by London Hale
“I appreciate your scheduling this tour for me today, Kate,” Colin said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I startled, glancing over and attempting to paste on a convincing smile even as my heart nearly beat out of my chest. “Oh, it was no trouble at all.”
The adrenaline and fear racing through me were understandable. Excusable. What wasn’t either of those things was the fact that my panties were still wet, my nipples tight, and the thoughts currently consuming me were focused on the memory of the look in Riley’s eyes as he’d shook Colin’s hand. It’d been some macho bullshit, a who has the biggest dick competition to which I was no stranger in the political arena. But Riley had taken it a step further. He’d radiated smugness. I had no idea what he’d said to Colin, but Riley’s body language couldn’t have been any plainer to read than if he’d been a book—he’d staked his claim on me.
I hated how much I loved it.
“I always knew Temperance Falls was a great place, but this showcased that even more thoroughly.” Colin opened the door to city hall, holding it for me as he ushered me ahead of him.
“That’s what I was hoping,” I said, forcing myself to get under control. I was a fully grown woman with a job to do, and I couldn’t let Riley distract me from it. “I’m glad it worked for your schedule to come out here. I know you’re busy.”
“Right now, this is my top priority. I want to make sure everything’s in place to make the transition run like a well-oiled machine.” He followed me to my outer office, nodding at Lola when she said hello, and strolling straight into my inner office.
“A few messages came in for you while you were gone, Mayor Briscoe.” Lola handed me a couple slips of paper. “I’ll hold your calls until your meeting is finished.”
“Thank you, Lola.” I collected the messages and slipped into my office, shutting the door behind me.
Colin stood by the large window against the far wall, turning around to face me as I came inside, the look on his face unreadable.
“You mentioned wanting to make sure things run smoothly for this acquisition,” I said, taking a seat behind my desk, “but I think we’re on track. I spoke with Nicholson a couple days ago, and I’m confident I’m starting to warm him to the idea of this bringing revenue to the island.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He slipped his hands into the pockets of his suit pants, eyes never leaving mine. “And what about you, Kate?”
“Me?” I asked, brow furrowed.
“Are you focused on this deal?” He settled in a chair in front of my desk, reclining back as he rested his ankle on his opposite knee—the picture of ease.
“Of course. It’s number one on my list and has been for—”
“Are you seeing anyone right now?”
I jerked my head away, blinking in disbelief. While in this position of authority, I’d had my share of men hitting on me—mostly those who thought they could get something out of the situation. But it’d never been so blatant. And Colin’s polished exterior alluded to the fact that he’d be a bit more refined in his approach, which only threw me more.
I couldn’t deny he was handsome in that perfect sort of way. His dark hair was always in place, and he rocked his expensive, tailored suits which were hiding what was no doubt the kind of body one achieved from spending five days a week at the gym. Rigid. Disciplined. But he was the complete opposite of Riley—dark to Riley’s light, smooth to his rough. The opposite of everything currently holding my attraction.
“Ex-excuse me?”
He held up his hand in surrender. “Relax. I’m not hitting on you. I apologize for the brusque way I’m bringing this up, but I’m a straight shooter, Kate. And considering the business relationship we’re embarking on, I think it’s something I deserve to know.”
“Working relationship or not, I’m not sure how it’s any of your business.” I swallowed, resting my arms on my desk and leaning toward him. Exuding a confidence I didn’t feel.
“Consider it a professional courtesy to me. I’m intent on investing almost a billion dollars into your picturesque little island here. And I tend to get a bit twitchy with that much money on the line.”
I could see his point. The amount he was putting into this island was more than I’d see in ten lifetimes. I could understand why he’d want to make sure everything was running smoothly, that nothing would get in the way of the deal. And even if I mentioned I was seeing someone, that didn’t mean I had to divulge who it was.
I sighed. “Yes, I am. However, it’s not known around the island. I keep my private life private.”
He studied me, his eyes boring into mine. I could practically see the wheels spinning in his mind. “If that’s really what you’re intending, I think a bit more discretion may be in order.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” I forced the words out, even though my throat had gone tight with nerves.
Somehow, Colin had found out about Riley and me. I was sure of it. It couldn’t have been coincidence that this conversation came up immediately after leaving the firehouse. Oh God…had he seen Riley snag me away from the group while on the tour? Had he happened upon us in the shower room, and I’d been too far into the throes of orgasm to even notice? I blanched at the thought, my heart racing.
“I mean, your…boyfriend?” he asked, as if unsure the word to use. “The big guy at the firehouse, right?”
I couldn’t answer…could only stare at him. But I didn’t need to say a thing—he took my silence as acquiescence.
He nodded once and smoothed a hand down his striped tie. “Thought so. You might be trying to keep it under wraps, but is he aware of that?”
I swallowed. “Yes…”
Cocking a brow, he stared at me in silence for long moments before clearing his throat. “The two of you may want to have a chat. Because he couldn’t have been clearer to me than if he’d pissed a circle around you.”
“Oh my God.” I pressed a hand to my forehead, closing my eyes. “I’m so sorry for whatever he said, if it was unprofessional in any way—”
He waved me off. “It’s forgotten. And, look, it’s not my business who you date. Truth is, it’s not anyone’s business who you date, but I get the feeling that’s not how things work here in Temperance Falls.” He raised his eyebrows in question.
And really, what could I say? That was exactly how things worked on the island—part of the reason why I hadn’t dated anyone in years. Why I’d wanted to keep things with Riley under the table.
“You’re not wrong.”
“I certainly don’t expect you to be celibate. But any seemingly inconsequential incident could set off a former supporter—or tip a maybe-supporter back to the other side. I know you want this project here as much as I do. We don’t need any added complications as we work together to get the vote, then the zoning permits for the mall.”
“Of course. I want to make this transition as smooth as possible—for all parties involved.”
“I appreciate that. I’ve enjoyed working with you, Kate. You’re great at your job. But in a public position, the job isn’t always what people notice, is it? I know that as well as anyone. If I were you, I’d keep things low-key between the two of you—at least until everything with this deal falls into place.”
A knock sounded, and before I could respond to Colin, Riley poked his head around the door. “Hey, Lo wasn’t out front, and I—” He broke off, straightening to his full height as soon as his eyes landed on the man across from me.
Colin looked at Riley, then turned back to me, eyebrows raised. With a quick rap of his knuckles on my desk, he stood to leave. “Thanks again for showing me around this afternoon.” He walked to the door, nodding to Riley, then looked back at me. “And, Kate? Think about what I said.”
Without another word, he slipped out the door, leaving Riley and me alone. I could only sit in silence, staring at where Colin had disappeared, his words turning over and over in my mind.
“What was that about?” R
iley shut the door, then ate up the distance between us in two long strides.
I exhaled and closed my eyes, resting my elbows on my desk and my forehead in my hands. This was getting so damn complicated, and time had run out for me to figure out how the hell to handle it. Riley and I had an agreement, and yet here he was—in my office in the middle of the damn day. Tossing aside my requests as if they were meaningless. As if he weren’t gambling with my career, with my life.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay after the tour.”
“Riley…” I sighed.
“Don’t be mad, Kitten.” He ran a finger down the side of my face. “I took a stroll down the hall, and Lo was gone. I figured I could slip in and—”
“And interrupt my meeting with Colin.” I dropped my hands and lifted my head. “Do you have any idea how bad this looked?”
“How bad what looked? That a fireman stopped in to see the mayor of the town he works in?” He clenched his jaw and stared out the window. With a quick shake of his head, he met my eyes again. “Look, I have to head to my parents’ house for this dinner with Lola or my brother will castrate me. I know you said you didn’t think it was a good idea, but why don’t you come with me? They’d all be excited to meet you. Or if you don’t want to deal with family stuff, we can head to Nonno Pino’s for a bottle of wine and some cannoli.”
I slapped my hand on my desk, my frustration getting the better of me. “Dammit, Riley, have you been listening to anything I’ve said?”
Snapping his jaw shut, he stepped back. Away from me. “Of course I have.”
“If you have, you wouldn’t keep pushing. I told you we need to take it slow, that we can’t be seen on the island. And after your little show with Colin at the firehouse—”
“Colin? Are you kidding me with this right now, Kate? What the fuck does he have to do with anything?”
“This is my job, Riley. My career. He has everything to do with it. He knows. And if he noticed something was going on between us, it’s only a matter of time until other people do, too.” I stood, fisting my hands at my sides. “I’ve worked too long, too hard for this. I can’t just…I can’t just give it up.”
“I never asked you to give anything up. I’m pretty fucking sure I promised you the exact opposite, in fact.” Running a hand through his hair, he walked in a circle, as if trying to get his emotions under control. “I’ve been patient. I’ve done what you’ve asked—taken you and fucked you in a run-down lighthouse where no one would see, when you deserved so much more. Just so I could be close to you. But this secret bullshit is really starting to wear on me. It’s starting to wear on us.”
“You knew at the beginning it wouldn’t be forever. I’m not asking you to do this for the rest of your life, but I was very clear when you wanted to do this thing.“ I pointed my finger between the two of us. “That’s why I didn’t want to start anything in the first place. It’s not fair for you to throw this back in my face now.”
“Throw it in your face? I’m just trying to have a conversation with you.” He groaned, closing his eyes as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “Look, I’ve got family stuff tonight. Why don’t I go do that and just…leave you alone to figure out what you want? We could probably both use some time apart to think about things.”
He circled my desk until he was close enough to grip my shoulders. Until he was close enough to envelop me in his familiar scent and warmth. He pressed his lips to my temple. “I know what I want, Kate. I thought I’d made that real fucking clear when I told you I love you. No deal to renovate an old mall or fear over one asshole member of the council is bigger than that…at least for me.”
Of course it wasn’t bigger than that for him. It was easy when it wasn’t his career on the line…wasn’t his livelihood, his life on the chopping block. Wasn’t what he’d been working decades toward and didn’t have to fight every damn day just to stay there.
“You need to figure out which is bigger to you.” He strode out the door without a second glance, and I didn’t do anything to stop him.
Didn’t do anything but watch him leave.
Twenty-four hours on an overtime shift after the conversation I’d had with Kate was about as torturous as I’d expected it to be. As much as I didn’t want to wish a house fire on anyone—well, except maybe that asshole buying the mall—it would’ve been nice to have something to do to keep busy. Instead, I’d wallowed in a shitstorm of what-ifs, should-have-saids, and wish-I-hadn’ts.
When my shift at the firehouse finally ended, I honestly considered driving over to Kate’s and demanding she talk to me. Not that I thought that was a good idea. She probably wasn’t even there—it was a weekday. She was probably at her office, working away. Maybe in a meeting with that fucker who’d said something to put a wedge between us.
God, I couldn’t go there. If I saw that jackass, I’d beat the fuck out of him without thinking of the consequences. So I headed home alone instead. To my very empty, very Kateless apartment over the garage.
But when I turned into the driveway, a car I recognized as Kate’s blocked my parking spot in front of the garage. My heart jumped and my stomach dropped all at once, hope and terror joining forces to make me feel sick. Especially when I saw Kate standing on the staircase right outside my door.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as soon as I stepped out of my car. I regretted my tone the second I caught her flinch. “Sorry. I just meant…you’ve never been here before. What’s up?”
“I thought maybe we should talk.”
Motherfucker. I knew those words, had heard men and women alike lament what came next when the person they were involved with said them. This was a breakup meeting, one I wasn’t at all prepared for. One I wasn’t ready to participate in. I needed to stall, to give myself time to figure out how to keep her from ending our relationship over what amounted to our first fight. I needed to keep her with me so I could convince her to give us another shot. That meant stonewalling her.
I grabbed my bag out of the trunk and headed up the stairs, refusing to give her even half a smile. “Talk about what?”
Kate fidgeted, looking unsure. Looking almost…scared. I’d never seen her like that. She wasn’t a nervous woman—she was bold and confident, strong. Something was definitely wrong.
“Can we maybe go inside?” she asked, taking a deep breath and seeming to shore herself up. “I’d like to keep this private.”
I loved the woman, but her need to keep everything fucking private was going to be the death of me. “Of course you would.”
I unlocked the door and walked inside, leaving it open for Kate to follow. After tossing my bag down, I headed for my kitchenette. Might as well start drinking if I was about to have to fight to keep my girl.
“Want a beer?” I asked, knowing the answer she’d give before the question left my mouth.
She didn’t disappoint. “It’s only noon.”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge, holding her gaze as I popped the cap off and took a swig. The beer was cold as it worked its way down my throat. Cold and bitter in a way I probably should have enjoyed. Instead, it burned what felt like a hole in my gut, and I set the bottle down on the counter after just the one drink.
Balls to the wall time.
“Well, you’ve got your privacy. What do you want to talk about?”
Kate looked around my apartment for a bit, moving with cautious footsteps toward the seating area. With a final sigh and a tug of her suit jacket, she took a seat on the black leather couch set along the wall. “How’d that thing with your parents go? Did they like Lola?”
“Of course they did. Lo’s great, and Connor’s in love.” I leaned against the counter, keeping my distance. Watching her like a hawk. Like a predator after his prey. “They’d love you, too, if you were willing to meet them.”
Kate sighed, looking about as frustrated as I felt. “Riley…I know this has been difficult for you. Do
n’t you think it’s been hard for me, too?”
“I don’t even know anymore, Kate. I was okay with the waiting, I really was. But that fucker put his hands on you at the firehouse. What did you expect me to do? Let him get away with that shit?”
“You’re being ridiculous,” she said, her voice growing louder. “Colin has only ever put his hands on me in a professional manner. He helped me up the stairs! Are you going to beat away every man who shakes my hand or holds open a door for me?”
“No, but if they drag you around like property, I’m certainly not going to stand by and do nothing. And you shouldn’t take that shit from anyone.”
“I’ve learned to pick and choose my battles. I’ve been in this world a long time. I know how to handle the men in it.”
“And what about the men not in it? What about me, Kate? Have you figured out how to handle me yet?”
She took a deep breath and sagged into the couch, rubbing her fingers over her temples as if she had a headache. “This isn’t going how I intended it to. I didn’t want to start another fight. I just wanted to talk. About you. About us.”
Every ounce of bravado dissipated. This was it. She was telling me goodbye. Time to man up and let her…so I could figure out how to stop this. “So talk. What is it you want to tell me?”
She licked her soft, full lips, a quick flick of her tongue against the pink I longed to steal one more taste of. Fuck, how could she still drive me mad and make me hard when things were so rocky between us? How could I ever let her walk away when she made me so—
“I love you,” Kate said, completely derailing my self-pity party. She certainly had my attention. “Nothing’s changed that. Not anything Colin said, not you acting like a caveman, not any of it. I love you, Riley.”