“I’m very good at it,” he assured her. “The ranch hands generally leave the more nervous horses to me.”
For some reason, she could easily picture this man, with his broad shoulders and hard jawline, soothing horses and…her. Clearing her throat, she focused on the current topic. “So…you break the horses?”
He looked her right in the eye and shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. I don’t abuse animals.”
Frankie blinked at that statement, surprised by his words. “Are you implying that the rodeos abuse them?” she asked, horrified by the thought. Animals were meant to be treated with kindness and love! She’d always wanted to adopt an animal, but her job required too much traveling. It wouldn’t be fair to a dog or cat to leave them alone for extended periods of time.
“Some of them do, yeah.”
She leaned back, shaking her head. “Then no. I won’t watch a rodeo. No way. The thought of ‘breaking a horse’ doesn’t seem like a good idea. In fact, now that I think about it, that seems cruel.”
“I don’t know how the animals are treated at most rodeos. But when I get a nervous horse, I don’t just jump on top of him and ride him until he’s too exhausted to fight anymore.”
“Good. So, you’re one of the good guys?”
He chuckled. “I have good moments and bad.”
She laughed, shaking her head, unaware of how he admired the sparkle of her copper hair. “Well, that seems fair enough. I guess we all have good and bad moments.”
“Why did you have such a bad day today?”
She sighed, but before she could respond, a fresh beer appeared in front of her. Frankie was startled, not having noticed the man’s signal for fresh drinks. But she appreciated the gesture, even if she normally only drank one beer. She’d sip this one, she promised.
“You were saying?” he prompted. “What happened to ruin your day?”
Frankie twirled the beer glass. “Well, I thought I had a good lead on the person I was trying to find. He was supposed to be at this fancy meeting today. It was to be held downtown at one of the old office buildings.” She paused, her head tilting slightly. “You know, the ones that have character and interesting designs?” She barely waited for his acknowledgement before she continued. “Well, I was going to try to intercept him but the traffic in this city is pretty bad and the unfamiliar roads got me all turned around.”
“Who were you trying to find?”
Frankie shook her head. “I can’t say. Client confidentiality. It’s just a man.”
“Good guy or bad guy?”
Frankie thought about Edward Meyers. He was definitely a bastard in every way. He was one of her clients. Edward Meyers was a horrible human being and had been all his life. But the woman needing to know if her husband was cheating on her? She wasn’t bad. Just anxious and worried about her future.
“Some of my clients are real jerks. Some are genuinely nice people. And some,” she thought about Edward Meyers again, “are truly evil.”
“Evil?” he echoed, smiling as if she’d said something amusing.
Frankie hesitated. But she figured it was safe to talk about this subject since she was thousands of miles away from anyone who might care. Besides, she wouldn’t name names. So she nodded. “Yes. Very evil. One of my clients is a truly bad person in just about every way. But he has some nice offspring. Sons,” she explained with a wistful smile. “The father is a bastard, but he hired me to find his sons and they are good, kind, intelligent men. There are three sons and I’ve found two of them so far.”
“But not the third?”
She shook her head, unaware of the dim light sparkling on her hair. “Nope. I’ve never met him although I’ve done some research on a man I think might be the third son. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read about him, he’s not very nice. He’s a bit of a…!” she paused, thinking about the information she’d discovered. “Well, honestly, no one really knows him. There are no reports about him, about his business dealings. But there are no pictures except for blurry images taken at a distance. He’s very mysterious.”
“Sounds like a recluse.”
Frankie tilted her head slightly. “I guess he is. And I can respect that. Once I find him, I just need to talk to him for a few minutes, then I’d be on my way.” She ran a hand through her copper curls in frustration. “But finding him is for another day. I just want this current job to be over with,” Frankie said with a deep sigh. “In fact, I think I want to find a new line of work.”
“What would you be doing in an ideal world?”
She grinned. “Oh, I’m really good at my job,” she told him. “But I just…I don’t know. I’m getting sick of following cheating husbands and taking pictures of them with their mistresses.”
“You don’t mind following the cheating wives?”
“Oh, that happens too,” she laughed, shaking her head. “But not nearly as often. And it’s seriously affecting my opinion about men in general.”
“Plus, you hate the traffic in this city.”
She grimaced. “Absolutely. But I don’t live here, so I don’t know all of the secret routes to get around the heavy traffic jams. I’m sure the locals know all of the tricks though.”
“Where are you from?”
Kade watched the woman, fascinated by the play of light in her hair and the brief flashes of a smile on her lovely features. It was too dark here in the back of the bar for him to see the color of her eyes, but she had an adorable nose, a pointed, stubborn chin and soft lips that quirked up, transforming her features from lovely, to adorably elfish. Not to mention, this woman had the most amazing figure. He couldn’t see it right now because she was sitting, but he’d watched her walk through the bar. The jeans fit her hips and long legs like a second skin. The white tee-shirt was loose, but couldn’t hide her tiny waist and full, round breasts. She was an eleven on a scale of one to ten.
Plus, she was funny! Damn, he enjoyed a woman who could laugh. Not just at words, but at herself as well. Life was just too damn miserable sometimes not to stop and laugh.
Then he realized what he’d just thought. Laugh? When was the last time he’d laughed? It had definitely been a while. Not since his mother passed away, he suddenly realized. He’d been pretty angry about life ever since.
What was it about this sexy, quirky sprite that both turned him on and soothed his rage? Kade didn’t know, but he liked her. He liked the effect she had on him. Hell, it had been a long time since he’d been even remotely attracted to a woman.
This woman brought him to life when he hadn’t even realized that he was dead. It was a bit startling, not to mention…He liked her!
Too bad this was only brief interlude in their lives.
“I live in Seattle.”
Kade nodded, thinking of the grey, rainy city. “I’ve been there a couple of times on business. Do you like it there?”
She sighed and leaned back against her chair. “Other than the weather, there’s really no difference between Dallas and Seattle.” She sipped her beer briefly. “Oh, the buildings here in Dallas are bigger. The buildings in Seattle are older. Greyer, I guess. But essentially, every city is pretty similar. In general, cities are always crammed together with one side of the town where people are wealthy and the other side, where people struggle to put food on the table. If one were to drive just a short distance out of the city, there’s even less of a difference. The houses are so eerily similar in the suburbs there’s little to differentiate one suburb from another.”
He agreed, but he was stunned to find such a cynical attitude in someone so young. “You don’t like living in the city?”
Again, she shrugged. “My job requires me to be in cities more often than not.”
His head tilted slightly. “And you are less enthusiastic about your job lately.”
Again, it was a statement. He could see the disillusionment in her eyes.
“Yes. The glamor has dimmed significantly over the years.”
�
��What would be your dream job?”
She laughed and, even in the dim light, Kade noticed that her eyes sparkled and her skin seemed almost…luminescent. “I once thought that finding and connecting people was my dream job.”
“What happened?”
She contemplated her answer carefully. “I guess my latest client made me realize that this isn’t what I want to do for the long term. It pays well, because I’m good at my job. But this client…” she paused, shaking her head. “He’s a true bastard. I mean, he’s genuinely horrible. The things that he did to his children and the women…the reason he hired me…” she sighed and took another sip of her beer.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah,” she stared down into her beer for a moment. “He’s made me question my faith in humanity.”
“That’s not good.” He drained his glass. “So, what are you going to do now?”
She smiled and it was so shocking, so beautiful, he had to hold his breath for a moment.
“Well, if I had my preference, I’d get a big piece of land and raise dogs. Or rescue dogs that had been abused and help them to recover. I’d like to teach them to trust humans again.”
That sounded like a wonderful plan, he thought. “So, why don’t you do it?”
She laughed softly and it was a sweetly feminine, musical laugh. “Oh, because I don’t have the land. I don’t have the money to buy the land. I don’t have the experience to help the dogs and…well, I have a lot of obligations right now.”
“Those are all excuses. What’s the real reason?”
She cocked her head to one side. “You’re not flirting anymore. What happened?”
He smiled, but he didn’t give in. Unfortunately, the look in her eyes warned him that they needed to change the subject. “Tell me what it’s like to live in Seattle.”
Frankie was charmed. He was good looking and sensitive. As they talked about life in various cities, she watched him, noticed his eyes and his body language. She wanted to slide over and sit closer to him but…that wasn’t a good idea. She disliked one night stands. And even worse, she hated the idea of a one night stand in a hotel, no matter how nice the bar might be.
The waitress came back to their table. “Last call,” she announced, glancing between them. “Can I get either of you another drink?”
Frankie jumped and looked around. “What?” she gasped. “Last call?! It can’t be!”
The waitress sighed at Frankie, obviously tired and not in the mood for an argument. “It’s one o’clock, honey.”
Frankie ignored the patronizing tone as she turned around, surveying the rest of the bar. Everyone else had cleared out. They were only two patrons in the entire place, plus the bartender and the waitress.
“No. I don’t need anything else.”
“I’ll walk you out,” the stranger offered and stood up.
“Wait, let me pay for our drinks,” she told the waitress and quickly pulled money out of her wallet, including a tip for the waitress that was large enough to make her beam.
“Thanks. You didn’t have to do that,” the man said, putting a hand on her arm. “Come on. It’s late.”
“It is but…” She wasn’t ready for this moment to end. She wanted to continue this conversation. Unfortunately, it was late, she was tired, and…well, nothing was going to happen with this man, she promised herself.
“Would you meet me for breakfast in the morning?” he asked as he led her out of the bar and into the lobby.
She wished! But breakfast was impossible. “I can’t,” she replied, obvious regret in her eyes. “I’m catching a flight out of Dallas and need to be at the airport by about five o’clock. I heard that someone I’m looking for might be in Miami.”
He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. “Thank you for finding my table tonight. It was delightful to share the evening with you.”
Frankie laughed. “You’re very charming.”
He grinned. “Does that mean I could convince you to come up to my room and spend the rest of the night with me?”
Frankie laughed again, assuming he was kidding. “I don’t think so. I don’t do casual sex.”
He stepped closer, towering over Frankie. But she wasn’t scared. She probably should be, but he didn’t scare her…he turned her on, but it was more than just sexual. Something significantly more. This strange sensation was nebulous and tenuous, but definitely sizzling in the air between the two of them.
“I don’t think anything that happens between us would be casual,” then he blinked at her, stunned. “I don’t know your name!”
Frankie stared back for a shocked moment then her lips slowly curled into a smile. “You’re right.”
“So, are you going to tell me?”
Frankie bit her lower lip, considering her options. “Since I’m getting on a plane in a few hours and we’ll probably never see each other again, I think we should walk away, without knowing each other’s names.”
He considered that for a moment, but Frankie felt the tension between them. He moved closer, reaching out to touch one of her copper curls. “That’s probably what we should do.” He twirled one of her curls around his finger. “And I’m fully on board with that, but under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“If we do ever meet again, then I get to make love to you. Whatever city we find ourselves in, if we see each other again, it will be fate pulling us together.”
Frankie laughed, certain they’d never see each other again. “Fine. If we ever see each other, you’re on.”
“And…” he moved closer still. “I get to kiss you now.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer. Instead, he lowered his mouth and covered hers. His lips were warm and gentle. When she lifted up on her toes to deepen the kiss, he took over and pulled her against him. His arms were solid and muscular, his chest equally so. But it was his mouth that captured her attention. He kissed as if he had been taught by an expert. Slow and sensual, making her toes curl with desire. Desire that could not be appeased.
And then he stopped! Just when she wanted nothing more than to kiss him forever, he broke off and stepped back. “Go, Red,” he urged, dropping his hands. “I’ll wait until the elevator doors close before I go up to my own room.”
That was fair, but not what she wanted. She trembled with awareness and need and so many other strange and confusing emotions, she wasn’t sure she remembered how to breathe.
Frankie forced herself to walk towards the elevators, feeling the heat of his gaze along her back, causing electric bolts of awareness to shimmer along her skin. She refused to allow herself to look back. Not for anything. Don’t look back. Don’t you dare, Francesca! Keep your eyes forward!
She reached the elevator doors and pressed the call button. She was one hundred percent sure that if she turned and looked at him, he’d still be watching her. And she was pretty sure that he would take her glance as an invitation.
Her fingers trembled as she pulled her hand back. Why did that thought sound so absolutely perfect to her?
It was wrong! She’d be miserable in the morning if she spent the night with a stranger! So instead of turning to look at him one more time, she stepped into the elevator and closed her eyes, her hands fisting at her sides in an effort to keep herself from taking that last look!
Kade watched as the woman walked away. Her back was stiff and her hands clenched tightly into small fists, almost as if she were willing herself not to turn, not to look back. Her copper curls danced against her neck and shoulders as her long, beautiful legs took her further and further away from him.
She didn’t look back. Damn it, she didn’t look back! He knew that she wanted him. He knew that she felt the same tension and desire he did. So, why didn’t she look back? Why not give him a small signal that she felt it too?!
The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. Not a glance. Nothing! Damn her! She should have looked back. He wouldn’t have moved. She had been cl
ear that she didn’t want casual sex and he wasn’t really into it either, although he wanted to make an exception. Just this once!
Damn it!
Muttering curses all the way to the elevator, he jabbed the call button. When a different elevator cab opened up, he just about punched the wall. Damn it!
Chapter 2
Six months later…
“No!” Frankie whispered, staring at the enormous, sexy man sitting behind the massive desk. The man who had invaded her dreams almost every night for the past six month was leaning back in the chair, his feet propped up on the old, wooden desk! The man who had distracted her during the days as well, to the point where she’d lost track of a person she was following!
That mouth, which had featured so heavily in her fantasies, pressed slightly in reaction to seeing her. Recognition flared and Frankie’s heart began to pound. “NO!” She burst out again, this time more vehemently. “No, no, no, no!”
Spinning around, Frankie paced across the wide space between the horse stalls, the dirt floor covered straw and dust and…other things she wasn’t willing to identify at the moment. She ignored the scents of well cared for horses mingling with dust and leather as she stomped her foot. “This is not happening! He isn’t here!”
Standing in the middle of the wide space, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the air slowly ease out of her lungs. But when she opened her eyes again, the man was still behind the massive desk of the stable manager’s office. But now, his expression had changed from one of stunned surprise to…amusement? Triumph?!
Still pacing, she shook her head, glaring at the floor. “It isn’t him! No. I left him back in Dallas and vowed never to see him again. Never! I don’t care how handsome he is or how charming, it simply doesn’t matter!”
She paced some more, struggling to focus on her breathing in a futile effort to calm her temper. Frankie simply couldn’t believe that Fate had such a twisted sense of humor!
After Hours Desire (Forsaken Sons Book 3) Page 2
