mouth and glanced at the waitress who’d come to take her order. No, she hadn’t made up her mind about him at all. ‘A cinnamon roll, please.’

After last night’s dinner, she shouldn’t have room for anything, but her sweet tooth acted up whenever her nerves did.

She’d kissed him, and she’d liked it. A lot. He was a mystery man. An enigma. The memory of that hot kiss should frighten her, but it had been real.

‘That’s the truth,’ he’d said to her. ‘Remember that.’

He’d known his cover was blown.

‘Here you go, hon.’ The cinnamon roll was spilling over with cream cheese frosting. Rielle swooped up a taste with her fingertip. It would mean extra time in the gym, but it was worth it.

She opened the newspaper she’d bought at the newsstand a few blocks down and skimmed the headlines. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but maybe something could help her put the pieces together. She didn’t like the possibilities running through her head. Politics, foreign relations, computer hacking, identity theft…She didn’t want to get involved with any of that.

Yet she couldn’t get the feel of his strong body out of her head. The sensation of his hand against her lower back. Her dress tangling with his legs…

The front page had news of the visit by the Prince and Princess of Sweden. It delved into the relationship between the countries and areas where they shared interests: protecting the environment, guarding against terrorism, and increasing trade. She took another bite of her cinnamon roll and it nearly stuck in her throat when she turned to the society page.

They had black and white photographs from the event, including one with her and Mel…her date …arriving outside the White House.

Her coffee cup tinkled against the saucer as she quickly set it down.

She’d been uneasy ever since last night, yet one glance at the photograph sent a shot of fear through her heart.

Her head jerked as she looked around the restaurant. She pulled her coat up around her shoulders and slid the newspaper closer to the window where the light was brighter.

Her date had turned away from the camera, but the picture showed off his tall form in a midnight-black tuxedo. He was close to blocking the view of her, too, with his head dipped down towards her. Instead of blocking their view, though, the photo gave the illusion that they were about to kiss.

She had her face lifted to him. Excitement was clear in her eyes. Happiness exuded from her smile. They looked like a power couple leading a magical life of parties and dancing and money.

‘Oh, no,’ she whispered.

It was a beautiful shot that told the wrong story. It was a moment in time that would capture people’s imagination and their attention.

She didn’t want the attention.

She folded the paper quickly when the waitress walked by her booth again. Inside her chest, her heart was pounding like a big bass drum. She jammed her arms into the sleeves of her jacket, left money on the table to cover the bill and hurried out into the cold. It caught her smack in the face, and she tucked her chin into her throat. Her gaze darted everywhere – the doorways, the cars along the kerb, the alley that she had to pass…

A picture in the newspaper was bad, but were there more online? Was it searchable?

Her heels beat a tattoo against the sidewalk as she hurried to Luxxor. She’d thought things had been bad last night.

But this was so much worse.

‘Bad day?’ Sienna asked.

Rielle sighed and rubbed a sore spot on her neck. ‘You have no idea.’

She’d had a lot of escorts heading out, now that Friday was here. They all seemed to have seen the picture and were commenting on her hot ‘boyfriend’. They’d kept asking his name, where they’d met and why she’d been hiding him.

Like she was a nun or something.

She hadn’t confessed that she’d only met him last night, and that she’d only gone on the date because none of them had been available. Or the right gender.

Sienna rested her hip against her desk. With her legs sleek and crossed, she looked ready for a magazine spread. ‘If it’s any consolation, you looked stunning.’

Sienna and Nina were the only ones who knew the full truth. The man in the photo wasn’t her boyfriend and he wasn’t a client. She didn’t even know his name.

‘Thanks, but now my photograph is plastered all over the society page of a major newspaper.’

‘Newspaper subscriptions have been plummeting.’ Sienna smiled weakly, but she knew she wasn’t helping.

Rielle finally gave up trying to search through their database for Mel’s picture. She braced her elbows against the desk and rubbed her temples. Her tension was resulting in knots that ached. ‘That photo is online, too.’

The photographer hadn’t gotten her name, thank God. She glanced at the database. Nobody could search for her either.

But they could open a newspaper and chance upon seeing her.

She stared at the photo. She’d had the newspaper on her desk all day. Sienna turned it in her direction to study it. ‘Do you think your guy knew the cameras were there? Is that why they didn’t get a good shot of him?’

‘He knew.’

Sienna ran a burgundy-coloured fingernail along the edge of the photo and Mel’s back. ‘I could wring his neck for the way he lied to you, but Nina said the date itself went well?’

Rielle glanced up in surprise, and Sienna lifted an eyebrow.

Rielle got up to straighten the magazines on the lobby table.

‘There’s a rumour about a hot kiss?’ her coworker said. ‘A melt-the-sidewalk kind?’

Rielle determinedly walked to the office door and locked it. Yet her shoulders slumped. She turned slowly. If anyone would understand, it was Sienna. Before she’d become their communications director, she’d fallen in love with the man she’d been assigned to escort.

‘That’s the part that’s so tough,’ Rielle confessed.

‘That you were attracted to him?’

‘Yes – and that I dropped my guard.’

‘You trusted him.’

‘For a moment.’ Or longer. She still felt herself wanting to defend him today. A part of her kept grasping for rational explanations for why he would have done the things he’d done.

And why he hadn’t gotten caught.

‘I’m relieved that he was good to you,’ Sienna said.

He’d been more than that. On the dancefloor, he’d felt strong and tempting. He’d been sensitive to her moods, and he hadn’t stopped her from contacting Security or Nina or anyone else she wanted.

‘Was Detective Morgan able to track down any information on your mystery man?’

Rielle shook her head. The detective had been grumpier than normal over that. The Secret Service had to have footage of Mel from the security cameras at the White House, but they weren’t sharing.

She bit her lip. Were they investigating them on their own?

‘He’s not my mystery man.’

Sienna’s icy blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she cocked her head. The look on her face was contemplative. ‘This picture says otherwise.’

She glanced at her watch and pushed to her feet. ‘Oops, Jason’s going to be wondering where I am. Are you ready to go? I’ll walk out with you.’

Rielle looked around the office. ‘No, I’ve got a few more things left to do. You go on ahead.’

Sienna frowned. ‘I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.’

Rielle wasn’t comfortable with it either, but she refused to change her habits again. Not for a man. ‘I’ve locked the door, and Security has been on the lookout for him all day.’

If anyone was more upset than she was about the whole situation, it was the guys on the first floor. They were the ones assigned to protect the safety of Luxxor’s employees.

Although she’d never once felt her stranger would hurt her.

She shook her head. He wasn’t ‘her stranger’, either.

‘Are you sure? Jason won’t mind waiting if you need me to hang out with you for a while.’

‘Oh, God. Please don’t tell him anything. All I need is him standing guard with a hockey stick.’

Sienna’s boyfriend had been a frequent guest of the penalty box when he’d played in the NHL. Now he was a master defenceman in the boardroom.

Sienna nibbled her lower lip.

‘Go,’ Rielle insisted. ‘I won’t be here much longer. I promise.’

‘Make sure the door locks behind me.’

‘I will.’

Sienna collected her purse. ‘And don’t be hesitant to push the buzzer for Security ever again.’

‘I won’t,’ Rielle promised. ‘You just be careful walking out.’

Sienna nodded. She stopped for a moment and then gave Rielle an impulsive hug. ‘I’m glad you’re OK.’

‘Thanks,’ Rielle said, her voice tight.

She closed the door behind her friend and heard the handle jiggle. Sienna gave her a thumbs-up through the window alongside the door before heading to the elevator.

Rielle turned to face the now empty office.

She did have work waiting for her. She’d spent so much time talking to people about her mysterious date, she hadn’t completed all her normal tasks. When she sat down at her desk again, though, she couldn’t help but notice how empty the office felt. How lonely and quiet.

She glanced at the bills awaiting payment, but turned to her computer again. She flipped through more listings, looking for a handsome face. Observant blue eyes. Wide shoulders…

‘Oooooh,’ she growled beneath her breath. She was so angry with him, but she was even angrier with herself. She’d known better than to let him pull her in.

Her mouth settled into a tight line, and she paid the bills. She checked to make sure she’d sent out all the dossiers for the engagements their escorts had tomorrow night, and finally looked through a quote from a company bidding to do remodelling work on their break room.

Her stomach growled as she examined the numbers, and she couldn’t concentrate.

It really was time to go home. She was hungry, she was tired and her sweet tooth was flaring up again. She hadn’t slept more than a wink last night. She pulled out her phone to order takeout. The salad wasn’t going to make the cut tonight, either.

She sighed. What did she want? She opened her contact list and was searching for her favourite sandwich shop when another listing caught her eye. It was one that made her sit up straight in her chair.

Mel.

Short, to-the-point and a lie.

Had he seriously programmed his contact info into her phone? When had he gotten his hands on it? How?

Why?

She jabbed at his name before she could stop herself, and his number popped up.

That was something Detective Morgan could use.

Rielle felt irritation build up inside her. He’d toyed with her. There was no other way to put it. He was a ne’er-do-well, as her grandmother would say. He’d been up to no good last night, and he’d involved her. When she thought about all the possibilities of what he could be involved in, it made her uneasy.

And, at the moment, extremely ticked off.

She jabbed the call button before she could stop herself. She deserved to know why. She deserved the right to yell at him.

And she deserved to be spanked for being so stupid again.

She flinched when she realised she should not be making contact with him. It didn’t matter why he’d given her his phone number. She dropped the phone onto her desk with a clunk. He’d only manipulate her again. He’d talk to her in that low voice that occasionally showed signs of humour. He’d make goosebumps pop up along the back of her neck with his quiet chuckle.

Her thighs felt stiff as she marched down the hallway to Nina’s office. When had she become so easy?

Back in the lobby, she heard her ringtone start playing. She kept on going. The lights were off, but once she turned inside she saw it clearly.

The dress.

That dress that had made her feel like a fairy princess. It had also made her lose her mind.

It hung over the back of the door to Nina’s private bathroom. Rielle crinkled her nose at it. Nina was still trying to make her keep it. One way or another, it needed to be taken to the cleaners.

She ran her fingers along the soft material of the skirt and sighed. It really was beautiful. Dreamy, even.

Was that what had happened? Had she allowed herself, just for a moment, to dream again?

She let out a long sigh as her anger faded.

So she’d succumbed to a dark, handsome, sexy stranger – one who’d made her stomach tighten and her knees go weak. She was only human. Up until the very end, it had been a magical night.

She rubbed her lips together. She could still feel his kiss on them.

She couldn’t accept the dress from Nina. It was designer-made and way too expensive, but she could try it on one last time.

Alone in the office, she stripped in the bare light spilling in from the hallway. She kicked off her shoes and tugged off her bra. The dress felt silky and familiar as she slid it over her head. It fell into place like a comfy pair of jeans, only a thousand times classier. She tugged up the zipper as far as she could.

She imagined her stranger’s arms around her, pulling her close as they swayed in time with the music. Her nipples tightened at the memory, and her cheeks warmed.

He was dangerous, all right, in ways neither Nina nor Sienna would understand.

Off in the distance, she heard her desk phone ring. It was even easier to ignore.

She gave a turn and felt the dress billow around her. She stopped when she saw her reflection in the big plate-glass window. With the lights dimmed as they were, it acted as a mirror with downtown DC as a backdrop.

It had been so long since she’d let herself feel attractive and hadn’t felt the need to tone it down. It had been aeons since she’d felt young and pretty and sexual.

She stared at her reflection, lost in thought. Her fingers spread wide as she smoothed the dress over her hips. Time went by without her noticing.

‘Best night of my life, too, Beautiful. That’s the truth.’

His words whispered in her ears.

‘What’s wrong?’

Rielle jumped when, instead of a memory, she heard his voice for real. Low, harsh and clipped.

She spun around and let out a cry when she saw him standing in the doorway to the office with his hands braced on the doorframe. He pushed away and entered as silently as he’d traversed the rest of the office. The air didn’t even move as he slid between its molecules. His eyes were bright with alertness, and his body was tense.

‘Are you OK?’

She dove for Nina’s desk. There was an emergency button there, too. Her heart was pounding as she expected him to lunge at her to stop her.

Yet instead of coming at her, he held his hands up. ‘Hey, you’re the one who called me.’

Her head jerked towards him. ‘I didn’t call…’

But she had. She just hadn’t let it go through to voicemail.