SocialPreyAllRomance

by Trista Ann Michaels

  “What are you working on?” he asked.

  “I’m putting the final touches on a program that will alert me to someone buying an airline ticket.”

  “Do you have any idea how many laws you’re breaking?”

  “Do you have any idea how many laws you break every time you take a job?” she replied.

  “Touche’. Good thing we have friends in high places.” He looked closer at the screen. “Who are we watching?”

  “James is flirting with three other women. I’m watching for any of them to leave the country.”

  “Smart move.”

  “Well, let’s hope it is.”

  She spun her chair around before Scott realized her intent and had a chance to move. Still bent over slightly, he found himself inches from her face. They both froze. Scott stared into her beautiful eyes, and his pulse pounded loudly in his ears. Those full lips, still moist from the coffee called to him, begged him to take them.

  Kiley hadn’t moved either. She sat forward slightly, her hands on the arms of the chair, her startled gaze glued to his. He needed to move. Why wasn’t he moving? Why wasn’t she

  moving?

  He tried to read her emotions, tried to gauge what she was thinking. Whatever it might be, she hid it well. She gave no indication she might want what he did. If he made a move, and she didn’t feel the same, then it could eventually turn into a problem. Not to mention what Keith would do to him.

  Scott wasn’t afraid of Keith. He could certainly hold his own with her brother, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship and he certainly didn’t want to ruin what he had with Kiley. He would rather have her as a friend than to not have her in his life at all.

  He quickly pushed upright before he did something stupid like kiss her.

  “Need any help with anything?” he asked.

  Kiley shook her head and pushed herself out of the chair. Scott stepped back, allowing her room to move around him.

  “For now, we just wait,” she replied.

  He lowered his stare to her ass as she walked across the room to grab a file from the table a few feet away. Today, she wore tan slacks, a white sweater, and on her feet were leopard print three inch heels. Scott grinned, but quickly forced the smile away as she turned to face him.

  She had the file open in her hands, silently studying what was inside. She looked at him through her lashes, then frowned. “Why are you still here?”

  “I told you. I’m at your disposal.” He leaned his hip against her desk and lifted his cup to take a sip of coffee.

  Kiley lowered the file and sighed. “Surely you have something else you could be doing.”

  Scott raised an eyebrow in interest. Why was she so determined to see him leave? “You got a guy coming over or something? Why do you want me out of here so bad?”

  Her frown deepened. “Why do you want to stay here so bad?”

  Lowering her gaze, she walked around him to sit behind her desk again.

  “Maybe I like watching you,” he drawled in his most sexy voice, but Kiley didn’t seem to notice.

  She swatted at his hip with her file. “You’re on my paperwork. Move.”

  He lifted his hip slightly, allowing her to pull the file from beneath him. She hid it well, but he could see the grin she fought to keep at bay.

  “Scott…I swear to God…”

  “What?” he teased, unable to resist. She scowled at him as she opened the file she’d retrieved.

  “Have you looked into the women he’s flirting with?” he asked.

  “You’re kidding, right?” she replied, without looking at him.

  Scott should’ve known better. Nothing got past Kiley. That was probably one of the first things she’d done.

  “What did you find out?” he pried.

  She replaced the file onto her desk with a sigh. She seemed to do that often whenever he was around, but Scott had a feeling it had more to do with aggravation than anything sexual. Kiley wasn’t used to him questioning her like this.

  “Same as Paula. Single, no discernible family, educated, early thirties to late-forties. My guess is they’re all lonely and very gullible.”

  Scott nodded. “Probably—“His cell phone dinged, and he pulled it from the clip he had attached to his jeans and read the text from her brother. “Keith and the guys are in the air. They should be in Istanbul in a few hours.”

  Scott quickly answered Keith’s question about Kiley before hitting send and placing it back in his clip.

  “Did you tell him I’m safely in the office, guard dog on high alert?” she asked with just a hint of sarcasm.

  “I’m not a guard dog,” Scott replied as though offended, then grinned wickedly. “I’m a predator.”

  “You’re delusional,” she countered.

  “I may be, but I definitely like my delusions better than most people’s realities.” He stood to leave. “In my mind, I’m a God. In reality, I’m just a mercenary.”

  Kiley’s lips twitched as he turned to leave.

  “I’ll be in my office. I have some emails I need to answer. Call out if you need me.” He glanced over his shoulder and winked. “Or if you just want me.”

  Kiley shook her head and smiled as Scott left her office. The room seemed bigger when his presence wasn’t filling it. She resisted the urge to call out, to tell him that she did want him—

  that she did need him. More than he could or would ever know.

  She would rather have him as a teasing big brother than not at all. Scott would never go against her brother, and she would never ask him to.

  Her smile faded as she stared at the computer screen. She really loved her job, but in reality, she needed to get away from Scott. She needed to find someone else to fall in love with. The longer she stayed around, the harder it would be to ever get over him. And God help her if he found someone he wanted to marry. That would kill her.

  Yep, she definitely needed to get away from here and the sooner the better.

  Maybe once her brother got back with Paula and they wrapped up this case, she would

  seriously look into that C.I.A. job offer.

  She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a business card. She stared at it for several seconds, thinking, wondering. She tapped at the desk with the edge of the card as indecision tugged at her chest. Would it hurt to hear him out? See what the C.I.A. had to offer?

  She stopped tapping and reached for the phone.

  Chapter Four

  Scott sat in his office only half paying attention to his computer screen. It was the first time he’d ever been on the sidelines during an operation. He didn’t like it, although he could understand Keith’s concern that Kiley might follow them. She would want to be there for her friend, and Scott could understand that.

  He wanted to be there for Keith, but he also knew Keith needed him here to keep an eye on Kiley. She listened to him, and he could get through to her when no one else could.

  His door opened, and he spun his chair to see who entered his office. Kiley stuck her head around the door and smiled. “Hey, I’m heading out to meet a friend for lunch. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “A date?” he asked, even though the very idea made him sick to his stomach. “Anybody I know?”

  She shook her head. “You really need to get some friends.”

  “Hey, I have friends. They’re just all out taking care of your friend.”

  She waved her hand at him in dismissal. “I’ll be back later.”

  Scott frowned. She never answered his question. Kiley always told them who she was meeting.

  Why no names this time? It was probably nothing, but the little green-eyed monster had taken up residence when it came to Kiley and other men.

  He knew it was irrational, but whoever said the way you acted when you cared for someone was rational?

  “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.” He squeezed his temple between his thumb and forefinger. “It doesn’t matter.”

>   He heard the purr of her car’s engine, and his whole body tensed. Who was he kidding? It did matter. He jumped up and headed to the parking lot. He could use this as surveillance practice.

  Or at least that’s what he told himself.

  The real reason was he wanted to know.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry?” Miranda asked as he jogged by her office.

  “Lunch,” he called back.

  “You’re not following Kiley, are you?”

  Scott came to a stop and turned to face Miranda. She stepped into the hallway. All of about five feet and not even a hundred pounds soaking wet, Miranda could stare someone down almost as good as Keith could.

  She was like a mother figure to all of them and the way she stood there now, staring him down like a mother would a naughty child, Scott felt all of about fourteen.

  “No,” he replied. He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “She didn’t by chance tell you who she was going to lunch with, did she?”

  Miranda’s lips lifted in an amused half smile. “No, but does it matter?”

  Scott frowned. Yes, it mattered. They always told each other when they were leaving, where they were going and who they were going with. It was a habit they’d gotten into. They didn’t have the safest jobs, so Keith thought it would be a good idea if they made a habit of checking in.

  But this time Kiley didn’t say, which made Scott think she didn’t want him to know, which bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Not because of the safety issue, but because he didn’t want to think of her with another man.

  “Aren’t you taking Keith’s keep-an-eye-on-Kiley thing a little too seriously? I don’t think she’s going to go jump a plane and head to the Middle East today. She trusts her brother to get Paula.

  She’s also too wrapped up in the James surveillance to leave so I think you can ease off her.”

  Scott sighed and put his hands on his hips.

  “Or is this something else?” she asked.

  “I’m just keeping an eye on her, Miranda. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen the way you keep your eyes on her.”

  Scott leveled a startled gaze at Miranda.

  She grinned wickedly. “It’s okay. I won’t say anything.”

  Scott rubbed at his chin as he took a step toward Miranda. “Does Keith know?”

  “That you lust after his sister?” She shook her head. “No. The tension that’s building between the two of you is going to give you away though, if you don’t do something about it.”

  Scott scowled. “What tension?”

  Now it was Miranda’s turn to send him a look of disbelief. “Playing stupid doesn’t suit you.

  Open your eyes, Scott.”

  “Open my eyes to what? The fact that Kiley sees me as an annoying older brother? If there’s tension, it’s because all I seem to do lately is piss her off.”

  “The two of you really need to talk,” Miranda said before she turned to head back to her office.

  “Go get some lunch.”

  “Lunch,” Scott grumbled; then he remembered Kiley. “Damn it, lunch.”

  He rushed out the door and headed toward his truck, pushing Miranda’s lecture from his mind.

  He could use the GPS attached to Kiley’s phone to track her down. She’d kill him if she knew he did that, but at the moment he didn’t care. He wanted to know who she was meeting.

  Scott parked his truck across the street from the restaurant Kiley entered. From this vantage point, he had a clear view of the dining room of the expensive Italian restaurant.

  He lifted his binoculars and focused in on Kiley. He watched her make her way across the room; the soft sway of her ass in the slacks she wore, the way her pearl earrings dangled from her ears. He wanted so bad to kiss that long, graceful neck.

  He licked his lips, imagining what she might taste like. He knew how she smelled. Lavender.

  She always smelled of lavender. As she got close to her table, a smile lit up her delicate features as she took the hand of her lunch date. Scott pulled back a little with the binoculars so he could see her companion.

  His lips thinned in anger as he recognized the older man. Kevin Becker, head of computer intelligence with the C.I.A. Damn son of a bitch. What the hell was she doing talking to him?

  He lowered the binoculars. “What are you doing, Kiley?”

  * * * *

  Kiley stepped into her living room and immediately kicked her shoes off her tired feet as she tossed her many purchases in the leather chair closest to the door.

  After lunch, she’d headed to the mall. She’d needed to think. Kevin had made an impressive offer; much better than the first two. It was a tough offer to pass up. But, did she really want to leave the company she and her brother built? Did she really want to leave Scott?

  If she stayed with the company she would at least see Scott most every day. But then wasn’t that part of the problem? Seeing a man she was in love with who didn’t return those feelings?

  Who only looked at her as a little sister?

  “Where the hell have you been all day? It’s almost nine.”

  Kiley screamed at the sound of Scott’s voice coming from her office door. She turned to glare at him, her face heating with embarrassment and anger.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped. She placed a hand over her chest to try to slow her racing heart. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  Scott didn’t apologize. Matter of fact, he looked angry. She frowned and took a step back.

  “What’s your problem?”

  “What were you doing eating lunch with Kevin Becker?”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Were you following me?”

  “No. It just so happens we went to the same restaurant.”

  Kiley’s mouth tightened as her anger grew. “You don’t like that place, Scott, so I know good and well you didn’t go there to eat. What were you doing following me?”

  “I’m keeping an eye on you like Keith said.”

  “I cannot believe you,” she snapped. Grabbing a pillow from the chair she threw it at him, hitting him square in his broad, muscular chest. He caught it in his hand and his eyes narrowed into hard slits of warning.

  “Where the hell do you get off?” she yelled.

  “You haven’t answered my question, Kiley.”

  “He offered me a job…not that it’s any of your business.”

  “A job?” Scott bellowed.

  Kiley frowned, wondering what had him so riled. Why would he be so mad about this?

  “Is that such a stretch?” Kiley asked.

  Scott tossed the pillow back to the couch and started walking toward her. Kiley stepped behind the chair, putting it between her and a very angry, very sexy looking Scott.

  “You’re a hell of a hacker. I get why the C.I.A. wants you. What I don’t get is why you want them. How can you leave the company you helped start? How can you leave Keith?”

  “My God,” she said in shock. “You’re acting like I cheated on you or something.”

  “You are cheating!” Scott yelled.

  “I am not! It’s a company, not a marriage.”

  “It’s about trust, Kiley. Have you even talked to your brother about this? Does he have any idea the C.I.A. is courting you?”

  Kiley licked her lower lip, suddenly feeling very guilty. She’d considered the offer in order to get away from Scott. She hadn’t even once thought about Keith.

  She sighed. “No.”

  “Why are you even considering it?” Scott demanded.

  She bristled and sent him her own narrowed stare of warning. “What I do with my life is my business.”

  Scott stepped forward and put his hands on the back of the chair. Leaning forward, he brought his face very close to hers. She could feel every beat of her heart rush the blood through her body. He locked his deep blue eyes with hers and Kiley wondered how he could not see how much she loved him. How could he not see w
hat working with him every day was doing to her?

  “Why are you considering it, Kiley?”

  “Because of you, okay?” she shouted, then gasped in shock at what she’d revealed.

  Chapter Five

  The anger left Scott’s face so fast he appeared to almost go pale. “What do you mean ‘because of me’?”

  Kiley sighed and stepped back away from the chair, putting some distance between her and Scott. “I didn’t mean that.”

  “Yes, you did,” Scott countered.

  He was right. She did. Now, how did she take it back?

  Her iPad beeped and for a brief second she was thankful for the interruption—at least until she saw it was her brother calling.

  Scott picked up the iPad and opened the Skype program. “Hey, land safely?”

  “Yeah.” There was a brief pause. “I thought I called Kiley’s Skype address.”

  “You did. I’m at Kiley’s.”

  “Oh. We landed safely and we’re setting up at the safe house now. We plan to head straight to the prison in about an hour or so to check things out. How are things there?”

  Kiley shook her head, silently begging him not to say anything. Unfortunately, Scott didn’t pay her any attention.

  “Did you know the C.I.A. is courting your sister?”

  “What?” Her brother asked in surprise, and Kiley sighed. “Where’s Kiley?”

  Scott turned the iPad to face Kiley. She sent him a scathing look before glancing at her brother on the screen. “Hey, Keith.”

  “You gonna explain?” he asked. Keith never beat around the bush.

  Kiley lifted one hand, then slapped at her thigh in agitation. “It’s nothing. I just met with him at lunch. I’m not taking the job. I just wanted to hear what he had to offer.” She glared at Scott.

  “Your pal here is just making a big deal out of it.”

  “I know he can’t match what you’re making now money wise. What’s going on, Kiley? Why would you even consider it?”

  “Can we talk about this when you get home?” She sent her brother a pleading look she hoped he understood. “Please?”