by Alison Paige
The spindly young man stepped into the office, his big brown eyes narrowed on Joe. Kate was surprised to notice they were the same height, though all of Eddy’s muscles combined would only make up one of Joe’s biceps. A fact Eddy didn’t seem overly concerned with.
He closed the distance between him and Joe, shoulders back, jaw tight. He jabbed a finger at the bridge of his glasses. “Y’know, if the lady wants you to leave, you’ll leave.”
“That right?”
“That’s right.”
Joe cocked a brow. His dark eyes fixed on Eddy’s. “You gonna make me?”
“If I have to.”
“Hey.” Sheesh, the testosterone levels in the room were enough for Kate to choke on. “This is my office. Nobody’s making anyone do anything. Got it?”
Eddy blinked first, backing up without actually backing down. “Got it.”
“Thank you, Eddy. What’d you want to ask me?”
He looked to Kate, his pitted cheeks flushing, eyes suddenly shifty, nervous. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to, uhm, I dunno, grab, y’know, lunch or something? Together, I mean. I thought we could maybe sit together. If ya want.”
Flattered by his shy request, Kate’s face warmed. It took a lot for him to ask. Eddy didn’t make friends easily. People shied away because of his looks and oddball demeanor. But Kate knew the story behind the coke-bottle glasses, the reasons why he was offended and hurt so easily. Molestation, beatings, abandonment, those things will do that to a person.
Kate’s heart ached for him. Eddy just needed a friend. “Sure. I’ll meet you over there. Okay?”
Eddy’s smile lifted his glasses. He nodded and threw Joe a triumphant sneer on his way out.
Joe’s dark gaze tracked the young man’s exit past the office windows and out the stable entrance toward the mess hall. “Guy’s not playin’ with a full deck.”
“Why? Because he wouldn’t back down to you?”
Joe’s gaze flicked to her, brows high. “Isn’t that enough?”
Kate grunted her disgust. “Leave him alone. In fact, leave me alone. God, you think you’re so cool. You think everyone’s dying to be you, or with you. Whatever.”
She dropped into her chair again, irritated that his confidence was justified.
“Right.” Joe’s glower stole over his face again. She could almost see him drawing into himself, closing off all emotion.
Ohmygod. I am a job to him.
Kate swallowed hard, trying to force her heart out of her throat and blinked at the ceiling. She wouldn’t cry. Dammit, she was so not this person. Joe Garity was just a guy—another guy who wanted her, but not to keep.
She looked at him. “Listen, I’ll call my father. Make sure he pays you. But I want you to go. Just…go. Now. Okay? I don’t need or want a bodyguard. I’ve got people to watch my back. People who actually care about me.”
“You talking about Clayton, Frank or Eddy?”
“What?”
“There another guy you’ve got turned ass backwards over you?” He snorted as though it was an inside joke, not at all happy. “Guess there is. At least two.”
“What? No. I meant—”
“Forget it.” Joe held up a hand, stopping her explanation. “Doesn’t matter. They’ll get you killed. People who care about you care about the wrong things.”
“Rude.”
“You’re not listening.” He slammed his hands on the desk, locked his arms. “They care if you’re happy, sad, pissed, whatever. You don’t want the guy protecting you worried about your mood. You just want him to keep you alive.”
“And you can do that?” Her hands were shaking, her heart skipping a mile a minute. “You can step between me and possible death because you don’t care about my feelings?”
Joe straightened. He blinked as though he hadn’t expected the question. He slipped his fingers in the front pockets of his jeans and met her eyes with his. “I care about keeping you alive.”
“Same thing, right?” Kate’s frown drew her brows tight, though for a moment he’d seen her chin trembling. Her eyes were moist and shiny, glittering in the sunlight.
Jeezus, don’t let her cry. He knew the first tear would break him. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah.” She sighed, looked away. Her attention focused out the window, she blinked enough times he knew she fought against her tears.
What was he doing? He didn’t want to hurt her. Hell, he was trying not to hurt her, trying to keep her safe, to keep her alive. He shouldn’t have made love to her. He shouldn’t have spent the night. And he sure as hell shouldn’t have allowed his emotions to muck the works.
Her green eyes were still sparkling when she looked back at him. But her chin was firm and so, it seemed, was her resolve.
Kate pushed to her feet. “I won’t have any part of my father in my life. He thought he could buy me when I was a kid and he’s still treating me as a possession, assigning personnel to guard his property.”
“Could just be protecting his daughter.”
“If I was a daughter and not property, he would’ve talked to me. He would’ve told me he was worried, told me he was hiring someone to protect me. No. I’m a possession. A thing. But I don’t have to explain that to you.”
“Right.” Joe clenched his jaw. Kept his damn mouth shut. She didn’t get it, and he wasn’t going to draw her a picture. If he’d been doing his job, if he’d kept to the rules, he wouldn’t have been standing there. He wouldn’t bother trying to help her understand.
What difference did it make that she was pissed at him? Who cared if her feelings were hurt, if she felt insecure about their intimacies? She was alive and he was going to make sure she stayed that way. That’s why he was there, what he did for a living. Kate, the woman, shouldn’t matter. Except she did. Jeezus, he was fucked.
“Fine. Then I want you to quit,” she said.
“What? No.”
She sucked a breath through her nose, her lips tight, hands fisted at her sides. “I want you to call Edward Mathers and tell him you’re no longer working for him.”
Joe pulled the folded note and photo from his back pocket. “You need to see this.”
She wouldn’t take them, so he tossed them on her desk and Kate looked at them for a second. It seemed curiosity won out.
She picked them up and unfolded the paper. He watched her eyes scan the words, watched them widen slightly then shift to the photo.
“What’s this scribbled across your face?” Her voice was soft, shaky, though not an ounce of trepidation showed in her stance or in the frown creasing her brow.
“Betrayal.”
Her attention focused back on the note. She read aloud, “Fire purifies. Let it cleanse your heart. Our love can rise anew from the ashes. Don’t be led astray again.”
She looked to Joe. “I don’t understand. He knew you lied to me?”
“No. Not likely.”
“This was taken the day you followed me into the woods.” She held the photo out to him. “Our clothes and hair are wet. He says not to be led astray again. He knows you betrayed my trust.”
Joe’s muscles tensed. A knot tightened at the back of his neck. “It’s not about that.”
“Of course it is. He cares about me. He doesn’t want to see me hurt.”
“He doesn’t want you fucking other men.”
Kate blanched, drew the photo back to her. “What?”
Joe sighed, rolled his head trying to loosen the knot. “You betrayed him. With me. It’s a warning. Don’t do it again—or else.”
“He burned your saddle.”
“Burned me out of your life,” Joe said. “Purified with fire.”
“But…”
“He’s turned a corner. Upped the stakes.” Joe took the note and photo from her hands so she’d stop staring wide-eyed and paled at them. Her gaze tracked him folding the papers, slipping them into his back pocket.
“He wasn’t like that before,” she said. “The notes. They
were sweet and then you came.”
“He was courting you. Must’ve thought it was working. When you and I started, he knew it wasn’t.”
“But I didn’t do anything to make him think—”
“You exist. That’s all he needed. He’s in love with you, Kate. He’s dangerous. To you, to everyone around you—including the kids.”
Kate’s eyes flicked to him, the pupils so big the emerald green was only a thin trimming. “No. It doesn’t make sense. If he loves me, he wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t hurt the people I care about.”
“Not the way he loves. He’s obsessed. You’re his drug. You’re a constant itch he can’t scratch. And trust me, dollface. Sooner or later he’ll either find a way to scratch or eliminate the itch.”
“Me.”
Joe dipped his chin. “That’s right. And if the kids are around when he does… Nothing else matters to him, nothing else exists. Just you and him.”
“We have to call the police.” She reached for the phone.
“I did. Gave them the last message and photo.”
“And?”
“Forget it. They dusted for prints. Came back clean. They can’t tie the guy to the fire beyond speculation. There’s no overt threat made in any of the notes, so their hands are tied.”
Kate hugged herself, eyes dazed, unfocused. “What do I do?”
“Lemme do my job.”
She looked at him. Her eyes suddenly steeled. “No.”
“Kate.”
“I can’t. No.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I can’t let Edward Mathers back into my life. Not even for this. You don’t know what it was like.”
She looked away, gave him her profile, but he could see the rush of emotions shuddering across her face. He wanted to touch her, to hold her. He didn’t dare. Dammit he’d never been afraid of anyone in his life, but he was afraid of her, afraid of her rejection.
Kate began talking, her voice soft, distant, as though her mind was in a far-off place or time. “My whole life, not once, not one kiss, one hug, nothing. He bought me everything I could possibly want. Gave me a beautiful room. It was my place, like a photo on a shelf. It’s where I was put, kept. If it weren’t for my nanny, I would’ve never left the house. I was home schooled.
“Thirteen when he finally allowed me to attend private school. Thirteen when I realized in the backseat of his limo there were people in the world who wanted to touch me, to love me. I was sixteen when my father realized it.”
She brushed her fingers over her cheek, under her eye. They came away wet. She sniffled and Joe’s gut twisted.
Kate raised her chin and cleared her throat. “I was sixteen years old when Edward Mathers finally found a use for the daughter he’d bought and paid for. Sixteen when he told me to go talk with one of his male associates. Said his friend was lonely and he’d like having a pretty girl to sit with.”
She laughed, bitter. “I was so naive. I wanted to please him, even after all those years.”
Joe’s hands were balled into fists in his pockets, his jaw clenched so tight his teeth ached. “Did he…”
She shook her head. “I left that night. Walked away from the only man who’s ever wanted to keep me. I won’t be owned. I won’t allow that man back into my life.”
“You can’t handle this alone,” Joe said. “Without training, experience, someone’s gonna get hurt.”
“I know.” She turned. “That’s why I want you to quit. Tell my father you’re not working for him anymore.”
“Kate.”
“Tell him you’re working for me.”
Chapter Ten
“I’m not one of the queer-eye guys,” Joe said, his back to the open changing-room door.
“It’s a simple question. Blue or green? Doesn’t take a degree in fashion or an orientation switch.”
Joe did not want to look. Kate was doing it deliberately. He turned anyway. “Green.”
“That’s it? Green. That’s all you have to say?”
He’d been asked his opinion on everything from which pair of six-inch fuck-me heels best accentuated her legs to which shade of blowjob-red lipstick looked better with her skin tone. Seriously? All of them.
This time though, he knew it was coming. The pert nipples on faceless mannequins wearing lingerie in the showcase windows were clue enough. He’d prepared himself—he thought.
Joe’s nails dug into his palms, arms tight across his chest. His hard-on squeezed beneath his jeans so thick he was about to bust a seam. He clenched his jaw, his gaze dropping despite his best effort to the silky negligee smoothing around her body.
Definitely green. The shiny fabric bared her arms in a halter style and plunged between her breasts, snug over nipples hard as pencil erasers, leaving the supple inner curve of each breast teasingly exposed. A band of dark lace edged the neckline and defined the waistband high beneath her chest.
The effect was an eye-catching frame for a well-endowed body like Kate’s. The bottom swung loose and airy to the top of her legs. A heavy sigh would flash panties or pussy. Intrigue and suspense enough for any man.
Plus, he noticed suddenly, the color kind of matched her eyes. “Green. That’s all.”
Kate’s thin brows bunched, her lips pursing to a sexy pout he wasn’t sure she knew was sexy. Her arms dropped from the stretched pose on the doorframe. Defeated, she sank down from her tiptoes.
Oh yeah, it was deliberate.
“Would it kill you to tell me why?” she asked.
He sighed. “It’s the one you’re wearing.”
“So if I’d come out in blue?”
“Then blue.” He checked his watch, trying to remember how to breathe. “Almost done? Going on two hours now.”
Kate’s frown deepened. Resigned she glanced away for a second and then dropped her gaze to the bulge at his crotch. Busted. Her brows shot to her hairline, an ecstatic smile blooming across her lips.
She met his eyes, her glee lighting her face, glowing over her skin and making the tightness in his chest worse. “All done. But I’m going to need help with the fasteners on this thing. You mind?”
Not waiting for his answer she turned and stepped closer to the mirrored wall inside the changing cubical. She swept her hair up with both hands, exposing the delicate run of fabric-covered buttons and loops behind her neck.
Joe didn’t move. It’d take a moment for him to reel in the urge to strip her bare and run his hands over her naked body. He concentrated on inhaling, then exhaling. Inhale. Exhale.
“Joe.” Her gaze met his in the mirror. “Little help?”
Hell, he couldn’t win this game. What man could? Fair or not, when it came to restraint and seduction, the deck was decidedly stacked against men.
He wasn’t sure how the ridiculous challenge between them had even started. It’d been a full day since she’d hired him and exactly a half day longer since they’d last had sex. She was pissed about him working for her father, and Joe figured he’d give her time to get over it. But now it felt like weeks had passed.
Apparently the window of opportunity had slipped by without his notice. Though, as far as he could tell she never really lost that chilly edge to her tone. But he wondered if the reason behind her cold shoulder had changed.
He’d waited too long. She resented it and now seemed to be daring him to try. Hell if he’d make a move knowing he’d be slapped down for his effort. Unfortunately for Joe, or not, his libido was quickly overriding his stubborn will. He stepped into the changing cubical, his hands big and clumsy over the tiny buttons.
The smell of vanilla and wildflowers swirled around him like an erotic eddy. He closed his eyes, letting the scent seep through to his center. His muscles pulled, blood rushing hot through his veins. His cock jerked when his fingers brushed her skin, soft and warm. God, she always smelled great.
He edged closer, the skirt of her negligee, brushing feather light against his jeans. The air between their bodies thickened, energized. A
deep breath from each and they’d touch. Joe’s hands shook. He gritted his teeth against the tremor.
“Green looks…” He cleared his throat and tried again, his voice soft, sincere. “Matches your eyes.”
The silky hairs at the back of her neck moved with his words. He swung his gaze up to the mirror, saw her lips sweep to a smile.
“Thank you.”
He worked the last button, holding the ends of the fabric, stroking his thumb over the petal-soft skin at the nape of her neck. He watched her eyelids lower, desire warming the clover-green color.
“Need me for anything else?”
Baby-fine hair tickled his knuckles, his hands drifting apart, her top going slack. His skin tingled with her nearness, her weight shifting back so her bare shoulders brushed his chest. Joe held his breath, closed his eyes, riding the flood of heat zinging through his veins.
“No.” Her voice was a whisper, too soft to make him believe the statement.
He pressed his palms to her skin, holding either side of her neck, smoothing out toward the rounds of her shoulder, the ends of her negligee pinched between his fingers. His breathing shallowed, the satiny fabric gripping earnestly to the sharp points of her breasts, all but her pebbled nipples exposed to him.
Joe tightened his grip around her upper arms, shifted her back to his body, pressing the marble-hard line of his cock against her bottom. She let him. And his breath gushed from his lungs at the feel of her. Kate’s arms drifted to her sides, her hair falling thick and heavy between them and over his shoulder, fragrant like a warm breeze over a summer field.
He leaned down wanting to touch her skin with his lips, needing to taste her and Kate inclined her head to the side. The high silver ring on her ear caught his eye. He kissed the tender flesh it pierced and flicked his gaze back to hers.
Her eyes were hooded and dreamy, their gazes locked in the mirror as he lowered his mouth to her neck. He could feel the heat of her flesh on his lips before they touched, her sweet heady scent enveloping him, making his mind sluggish.
“Excuse me. Hey. Excuse me, sir.”
Joe snapped straight, shot a glance over his shoulder at the salesgirl.