“Thirteen . . .” She sucks in air between her teeth. “An unlucky number—” She starts to interject her thoughts, but we’re interrupted by the door flying open.
“Chelle, I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is too important to wait!” A tall, built black man in a bespoke suit enters. He’s wearing thick black-framed glasses, the kind Superman wears when he’s disguised as Clark Kent. The overall impression is marred by the heavy frown he’s sporting. He has close-cropped black hair, shaved at the sides, giving him a Tyson Beckford appeal. Unlike Royce, whose skin is a darker ebony, this man’s skin tone is lighter by quite a few degrees. More of a milk chocolate to Royce’s dark. Rochelle is right in the middle.
Her gaze tracks the man across the room until he’s standing before her. “Gentlemen, this is Keehan Williams, head of information technology and analytics and overall Mr. Universe. Best man I know.”
Keehan stops in his tracks for a second and smiles at Rochelle. The smile seems far more personal, as if the two of them share some type of secret code.
“Keehan, this is Royce Sterling and Parker Ellis of International Guy.”
Keehan’s eyes flash from the tablet he’s holding to the two of us, his mouth tightening at the corners. “You went through with it, then?”
She grins, completely ignoring the clip in his tone. “I told you I would.”
His shoulders rise with what I can sense is irritation. “It was supposed to be a joke, Chelle. Lord Almighty. What have you gotten yourself into?” He rubs a hand over his short hair as an unease settles in the air around the room.
Her gaze narrows on him, Royce and I disappearing from the space as they hash it out. “What do you mean? I told you I needed a man in my life.”
Keehan winces when she says man in my life, which to me is beyond telling. This dude is hung up on his boss. Big-time. Huge.
“Kee, I’m tired of spending my evenings alone. Holidays . . .”
He visibly bristles. “With me?” he blurts, offense coating his tone.
Her gaze softens, and she lays a hand over his wrist, petting the top of his hand with her thumb. “You know I enjoy our time together, but a woman has needs, Keehan. How the hell you go about your celibate lifestyle is beyond me.” She shakes her head and laughs before sitting back in her chair, putting distance between herself and the man who’s 100 percent focused on her. A herd of galloping broncos could ram through the wall, and he’d have eyes only for her.
I glance at Royce to see if he’s catching what I’m seeing. His jaw is hard, his lips tightly pressed together into a flat line.
He sees it. And he doesn’t like it.
I bite back the laughter wanting to spew out of me and follow Keehan’s hand gestures and body language while he communicates with his boss. His very attractive boss. One he seems to know on a rather personal if not intimate level.
Keehan lays the tablet in front of her. “While you’ve been planning to become a happy homemaker—”
Rochelle bursts out laughing. “Homemaker? As if. You’re funny, Keehan. I may want a kid one day, but I will not be doing the child-rearing full time. Man, Kee, you always make me laugh.”
Oh snap! She’s basically just confirmed everything I’m thinking about how wrong she is for Roy. If we were back in Boston and I were behind my desk, I’d stand up and take a long bow.
“And you have such a beautiful one,” he says with a smile, reaching out a hand to touch a lock of her hair. “Like your hair straight, Chelle. It’s silky smooth.”
She beams at him.
Holy smokes! It’s like they’re experiencing foreplay right in front of us, but neither of them realizes there’s an audience. And one of them has no idea it’s foreplay.
Royce finally glances over to me, his brows furrowed. He lifts a thumb toward the desk and mouths, “This guy?”
I nod and grin wide. He can finally see that Rochelle doesn’t plan on falling in love with a man, because she’s already carrying on an intimate relationship with Keehan. Hell, she may be in love with him and not even know it.
The memory of me telling Skyler I was falling for her flutters through my mind. My heart squeezes, and I swallow against the dryness in my throat. Am I in love with Skyler, but haven’t admitted it to myself? The wild thought has me gripping the arms of the chair, digging my nails in. I take a few deep breaths and do my damnedest to focus on the craziness playing out in front of me instead of the potential revelation I just had about my own life.
“You’re too good to me, Kee.” She pats his hand affectionately, and the truth smacks me in the face. Rochelle doesn’t need a man at home; she already has one at work. Her two loves in one place. Work and Keehan. Although from the body language, it seems Rochelle hasn’t crossed the barrier from boss to girlfriend. Unlike me, she seems to have a different version of professional etiquette I somehow missed in my training at Harvard.
I cough, rather unsubtly breaking through their intimate chatter.
Keehan blinks slowly and turns his head in our direction, almost as if he’s just remembered there are two strange men sitting in front of his boss’s desk. “I’m sorry, I’m being rude. Keehan Williams.” He holds out his hand to me and then Royce. We both take him up on his offer and shake his hand.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this simply could not wait. Chelle, look at these numbers here from last quarter.” He points down at information I can’t see from here and then swipes left. “Then here, the quarter before.” Swipes left again. “And the one before that.”
“They’re dropping, which happens when interest goes up and down. You know this.” Her gaze runs over the information in front of her.
Keehan shakes his head. “You see, that’s the thing. These stocks have gone up in the past two years, and the interest rates are fixed. The quarterly figures should be steadily going up, not incrementally going down.”
Royce stands up and walks around the desk. “May I? I’m a numbers man myself.”
Keehan looks Royce up and down and clenches his teeth. “I’ll bet you are. Just her type too,” he says under his breath while moving off to the side so Roy can take a gander at the work.
Dang, if I didn’t sense a threat before, I absolutely can now. Keehan is not pleased with the fact that we’re here or the fact that she’s looking for a man. To me, it’s plain as day from one meeting that he wants to be the man in Rochelle’s life.
Royce scans the information on the tablet. “And the profit-and-loss statements?”
“At least five here. Just click on each tab,” Keehan mumbles.
Royce and Rochelle scan the documents.
“Hoo-boy, this is not good.” Royce rubs at his chin. A move he does when he’s uncomfortable with a piece of information.
“You can say that again.” Rochelle crosses her arms defensively and inhales loudly. Frustration oozes from her pores as she silently takes in whatever unsettling information is in front of her.
I, unfortunately, or rather fortunately, am not a numbers man. I can get by with standard profit-and-loss checks and balances and generic accounts payable stuff, but nothing deep in the nitty-gritty. It’s the reason why Royce manages IG’s money as well as Bo’s and my personal investments. He’s made all of us very rich men by using his Midas touch when it pertains to the stock market. He’s a genius at knowing where and what to buy and when to sell.
“Then, it’s what I think it is?” Keehan directs his question at Rochelle.
Her voice is laced with a tinge of anger when she responds. “If you think someone is stealing from me, then yes, it’s what you think.”
I cringe but stay silent. This is not my territory. In sensitive situations such as this, it’s best if I keep my opinions to myself and let the experts figure out the proper course of action. My job in San Francisco is to find a suitable mate for our client. And watching Keehan offer his support and undivided attention to Rochelle has proven my job is going to be far easier now that my top candidate has uninten
tionally jumped into the pool of prospects. While they worry about an embezzler in the firm, I’m quietly planning how I’m going to work this scenario to the best advantage.
“Finding the culprit will be interesting.” Rochelle bites her bottom lip and taps at her chin, seemingly lost in thought. “At least forty of my staff have access to those accounts.”
Royce starts to pace as Keehan walks around the desk and places his hand on Rochelle’s shoulder, a show of support if I ever saw one. She pats his hand and looks up at him with a somber smile. “Thank you for looking out for me, as usual.”
“It’s my job in more ways than one, Chelle. We’ve been in this together since the beginning.” He says it loud enough for the entire room to hear his meaning.
Lay off my girl, big, bad Royce.
I smile, enjoying the pissing match. “You’ve worked for Rochelle a long time?” I inquire.
Keehan nods, then squeezes Rochelle’s shoulder. “Since the very first day she opened the doors of Renner Financial Services.”
Rochelle nods and grabs Keehan’s hand. “He’s my rock. I couldn’t do what I do without him.”
I smirk. Maybe this will be a walk in the park.
While Rochelle and Royce put their heads together, requesting documents, reports, and a variety of other things, I follow Keehan out the door.
“Um, can I help you with something?” he asks.
I shrug but match his stride, even though I’m a couple of inches shorter. “Figure while they’re busy, I could tag along with you, get to know more about your boss.”
He frowns.
“You two seem close.” I let the statement hang out there in the wind and hope he picks it up.
“We are. She’s an amazing woman.” His words carry a sense of awe and devotion one wouldn’t usually hear from a mere employee.
“Gathered that in one meeting. Not to mention her business profile is superb.”
He nods. “She’s the best in her field.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?” He nudges his glasses higher on his nose.
“What’s your take on your career? Your position with RFS?”
He frowns but keeps up his pace. We steadily move past employees busily working in their offices. It appears the entire place is set up with nothing but offices and meeting rooms. No cubicles, which I imagine is ideal for people working with confidential information such as a person’s or business’s money.
“My position is solid. Like I said before, Chelle and I have been together since the very beginning. We’ve been through a lot. People may come and go, but one thing is always the same.”
I grin. “And that would be?”
“Me.” He smiles. “I’m here for the long haul.”
“What about settling down? You’re hitting the age most guys find a woman, have a coupla kids. The whole nine.”
Keehan clasps his hands in front of him as we walk. “I don’t know. Sometimes I imagine having a child. But a woman would have to understand my work comes first. Rochelle has been screwed over by countless men in her personal and professional life. I’m never going to be added to that list.”
“Wow. You make it sound like Rochelle is the most important person in your life.” I chuckle but continue to lead him to what I want him to at the very least see, or even better, admit to.
He shrugs a little. “She is. We both have very little family and none in the area. We spend holidays together, long nights in the office working the numbers, setting goals. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t have her.”
“Interesting.”
He turns a corner, and I follow him down a long hallway. As we pass a wall of windows, the hum of the giant servers within makes the air pulsate against the back of my neck, hands, and face.
“Why interesting?” Keehan inquires.
“Doesn’t matter. You didn’t seem happy Rochelle called us in to find her a mate. Why is that?”
His eyes harden, and I can see a muscle in his cheek flicker. “No reason. If she wants to find herself a toy, it’s her business. They never last. I’m not worried.”
Um, he doesn’t know my man Royce. If Royce wants Rochelle, he’ll be relentless in his pursuit. Besides, I have confidence in my abilities to find her the right man.
“Oh, this one will last. I’m getting paid to find her the proper mate. Someone to share her life with, have a child with.”
He stops as if he’s been jolted by a lightning bolt. “You have got to be kidding me.” He growls, turns, and starts to pace in the hallway like a caged animal. “This is insane. She can’t seriously be planning on settling down with whomever you find for her.” He grits his teeth and practically snarls like a pit bull ready to attack an intruder.
“Why?”
“Because she can’t marry someone and have a child!” He runs his hands over the back of his head, his elbows parallel to the floor. Anger swirls around his form like a physical tornado. I can almost see his fury about what I’ve stated.
“Why not?” I ask again with the same easy tone, not letting his irritation affect my attitude.
“Because she’s supposed to be mine! Marry me. Have my child! Fuck!” He groans, turns on a heel, and slams open the door at the end of the hall. It shakes in its frame as he storms through. “I cannot freakin’ believe she’s doing this.” His shoulders slump. “Why can’t she see?” He turns around and stares at me, his eyes black as night. “Tell me, please, you’re the expert. Why can’t she see what’s right in front of her face?”
I shake my head and clasp my hands in front of me, being the epitome of calm. “Based on what I’ve witnessed so far, the two of you are close.”
He nods. “Absolutely.”
“You count on one another,” I hint.
“Implicitly.”
“Have worked together for a long time.”
“Yes. All of that,” Keehan says, exasperated at my not getting to the point.
“Yet I get the feeling you have never made a move on her.”
Keehan’s entire body seems to slump right before my eyes. His broad shoulders curve forward, his chin dipping down toward his chest, and his face displays a sullen expression. “You can’t just hit on a woman like Rochelle. Especially not after the history we have. She’d laugh in my face.”
“Why?”
He half laughs. “Rochelle is way out of my league.”
The man is insane. I look him up and down, taking in his large form, fit, well dressed. I see no reason for him to think he’s not in her league, and I set about making sure he knows it too. “Not true. You’re handsome, career minded, intelligent. Seems to me, you fit pretty well.”
He huffs and looks away, resting a hand on his waist, the other rubbing over his chin. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I jerk my head back. “Excuse me? Actually, you’d be surprised. I know exactly what you’re going through. Wanting someone you think is so far out of your stratosphere you’re in another universe completely.”
“Yeah right.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Man, my girlfriend is Skyler Paige.”
His entire body seems to go stiff as a board, and his eyes widen. “The actress?”
I nod.
“The hottest woman in Hollywood . . .”
I squeeze his shoulder with a little extra force. “Watch it.” Without even trying, my voice turns into a warning. Like a dog circling its territory. Even mention my woman’s name in a sexual manner and I’ll bite your head off.
Keehan whistles through his teeth. “Damn. You do know what I’m going through. Only to the hundredth degree. Still, when it comes to Chelle, I become a total loser.”
“So, you’re admitting to not having given her a reason to think of you as more than a friend and confidant. A colleague.”
“We’re more than colleagues,” he sneers.
I raise my eyebrows. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“It’s never been
the right time.”
“At the rate you’re going, bro, it never will be. I’ve seen snails move faster than you. Ninety-year-old men chasing tail in a nursing home move faster. Be real with me. What’s holding you back? She’s beautiful; you’re a handsome man. The two of you seem to care for one another, if what I saw back there in her office was any indication.”
“I guess that’s the problem. I care too much,” he admits with a note of defeat.
I wager a guess. “You don’t want to risk a good thing?”
His gaze is tortured. “If it goes south, we lose it all. Our working relationship would be impossible. And as sappy as it sounds, man, she’s my best friend. Work has been our combined goal. It’s what makes us who we are.”
“And yet you want more.”
“Yeah.” He rubs at the back of his neck.
“She sure as hell wants more, or she wouldn’t have called us.”
Keehan walks over to his desk and sits behind three matching monitors all lined up in a row.
“What is this? The command center? Wow.” I scan the room, noting more desks with stacks of monitors lined up. A couple of flat-screen TVs are against one wall, showing the stock market and Nasdaq numbers in real time.
Keehan grins, finally showing a bit more of his natural exuberance. “You could call it that. I run a variety of the company’s reports, keep track of the financial shifts, track different stocks and markets, all while sending real-time reports to the team and Chelle. I also manage all the rest of the networks, developers, help-desk guys, and the like.”
“So, tell me . . . With running such a tight ship, how could someone steal from RFS? Wouldn’t red flags be flying?”
He nods while his fingers tap the keys, flying into a blur of activity. “I know Rochelle said there were forty people who could access those accounts, but they can’t without leaving an electronic trail. Royce told me to look for an unusual person accessing that account. And the system logs everything people do.”
San Francisco (International Guy Book 5) Page 4