by Cat Schield
This made sense. Her lips. Kissing her. Feeling once again like some part of him was complete. Why did it only happen when she was in his arms? Everything inside him quieted, making room for this amazing explosion of fulfillment and joy.
Lani angled her head, taking him deeper into her mouth, breathing him in as her fingers tunneled through his hair, nails digging into his scalp. Her lashes were a butterfly kiss against his skin as she pulled him closer, pressing her breasts into his chest and sliding her knee up his thigh as if by wrapping herself around him, they could meld and become one.
Asher lowered his hand to her hip and was seconds away from cupping her butt and lifting her off her feet when an annoying buzzing sound began. Lani noticed it too and rolled her head back, disengaging from the kiss.
“Ignore it.” Issuing the command, he fanned his fingers over her lower back to keep his iron-hard erection firmly pressed into her slowly rocking hips. “Stay just like this,” he murmured, in awe of her power over him.
“We shouldn’t be...” She twisted free of him, her chest heaving as if she’d finished a mile-long sprint. Scrambling to where her phone was still buzzing madly on her desk, she raked a trembling hand over the tendrils that had escaped her neat ponytail. “Yes?”
Asher leaned back against the cool glass window and shuddered while another boom of thunder rolled through the building. Or was that just the reverberation of his pounding heart? He couldn’t catch his breath. The shock of that kiss. Lani’s ardent response. How lust had transformed her into living flame... It was all so exhilarating. He’d forgotten how intoxicatingly blissful kissing her could be.
He loved her complexities. Straightforward and practical in her role as an investigator and her pursuit of her career goals. Recklessly passionate when it came to her heart. She’d trusted him when she shouldn’t have and doubted him when he’d been most honest with her.
While she settled behind the desk and started typing on her keyboard, he let his gaze roam over her lips. She was gnawing on the lower one and he had to look away as sweat prickled his skin.
“Is everything okay?” he asked as she concluded her call.
She’d sat back, narrowed eyes glued to the computer screen. In the space of ten minutes, she’d cooled to focused professionalism. Meanwhile his defenses were down and his anticipation was sky-high.
“Everything’s fine.” She did a slow blink and seemed to return from whatever deep dive her brain had done. “Are you ready to go back to Royal?”
“I thought maybe while we’re in Dallas we could have dinner.” Somewhere romantic and far away from the accusing eyes in Royal so he could lavish his charm on her and see if he could soften her attitude toward him.
She glanced at her phone. “We really need to get back. I already have dinner plans.”
“Here in Dallas?” A spike of jealousy caused his voice to harden. Until this moment he hadn’t considered that she might be involved with someone. But if she was, would she have kissed him like that?
“No,” she said. “In Royal.”
“Something having to do with the investigation?” With their passionate embrace sparking his baser instincts, Asher was feeling possessive and didn’t come off nearly as nonchalant as he’d hoped.
“At the moment the investigation is my main focus.”
A non-answer. And from the look on her face, all she was planning to give.
Four
Lani’s dinner engagement with Rusty Edmond had stirred a fair amount of interest amongst the members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Given his family’s connection to the Soiree on the Bay debacle, she’d been a little surprised that the oil tycoon wanted to meet in such a public venue. She’d thought he’d prefer to keep a low profile and share a quiet meal somewhere discreet. Instead, as the hostess led her to a table in the middle of the TCC’s large dining room, Lani realized that she would be a headliner performing on the center stage.
Great.
It made sense that a man like Rusty Edmond wouldn’t be chased away by some negative gossip about his family. No doubt he’d ruffled a lot of feathers while amassing his enormous fortune. What did he care if people whispered about him behind his back?
“Ms. Li.” Rusty stood as she approached, his cordial smile not reaching the winter gray of his assessing gaze.
“Mr. Edmond,” she countered, wondering if he remembered he’d invited her to call him Rusty the last time they’d met.
The nickname struck her as a blatant attempt to make the man approachable. It was ridiculous. Russell Edmond Sr. was an intimating man by nature. One of the richest oilmen in Texas, he had a mercurial temperament and a roving eye when it came to women.
“Call me Rusty,” he rumbled in warm tones, his eyes taking in her measure, lingering a little too long on her breasts for Lani’s comfort. Which made her doubly glad she’d resisted the impulse to wear something more flattering. He stuck out his hand as she drew within reach. “May I call you Lani?”
“Of course.” As her hand was swallowed in his grip, she was struck by the man’s imposing physical presence, as well as the aggressive potency of his personality. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.”
“I understand you bailed my son out of jail.”
Okay, so they were diving right in. “I’ve been hired to investigate where the missing money has gone.” And who took it.
“Have you asked Asher?” Rusty’s expression gave her no clue to whether this was a serious question or if the man was being droll.
“Yes. He claims he didn’t steal the money.” Lani paused for a beat, waiting for the older man’s reaction. “I’m not sure he gains anything by taking it.”
Rusty snorted. “He gains millions of dollars.”
“Yes, but the theft was so obviously done by him. Why hadn’t he fled before the funds were discovered to be missing? He used part of the money to buy a house in the Maldives. Surely he had to know that would make him the prime suspect.”
The waitress stopped by their table and took Lani’s drink order. Rusty already had a mostly-empty crystal tumbler sitting in front of him and ordered another whiskey.
“So, you think Asher is innocent.” A statement, not a question. “Even though he purchased a house in the Maldives.”
“I’m not sure that he did. And he’s not the only one with access to the festival accounts who needed money. You disinherited Ross.”
Lani paid careful attention to how Rusty reacted to her pointing a finger at his biological son, unsurprised by the man’s cold glare. The oil tycoon had cut off Ross several months ago after finding out he’d slept with an employee and fathered a son with her. The tension between Ross and Rusty had eased somewhat in recent weeks, but it was completely possible that Ross might’ve started skimming the festival funds after such a dramatic reversal in his fortune.
“My son isn’t a thief.”
Which son? Lani’s heart clenched in sympathy for Asher.
“I’m just pointing out that Ross had means, motive and opportunity. And he could’ve misdirected the investigation so that all the evidence points to Asher.”
“Are you trying to say that Asher was set up?”
“It’s a possibility.”
Skepticism rolled off Rusty. “You two dated a while back.” His lips twisted into disdain. “Are you sure this isn’t personal for you?”
Despite preparing to be asked this question, Lani’s cheeks heated. The incendiary kiss she and Asher had shared earlier made any denial she might make now a big fat lie.
“I was hired to find the missing money. If the federal investigators believe Asher is guilty, they won’t be following any other leads.” Lani’s gaze clashed with Rusty’s wintery one. “If neither Asher nor Ross are guilty, do you have any idea who else might have stolen the funds?”
“I don’t.” Nor did Rusty Edmond look happy ab
out that. He was a man of decisive action. It must be difficult for him to sit by and let the situation play out. He finished his drink as the waitress set the new tumbler before him and swept away the empty glass. “I recommend the rib eye.”
Lani didn’t order the eighteen-ounce bone-in steak. Instead she chose a center-cut filet mignon that melted in her mouth. Five years ago Asher had brought her here for dinner. That night she’d been a starry-eyed girl unaccustomed to such lavish service and exquisite cuisine. Watching Rusty attack his own dinner with relish, Lani wondered if any of the Edmond family could survive without their cushy safety net of wealth and privilege.
Although her dinner companion kept turning the conversation away from any further talk of the failed festival or the tornado that had devastated Appaloosa Island the month before, Lani repeatedly circled back. From the way Rusty spoke about Ross, Gina and especially Asher, his pessimistic opinion of them predated any mishandling of Soiree on the Bay. Lani was utterly depressed by the time he waved away the waitress’s attempts to list off the daily dessert specials.
She was gathering breath to thank the oil mogul for his time when someone approached their table. Lani recognized Ross’s friend Billy Holmes from her preliminary research into everyone connected to the festival. The man’s chiseled cheekbones, dark hair and assessing blue eyes combined into a face of arresting handsomeness. Maybe his long nose was a shade too narrow, the cant of his mouth a bit self-indulgent. But as he sized her up in turn, she sensed he knew how to work a room.
Rusty lit up as he and Billy exchanged greetings, startling Lani. She’d heard that Billy had Rusty’s ear when his own children couldn’t get his attention. Seeing the way the man oozed charm, she understood why Rusty liked him. And apparently so did many of the women. Lani spied four at nearby tables that gazed at Billy with a range of fondness and hunger.
As much as she’d have loved to stick around and ponder this fascinating rapport between the patriarch and his son’s good friend, Lani realized her audience with Rusty Edmond had come to an end. Murmuring thanks for the meal, she headed for the exit, eager to share her thoughts with Asher.
But when she arrived back at the ranch, she discovered he wasn’t in his apartment. Before panic seized hold, she decided to check the barn. Sure enough, she found him in a grooming stall running a brush over a gray gelding.
“How’d dinner with my father go?” he asked, his voice cool.
Lani winced. She should’ve known better than to keep quiet about her meeting with Rusty. No doubt her evasiveness had fortified the barriers between them. Maybe subconsciously that had been her plan. Their kiss had shaken her confidence. How could she do her job if emotion disrupted reason? Would she overlook something because she wanted him to be innocent? Worse, what if she found out he was guilty and couldn’t bring herself to send him to jail?
“It went okay.”
She picked up a brush and went to work on the opposite side of the horse, running the soft bristles over his shoulder and down his front leg.
“Is he the one who hired you to figure out where the money went?” He’d asked the question before and she’d refused to answer. Silence reigned between them for several uncomfortable seconds. “You don’t want to talk about it.”
“Not really.”
As much as Lani wanted to tell Asher that she’d been hired by Kingston Blue, thinking his father had hired her was keeping Asher off balance and she needed whatever advantage she could get if she was going to find the money.
If he was actually responsible for the theft.
While they worked without further conversation, Lani couldn’t stop her gaze from chasing the strong lines of Asher’s cheekbones and the delectable curve of his lower lip. She shivered as that afternoon’s kiss replayed in her mind. The same raw masculinity that had tantalized her five years ago was no less potent, nor had her susceptibility to it dimmed. He’d grown harder in the intervening years. Less indulged rich boy and more a man who wasn’t happy with how his life was going.
It’s what made him even more interesting. She’d prepared herself to resist his meaningless flirtation and dodge his sexual banter. The melancholy beneath his glib sophistication was more pronounced than ever. He hid it well, but most people probably didn’t bother looking past his easy charm and playful humor. She’d trained herself to see into those in-between moments and easily detected the dissatisfaction that plagued him.
“I thought tomorrow I’d head to Appaloosa Island,” she said, the idea having come to her on the drive back to the ranch. “I haven’t seen the festival site.”
“Neither have I.”
“I’m surprised,” she said. “Didn’t you go check on the damage after the tornado hit?”
“No.”
“Would you like to come along?”
She was surprised when he didn’t answer right away. He’d always been restless and up for anything.
“I guess I’d better take advantage of my freedom for as long as I can.”
* * *
Asher wasn’t feeling particularly chatty during the three-hour car ride to Mustang Point, an elite waterside community with a large marina in Trinity Bay. Because Appaloosa Island was only accessible by helicopter and boat—a ferry crossed to the island daily—the Edmond family kept several boats for their own use.
The investigators had returned his car and Asher had insisted he drive. The luxury sedan was far more comfortable for a road trip than Lani’s utilitarian SUV. Plus, with him behind the wheel, she could spend the trip working on her laptop. If she noticed his reserve, she gave no sign. Which, of course, only fueled his frustration.
Being investigated by his ex-lover was bad enough. That his father had been the one to hire her cut deep. And how could he talk to her about how betrayed he felt without plunging deep into the complex emotional crap that defined his relationship with Rusty?
Maybe he should just go ahead and tell her what was really going on. Why he’d quit polo and gone to work for The Edmond Organization. More than any time before, he wanted her to know the man he truly was. For her to choose to have faith in him. To recognize that not only was he innocent of stealing the festival funds, but that he would never in a million years stoop to something so low.
And what if he told her everything and it didn’t change her perception? He sensed that it was habit for her to regard him with a jaundiced eye. As with his adoptive father, she found it easier to write him off. To her, he would remain “frat boy” and his pride rejected having to prove that he was no longer that guy.
They had lunch at the marina restaurant before heading to the dock. The forty-foot boat that Asher had been staying on when he first met Lani had been replaced by a sixty-foot model that handled like a dream. He keyed in the code to unlock the double-glass doors and swept his arm in a grand gesture for her to precede him inside. Far from looking pleased by his gallantry, she shot him a repressive frown before entering the comfortable cabin with panoramic views from the wraparound windows.
The sleek open space held a lounge area with a comfortable sectional couch and a large well-appointed kitchen with tons of countertop space for food prep and an eat-in banquette.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked, determined to play the part of a good host. “The boat is fully stocked with everything you could ever want.”
Her eyebrow arched at that. “I’ll take a sparkling water if you have it.”
“I know we do.” Practically everything Gina drank had to have bubbles. “We also have that jalapeño vodka you like so well. I make sure the boat is stocked with it. You know, just in case...”
Her lips parted as if she wanted to ask, In case of what? But she settled for shaking her head in disapproval before continuing to survey the elegant surroundings.
“This looks new,” she murmured as he pulled out glasses, filling them with ice and a slice of lime.
Still annoyed that she’d had dinner with his father the night before and refused to tell him why or what they’d discussed, he shot back, “Is that your way of asking me if I used the festival funds to buy a new boat?”
“You need to take this more seriously.” She regarded him steadily as he poured sparkling water over the ice. “You’re in big trouble and flippant remarks like that are not making my job any easier.”
He coped with stress by making light of things. Never let them see you sweat. No one knew the amount of anger, insecurity or frustration he’d bottled up over the years. But he’d learned that if you play the part of someone unbothered by problems, then those difficulties have less of a chance of wearing you down.
“I didn’t steal the funds and the boat doesn’t belong to me.” Summoning a weary half smile, Asher held the glass out to her. “But you already know that.” For several seconds the only sound in the space was the happy explosions of a hundred tiny bubbles. “I’m not the villain here.”
He could probably say it a million times and she’d never believe him until the truth came out, proving his innocence. What he wouldn’t give for someone, anyone—but especially her—to believe he wasn’t a thieving asshole.
His patience was rewarded when she stepped forward to accept it and their fingers grazed, sending an electric current of longing through him. Lust flared, compelling and dangerous. If he took her in his arms and kissed her the way he wanted to, they would be naked and on the floor in minutes.
But passion was easy. It was the moments in between that made a relationship grow and flourish. Or fail miserably. Whatever came, he wanted a shot with Lani.
Reacting to his volatile mood, she sipped her water in silence.
“I mean,” he continued mercilessly, “if I were to steal millions of dollars, I wouldn’t spend it on a boat or a house in the Maldives. I’d choose someplace more interesting than some remote island to buy real estate.”
Lani studied him. “I don’t get you.”
“I assure you, I am quite simple to understand.”