by Dee J. Adams
Leo liked that plan. If he got her back in The Institute tomorrow, he could potentially be on a plane and back to L.A. the day after tomorrow. “Sounds good. I’ll be back in the morning so I can take her to The Marion myself.” Megan loved limo rides. He’d have to call for one. Didn’t matter that he couldn’t afford it. All in all, the trip could’ve been much worse. He was just thankful that Megan was going to be okay.
He’d just gotten out of the elevator and walked into the lobby when some asshole started snapping pictures of him. Someone at the hospital must have tipped him off. Social media was a bitch. Like a lot of celebrities, he’d given up any chance of privacy when in public. As long as Megan’s life stayed private, he didn’t care.
But when he stepped outside into the afternoon sun and got bombarded with microphones and camera flashes, his surprise couldn’t have been more genuine. One or two pictures from people in the hospital, he understood, but this? This was too massive to be anything but an ambush. He slapped on his sunglasses.
“Leo, why didn’t you tell the world about your sister before now?”
“Leo, do you plan to sue The Marion Institute?”
“Mr. Frost, what are you hiding?”
“Is it true you’re going to be a father?”
The questions hit one on top of the other as people jockeyed for position. The swell of anger that rose in his chest nearly drowned him. Rage like he hadn’t experienced in a lot of years made his vision glaze over. The darkness swimming his gut sickened him.
Someone grabbed his arm and yanked him sideways. “No comment. Mr. Frost has no comment.” Kim dragged him toward a waiting taxi as photographers continued to snap pictures and reporters followed with outstretched microphones.
“Who are you?” Someone called over the crowd noise, pointing a microphone toward Kim.
His savior, but he didn’t say it out loud, and Kim said absolutely nothing until they got in the car.
“Hit it!” she ordered the driver and he stepped on the gas, happy to oblige. “You okay?” It was the in-charge accountant asking, the woman who solved problems, but Leo couldn’t even look her in the eye.
He punched the seat in front of him and scared the hell out of the driver. “No.” He was pissed. The fake lemon smell of car freshener invaded his nostrils. He looked behind them to the disappearing crowd of reporters. “I want to know how they found out about Megan.” For fifteen years, The Institute had managed to keep his secret. It wasn’t as if Megan hadn’t been hospitalized before. Although she’d only been to private facilities for her surgery. Shit, he’d gotten used to everyone keeping her under wraps, so he hadn’t been too worried about her being admitted to a large hospital. If this was the best place to make sure she didn’t have a more serious injury, then so be it. But they should’ve respected Megan’s—and his—privacy. Now her picture would eventually be splashed in all the rag magazines and he could say good-bye to life as he knew it. Again. “And how’d they know I’m going to be a father?”
“Does it matter how they found out?” Kim asked softly. “The point is they know about Megan and you need to figure out what you want to do about it. We’ll focus on the Megan issue and maybe that will throw them off the father track.”
As usual, the woman was right. Leo wiped a hand over his face. “Shit,” he hissed. Everything he’d worked for flushed down the crapper.
As the taxi motored through the city, Kim’s heart tumbled over at the agony in Leo’s eyes. He’d actually been pretty lucky that no one had found out about Megan before this. That was a hell of a secret to keep under wraps for so many years. Just because he had his reasons didn’t mean the press and outside world wouldn’t crucify him for hiding her. They were sure to come up with vile excuses, which was probably one of the reasons Leo had kept her under wraps.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner or I could’ve warned you about the press and you could’ve dodged them by going out the back way.”
“Doesn’t fucking matter. They still found out about her and they won’t quit. You can always tell when it’s a slow news day.” Leo stared out the window for a minute, then pulled his phone out and punched the screen a couple of times before putting the phone to his ear. “I need to speak with Howard Kaminsky. This is Leo Frost.”
Kim couldn’t put a face to the name and with all the rooting around in Leo’s business two months ago, she would’ve remembered. Of course, he kept Megan and The Institute a very well-kept secret, so it was no wonder this name didn’t ring a bell. “Who’s Howard Kaminsky?” she asked.
“The director at The Marion. He’s only been there a few years. He didn’t strike me as a man with iron control over his operation. This just proves it.”
Turning toward Leo, Kim tapped his thigh. “C’mon, be fair. That might not be true. I mean a nurse broke her arm trying to protect Megan from the fall. That has to count for something. Someone at the hospital could’ve leaked the news.”
He gave her the stink eye and opened his mouth, but a voice sounded from the other end of the line. Kim only heard Leo’s end of the conversation.
“You can tell me how Megan’s identity slipped out.” He listened and let out a harsh breath. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow and I expect answers.” Disconnecting without another word, Leo leaned his head back on the seat and dropped a very eloquent f-bomb.
She hated to see him this hurt. It twisted her insides into knots. “Maybe we should work on damage control.” Kim searched her bag for her phone. “Do you want me to call your publicist? Your team should know what’s going on.”
Leo tossed her the phone and she caught it one-handed. She knew from diving into his finances who worked for him, so she called Sara Finley—his publicist—and gave her the low-down. As Kim suspected, Sara got right to work.
Kim handed Leo his phone back. “How’s Megan? Did she wake up yet?”
“Yeah. She woke up. She was better than I thought she’d be. Talking…even laughing. She surprised me. She wants to go home. Back to The Marion. They built a new art building and from the sounds of it she just about lives there now.”
“So what did she do when she saw you? Was she excited?”
Leo grinned for the first time. “Yeah. She was glad to see me. Her eyes got wide—well, her good eye—and she smiled. That girl deserves a medal for everything she’s gone through. And she’s still so happy. She could be the poster child for enjoying the little things.”
“I guess we all should take a lesson on that,” Kim murmured. They watched the tall buildings of the city whiz by. People bustled on the crowded streets. She wished Leo would try and see the positive side of things, but he’d been dealing with the hard decisions for so long, it seemed as if he didn’t know how.
Leo glanced her way. “The doctor said he’ll release her tomorrow. He just wants her one more night for observation.” He picked up his phone from his lap.
“That’s good. I didn’t expect her to be released so soon.”
“I didn’t either. But the faster she can get out of that hospital, the happier she’ll be. Don’t let me forget, I need to call for a limo. I want her to go back in style. She gets so excited for limo rides. I figure she deserves it.”
“I’ll arrange it.”
“You don’t need to arrange it. I can do it. You’re not my god damn secretary.”
Wow. Nothing had upset him like this before. It was a side to him she’d never seen. “I know,” she said calmly. “I was just trying to lighten your load a bit.” Kim sat forward. She knew better than to let Leo’s bad mood trickle down to her, but it was hard not to. So before she got mad, too, she opted to keep her mouth shut.
A long silence settled between them. The purr of the taxi’s motor hummed around them. Leo ran a hand down his face and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. He took her hand and linked their fingers. “I just…” His voice cracked and Kim looked over, shocked to see his eyes wet with emotion. “I didn’t expect this today. The last thing I want to do
is take it out on you. I…” He swallowed, shook his head.
“You what?” she asked softly. He’d never been this emotional in front of her before either. Pissed, angry, upset, yes, but this raw emotion scared her. And he opened her heart to him even more.
“I’m really glad you’re here.” A mountain of contrition laced his words. “You keep saving my ass and all I do in return is shit on you.”
She didn’t imagine he’d ever said that to anyone. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“No?” He met her gaze and the blue in his eyes melted her battered defenses even further. “Then what would you say?”
He made it so hard to fight the attraction between them. It was easier when he was an asshole. But when the flesh and blood man needed her, she couldn’t ever seem to say no. “I’d say there’s always some excitement when I’m around you. It’s not so bad.” And maybe since they were being honest, she needed to confess. “You’re not so bad either.”
He rubbed his thumb across her hand, the gentle caress and sweet reminder of how much his touch affected her. “You know, I’d planned to take you out for a nice dinner tonight, but after this,” he gestured behind them. “I’m afraid of having it ruined with cameras and microphones.”
“To be honest, I’m not really up for going out.” She hadn’t felt great after the plane ride, but she chalked it up to air-sickness and pregnancy. Then she’d had to do some shopping for necessities for her and Stella, and that took the whole afternoon while Leo visited with Megan. Fortunately, the nausea had passed, although the overpowering smell of the car threatened to bring back her queasy stomach. Food would probably do her good. She was glad she’d grabbed some pickles earlier. “What if we just bring in something easy? I can run down to the corner pizza joint and grab us a deep dish.”
“Deep dish?” He smiled and stayed quiet for a minute as he watched her. “You remember what happened the last time we had pizza?”
She did. Very clearly. They ended up on his cabana sofa. And she got pregnant. She nodded, remembering the first time they’d made love on his back patio with the stars out and moon shining bright. They’d both been drinking, but she remembered every second of his mouth on hers. She remembered every touch, every kiss. A wave of chills prickled her skin as she nodded. “I remember very well.”
Leo nodded too, his blue eyes full of heat and hope. “Let’s get pizza.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Kim insisted on running to the corner and picking up the pizza Leo had ordered. She slipped into form-fitting yoga pants, sharp pink sneakers and a pink hoodie. He loved when she dressed in workout clothes, because he usually only saw her dressed to kill in fuck-me pumps and high class dresses or black skirts. Not that he had a problem visualizing lifting her skirt and taking her over a desk or against a wall or on a counter. Yeah, he liked that fantasy too. But more often than not with them, it was when she dressed down that she let go with him.
So maybe the pizza innuendo in the taxi over here really meant they might have sex for dessert, but he wouldn’t bank on it. He never knew with Kim, which was one of the reasons she kept him on his toes.
He heard her moving down the hallway and a reluctant smile lifted his lips. He liked that she worried about him. To the best of his knowledge, she was only one of a handful who did. Of course most everyone else who worried about him had their bank accounts in mind. He was a commodity after all, one that was about to lose a lot of stock when the news of his secret hit the airwaves.
Leo opened the door as Kim approached. She juggled their pizza and a bag from the corner market as well.
“What’d you get?” he asked, taking the box from her hand and motioning her in the apartment. He did like watching her ass in those yoga pants.
“Just a little something for dessert,” she said as she kept moving to the kitchen. “It’s a surprise.”
Honestly, he was about done with surprises for one day, and her attempt to cheer him up had him feeling way more vulnerable than he wanted.
The smell of pizza made his mouth water as he closed the door and followed Kim into the kitchen. He lifted the box top to a pizza masterpiece. One deep dish with everything on it. He shoved aside the shot of guilt that he’d fired his trainer Hans. Although, really, it was plain un-American to not eat pizza.
“You’re thinking about Hans again, aren’t you?” Kim lifted a delicate eyebrow.
Yeah, she knew him better than anybody and that hollow ache in his chest got wider, because she didn’t want him. “How’d you know?” Leo took a slice of pizza and set it on the plate she offered.
“You’re looking at that pizza like you’ll get in trouble if you have a bite. You’re allowed to eat like crap every once in a while. We’ll just work it off later.”
He watched her, but she didn’t meet his gaze. Did she mean what he hoped she meant? Hell, why did he torture himself like this? He slapped pizza on another plate as she poured them water.
They converged on the leather sofa in front of the flat screen. Gino had updated the place in the fifteen years since Leo bought it. He wondered how he was going to break that news to Kim. She’d thought he’d sold all his property—which he had, with the exception of this place. It was bought and paid for and he saw no reason to unload it. Selling his two million dollar apartment near Central Park had helped him out of his financial pit and gotten him clear of a big mortgage. This place wouldn’t get nearly as much. Besides, with Megan at The Institute, he needed a place to stay whenever he came to town. Gino lived here the majority of the time and took care of the place for almost no rent with the agreement that he had to vacate whenever Leo came to town. In those instances, Gino just went up another flight of stairs to his mother’s place and his old bedroom. A win-win for everyone involved. Leo had a live-in taking care of his place and Gino had a place to escape his mother.
“Mmm, this is good,” Kim said after swallowing her first bite.
Leo dug in to his piece and closed his eyes as the hot cheesy heaven melted in his mouth. He inhaled that slice and one more as Kim chowed down next to him. The last time he’d had pizza had been with Kim. They’d had scorching hot sex for dessert that night. Hot enough to make a baby.
Nothing like that reminder to kill a promising mood.
Leo put his pizza down. He turned on the TV because the silence invited discussion and he wasn’t in the mood to talk about their problem. He flipped through some channels until something stopped him cold. A teaser about him and a secret with footage from the hospital.
Kim looked at the screen and back to him. She reached for the remote. “Why don’t we—”
Leo yanked it out of her reach with a glare. They waited five of the longest minutes of his life before the celebrity trash program returned with the story. They had a few of the facts right. Megan’s age and how many years she’d lived at The Institute. Then came the speculation as to why she’d been there so long. Leo was hiding her. Leo was ashamed of her. Leo was embarrassed by her.
All the shit he’d been afraid would happen was happening before his eyes. The pizza turned in his stomach and Leo thought it might come up. He’d never been so emotionally sick that it affected him physically.
“It’s not true, you know,” Kim said softly. She moved to sit next to him. “They don’t know her condition. They don’t know how hard you’ve worked to make sure she can stay in a facility that can take care of her.”
“What if they’re right?” Leo leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “What if I’m ashamed and embarrassed by her?”
“And what if you’re just trying to make sure she has the best care possible round the clock? That’s not a bad thing, Leo.” She rubbed his thigh and her warmth cut through his jeans. “You told me she loves the place. She’s not unhappy there. She doesn’t beg to be with you or go anywhere else.”
“Because it’s almost all she’s ever known. I don’t even think she remembers our mom or going into the damn place.”
“And
that’s okay.” Kim set her arm around his shoulder. “She’s thriving there. You told me that yourself. Her speech is better than it’s ever been, she’s happy.”
“Yeah, except she fell and landed in the hospital. What does that say about the place?”
“It says that Megan’s seizures are bad enough to even throw the professionals a curve ball.” She sighed. “Leo, a registered nurse broke her arm trying to save Megan when she fell. Who’s to say that someone else might not have tried so hard? Megan might have had a seizure years ago that could’ve killed her if she’d fallen and landed wrong. Don’t let these assholes drag you down because they don’t know the story.” She waited, but he didn’t know how to respond. “Leo?”
She didn’t say anything he didn’t already know, but the fact that she said it at all, the fact that she was picking up the pieces of his broken heart meant more to Leo than anything she could ever do.
He met her gaze, saw the compassion, the truth, and he didn’t give a shit whether what he was about to do was wrong or right. He didn’t care if she meant for it to happen or not, but Leo leaned in and kissed her. He probably should’ve gone slow, probably should have wooed her with soft, addicting kisses, but instead he went in for the whole combination plate with his mouth open over hers.
Her gasp gave him the room he needed to thread her lips and taste her, taste the pizza they shared and the woman he craved. She brought this on herself. She cared too damn much for his feelings and he didn’t deserve it. Didn’t deserve her.
She didn’t slow him down, didn’t stop him. She took his kiss and gave back with her heart and soul. She matched his need with pure fire, pure passion. At any other time she would’ve been holding him off, trying to keep her distance, but now, when he needed her most, she was there.