Cat Got Your Tongue?

by Rae Rivers

  “Alex—”

  She whirled around to face John. “And you think I murdered Mike Willis and stole his painting? Mike was a client of mine, you ass!” She spun around to glare at Cole. “Call off your watchdog, Anderson, because he’s barking up the wrong damn tree.”

  She threw the file at him and stomped upstairs, leaving the two men in silence.

  ****

  Cole found her in the shower, standing with her head against the wall. Eyes closed to ward off unwanted images of a murdered client, Alex fought for composure. The news of Mike’s death had rocked her to the core and it killed her to know he’d approached her the night before to discuss his security and now he was dead.

  When she heard the shower door open, she pushed herself away from the wall and straightened, vaguely aware that she was naked and vulnerable. “Go away.”

  “We need to talk about this.”

  “I’m mad at you.”

  “You’re mad at me?”

  “Sod off, Cole,” she snapped and threw a soggy sponge at him.

  Cole’s eyes narrowed and he stepped back, shutting the shower door behind him without saying a word.

  Alex closed her eyes and sighed, grateful to be alone with her thoughts and anger. Her mind was spinning with what she’d heard in Cole’s office. She was devastated at the news of Mike’s death and wished she’d had a chance to arrange for an agent to protect him.

  Perhaps then, he’d still be alive.

  The fact that Cole’s assistant had implicated her in his murder made her gut clench. The thought of hurting that kind old man sent a shiver of horror down her spine and she felt the rage sweep through her like a wild wind on a stormy night.

  The shower door opened and Cole stepped inside, minus the wet jeans.

  “No one invited you,” she said and yanked the shampoo from the glass shelf.

  “Well thanks to you, my jeans were wet.”

  She ignored him and began to wash her hair with a vigor that matched her mood. She hadn’t expected him to follow her, hadn’t expected to have to deal with the sight of him naked. It unsettled her, even through her anger, and she shoved her face under the spray of water, reminding herself that she was in fact, very mad at him.

  They stood in silence while she rinsed her hair and Alex wondered how long the silence would last before one of them caved.

  When she didn’t say anything more, he surprised her by changing tactics.

  He grabbed her waist, his fingers barely missing the small wound on her hip, spun her around to face him and covered her mouth with his, smothering her protests.

  Alex knew she should push him away, but her body started responding before her mind could send the instruction and in the end, the passion he ignited within her far outweighed any common sense or anger she possessed.

  He seemed surprised by her reaction, almost as though he’d been expecting more of a fight from her.

  He’d probably only intended to kiss her in an attempt to disarm her, nothing more, but their bodies seemed to have a rhythm, a language, of their own and the kiss had ignited the insatiable spark that existed between them.

  Hands explored with frantic need, wanting more than a simple touch, wanting to absorb everything of the other. Their mouths met as they feasted on each other, tasting, teasing, and devouring. They groaned in unison when their bodies became one, the heat that burned between them fuelled by their passion, fuelled by their argument, the results explosive.

  They came together, the intensity of their joint release rattling them both. When it was over, they were both panting, hearts pounding against each other.

  “I only meant to kiss you,” Cole breathed with a sly smile.

  “We’ll need to set some ground rules about this.”

  “As long as those rules involve this, I’m all for it.”

  She smiled against him. “We can’t do this every time we argue.”

  “It’s great for tension release, don’t you think?”

  Hell, yes. She should’ve pushed him away but what he offered was too incredible and too sensual. When it came to him, she seemed to abandon all her senses, the realization making her feel unsteady.

  “I’m still mad at you,” she said after a while and lowered her legs, wincing at the slight throb in her hip area as she pushed against him and turned into the spray of water. “I don’t like that assistant of yours.”

  “He’s looking out for me. You can’t blame him, Alexis. Armed with the information he had, it put you in a suspicious light.”

  Alex froze and stared at him, a new spark igniting within her. “You believe him then?”

  “No. I know you weren’t involved with what happened to Mike last night, but you have to admit, John’s theory stirred up some valid questions.”

  Alex yanked at the liquid soap. “So you’re suspicious of me now?”

  “I certainly have some questions.”

  “But you’re suspicious.”

  “No.” He took the soap from her and started washing himself. “But I am curious as to why you never mentioned your mother to me. Having an art thief as your mother changes things.”

  “An alleged art thief.”

  “Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.”

  “That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you.” She slammed her hand against the tap, abruptly cutting off the water supply. “My mother’s not something I hide from anyone, but it’s also something I don’t openly display either.”

  “You could’ve told me.”

  “My mother has nothing to do with this—with us!” she cried, grabbing a towel and vigorously drying herself.

  “You should’ve mentioned her to me before we—”

  “Had sex?” she cut in. “How would that have changed anything?” Gathering the towel into a ball, she threw it at his chest.

  “Stop throwing things at me,” he grumbled, tossing the towel to the floor. “Alexis!” he exclaimed as she stomped to her bedroom.

  She should’ve known he’d follow. When he walked into her room, he wore a towel around his waist and a harsh frown.

  “This is not the first time my mother’s profession has cast a suspicious eye on me,” she said as she closed the clasp of her bra. It matched the lace panties she wore and she’d chosen red—the color of her mood. “I’ve had the cops knocking at my door countless times, either to ask questions about my involvement or my knowledge of some heist that’s occurred.”

  “And were you ever involved?”

  She paused, a pair of grey pants in her hands. “Do you seriously have to ask me that?”

  “Alex, I barely know you, dammit. Just answer the damn question.”

  “No. I’ve never been involved in a heist before.” She met his gaze square on, saw the flash of relief in his eyes. “I don’t steal from other people.”

  “Is that how you knew my Renoir was about to be stolen?”

  Alex went quiet and pulled on her pants.

  “Alex.”

  She sighed and looked at him. “Yes.”

  “And do you know who’s after the Renoir?”

  “No.”

  “Alex.”

  “I don’t know who the buyer is for your stupid painting.”

  “But you know something.”

  “No.”

  He crossed the room, heat radiating off him with every step he took. “Alexis, every instinct in my body is screaming at me that you’re not being entirely honest with me.”

  “This is what I hate!” she exclaimed, throwing out her arms. “I have two worlds—one which I’m very much a part of and play by the rules and one where I’m often sucked into whether I like it or not. On a good day, I’m really good at handling both worlds and switching like a chameleon between them but every now and then my two worlds collide.”

  The anger in his eyes began to fade. “You can’t have both worlds, Alex. Surely you’ve figured that out by now.”

  “I can’t separate them either, Cole. If I do, then I
’m pushing away the only family I have.”

  He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. “And what happens when you’re working for a client, staying in their home, protecting them, and your mother or one of her associates decides to come busting in? You know you’d have to make a choice.”

  “I haven’t figured it out yet,” she mumbled against his naked chest, “and right now there’s a lot I need to think about.” She looked up at him. “But you need to know I had nothing to do with either robbery.” Or the murder of Mike Willis. Oh, God.

  He captured her chin between his finger and his thumb and nodded. “I know. So where do we go from here?”

  Alex pulled away and tugged on her blouse. “You need to get dressed so I can start thinking. I can’t think when you’re half naked.”

  His smile reminded her why she’d given in to him the night before. Several times. He threw her insides into turmoil and sent heated shivers straight to her womanly core. She hadn’t stood a chance.

  “You need to eat something. Come with me and we’ll have breakfast at the hotel.”

  Alex nodded and watched Cole walk out of her room. They’d shared an incredible night together, like nothing she’d ever experienced before, and even now, dressed and armed in her work gear and her senses, she tried to regret what had happened.

  And couldn’t. No, it had been too remarkable, too unique. No man had ever made her feel like that before and she knew she should feel regret, even shame, at giving in to the chemistry between them.

  Alex shook her head and sighed. She had the feeling that having Cole Anderson in her life was going to complicate things for her—no matter how magnificent he was or how amazing he made her feel.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cole ignored the flurry of activity that followed his arrival at the hotel and led Alex to a table in the far corner of the chic restaurant. All eyes were on them, but he paid no attention to the curious stares. The morning was warm and all the doors that overlooked the lush courtyard outside were open. Before they’d settled, a waiter appeared with a fresh pot of coffee and took their order.

  “That was fast,” Alex said after he’d left, eyeing out the lavish décor and peaceful setting.

  “They know I like my coffee.” He shrugged off his Armani jacket and smiled at her. “And I tried several times to have a cup this morning, but each time it went cold before I could get to it.”

  “It’s your own fault. No sympathy notes from me, I’m afraid.”

  “I didn’t expect any.”

  She glanced around at the staff lingering nearby. “Do all your bootlickers usually hover around you like this?”

  He raised a brow. “Bootlickers?”

  “Your staff. You don’t notice?”

  He chuckled. “They know who pays their salaries.”

  “When we walked in here they all started scurrying around like ants.”

  “Let them scurry. That’s what I pay them for.” He reached across the table to touch her hand. “What are you doing today?”

  “Depends on what you’re doing.”

  “I’ll be here all day. I have several meetings and some admin waiting for me.”

  “Don’t you have staff to do your admin for you?”

  “Of course, but there are certain things that require my attention at times.”

  “If you’re going to be here all day, then I’ll run a couple of errands.”

  Cole settled back in his chair and studied her expression. “Anything illegal?”

  She didn’t flinch, but didn’t look him in the eye either. “No. What time do your meetings start?”

  “Only at eleven and don’t change the subject.”

  “I’m not changing the subject. I simply want to know how much time we have for breakfast.”

  “We have as much time as we need.”

  “Okay.” Alex reached for her coffee, her lips curling into a satisfied smile as she savored the delicious smell of caffeine.

  “So I don’t have to worry about you today?”

  Alex’s smile faded. With a sigh, she placed her mug on the table and looked at him. “Hey, rich guy. All we had was sex. Stop playing the ownership card. You do your work and I’ll do mine.”

  He sipped his coffee, scrutinizing her over the rim of the mug, knowing he’d pushed a button. Clearly, she wasn’t used to having to explain herself. He decided to back down—she wouldn’t tell him if she didn’t want to, no matter how hard he pushed. “When will you be back?”

  “Whenever you leave here. Just give me a call and I’ll meet you here.”

  “Then Warren can drive you.”

  “No, I’ll catch a cab. Besides,” she said with a teasing grin as their food arrived, “a limo would look awfully suspicious where I’m going.”

  “Oh, great. Now that makes me feel better.”

  “Get used to it. My line of work is far from pretty.”

  “And why do I have this sneaky suspicion it’s about to get worse?”

  “That’s the joy—you never know. But I’ll concentrate on my work and my agents, and you concentrate on your business negotiations.”

  He couldn’t suppress a satisfied grin as she tucked into her meal with fervor. Not surprising after the night they’d shared—the sex had made them both ravenous.

  “Stop staring at me,” she said. “I’m starving.”

  “Must be all the exercise you had last night.”

  Alex almost choked on her mouthful of toast. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Eat up, you’ll need your strength,” Cole said, unable to take his eyes off her. He’d never met a woman that made eating look so sensual. The mere thought of the night ahead made him hard, and he wondered how it was possible to want her with an intensity that unnerved him. He decided to change the subject. “Detective Sullivan is coming around to see me later.”

  “I figured he would.”

  “We should tell him what we know.”

  Although her tone was cool, her eyes blazed something sharp. “We don’t know anything at this point, Cole.”

  “How can you say that?” he said and sat back in his seat, trying to gauge her reaction. “You saw the cat’s face on Sunday night. You can identify the man, and you were at Mike’s house last night. From what I saw, you two were not talking about the daisies blooming in the spring time.”

  “Summer time.”

  “What?”

  “Technically, most daisies bloom during summer.”

  “Alexis.”

  “Okay, okay.” She sighed. “Yes, I saw your burglar, and yes, I spoke to Mike Willis last night, and yes, we do need to chat with Sullivan.”

  “Why I am sensing a ‘but’ coming on?”

  “I’ll tell Sullivan about my discussion with Mike last night, but there’s no way I’m going to mention that I was in your house—without your knowledge or invitation—the same time your Renoir was being pulled.”

  “But we’ll—”

  “No.”

  “Alex—”

  “No! It’s not negotiable.”

  “Then I’m liable to tell him.”

  “Then you do that, but there’s no way it’s coming from me.” She glared at him. “You saw how your assistant reacted to me and now you know some of the history with my mother. Her background would fuel any suspicion that fell on me. You don’t need to be Einstein to figure out how Sullivan’s going to see it.”

  “Fine,” he murmured and threw his napkin on the table, “but that still doesn’t eradicate the fact that you saw his face, Alexis. You know who did this.”

  Alex pushed aside the rest of her food. “So I can identity him, yes, but I won’t.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “So enlighten me.” Cole ran a hand through his hair, frustration prickling at his patience. God, she was stubborn.

  “I cannot give him up, Cole. He saw me there and if I rat him out then he’ll know it was me.”


  Cole scowled at her. “So which side are you on, Alex? Are you a good guy or a bad guy? Because you can’t be a damn good guy whilst covering up for the bad guys.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? You have no clue what it’s like to deal with the sharks of the art underworld. If I rat out Steve—” She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening with horror.

  Anger surged through Cole and he bolted forward. “You know his name?” he asked in a sharp undertone. “All this time, you’ve known his name?” He glared at her, clenching his fists and reaching for control. “Alexis, do you have any idea just how close I am to throttling something right now?”

  Alex’s glared back, the fire in her eyes matching his fury. “This conversation is over.”

  With that, she shoved back her chair, slammed her napkin on the table, grabbed her purse, and marched off.

  ****

  Alex was still brooding when her two partners walked toward her Manhattan office an hour later.

  She watched them through the window, not surprised to see them. It was still early yet all six of her partners had already checked in with her. The thought comforted her as it usually did, knowing they had her back, knowing she could count on them. She’d handpicked the six agents herself, and they’d proven on several occasions that her instincts in employing them had been on the mark. They were all strong, burly men with attitudes to match and all came with their own unique expertise, developed from their previous careers in either the military, law enforcement, or security.

  The feeling of “brotherhood” they’d developed for each other was priceless and Alex was part of the brotherliness. They’d become family to her over the years, filling an otherwise huge void that she furiously denied.

  “You okay?” Dan Rowan asked, walking into her office and sinking into a vacant chair. He was dressed in the familiar work gear, their company name scrawled across the back of his shirt. With broad shoulders, sandy blonde hair, and a long thin scar on the side of his forehead that gave him a mysterious appeal, he was a handsome man with a lot of attitude and a big heart.

  Alex leaned back in her seat and laced her fingers. “I’m fine.”

  “Where’s Cole?”

  “At his office. I’m seeing him later.”