A woman appeared through one of the double glass doors, walking like a runway model in her sleek black skirt suit and blouse peeking through the opening of her fitted jacket. She checked Rachel out as though sizing up the competition.
“Rachel Delany?”
“Yes.” She plastered a smile on her face and stood, reaching for the woman’s hand.
The woman looked down at her hand and then turned without taking it.
“Something I said?” Rachel muttered.
The woman didn’t glance at her so maybe she hadn’t heard.
“Do you have a name?” Rachel asked.
“Marcy Sanders,” she said without looking her way.
“Nice to meet you, Marcy.”
The woman stopped at an office and pushed the door open wider, backing out of the way to allow Rachel to pass, bestowing her with unfriendly regard as she passed.
“Thank you,” Rachel said.
Marcy shut the door.
“Rachel Delany.” The tall, trim man with salt-and-pepper hair and glasses stood from his mahogany desk and leaned across the shiny wood to extend his hand.
She took it for a brief shake. “I can’t thank you enough for this.”
“No need. My... Luke’s told me all about you. I’m happy to help out when I can.”
“This is a big way to help out. My landlord will be relieved.”
He smiled and sat down as she took a seat.
“Will I be stepping on toes taking this position?” she asked.
“Never mind Marcy. She’ll recover just fine when I tell her what she’s being compensated for shifting positions.”
“Oh, so I’m taking her job.” Rachel nodded. “Mr. Tieber, I really don’t want to—”
He held his hand up to stop her. “First, call me Joseph, and second, you aren’t taking anyone’s job. Marcy wanted to transfer anyway. She’ll be working for General Counsel.”
“Does she know that?”
“She knows she’s transferring. I haven’t told her where yet because I had to make arrangements with General Counsel first. She’ll be happy, don’t worry.”
Rachel felt better. “Then I’m excited to be a part of your team.”
“After I tell Marcy the good news, she’ll show you around and train you for your new role. Welcome to Tieber Air Transport.”
Rachel couldn’t subdue a beaming smile, one that Joseph noticed.
“How exactly did you meet Luke?” he asked.
Embarrassment threatened to flush her face. “He returned my wallet to me after I lost it.”
“He said as much. He also said you were fired the day you met.”
“Yes. The bus broke down and I was late getting to work.”
“Will you have trouble getting to work here?”
“No. I’ll take the bus.”
“Well, if you’re going to be late because of the bus, just call me and let me know.”
“I will. Thank you.” What a nice man. He made her feel so welcome.
He picked up the phone. “Marcy, would you please come in?”
Rachel started to stand.
“No, you stay here.”
Marcy came into the office with her stormy scowl. She stood beside the chairs. “Yes, Mr. Tieber?”
“I spoke with Mr. Jordan this morning. His assistant put in her notice last week, and he has an opening. You’ll start there in the morning.”
Marcy’s mouth opened, and her eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, so I’ll expect you to be nicer to Rachel, here. I need you to train her to do your job.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to.” She smiled at Rachel. “Come on, let’s get started.”
Rachel left the office and followed Marcy to her new cubicle. Marcy sat down, and Rachel pulled a chair beside her.
“Did you really get fired because the bus broke down?” Marcy opened her email. When Rachel turned in silent question, Marcy added, “I listened to you talking to Joseph. Sorry.”
“That’s my luck.”
“You’re that unlucky?” Marcy breathed a laugh. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, yes, it can. It started when I was thirteen.”
“A handful for your parents, huh?”
“My parents are dead. But yes, I was a handful.” The regret in her tone rang true. Rachel couldn’t hide the emotion and wished she’d never brought it up.
* * *
After giving Rachel a few days to get settled in, Lucas arrived at his stepdad’s company. Rachel wasn’t at her desk when he went into Joseph’s office.
“It’s about time you showed up here,” his dad said.
Lucas shut the door and went to the chair before the big desk.
“When are you going to tell Rachel the truth?” his stepdad asked.
“When I’m sure she had nothing to do with Luella’s murder.”
“She isn’t the type of woman to do that. Marcy just told me all about her. Apparently, they’ve been getting close through her training. Did you know her parents died when she was thirteen?”
“Rachel’s?” She hadn’t mentioned it, but then, they didn’t know each other yet. And she kept her distance from him.
“Ran away from two foster homes. Arrested for theft.”
She sounded like a perfect suspect. “And you want me to tell her who I am?”
“She stole food and money. She lost her parents. She was going through a rough time. She’s a sweet girl, Lucas.”
He couldn’t believe it. His stepdad had fallen for Rachel.
“She just might be good for you.”
“I barely know her. And you don’t, either.” It hadn’t even been a week, and Joseph had him seeing Rachel romantically.
“She got her GED at twenty, and now she’s going to graduate with a business degree. She’s turned her life around. You should tell her before it’s too late. You should have never lied in the first place.”
“I want her to talk about her relationship with Jared.”
“Well, hurry up and do it. I don’t like being part of this deception.”
All right. Lucas would step up the pace, turn on the heat a little more—seductive heat. With Rachel, that would be easy.
* * *
Rachel looked up as she heard Joseph’s office door open, startled to see Luke appear. She hadn’t seen him come in. She shouldn’t be surprised to see him. He and Joseph were friends.
“Rachel,” he said with a disarming smile.
She prepared herself to be wooed. “Hello.”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
For a moment he tempted her. But something about him still kept her wary. “I have to study.”
“I’ve given you a few days. Now it’s time for you to thank me for getting you this job.”
“Thank you for getting me this job.”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Behind him, Joseph stood in the doorway. “Go on, Rachel, he doesn’t bite.”
She caught the wily way Luke glanced at him and wondered what the exchange meant. Well, she had an opportunity to ask him, get him to open up.
“All right. Dinner.” She reached for her purse.
“I’ll have a car brought around,” Joseph said.
While Rachel wondered why he went out of his way to accommodate, Luke extended his hand to her.
She stood without taking it. “Slow down, fancy man.”
Joseph had a limo waiting for them by the time they made it down to the lobby. Her suspicion grew.
“What did the two of you talk about?” she asked.
The driver opened the door and she got in, Luke behind her.
“You,
” he surprised her by saying.
“Me?”
“He told me about your parents.”
Not expecting that, Rachel faced forward.
“I’m sorry. That must have been rough on you.”
Rough. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to not having them around, or the sudden way they had been ripped out of her life. All through junior high and high school, she’d felt so different from everyone else. No one understood her loss. Other kids had parents who picked them up and took them to activities and showed up for events at school. Not her. She had to take care of herself. As an only child, she’d been close to both her parents.
“They were a lot of fun to be with,” she said.
“Any kid would have rebelled. I hope you don’t regret what you did.”
She didn’t respond for a while. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything to Marcy.” She’d been so easy to talk to, though, once she realized she had nothing to fear from her.
“You straightened your life out.”
She breathed out a scoff.
“You’re not in jail.”
No. Not in jail. She’d been close to crossing a bad line.
“What changed it for you?” Luke asked.
She found the question awfully insightful for a man who knew so little about her. He and Joseph must have really had a talk about her. He got her thinking about that. The only thing she hadn’t told Marcy was about Jared. The juvenile record must have come up in her background check through the hiring process.
“After my third arrest, the judge made me go to counseling and said if I didn’t go he’d keep me in jail. The counselor helped me. He talked to me about my parents and reached me. He asked what my parents would think of the way I was behaving.” That still had the power to choke her up. Such a simple thing to ask, and yet such a profound impact on her. “They would have been upset. Disappointed. Unhappy. I didn’t want to do anything that would make my parents unhappy. It took me a few years to figure out what to do. I worked a job or two but stayed at my third foster home until I got my GED and saved enough money to get a place of my own.”
“So it was the counselor who changed it for you?”
She hadn’t thought about the path in her life like this before, that there had been some exterior trigger that had steered her in the right direction. But it hadn’t been the counselor. He’d helped her emotionally.
“No,” she said. “It was the job I got at an insurance company, my first real job. I made good money for someone who had a juvie record. I felt really lucky.” And then she’d discovered something about the company that had ruined it all. As her thoughts ran into everything that had followed, she didn’t feel like talking anymore.
“What company?”
The limo had stopped in front of the restaurant.
“We’re here,” she said, and got out before the driver could open her door.
Stepping up to the entrance, she endured Luke’s curious glances. He’d noticed her unwillingness to talk further about her one and only good job. She stole a closer look at him. He met her gaze and in the brief moment, they connected, enough for her to see suspicion...or maybe disappointment.
* * *
Lucas rode in the back of the limo with Rachel, neither of them saying anything since leaving the restaurant. He’d tried to get her to talk about her job at the insurance company over dinner, but she’d fielded his questions—or more like blatantly changed the subject. She handled herself professionally, graciously countering his attempts with questions of her own.
How did your friend get his business going?
How long have you known Joseph?
Have you ever worked for him?
After the third question she refused to answer, he’d given up. He could tell she hadn’t missed his probing. She must realize he wanted to know more, even, perhaps, that he found her reluctance suspect.
While his wariness of her remained intact, her golden-brown eyes kept flashing up to his—strong, unflinching and magnetizing. Her beauty threw him off when he least needed.
The limo came to a stop in front of her apartment building. Cracked concrete, missing bricks, boarded-up windows and next to no exterior lighting brought the gentleman out in him. Frustrated or not, he couldn’t allow her to walk to her apartment alone at this time of night.
“I’ll walk you.”
“No need. Thanks for dinner.” She opened the car door.
Lucas got out with her, stopping the driver from doing so, as well. His long strides easily caught up to her as she headed for the front doors.
“I can handle myself just fine,” she said.
She must have lived like this for a long time to say something like that. Ignoring her, he opened one of the doors for her, not seeing a doorman anywhere, or even anyone at the enclosed desk.
She went to the elevators, facing him after pressing the up button. “You can go now.”
He couldn’t leave on a note like this, with her bothered by his probing and him bothered by her secrecy. “The door isn’t locked. Anyone can come in here.”
“Of course they can. This isn’t Manhattan.”
The elevator doors opened. Rachel got in and reached for the close button, but he stepped in before she could shut him out.
She moved to the back and leaned with her arms folded, her avoidance in talking about her past hanging between them. If he was going to win her trust he had to ease up on her, and maybe lighten the mood. Even dressed conservatively in a knee-length, slightly flaring gray skirt and white, ruffle-collared blouse, she looked sexy. Silky brunette hair draped over her shoulders to the tops of her round breasts. Her outfit didn’t conceal her curves. Lucas doubted anything would do that. She’d have to be wearing a bag for that to happen.
He noticed how she became aware of his inspection, a warming one, and she responded. He loved how she did that, such an unconscious reaction. Her instincts kicked in and their attraction heated the elevator. He took a step toward her just as the doors opened.
Grinning, he offered her to precede him. With the tiniest of smiles, she did. One small step toward winning her back over to his side.
He glanced at her on the way to her apartment. She noticed, and the physical awareness worked in his favor. Even if she sidestepped him with her secrets, a baser part of her had other ideas. At her door, she faced him.
“Well, here I am,” she said. “Safe and sound.”
He stepped forward, testing her space. Her eyes grew less playful, but heated curiosity remained. Never before had he deliberately kissed a woman. He’d always waited for the right moment. Not this time.
She put her hand on his chest, and for a moment he thought she’d refuse him. “Are you always this pushy with women?”
“Is this pushy?” He leaned in slowly, watching her eyes, feeling her hands press firmer on his chest, but not enough to pass as refusal. He hovered over her mouth just in case. Those golden-brown orbs blinked. Softly, he caressed at first, moving over her lips awhile before reaching with his tongue to ask for entry.
She parted her lips, and he kissed her as expertly as he could. He put all his experience into this kiss. A lot rode on its success. But as she responded with a warm sigh and an answering tongue, he lost control. No longer deliberate, desire made him slide his arm down to her rear and angle his head for a deeper connection. The sweet confection of her mouth, the soft curves of her breasts now crushed against him, the feel of her firm butt in his palm, all swarmed into his consciousness, obliterating reason.
Nearly a full minute later, he withdrew, so inflamed he didn’t think he could step back and leave. No, he wanted to go inside with her.
He stood breathing with her, his forehead against hers.
She tipped her face up, and he found himself kissing her again.
Blood rushed to his groin. Already hard from the first kiss, he could burst now.
“Let me in,” he said, kissing down her neck to the top of her blouse.
“Oh,” she breathed. “I don’t even know you.”
“We can talk first.” He came back up to her mouth. “Maybe.”
She laughed with him, deep, sultry sounds. Then she turned in his arms and unlocked her door while he kissed her neck. She managed to get the door open and he followed her inside.
Those few seconds opened enough clarity for him to slow down. As she backed up with fiery eyes cooling, he could see she’d begun to simmer down, as well.
“Uh... Coffee?”
“Sure.” He followed her into her kitchen, just a couple steps from the entrance. A two-chair table took up most of the small dining area. Her apartment was little more than a hotel room, with a daybed on one side of the studio and living area on the other.
Rachel went about preparing a pot of coffee. “You never did tell me why you quit the SEAL training.”
For a moment he wondered if she’d asked on purpose, digging for the most personal information on him. To douse the passion? How could she know the weight of her question? He considered doing as she’d done, blatantly changing the subject. But then he’d lose ground in winning her trust.
Clamping down angst, he said as neutrally as he could, “I got married.”
Rachel paused in her task to look back at him. “Didn’t she support your wishes?”
“She told me she was pregnant. I didn’t want to quit, but I didn’t want to have a baby and be gone all the time. My plan was to work as a SEAL for a few years and then settle down. I thought being careless with her was just as much my fault as hers.” He wished he didn’t have to continue.
The coffee had begun to brew, the rich aroma filling the apartment. Rachel got out two cups and put them down.
“What happened?” she asked when he didn’t go on.
Bitterness welled up as always when he thought of this. Was telling her worth using it to gain her trust? Luella’s smiling face and laughter came to him, a memory of the time when they were kids and she threw water balloons at him. He’d just come home from his job as a burger-flipper, his first one. He’d had a really bad day and yearned for college so he could get away from fast food. As soon as he’d gotten out of the old Camaro, she’d sprung out from the garage with an armful of balloons. She’d dropped some, but a couple had gotten him good.
Justice Hunter Page 4