Before she could say more, Greg strode into the pub. “I took care of the mask.” He dropped beside her in the booth. “Are you okay, Kate?”
“Yes. I’m better.”
Elbows on the table, Greg leaned toward Trent. “Wow. That was a terrible Halloween joke.”
“Either that or someone hates Farrington Construction,” Trent said.
Thinking the same, or that someone hated her, Kate’s eyes widened… She gulped more brandy to calm her frazzled nerves.
Trent blew out a deep breath. “Maybe we should take the mask to the police for evidence.”
“Not going to happen. It’s already in the dumpster.” Greg waved toward the waitress to catch her attention.
Trent lifted his beer. “Too many strange things happening. Jack from Western called about two hours ago and said he traced the elevator problems in Farrington Towers back to a computer glitch. I wonder if someone is hacking into our programming.”
Adjusting his glasses, Greg straightened. “That’s my area. I’ll research it.”
A frown creased Trent’s handsome face. “And, damn it, with Frank Blake wanting the company so badly, I just don’t trust that he isn’t behind this. He’ll do anything to bring us down.”
Kate’s stomach rolled. Who was this Frank Blake? She needed to find out more about him, and of course, there was Roland, the black sheep who was her main suspect. If only she could confide in Trent and relate her suspicions about his cousin.
Kate pushed away the rest of the drink. “I’m better now. Thank you. I have to go.”
Trent and Greg stood while she grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Trent stopped her with a hand on her elbow that sent a tingle shooting up her arm.
“Yeah,” she whispered, alarmed that just the merest touch from him affected her like that.
“I’ll walk you to your car, Kate,” Greg said.
Trent’s hand dropped to her lower back in a possessive move. “I brought her here, Greg. I’ll take her to her car.”
Greg raised an eyebrow. Trent dropped some money on the table and steered Kate by the elbow out the door.
Outside, darkness had fallen on the city. The street buzzed with passing cars. Some people strolled along the sidewalks, while others sat at tables on outside patios.
They neared her car in the parking garage at Farrington Towers. The seclusion of the parking spot brought back a vision of the horrible, bloodied mask. Kate shuddered, grateful for Trent’s presence.
He opened the car door for her. “You can’t be that cold as it’s quite warm tonight. Are you sure you’re all right to drive?”
Touched by his concern, she nodded. “I don’t live far away. Thank you for your help tonight, Mr. Farrington.” Keep it professional, Kate. She slid into the seat.
He leaned down, one hand on the car. “I meant what I said about taking you out to dinner.”
“No. I couldn’t. I’ll see you at the office.”
Earlier he’d made it clear their relationship was professional, yet now the sizzling warmth in his eyes sent heat flowing through her, unsettling her composure.
He cast her a brief ironic smile. “You understand what I meant before is that I couldn’t ask you for a date. After meeting your cousin Grace…well, I liked her and I intend to find her. No rock will be left unturned. I can assure you of that.”
Kate gulped and his intense gaze unsettled her even further. She turned the key in the ignition of her car and broke the momentary bond between them.
Trent stood on the sidewalk and watched Kate drive away. He’d nearly told her he knew she was Grace, but he’d been hoping she’d tell him the truth herself.
How far would she take this charade? Was it because she really wanted nothing to do with him? He didn’t think so by just the way she looked at him at times, yet something always held her back.
Anyway, he was glad he’d found out that Grace and the little spitfire doctor, who had hated him with a passion since they’d met, were one and the same. He’d play along for a while.
Perhaps his judgment had deteriorated, because he wanted her like no other…wanted her in his arms, in his bed, and in his life. And the last… Well, he’d never felt that way before.
* * *
The next day at lunchtime, Kate snuck into the Purchasing Department. With her nerves stretched to the breaking point worrying that she’d be discovered again, she replaced the original invoices in the files.
Kate returned to her desk, sighing in relief, glad she hadn’t been caught. With the palm of her hand propping up her chin, she stared at the copies she’d made of the last three shipments of drywall. What was this all about? Why hadn’t the drywall been taken directly to the job site? Was she possibly onto something here?
Darcy strode into Kate’s office. “What’s up?”
Kate thrust the bills at her. “Look at this. Why would a shipment of drywall temporarily go to a warehouse before ending at the actual Karger Construction site? This can’t be a usual practice—and this has happened on the last three orders.”
“Huh?” Darcy shrugged. “Why do you think?”
“I think someone’s doing something with the drywall before it’s being brought to the site. If that is the case, this entire investigation is going in a different direction than I thought. Someone isn’t just siphoning off money to pocket it—they’re out to do damage to the building. I just read an article that some cheap foreign drywall has chemicals in it and can corrode metal, and make people sick. I’ll have to go back to the Karger building site and get samples of the drywall.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want to draw attention to us. Besides, if something should happen to me, I need someone to know the details...”
A stricken look crossed Darcy’s face. “You’re scaring me. You found that mask at the site. Everyone’s already talking about it, saying it looked a lot like you. Damn, Kate, this is scaring me.”
Kate pressed her hands together. “I hoped they’d all think it was only a coincidence?”
“No. It’s out there. I don’t know, but I wonder who—?”
“When I posted my plans for the day on the board, anyone walking by could have seen where I’d be at four p.m. There was plenty of time for anyone to orchestrate their little horror show.”
“Is this going to get dangerous, Kate? I’m worried about you.”
Kate rose from her desk. “I don’t know. I hope not… Have you heard anything about Roland Sikes?”
“No, except that he’s a womanizer and a partier—big time.”
“Okay, but keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Have you seen Trent today?” Darcy asked.
At the hopeful look on Darcy’s face, Kate winced. “No.” She headed toward the outer office, with Darcy following, just as Trent himself was striding through the door. Kate’s pulse raced, while heat rose to her cheeks.
“Good afternoon, Darcy. Going somewhere, Dr. Meyers?” Trent asked.
He grinned at Kate as if he knew with just a glance that he could affect her. And the jerk found that amusing! And he liked her, but only as her cousin!
She squared her shoulders and stepped back, determined to stifle the sparks that sizzled between them.
Resolved to shut down her feelings, and to keep him at a distance, she gave him a cool look. “I’m not going anywhere in particular. I’m here if you need me.” Need? Why did she say that? Oh, my, she didn’t like the way he turned her into the high school wallflower, mesmerized by the quarterback.
His knowing gaze flicked over her, sending simmering heat through her.
Not amused by her physical reaction to a single look from him, she crossed her arms protectively over her chest.
Darcy’s eyebrows arched. “Well, if no one needs me…I’ll just go out to my office…and see what work I have to do.”
Kate sat at her desk and while Trent c
losed the door, she discreetly slid the copies of the invoices into the top middle drawer so he wouldn’t see them.
He turned from the door and smiled at her again. “Are you feeling better today?”
Nervousness gripped her at being alone with him and his strange friendliness today. She gave him a wary nod. “Thanks. I’m a little embarrassed about fainting yesterday, but I really appreciate your help.”
He arched an eyebrow. “But you still won’t give me your cousin’s number?”
She blew out a deep breath. At least he hadn’t seen through her cover. “Please. You’ve got to forget about Grace.”
He nodded. “I’m taking your advice.” An easy smile played on his lips.
“What? You mean you’re going to give up on finding Grace?” She narrowed her gaze on him, wondering why he was giving up so easily.
“I believe you if you say that she’s a heartbreaker, and that I should forget her. Will that make you happy?”
Frowning, Kate put her hand to her mouth and coughed. “So...what can I do for you today?”
“I’m here to talk to you as a psychologist.”
“As a—?”
“Don’t you remember the appointment you set up for me yesterday? It’s on your calendar.”
She gaped. “But I… You can’t be serious?” She slumped back into her chair. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He came around to her side of the desk, leaned down, and placed one hand on her desk. “Why? Let me see your appointment book.” He reached for it. “There it is penciled in for two p.m.? You did make the appointment.”
The challenging gleam in his eyes made her uneasy. She rolled her chair back, afraid he was going to put his hands on her shoulders. “I thought you were worried about ‘playing into your family’s hands’? You know, I might be part of a ‘setup’ by your grandfather. Remember all those things you told me.”
Sardonic amusement twisted his lips. “So, tell me that you don’t want to hear about my family? Or my mother?”
He couldn’t know the bait he threw her. She definitely wanted to find out more about him, and anything else that could help her investigation, but that could be playing with fire. However, she needed to risk spending this time with him. She might find out more about the rest of the Farringtons in fifteen minutes than she had uncovered in her few weeks at the company.
“All right,” she said with a nod. “Let’s get this over with.”
He cast her a hot glance. “Should I lie down on your sofa?” He smiled broadly.
She narrowed her eyes and nodded reluctantly. “I suppose…”
She didn’t want him to notice how much he affected her so she turned away and gathered up a note pad. She didn’t want him lying anywhere near her either and didn’t believe for any moment that he was serious about this.
Ignoring her better judgment to be so close to him, she straightened her shoulders and resolved to get through this as quickly as possible.
“Do you mind if I make myself comfortable?” He peered at her intently as he removed his jacket, loosened his tie, and exaggerated the act of unbuttoning his shirt at the neck.
Kate couldn’t stop the heat that rushed through her. He laid his jacket on the back of the couch, stretched out on her sofa, with his hands crossed behind his head and his nearly black hair against the pillow.
He was sexy and entirely too handsome. She cleared her throat and sat in the chair near him with her notepad, trying to assume the professional appearance of a psychologist. “All right. Go ahead. Tell me whatever you’d like.”
Do anything, but don’t strip naked. Oh, damn, she remembered him with his shirt off that day at the construction site. The tight jeans…
“All right. It all comes down to my childhood. Should I start at the beginning, after my father died?”
“Yes, go ahead.” Keeping her back ramrod straight, she hoped she pulled off a professional appearance.
“My father died in a car accident when I was nine.” She jotted down notes. “We were close. I was naturally devastated,” he said.
“Most people would be.”
“Is your father alive, Kate?”
She frowned at his use of her first name and met his gaze. “He died before I was born.”
“So you had no father figure?”
At the usual sting of embarrassment burning her cheeks, she shrugged. She certainly was not going to talk about her stepfather Bill Jackson—the convicted conman.
“No, not really,” she answered, somewhat truthfully because her stepfather had been nothing like a father should be. She’d been terrified of him and hated him all at the same time.
“You had your mother?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “My mother died when I was two. Later, I went to live with my great-aunt.” That’s it, Kate, skip over the fourteen years of unhappiness that was spent with your wicked stepfather, before she finally went to live with Aunt Kate at sixteen…
“Sorry to hear that. Do you have brothers or sisters?”
She didn’t like the direction his questions were heading. “A brother, but we’re supposed to be discussing you, not me.” Thanks to someone involved with this company, she didn’t have a brother anymore either, but she had to steer this conversation away from herself. “Mr. Farrington, why don’t you tell me about your cousin?”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “Call me Trent.”
Frowning, she poised her pen on the pad. He continued, “I used to look up to Roland, but things changed as we grew older.”
“The reason?”
“Next subject.”
“Can you tell me when you started having problems with Roland?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Next subject.”
“But we’re not getting anywhere,” Kate said in exasperation.
He narrowed his eyes as if he also knew they weren’t going to either.
“All right, then tell me about your relationship with your grandfather?”
“Our relationship is good, but he’s persistent in wanting me to marry,” he said softly. “But you already know all about that. I had never met the right woman…”
The look he gave her caused a current of sexual magnetism to leap between them.
She wanted to join him on the couch, touch her fingers to his neck and feel his smooth bare skin, taste his lips again.
Kate dropped her gaze to the note pad lying in her lap. She had to stop her thoughts about him. “Tell me about your relationship with your mother?”
“Strained.”
“Why?”
“My father cheated on her. She blames me. I suppose because I remind her too much of him. Or it’s because of her generally cold nature. I don’t know. She’s let me down more times than I can count.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“What’s to say? She was absent most of the time and was never around when I needed her. I grew up with a string of nannies. Then later I went to live with my grandfather. I learned to live with an uninterested, distant mother. I don’t think about it anymore.”
A pang of sadness for the lonely little boy he had been, tugged at her heart. “Is there something about your relationship with your mother that might make you distrust women?”
His brow furrowed. “Is that what you think—that my relationship with my mother makes me distrust women?” He shrugged and locked his gaze on hers. “Tell me, what do you think of her?”
Truthfully, Kate didn’t know Mrs. Farrington well. The woman had not been pleasant on the few occasions she’d met her. However, Kate couldn’t stop the strong desire to help him fix his relationship with his mother.
“Oh,” Kate said, “I couldn’t say as I’ve only recently met her, but you’re lucky to have a mother, you know. I can’t remember mine.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Can you please tell me more about your mother?”
“No.”
“But I’d
like to help you.”
“Don’t try. It’s irreparable. She’s lied to me too many times.”
Kate flushed to her toes. What would he think of her if he discovered the truth about her and her lies?
“But she’s your mother,” Kate said weakly.
“I can tell you she doesn’t care in the least about being on better terms with me. We’re both fine with the status quo,” he said, misinterpreting her blush. “Enough about her.”
“All right, then let’s go back to discussing you.”
He gave her a brief, ironic smile, then shook his head. “Not my favorite subject,” he said with dry sarcasm. “On that note, I need to get back to work.”
He sat up and leaned so close to her that they were face to face, causing her pulse to race. “Your verdict, doc? Am I sane?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“That jury is still out,” she said tartly. “I hope you feel better now that you’ve discussed a few personal issues in your life with me.”
“Do you ever take off those glasses, Kate?” Her heartbeat quickened at the huskiness in his voice. His tone did incredible things to her insides.
“At night.” She swallowed to relieve her dry throat. “I take my glasses off at night.”
They stood.
He ran his hand up her arm, sending tingles through her. “Some night, I’d like to see your eyes, minus the glasses.”
Alarm bells clanged inside Kate. She jerked up straight. “Impossible. Besides working together, we now have a doctor-client relationship, so anything between us other than a professional engagement is definitely out of bounds.”
“Business be damned. What the hell are you afraid of?” He took her tablet from her hand, ripped off the top sheet, folded the paper and put it into his jacket pocket. “Whatever I said today was off the record, Kate.”
He tossed the tablet on the sofa and turned to cup her cheek. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Excitement roared through her.
She licked her lips. “I only like working for you, as a part of your staff, Mr. Farrington,” she said nervously.
“Call me Trent—and I don’t believe you really mean that.” He placed his hand on the back of her head and traced lazy circles with his thumb on her ear, then he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her senseless.
Disguised with the Millionaire (Dangerous Millionaires Series Book 2) Page 16