The Tin Man (Inner Circle #1) : Enemies to Lovers Dark Romance Thriller

by Kailin Gow

  “I guess I should be going as well,” she said.

  “I lost sight of you when Abigail came to interview me,” I finally said, stopping her as she passed in front of me. “I thought you’d left.”

  “No,” she said simply as she looked up at me with gentle eyes. “I just went around… mingled with your guests. Quite an interesting bunch.”

  I chuckled. “You really think so?”

  “No,” she said with a laugh. “They’re just a little too full of themselves for my liking. I like things simple… quiet.”

  “Would you like to sit down?” I said, feeling suddenly so awkward. “Maybe a nice glass of wine. Oh, I think I have this very special bottle of port wine if you’re into that.”

  “That sounds very nice,” she said as she made her way over to the couch.

  My heart pounded as I went to get the bottle of port and two glasses. I longed to just come straight out and say it: Do you remember me, Summer? Do you remember Dante Black? Do you remember the time we had together? All the places? All the laughs? All the love?

  But I kept those thoughts to myself as I joined her on the couch and poured us each a glass of the dark red liquid.

  “Here you go,” I said, trying desperately not to stare at her.

  “Thank you,” she said as she took the glass, her eyes meeting mine.

  Was she as nervous and tense as I was? Did she feel the something special that was happening between the two of us?

  “I believe we haven’t been formally introduced,” I finally said. “I’m Parker James.”

  She smiled. It was the prettiest, most perfect smile ever. “Yes,” she said with a light chuckle. “I know. Your name was on the invitation.”

  Oh, that Ace, I thought. He hadn’t mentioned her on the guest list, but I was damn happy to see that he’d thought to invite her. What a genius. I would have to thank him for that.

  I looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to officially introduce herself. Was she Summer? Had she completely turned her back on that identity to build a new one?

  “Oh,” she said as she realized what I was waiting for. “I’m Summer. Summer Jones.”

  Just hearing her say that… just making it official. It really was her. My knees buckled even though I was sitting. Holy shit. I couldn’t believe the effect she was having on me.

  “I can certainly see why all the ladies are crazy about you,” she said after a while. “Not only are you rich and successful, not only are you gorgeous and sexy, but you’re charming in the most adorable way. There really is something disarming about you. You’re so humble and modest. I don’t see that in young men very often.”

  “I have my moments,” I said. “Sometimes I can be a real ass, believe me.”

  She laughed as she looked up at me from under her thick lashes. Damn, she was so beautiful, so alluring. I could barely keep it together.

  “You’re the one who was at the Rob Raven concert, weren’t you?” she said. “You and your friend. I bumped into you, remember?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I remember.”

  “I’m such a klutz sometimes.”

  I smiled. “Ace is a big Raven fan,” I said. “I mean, I like his music, too. Maybe not enough to actually call myself a fan, but… It was a good show. I enjoyed it. Though my ears were buzzing for quite some time afterwards.”

  I was rambling on and couldn’t stop myself.

  “Rob is a very gifted musician,” she said. “He writes most of his music.”

  “You seem to know him very well,” I said, daring to venture into her relationship with him.

  “I do,” she said. “Rob and I go way back.”

  “Oh,” I said, unable to hide my disappointment. “So, you two are an item then.”

  She let out a charming little laugh. “No,” she said. “Not really. I mean, we once shared a chaste kiss when we were kids, but that’s the extent of it.”

  “Kids?”

  “Yeah,” she went on. “Rob and I went to the same special training camp when we were… oh, I don’t know… eleven or twelve years old, I would say.”

  Training camp? Summer never mentioned going to a training camp. From what I remembered, she’d spent most of her summers at her Aunt Sookie’s beach house in Malibu, along with the Donovans.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if the blow to her head that night of the explosion hadn’t given her alternative memories.

  Maybe it was just a friend of hers who’d gone to some special camp and she was taking on the memory as her own.

  “So, you’ve lived in the area all your life,” I said, hoping to jog her memory.

  “Yes.” She took another sip of port and looked around. “This is a really nice place. It’s different from a lot of the houses I’ve seen. My friends tend to have very strange tastes sometimes. But this is nice. Very warm. I like it. It feels cozy… homey.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “You know,” she said. “As I was coming up the drive, I didn’t really know what to expect… from the house and from you.”

  “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”

  “On the contrary,” she said with a wicked grin. “I’m very pleasantly surprised. If not, I would have left a long time ago. Is the rest of the house as warm and welcoming as this is?” She gestured around the great room.

  I put my glass of port down on the table. “Would you like to see? I could give you the grand tour.”

  She also set her glass down and stood. “I’d love to.”

  I led her down the stairs to take a peek at the computer room.

  “Nothing much to see here,” I said as I opened the door to the organized mess that was Ace’s workspace. “Ace like to play around. You know… video games, shit like that.”

  She smiled. “So, he lives here with you,” she said.

  “Yeah,” I said with a shrug. “He’s kind of like my kid brother. He’s got no one, and… well, I’m alone so… I look out for him.”

  “That’s nice of you.

  I then showed her a glimpse at Ace’s room and then I did a full stop at my room. Before completely entering the room, I showed her the bathroom.

  “Interesting bath,” she said of the hammock style bath. “I don’t think I’ve even seen anything like that before.”

  “Yes,” I said. “It is out of the ordinary.”

  We moved on into the bedroom.

  “Oh, wow,” she said as she walked up to the wall of windows that showed the twinkling lights of the city in the distance. “What a view. This is stunning.”

  I looked at her, thinking the very same thing. Here she was, in my bedroom, with my bed just there… so close. I could taste her like I used to do all the time.

  “You know, my boyfriend had a house with a nice view, but it was nothing like this,” she said as she glanced back at me.

  Fortunately, she turned back to take another look out the window, missing the look of shock and dismay on my face.

  Boyfriend? What boyfriend?

  “I thought you said that you and Rob were just friends,” I said, trying to make light of the situation.

  “Oh,” she said. “No. Not Rob. Ash Fairway.”

  I frowned. “Yeah. I think I’ve heard the name before. He’s a celebrity, right?”

  “He’s in movies,” she said with a nod. “Action movies.”

  “And you two are dating?” I said, hating the tinge of jealousy and envy in my voice.

  “Were,” she said. “We just broke up.”

  “Oh,” I said, hiding my grin. “I’m sorry to hear that. It must be rough.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah. It hurts, but I think it’s for the best. I mean…” She looked up at me, her sad eyes begging to be understood. “I thought he was the one. I believed we really had a connection, but it turned out to be a one way connection.”

  “Are you okay?” I said, eager to comfort her.

  She shrugged again and looked at me with those beautiful, big eyes.


  Damn.

  “I could sure use a hug,” she finally said.

  Yahoo! Right away.

  Controlling myself, I slowly walked up to her and gently pulled her into my arms.

  I held her, reveling in the feel of her warm body up against mine. I could feel every curve… the swell of her breasts that crushed against me. I smelled her sweet breath.

  It was all I could do to keep from throwing her on the bed. But I didn’t want to scare her off.

  But, as the embrace lingered, and I felt her melt more and more into me, I pulled back just enough to look into her eyes.

  And there it was. The open invitation in her gaze. The hungry parting of her lips. And the ever so slight squeezing of her arms that were wrapped around me.

  I leaned in… taking my time, giving her the opportunity to come up and meet me halfway.

  And when she did, the sparks flew in all directions. My body didn’t even know how to react, it was so overwhelmed with physical and emotional sensations.

  Her kiss was more intense than I remembered it being. Then again, she had been a naïve and innocent girl the last time I’d seen her. Her kisses had always been sweet and reluctant. Now she was a woman with the hungry passion to match.

  Now, her lips were persuasive and hungry as she nibbled on me. Her tongue didn’t wait for an invitation, but quickly made its way into my mouth, drawing a hungry groan from deep in my throat.

  “Oh,” she said languidly as she pulled back. “I do hate people who use another in order to alleviate their pain after a break-up. I don’t want to use you that way. Not as a rebound.”

  I looked directly into her eyes. “The important thing,” I said with conviction, “is that we both know what we’re getting into. No lies. No promises. No illusions. If I can make you feel better about this untimely break-up, then…”

  I kissed her, sucking in her breath, tasting every part of her mouth and holding her tight. I slowly led her to my bed and she willingly fell back.

  I fell over her, ridding her of her clothing as I continued to kiss her. She was exquisite. Even sexier than I remembered.

  Still kissing her, I slithered out of my own clothes, breaking the embrace only long enough to pull off my pants.

  Skin on skin, I was in heaven. A few things had changed. Her figure was fuller. She’d filled out so perfectly. Her skin was silky and soft. Her lips were even fuller with hunger and eroticism.

  I mounted her, looked into her eager eyes and slowly nudged my way into her warmth.

  How many times had I dreamt of this? How many times had I fantasized holding her in my arms… making love to her… kissing her?

  And the reality of it all was so much better than any dream I could have had.

  I took my time, wanting my time with her to go on forever. Repeatedly, I felt the words of love and affection rise to my throat as I longed to tell her how I really felt. I had been craving for her for so long.

  But I knew I had to be cautious. I didn’t want to scare her off with a premature show of love.

  My arousal grew and I could feel her oncoming orgasm take hold as I thrusted into her, pounding deeply into her as we kissed. We finally collided with an explosion of sensations and we clung to one another, swimming in that delicious moment.

  “That was so good, Parker,” Summer moaned.

  “Yes, so fucking good, Summer,” I groaned, kissing the top of her head. I sighed. Summer was back in my life, my bed, and filled with my body. But not me as Dante Black. As a new person…Parker James.

  Chapter 15

  Dante Black/Parker James

  A few weeks later

  “How are things looking here?” I said as I came up behind Ace.

  Construction on the new TechUp headquarters had finally begun and I was impressed with how quickly things were coming together.

  The lot had been cleared, a foundation had been poured and the main bones of the building were already up.

  Ace had found a nice four-acre lot that was perfect for what we needed. Close enough to town, but far away enough to allow us the amount of land we needed.

  “Everything is pretty much going according to plan,” he said as he turned to me.

  Wearing a hard hat, he looked like he belonged, but he still had that boyish grin on his face. I’d given him a load of responsibilities with this project and, so far, he was living up to my expectations.

  We walked through what would become the hallway to the offices.

  “The guys are working on getting the wiring done today.” He stopped and entered what was to be my corner office. “Just to be sure. Those pieces of red tape represent where your outlets are going to go. Is that what you’d really planned? I found it strange that the plan said to put one right there in the corner.”

  I looked around at the various pieces of red tape. “Yeah. You’re right. That one is supposed to be just a foot off the ground. It shouldn’t be as high at that piece of tape.”

  “That’s what I thought. Just wanted to be sure, boss,” Ace said. “I’ll make the changes. Once the guys get going, this is going to be done pretty fast.”

  “Good.” I looked at him. “You need a break?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. I guess. What did you have in mind?”

  “How about lunch on the beach?”

  Puzzled, he shrugged again. “Okay.”

  We headed out to my car and drove off to Zuma Beach. The wind had picked up a bit and, being Tuesday, the beach wasn’t too crowded.

  We grabbed a few hotdogs at one of the stands and ate as we walked along the shore.

  “Think we’ll see dolphins?” he said, excited.

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Keeping his eyes on the water, he ate his hotdog. “So how are things going with you and Summer?” he said. “I’ve noticed that she’s been at the house a few times this week.”

  “I like having her around,” I said with a nod.

  “Have you brought her back here?” he said, gesturing at the beach.

  I chuckled. “We’re taking things slow,” I said. “So, no. I haven’t brought her back here. I haven’t brought her to any of the places we used to go to.”

  “Why not?” he said.

  I shrugged. I didn’t really have an answer. I’d considered it a few times. Maybe going up to Deer Creek or down to El Matador. But for some reason, I was reluctant to go back to the past.

  “Maybe I just don’t want to face the fact that she doesn’t remember any of it,” I finally said.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I get what you mean.”

  “I’m worried about her,” I said softly, almost afraid to say it out loud.

  “Worried about what?”

  I stopped and turned to look out at the ocean. “I don’t know,” I said. “There’s something I just don’t understand. She’s clearly oblivious to the fact that the Inner Circle wants her dead. But, then again. If the Inner Circle was so adamant about my killing her… what is she still doing alive today?”

  “Maybe since she doesn’t remember anything, she’s no longer the threat she once was.”

  I shook my head as I finished the last bite of my hotdog. “That was never the reason. At least that’s not what they told me.”

  “You said her father was a controversial scientist,” Ace said.

  “Yeah?”

  “And you said they wanted to get their hands on him…”

  “Yeah.”

  “Could it be that they want to use Summer to try to lure him out of wherever it is that he’s hiding?”

  I stared out at the sea as I thought about what he’d said. So much of everything that was happening didn’t make sense. Maybe he was right. Maybe the Inner Circle had simply decided to use her as bait instead of killing her as was their original plan.

  Inhaling deeply, I nodded and decided to change the subject. “A window installer is supposed to come to the house this afternoon,” I said as I looked at my watch. “He should be there at two.”

 
“Windows?” Ace said. “What do you need new windows for? The old ones are fine.”

  “I want bulletproof windows.”

  “Oh. I see. Makes sense, I guess.”

  “I’m also have the outer walls reinforced. And I’m thinking of making a landing pad on the roof right over the office. That portion of the roof is already flat. I want to see what I need to do to make it strong enough for a helicopter.”

  “Wow,” Ace said. “You’re really going all out. Do you really think the Inner Circle is going to come get you at home?”

  “Summer is spending a lot of time with me there,” I said. “I can’t help but think that they’re going to spring on us both at some point. If they do show up, I want to have a quick and easy escape. I want to be ready.”

  “Do you know how to fly a chopper?”

  “I’m in the process of getting my license,” I said, shooting a sidelong glance at him. “It shouldn’t be long.”

  “Hey!” Ace called out excitedly as he pointed out to the water. “I just saw one.”

  I looked but saw nothing for a moment. Then the sleek gray dolphin jumped out of the water again, accompanied by another dolphin.

  “Did you see that?” Ace said. “And there goes another one… and another.”

  He was as giddy as a kid. Looking at him and hearing the excitement in his voice every single time a dolphin jumped out of the water, I was happy I’d decided to take the time to bring him out to the beach.

  He deserved it. He’d been working hard, and I knew that he was as meticulous about the new headquarters as I would be.

  “This is so cool,” he said. “Thanks for bringing me out here, man. This is really cool.”

  I smiled. “Well, enough fooling around for one day,” I said as I put my hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get back to the serious stuff. All that work isn’t going to get done on its own.”

  I drove him back to the construction site then headed up to the house to wait for the window guy. As I pulled into the drive, I noticed that Summer’s white convertible sports car was there.

  “Hey,” I called out as I found her on the back deck looking over the mountains. “I thought you were going into town for a bit of shopping today.”