Hard to Handle

by Raven Scott

  Mikayla was deep in thought when there was a knock on the bedroom pocket door. She stood up and slid it open. Sam Mackenzie filled the open space with his tall frame and broad shoulders. They stared silently at each other for a few awkward moments until Mikayla glanced away.

  “Are you all packed?” he asked.

  “Yeah, except for a few toiletries in the bathroom,” she replied.

  “Okay. The police will be here in a minute to take your visitor into custody, and I’d like to move you to another location for the night.”

  “Does that mean you’re taking the assignment?” Mikayla demanded, meeting his eyes again squarely.

  “We’ll see.”

  “No,” she countered. “Either you agree to take Antonoli Properties on as a client or I’m staying right here until my flight tomorrow back to New York.”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed a bit but the rest of his face remained impassive.

  “We can discuss the details once we have you somewhere safe,” he insisted.

  “What else is there to discuss for you to make a decision? You heard the threat and saw what happened,” Mikayla replied, pointing at the man still tied up at the front door.

  “There’s no need to be stubborn, darling.”

  “I’m not being stubborn, only practical,” she shot back, annoyed by his patronizing tone. “I’m very grateful for your intervention. You’re still a very gallant knight. But I need more than that. I’ve offered you the job, so either take it or leave so I can find someone else.”

  Sam slowly crossed his arms across his chest and planted his feet wide.

  “All right, we’ll take the assignment,” he finally agreed. “But you and your boss, Antonoli, will have to tell us everything there is to know about your business dealings.”

  “There is no we, Sam. I told you we’re hiring you and you only. And it requires full confidentiality.”

  “It doesn’t work that way, darling. I am Fortis. You hire me, you hire the whole company. That’s the deal,” Sam stated, spreading his legs wider as though to take an even firmer stance. “There is no confidentiality between me and my partners.”

  Mikayla did not miss the broader point he was making, and looked down at the space between them.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s the deal,” she returned.

  “Why?”

  “You know why, Sam.”

  “Evan.”

  “He could never see me as a client. Our families are too close, and he would feel honor bound to tell my parents what’s going on.”

  “From what I can see, Evan has moved on with his life, so maybe you’re not giving him enough credit.”

  Mikayla smiled sadly at the attempted jab.

  “It’s not a risk I’m willing to take. My dad has been through enough in the last few years. I don’t want him to worry needlessly about me.”

  “Looks like he should be worried,” Sam added with another condescending twist of his lips. Mikayla refused to take the bait.

  “So do we have an agreement or not?”

  “I told you, if you hire me, you’re hiring Fortis. Besides, I’ve already given Lucas and one of our analysts an update. Kinda hard to unring that bell, lass.”

  She stepped closer to him and planted her hands on her hips.

  “You’re a pretty capable man, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  One of his eyebrows twitched.

  “So, Mr. Mackenzie, do we have an agreement? Or should I start searching for another security consultant?” she insisted.

  There were several moments of tense silence during which neither of them blinked, until there was a hard, loud knock at the front door.

  “Get the rest of your things together,” Sam finally growled before turning to walk across the hotel room.

  Mikayla hid a smile as she followed a few steps behind, pulling on the cardigan. She turned into the bathroom just as Sam let the uniformed officer inside. It took only a couple of minutes for her to collect toiletries and supplies into a cosmetic bag. When she stepped back out into the front hallway, her attacker was being taken away in police custody.

  “All set?” Sam asked. He had brought her luggage and purse out of the bedroom.

  “Yes,” she confirmed as she loaded the cosmetic bag into the suitcase. “What about the police? Don’t I need to give a statement?”

  “I’ve taken care of it,” he stated simply, then ushered her out of the room with her luggage in tow.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Not far.”

  Mikayla stayed close to him as they went downstairs on a service elevator, through a long hallway, and outside to an alley at the back of the building. Sam opened the front passenger door of a slick, black sports car and helped her get seated. She heard the trunk open and shut before he folded his large frame into the driver’s seat. The engine purred to life, and they were out on the street, moving swiftly through traffic at an aggressive speed. While Sam remained silent and focused on his driving, Mikayla tried not to think about how strange it felt to be next to him in the confined space.

  They had known each other for such a brief period of time four years ago. Just a few days. Yet his presence created the same nervous anticipation in the base of her stomach, as though something exciting was about to happen. Only, this time, Mikayla knew from experience that excitement wasn’t always a good thing, and she vowed not to let it beguile her into rash and regrettable behavior. She was trying to accomplish something with Antonoli Properties, and while Sam Mackenzie was necessary to do this, his presence could not be anything more than that.

  The drive was only five minutes north to a small townhouse complex on the other side of the airport. Sam slowly drove the car down a narrow lane to the end of the street, then turned into the last driveway on the right. The door to a single-car garage slid up automatically, and he parked inside, closing the garage door behind them.

  “Is this your place?” Mikayla asked as she stepped out of the car and looked around at the neat, organized space.

  “No, it’s a safe house,” Sam said curtly. “Let’s get inside. We have a lot to sort through.”

  Mikayla silently followed him into the two-floor house through an entrance near the kitchen. Sam switched on lights as they walked through to the living areas on the main floor. It was plain white, with unadorned walls and sparse furniture. Sam placed her suitcase near the staircase in the middle of the space, then started a thorough inspection of every external door and window, all of which were covered with utilitarian white blinds. She let out a deep breath, trying to ease some of the tension that had been building steadily since she’d stepped out of her rental car to speak to him just two hours earlier.

  “Okay, Mikayla,” Sam said as he walked back to her. “Start from the beginning and tell me everything you know about this real estate bid your boss is involved with and these threats.”

  Mikayla backed up to sit in the dark blue sofa against the wall. Then she took a deep breath and told the story of how she’d ended up in New York.

  “I had met Terry about a year and a half ago at a charity auction for the Clement Foundation, the nonprofit organization for adult literacy that my mother runs,” she explained, looking up into his eyes with a steady gaze. “He wanted to expand his family’s real estate development business into the U.S. and was here for a few weeks, meeting with business associates for potential investment opportunities. Last fall, he reached out to ask if I would be interested in a job. Antonoli Properties had just opened their North American office in New York and wanted to focus on city projects. Terry needed an executive assistant with a strong communications background who could help complete municipal government contract bids. I was ready for a new challenge so I accepted the job and have been working with him ever since.

  “We now have three small projects under way in Brooklyn and Queens. Six weeks ago, one of our subcontractors told us about an open bid in Paterson, New Jersey, for a new government office building. We sub
mitted a proposal last Monday, three weeks before the deadline. The contract will be awarded on August fourth.”

  Sam was now pacing slowly in front of her while he stroked the thick, silky blond beard near the line of his jaw.

  “When did the trouble start?” he asked.

  “Last Wednesday, a couple of days after the submission,” explained Mikayla. “Someone showed up at our office claiming to be from the city of Paterson, asking very aggressive questions about building permits and insurance coverage. Terry and I were at one of the other building sites, but our receptionist was there, and said the gentleman suggested the review process for new vendors to work in Paterson was very extensive and could result in very crippling fines if there was any suggestion that we had misrepresented our credentials. Of course, I called the city development office right away, and they had no record of sending anyone to meet with us.

  “On Monday morning, we found the glass in the front doors of our offices smashed and the computers and office equipment all destroyed. That’s when I told Terry we needed to hire security. I arrived here two days ago.”

  “They knew you were in Virginia, alone, when they left that voicemail message,” he stated solemnly.

  “It appears so.”

  “Why you?”

  “What?”

  “The message was ‘pull out now or your bitch will pay the price.’ Why you and not his wife?” he asked in a deceptively soft voice.

  Mikayla knew the answer, had been fully prepared to lay everything out from the beginning so that Sam would see her as she needed him to and be satisfied with only providing his protection services. But now the words were stuck in her throat and she just could not push them out. Not yet.

  “I don’t know,” she lied, looking down briefly. “Terry travels a lot back and forth to France, so I’ve become the face of Antonoli Properties here. I’m sure I’m just the easiest target.”

  “You’re also working for him under the name Kaylee Stone. Why?”

  “Old habit, I guess? My dad is still very influential in many circles even if he doesn’t run Clement Media anymore. I’ve never wanted anyone to think I was using the family connections to further my career. This way, I don’t have to worry about it.”

  “That sounds like a pretty way of saying you prefer to lie about who you are, deceiving the people around you.”

  Mikayla let out a deep sigh as she stood up to stand in front of him. It was inevitable that they would get here eventually.

  “Sam—”

  “Does Antonoli know?”

  “Yes,” she insisted, sounding much more defensive than she wanted to. “I told you, I met him while I worked for my mother’s charitable foundation. So he knows who I am. I mean, he calls me Kaylee, like everyone I’ve met since high school. But only my family still calls me Mikayla. And Evan’s.”

  He looked down at her with a fierce stare, his jaw clenched hard. She could feel his dissatisfaction with her statement, and his silent need to challenge her words. The impending conversation was four years in the making.

  “Sam—”

  “What else do I need to know?” he demanded, cutting her off again.

  “That’s everything I can think of.”

  He nodded, seemingly calm on the outside, but his sky-blue eyes burned hot with intensity.

  “Okay. This whole thing should be pretty easy to resolve once we find out what other companies bid on the same work.” He looked at his watch. “We need to rearrange flights to New York for tomorrow morning, and I’ll meet with Antonoli as soon as we arrive.”

  Kaylee nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice was just above a whisper. “I know I’m the last person you wanted to see again, so I really appreciate your help.”

  “It sounds like a pretty simple job, Mikayla, so hardly a big effort. And we both know that Evan would kick my arse if I didn’t take the case.”

  She smiled sadly at the dry attempt at humor. Then she closed her eyes and said the words that needed to be spoken.

  “I never meant to deceive you, Sam.”

  He stepped back, and Kaylee reached out and grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him from walking away. Sam froze, his whole body stiff and his eyes fixed over her shoulder.

  “Let go of me.”

  “Please. Just let me explain.”

  “There is nothing more to explain!” he roared, low and deep, pulling his arm away so she was forced to release her grip. “Because of you, I did the most dishonorable thing a man could do, Kaylee. Evan is my business partner. My mate. One of two men that I respect the most. And I slept with his fiancée! There is no coming back from that. There is no explanation that makes that right! Not then and not now.”

  “But we didn’t know. It wasn’t intentional, Sam.”

  “You think that matters? That it changes anything?”

  “Yes!” she yelled, stepping in front of him so he was forced to meet her eyes. “Yes, it matters. I’m the only one to blame. I was engaged to him and I let myself get . . . caught up with someone else. I didn’t know who you were, but it was still my mistake. Not yours. Evan would have understood that.”

  “Don’t you think I thought about that at the time, Kaylee? Do you think I’ve wanted to keep this secret? But do you know what’s even worse than sleeping with Evan’s fiancée just weeks before his wedding?” he demanded in a low growl as he took hold of her shoulders, pulling her so close their bodies were only a hairbreadth apart. “The fact I still wanted you. Even knowing who you were and what you had done, I still wanted you for myself. That, sweetheart, is unforgivable.”

  Kaylee didn’t have time to react before Sam lowered his mouth onto hers in a deep, punishing kiss.

  CHAPTER 4

  After four years, Sam had Kaylee in his arms again, with his lips sweeping over her and his tongue delving into her warm, wet recess. He was vibrating from the sensation she created within him. Hot, sweet arousal and unrelenting need for the intoxicating flavor of forbidden fruit. She sighed and relaxed into the embrace, opening her mouth wider to him. God, he wanted her, just like before. Maybe even more.

  His hunger for her was natural, right? Any man who tasted something insanely good only once, then was forbidden from accessing it again for years after, would crave that thing like a drug. He would dream about it, recall its color, scent, texture with absolute clarity until he was certain he had created it with his imagination. Then, if that thing was put in reach again, any man would have a greedy, uncontrollable urge to consume it. It was instinct, biology, and Sam Mackenzie was not immune to it.

  Sam took her head in his hands to kiss her deeper, demanding access and controlling her response. He sucked on her lips, nibbled roughly on their edges, and pulled at her tongue. Every caress sent fresh tendrils of arousal down his back until his legs tingled. Only Kaylee made him feel like this.

  He pulled back to look down at her face, with her skin flush red-brown and her eyes closed. Her full lips were swollen and pouty, glistening from the wetness of his own. Then her lids slowly folded back until she looked back at him and his urgent need was clearly reflected in the brown depths of her eyes. His heart pounded harder.

  With deliberate slowness, Sam reached down between them to hook his fingers into the edge of her yoga pants and tug them down her hips. Kaylee wiggled a little and helped push them lower until they pooled on the floor. Then she reached her arms up and placed them on the tops of his shoulders, steadying herself to step out of the pants. Their eyes were still locked. Sam reached around and gripped the curves of her ass in both hands squeezing their full firmness and pulling her up against his semi-hardness. Kaylee gasped, and ran her tongue along her top lip.

  She was tempting him. Purposely trying to break his control. Sam clenched his teeth and rubbed his length against the base of her stomach, but resisted kissing her again. If this was going to happen, it would be on his terms, the way he wanted it.

  Kaylee looked down at his lips and slid her hands farther up his neck and alo
ng his jawline. She brushed one of her thumbs across his lower lip, swiping just inside and stroking it back and forth. Sam’s cock pulsed and hardened further against her body, and Kaylee sighed loudly. He stroked his tongue along her finger, sucking it into his mouth and biting on the pad. Hard. She gasped in surprise, and her eyes widened dramatically, but she didn’t pull it back out. Sam bathed the spot with his tongue in tiny circles, and her breathing deepened. He watched her intently, soaking up every sign of her building arousal and almost forgetting that this was his show. Almost.

  Sam pulled back his head and looked down between them. Her nipples were hard and peaked beneath her clothes. He quickly pulled off the light sweater so she was left in only the loose tank top and her underwear. Her body was almost as he remembered. Petite with lean lines and soft curves, though now a little fuller than before. Silky soft, russet-brown skin with a golden undertone. Feminine features that were still incredibly responsive to his touch. Sam just knew that she was now dewy and slick between her thighs. Just the thought brought him to full, impatient hardness.

  God, he wanted to kiss her again. Her lips looked deliciously sweet. But he held back, trying to hold on to his control in the situation. Letting go of her ass, he quickly undid his belt, unsnapped the waist of his jeans, and lowered the zipper. As though clearly reading his mind, Kaylee trailed her fingers down his stomach and slid one of them right under the band of his underwear. She took hold of his cock in her small, soft hand, pushing down the cotton boxer briefs with the other. His thick length sprung free, stretching upward, and Sam could only watch breathlessly as she stroked over it with a tight hold. Jesus Christ, it felt insanely good. She added her other hand, using both to stroke him up and down with just the right speed and grip to drive him nuts.

  Sam let out a low hiss as his balls tightened unbearably. Any moment now, she was going to make him come, way too fast. He could already feel it building hard, gripping his spine with its intensity. A few more strokes and he’d be a goner. He threw back his head to hold in a deep, carnal groan. But then she released her hold, and Sam wasn’t sure if he was relieved or about to die from frustration. He took a deep breath and looked back down at her. The little minx was grinning, fully aware of the torture she was creating. It was such a pretty smile. And for the first time in a long time, Sam wanted to laugh out loud for no real reason at all.