And a liar, sadly.
So instead of staying in town and ignoring her, which could hurt her feelings, he grabbed his keys and headed out of the building. He congratulated himself on not stopping by her office to say goodbye, getting one more kiss. Because one kiss from Gianna was never enough.
Driving out of the building’s parking garage, he cursed at the fates that had sent Gianna to him. Why the hell had he fallen for a woman who had the morals of a…
He pulled into his house and stalked inside, but the memories of Gianna lingered everywhere. That first day, her begging him to make love to her. On the sofa, his bed, outside, by the fire…there were so many places where they had made love…
He couldn’t stay here! Brant walked to his closet and stuffed hiking gear into a duffel bag. He was probably forgetting something, but he didn’t care. Not right now. He just needed to get out of his house, out of his bedroom. No way could he sleep in that bed tonight. Not after holding Gianna in his arms there just last night.
Hell, just this morning, he’d woken up to her kissing his chest. Moving lower, her soft kisses touched his stomach while delicate fingers wrapped around the erection that had come to life the moment he’d felt her touching him.
Brant stopped, closing his eyes against the memory of her warm mouth closing around his throbbing shaft, her tongue flicking that spot near the tip as her fingers curled around the base of him, tightening as her mouth moved over him.
Even when he’d tried to pull away from her, she’d resisted, wanting to take him all the way. But he’d been stronger and she’d laughed when he lifted her up and then pressed her back against the mattress. Damn, he loved her laugh. She was so free and open and caring. Gianna loved life and for the past few weeks, he’d thought that she loved him. When he’d pressed into her tight heat, she’d stopped laughing. Her eyes were bright, but her lips had curved into an O as he’d shifted against her. Over and over again, he’d thrust into her, feeling her body getting closer and closer to that delicious release. He’d figured out that she curled her fingers when she was about to climax, so when he felt her nails dig into his skin, he shifted once again, taking her over the edge to that blissful release.
Muttering a curse, he turned away from the bed. The sheets and comforter were neatly smoothed out now, obliterating all signs of the activities from this morning. If only he could do the same for his mind.
More curses and he hurried out of the house. His tires skidded as he hurriedly backed out of the garage and reminded himself to slow down before he hurt someone. Just because he was in a foul mood, that was no reason to destroy someone else’s life.
Keeping his speed carefully under the speed limit, he drove through the relatively quiet streets of Denver until he reached the highway. And even then, he refused to press the accelerator too hard. But as soon as he left the city behind him, he pressed the accelerator and zoomed down the highway. He knew where he needed to go. What he had to do.
Thirty minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of Mack’s cabin in the mountains. Obviously, Reid had called ahead because his brother stepped out of the front door onto the wide porch, a beer in each hand. Mack was still in uniform, but he’d stowed his weapon, obviously off duty at the moment.
Brant stepped up onto the porch and accepted the beer, gulping half of it before he nodded his appreciation.
“Maybe something stronger?” Mack offered.
Brant shook his head. “No need,” he replied and leaned against the thick, wooden railing. “What do you know?”
Mack sat down in one of the big, comfortable chairs he’d built specifically for this porch, stretching his long legs out in front of him as he relaxed.
“You suspect your woman of stealing from the company, but you’re not sure what or how.”
Brant didn’t acknowledge the comment, too shocked by thee “your woman” part of that statement. Because it sounded too good. Gianna as his woman? Yeah, that would be nice. Unfortunately…! He simply stared out at the fading light as the sun slipped down below the trees.
Mack seemed to respect Brant’s need for silence and just sat with him. The night enveloped the pair as Mack kept refreshing Brant’s beers. Hours later, Mack stood up, put a comforting hand on Brant’s shoulder as if to silently say, “I get it.” And then he went inside.
Brant knew where the guest room was. He even had some clothes in the closet because he visited so often during the summer months. Mack had built this cabin with his siblings in mind and there was his room plus three others. Although Giselle hadn’t been up here since her marriage to Prince Jaffri, a room remained ready for her.
Brant stayed in that chair for hours. He wasn’t sure what time it was and didn’t care. He didn’t want to think, but the beer didn’t stop the thoughts from filling his mind. Memories were hard to deal with, but he was determined to push her out. Focus on the problem, not the memories he told himself.
Around four in the morning, Brant stood up and went to the bedroom. He only took the time to take off his shoes before he stretched out on the bed, staring moodily up at the ceiling. Sleep would be good, but Brant didn’t want to do that. He couldn’t sleep because…hell, because he didn’t want to dream about Gianna. He’d done that every night before that Sunday afternoon when they’d finally given in to their attraction. He didn’t want to do it again. Dreaming would lead to yearning and…what the hell did it matter if he dreamed about her? The yearning was still inside of him. The need to hold her, to see her smile, and talk with her, hear that beautiful accent was a painful need that burned inside of him.
Several hours later, he heard Mack get up and start making breakfast. Brant showered and changed into jeans, adding several layers but didn’t bother to shave. One of the advantages of being in the mountains was not giving a damn what he looked like.
“Coffee?” Mack asked, offering a steaming mug as soon as Brant appeared in the main living area of the cabin. Just as in Brant’s house in Denver, Mack had one big room that contained the kitchen, living area, and dining table, only on a slightly smaller scale. And while Brant had black cabinets and white marble countertops in his kitchen, Mack had gone with wood cabinets. In fact, the whole house was decorated with wood and dark colors. This place was a man cave on steroids, minus the television. Mack had one, but it was hidden away. He rarely watched television, preferring to be outside, walking through the woods. It didn’t matter what the season, Mack was a nature guy. And God help anyone who hurt any part of his mountain or the inhabitants of his town, be it animal or human, because Mack would find that person and make their world miserable. As sheriff of the small mountain community, he took his duties seriously and the town respected him.
“Thanks,” he muttered, then moved back out to the front porch. It was cold in the morning, but he didn’t care. The cold woke him up as looking at the mountains eased some of the pain in his chest. Just looking out at the massive, snow covered mountains put his problem into perspective.
“Ready to talk?” Mack asked, dropping several logs onto the fire pit and lighting the kindling.
Brant gazed blankly at the mountains, wondering if he should just head up into the woods and think for a while. But freezing his butt off didn’t really appeal and it wouldn’t solve his problems.
“You know what the problem is,” Brant said flatly.
“Only that you think Gianna is stealing from you.”
Brant turned around, startled by the phrasing of the question. Mack was back in his favorite chair, his hands wrapped around the steaming cup of coffee while the fire crackled in the stone fire pit.
“You don’t think women are capable of corporate espionage?”
Mack laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, women are more than capable of things that even I can’t imagine. They are amazing creatures,” he replied softly. “Lovely and strong. They are capable of anything a man is, plus about a million other things.”
“So, why do you ask me l
ike that?”
Mack sighed and took a sip of his coffee. “Brant, in my line of work, I have to assess people and animals quickly in order to stay alive. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been confronted by human and beast alike. Being able to read their eyes, their body language, has helped me anticipate danger and avoid it.” He leaned forward. “Your woman isn’t a criminal. Reid mentioned that you’d heard Gianna talking on the phone and suspected that she was hiding something from you.” He stared straight into Brant’s eyes. “She isn’t doing anything criminal. I guarantee it.”
Brant didn’t want to believe him. He pushed down the hope that flared to life and looked away. “What the hell do you know about women?”
He chuckled earthily. “You think I don’t enjoy the company of women just because I live up here in the woods?”
Brant snorted because he knew perfectly well that Mack had his share of female company. Hell, he came to Denver often enough to find that company, not wanting to deal with the problems that came with having an affair with someone in his town.
“You don’t know Gianna.”
There was a pause, then Mack shook his head. “I only met her at Thanksgiving. So yeah, you probably know her better than I do. But in my line of work, I have to bet my life on quick judgements and my money bets she didn’t steal anything. If she did, it was accidental.”
“I heard her,” Brant stated firmly, wanting so badly for Mack’s words to be true. But…
“What did you hear?”
“She didn’t have enough of something. She was talking to her father and saying that she needed more time. I only heard one side of the conversation but she was pretty clear about needing more of whatever she hadn’t gotten yet.”
“So, you’ve convicted her on half of an eavesdropped conversation with her father?”
“She’s been hiding something from me! Every time I walk into her office, she shoves something into her desk or under a stack of files.”
“Do you know what?”
Brant stood up impatiently, stomping to the edge of the porch. It was colder here, away from the fire, but at least he had room to breathe. “If I knew what she was hiding, then I wouldn’t be up here with you.”
“Where would you be?”
He wasn’t sure, which was part of the problem.
“You love her.”
Brant swung around, startled. “I don’t!”
Mack laughed. “Course you do. Otherwise, you’d be back in Denver, arresting her cute butt for whatever it is that you think she’s done.”
“I…” he didn’t continue. Not because he wanted to deny Mack’s words, but because he didn’t know if they were true or if he was just…whatever. He wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
“I’ll have more information when my tech people go through her computer files and figure out which corporate reports she’s downloaded over the past few weeks. If all of the data she’s downloaded can be traced back to a particular report she created for the company, then everything is fine. But if there’s something that doesn’t make sense, well, then…”
“She’s innocent,” Mack declared, leaning back and swinging the wool scarf around his neck to ward off the cold. “What do you want to bet?”
Brant ignored his brother in favor of staring out at the woods, not really seeing any of the beauty of the mountain. His mind was thinking about Gianna and how she looked when she first woke up in the morning. And what she might look like if…no. He wouldn’t go there. He wouldn’t arrest her. No way!
So what the hell was he going to do?
Chapter 12
Gianna glared at the computer monitor, feeling like she’d just lost something precious. Brant had been gone for three days. He hadn’t called or texted at all.
Had she done something wrong? Was their time together over? Should she call him again or just leave him alone?
From the moment she’d accepted that the sexual attraction wasn’t going away between them, she’d accepted that their time together couldn’t be long term. Brant just wasn’t that kind of a man. He liked variety. She knew that and had…okay, so she hadn’t accepted that about him. She’d hoped. She’d started to dream. She’d gone to that stupid store and…well, dreamed about something more. Something like what Selena had with Reid.
Gianna lifted her tote bag onto her lap, needing more tissues since she’d just used the last one on her desk. “Darn it!” she mumbled, digging through the contents of her purse. But there was too much in there and she couldn’t find the tissues.
Grabbing the magazines, she angrily whipped them out of her purse and…
“What’s wrong?” a soft voice asked.
Gianna glanced up, her red-rimmed eyes peering through teary lashes at her friend. “Selena!” she gasped, shoving the magazines back into her tote bag and shoving everything under her desk. The magazines were bad enough, but the box…no way could she allow Selena to know about that box! Selena was a wonderful person and a good friend, but she was married to Reid. She couldn’t ever let Selena know about the secret box in her purse!
It was silly and…she really shouldn’t have done it. But all was not lost. She could just return it and everything would be fine. No one would ever know!
“What’s in your bag?” Selena teased. “Obviously something you don’t want me to know about.”
Gianna sighed as her shoulders slumped. “Nothing important. Just…”
“Show me,” Selena urged. “You know I can’t stand not knowing about a secret.” She plopped down in the only chair in Gianna’s office, smiling to her friend.
Gianna looked down at her desk, unable to look at her beautiful, happy friend. She couldn’t admit how silly she’d become lately. Silly and hopeful and just…stupid! “You don’t want to know.”
“Of course I do. You’re my friend and you look as if someone has died.” Selena stopped abruptly. “Everyone is okay, aren’t they? Is your family…?”
Shocked, Gianna shook her head. “No, no one died. Everyone fine and is healthy.” She paused and thought about her mother’s heart issues. “At least, as far as I know…my parents haven’t told me anything new. But…” she shook her head and looked down. “I just…”
“Why have you been crying?” Selena asked softly. “Tell me, Gianna. You know it won’t go any further. I won’t tell anyone.”
Gianna blinked back a fresh wave of tears, not sure what to do.
“Just think of me as your big sister,” Selena joked. “In fact, why don’t you come over tonight for dinner and you can show me how to make fresh pasta?”
Gianna laughed. “You don’t want to learn to make fresh pasta.”
“Of course I do! The stuff you made for me last week was incredible! I’ve never had pasta that tasted better than that.”
“I’m glad that you liked it,” Gianna replied, “but…”
“No buts – you are coming over.” Selena reached under Gianna’s desk and grabbed her friend’s purse. “Come on, we’ll…”
Selena stopped, staring at the contents that had fallen out of Gianna’s bag. “Is this…?” she whispered, pulling the magazine out and looking at the titles. “Oh, Gianna! Has Brant…?”
“No,” she replied and took the bridal magazines back, then reached into her purse and pulled the other three bridal magazines out. She stared at them for a long moment, her heart aching. With a frustrated sob, she dumped them all in the garbage can. “What I thought was something more, something wonderful,” she admitted with a sniff, “is over. He is gone.”
“Reid said he was just visiting his brother in the mountains,” Selena argued.
Gianna stared at her friend for a long moment. Brant had told her that he was on a business trip. But he’d actually gone to stay with his brother? In the mountains? What did that mean?
She knew exactly what it meant. The last small kernel of hope died with that news. Lowering her head so that Selena didn’t see t
he new tears, she pulled her tote over her shoulder. “I have to go. I’m sorry about the pasta, but I will teach you un’altra notte, si?” And she left, not waiting for an answer. She just needed to leave the office and find a place to hide.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she could deal with life and figure out how to move on. But for now, she needed to hide.
Selena watched her friend hurry down the hallway. Gianna pressed the elevator call button, but when it didn’t arrive immediately, she turned and hurried into the stairwell.
That was going to be a long walk down, Selena thought sympathetically, heading towards Reid’s office. They were on the tenth floor of the building. Ten flights of stairs in Gianna’s heels was going to be brutal.
“Hey,” she called out, stepping into Reid’s office. “When is Brant coming back?”
“Why?” Reid asked, standing up from his desk so that he could wrap his arms around her.
“Because Gianna was upset about something. She won’t tell me what but…”
“Stay out of this,” Reid warned, adding a kiss to soften the message.
Selena pulled back, but she didn’t step out of his arms. “Stay out of what? What’s going on? Why is Brant visiting Mack when Gianna is so upset? Did he do something?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at her husband. “Did he break up with her? Is that why she’s crying?”
“He didn’t break up with her. At least, not officially.”
She rested her hands on his shoulders, confused. “Maybe you should fill in the missing pieces.”
Reid shook his head. “I can’t. Not yet anyway.”
Selena wanted to question him further, but someone knocked on Reid’s office door. They both turned to find a tech guy standing in the doorway, holding a folder.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir. But I can’t find Brant and he asked me to bring this to him as soon as I had it.”
The Tycoon's Secretive Temptress Page 10
