But she also remembered him driving away without a good-bye. And she remembered her mother’s tears. There were a lot of tears. A lot more tears than kisses good night. “I’ll know more after we go through the will today.”
“Does that mean you’re not coming home tonight?”
“No, I won’t. And my ticket is nonrefundable. I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
“If I could strangle your father, I would.”
“Get in line.”
“The B and B is quiet right now, but I’ll go over and help your mom with whatever she needs.”
“Thanks. I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Shut up, Kendall. What are best friends for?”
“I—”
“Seriously. Shut up. It’s slow at the office, so I can take an hour here and there to go check on her.”
“I love you, Bells.”
“Oh, crap. Don’t get gushy on me. We don’t do smush.”
Kendall smiled into the shadows of the chair. “I’ll call when I can.”
“Okay. Chin up and kick ass. That’s what we do.”
“That’s what we do,” she agreed. “Bye.”
She fisted her hand around her phone and dragged in a steadying breath. Her shoulders prickled, and she looked up. Shane stood in the doorway. His shirt was open at the throat, and a thin line of beads showed at his neck. Another anomaly. He didn’t seem the jewelry type. She sat up and put her feet back into her shoes. “What happened to privacy?”
“It lasted thirty minutes.”
“I still haven’t called my mother.”
His full lips flattened into a frown. “What exactly were you doing in here, Miss Proctor?”
She stood. “Look, let’s get this Mister and Miss crap out of the way. I’m Kendall. We’re going to be in each other’s face all night.”
“Who were you on the phone with, Kendall?”
The way he said her name awakened the damn firefly. She pushed the odd feelings aside. “I called my friend. I needed to talk it out with her and figure out what to do with my mom.”
“I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Nice to know that my mother is a waste of time. I’m sure your mother would love to hear the same thing.”
“My mother’s dead.”
Kendall slammed her molars together. Stupid, Ken. Of course his mother would have been at the will reading if she were still alive. “I’m sorry.”
“Happened a long time ago.”
She frowned. “How long ago?”
“And why is that your business?”
“I’m sorry to pry.” She didn’t even know what to tell her mother. And getting her mom off the phone when she was worried was nearly impossible. With quick fingers she tapped out a message to her mother that she was safe and that her flight had changed. “I’ll call my mother later. After we figure out the will.”
“We’re on West Coast time. It’s already well on its way to seven your time.”
“My mother’s settled in to watch television for the rest of the night. I’ve got a few good hours.” Her phone buzzed in her hand. She looked down and saw that her mom wasn’t worried and jammed her phone back into her purse. “Let’s get this done.”
“After you.”
She shrugged out of her jacket and went back into the conference room. A tray of coffee and fruit sat in the center, and the papers were lined up.
“I broke up the piles into a few different sections. This bigger pile covers all his assets. I want to look through this part and see what’s going on. Something feels hinky.”
“Hinky?”
Shane nodded. “Based on the debt we supposedly have, there’s no way the house and the sale of the business could cover what we owe. Something doesn’t add up.”
“Who bought out the business?”
“That, Kendall Proctor, is a very good question.”
She sat down across from him. “I really wish we had access to a lawyer who understood this and was willing to talk to us.”
“I’ve never had to trust anyone but Jonas. And the fact that everything monetarily is locked down because of the will, I don’t have access to anything.”
“I wish I could cover you, but if there’s any reason for savings, now would be it.”
“I have about four hundred dollars in my personal account.”
Surprised, she smoothed her hands over the papers. “For a rich boy, you’re certainly money poor.”
“I’m not a rich boy, Kendall. I’m a working man just like anyone else. And just like for most people, the economy has sucked the hell out of my free cash.”
She frowned. His gaze slid away at the end of the sentence. He wasn’t telling her something. “We should be able to demand that Jonas give us the details of the will.”
“He’s following Larry’s directive. I honestly don’t know how much we can demand without finding our own lawyer and having him or her read the paperwork. And with the size of this tome?” He sighed. “That’s a grand or so that I don’t have.”
Kendall stood and reached for the carafe. “Looks like we’re going to need a lot of this.”
He grunted a response, and they both settled in to read. Shakespeare was easier to read than the contract. Three hours later they had six separate stacks of papers, and she knew way too much about the construction business. Every blessed tractor, backhoe, truck, and trailer was explained in detail. Her eyes were crossed at the staggering amount of machinery that Justice Construction had. Hell, even the client list was part of the sale.
She dragged her hair out of her face and pushed across the sheet she was reviewing. “Can your client list actually be sold?”
“What?”
She twisted the paper so he could read it. “Right there. At least I think the legal jargon means that.”
He stood and leaned over the table. His large, tanned fingers splayed across the table as he read. She pulled her hand back. She did not need to pay attention to how big or small any of his damn body parts were.
“Son of a fucking bitch.”
She came out of her chair. Excitement thrummed through the room. She rounded the table to stand beside him. “What?”
He riffled through papers. “I saw something—where…” He pushed one stack aside and handed her another. “There’s something in here about the client list as well, but I missed the importance.”
“So it’s not me. That’s weird?”
“That’s hinky.”
There was that word again. She flipped through the pages and scanned for a similar phrase. She couldn’t skim the documents. There was so much hidden in the legal-speak she was afraid she’d miss something. “Wait. Here it is again.”
He turned to her, their shoulders brushing as he read. “That’s it again. There isn’t a legal way for a client list to be given in a sale. Not unless the clients knew ahead of time and agreed to let the contracts be bought out.”
“And do you think they would?”
Shane’s brows snapped down as he focused on her face instead of the papers. Anger burned bright and fierce in his eyes. Instinct told her to take a step back. He looked dangerous and more than a little scary. Instead, she laid her hand on his forearm. His muscles vibrated under her touch.
“Shane?”
“I’m going to kill him.”
THE PAPERS SHOOK in his hands. He dragged a deep breath through his nose and placed the papers on the table. He thumbed through, and the name flew out. How had he missed it? He’d read the damn contract at least seven times, and still he’d refused to see the obvious.
“Shane?”
“Goddamn Kain.”
Confusion darkened the espresso brown of her eyes. “Who’s Kain?”
“My fucking best friend.”
“What does your best friend have to do with this?”
He fisted his hands. “Evidently…everything.”
Shane paced the length of the boardroom. He couldn’t believe Kai
n would do this to him. First his father left him completely out of the loop about just how bad things had gotten, and now his best friend since eleventh grade betrayed him as well?
“Shane, you’re going to have to dumb it down for me. I don’t know who your best friend is.”
He whirled on her. Anger threw spots in front of his eyes. Days of no sleep and living on coffee churned in his gut. And now her. Another secret. Just how many people in his life were going to lie to him? She was so goddamned innocent in all this. He stalked to her, pushing her back with every step he took. “I’ve known him since I was sixteen. We played ball together, for fuck’s sake. And his family’s the owner of the largest construction company in Hawaii.”
Kendall put her hands up to fend him off, but he kept advancing. “What does that have to do with buying Justice Construction?”
“Everything,” he snarled. He knew Kain could be ruthless about getting a toehold in California, but this? Rage rode him hard, and instead of panic, her chin lifted in defiance.
“From your reaction I’m going to say you’re super pissed off.”
“Not one thing has made sense to me today.”
Her gaze dropped to his mouth as she reached behind her for the bookcase that lined the wall. Her attention darted back up to his eyes. Her chest heaved, and her nipples tightened under her blouse.
The slap of her apple scent threw him off. He grasped her upper arms. The silk of her blouse crumpled under his hands; her skin was warm and disturbingly fragile. He had no business touching her, but her huge doe eyes pulled at him.
“Shane?”
He hauled her up onto her toes and slanted his lips across hers. Taking, not asking. She sucked in a breath, her jaw slackened in shock. And bastard that he was, he took advantage. He wanted to feel something beyond the chaos. Even the slap of her hand again if that was what he got.
He swiped his tongue into the warmth of her mouth and slid along hers. She sagged against him. He transferred his grip onto her hips. Instead of pushing him away, she wound her arms around him. The fierce scrape of her nails through the short hairs along his nape snapped whatever leash he had left.
She held on, crushing her chest into his. He backed up, lifting her into his arms. Blind with the anger that transferred into lust, he acted on instinct. From the moment she’d walked up to the house, he’d wanted to know just how she tasted. The bitter edge of coffee and the sweet tang of the melon she’d eaten drew him in, and he wanted more. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and was rewarded with a moan of surprise.
She opened wider, and they fought for a deeper taste. The scrape of her teeth along his lower lip ended in a nip that left his lip and his cock throbbing.
He hoisted her onto the table and jerked her skirt up. She lifted her legs around his hips and pulled at his shirt. “This is just sex.”
He nodded. He could live with that. He wanted to lose himself in the uncomplicated mechanics of pleasure. Even if it was just ten minutes, he wanted to empty out his brain and feel something else.
She slid her hand under his shirt, loosening the buttons from the bottom up. Her angel-soft hair fell forward. The strands were at least a yard in length and teased around his wrists at her hips. He wrapped a hank of it around his hand and pulled her neck back. He sucked on the fragile skin at her collar and up to her jaw. Her nails bit into his belly, and he bunched his muscles under her attack.
Fuck.
Little Kendall had some claws. She finally got his shirt open and wiggled out from under his mouth. She fisted her hands into his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He still held her hair in his hands. The surprisingly heavy strands tangled around his fingers, ensnaring him all the more. Openmouthed kisses turned into nips at his chest. He tightened his hold on her hair, unprepared for her aggressive nature.
His dick went from half-hard to a steel tent under his dress pants.
She tugged forward until she could taste him again. She flicked the pads of her thumbs over his nipples, and he hissed. “Christ.”
She looked up at him as her tongue swirled around the tight disk. “You’re not the only one who could work out some anger.” She nosed over to the center of his chest and gently ticked her fingernail along the beads of his mother’s rosary. It was as much a part of him as his skin. She traced the center medal and moved on to his other pec. He hissed when she nipped again.
“Leaving marks?”
She smiled and wrapped her teeth around the muscle until the indent made him groan. “I think I like angry sex. This is my first time.”
He arched a brow. “First?”
Her hand slid into his pants. “Not that kind of first.”
He sucked in a breath as she gripped the base of his cock. He’d expected fumbling fingers and nervous excitement, not this. Not a woman with sure hands who knew what she wanted. He lowered his head and took her mouth. The kiss was hot and deep and carnal. With each pump of her hand he grunted into her mouth. Finally he detangled his hand from her hair and slid his thumb over the line of her panties against her inner thigh. She undulated on the table until he cupped her. He broke away from her mouth, and again the nip of her teeth set his control on edge.
He was used to taking the lead. He got off on watching a woman’s eyes burn hot with excitement. But he couldn’t read Kendall. Her gaze was intense and wary and seemed to be on the knife-edge of control like he was.
She fisted his shaft and dragged her thumb under the head of his cock. He jerked her panties aside. Finesse was as absent as his control. He nudged two fingers inside her. She clamped down on the invasion, and he groaned. He wanted her to close around his cock like that. Wanted it more than breath.
But he levered himself inside her again and again. The tissues of her pussy softened and swelled. He rolled his thumb under her hood and found her clit. She jerked against his touch. He followed her hitching gasps, making tight circles until her head fell back and her fingers grew slack on his shaft.
“Tighter,” he growled into her ear.
She fumbled with his zipper, pushing his boxer briefs aside. “Tighter here?” She cupped his balls, then vised the base of his cock.
He groaned and pushed himself into her hand as he sawed his fingers in and out of her slick folds. He swiped his tongue along the smooth column of her throat. “It will feel even tighter in here, I bet.”
She sucked in a sharp breath as he pulled out of her. He pushed up her blouse, then flipped the cups of her bra on the trip up. Small and firm, her breasts barely filled the palms of his hands. She leaned back on the table and continued to rock his cock between her fingers. He braced his hands on her lower hips and dug his fingertips into her ass as he closed his lips around her nipple.
She arched, panting with each drag of his tongue and teeth over her tight little nipples. Soft pink deepened with the angry scratches from his beard. He liked his marks on her. “Do you like it rough, babe?”
She shuddered. Her grip on his cock was erratic.
“Kendall?”
She opened hazy, dark eyes. She stared down at him as he sucked her nipple harder. One hand slid into his hair and held him tight. “God, yes.”
“Yes, you like it rough?”
“I’ve never had it like this.”
He tongued her nipple. “Do you want me inside you?”
“If you don’t have a condom, I’ll probably kill you.”
He laughed for the first time in days. He gentled his tongue along the underside of her breast before nipping over the hard tip again. “Wallet.”
His cock slid free from her hand as she fished into his back pocket.
“Not that one?” She gripped his ass.
“No,” he growled.
He cupped her breast and scraped the edge of his nail over the rigid center. She gasped out a shout and unearthed his wallet from his other pocket and dumped it on the table. She pushed him away and shimmied out of her panties. “Hurry.”
He flipped his billfold open. Ch
rist, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to use his emergency condom. He pushed down his pants and underwear and sheathed himself.
She widened her legs. He pulled her closer to the edge of the table and guided the head of his cock along her swollen lips. She placed her hands behind her back for leverage. With her shoulders thrust back, her breasts lifted. Fuck, she was too pale and lovely to be this wild. Her mouth was ravaged from his, and her dark eyes were heavy-lidded, but there was definite excitement glittering there.
His cock throbbed. His entire focus was getting in between her sweet thighs. He lowered his mouth to one tight tip as he teased her with another swipe.
Her hand slid between them to guide him inside, but he wasn’t ready to end the teasing. He jerked her hand behind her back and braceleted her wrists. “Not so fast.” Her eyes widened, and her shoulders bowed. But there was no censure in her gaze. She bit her lower lip and smiled up at him. He tightened his grip, and she ground her pelvis into him, forcing him in another inch.
“What did I say?”
She rolled her hips with a laugh. “I don’t care what you say. I want you inside me.”
He grabbed his shaft and slid up and down through her slick folds. “What if I’m not ready?”
She reversed the roll, and he couldn’t stop the forward motion this time. She grasped around him, sucking him into a fisting warmth he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to leave. She winced, and he stopped.
“Kendall?”
“Keep going.” She panted.
He tried to back up, but she wrapped her legs around his hips and dragged him inside until he was balls-deep. She cried out. He stilled inside her. The throb of her muscles vising him strained his control. He wanted to do it again, to watch her take all of him again. Her hands splayed under his grip against the table.
Her chest heaved. “More.”
He slipped out of her and rocked forward again. She clasped tighter. “Fuck,” he muttered against her neck and repeated the motion. Heat and pleasure swelled inside him, around him, and fueled him. He let go of her arms and thrust into her once more. He couldn’t get enough.
Ferocious need seemed to mirror hers. She grasped his shoulders so tightly the bite of her nails ratcheted up the tension between them until there was nothing but sweat, the groan of the table bearing their weight, and moans.
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