Her gaze went hot and soft at the same time. “We have all night after we do our job,” she pointed out.
He couldn’t believe that Dawn was more focused on getting to the router than he was. He felt like he’d become a sex addict, his brain addled by lust.
Still, the only reason he eased his grip on her was the thought of taking his time with her when they got back to her apartment.
Dawn walked into the gym while Leland waited around the corner. Strolling up to the front desk, she said, “Hey, Tiffany, I’ve got a member coming in who thinks he left his phone here. Do you have anything in the lost and found?”
Tiffany pulled open the drawer where small unclaimed items were stowed. “Nope, just some keys and earrings. Give me the name and number . . . oh, I guess that won’t help.” She giggled. “Maybe the email address?”
“He’s coming in shortly, so we’ll see if we can find it before we get all that info.”
“Is it that good-looking new guy who swims afterward? I don’t know how you focus on training him. I’d be thinking about other things.” She gave Dawn a smirky smile.
If only she knew . . .
“He’s just another body to whip into shape.” In whatever way she chose to do it.
“Yeah, but what a body!”
Fortunately, Leland strode through the door at that moment, his body not appearing to need further assistance in the fitness department. Tiffany blushed and Dawn grinned.
“Dawn, thanks for meeting me here,” he said. “Any luck?”
“Not at the front desk, but let’s retrace your steps and see if we can locate it. Or maybe it’s in Ramón’s office. Sometimes people hand him things and he forgets to bring them up front.” How was that for casually providing a reasonable excuse to break into the bosses’ office?
Tiffany nodded, her gaze glued to Leland. The only issue with her fascination was that Tiffany was so engrossed in admiring him that she might not remember any of this carefully crafted conversation.
“Are Ramón or Vicky still here?” Dawn asked to snag the receptionist’s attention.
“What?” Tiffany turned to look at her with a slightly dazed expression. “No, they left a while ago. Something about date night.”
“Okay, no problem. We’ll try the locker room first,” Dawn said. “That’s the most likely place anyway.”
“I can’t believe I was so careless with my phone,” Leland said as they walked away from the desk. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’m putting you through.”
“I get it,” Dawn said. “I can’t function without my cell.”
“Exactly,” he said, holding the door to the hallway for her.
“Okay, we can cut the crap now,” Dawn said when the door swung closed behind them. “But you have to go ransack the locker room and I’ll pretend to search the weight room. Meet you back here in ten minutes.”
She was getting a kick out of creating a false front for their real mission. It was fun to outsmart whoever their opponent was.
He gave her a polite smile as a late customer passed them. “See you then.”
When she got to the weight room, only one woman was using a machine. But Dawn gave a convincing performance of looking for Leland’s phone, even asking the lone customer if she’d seen a stray cell.
She was back in the hallway in eleven minutes. Leland stood outside the locker room already. “Did you find it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Let’s check Ramón’s office. Luckily, I have a key.”
“He must trust you.” Leland fell into step beside her as they headed toward the front desk again.
“We trust each other.” Ramón had given her the key when he’d taken Vicky on vacation to Costa Rica, saying that someone might need something from the office while they were gone. No one had, and Dawn had tried to return it to him when he came back. He’d told her to keep it. “I’m only using it now because Ramón wouldn’t want the gym to be involved in anything illegal.”
No matter what Natalie said, Dawn was sure of that.
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am.” As they approached the door, Dawn took a quick glance around the hallway without being obvious. She bent her head as though looking at the keys in her hand. “There’s a security camera in the corner diagonally to my right.”
“I was afraid we wouldn’t find it in the locker room,” Leland said in acknowledgment.
Dawn slid the key into the lock and twisted. Opening the door, she flicked on the lights. Leland had warned her to keep to their cover story while in the office until he made sure none of the computers had cameras activated.
“I’ll check Ramón’s desk,” Dawn said. “He’s always stuffing things in drawers and forgetting that they’re there.” Which was true.
She began riffling through his junk drawer while she watched Leland wander around the office as though he were just occupying himself while she searched for the phone.
“We’re clear,” he said, placing his laptop bag on the credenza behind Vicky’s desk where the router was positioned. He had his laptop out and plugged into the router faster than Dawn could sort through the miscellaneous crap she’d pulled out of Ramón’s drawer.
Leland didn’t bother with a chair—he just bent down and started typing, his fingers flying over the keyboard with the fluidity of a pianist, except the music was a rapid-fire clicking. His gaze was fixed on the screen, the glow of it lighting his face and reflecting in his glasses.
Watching him at work intimidated her. He radiated focus and brilliance, while she had no idea what the crazy stuff scrolling across his screen meant. Yet something about his intensity sent a sexual thrill through her. However, she was pretty sure that she could have stripped naked and he wouldn’t have noticed.
She turned back to Ramón’s desk to finish straightening the drawer she’d opened. As she shifted the plastic office-supply tray to replace a package of pencils she’d pulled out, the corner of a black metal box caught her eye. She removed the tray to see a gun safe, something she recognized because one of her brothers owned a handgun, much to his wife’s disapproval. The safe in the drawer was high-end—it had biometric security. In addition, Ramón’s full name was engraved into the lid in a florid gold font.
Shock vibrated through her as she stared down at the ominous box. Ramón claimed to abhor violence of any kind after all the terrible injuries he’d seen—and inflicted—in the boxing ring. How could he say that and own a gun?
Unless Natalie was right, and her beloved boss was involved in whatever illegal activity was pouring through the router.
Bile roiled in her stomach and tears burned behind her eyes. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—believe that of him. There had to be another explanation.
She blinked hard to stop the tears and debated whether to tell Leland. He would assume the worst, and she didn’t know how to defend Ramón when evidence to the contrary was staring her in the face.
She carefully placed the tray back on top of the safe, closing the drawer without a sound. In fact, the room had gone silent, and she glanced over at Leland. His fingers had stilled but code continued to march across the screen. He stared at it for a few more seconds, then nodded. “Got it.”
After typing in a few more strings of commands, he closed the laptop and disconnected the cable to the router. Straightening, he shoved his computer back in its case. “I’ll analyze this data when I get back to the office.”
“You’re not going back there tonight,” Dawn said, following him to the door and hitting the light switch. She pulled the door closed behind them and tested the knob to make sure it had locked.
The look he gave her nearly collapsed her knees. “Tomorrow morning,” he said. “Tonight I have to make up for all that time I wasted sleeping.”
“You needed it. I’d remind you that tomorrow is Sunday, but I know that’s irrelevant to you.”
“The work has to get done.” But he sounded more tired than convinced.
/> They walked in silence until reaching the lobby. Tiffany looked up from her phone. “Did you find it?”
“Despite Dawn’s heroic efforts, no, we did not,” Leland said, giving her the full treatment with his drawl and a slow smile. “I must have lost it somewhere else. I just wish I could figure out where.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without my phone,” Tiffany said with a sympathetic grimace. “Good luck finding it!”
“I appreciate that, darlin’.” Leland started toward the door.
“How much later do you have to stay tonight?” Dawn asked the receptionist, giving Leland time to get to his limo around the corner.
“Another fifteen minutes unless someone comes in—which they never do this late on a Saturday.”
“Sorry you get stuck with this every weekend.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. My friends never go out until after ten anyway.” She held up her phone. “We’re going to meet at Go Karaoke tonight. Want to come?”
“Me, sing? You don’t want that—trust me. But thanks.” Dawn pushed away from the desk. “See you Monday.”
She walked out of the gym and around the corner, ducking through the limo door that Leland shoved open.
Exhilaration sparkled through her and she planted a hard kiss on Leland’s mouth as the limo pulled away from the curb. “We did it! Tiffany didn’t suspect a thing and if someone asks her, she’ll be all about how hard it is to lose your phone.”
Leland snaked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Don’t get any ideas about doing more of this. People on the dark web don’t respect the law. That’s why they’re there.”
That reminded her of the discovery in Ramón’s drawer, and her excitement died. “There’s something I have to tell you, even though there has to be a good explanation for it.”
He eased his grip and shifted back so he could see her face. “You sound upset.”
“I found a gun safe in Ramón’s desk drawer, under his office supplies.” She couldn’t bring herself to reveal that it had her boss’s name proudly emblazoned on it.
Leland muttered a curse. “Double what I said about your further involvement.”
“But he hates any kind of violence. He’s very clear on that.” She felt the tears well up again. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He stroked her arm. “I know you respect him but—”
“It’s more than respect. He gave me back my life.” She hadn’t meant to say that, but without the purpose and sense of security Ramón had granted her, she’d still be holed up in her apartment behind her security system and expensive dead bolt. How could the man who made her feel it was safe to go out in the world own a gun?
“Dawn, I won’t ask you but when you feel you can tell me, I want to know what happened to make you have an alarm system fit for Fort Knox.” He kissed her softly. “But not until you’re ready.”
She thought about the horrendous day that had ended her college career. Only Natalie, Alice, and one of her sisters knew what had happened. Of course, the college administration did too, but they had pressured her not to report it to the police. She’d refused their offer of counseling out of pride and the sense that they didn’t have her best interests at heart. The latter was true, but the counseling would have helped.
She tried to form the words to tell Leland but found them clogging her throat. It was too ugly, too sordid, too raw. Still. “Not tonight,” she choked out. “I don’t want to ruin tonight.” Because she didn’t know how many more nights she would have with him, she couldn’t afford to waste any of them.
“How could it ruin our night if I understand you better?” His stroking continued, soothing her into resting against him to draw on his strength. “I feel you stiffen in my arms sometimes and I hate that I’ve caused it. But I don’t know how to avoid it.” His voice vibrated with concern.
The tears that had started because of Ramón overflowed down her cheeks. She twisted and reached up to cup his face. “You feel it and you always let me do what I need to get past the problem. That makes all the difference.”
He wiped the tears away with his thumb. “I’m an ass for making you cry. Forget I said anything.”
“I just don’t want to believe that Ramón could be mixed up in this. He seems so decent, so solid . . . so good.” The tears flowed again and she swiped them away with the back of her hand. “But I felt I had to tell you about the gun safe. Just in case.”
She heard and felt him take a deep breath, but he had turned his face away from her so she didn’t know what he was thinking.
“You did the right thing,” he said. “Even though you don’t want to implicate your boss. That takes integrity.”
No, it took the realization that she cared more about Leland’s safety than Ramón’s reputation.
“I don’t want you to get hurt. My conscience would kill me.”
“Now you know how I feel,” he said. “We can go up to your apartment now. The limo’s been parked for a while.”
She hadn’t noticed the cessation of motion, and the driver hadn’t announced their arrival. He was either very discreet or he felt it was unnecessary to state the obvious.
Her blood fizzed as Leland pushed open the door and helped her out of the limo, his grip strong and warm. She wanted to wrap herself in him to keep the ugliness of her suspicions at bay.
As they climbed the stairs, she noticed that Leland had his laptop case in his hand. “Are you going to look at the data here?” she asked.
He glanced down at the case and winced. “No. I picked it up out of habit.”
“It’s like my gym bag. I get the feeling that a part of me is missing when I don’t have it.”
“Proving that we’re both too tied up in our work.” He shook off the serious mood and reached out to give her butt a playful squeeze. “But the next few hours will be devoted entirely to pleasure.”
Chapter 11
The next morning a shiny black limousine glided to a stop in front of Dawn’s apartment building. But it wasn’t Leland’s. This limo had been sent by Alice to bring Dawn and Natalie to Derek’s penthouse apartment in Manhattan, where Alice now lived. A wedding dress designer was coming to discuss Alice’s gown, so she’d invited her two maids of honor to help her with her aesthetic decisions. It was a project Dawn felt she had no business being involved with since she spent her life in either workout clothes or jeans.
Dawn quickly locked up her apartment and jogged down the steps, feeling a few twinges from Leland’s promised pleasure of last night. He’d certainly kept his part of the bargain—twice—before they both fell into exhausted slumber. He’d awakened early, initiated another round of pure sensual delight, and then had gone to the office, where he said he needed to stay all day.
Maybe the wedding dress would be a good distraction from missing his hot, sexy presence like crazy. Except she knew she would have to confess her relationship with Leland to Alice and Natalie. Friends shared things like that, even when they weren’t entirely sure they wanted to.
“Hey, Nat,” Dawn said as she ducked through the car door that the driver held open.
Natalie looked as perfectly put together as always, her short blonde hair styled in smooth curves against her cheeks and an array of fine gold chains draped around her neck. A cream linen blouse, slim black trousers, and maroon suede stiletto-heeled booties completed her ensemble.
Dawn sighed as she looked down at her jeans and long-sleeved red T-shirt. “How do you always look so good?”
Natalie raised her elegant eyebrows. “It’s my job. Your job is to be in top physical condition. If I attempted to do a single pull-up, I would fail miserably while you would make it look easy.”
“Good point.” Dawn hugged her friend. Natalie gave the impression of being cool and self-contained, yet she always made Dawn feel better about herself.
“Would you like a mimosa?” Natalie asked, pointing to the bottles of champagne and orange juice sitting in coolers in the lim
ousine’s console. “I know how you feel about fashion so you might need something to relax you.”
“Are you having one?”
“Now that you’re here, I will. I try never to drink alone.” Natalie plucked a champagne flute from the rack, waited for the limo to round a corner, and poured some bubbly in the glass. “In fact, I may skip the juice.”
“Same for me. You shouldn’t ruin good champagne.”
They touched their glasses together with a gentle clink. “To Alice’s wedding dress. May she wear it in happiness,” Natalie said before they drank in unison. “By the way, what’s going on at the gym?” she asked. “Have you found your mysterious tech expert?”
Dawn choked on her champagne, even though Natalie wasn’t asking about Leland directly. “Not yet,” Dawn gasped. “But we’re getting close, I think.”
“‘We’?”
“Leland Rockwell and I.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I might as well tell you because you’ll get it out of me anyway. I’m having sex with him. Great sex.” Incredible sex.
Natalie smiled and squeezed Dawn’s hand. “I’m so happy for you, sweetie. It hasn’t triggered any problems for you?”
“Every now and then he does something that feels too aggressive, but the moment I start to shift away, he eases up.”
“So he knows?”
Dawn shook her head, remembering her cowardice in the face of Leland’s concern. “He pays attention so I don’t need to tell him. Besides, I want to keep this uncomplicated.”
Natalie gave a snort that somehow sounded ladylike when she did it. “Sex is rarely uncomplicated.”
“Right now, it’s perfect.” Because it had been going on for a grand total of thirty-six hours. “Except that he works all the time.”
“Pot and kettle there.” Natalie took a sip of champagne.
“I get eight hours of sleep every night. Leland is lucky to get four, and we’re talking about on the weekend.”
“Alice says all those KRG partners are workaholics. Derek less so now, thanks to her good influence.”
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