Heated

by J. Kenner

  "It's a fundraiser to benefit research into pediatric neurology research," he said. "Evan and Angie should be around here somewhere. They're both--along with the Jahn Foundation--patrons of the event."

  "Which means they made huge donations?"

  "Pretty much. In fundraising, the donations often go to pay for the event, which then tries to recoup that money and earn more through table fees, silent auctions, that kind of thing." He nodded toward the table with the baskets. "See anything you want to bid on?"

  "I doubt I could afford anything, but we can look."

  We were heading that direction when Tyler stopped. "Wait. That's Franklin. Eli Franklin," he added, pointing to a tall, thin man with deep set eyes and a heavy brow.

  "Lizzy's boss?"

  "I should tell him what happened. Not wait until the morning."

  "Sure," I said as he veered in that direction. We didn't make it there, though. Instead, we were waylaid by another man, this one white-haired and distinguished.

  "Tyler!" he said, holding his hand out to shake as he patted Tyler soundly on the shoulder with his other hand.

  "Mr. Danvers," Tyler said. "What a pleasure. Did you get the revised proposal for the security system?"

  "Yes, yes. Of course. But we'll talk later. No point in boring your lovely companion."

  "Oh, I'm so sorry," Tyler said, pulling me to his side. "This is my date, Sloane Watson. Sloane, this is Gregory Danvers, the CEO of Covington Investments, one of the most influential financial companies in the world."

  There was something about his tone and manner that caught my attention, and I was damn certain that he'd forgotten to introduce me on purpose. I just wasn't sure why.

  "It's a pleasure," Danvers said, as I extended my hand. "Tyler's given you my life story. What do you do?"

  "Sloane's a detective," Tyler added, and suddenly all the pieces fell into place. What was it he'd said? That he had social engagements planned where it would be useful to have a cop on his arm.

  "Is that right?" Mr. Danvers said. "What kind of crimes do you investigate?"

  I ignored the unpleasant twisting in my belly and smiled at Danvers. "Homicide primarily, though I've worked vice and sex crimes and even a bit in the white collar division. Excuse me," I added, because I needed to get away and get my head clear. "I see Angelina. I'm going to go say hi and leave you two to talk."

  I left before Tyler could object, ignoring the way his brow furrowed as I made my escape.

  I really had seen Angelina over by the raffle baskets, but considering we had yet to even be introduced, I had no intention of actually going over there. Instead, I planned to finish off my wine and down another glass, just to take the edge off.

  That plan, however, was foiled when Angelina joined me in the line for the cash bar. "I'm Angelina Raine," she said. "Angie. And you're Sloane Watson."

  "Yes, I am," I answered, making her laugh.

  "I saw you at my party but didn't come over on purpose. I was ..." She trailed off, tilting her head from side to side as she considered her words. "Let's just say I was waiting to see how it panned out." She glanced across the room toward Tyler. "Looks like it played out better than anyone expected."

  I cleared my throat, feeling too fragile at the moment to go there, and irritated with myself because of it. "Listen, I owe you an apology. I'm not sure how much you know--"

  "Everything," she said. "Evan told me the whole story."

  "Oh." I frowned, thinking of my arrangement with Tyler. Just how much of the story did Evan know?

  "He told me you're a detective from Indiana, and you're looking for one of your friends who used to work at Destiny. Turns out she moved on to Vegas, right?"

  "Looks that way."

  She nodded. "Some of the girls do. I guess good dancers can make a nice living there."

  "I'm sorry about crashing," I said.

  "It's okay. And it turned out for the best. You're seeing Tyler now, which I think is very interesting. And working at Destiny, too."

  "Yes, as to Destiny, but not because I have an overwhelming desire to leave the force and go into exotic dancing. I'm hoping Amy mentioned where she was going to one of her customers."

  "You're still worried about her?"

  "Not overly. But we have a very pregnant mutual friend, and I know Amy wanted to be there for the birth."

  "Maybe she met a guy," Angie said. She glanced across the room at Evan. "The right guy can make every other thought leave your head."

  I laughed. "You've got that right."

  "And it's such a perfect segue I don't even have to be rude when I ask how it's going with you and Tyler."

  "Oh." I shook my head. "We're just--" I wasn't sure what to say. We had an arrangement, and while I may have forgotten about it in the thrill of being with Tyler, tonight had very firmly reminded me. "I'll be going back home soon," I finished lamely.

  She nodded slowly, as if considering me. We'd reached the bar, and she ordered us each a glass of wine, then turned to me as the bartender poured. "That's too bad," she said. "Kat and I were watching you at the party. And I've been watching tonight."

  "Watching me?"

  "Well, watching both of you. Tyler mostly."

  "Have you?" I paused, knowing I shouldn't push this--knowing it didn't matter because all I had with Tyler was a snapshot in time, and whatever I thought I was feeling didn't matter. Couldn't matter.

  All true--but I still wanted to know. "What have you seen?" I asked.

  "More than I've seen before," she said. "I'm speaking out of turn, I know. But I've known him forever and I love him to death, and I've seen him go through a lot of women." She took a sip of wine. "They buzz around him, like moths to his light, you know?"

  I nodded. I understood exactly.

  "But I've never seen him actually pursue a woman. And I sure as hell have never seen him look at a woman the way Evan looks at me."

  Oh. I felt my stomach do a little flip. "I--" I stopped. I didn't know what to say. But in that moment I felt strangely, absurdly grateful to this woman who was practically a stranger to me.

  "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this. I mean, I know you have a job to go back to, and not even in this state. But I guess I wanted to let you know that you're different. If that matters to you."

  Tears pricked my eyes, and I looked down to stare into my wineglass. "Yeah," I said. "It matters."

  After Angie left to find Evan, I moved to a corner and watched Tyler finish his conversation with Danvers. It looked easy, jovial, and I could see that Tyler had charmed the man.

  When Danvers departed, Tyler turned, his gaze scouring the room and landing on me. Immediately, he smiled, and the heaviness that had settled on me lifted somewhat. Apparently not completely, though, because as soon as Tyler reached me, he pressed a kiss to my temple and asked me what was wrong.

  "Nothing," I said. "Tired." I tilted my head and grinned at him. "I haven't been getting much sleep."

  "Who needs sleep when there are better things to do?"

  I rolled my eyes and fell in step beside him as he extended his arm.

  I knew I should stay silent--that I was being a fool. Hadn't Tyler himself said that we weren't dating, we were fucking? And didn't I know damn well that whatever this was would end the day I returned to Indiana?

  Dammit.

  How had this man gotten so entwined with my heart so quickly? How had he snuck in around all my defenses?

  I knew how, of course--he'd seen a part of me no one else had. A part I hadn't even seen. He'd peeled back the hard shell, exposing what was inside. And while it felt nice to be free, that also made me vulnerable.

  Now, though I hated myself for wishing it, I was craving some sort of acknowledgment that what I was feeling for Tyler--what I thought he was feeling for me--was real. That it wasn't one big elaborate con for some endgame I hadn't yet seen.

  Beside me, Tyler was chatting with passersby and nodding at friends. But his eyes kept returning to me, his exp
ression inquisitive. Finally, he pulled me aside. "Did Angie say something to upset you?"

  "What? No. She was great. I like her."

  "She is great," he said vaguely. "But you--"

  "I'm fine," I said, then rose up on my toes to kiss him. "Really." I cleared my throat. "So you're trying to get a security contract with Danvers? That company you own? BAS Security?"

  He nodded. "So far we've kept the client list small and local. But Covington's international. It would be a big coup."

  "I'll bet. And having a cop on your arm probably gives the right impression. Projects confidence. Not to mention legality. Almost like an endorsement."

  "I see." He slid his hands in his pockets.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't meant to suggest--"

  "Suggest? You flat-out said. And you know what, Detective, you're right." His voice had taken on a hard note and I cursed myself, wishing I hadn't brought it up because I had a feeling it was about to all come crashing down.

  "Were you not listening when I laid out the reasons for this arrangement?" he continued, still in that hard, businesslike voice. "Because I thought I was clear. There are events where it would be beneficial to have a cop on my arm. Well, Sloane, this is one of them."

  "Yes," I said curtly. "I figured that out."

  "Dammit," he said, loud enough to have people turning and looking at us. "Shit," he muttered, then took my arm. "Come here."

  He led me out of the rotunda, around one of the rope barricades, and into one of the empty galleries.

  "Do you really believe that?" I heard the rise of anger in his voice, but there was something else, too. Something that sounded like hurt. "Christ, Sloane, is that really what you think?"

  "I--" I shook my head, not sure what to think.

  "Yes, it's good for business to have a cop on my arm. And yes, that's part of how it started with you. But that's not how it is now. It's not why you're here." His voice went soft and he shook his head, as if to clear away his thoughts. "You're here for only one reason, and that's because I want you beside me."

  I swallowed, my breath hitching a bit.

  "What's between us may have started as an arrangement, a deal. But I think we both know that it's becoming a hell of a lot more than that. As far as I'm concerned, that's just an excuse to be with you. To have you close, when and how I want."

  He ran his palm over my shoulder, bare in the sky blue dress. "I don't know where this is going, Sloane, or where it will end. All I know is that you're in my head, you're inside me, and that I will lose a piece of myself the day you go back to Indiana."

  "Tyler." I knew I should say something. Tell him I was relieved. Tell him I felt the same way. Tell him that I'd never in my life felt around anyone the way I felt around him. But I couldn't seem to find the words.

  So I did the only thing I could do. I folded myself into his arms, and I kissed him.

  His arms went around me, and he held me tight. Our bodies molded together, and his hands stroked my bare back. I felt warm and safe and complete, as if I'd been living my life with a piece missing, and now that I'd found Tyler, everything clicked into place.

  I was falling in love with this man. Fast and hard, maybe, but I was certain. What was it he'd said? The speed of us? And he was so right. But love was only part of the equation, and right then, I had to hold tight to the faith that somehow we could make it work. If he really was clean--if everything he'd done was truly in the past--then maybe we could find a way to move forward.

  "I'm sorry," he said, when we broke apart. "I didn't think. I should have told you before. I didn't--"

  "I know. It's okay." I kissed him again, this time soft and quick before pulling away with a suggestive smile. "Do you need to show me off to somebody else? Or do you think maybe you could take me home and take me out of this dress?"

  I could see the answer in his eyes, but before he said it out loud, his phone rang. He glanced at it, mouthed, Cole, and answered the call.

  He said one word--"Hello," and then he simply listened as Cole spoke.

  I watched the change come over him. That relaxed, calm expression turning into hard, cold rage.

  When he ended the call his eyes were blazing, and though he looked at me, I wasn't entirely sure he saw me at all.

  "Tyler?"

  "He tried to rape her," he said. "Lizzy woke up, and she told Cole that bastard Franklin tried to rape her. That's why she was in a hurry. That's why she crashed the car."

  "I'm sorry," I said, then put a hand on his arm. "But don't. I can see what you're thinking and don't."

  He just looked at me, and then he stalked back into the rotunda.

  Shit.

  I hurried after him, scouring the crowd. I saw Franklin on the far side by an exit, and breathed a sigh of relief. If I could just get Tyler out of here before he saw the man ...

  But it was too late. Tyler swooped in, grabbed Franklin by the arm, and as I watched helpless from the far side of the rotunda, Tyler forced him out of the room.

  Dammit all to hell.

  I hurried that direction, trying not to run and knowing I couldn't really manage it in those shoes anyway. I paused only when I saw Angie.

  "What is it?" she asked when I grabbed her hand.

  "Get Evan."

  "Why?"

  "Get him," I called back, already on the move again.

  I kicked off the damn shoes, hiked up my skirt, and picked up my pace.

  They weren't in the closest gallery, and I turned in a circle, cursing, trying to figure out where the hell they could have gone, when I heard the crash of metal. I ran forward, then skidded to a stop when I entered a darkened room filled with small aquariums with glowing sea life. All around me, jellyfish floated like angels on a starlit sky, and at my feet, Tyler was pounding his fist into Franklin's face as the man cowered beside a toppled trash can.

  "Tyler! Get off him!"

  He didn't even react, and I bit out another curse, then dove into the fray, moving in to restrain his hands--wishing I had a pair of goddamn cuffs--and yelling at Franklin to stay the fuck down and not move a muscle.

  Naturally, the bastard didn't. He kicked out twice, first knocking me backward, and then catching Tyler in the jaw.

  Fuck.

  Tyler retaliated by snatching Franklin up by the collar, then slamming him back with a fist to the face.

  "Enough," I said, this time managing to get Tyler's arm behind him and hold him fast. He was bigger than me and stronger than me, and I knew he was pissed off enough to do something about it, but I damn sure hoped he wouldn't. "Take a breath," I said. "Take a breath before you kill the bastard."

  I heard footsteps, and looked up to see Angie and Evan rushing in. Evan came straight to me and Tyler, and I passed him off, figuring that Evan was better prepared to handle Tyler than I was. "Back it down," Evan said. "Back it down or it's going to get a lot worse."

  "He tried to rape Lizzy," Tyler said, when he was finally calm and motionless. "He said that he'd seen her dancing at Destiny. He thanked me--he fucking thanked me--for sending him such a tight little piece of ass. That I sure knew how to pick them."

  "Oh, Tyler, no," I said.

  "And when I told him he was an ignorant prick, he told me that she wanted it. That she wore short skirts. That she teased him. That she asked for it."

  I saw the same fury bloom on Evan's face, then watched as he stalked to Franklin, who still sat on the floor, breathing hard and looking like he was having the worst day of his life. He looked up, then flinched when Evan spat on him.

  I met Angie's eyes, and had to fight the urge to applaud.

  Moments later, the security guard joined the fray, which really got the party started. He took initial statements and contact information, then cleared Angie and Evan to leave.

  "Do you want us to stay?" Angie asked me.

  "Go on back to the party. I'll make sure Tyler calls tomorrow."

  "Okay," she said, then pulled me into an impulsive hug. "Take care o
f him."

  "I will," I promised.

  I moved toward Tyler, but the guard insisted that Tyler, Franklin, and I remain separated, so I sat on the floor beneath the jellyfish until I saw the detectives arrive. One went straight to Franklin. The other headed toward Tyler.

  I stood, then walked toward the second detective, meeting him halfway. Then I reached into my purse and pulled out my badge. "Detective," I said. "Could I have a word?"

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "Self-defense, Detective," I said. "Mr. Sharp had told Mr. Franklin that he had evidence that Franklin had sexually harassed an employee. Franklin attacked, and Sharp defended himself."

  "And you saw that?"

  "I did. I'm not telling you how to do your job, but if it was my case, I'd just have everyone walk away."

  The memory played in my head, over and over like a broken record, blocking out everything else.

  "You did the right thing," Tyler said as we stepped inside his suite at The Drake.

  They were the first words we'd spoken since leaving the benefit, and they sounded far away. "It doesn't feel that way."

  "He files charges for assault, and the only way to defend is to drag Lizzy into this mess," he said as he headed into the living room. "Would you want that for her?"

  "You didn't have to pound his face in," I said. "What the hell were you thinking?"

  "I was thinking that he attacked an innocent girl who'd already suffered enough."

  "Yes, I know. Of course." I drew in a breath. "But, Tyler, there are laws against rape, even attempted rape. Lizzy could testify. Bring assault charges, attempted rape."

  "That's bullshit, and you know it," he said. "A former stripper crying rape? What cop would believe her?"

  "I would," I said, and I saw the flicker of warmth in his eyes.

  "Fair enough," Tyler said. "But even if the DA did believe her, he'd get a slap on the wrist and no cage time, and we both know it. Justice doesn't always go hand in hand with the law."

  I shook my head, knowing I needed to just drop this. That it was becoming too damn personal. "That doesn't mean you can take it into your own hands."

  "Why not?"

  I just looked at him, willing myself to stay silent.

  "I'm serious," he repeated. "Why not?"

  "Because you can't," I snapped. "There are rules. There are codes." I thought of my mother. Of my stepfather. And in my mind, I heard the sharp crack of a shotgun.