He opened the car door for me and smiled in a way that made me not want to leave. I lingered, trying to think of something to say. All I came up with was, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Will you be around next week?”
“Yeah. Probably. Cheryl always thinks of something else I need to do out here.”
“Okay. Good. I’m staying at the hotel on the corner of Oak and Brambleton—not far away—since Ken wants me around so much and the commute was killing me. So I’ll be around too. I’ll be the guy in room 421 who is bored out of his skull.”
He was smiling at me again, and I was smiling back. And I was feeling a kind of giddy excitement that was clouding my thinking capacities. “Oh. Okay. Well, maybe I’ll see you next week.”
“Definitely.”
I got in my car and shut my door. Then I waved at him as he headed back into the house.
I tried to talk myself back into sense by saying he might just be the kind of guy who comes on strong to any woman he meets. And why did he give me his room number? Did he think I’d stop by his room for a quickie or something?
I was so flustered by the conversation and my responses to it that I pulled out my phone and did a quick internet search on his name. He’d said a lot of people knew about him, so if he was a player or something, then there would probably be something about it online.
His name came up a lot. Some links were about his military service. A lot were about his family—where he was just listed as the only son of John Maxwell. It was clear that he was supposed to take the reins of the family business after his father died or retired, and that idea gave me a queasy feeling.
Maybe he was just playing at this security business for fun, knowing he’d eventually go back to big business and run the corporate empire just like his father did.
I kept looking and found quite a few mentions of him in the company of rich, beautiful socialites. He’d evidently dated a lot of them.
Of course, he had. That was the kind of girl he would have been surrounded by all his life. The kind who were groomed to be his wife.
Definitely not me. He seemed to be attracted to me, but probably just for a quick fling.
He was a rich boy, after all. He’d worked his room number into the conversation, which was seeming more and more like an indirect hint.
I put my phone away, feeling kind of depressed, and I was about to drive away when I realized I’d left my notepad in the ballroom.
With a sigh, I got back out of the car and walked inside. I grabbed my notes from where I’d left them and was going to get outside before anyone noticed when I heard a voice speaking from around the corner.
Since I recognized the unseen voice, I stopped to listen without thinking.
It was Sebastian, and he must be on the phone again since there wasn’t another voice in the conversation.
“What the hell do I care about that?” he said, sounding nothing like the warm, funny man I’d interacted with just a few minutes ago. “Just do it.”
The little thrill I’d been feeling earlier dropped into a weight in my gut. He sounded cold, hard, without emotion.
“I don’t care if he’s angry,” he continued, gritting out the words in a way that made me cringe. “That’s not my problem. If it were up to me, I’d leave him there to rot.” There was another pause. “Don’t bother me with this kind of bullshit again. I’m done.”
I felt a wave of near-nausea sweep over me. I’d been right to ask questions earlier and not take the way he was acting at face value.
This wasn’t a sweet man who’d been born into the wrong family. This was a Maxwell. A real Maxwell. And Maxwells would do anything they wanted to do, regardless of the consequences, regardless of the way it hurt other people.
And I was the biggest fool in the history of the world for hoping for something else.
I felt an irrational sense of betrayal as I hurried quietly out of the house and back to my car.
The mask was off now. I wouldn’t be fooled or charmed or seduced again.
I had my mission, and that was what was most important.
And a date with a hot guy—even a guy as hot as Sebastian—would never be more important to me than my family.
Four
Sebastian
I was still fuming.
Twenty-four hours later, and the conversation with my father’s assistant was still pissing me off. Like it wasn’t bad enough that the old man had stuck me on this pointless job, but then to have his assistant call to “fetch” me so that he could show me off at some exclusive cigar-bar where he was hanging out with his cronies was going a little too far. I did not care to be taken out and trotted around for appearances.
No matter what anyone said.
And they were saying it.
A lot.
Like right now.
“So,” Declan said on the other end of the phone for our daily conference call, “any close calls with the peaceful picketers?” He laughed at his own joke and, yet again, I felt like punching him.
Truth be told, I’d gotten a little volatile lately.
“Yeah, Duncan, did they give you a comfy chair to sit it?” Cole asked.
“Duncan?”
“You know, like the donut.” Now he was laughing too.
“Okay, guys, that’s enough,” Levi said. “Give Seb a break. He needs to look pretty while they parade him around and show him off. He can’t be getting dirty doing anything real strenuous.” Now they were all laughing.
Under normal circumstances, I’m pretty laidback, but all the shit with my dad and Gentry had been eating at me so much that I just lost it. For no good reason.
“You know what?” I snapped. “Screw all of you. I’m stuck here, in this freaking pointless position, saving all of our asses, and what am I getting for it? Shit! If it would make you all feel better, I’ll tell Gentry and my dad to go to hell, and then we can all get blacklisted and try and set up shop in Bum-Fuck, Idaho because that’s the only place we’ll be able to go.”
All of the laughter stopped. “Wait. What?” Levi asked. “What are you talking about?”
Damn. I hadn’t planned on getting into it quite like this, but enough was enough. Between my father, his assistant, Gentry, and now Ali giving me the cold shoulder, I was at my limit. “I confronted my dad the other night about how ridiculous this job was, and he reminded me of my place in the Maxwell empire. Where my honor is supposed to lie. When I stood my ground and told him that it was his place and not mine, he threatened to make sure that no one ever hired us again—unless I came back to his company.”
“So…wait,” Declan said, sounding confused. “So unless you crawl back under his thumb, he’s going to sabotage our business?”
“In a nutshell.”
“He can’t do that!” Cole said, and I totally felt his frustration. “He has nothing to do with this. He has no freaking right!”
“Oh, but he does. Because we wanted to call on all his connections, now he does have the right. He did us a favor, and now he’s using it against us. Had I just branched out on my own and not involved him in any way, shape or form, he wouldn’t be playing this game with me right now. With us.”
“That’s not true,” Levi said, sounding more than a little irritated himself. “I think that no matter what you did—especially if it meant leaving Maxwell’s—he was going to find a way to try and trip you up to fail. Shit. Now what?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I bought us a little bit of time—until the end of this Gentry case. Unfortunately, that means that I’m stuck here, playing the dog and pony show, being a fucking rent-a-cop. And I’m doing it so that we can have some time to start making a name for ourselves so that maybe his threats and whatnot won’t hurt us.”
Silence.
“But I’m telling you all right now,” I said. “No more bullshit. No more of this putting me down like I’m some sort of joke and not pulling my weight. The way that I see it, I’m doing just as much as the r
est of you—maybe more—to keep this business going. So back the fuck off.”
There was a collective round of agreements, and I finally felt like I was able to breathe. The noose around my neck had loosened, but just a little. Until my father conceded that this was something that I was going to do and I could get him to back off, I’d still be dealing with the threat.
“Look, Seb, I’m sorry. We’re all sorry,” Declan said. “We had no idea that the old man was playing head games with you like this. I mean, I guess we should have expected it. From everything that you’ve ever told us, it’s his M.O. Anyway, I’m sorry. And as soon as I wrap things up here on this case, I’m going to come to you and help out in any way that I can. All right?”
I knew it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference if Declan showed up or if they all showed up, but I agreed simply to keep the peace. With my share of the drama done with and after a quick update about what was going on at the Gentry estate, we moved on to the rest of our cases. Thirty minutes later, I was free to hang up and get on with my day.
Gentry was out of the picture again today because he was at some big business meeting—probably with my father—and asked for me to keep an eye on the grounds and to make sure that none of the “protestors” were making trouble.
I didn’t care that he wasn’t here. It made my life easier. But we’d already worked on the extra security for the event and even for the house in general, so now I was just walking around for the sake of walking around.
And not sitting in a comfy chair.
Eating donuts.
I saw tables being set up in the ballroom, and I wondered if Ali was around. When I saw her earlier today, not only had she not spoken to me—or even smiled—but she looked at me like something she had to scrape off her shoe.
I didn’t get it. We had been getting along great—joking and laughing—and I had to admit, I was looking forward to spending more time with her today. I had no idea what happened or what changed since yesterday, but I intended to find out.
We hadn’t known each other for very long, but even a blind man could see that there was something real between us. Something that was getting stronger every time we were together. And I wanted to know where it went.
Now.
For whatever reason, she became like a beacon in the dark for me. It seemed like no matter how dark my day was—no matter how stressful—she managed to make me feel like everything would be all right. One smile from her, and I felt lighter, happier. It was a new feeling for me because I was used to being surrounded by negative forces and situations that ranged from bad to dangerous. But being around Ali reminded me of how there was still good in the world. That there were still places that you could go and not feel hopeless.
Or alone.
I think that was what seeing Ali did for me the most—I didn’t feel so alone when I was with her. Just the sight of her made all of the tension of the day disappear.
Maybe my adrenalin was still pumping from the confrontation with the guys this morning, or maybe it was still pumping from the argument with my father’s assistant yesterday. Either way, I was done with not being taken seriously. And I was done with being blown off by a cute little brunette with dark eyes and a sweet laugh.
Yikes. Where the hell did that thought come from? I sounded like something on a Hallmark card.
Or a romance book.
Or chick flick.
I was seriously losing it. If I could just find her in this monstrosity of a house and talk to her, I knew I’d get to the bottom of what was bothering her.
And make myself feel better.
And maybe I could do the same for her.
Maybe, like me, it was this job. I had no idea what her boss was like, but working for Gentry was sure to be a nightmare, no matter what the position. If Ken was giving me crap about the stuff I had to do, I had no doubt what kind of crap Ali was getting about planning the gala.
Off in the distance, I actually heard Liza, Gentry’s wife, announce that she was leaving for a spa appointment. No doubt a collective sigh of relief was being released all around the house. One less Gentry to have to deal with today.
I headed up the stairs to the master bedroom suite, since Ken mentioned something about installing some sort of sensor up there to make sure that no one wandered in during the event. I had planned on just posting someone at the door, but if the guy wanted to pay for electronic gadgetry, who am I to say no?
There were double doors leading to the room, and one of them was ajar. Nothing overly curious about that, but if Ken was squirrelly about people coming up here, I would imagine that would be a concern all of the time—especially when there were so many people wandering around the house right now in preparation for the party.
Cautiously, I stepped inside, and at a cursory glance, nothing looked out of place. The king-size bed was made with military precision, and everything on the furniture surfaces looked to be in its place. I wandered further into the room and saw something that was definitely out of place.
It was that perfect little butt—today it was encased in slate gray—and it was sticking out from what I can only guess to be one of the master closets. What in the world could she possibly be measuring for up here? I knew for a fact that this area was going to be off limits for the party. No matter how detailed her boss wanted her damn measurements, they shouldn’t need anything from here.
I didn’t want to alert her to my presence just yet. I was kind of getting used to this game. Carefully, I crouched down to the floor. Using my best stealth tactics, I crawled up until I was right beside her. I was amazed that she hadn’t noticed me yet. Leaning in, until my lips were almost against her ear, I whispered, “I can’t help but admire your thoroughness on this job.”
Ali shrieked, and as she jumped back, she cracked me right across the face with the back of her hand.
“Oh, my God,” she cried, as soon as she realized what she’d done. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
I sat back on my haunches and tested my jaw. It stung like a son of a bitch. When my eyes were able to focus, I saw that she was devastated by what just happened—but I wasn’t sure if it was because she smacked me or because I caught her crawling around again. “You’ve got a mighty strong hand there.”
She blushed, and I thought she looked absolutely adorable.
“I’ve never hit anyone in my life.” She covered her face with her hands for just a moment, obviously trying to pull herself together.
“Well, you did a pretty good job for your first time,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. I had hoped that she’d look at me and smile—or laugh—but she did neither. I watched as she removed her hands from her face and stood up. She straightened her pants and her simple white blouse before reaching down for her notepad and measuring tape.
“I really am sorry,” she said coolly. Now she fidgeted with her ponytail. “I’m done in here so you can do…whatever it is that you came in here to do.”
When she turned to walk away, I snapped out of my stupor and lunged to my feet. I reached out and clasped my hand around her upper arm. “Hey, wait,” I said and was relieved that she didn’t pull away. “What were you measuring for in here? This whole area is going to be off limits for the party. We’re even installing extra security up here to make sure that no one gets in.”
Ali averted her eyes. “Oh, well…I wasn’t sure of that. I know that Mrs. Gentry likes to show off her possessions and…well…I came up here to see if there were…um…any areas of the room that we could use to either set up special…lighting…or to pipe in music from the ballroom. The DJ wants to see if we can rig something up to pipe music throughout the house.”
I knew a lot about women. I knew when they were flirting. I knew when they were interested. I knew when they were turned on.
And I knew when they were nervous.
And Ali was most definitely nervous. But why?
I didn’t buy the whole music thing, but right now, I didn’t really care.
“Oh, okay.” Reluctantly, I pulled my hand from her arm and then placed them in my pockets to keep from touching her again. She felt very delicate under my hands, and it made me twitch with the need to touch her in other places, too.
“So,” I said, hoping to indulge her in more casual conversation, “how is your day going, other than clobbering innocent onlookers?”
I thought for sure she’d smile at that.
She didn’t. Instead, she looked at her watch and huffed with agitation. “Busy.”
I quirked a brow at her. That was it? One word? “How are the plans all coming along? Have you run into any problems?”
“No. We’re fine.”
Okay. Something was definitely up. I stood there for a moment just staring at her until she started to squirm. When she took a step away, I leaned in. “Nice weather we’re having.”
Rolling her eyes, I could tell she wanted to tell me to go to hell. She didn’t, though. Those dark eyes narrowed. “Look, I have things to do, so I’d better get to them.” She turned to walk away, but I couldn’t let her.
“Ali…wait.” Only, I was the one who was waiting. Waiting for her to turn around, and it felt like a lifetime before she did. When she finally faced me, I decided to just be straight with her. “What’s going on here? If I did something wrong, something that offended you, then I’m sorry. I thought that we had been getting along great, and now you seem like you’re pissed at me, and I’d like to know why.” I kept my tone soft. I didn’t want to scare her off.
Okay, maybe I did.
A little.
That tactic—the one where I got really loud and curse—that worked with the guys. I didn’t think it would go over so well here. “Seriously, what gives?”
Her arms, which had been crossed, suddenly dropped her to sides. “I really don’t have time for this, Mr. Maxwell.” She said it with a curl of her lip that piqued my curiosity.
“Mr. Maxwell?” I was thoroughly confused. “Since when did I become Mr. Maxwell? That’s my father, not me. C’mon, Ali. For two weeks, we’ve been joking and having fun, and now suddenly I’m Mr. Maxwell?”
Honor Bound Page 5