Tempting Zander

by Carole Mortimer

  Her eyes widened. “She doesn’t think that you and I…?” She couldn’t even finish the question.

  “In her more manic moments, yes,” Bernie acknowledged heavily. “She’s ill, Kate,” he excused as she looked stricken. “None of this is Sophie’s fault. I need to take her back to England, spend some time with her and the kids, and get her the medical help she obviously needs. I… She… I’ll have my assistant fly to Canada and meet you there tomorrow. For the moment, Sophie’s welfare has to be my number one priority.”

  Kate had no idea what to think or how she felt about what Bernie had just told her. Worried for Sophie, of course, and at the same time hurt that her friend could ever have thought Kate and Bernie were romantically involved. So much so Sophie had made up the story about an intruder in their suite to get her husband’s attention? No wonder Joey had denied all knowledge of having seen Sophie two nights ago—because he hadn’t.

  One thing Kate was sure of, however.

  The things Bernie just told me put a completely different slant on the conversation I overheard last night between Zander and Sophie…

  “I believe I’m the one who now owes you an apology.”

  Zander didn’t look up from the report he needed to write before handing the protection detail over to Ian. After which he was getting the hell out of New York. As far away from Kate-mercurial-Stewart as he could get. His bags were already packed and waiting beside the door. He just had to decide on his destination. Antarctica sounded appealing right about now.

  Gabriel hadn’t minced his words when he telephoned early this morning. The other man had made it very clear he disapproved of Zander’s personal involvement with Kate. An involvement which was now plastered across the front pages of the world’s newspapers. Zander hadn’t bothered to defend himself. What was the point? After last night, Zander knew he couldn’t continue working with Kate anymore.

  He had no idea what the fuck had happened to change her mind about him spending the night with her, but he was through allowing her to lead him about by his cock. It was over. Done. Whatever it had been. A game on her part, maybe. A game he no longer intended participating in.

  The last thing he wanted before he left was to have another confrontation with her.

  And yet here she was in his bedroom, bold as fucking brass.

  “Zander…?”

  He drew in a deep, controlling breath before raising his head to look at her. Her face had that vulnerable expression again. The pale, hollow-eyed one that made him want to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her until she could think of nothing and no one else but the pleasure they gave each other.

  An expression, and the ache it caused him, that Zander wasn’t about to fall for ever again.

  “Miss Stewart.” He nodded.

  Her hands twisted nervously together in front of her, her expression anxious. “When you didn’t come back to my bedroom last night, I came looking for you. Ian said you had gone to Bernie and Sophie’s suite. You were standing outside talking to Sophie. I… She… You were holding her in your arms and telling her she had to talk to Bernie, to tell him the truth. I thought… I wrongly assumed…”

  “You wrongly assumed I was having an affair with Sophie Cook?” Zander pushed his chair back noisily as he stood up to glare across the room at her.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, thanks very fucking much for that,” he snarled. “What the hell, Kate! What sort of man do you think I am? Bad enough you thought I was having an affair with a married woman at all, let alone fucking her friend at the same time without her knowledge!”

  Kate winced at the fury in Zander’s voice. A fury she had fully expected and deserved, and which he was completely entitled to feel now he knew why he had found her bedroom door locked against him last night.

  She was still slightly numb from her conversation with Bernie. So sorry, for both Bernie and Sophie, that her friend had been stricken with such a debilitating illness. And deeply ashamed of how she had completely misunderstood Zander’s gentleness with Sophie, and the subject of their conversation.

  She swallowed, her mouth and throat having gone dry. “Zander, I know about Sophie now. Bernie has explained the situation to me, how Sophie lied about the intruder the other night in order to get his attention. Because she’s ill. But you knew that already, didn’t you. It was what you intended talking to me about last night, wasn’t it?”

  A nerve pulsed in his clenched jaw. “I don’t give a damn what you now know. I asked what sort of man you think I am that I could be involved in relationships with two women who are obviously friends, and one of them married to another man?”

  Kate winced at how cold his voice had become. “I was wrong about that, and…and I’m so sorry.”

  “Fine.” He nodded abruptly. “You’ve made your apology. Now get out.”

  Tears stung her eyes as she glanced down at the two packed bags beside the door. “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve already told you, that’s none of your business.”

  “Zander…”

  “What the hell are you even doing here, Kate?” he demanded, eyes still glittering with fury. “I’m not your bloody fuck toy you can play hot and cold with. Nor do I ever intend to be. You may be used to having your private life on the front page of every tabloid newspaper, but I’m not. I’m a bodyguard, and Knight Security isn’t just my job, it’s my life, and that doesn’t include having my face on every newspaper and gossip magazine as Kate Stewart’s ‘new man.’” His hands were clenched at his sides. “What I do and who I am may not seem too important to superstar Kate Stewart, but it means a hell of a lot to me!”

  “I’ll talk to Gabriel Knight—”

  “What you’ll do is stay the fuck out of my life in future,” Zander warned harshly. “Stay away from me.”

  Kate knew she deserved every bit of his anger. That she also deserved every hurtful word Zander was now saying to her. She had seriously messed up, made assumptions where there were none to be made, and now she had no idea how to go about making things right between them. If that was even possible. And from what Zander was saying, it wasn’t.

  “I don’t want you to go,” she choked.

  “That is not your choice to make.”

  “Zander, I made a mistake—”

  “The last of many where I’m concerned,” he assured her with finality.

  Kate could see that he really meant it. That there was no room for maneuver. That nothing she said or did was going to make the slightest bit of difference to Zander’s decision to have nothing more to do with her. Whatever had been between the two of them, it was most definitely over.

  Kate straightened her shoulders. “I really am sorry.”

  He nodded abruptly. “Ian will be in shortly to discuss your future security with you.”

  A future that wouldn’t have Zander, or Bernie and Sophie, in it.

  Bernie was making arrangements to fly back to England with his wife and family later today.

  Zander didn’t seem to care where he went as long as it was far away from Kate.

  “He’s angry with himself, not you.”

  “Sorry?” Kate frowned at Ian as he stood guard near the door of her suite. She was wearing sunglasses, her eyes feeling gritty and dry after her virtually sleepless night, so that even the slightest shard of sunlight caused her discomfort. Kate felt as if she had a hangover without having enjoyed drinking the champagne.

  This was her last day in New York, and she should really be out sightseeing and taking advantage of her rest day because tomorrow she would be flying to Canada. But she had zero enthusiasm for it. Zero enthusiasm for anything except sitting around feeling sorry for herself, if she was honest. She had even switched on the television as background noise so that it didn’t look too obvious that was what she was doing.

  Zander had left the hotel several hours ago—and probably New York too by now—without even saying good-bye to her. Not that she could blame him after the insultin
g assumptions she’d made about him and the chaos she had caused in his life. For the next several days, he would probably be recognized wherever he went. It would stop after a while, of course, but in the meantime, Zander was going to hate that recognition.

  “Zander is angry with himself, not you,” Ian repeated. “He’s always been so focused on his job, and this time he lost sight of his purpose for being here.”

  Kate snorted. “No need to be polite about it, Ian. Say what you really mean. Zander made it pretty clear to me he shouldn’t have been fucking the client.” She had telephoned Gabriel Knight earlier, had wanted to explain that Zander wasn’t to blame for what happened or the photographs in the newspapers.

  The man had been very polite, let her have her say, and then he had said something that had brought Kate to her knees.

  “I didn’t take Zander off your security detail. He asked to be allowed to step down.”

  Zander hadn’t been made to leave her security detail; he had asked to go.

  There was nothing else to say after that.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have a very potty mouth?” Ian mocked.

  “Zander.” Her cheeks warmed as she remembered Zander’s reaction had been to put her over his knee and spank her. “Do you have any idea where he’s gone?”

  Ian shrugged. “Probably back home.”

  “Which is where?”

  “A converted warehouse near Canary Wharf.”

  Yes, Kate could see a place like that suiting Zander. She could even imagine what it looked like. A big open space. Completely impersonal. Very much the way her own apartment in London was impersonal. Probably because neither of them was used to having a home of their own, nor were they actually at home very often.

  God, it had only been a few hours and she already missed Zander so much.

  Bernie and Sophie had left with the children and their nanny to drive to the airport over an hour ago too, ready for their flight back to England. She and Sophie had talked and cried together, and then hugged before the family left. But it was Zander that Kate missed the most. He had been such a fixture in her life these past four months and had become so much more than that these past couple of days. Ian was good at his job, but he wasn’t Zander.

  “If it helps, I’ve never seen Zander so distracted by a woman,” Ian told her gently.

  Kate smiled ruefully as she shook her head. “It didn’t stop him from leaving.”

  Ian grimaced. “I have no idea what happened between the two of you, but I think his leaving was partly due to the photographs in the newspapers. Zander is a very private man. He doesn’t like having attention drawn to him. But he’ll get over it. He’s probably sitting on a plane right now regretting— What the fuck!”

  Kate looked at him sharply only to see Ian’s attention was riveted on the television screen. She let out a gasp as she turned and saw the scene behind the newscaster. It was a huge and crowded area, with dozens of bodies lying on the ground. Whether they were dead or—

  “—the scene from the airport just minutes ago after a lone gunman opened fire on the crowd.” Ian had quickly crossed the room and turned up the sound on the TV. “Several people are believed to have been injured and are now on their way to the hospital. The masked gunman fled the scene immediately afterward, and the police are now asking anyone with information to come forward. The airport is currently closed but is expected to open again later today. Now, on to the weather…” The airport scene was replaced with a weather chart and the female newscaster’s expression turned from grave to a blinding smile.

  Everyone Kate cared about was at the airport right now.

  Bernie, Sophie, and the children.

  Zander…

  Chapter 9

  “I understand your concern for your friends, Miss Stewart.” The nurse behind the desk spoke soothingly. “But the doctors are still treating the injured, and I can’t give out any information at this time.”

  Kate gritted her teeth to stop herself from shouting in her frustration with this further delay. “You could at least tell me if Mr. and Mrs. Cook or their children, or Mr. Buchanan, are amongst those injured.”

  The nurse relented slightly. “If you and your…men”—she glanced at the three bodyguards—“would care to sit in the waiting room, I’ll go and make enquiries.”

  Ian had immediately gone into action after listening to the news report. He had tried calling Zander’s cell phone first, but it had gone straight to voice mail. Same with Bernie and Sophie. Ian immediately put a call through to the police. They weren’t giving out any information on the injured or the shooter, for obvious reasons, nor was anyone allowed at the airport, but they had given him the name of the hospital where the injured had been taken.

  Ian had voiced his objection to Kate accompanying him to the hospital. An objection she had overridden. If Bernie, Sophie, or either of the kids had been shot, then she wanted to be where they were.

  Where Zander possibly was too…

  “Do you think it was Joey?” Kate voiced the question she had been avoiding once she and Ian had decided to stand outside a waiting room that was already crowded with a dozen other people, all no doubt also waiting for news of family or friends. The other two Knight Security men stood off to one side, keeping a wary eye on everyone and anyone who walked by.

  He shrugged. “Too soon to say.”

  But they both knew it was a possibility. Probably more than a possibility. The photographs of Kate and Zander in this morning’s newspapers, along with the implication the two of them were in a relationship, would have been all the provocation Joey needed to carry out his threat to kill any man Kate became involved with.

  To kill Zander.

  “Don’t let your imagination run away with you,” Ian advised softly. “This could have absolutely nothing to do with you and Zander.”

  “Then where the hell is he?” Her agitation bubbled up to the surface. This had been one hell of a day so far, and it only promised to get worse.

  “I’m right here.”

  Kate turned her head so quickly at the sound of Zander’s voice, it felt as if she might have pulled a muscle in her neck.

  Zander was indeed standing in the hallway only feet away from her. Large and alive, but with dried blood down the front of his white T-shirt and jeans. The reason for that appeared to be a gauze dressing on his right brow; otherwise, he looked unharmed.

  After that first moment of shock, followed by elation that Zander was alive, Kate didn’t hesitate. She didn’t care about him wanting to get away from her earlier today as she ran the short distance separating them and threw herself at him. Her arms wrapped tightly about his waist as she clung to him and listened to the wonderful—the reassuring—sound of his heart beating. “I thought you were dead,” she choked as she trembled in his arms.

  Zander had thought he was dead for a while earlier too. He had felt a searing pain on the right side of his head, a gush of blood blinding him for several seconds as he dropped to his knees and all hell broke loose as others around him became aware of the sound of repeated gunfire. People were screaming and dropping to the floor in an attempt to make themselves a smaller target as a dozen shots were fired in rapid succession.

  Then came an eerie silence.

  There must have been a thousand people or more milling about the main area in the terminal building before the shooting started, but for all the sound they made once the firing stopped, the building could have been empty.

  Then the groans had started as several people realized they had been shot, along with the cautious enquiries from those that hadn’t been as to whether it was now safe to stand up. Queries the airport security and police answered with “Stay down, stay down.”

  It had taken them another ten minutes to decide it was safe for people to move and stand up, that the shooter had definitely left the building.

  Everyone had appeared dazed by the sudden eruption of violence in their midst, conversation muted or nonexist
ent as they silently gathered their scattered belongings. Some people remained seated on the floor, as if their legs weren’t yet strong enough to support them.

  Zander had seen scenes like this before, but in the army at the end of a battle, never in civilian life.

  His first instinct, and his second, was that Taylor, or someone he had hired, had to have been the shooter. Zander didn’t believe it had been an accident he was chosen as the first target. Which also meant Taylor had people watching the hotel, watching him. He had to have, when Zander’s departure from New York today was completely unscheduled.

  Kate tilted her head back to look at him searchingly, tears falling unchecked down her pale cheeks. “You’re really okay?”

  “I’m really okay.” He nodded. His arms about her waist kept her anchored tightly against him. The argument between the two of them this morning, even the reason for it, now seemed petty and unimportant in comparison with the events at the airport. “The bullet only grazed my brow. Bernie, Sophie, and the kids and nanny are fine too,” he added reassuringly. “They had already gone to the first-class lounge and were nowhere near where the shots were being fired.”

  “Thank God.” She breathed her relief. “Where are they now?”

  Zander’s smile was rueful. “I spoke to Bernie. He’s even more determined to take his family home. The flight to London might be delayed, but the airport authorities assure them it will definitely be leaving later today.”

  “And you?” Kate prompted huskily. “Are you going to be on that flight too?”

  His eyes narrowed. “No,” he bit out, glancing over at Ian as he stood guard a short distance away. “You okay with me coming to Canada, after all? You remain in charge of Kate’s protection. I’m a little…distracted at the moment, anyway.”