by Kait Gamble
Her mystery man was meticulous when it came to details.
She gleefully got dressed and took a few twirls in front of the mirror after she’d applied her makeup.
She’d never looked so good.
With a smile, Maisie spritzed herself with her favorite perfume. The blindfold and keycard were both still safely in her purse. There was nothing to do now but get over there and find out who her mystery guy was.
Taking a deep breath, she walked out as she called for a cab.
* * * *
The ride in the elevator up to the penthouse was the longest she’d ever had to endure. The entire way up, she toyed with the blindfold. Did he want her to wear it again? She’d just have to feel out the situation when she walked in.
When the doors parted, Maisie tiptoed in. The mood in the room seemed to warrant it. There were flowers everywhere. Light flickered from beautiful, long white-tapered candles reaching to the ceiling from glittering candelabras. There were even white and red rose petals strewn in a path.
That answered the question of whether or not she should put the blindfold on. He wouldn’t have set this all up if he didn’t want her to see it.
“Hello?” Maisie followed the path, though she couldn’t bring herself to walk on the petals and crush them. They were just so pretty.
There was no answer.
Taking that as an invitation to continue on her trek, she followed the trail to the beautifully arranged table. A candlelit dinner for two. Still there was no one around and the path continued from the other side of the table out of the dining area.
Enjoying the intrigue, she was so absorbed in following the petals that she didn’t notice a person in the room with her until she heard his voice behind her and warm hands covered her eyes.
“Hi, Maisie.”
She whirled around, but his hands closed around her shoulders and held her in place so she couldn’t see him.
“I thought you were going to tell me who you are.”
“In a moment. I just wanted you to know that whatever your reaction, my feelings for you won’t change.”
His words gave her pause. “You’re freaking me out. Let me see you.”
“Close your eyes first.”
“Okay.” She did as she was told. Maisie heard him, felt him, move in front of her. His scent was different now, however. The cologne she was used to was still there, but it wasn’t as strong tonight. She knew that scent underneath. His voice, too, had changed. Instead of the husky whisper it was deep and familiar.
He took her hands and placed them on his chest. One that she knew very well. She felt his heart beating hard and fast in tandem with her own.
Smiling, she leaned into him, fitting against him like she knew she would.
“Open your eyes, Maise.”
She stepped back a little. Her gaze drifted upward. Up the long legs, the tailored suit, over the broad shoulders and up to the smiling face of Kian.
He held out a single deep red rose. “Disappointed?”
Shaking her head, Maisie couldn’t stop smiling. “Not at all.”
Deep down it didn’t come as that much of a surprise. Just a dawning realization that they really were perfect for one another.
“I figured I had to do something dramatic to get you to see me as more than a roommate.” He held out the rose.
Maisie gratefully took it and brushed the fragrant bloom over her lips. “It definitely worked.”
Kian replaced the flower with his lips, kissing her gently. “I thought you might like it.”
She reeled from the contact. “How did you afford all this?”
His smile grew. Kian held out his hand. “Why don’t we sit and talk over dinner?”
Taking it, she knew she was in for quite a meal.
He helped her into her seat then took the one next to her. Kian uncorked the champagne and poured the drinks as if it were something he did every day. Same with lifting the lid on the scrumptious-looking meal. It was all so fancy. So surreal. They were a couple of people who ate takeout straight from the containers and lived in a tiny apartment, not fat steaks with carved vegetables in a penthouse suite at the best hotel in the city.
This was way out of the realm of Maisie’s reality.
“So are you going to tell me, or should I start guessing?”
“Will you relax?” He took a big slice out of his steak. “Eat something. I’m willing to bet you haven’t had a thing to eat all day.”
She hadn’t, but she was too excited, too curious. There were just too many things she needed to know. Needed him to know.
“Kian, there’s no way I can eat, at least not yet, so you might as well start talking.”
He smiled as he chewed and swallowed. “All right. Our app was a hit. A massive one.”
“That’s fantastic!” Kian and his team had been working long and hard and it had finally paid off.
“Yep. We’ve got a series of games lined up, which means we can move out of that crappy apartment and into something much nicer.” He took her hand and ran a finger over the back of it. “And I can treat you the way you deserve.”
Maisie curled her hand around his. “I have to ask—why me?”
“You’re kidding me, right? I’ve been telling you for ages, you’re the one for me. Living together all this time gave me the chance to get to know you. And I like what I’ve learned.”
That made her smile even more. “I like you too. A lot.”
“I should hope so. I’ve been trying my damnedest to convince you.”
Maisie’s cheeks heated. “To be completely honest, you really didn’t have to work so hard. I’ve been into you for a while now, but I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“Me either, at first. Then I realized that I didn’t want to be without you.” Kian closed his hands over hers. “I hope you feel the same.”
Maisie smiled. “I do.”
“Good. Because we have a lot of time to make up for and a lot of other toys to try.”
She put down her fork before she had taken a bite of anything. It could wait. “In that case, I suggest we start now.”
Kian grinned and stood, holding his hand out to take hers.
Maisie took it, but not before she had reached into her purse to pull out the blindfold. “I think it’s your turn to wear this, though.”
His grin turned wicked. “Whatever you want.”
And she knew he meant it in all ways.
Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:
Weathering the Storm
Kait Gamble
Excerpt
Chapter One
When Maia Reynolds had arrived in Nice, she’d had a list of things she was going to do. Work? Yes. Do some sightseeing and shopping? Absolutely. But coming face to face with the man who abandoned her nearly a decade before and flinging a drink in his face? Definitely not on the itinerary.
She stared at Alexandre Giroux’s stunned, dripping face with great satisfaction, and strode out of the restaurant.
No, it hadn’t been on the agenda, but it had felt damn good.
She burst out of the building like a cork from a champagne bottle. Sadly, the fizzy, good feeling wasn’t to last.
The heavy door slammed and rapid-fire French shouted at her ended the euphoria in a heartbeat.
Maia’s determined steps remained unaltered as she hurled over her shoulder, “I don’t speak French, remember?”
“How the hell would I know that?” he growled. His long legs closed the distance between them easily as he reached out to snare her.
His hand closed around her arm and he spun her around so she was barely a breath away from his hard form.
Alexandre. So close she could feel the heat of him. Smell him. Sense the ire flaring from him in searing waves as he glared at her with blue-gray eyes as dark as the sea midstorm.
And still, clenched with rage, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
Maia had forgotten how tall and
physically dominating he was. How just being in his presence could knock the breath from her lungs. Even as angry as she was, the skin under his hand hummed with awareness. She couldn’t stop herself from gravitating toward him—her body still inexorably drawn to his.
Maia balked at the way her body responded to him. After all these years, after what he’d done, he still overwhelmed her senses.
His grip tightened on her arm as he glowered at her from under jet-black eyebrows. “Who are you?”
She glared at him. “Like you don’t know. Let me go.” Maia tried to shrug out of his grasp but couldn’t get loose of his iron-like grip.
Alex turned her toward him again. “Not until you tell me who you are and why you think I need to be publicly humiliated.”
Maia stared up into those incredible, penetrating eyes of his and fought away the memories, letting only the anger and hatred through. “Are you kidding me?” She tore her arm out of his grasp and continued her march.
He caught and gripped her hand, anchoring her to the spot. “No, I’m not.” His voice was quiet, deadly. It was enough to turn Maia around. They stared at each other for a long moment. “I have no idea who you are.”
“Alex?” Neither one of them had noticed that a beautiful dark-haired woman had followed them onto the sidewalk.
“Ҫa va, Angelique.” Alex waved her back into the restaurant. She reluctantly obeyed after a long, speculating look at Maia.
Maia shook her head. “You should get back to your date. You wouldn’t want her to think that you’ve abandoned her.”
He stared at her, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I might not have a clue who you are, but I suggest you never let me see you again.”
“Not a problem.” Despite his words, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to let her go. Maia had to claw at his hand to wrench hers from his grip.
Throwing his hand back at him, she stalked away, leaving what she imagined to be a very angry-looking man staring narrow-eyed at her departing form.
It wasn’t until she was nearly back at her hotel that she realized that she had left people, important people, at the restaurant. She cursed herself. They were probably wondering what had caused her to lash out. Hell, she was wondering what had just happened.
Trembling, she raked her shaking hand through her hair. Maia had never let her emotions get the better of her like that before. She prided herself on having perfect control over herself.
Less than five minutes in the same room as Alex and that was shot to hell.
As if she needed further proof the man was toxic.
Maia took a deep breath as she approached the glamorous hotel that was to be her home this week and sighed.
It was over now.
Dumbfounded and furious, Alex watched as the enraged brunette stomped away while his pulse thundered in his ears. What the hell had just happened?
He had walked into the restaurant to enjoy a quiet dinner with his father. There was a writer visiting whom he wanted Alex to meet. He’d mentioned something about them writing an article on the reopening of their hotel. It had been important to his father, so he’d dropped everything and flown in.
One moment he’d spotted his father and was making his way to the table and the next, he’d been soaked by a tiny, spitting mad, brunette wildcat who seemed to think he knew why he’d deserved it.
She was stunning in her fury, whoever she was. The wrathful fire that flared in her dark eyes as she’d scowled at him wasn’t something he was used to seeing from women in his company. Nor were the pure hatred and bile. What was she playing at?
Whatever she was thinking, he wasn’t about to let her get away with humiliating him the way she had.
Alex’s eyes zeroed in on her as she wove determinedly through the crowd. Was she drunk? Insane? He swiped what was left of the champagne off his face and shirt then followed her. He didn’t care what her motive was. No one did what she had and walked away from him.
Alex single-mindedly tracked his prey, watching her wind her lithe body easily through the crowd with the dexterity of a dancer. She twisted this way and that, giving him a good idea of the body hidden under the simple black dress. Pert breasts, long, lean legs that led up to a deliciously curved bottom—what the hell was he thinking? His internal rebuke didn’t deter the throb of awareness his body had in reaction to watching hers.
There was something about her. The way she felt against him, the way her body fit into his, made him all but forget about Angelique. Everything other than the mystery woman had faded away. He hadn’t cared about anything else. But why? He didn’t know her. Despite her words, he had no inkling who she was. Yet he wanted to find out more about her. It wasn’t an impulse he had very often. Why now? Why her? She’d all but attacked him. The last thing he should feel for her was lust.
Alex shook his head. It wasn’t lust he was feeling. It was anger. He wanted retribution.
He stayed a good distance behind her until she reached a familiar sight.
With a sardonic grin on his face, he pulled out his phone as she walked through the entrance.
Oh, how he loved karma.
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About the Author
Kait was born and raised in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and started writing to entertain herself during the long winters as a child. Insatiably curious with a love of learning new things, she’s picked up many random skills including three languages and two martial arts. After travelling three continents (the other four are on her bucket list), she settled in England with her family where she spends most of her time cultivating her daughter’s love of reading and writing, scribbling ideas on every available scrap of paper, and trying out dialogue on her cat.
Email: [email protected]
Kait loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.totallybound.com.
Also by Kait Gamble
Cuffed
Weathering the Storm
The Long Way Round: Grind
The Long Way Round: Ignite
The Long Way Round: Scorch
Totally Five Star: Breaking Rossi’s Rules
Totally Five Star: Fuel to the Fire
Totally Five Star: Sins in the Sand