by Lisa G Riley
*
“How do you know he knows something?” The tone of the voice was hard and impatient. “Are you sure?”
“Well, no, I can’t be absolutely sure,” the accomplice said nervously. “But you don’t know Sloan the way I do. There was just something about the way he looked and sounded this morning. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but…”
“But what? Look, I don’t think he knows anything. We should keep to our schedule. We haven’t got nearly enough—”
“But that will be difficult. The way he’s set things up now, I don’t know when I’ll be able to get in and—”
“Just make it happen. I’m sick of your excuses.” There was a sigh as the architect of the plan recalculated. The voice became deliberately silky. “You know I need that money, baby. Think of all we could do with it once we get to Brazil. It’s so much cheaper to live down there.”
The kiss was unexpected and just enough to guarantee obedience. “Do it for me, sweetheart. Do it for us.”
The caress that followed was spine shivering and mind drugging. “All right. I’ll do it for us.”
Chapter Nine
“You are a stone fool,” Kendra said to Connor Chang around gut-busting laughter. He was Sloan’s best friend, and an in-house lawyer at her company. He’d dropped in to her office to chat. Tall and elegant with intense dark eyes and a personality to match, he was, and always had been, a catch at L and H. She’d always enjoyed his company and loved the little chats they had. He’d just begun to tell her about an incident he’d had with a new junior creative account executive who’d been trying to get him to approve an ad concept. “Sometimes I don’t think that I can believe a word that comes out of your mouth!”
Connor looked at her from where he lounged in the chair in front of her desk. “It’s true,” he said. “I was seriously thinking about siccing HR on him for stupidity. The kid keeps coming to my office with dumb-assed ideas. He thought it was quote, unquote edgy. He thought he was being so clever, and not only told me so but also told me that I was too stodgy to get where he was going with the idea. Can you imagine? Me? Stodgy? The nerve of the little weaselly bastard. I could have fucked him over for that alone.”
Kendra laughed at the look of pure insult on his face. “Your ego aside, Connor, who is this person we’re talking about?”
“Clarence Audrey. The cocky little son of a bitch is driving me insane. He’s so eager to impress his boss that he goes overboard, and when you try to pull him back, he cops an attitude. Sometimes I just want to kick his ass,” he finished.
Appalled, Kendra lowered her voice. “Cut it out, Con. You should know better than anybody that you can’t be saying stuff like that around here. It would probably be construed as a threat or something.”
“Jesus, Kendra,” Connor chastised. “I wouldn’t actually do it—” At her snort, his grin flashed again. “Okay, so maybe I would. All I need is five, no two, minutes in an alley with the little pissant. He wouldn’t know what hit him.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s not on any of my teams. He’s that bad, huh?” she asked in sympathy when Connor winced.
“Kendra, you have no idea,” Connor said. Their laughter quieted. “Anyway, how have you been? Wedding plans going okay? We haven’t had lunch together in a while, and I don’t know what your plans are, but I can’t have lunch today, so I thought I’d drop by.”
“Yeah, we’ve both been swamped, and I’m having lunch with Mozell, so our weekly lunch date can’t take place today. But to answer your question, the wedding plans are coming along fine, except for one little glitch. Our caterer told us a couple of days ago that she’s overbooked and can’t cater for us.”
“Have you found someone else yet?”
“We have a few possibilities. Sloan and I will be meeting with them this week. But I’m surprised you didn’t know this, seeing as how you had dinner with Sloan and Kyle last night.”
“Yeah, I did, but we didn’t talk about the wedding. Sloan had other things on his mind.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he did.” Kendra nodded. “The embezzlement is tying him up in knots. It’s killing him that he doesn’t know who it is.”
“He’ll figure it out.”
“You think his plan will work?”
“Let’s hope so. It’s a good plan to catch the thief.”
“I think so too, but I’m worried. Shouldn’t he still report it to someone? The police? Maybe the FBI? The state’s attorney?”
Connor, who’d worked for both the FBI and the Justice Department before coming to work at L and H, shrugged. “He could, and you know it isn’t something he’s pulled off the table, but this way will eventually work, I think.”
Kendra frowned to show her dissatisfaction. “If you say so. What about the fact that Sloan hasn’t been able to reach Mrs. Patterson?”
“What about it?” Connor said with a shrug. “Sloan told me her nephew says she’s on some kind of extended cruise.”
“Exactly!” Kendra exclaimed. “You’ve proven my point.” When Connor only shook his head, she continued in exasperation, “You know, you and Sloan amaze me! The situation is fishy. Sloan says she usually tells him when she’s going out of town, especially when a trip coincides with a payment from the trust.”
“Usually,” Connor stressed. “And besides, Sloan also said she hasn’t done it in a while because he was finally able to get her to see that it was unnecessary, given that the money is directly deposited into her account.”
Kendra waved her hand in dismissal. “I still think there’s something suspicious about the whole thing.” Seeing that she wasn’t getting any further with him than she had with Sloan, she changed the subject. “So tell me what you think of this whole Kyle-FBI thing? Is it a stupid idea or what?”
Connor grinned. “They told me you were against his helping out, so I’ll just stay out of this one.”
“So you didn’t even try to convince Kyle not to help?”
“Sure didn’t. Why should I? Kyle has to do what’s right for himself.”
Kendra shook her head. “That’s macho BS, but fine,” she said and threw her hands up. “I’m done trying to talk some sense into knuckleheads.”
“Do you know how long Kyle is staying in town?”
“He hasn’t really said, but he’s already been here for almost a week. That’s a long time for him to be in one place. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” Connor replied nonchalantly. “I was just curious.”
“Oh, well, knowing Kyle, he’ll only be here another week or so before he heads to greener pastures.”
“Back to Lake Tahoe you mean?”
“Yeah,” Kendra answered. “I’ll miss him. It’s been fun having him around.”
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be back for the wedding, right?”
“He’d better be, or suffer the consequences.”
“I don’t guess Kyle had better linger in Tahoe, then.” Chuckling, he rose. “I’d better get going. Work awaits.”
“All right, then, Con. I’m sorry we can’t do lunch today. Please, let’s try to do something next week, okay?”
“It’s a date. All right, then. I’m out of here.” He opened the door—and almost got hit smack in the nose by Mozell, who’d raised her hand to knock. “Ms. Reese,” he greeted formally before stepping back to let her enter. “Ladies,” he said in parting and left the office.
Sitting down, Mozell asked, “What did Secret Asian Man want?”
Kendra wondered if she’d heard correctly. “Sorry? Secret what?”
“Secret Asian Man,” Mozell repeated. “I can’t stand him, the squirrelly bastard.”
“Mozell! Why would you call him that?”
“Which? Secret Asian Man or squirrelly bastard?”
“Both.”
“Because he always seems to be up to something; that’s why. I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him. Plus, you never hear him coming or going; he’s all of a sudden just there, like a
damn phantom or something. It’s like he deliberately puts off this persona of being dark and mysterious.”
“Jeez, Mozell,” Kendra said dazedly. “I always knew you were sensitive, but not this sensitive. Not many people here know this, but Connor used to work for the FBI. Maybe all of this…stealth you sense in him is just a holdover from his days with them. I don’t think anybody else notices it but you.”
Mozell was quiet for a moment. “FBI, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Weird, but that still doesn’t explain it all. Trust me,” she said emphatically, “something is off about that man.”
“Well, I hope it isn’t too off for you to stand beside him for a few minutes,” Kendra commented, sighing when Mozell just stared at her in confusion. “He’s your partner in the wedding, dummy. He’s Sloan’s best friend. You knew that.”
“Well, shit,” Mozell muttered. “It didn’t even occur to me that I’d be partnered with him.”
“I don’t know why not. Sloan and I are each only having two attendants. If Victoria is going to be matched with Kyle, then process of elimination tells us that you’ll be matched with Connor. It will be fine,” Kendra promised when Mozell’s frown became even more pronounced. “Look at it this way; at least you’ll be well matched in height. He’s got at least four inches on you. Besides that, he’s a nice guy.”
“Not to me, he isn’t,” Mozell mumbled around a pout as she looked down. She flicked imaginary lint from her jeans. “Always lurking around the office like he’s up to something. There’s something about him I just don’t trust.”
“Yes.” Kendra drew the word out as she thought about the nuances beneath Mozell’s comments. “So you’ve said.” She wondered if something was going on between Mozell and Connor. Oh, that would be lovely. She smiled.
Mozell’s head popped up just in time to catch it. “What? What’s the big, shit-eating grin for?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Kendra said innocently even as said grin grew even bigger and more shit eating. She looked at her watch. “I’m not going to get any work done until I eat, so let’s just leave a little earlier than planned, okay? We should go right now because I have a meeting in about an hour and a half.”
Connor walked to his office, thinking about what he’d just heard Mozell say about his lurking and being up to something. He’d have to watch her and be more careful around her. She was not only freakishly tall, but also way too perceptive. She gave the deceptive impression that she was scatterbrained and silly, but that was obviously a front.
He shut his door and sat at his desk. Just as he opened his cell phone to dial his FBI contact in Nevada, he thought of something else. He felt a smile pull at his mouth. Secret Asian Man, huh? I like that.
Amusement was forgotten when the phone at the other end was answered. “Yeah,” he said in greeting. “The word is that Kyle Johnson will be taking off to head your way in about a week or so. He’ll be back here in a few weeks for his brother’s wedding. I don’t know if he’s decided to try to infiltrate the group or not, but if he does…well, that’ll be on you.”
Chapter Ten
Sloan looked at his watch. It was almost eleven. Kendra and he had started going to early-morning movies a couple of years before. There was less noise and plenty of privacy. They’d claim the balcony and make out like a couple of randy teenagers who had nowhere else to go to get their freak on. They barely even watched the movies.
They stood now in the lobby, debating their selection of snacks. Sloan surveyed the choices. “Okay, I’d like a Pepsi or something. Do you want anything? Candy?”
Kendra rubbed her stomach. “I know we had breakfast about an hour ago, but strangely enough, I could go for some popcorn. Get like a medium-size bucket of it, will you? I’ll meet you in the theater. Balcony area, as usual,” she said over her shoulder and left him.
*
Sloan looked up and spotted Kendra in the very last row of the balcony seats and all the way in the corner. What the hell? Oh yeah, she was definitely up to something. He was at the head of the short row she’d chosen when what he saw almost made him drop the bucket of popcorn and gigantic Pepsi he’d purchased. Kendra sat in the very last seat in the row. On the seat next to her, which was still raised, lay a small pair of pink lace panties that beckoned him like a flag waving in the wind. Next to the panties sat a bottle of lubricant. He recognized it as the kind he’d introduced her to when he’d talked her into doing what she fondly called “freaky shit” in bed.
He raised his eyes to look at her. She sat there primly, with her legs crossed and her coat neatly thrown on the back of the chair in front of her. But her eyes were staring hotly into his as she wiggled her fingers at him in a naughty, abbreviated wave.
He handed her the popcorn and the Pepsi so he could take up the panties and lubricant. Holding the crotch of her panties to his face, he took a deep sniff, smelling that scent only she had. Stuffing them in the pocket of his jeans, he sat down and took the popcorn and soda. He leaned over and caught her mouth in a ravenous kiss. “So far, I like your nothing. I want more of it,” he said against her mouth
Despite everything, Kendra’s face flushed. Her lips moved against his when she whispered, “Wait until the lights go down.”
Knowing that the popcorn would be about as tasty as sandpaper now, Sloan sat the bucket on the floor.
“No, no. Pick it back up and put it in your lap,” Kendra whispered. “I want some of it.”
The lights went down, and it was pitch-dark until the screen in the front of the room lit up. Kendra dipped her hand into the bucket of popcorn, and looking at her, Sloan saw that her eyes were planted firmly on the screen as she fed kernels into her mouth.
“What are you—”
“Shh. Just watch the screen.”
A little irritated now, Sloan stared at her some more. He settled back in his chair. “Don’t tease, Kendra. With Kyle hanging around all the time, I’m too frustrated—”
Kendra put her hand over his mouth. “I’m not teasing, I promise. Just wait.” As the movie began to play, she continued to eat the popcorn, dipping her hand in the bucket consistently, and each time digging a little farther toward the bottom. At one point, she scraped the bottom with her nails, making Sloan jerk in his chair as the deliberate scrape made the bucket bump against his erection. She stuffed popcorn into her mouth, past the sound of stifled giggles.
Sloan looked at her suspiciously. “Don’t play with me, Ken,” he warned softly.
Kendra kept her eyes straight ahead and said innocently, “What? I’m just trying to have some popcorn and watch a movie.” Even as she said it, her hand scraping the bottom of the bucket again gave lie to her words. Sloan jerked in his seat again.
“Ken.” It was a warning.
She slowly turned her head to look at him. “Yes, Sloan?”
“Don’t start what you aren’t willing to finish. You know I’ll make you pay.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said and turned her body toward him. She stretched her arm so she could put her hand beneath the bucket and firmly cup him through his pants. His eyes fell shut in automatic response to the stimulation. “I’m just enjoying the show,” she said sweetly—and slowly drew his zipper down.
Sloan could not believe she was going so far. This was a woman who would duck her head in embarrassment when he kissed her in public. When she reached her hand inside the slit of his boxers and drew out his erection, her soft touch made his hips jerk so violently that he almost came out of his chair. He heard the rough sound of greed she made in the back of her throat and could only pray that it meant she’d take this all the way through to the end.
“You know I’m not wearing any underwear, don’t you, Sloan?” she whispered in his ear as she took her hand slowly up and down his long, thick length, holding it at the base with her other hand.
Sloan jerked in his seat again as her soft breath blew into his ear, disturbing the finely sensitive hairs
there.
“Would you like to know how wet I am for you? Hmm?” she asked and took his earlobe gently between her teeth. “I’m so wet that you could probably slide this huge monster into me with no problem at all. There’d be nothing but smooth sailing all the way, Blondie.”
She removed her hands altogether, and Sloan clenched his teeth in agony. He felt her reach on the side of his chair and then heard her flip the cap of the lubricant open. He gripped the bucket of popcorn so hard that it folded in on itself.
He watched Kendra spread the lubricant on her hands; she licked her lips in anticipation of what was to come. Slowly she slid her hand down his shaft again, squeezing just a bit to add to the friction and holding him steady at the base.
Biting back a groan, Sloan gnashed his teeth to keep from shouting out his thanks.
“You feel soooo good, baby,” she whispered in his ear. “When are you going to let me feel you between my thighs again? It’s been so very, very long, and I miss feeling you pushing inside of me so fast and hungrily that I feel like I’m about to explode all over you.” As she spoke, she took her hand a little faster over his dick, sliding it completely over the head and then coming back for more.
Sloan couldn’t help it: he moaned loudly, crushing the bucket of popcorn completely.
“Is it hard enough for you, baby?” She licked the rim of his ear, sending him straight to the edge.
He could say absolutely nothing.
Kendra increased the pressure steadily, bending her head to kiss him as she increased the rhythm as well.
Sloan gripped the arms of his seat now as his hips jerked in a mad rhythm to the accompaniment of her hand. Only distantly mindful of where they were, he devoured her mouth as his orgasm slammed through him.
Kendra continued to slowly stroke him as he came down from his orgasm. He watched her watching him, and his body contorted with the pleasure and then finally just went slack with satisfaction.
She’d never gone this far with him in public. Now he could see that she was turned on.
She raised her head to look at him. “Surprised you, didn’t I?”