Insatiable in a Kilt

by Anna Durand

  No more dating. End of story.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Evan

  For nine days, I tried to put Keely O'Shea out of my mind. Banishing her ghost proved harder than I'd thought, harder than seemed rational. What I felt for her was not rational, though, and it never had been. She'd entranced me in Paris. My desire for her had propelled me into a wild and reckless act of selfish need. I understood she had trouble trusting me after the way I'd run off that night. The moment she had strolled into my office dressed like a sexy librarian, I'd lost my mind again. When she told me to behave, I had needed all my self-control to keep from repeating my Paris mistake, this time by throwing her down on my desk and rutting with her like a sex-starved bull.

  Hadn't I proved to her I was a decent bloke?

  Clearly not. She went back to America, and I was left here in Scotland, alone, struggling to reassemble my wits. They were slippery buggers. I couldn't seem to sweep them all up.

  I slumped in my chair, gazing at my computer monitor without seeing anything on the screen. What was I meant to be doing today? Writing some sort of report. The board of directors was convening tomorrow, and I'd promised them an update on my works-in-progress. Why the bloody hell had I ever created a board of directors? The interfering erses did nothing but annoy me.

  Two weeks ago, I would've called them demanding but fair. Today, I wanted to strangle every one of them.

  Keely had done this to me. Why couldn't she trust me?

  Maybe she sensed I was the sort who fantasized about murdering my board of directors.

  A long, miserable groan resonated in my chest. Keely. I couldn't work because I couldn't stop thinking about her. Missing her. Remembering our five and a half days together. Her smile. Her laugh. The softness of her lips. The way she appended "please" to the end of every command she issued. Most of all, I remembered the expression on her face when she came, and the way she held on to me through every spasm of her release.

  No other woman had ever looked at me that way, in bed or out. She made me feel like I could do anything, be anything, have everything I wanted.

  Everything except her.

  The door shivered from three crisp knocks.

  "Come," I called.

  Tamsen stalked into the office and directly to my desk. "You are a bloody moron."

  "Good morning to you too, Mrs. Spurling."

  "Don't get cheeky with me, Evan. You know what I'm talking about."

  I sat up, straightened my jacket and tie, and pulled my chair forward to rest my arms on the desktop. "My personal life is none of your concern."

  "Like hell it isn't. I've been your employee and your friend for six years." She jabbed a finger in my direction. "And you are making a muddle of your life."

  "What is it you claim I've done that qualifies as a muddle?"

  She shook her head, her lips tight. "You let her get away."

  "Keely wanted to leave. What would you have me do? Kidnap the lass and keep her in my apartment, bound and gagged?"

  My mind flashed back to the day I'd bound Keely's wrists with my necktie. Her cheeks had been flushed, and her lips had been parted and waiting for the kiss she denied she wanted. I loved her fire. I loved it even more when she'd given in and admitted the truth. Only Keely could make giving in seem like a victory for her.

  "Don't be an idiot," Tamsen said. "You're smitten with her. For the first time in all the years I've known you, Evan MacTaggart is head over heels for a woman. Go and get her."

  "I can't. She said—"

  Tamsen slapped her hands on the desktop, leaning in to fix me with her hardest glare. "Are you going to give up because she didn't beg you to go after her? Keely is as smitten with you as you are with her."

  Was she? I'd thought so, but then she had fled back to America.

  At the airport, right before she'd run up the jet's stairs, Keely's eyes had glistened with moisture.

  I hissed a curse under my breath. Tamsen was right. Keely left because she was terrified of getting hurt again, not because she had no feelings for me. I hadn't achieved everything I had by giving up when things got tough.

  "You're an angel, Tamsen." I leaped out of my chair and lunged forward to plant a firm kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

  Her eyes bulged. "You're—You're welcome, Evan."

  "I'll need the jet as soon as possible."

  "Where should I tell the pilot you're going?"

  "Carrefour, Utah."

  I glanced at my computer and the two sentences I'd typed. "Tell the board my report will have to wait. I have pressing business in America, concerning our latest distribution deal."

  "Yes, sir."

  Tamsen saluted, spun on her heels, and marched out the door.

  I'd just shut down my computer when the door exploded inward, thwacking into the wall.

  Ron Tulloch stormed up to my desk. His face was crimson, his eyes were wild, and he was breathing heavily.

  "You bastard," he snarled. "I know what you're doing, MacTaggart."

  "What are you having a canary about this time?" I gathered the papers on my desk and put them in a drawer. "If it's about your pay rise, I told you—"

  "Pay rise? You're auditing my department. I demand to know why."

  I rose from my chair with deliberate slowness, placed my palms on the desktop, and spoke in a level tone. "I talked to some of the people who work under you. They have concerns about how the accounts are being kept, so I hired an independent firm to perform an audit."

  "Without asking me?"

  Christ, I wanted to drive to the airport, not deal with Tulloch's nonsense. If he insisted on an answer, I'd tell him the truth. "It became clear that someone is overbilling all our clients by tiny amounts that when combined add up to a large sum."

  Tulloch jerked like he'd been hit with a steel pipe. "You think I'm embezzling."

  I'd expected him to take offense at the suggestion, but that wasn't the impression I got from his behavior. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, over and over, and twisted his wristwatch. The man was on edge.

  "Someone must be embezzling," I said. "We'll find out soon enough who it is."

  He clenched his fists so tightly his hands trembled. "You've got a nerve, MacTaggart. First, you destroy my business, and now you're framing me for embezzlement."

  "You ruined your own company, Mr. Tulloch. I had nothing to do with it." I waved a hand to dismiss him. "We'll talk about this once the audit is done."

  "Call it off."

  I tipped my head to the side, trying to figure out what the man hoped to gain by starting an argument with me. "I won't be doing that, Mr. Tulloch."

  He stabbed a finger at me. "You will, or you'll regret it."

  "Leave my office, or you'll be getting your head in your hands to play with."

  Tulloch snorted. "You can't punish me without cause."

  "Your behavior right now is cause enough to fire you."

  "Fire me?" He swung his fists up. "You bleeding scunner, ye willnae get away with this. I'll tell the board how you've been trotting your American whore out for the whole company to see."

  "Instead of blaming everyone else, maybe you should've been taking a tumble to yourself and getting your department in order."

  "What would you know about working hard?" he snarled, spittle spraying from his lips. "You'd rather shag your American whore."

  Heat erupted in my chest, burning out reason and self-control. I stormed around the desk to him and seized him by the throat. "Say that one more time and see what happens."

  Tulloch sneered. "American whore."

  I towed him across the office by his throat. He stumbled, sputtered, and cursed at me until we reached the open door. His eyes widened. His crimson flush began to pale.

  "You don't work for me anymore," I said and pitched him out the door.

  Tulloch landed in a heap on the other side of Tamsen's desk.

&n
bsp; "Call security," I told Tamsen, "and have this man removed from the building. His employment has been terminated."

  Her eyes were almost as wide as Tulloch's, but she picked up her phone and made the call.

  Tulloch scuttled backward until he bumped the wall, as far away from me as he could get.

  "Don't move," I said in a tone that assured him I meant it.

  He cringed.

  Security arrived shortly, and once they'd taken Tulloch in hand, I rushed back to my apartment to pack. Getting away from Scotland appealed to me even more after my confrontation with Tulloch. The thing I hated most about running this company was dealing with disgruntled employees. Tulloch's tantrum had been the last straw. I was escaping to America.

  How long would I stay there? I had no idea. Whatever it took to convince Keely we belonged together, I would do it. However long it took, I would wait. My company had been my mistress for six years, and it was about damn time I took a holiday abroad.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Keely

  Soft music murmured in the background, tunes culled from the Top 40 charts, designed to be unobtrusive and make our customers feel relaxed. I knelt in the corner of the store nearest to the main doors rearranging the audio accessories and found myself humming along to the song currently playing. I didn't know the words, I'd never heard the cheery song before, but it had gotten into my brain after the third time in a row it played.

  Over my shoulder, I shouted, "Paige, take that song off repeat, please. We don't need to become known as the earworm store."

  Paige Dawkins, the perky eighteen-year-old manning the customer service counter, feigned a pout. "You're so mean, Keely. This is my anthem song."

  "It's nice, but we can't play the same song all day. Go back to the approved station."

  "But satellite radio is so boring."

  She reached under the counter to switch from CD to the radio feed.

  "Thank you, Paige."

  She saluted.

  Returning to my task, I moved a package of corded earphones to the correct hanger and a set of Bluetooth ones to their appropriate spot. Customers had a knack for putting things back in the wrong place.

  The automatic doors swished open and shut.

  "Hi," Paige said in an oddly breathy voice. "Welcome to Vic's Electronics Superstore. How may I help you today?"

  Was that a touch of awe in her voice?

  Focused on moving another pair of headphones to the right hanger, I decided to ignore it. She probably thought the customer was cute. Paige had a habit of going dreamy-eyed whenever a good-looking boy her age walked into the store.

  "I'm looking for Keely O'Shea."

  My spine snapped straight at the sound of that familiar, sexy voice. Awareness tingled over my skin, hot and shivery. I was too damn old to react to a gorgeous man the way Paige did, yet here I was clutching a blister-packed set of headphones to my chest like a life preserver while my heart raced and my mouth went dry. It couldn't be him.

  Right. Tons of men with Scottish brogues walked into this store in the middle of Utah every day.

  I rotated my head, though the rest of me refused to budge, and peered in the direction of the customer service counter twenty feet away.

  Evan stood there with one arm resting on the high counter, one hip cocked, and one ankle crossed over the other. And he was wearing a kilt. Well, it was Monday after all.

  Paige had gone blank-faced, her mouth partly open.

  For once, I could not blame the girl for her reaction. Evan looked deliciously ready to nibble in his long-sleeve, powder-blue shirt that matched his kilt. The shirt collar was stiff, most likely starched, and he had the top two buttons undone. The glare of the overhead fluorescent lights reflected off his glasses, making it hard to see his eyes. My memory filled in the visual of those blue eyes so pale they seemed silver and the dark rims that reminded me of the rings of Saturn. He was like a kilt-clad angel from another world, an incredibly hot and insatiable angel.

  Paige, still speechless, raised a finger to point at me.

  Evan's gaze swiveled in my direction, and he smiled. "There she is."

  A giant rock got stuck in my throat. There he was. I'd said goodbye to him in Scotland. Why was he here? I'd told him I didn't want a relationship with him or anyone. How much clearer could I have been?

  Evan flashed his disarming smile at Paige. "Thank you for the help, lass."

  She blushed and hunched her shoulders.

  He sauntered toward me.

  I jumped up. The headphone package tumbled from my hands.

  "Keely," he said, his voice turning sensual.

  "Evan," I said crisply. "What are you doing here?"

  "I'm not ready to give up on you."

  My tummy fluttered. It seemed to have no idea I was a mature woman in her forties who did not get a fluttery tummy when a man said something nice.

  No matter how sexy his voice was or how earnestly he gazed at me.

  "You should've called first," I said.

  "If I had, you would've told me not to come."

  "Because you shouldn't have come here."

  He took off his glasses, tucking them in his shirt pocket. "I'm going to kiss you."

  "Absolutely not."

  Evan took one step closer. "I will. Right here, right now."

  My gaze darted around the store. Paige was watching us. Three cashiers were checking out four customers. He couldn't kiss me here. He wouldn't dare.

  Of course he would. This was the man who had traipsed in front of floor-to-ceiling windows in the nude. And then he had…Oh, what he'd done to me next.

  He slanted in.

  I flung a hand up to stop him. "Not in front of my employees."

  "Thought they were Mr. Bazzoli's employees."

  "Yes, technically. But I'm in charge of human resources, so Vic says they're my employees."

  "More people to command, eh? You must love your job."

  "I'm not a dictator."

  "No, you always say please when you order people around."

  Paige was still watching us. She'd braced her elbows on the counter with her hands linked and her chin resting on them. A dreamy little smile curled her lips.

  "Come with me," I told Evan.

  "Anywhere you want."

  I spun on my sensible heels and headed for the door marked "Employees Only." The hems of my pants swished around my ankles where they flared out. The way the rest of my pants hugged my figure seemed to fascinate Evan.

  Fishing my keys out of my pocket, I unlocked the door.

  Evan peeked over my shoulder, his expression faintly amused. "A key lock? That's quaint, but not the best security." He rolled his eyes up to indicate a gray box affixed to the wall ten feet up. "Your surveillance cameras are dummies, aren't they? They don't do anything."

  "We don't have the budget for fancy doohickeys. Besides, we don't get much crime in this town."

  I pushed the door inward and held it open while Evan entered the hallway beyond it, then I shut the door. It clicked shut, the lock engaging automatically. I led Evan to the first door on the right and opened it.

  "Not locked?" he said with raised brows.

  "We've got the outer door locked. I don't need to lock my office too."

  He clucked his tongue. "Keely, I'm surprised someone as professional and precise as you would leave your door unlocked. It's a good thing you met me. I can help."

  "Thank you, but I don't need your help. I do fine on my own."

  I wondered if "professional and precise" was code for "uptight and inflexible." And then I wondered why I cared about the answer.

  We walked into my office, and I shut the door.

  Evan reached for me. "Now I can kiss you."

  I shuffled backward two steps and raised one finger. "Behave, Evan."

  He smirked. "You know how I love it when you say that."

  "Not interested in being your
schoolteacher fantasy."

  "You aren't a fantasy." He moved closer, the scent of his spicy aftershave tickling my senses. "You are a real woman, the kind a man wants to keep forever."

  "Also not interested in dating or relationships. I told you that."

  "But you spent five and a half days with me. That was dating, Keely."

  "Go home, Evan."

  "Afraid I can't, not without you."

  We assessed each other in silence, two pigheaded people who wanted polar-opposite things. I wanted to stay away from romance. He wanted to woo me. What had he expected? That I would leap into his arms the instant I saw him? He'd known all along how I felt about relationships.

  He placed his hands on my upper arms and aimed that heartbreakingly earnest look at me. "I missed you."

  Oh God, his voice. Soft and tender, filled with longing. He had genuinely missed me.

  If I was honest with myself, I'd missed him too.

  He coasted his hands up and down my arms. "I missed you very much, Keely. Couldn't work because I kept thinking about you, about how I let you walk away, and then Tamsen gave me a kick in the erse. That's when I realized I couldn't let you go without a fight. Even if you punch me in the face and call the police to drag me away, I have to try."

  "Evan…" I shook my head, having no clue what to say.

  "Keely, I missed you," he said, this time with a fervency that roughened his voice.

  I threw myself at him, locking my arms around his neck, my feet off the floor. "I missed you too."

  Well, at least I hadn't leaped into his arms the instant I'd seen him. I had waited a respectable minute or so before doing it.

  Our mouths crashed into each other. He slung his arms around me while his tongue thrust deep, coiling around mine, and our teeth gnashed. We consumed each other like we'd been apart for years, not nine days, like we'd die if we couldn't merge in every way imaginable. I tore my mouth from his only long enough to nod toward the sofa along the wall, across from my desk.