Shane found the entire report ridiculous, because how could an entire plot of land just disappear and no one knew where the land went?
Yet the reporter went on to say the landholder, Avery Costa had decided to take a very long vacation in the middle of the Senate Hearings and even his lawyer couldn't get in touch with him. The landholder was so afraid for his life, he had refused to give the location to the senate committee, but had allowed for a private biologist, Dr. Eva Dale, to go to the land and take samples. Early yesterday evening, someone had broken into the biologist laboratory in Ypsilanti to steal the land samples and killed Dr. Dale.
Arriving at work, Rachel gave her a message from Mrs. St. Charles. "I directed her to use your voicemail, but she declined and said she would try to reach you on your cell phone."
Shane frowned getting her phone out of her purse. "She never called me. I left a message for her yesterday to confirm if she was going to meet me at the site today."
Rachel shrugged. "She didn't want to leave a message."
Going into the office she and Andrew shared she saw he was already at his desk talking on the phone and looking very upset. She decided not to pay much attention to him. She had a lot to think about today - like how to tell the Meadows she was getting married, plus how to explain why she hadn't come home last night.
Shane knew she would have to give Evan a call and maybe swing by her home on her lunch break.
Calling the office of Mrs. St. Charles, Shane was told that she hadn't come in that morning and Shane noted the receptionist sounded rather worried.
"Do you know if she has scheduled herself to meet with Shane Keaton and Mr. Andrew Watkins today?" Shane inquired.
"I checked her scheduler and she does have that noted, but she usually comes into the office first," the receptionist noted. "Her husband said she worked late last night, but I don't think it was here at the office."
Shane thanked the receptionist and since that was just as good as a confirmation that Mrs. St. Charles meet them today, she hung up the phone not at all worried about the sales representative morning whereabouts. That was personal business of Mrs. St. Charles and Shane had enough of her own to go about worrying over something like that.
When she got off the phone, Andrew asked, "Did you have a nice date?"
She smirked to herself at the stress he put on the word, "date," as if the word disgusted him. "Are you being nosey?"
"Yes," he admitted sharply.
Sitting back in her desk, she said, "Actually I had a wonderful date, Andrew. Would you like all the nasty details?"
"You don't have to be vulgar," he snipped.
"You don't have to be nosey."
He sat tight-lipped as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't going to.
She returned back to her work wanting to get as much done today as possible before she had to go out with him. Out the corner of her eye, she saw he did absolutely nothing at all, but stare at her for the longest time before Troy came in to remind him he had an appointment.
Shane was so relieved when he left her alone and then disappointment set in as Rachel came in. The officer manager definitely had too much time on her hand.
"He's an old friend from childhood," Rachel said.
She looked at Rachel absolutely baffled. "I didn't turn on my ESP this morning, Rachel. Whom are you talking about?"
Rachel huffed as if Shane should know what she was speaking of. "Troy. He's known Mr. Watkins since he was fifteen."
"How did you find that out?"
"I asked him. He came out here early this morning and I mentioned that Mr. Watkins trusts him a lot and he said he should because they've known each other since they were in high school. I continued to dig and he said that Mr. Watkins stopped some boys from beating the crap out of him. Andrew was this big football player and since then Troy has been somehow indebted to Mr. Watkins." Rachel leaned in closely. "Guess what I also learned?"
Shane raised a brow of curiosity. "What?"
"Troy just rambled on and mentioned that his father was always busy on the campaign trail so he spent a lot of time with Mr. Watkins' family."
"Campaign trail? So Troy's father is a politician?" Shane assumed.
Rachel nodded, "He didn't go into detail and I could be wrong. His father could be someone who works for a politician."
Shane shrugged indifferently. "I still don't know why he hates my guts."
Moving over to the door, Rachel said, "If I can find that out I will."
Shaking her head, Shane said, "That's alright. I'm not losing any sleep over it."
"Fine, I'll go finish planning the Christmas office party. Mr. Watkins wants a big to do about it, because he said there's going to be some very important people coming."
Shane groaned. "Is it mandatory attendance?" she asked
"Of course!" Rachel left out after that, leaving Shane to get to work.
As the morning passed, she began to concentrate on the property she was having a hard time getting a lead on. Shane found out that the information about this property had been deleted from an FTP uploaded real estate database as recently as yesterday. With further investigation, she found out the last person to access the file had the user name of Helen Costa.
Shane looked her up in the database of real estate representatives, but the name was not familiar to the computer until she put in the representative’s number as well, then after a moment the hard drive of her computer started working real hard and relayed information straight to her printer.
Taking the paper off the printer, Shane couldn't believe the name that the computer had come up with and was glad Andrew had come back in time for their appointment.
Chapter 14
She was all ready to go when he came in. Andrew was very business like and just grabbed a few numbers from his Rolodex before he joined her in the limousine he had waiting for her.
Soon as he sat down, he began to make phone calls and completely ignored her. At times like this, she could really admire Andrew. He was so professional and the power he exuded was a real turn on for her.
She pretended she was studying some information she had brought with her, but in truth she found she couldn't keep her eyes off Andrew. Starting at his legs and moving visually up to the thick thighs, she thought about the first time she saw him at the hotel dressed in only a towel and dripping water all over the place. Her eyes lingered at his crotch and she caught herself licking her lips at the slight bulge she saw there, and then moved up past his lean waist and brawny chest. She remembered how the water had trickled down the bare skin on his chest, past his rippled stomach and disappeared into the towel.
Her eyes followed this pathway, and then moved up to his face.
Suddenly he looked up from his phone call and gave her a dangerous look as if she had done something very wrong. Her eyes drifted back down to his crotch and saw the bulge had increased in size considerably.
Blushing profusely, she looked back down at her work and pretended nothing had happened as he ended his call. She started thinking about what Rachel had said to her. "Immensely endowed."
"You like to push your luck, little girl?" he questioned.
She didn't look up to know what he was speaking about. Shane would not admit to anything, too embarrassed by knowing the effect her visual caress had done to him. Her own libido was going crazy as well, but she would plead the fifth if he questioned her.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said nervously.
He didn't press it. Instead, he continued his business transactions over the phone, but this time he occasionally watched her to see if she was looking at him again. How he had known in the first place she had been watching him, she couldn't explain, but she would bite her tongue in half before she asked him.
"You said you wanted to show me something before I rushed you out the office," Andrew mentioned as he got off the cell phone again giving her his full attention.
Shane was almost too relieved to be
speaking about work with him. This was a great defense against her steadily growing attraction to her boss. "I did some more digging and I was finally able to access the real estate database on this land, but the information had been deleted by the user name Helen Costa yesterday afternoon."
He frowned not at all pleased by this information. "Who is Helen Costa?"
She handed him the printout and watched his scowl worsen. "Why would she do this?"
Shane shrugged just as perplexed. "I tried calling Mrs. St. Charles again just before you came to the office, but the receptionist had yet to hear from her."
They arrived at the small warehouse with about five acres of land behind it. Mrs. St. Charles had not gotten there yet and Shane started to get out. He gently held her arm. "Let's just wait a moment, Shane," he said warily, looking around and seeing there was no one there yet.
She obeyed and patiently waited a few moments, while he handled more calls. Most of which were returned calls of clients or persons that needed to speak to him. She pretended to concentrate on her work, but found it increasingly difficult.
"You don't make it easy, Shane," he said quietly, after putting up the privacy partition between them and the driver and getting off the phone.
She looked up from her work feigning surprise. "I don't know what you mean."
Andrew narrowed his mint green eyes and Shane could see the change come over him. He wasn't about to be business-like anymore and considering her arousing morning with Paul, Shane's nerves were weak. "Quit the bullshit, Shane. I don't play games when I'm serious."
"And this is you being serious, Andrew?" she asked sarcastically.
"What was that perusal for?" he questioned.
She continued to pretend she had no idea of what he was talking about.
Becoming short tempered, he snapped, "Don't think I didn't feel you lustfully gawking me."
"I was not gawking!" she denounced appalled.
He only gave her a look that clearly told her she was not only lying to him, but herself as well.
Feeling ridiculous for arguing over something he was right about, Shane closed her eyes and reluctantly admitted, "I just don't understand why you’re attracted to me, Andrew."
"Why shouldn't I be attracted to you, Shane?" he said with the calmest expression on his face. "You're highly intelligent, very attractive, and power driven in the same career as I am. You're not only an asset to my business, but to my personal life."
Shane had this eerie feeling he hadn't meant a word he had just said. It was as if someone had told him that load of baloney and he was trying to convince himself of it. "The personal life you say you don't do well at?" she asked still with lots of sarcasm.
"Very much so," he said matter-of -factly reaching down in the small cabinet and pouring himself a drink.
"Why do I have the feeling you're giving me a load of crap, Andrew?"
He almost choked on his drink and put it down unsteadily. "What would make you say that, Shane?" He took a silk handkerchief out his pocket and wiped up the slightly spilled drink from his clothes giving her a hurt look.
"Because I just feel that way, Andrew."
"So why do you think I'm coming on to you, Shane?"
"Crazy crossed my mind," she answered truthfully.
That hurt look was still in his eyes and she felt that was almost better than that placid look he had just been giving her after that crappy compliment. "Shane, my interest in you is genuine. My feelings toward you are still... confused you could say."
She could immediately tell he was being honest in his feelings now. He wasn't trying to say what he thought he wanted her to hear. Folding her arms over her chest defensively, she asked, "Why are they confused, Andrew? Do you feel having an affair at work is against your morals?"
He snorted in insult. "That would be hypocritical for me to feel, wouldn't it, Shane?"
"It wouldn't be abnormal, since I feel that way."
"But you will admit you have an attraction to me?" Andrew leaned slightly forward.
Shane was reluctant to admit it. "You are handsome, Andrew, but that doesn't mean I should allow myself to take privileges. You are my boss."
"And if I wasn't your boss, Shane, would you consider taking privileges with me?" His facial expression became opaque as if whatever the answer to his question would be was going to make a big difference to him.
Unfortunately, she just had to think about what Rachel had said to her and Shane really didn't know if she could be with a man like Andrew. Her first experience with sex had been horrible and she didn't know if she could take the time like Rachel said a man like Andrew needed. Shane barely understood the process herself, let alone try and tell him how to please her. "Andrew, I don't want to discuss this any further. I think we should stick to business. Having a personal relationship with my boss is not what I expected when I came to work for you."
Andrew didn't look at all please with her answer. "I guess now that you have a personal relationship with someone else, you can afford to tell me this?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.
He waved it away as if he wasn't going to discuss this anymore and she huffed, hating how he made her feel so aggravated. One moment he was talking business; the next moment he was spouting his attraction to her. She didn't know if she could draw the line between the business and personal and stay sane at the same time. Rachel had been very right about that.
"You're jealous," she suddenly realized.
Again that insulted look came to his face, but Shane knew this was a façade. He had a very good knack at hiding his feelings, but the more she was around Andrew Watkins, the more she knew when he was lying.
"It just burns you up to know I went out on a date with someone else, doesn't it?" she asked incredulously.
Arrogantly, he stated, leaning even more closely to her, "I just don't understand when you have me, why you would need someone else."
Shane wanted to smack him. "That's why! You're conceited."
"It's called confidence."
"You're sarcastic," she pointed out, leaning towards his face.
He corrected her, "Charming."
"You're an asshole."
Chuckling quite amused, he refuted with, "That's called intelligence."
Shane now wanted to scream. "You make me frustrated!"
"I would definitely say that's an attraction to me."
"Our personalities are different, Andrew. We clash-" Her words were cut off as his mouth coveted her own in the sweetest softest kiss, and Shane didn't stop him as his hand moved behind her head to draw her deeper into the kiss. His other hand moved around her waist to pull her from her seat and into his lap.
She parted her lips intending on protesting, but that was just enough to give him access to allow him to entwine his tongue with hers. He tasted so good to her senses.
His kisses weren't like Paul's, who were long and lustful. Andrew had his own style of short teasing passionate kisses, making her yearn for more and she moaned her yearning deep in her throat wanting more of him.
She could feel his hardness pressing against her own moistness between her legs. Grinding her hips hard against him, she felt his fury increase as his fingers entwined in her hair, releasing the bun and letting her hair cascade down her back.
There was just so much to Andrew that had her senses going crazy and she knew what she felt for him was deeper and more powerful than what she felt for Paul. She could control herself with Paul, but Andrew made her forget time existed - Only his sweet lips, wonderful hands, and beautiful body.
Her skin cried for his touch and once she felt his hands kneed her breast, massage her back and cup her backside under her dress, her womanhood craved attention. The passion he made her feel was unconditional and ravenous to be met.
Suddenly, he broke the kiss and the look in his eyes was filled with equal ardor, but fear. He swore underneath his breath and drew away from her as if something had shocked him t
o reality. He was just as breathless as her, but he managed to whisper an apology before looking away ashamed.
Shane suddenly felt awful for letting herself lose control like that and moved off of him, to the seat beside Andrew, while straightening up her clothes. She looked out the window to see no one had come yet, and wanted to do her own cursing really needing a distraction for this horribly awkward situation.
"I shouldn't-"
She held her hand up to his face and looked away from him. "Not another word from you, Andrew. I told you before we can't do this. I can't do this - not with you."
Taking her chin in his hand, he gently turned her face to him. He was actually smiling. For the life of her she couldn't understand what he found funny.
"Shane, I don't mean to drive you crazy, I just want things to be right," he said softly. "I know right now you don't understand everything and neither do I, but I know there could be something. Something really beautiful between the two of us, but I don't want it to be like the others in my past. You're special and extraordinary." Lightly, he brushed his knuckles against her cheek, and then replaced the touch with his lips. "All in due time," he whispered in her ear, and then slightly brushed the tip of his tongue against her earlobe, sending goose bumps all over her body.
She actually shuddered and closed her eyes trying to control herself from tearing the clothes off his body.
His phone rung at that moment and she was grateful for the distraction as he reluctantly answered it. This gave her time to get herself together - mentally - while he spoke to Troy.
When he disconnected the call he did not look pleased and checked his watch. Looking in the direction to the front of the building, he noted no one had arrived.
"Let's go check this place out," he suggested to her. She followed him out the car. Andrew told the driver to wait for them and if things didn't look or sound good, the driver should know what to do.
Going up the front of the building, Shane noted fresh footprints. She tried the front door, but saw that it was bolted from the inside. There was a ten-foot high fence going around property. The landscape in the front of the building was bare and uninviting, but she could detect a strange odor in the air and looked over at Andrew.
Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series) Page 13