by Fiona Archer
Alex slanted a look at him. “There you are again, smoothing things out.”
“It’s what I do best.” No denying it. Alex was the corporate king. Kane smoothed shit out, built relationships.
Alex’s gaze turned serious. “One of the things, little brother.”
Deep down he knew it, but it felt fucking good hearing his brother say so.
With a lift of his chin, he slung his satchel over his shoulder and returned out to the foyer.
And there she was.
Standing beside one of the cherry-red leather sofas, Olivia held her large tote bag in her hand. Dressed in a deep purple dress that went in at her waist and flowed down over her hips, the color set off her red hair and the paleness of her skin. She looked stunning.
He chose to ignore Louisa’s unabashed interest as he walked forward. Taking hold of Olivia’s wrist, he slid his fingers over the skin, noting with satisfaction how her pulse jumped under his touch.
“Hello.” He kept his voice low as his hand enveloped hers.
Those big swimming pool green eyes of hers widened, their pupils dilating.
“Hi.” Her voice sounded a bit breathless. She flicked her gaze to Louisa, then tugged on her hand.
Oh, no. He wasn’t having that. Firming his hold, he allowed himself a small smile at the tiny frown that marred her forehead.
Kane heard the sound of Alex’s office door closing before he appeared on the other side of Olivia.
“Olivia, it’s good to see you.” Alex’s mouth curved at the corners, taking his hardass factor down a notch.
“Hi, Alex.” Olivia took a little breath, as if steadying herself.
His brother’s gaze dropped to Kane’s grasp of her hand before he turned back to their PA. “Enjoy your weekend, Louisa.”
“You, too,” came their long-time assistant’s reply.
Kane nodded to her, smiling at her raised brows. Man, she was going to grill him the next time he was in the office.
“I’ll take Olivia in my car, and we’ll meet you there.” Kane started walking to the elevator, still holding her hand.
“Where are we going?” Olivia flicked her gaze at both men as she walked between them.
Kane smiled, pleased that she allowed him to lead her. Whether that trust was subconscious or not he’d yet to find out. “One of our favorite places for seafood. Sound good?”
Her mouth widened into a smile. “I’d like that.”
Fighting Seattle traffic was never fun. Friday afternoons on Alki were murder, but Olivia’s questions about his hometown and her interest in his answers made the drive much easier. By the time Kane and Alex had parked and the three of them were seated at their table with menus, it was already six o’clock. Their drink order came soon after.
It wasn’t the swankiest place to eat, but an attitude-free zone was the factor that always allowed both men to relax. Families as well as couples occupied the pine tables that filled up the multi-level floor space, some lucky enough to gain a view of the water. Since they were both early and good friends with the owner, they’d snagged a prized corner table.
He and Alex had removed their ties and jackets, leaving them in their cars. After time in King’s Bluff wearing jeans and open collared shirts, he hated the formality of having a tie around his neck, especially when he knew of their more attractive uses, say, like keeping a sub’s hands tied behind her back.
He glanced over at Olivia. The V neckline of her dress showed off the gold necklace with a knot design that rested inches below her collarbone. The sun was low on the horizon. When she turned to face Kane, its light caught her eyes, highlighting their green depths, not to mention the deep red of her hair. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the brilliance of the picture.
“Kane?” she asked loudly.
He blinked. “Pardon?” Christ, get it together. He chose to ignore his brother’s questioning stare.
“I was asking if you guys could recommend anything?”
“Surf and turf.” He shrugged.
“Alex suggested the exact same thing. You’re both of the same mind.”
Definitely.
Alex smirked as if guessing his thoughts.
In the end, he ordered the crab stuffed prawns, while Alex and Olivia had the surf and turf.
“What are your plans for the weekend, Olivia? Any sightseeing?” Alex took a swallow of his beer.
“I’ve got a list. Sounds dorky, I know.” Her cheeks pinked in the way he’d come to expect from her when she was confessing something he found endearing. “But I’ve been reading up on some of the sights. The tourist stuff I can do any time, but I’m interested in visiting a couple of the different neighborhoods.”
“Like where?” Kane drank his beer, enjoying one of the many boutique ales available in the Pacific Northwest.
“I’m thinking Fremont. It sounds like it’s got an eclectic vibe, kind of like some of the streets I used to see in Greenwich Village.”
Good choice. “There’s a great pub there that serves amazing burgers. And you have to see the troll carving under the bridge.”
Her face lit up. “I’ve heard about that. People get their picture taken next to him. Sounds like fun.”
Kane felt the pull of his brother’s stare, saw his unspoken question, then gave a slight nod.
“We could take you there tomorrow.” Alex leaned back in his chair.
Olivia switched her gaze between both men. “You’d take me? Don’t you have plans?”
Not since yesterday, and even if he did, he didn’t give a damn, not if it meant bringing a smile to her face like the one she was wearing now. “Nope.”
Alex’s voice deepened. “We wouldn’t offer if it was inconvenient. Sunday we’re having brunch at home with Nathan Benedict. You’re invited to join us.”
“Isn’t he the MacKenzies’ board’s chairman?” She bit her lip. “He might prefer to have some privacy with you.”
“Olivia, he’s more like an uncle to us. In fact, he’s both our godfathers. We’ll talk some business, but only part of the time. Come on, I need someone in my corner.” Kane dipped his chin. “They pick on me when it’s just the three of us.”
“Jesus.” Alex rolled his eyes. “You’re an embarrassment sometimes.”
Her giggle floated over the table to him, charming him with its light sound. She was—hell, he’d never used this term before—delightful. That fit her exactly, from her compulsive list making to her natural exuberance for anything that snagged her interest.
All hesitation was gone from her voice. “Well, since I take a strong stand against bullying, I can’t in good conscience leave you on your own.” She turned to Alex. “Thank you for the offer of a tour. I’d be thrilled.”
“Good,” Alex said as the waitress served his meal. “We’ll make a day of it.”
This was Alex, the nondater, wanting to make a day of it? He’d take a Polaroid to mark the occasion except his brother would give him a black eye.
The food was delicious, and whether it was a combination of that paired with Olivia’s easy sense of humor and her childhood tales involving the adults they classed as friends back in King’s Bluff, by the time their plates had been cleared he felt totally at ease.
“So tell me something from when you guys were kids.” Olivia stared at Alex. Instinct told Kane she’d picked his brother on purpose.
But the big guy just shrugged. “Not much to tell. The normal boarding school stuff. Boys. Wedgies in gym class. The standard bullying encouraged of the sons of upper-class society.”
The kind his brother had always fought. How many times had Kane seen Alex step in to rescue a smaller or younger kid? He hadn’t been the school’s boxing champion for nothing.
Olivia absorbed his answer but wasn’t daunted. “So every moment was a Dickens story?”
Was that approval gleaming in his brother’s eyes? Alex opened his mouth, sighed, then spoke. “Okay. When Kane was ten he had a crush on the science teacher’s
daughter. He asked for tutoring after school just to sneak extra looks at her. And he still managed to fail science that year.”
When the hell did this become about him?
“Thanks, bro. Appreciate the solidarity.” And he knew just how to return fire. “At least I kept it clean. Asshole there was nearly expelled for having girls in his room. Naked ones at that. The fact the females were two years older than him impressed the house master so much he got away with it.” He glanced across the table. “What were you? Fifteen?”
The bastard had the nerve to smile at Olivia. “It was my favorite year.”
She shook her head, her eyes shining with mirth. “It sounds as if boarding school was more like a Jackie Collins novel than a bleak Victorian era tale.”
He studied Alex, whose face had lost its hard edges of earlier in the day. Laughter rubbed years off his appearance. How long had it been since both of them had felt so easy in the company of a woman? Reagan and Chloe didn’t count in this scenario. They were married, their husbands’ friends with Alex and Kane. Olivia was…different.
It was almost as if—
A flash of something glinting from across the room caught his gaze. The sun hit some guy’s watch as he waved to a patron. It was only when the man lowered his arm that Kane got a better view.
His body tensed, instinctively ready to fight.
Richard Lawson, wearing jeans, shirt, and a navy jacket, stood beside the host. His short brown hair and classic square jaw added to his all-American look.
And Tasha Lindstrom was right beside him.
The blonde’s gaze met his. Surprise registered in her cool blue eyes before her smile held a satisfaction that signaled danger. She whispered to Lawson, whose surprised expression turned scornful.
“Alex, we have company.” He nodded to the front of the restaurant.
His brother glanced to his left. In an instant, all traces of warmth were wiped from his face. Gaze now steely hard, mouth tight, Alex stayed silent as the couple moved toward them.
So much for forgetting the world for a few hours.
* * * *
Every muscle in Alex’s body tightened, forcing his senses on high alert. He kept still, fixing his stare on Lawson. Normally he’d ignore the bastard, but Tasha’s presence left a feeling of unease. Something wasn’t right.
He cast a quick glance at Olivia, who at Kane’s words had sat up straighter in her chair. From the way her eyes widened, she’d recognized Tasha. Whatever she was thinking, she kept her face a polite mask.
“MacKenzie.” Lawson glanced from him to Kane.
“Lawson.” He stared back.
Olivia’s soft intake of breath was the only other sound from their table. Lawson’s gaze locked onto her face, then swept down over her chest, staying there longer than polite before slowly making its way back up to again stare with the kind of narrow-eyed intensity that had Red shifting in her chair.
Alex’s hand clenched into a fist. The bastard could insult him, but making Olivia uncomfortable was out of bounds.
“You have something to say?” His tone made it clear he wasn’t interested.
Lawson’s blue gaze hardened. “I didn’t send Tasha to you, MacKenzie.”
What was he talking about?
Tasha pouted her expertly painted red lips. “I’ve moved on. That’s what you wanted, Alex.” She ran her fingers up the coat on Lawson’s right arm, but kept her gaze fixed on him. “Don’t be angry.”
“On the contrary, I’d say you found your perfect match.”
“I agree. He’s the kind of guy who values me. Someone I can share things with. I mean, if you’re going to leave information lying around”—she paused, staring right at him—“you can’t blame me for making the most of it.”
Information? A coldness seeped into his body. His brain clicked back to nearly six weeks ago.
A week after he’d kicked her out, Lawson boasted about his competing bid for the Rubetta Island bridge. He’d never spoken about it to Tasha. She’d been in Europe when he and Kane had first discussed the project. How could she have even…
Hit gut clenched. The papers on the coffee table in his suite. He’d been reading them the night before she’d snuck in. They’d still been sitting there when he’d dragged her out of his suite.
Jesus fuck!
His gaze flew to Lawson.
“He’s worked it out, darling.” The J Crew impersonator chuckled.
Alex wanted to smash his fist into the bastard’s face and wipe away his superior grin. How the fuck could he have been so careless?
“If only you hadn’t been so rude, I’d have forgotten about seeing papers about some dumb bridge. But you hurt me. You kicked me out.” She lifted her chin, her eyes cold, unforgiving. “You gave me reason to remember.”
Without another word, they walked off to where the host stood by their table.
“Fuck.” Kane’s soft curse burned into Alex like a branding iron of guilt.
His stupidity led to Kane’s current issues with the bid. His stupidity and the quick mind of a scheming bitch.
Not for the first time in his life, Alex was reminded that a woman’s treachery could ruin a man as surely as a knife to the ribs.
So why, as that truth echoed in his head, did he feel the need to glance at Olivia. Looking for reassurance that maybe not every woman was cut from the same cloth? More importantly, why did that matter so much?
Chapter Seven
Olivia sat in silence in the passenger seat of Kane’s Tesla, and stared out at the Seattle skyline as they drove toward Capitol Hill and the MacKenzie family home. Summer here meant light far into the evening. She glanced at her watch. Only eight o’clock. Still too early to go back to her empty hotel room. Was that why she had agreed to Kane’s offer to drinks back at their house?
The minute Tasha and that Lawson man had appeared at their table she had felt unease slither over her skin. The way Alex’s body had tensed, and Kane’s jaw tightened were easy clues, too. To think she’d defended that odious woman when she’d first met Alex. But even Tasha’s presence took backstage to the almost visceral hate she felt radiating off Lawson toward both MacKenzies, but especially Alex. She didn’t dare ask about it afterward. It just seemed too…rude, and frankly, not worth upsetting Alex or Kane over something that was none of her business.
The moment Lawson and Tasha had departed, Alex’s gaze had turned glacial, and his speech carved in one word answers. It had taken thirty minutes for his mood to thaw to the point of conversation. At first, Kane was no better with his tight-fisted grip of his utensils. But then he glanced her way, and maybe due to her nervous smile, he struck up a new topic of discussion with the kind of charm that compelled her to ride out the evening’s current rough surf with the hope of calmer seas ahead.
She wanted to spend more time with both men. They drew her in. There was something—she couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was like…when she was with them, she felt sexier, more wanted, more alive than she’d ever felt before.
It’s not like they hadn’t consumed much of her waking thought. When a girl goes to a BDSM club with them, sees what she sees, and significantly, had that kind of euphoric ah-ha! moment, then yeah, she had some questions. And not all of them could be answered by the kink lifestyle guide she’d borrowed from Chloe. Lord knows, she’d been carrying the book around in her tote for days, reading it whenever she had a chance.
With every page she turned, the images and descriptions of the Dom/sub dynamic had her thinking of Alex and Kane.
Controlling her.
Teasing her.
Showing her the beauty of submission.
The motion of the car stopping cleared her thoughts. She looked around at the sculptured gardens, with their tall evergreens and cypress that perfectly offset the massive brick and stone mansion.
Thank God she’d had exposure through her previous job, and to a small extent through Alan’s clients, to this kind of wealth, otherwise her jaw woul
d be hitting the ground about now.
“This is home.” Kane exited the car before she could comment. His feet crunched on the gravel driveway as he opened her door for her.
The light from the driveway illuminated his navy shirt as it stretched over the expanse of his chest. He was one dark tower of masculine authority. A shiver of excitement sizzled over her skin.
“Thanks.” She accepted his hand to help her out of the car. He’d done the same each time she’d rode with him today. Was that part of his charm, or more of him being a Dom? She wasn’t sure, but was honest enough to admit she liked it.
He kept hold of her hand as he led her up the front steps, past the front door, then into the foyer. A herringbone tiled floor stretched past various doorways. An exquisite glass sculpture, like a giant cone of daisy petals, pointed upward in various shades of blues and greens—a style she recognized as belonging to a celebrated artist from the Pacific Northwest—illuminated the area from its lofty position twenty feet above.
She felt her jaw drop. “That’s stunning, Kane.”
His smiled at her compliment. “Thank you. We commissioned that piece a few years ago. It’s a favorite of ours.”
Footsteps came from a hallway to the right.
A man dressed in a dark polo shirt and pants came forward to take Kane’s jacket.
“Evening, Phillip. Did Alex ring ahead?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ve set up drinks on the terrace.”
Was this guy a butler? Did people still have butlers? Was her mouth hanging open?
“Olivia, this is Phillip Jenkins. He and he wife, Bonnie, take care of things here.”
“Hello.” Olivia smiled. “I’m pleased to meet you.
“Ma’am.” Phillip gave her a polite smile, then glanced at her leather tote. “Can I take your bag?”
“Oh, no, that’s okay.” She never went anywhere without her bag. It was a girl thing. “But thank you.”
“We’ll take it from here. You and Bonnie enjoy the rest of the evening,” Kane said.
“Good night, sir, Miss.” Phillip nodded her way before walking back down the hallway.