by Lisa Rayne
He grabbed the cell phone off his belt. He dialed Jordis’s number, but got voicemail. He left a quick voice message then immediately typed two text messages. He turned as he hit the Send button for the second time, nearly plowing into Vivian. He steadied her with one hand so she wouldn’t fall over. “Vivian, are you trying to kill us both? What were you doing behind me?”
“Michael, we need to talk.”
“I’m sort of in the middle of something right now, Vivian. Maybe we could do this later?” He glanced at his phone. No responses to his texts had come in. He tossed the phone onto Jordis’s abandoned desk with a huff and stalked to the north windows.
“If you’re looking for Jordis, you’re not going to find her.”
Michael’s heart palpitated. He turned around. “What do you mean?”
“Take a look around.” She motioned to the empty office then closed the door to give them some privacy. She looked into his eyes and watched his face closely as if she were looking for something in particular. “She left grumbling about idiot men who can’t keep their Juliets straight.”
“I can keep my Juliets straight, dammit.” He paced across the room. “She’d have known that if she’d given me a chance to explain.”
He couldn’t believe his luck. He’d spent weeks trying to track down a particular Juliet. The one he wanted turned up under his nose at his own firm, and the other walked into his office Monday morning thinking he’d been searching for her. She’d been as grab-handy as she’d been New Year’s Eve. Of course, Jordis would walk in right when she’d made a pass at him. Her timing sucked.
He turned back to Vivian. “How can she be upset with me for that when she repeatedly insisted she never attended that costume party?”
“What did you expect her to say, Michael? She’s trying to avoid an affair with her boss only to find out said boss is looking for this mysterious woman he made out with on New Year’s Eve—who happens to be her—so he can hook up.”
His face tightened. Her rendition of the story made the whole thing sound tawdry.
Vivian stepped further into the room. “Look, I only recently found out about the whole New Year’s Eve slash Juliet encounter so I really can’t judge. What I can tell you is after that steamy kiss between you two in the elevator, she was never the same.”
“Jordis told you about that?” His eyes flicked to hers.
“No. I saw you. I was chatting with the guard at the front desk late that night when the security camera flashed to the view in the elevator.”
So much for confiscating the security video, he thought. “You drive a silver Lexus SUV.”
He phrased the sentence as a statement, but Vivian answered anyway. “Yes. I didn’t think it was any big deal, but when I razzed Jordis about it, she was extremely embarrassed she’d been seen.”
Vivian sighed and sat down. “She confided in me about what happened at her prior firm, and I realized what was going on between you two was tearing her apart. She was attracted to you, but she didn’t want to be. She stressed about what would happen to her reputation if she gave in to her feelings for you. She wondered whether you were genuinely attracted to her or if this was just some sexual challenge for you that would put her back in the same situation she’d gone through before.”
He sat down in the seat opposite Vivian’s. The knowledge of Jordis’s emotional turmoil weighed heavy on him. “Where is she?”
“She doesn’t want you to know.”
“Today would not be a good day to toy with me, Vivian,” he warned. He saw the shudder that ran through her, but she squared her shoulders and maintained her ground. Despite himself, Michael admired her fortitude.
“She didn’t tell me where she was going. She suspected you’d grill me about her whereabouts.” She surprised him by grinning. “Looks like she was right about that.”
“Great.” He reached over and picked up his cell phone. He still hadn’t received a response from Jordis or Brandt. “I need to find her.”
“Why?” She was watching him closely again.
He wondered what she expected him to say.
“You know, Michael, she’s really not interested in being known again as that associate who banged her boss.”
Michael frowned at her language. “I wish you wouldn’t talk about it that way. You make it sound cheap.”
Vivian stared at him, her pointed glare sending him a not so subtle message.
His voice quieted. “Is that the way she felt?”
“Pretty much.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Was she wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
She looked at him with an expression that suggested she thought he was an idiot. “Are men really that clueless?” She shook her head when he said nothing. “Given your behavior recently, I figure you’re in love with her.”
He’d only accepted it himself a few minutes ago. Somehow, it didn’t seem right that Vivian be the first person he told. He didn’t say anything.
She nodded. “That’s what I thought.” She rose from her chair. “Because I happen to think she’s in love with you, too, I’m going to share something with you that you have to promise to forget you heard from me.” She waited for him to acknowledge her condition. “Jordis didn’t just leave the firm, Michael. She’s leaving the city.”
He stood rapidly. “What!”
“I don’t know if it’s permanent or simply time away to clear her head, but I saw her get into an Executive Limousine about forty-five minutes ago.”
Executive Limousine gave service to the Kansas City International Airport. Michael left the office at a dead run. He almost tore the office door off its hinges in his haste to open it. He glanced at his watch as he rounded the corner where Lana sat. “Lana, I need you to keep trying to get ahold of Brandt Morgan for me. When you get him on the line, transfer him to my cell phone. Also, get a hold of Doug Corbin, General Counsel of Metra Pharmaceuticals. We have a meeting tomorrow, but I need to send Covington in my place.”
Lana frowned at him. “Corbin’s not going to be happy. He pitched a fit last time you tried to send someone else to meet with him.”
“He’ll have to get over it. I’m on my way to the airport, and I can’t be in two places at once.”
Lana looked up at him in surprise. “The airport! I haven’t made any plane reservations for you.”
“No, you haven’t and neither have I.” Her confused look would have been humorous if the situation weren’t so dire. “I’m not planning to go anywhere. At least, I don’t think I am.”
He looked at his watch again. Counting Jordis’s head start and guessing her goal was to be at the airport at least an hour before her flight, he’d be cutting it extremely close even leaving right away.
He looked at Lana. “I gotta go.”
Finally, she smiled at him. “Let me guess. Jordis?”
“Yes.”
“You planning to stop her?”
“Yes.”
“It’s about damn time.”
Michael startled at her comment and her use of profanity. He’d never heard Lana swear before. “Does everyone know how I feel about that woman?”
Lana laughed. “Yeah, everyone except apparently you. Now, get out of here before you miss her plane.”
Chapter 20
Michael rushed into the garage and pulled up short. He swore. He hadn’t driven a car today. He had his F350 monster of a truck because he had an appointment after work to get his motorcycle serviced and prepped for the spring riding season. Cutting through rush hour traffic in that would be a nightmare.
He paused, staring at the motorcycle strapped into the truck bed. Or, maybe not. Without his leather jacket, he’d have a cold ride, but the motorcycle gave him the best chance to get to the airport in time.
He hopped into the back of the truck and freed the cycle. He put it on the road in less than five minutes. As he hit the on-ramp for the highway, the Bluetooth in his helmet buzzed. It was Lana. “Michael, I have Mr.
Corbin on the line.”
“Put him through, Lana.”
“Michael, what’s this I hear about you sending another lawyer in your place tomorrow? I thought I’d made myself clear the last time. I expect you at the helm of this case, and I expect you to give me personal service not pawn me off on some lower level associate.”
“Eric Covington is not a lower level associate. He’s a senior associate and soon to be junior partner.”
“I don’t care if he’s a senior partner. I hired you, and I expect to see you.”
“Mr. Corbin, I have a matter I have to address that may take a few days. I’ll be available by telephone should you need me, but I need you to work with Covington in the meantime.”
“It’s you or no one, Remington. I’m sure I can get another firm to take this matter on. It’s a pretty high profile case, and the payout from a win will garner legal fees that could set a lawyer up for generations.”
Michael took in a deep breath. The threat to take this case elsewhere should have made him edgy. It had the last time Corbin issued the ultimatum, but this case didn’t seem all that important anymore. Winning this case would mean nothing if the woman he loved disappeared from his life forever. Everything of value in his life, he wanted—needed—to share with her, and here he was dealing with a corporate brat who thought he could blackmail him into cooperation.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Remington?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No.” Michael weaved around an SUV into the passing lane. “You won’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve made it clear you can easily find other counsel. I’m glad to hear that because if you’re not willing to work with Covington in the short-term, then you’ll want to take care of that as soon as possible.”
“What the—’’
“When you’ve selected replacement counsel, let my secretary know where to send your files. I’m unavailable as of now.”
“Remington—”
Michael disconnected the line without letting the man finish. He’d have a lot of explaining to do to his partners, but he’d worry about that some other time.
A few minutes later Lana buzzed in again. “Michael, I’ve got Brandt Morgan on the line.”
“Go.” He heard the line click over. “Brandt, where’s your sister going?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“She’s on the way to the airport. Where’s she headed?”
“She didn’t say anything to me about a trip. And if you don’t know where she’s going, I’m guessing this isn’t a business trip. So what happened?” There was silence on the line. “Remington, what did you do to my sister?”
Michael huffed out a breath, cutting sharply back into the middle lane. “Nothing. There’s just a little misunderstanding I need to clear up.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“One that has your sister running away from me . . . again. I can’t let her get out of the city. She’s smart enough to find a way to disappear for a long time.” Or permanently, but he didn’t want to think about that possibility.
“My sister doesn’t run. She faces her challenges even when it’s sometimes not wise.”
She could face all challenges but him? What did that say about how she really felt about him? “Well, she’s leaving town in a hurry.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Remington?”
Michael sped in silence for a minute, thinking about how to answer that question. “Your sister and I sort of met New Year’s Eve.”
“New Year’s Eve?” Brandt’s voice modulated from perturbed to curious.
“Yes.” Michael checked the speedometer and gave the bike more throttle. “Did she happen to mention a guy she met at a party dressed like a gladiator?”
Brandt burst out laughing. “Jordis didn’t, but our cousin Narisa did. You’re her gladiator?”
“Yeah.”
“I bet that threw her.”
“Yes and so did finding me in my office with another woman who claimed to be the Juliet I’d met that night.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh indeed. Look, Brandt, your sister once told me there’s nothing you can’t do or find with a computer.”
“True.”
“So find me what flight she’s on.”
“Are you asking me to break into airline flight records and retrieve personal traveler information?”
Michael grinned at Brandt’s unctuous tone. “May I remind you I’m on a mobile phone?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m on an electronic phone that scrambles not only my signal but also the signal of anyone on the line with me. No one could eavesdrop on this conversation even if they wanted to. Something I patented and licensed to Uncle Sam for a trial run by various alphabet agencies.”
Michael would have to ask him the specifics on that some other time. “Well, then, yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking you to do.”
“Why should I help you?”
Michael continued to weave in and out of traffic at breakneck speed. If he wanted Brandt’s help, he suspected he’d have to tell the man the truth. “Because I’m in love with your sister.”
This time the silence was on Brandt’s end.
“Morgan, you still there?”
The silence continued for several seconds then finally Brandt asked, “You ever happen to tell her that, counselor?”
“No. And if I don’t get to the airport and figure out what flight she’s on, I’ll never get the chance.”
“It’s amazing how dumb some smart people can be.”
Michael was getting really tired of people taking pot shots at his intellect today.
“I’ll call you back, Remington.”
Only ten minutes away from the airport, Michael accelerated. His heart raced with the fear he’d be too late. When he saw the exit for KCI, he darted across two lanes of traffic, narrowly missing another speeding motorist. He exited to the steady blare of a car horn.
As he pulled into the first terminal, his phone beeped. “Remington.”
It was Brandt. He gave Michael the airline and flight number he needed.
Michael whipped to the curb adjacent to the boarding entrance for the appropriate airline. He reached for his wallet when a skycap approached to tell him he’d have to move his bike. Michael shoved his helmet and a hundred dollar bill into the man’s hands and promised him another if his bike hadn’t been towed on his return. He sprinted through the airport doors and pissed off people at the ticket counter when he cut to the front and demanded a ticket for Jordis’s flight.
“Sir, you’ll have to step to the back of the line.”
Michael looked behind him and apologized. Looking back at the ticket matron, he said, “This is an emergency.”
“Yeah, it always is. Step to the back of the line, please, sir.”
He dropped his eyes to her name badge. “Look, Nikki, I really need your help.”
She raised a hand, pointed a finger over his shoulder and swirled it in a circle. “So do all those people behind you, and they managed to get here in plenty of time to handle their business and board their flight on time.”
Several people behind him grumbled their agreement with her statement. Michael swore under his breath. Today was not the day he needed a rule stickler behind the counter. He fumbled for his wallet and removed his platinum card. He slid it across the counter, trying to contain the anxiousness that made him want to shout at her. “It’s not my flight, but I really really need to be on it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. The love of your life is on that plane. Yada yada. Blah blah blah.”
“As a matter of fact . . .”
Her eyebrows rose.
The last boarding call for Jordis’s flight number blared through the airport speakers.
Michael’s heart dropped. If this were another era, he’d simply take a chance an
d race to the gate without a ticket. With current Homeland Security regulations, such behavior would get him jailed, if not shot.
With a sweaty palm, he pushed his card further across the counter. “Nikki, please.”
* * *
Jordis heard the airplane doors close. In her first-class window seat, she curled up and covered herself with the fleece blanket she’d brought from home. She’d been sullen for three straight days. At times like these, she wished she were a crier. She needed a good cry to release all the tension and angst built up from losing a job, a potential partnership, and a man in the span of about a week.
She’d struggled with her moods for two days, berating herself for ignoring the warnings in her head that said stay away from Remington and for believing a man who controlled the world in which he lived and worked would be capable of not wanting to control her. The woulda-shoulda-couldas had left her emotionally drained until she’d realized the truth. Her feelings had transitioned from mere lust long before she’d given in to her physical craving for the man.
Once she understood that, she gave herself a pass for the foolish hope that the worst-case scenario wouldn’t happen this time, and her course became clear. She couldn’t continue to work at RHM and pretend nothing had happened. No partnership in the world warranted that kind of self-torture. So, she’d cleared out her office. She needed to get as far away as possible from the man who inspired her to emotions she didn’t know how to handle right now, but she hadn’t expected walking away to hurt so much.
It hadn’t hurt this bad when she’d broken up with Keith, and she’d been with him a lot longer than Michael. No matter. She would take a two-week vacation then pick somewhere to hang out her own shingle. No more playing the game with the good ole boys. No more waiting for someone else to deem her worthy of the partner title. The time had come to take her future into her own hands. At some point, the work would heal her heart, and she’d never have to see Michael Remington again.
“Is this seat taken?”
Jordis’s head jerked up. The sonorous voice made her heart thump. So much for never having to see him again. “Michael, what are you doing here?”