Behind Boardroom Doors

by Jennifer Lewis

  “Not in the least. I want to live the rest of my life with you, for better or for worse. For richer for poorer. All that stuff. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds…good.” Joy sparkled over her. What an insane roller coaster her life had been lately. Suddenly she’d shot up the ladder to the top of the game board again, and could hear party whistles and see streamers as she approached the final square. Images of her and RJ, walking down a church aisle hand in hand, flooded her mind. “Really good.”

  Then something hit her like an icy thunderbolt.

  RJ didn’t know that she had likely let his father’s killer into the building. That she was, in some way, responsible for his dad’s death.

  Her joy drained away.

  “What’s the matter? You’ve turned pale.” RJ’s dimples disappeared again.

  “You don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what?”

  She swallowed. Her hands tightened into cold fists inside his grasp. “I let the killer into the building.”

  RJ dropped her hands as if they burned. “What are you talking about?”

  Pain trickled through her as his expression darkened. She inhaled a shaky breath. “I remembered, when I thought hard, that a strange man came through the revolving doors with me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, since I didn’t know him. There’s no record of him and no one knows who he is. In all likelihood he went to hide somewhere, and then…” She gulped. “Shot your dad later that night.”

  She looked down at the floor, not wanting to see RJ’s appalled expression.

  “Matt told me you’d seen someone and that you spoke to the police again.” His voice was strangely hollow. “He didn’t say you opened the door for him.”

  “He was just another person hurrying into the building on a stormy afternoon. It was right at the end of the day. I didn’t really even register him at the time.” Tears rose inside her. “I’m so, so sorry.” She looked up, to find RJ’s eyes filled with pain.

  But instead of striding away, he stepped toward her and took her in his arms. “I know you’d never do anything to hurt my family, or the company.” His warmth enveloped her, and the stirring male scent of him soothed her ragged nerves. “We all know that.” He pulled away from her long enough to look her in the eye. “No one blames you for Dad’s death. The good part is now we have a real suspect and the police can go after him.” She shuddered as he buried his face in her neck and his breath heated her skin. “And I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed you.” His words swirled around her, spoken with gruff passion.

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Her voice sounded so small. Her heart filled so fast with all the hope and love she’d locked away in the last day, thinking she’d never need it again. He’d told her he loved her! “I love you, RJ. A part of me has loved you for years, but since we became close…” Words failed her, which didn’t matter because RJ’s mouth covered hers in a heady kiss.

  He pulled her tight against his muscled chest and she sank into his strength. When their lips parted, she felt his chest fill with a mighty breath. “God, Brooke, I couldn’t stand my life without you in it. Can you ever forgive me for being such a jerk?”

  His wry expression almost made her laugh. “You were under stress. You’re still under stress.”

  “We all are, but that’s no excuse for the way I behaved. I’ll do anything in my power to make it up to you.” His face hovered close to hers, kissing and nuzzling her, stirring sparks of arousal that mingled with her joy to create an electric atmosphere.

  “I don’t want anything from you.” She stroked his hair, and relished the rough feel of his hard cheek against hers. “I just want you.”

  RJ’s ragged breath revealed the depth of his emotion. “And I just want you. Will you, Brooke? Will you marry me?”

  “Yes.” The tiny voice emerged from somewhere deep inside her. Somewhere hope had survived during all the drama and upset of the last few weeks. “I will.”

  They held each other tight, half-afraid some fresh drama would fly in through the window to blow them apart again. They stayed silent for some time, then RJ spoke. “It’s okay if you’re pregnant. In fact, it’s more than okay.” He pulled back far enough to meet her eyes. “Once again I overreacted and lost sight of the big picture. I’d love to have a child with you, Brooke.”

  Her chest tightened, or was it her heart that swelled even further? “Me, too.” She smiled. “Though there’s an excellent chance that I’m not pregnant, so don’t get too excited. I wasn’t at the right place in my cycle.”

  “Then we’ll just have to try again.” Hope sparkled in his eyes. “Because I see us having a big family.”

  Brooke swallowed. She’d always dreamed of a house filled with children, so unlike her solitary childhood. “I’d love to have a big family, like yours.”

  “Then we’ll need a big house. Maybe a historic one near downtown? Or would you prefer something out in the suburbs?”

  “I love downtown. It’s nice to be able to walk to the shops, and restaurants. And work.” She froze. Work. Would they keep working together after they were married, or would that be too weird?

  RJ raised a brow. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “I’m not quite telepathic enough to know. But I was wondering if I’m still banished from the office.”

  “Definitely not. But I think you should move into your own office. You’ve done enough time manning the desk outside mine. I think it’s time you’re promoted to management.”

  Brooke blinked. So he had remembered their conversation where she’d shared her career goals? The subject hadn’t come up again so she’d tried to forget about it. “I’d love that. I’m happy to work at The Kincaid Group in any capacity, but I’d like to stretch myself and develop new skills that can help the company.”

  RJ laughed. “Hey, you’re not on a job interview. I already know you’re an organizational genius. And if things go south with Jack Sinclair running the show, maybe we can start our own company together.”

  She smiled. “That might be fun.”

  “I think anything we do together will be fun, as long as we can keep our perspective, and I promise I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last day or so.” He took a deep breath. “From now on I’ll put our relationship first and everything else second. Or even third.” His dimples appeared. “Or fourth.”

  A sudden thought clouded Brooke’s happiness. “What will your mom think about us?”

  “She’ll be thrilled.” He stroked her cheek. “I couldn’t understand why no one, including her, would tell me who the eyewitness was. Later I realized she didn’t want me to know it was you. She really likes you. She asked about you several times during dinner last night.”

  “She doesn’t mind that I’m not from local aristocracy?” She couldn’t help voicing the worry that had nagged at her from the first time RJ asked her out.

  “Not at all. Mom judges people on their own merits, not the arcane rules of the society she was born into. That’s why she married my dad, even though a lot of the local snobs thought him beneath her.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the rules of Charleston society.”

  “Don’t waste time trying, because they don’t make any sense.” He kissed her on the nose, which brought a smile to her lips. “We’ll make our own rules to live by.”

  Their mouths met in a kiss that melted the tension in her body and replaced it with a flush of pleasure. RJ’s arms enclosed her in their protective circle. Everything they’d been through hadn’t torn them apart forever, but had pulled them closer together.

  “Rule number one,” she breathed, when they finally parted lips for a few moments. “No shoving me off on paid leave when I get on your nerves.”

 
RJ winced. “I made a real ass of myself. If you can’t ever forgive me for that, I can understand.”

  “I’ll let you off just this one time.” She dotted a kiss on the end of his nose. “Since you’re devastatingly handsome.” The sheepish look in his slate blue eyes made her smile.

  “That’s quite a compliment coming from the loveliest woman in Charleston.”

  “Flatterer.”

  “It’s all true. Best figure, too.” He squeezed her rear. “And since I seem to have talked my way back from the brink of disaster, I hope I’ll be sharing a bed with it tonight.” He grew still and his gaze darkened. “You did say you’d marry me, didn’t you?”

  Brooke chewed her lip and pretended to look confused. “Did I?”

  “I think you did but it might have been wishful thinking.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. Arousal trickled through her like hot liquid. “It’s been a confusing time, lately. Maybe we should stop talking and just go to bed right now.”

  RJ’s dimples appeared. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”

  * * * * *

  Turn the page for an exclusive short story by USA TODAY bestselling author Day Leclaire.

  Then look for the next installment of

  DYNASTIES: THE KINCAIDS, ON THE VERGE OF I DO,

  by Heidi Betts wherever Harlequin books are sold.

  The Kincaids: Jack and Nikki, Part 3

  Day Leclaire

  Morning came, streaks of blushing red, glittering amber and a deep bruising purple. It gave an incredible punctuation mark to what had been another amazing night and offered a joyous wakeup kiss to what Nikki Thomas hoped would be an equally amazing day.

  She stood on the deck of Jack Sinclair’s beach house, a place she’d frequently stood since that morning after they’d first made love. Of course, the term “beach house” seemed such a ridiculous description for such an elegant, stylish home. Beach mansion came closer to describing it. She rested her forearms on the salt-treated wooden railing and stared out at the ball of fire heaving itself from greenish-blue water. Breakers curled in long, uniform sets, rolling toward shore, and she drew in a deep breath of fragrant, salt-laden air, filled with the wealth of springtime promise.

  Had she ever experienced anything more idyllic? A pair of strong, masculine arms slid around her, pulling her against a broad, naked chest, as powerful and indomitable as the ocean stretching toward the horizon. She released a sigh and relaxed against Jack. Okay, this was more idyllic.

  “Is that coffee I smell?” she asked.

  “Maybe. How grateful would you be if I brought you a cup?”

  “Very grateful.” She turned, wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a deep, lingering kiss. Dear Lord, the man could kiss, his lips firm and possessive and slightly crafty, edging a simple caress into something that had her melting against him in desperate longing. “In fact, I might be grateful enough to make us both late for work.”

  “Tempting. More than tempting.” Regret shimmered in his eyes, the early morning sunlight catching in the robin’s egg blue intensity of them. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting at The Kincaid Group today.”

  “With your…your father’s family?” As if she didn’t know.

  “The Legitimates,” he confirmed. “The legitimate side of the family tree, forced to deal with the bastard in the family. My father’s dirty little secret.”

  Where before his expression had been open and relaxed, now it hardened, reminding Nikki that the man with whom she’d been having a passionate affair for the past month was considered one of the most ruthless businessmen in all of Charleston, South Carolina. She’d do well to remember that. Not that a single day or night went by without her worrying about his unearthing the secret she continued to keep from him....

  How would he react if he ever discovered she worked for The Kincaid Group? That as their corporate investigator, she’d been assigned to investigate him. To dig into his corporate activities in order to determine whether he’d been working on the sly to damage TKG as part of an effort to absorb the company into his own, Carolina Shipping.

  Of course, her affair with him had begun weeks before RJ Kincaid assigned her to the investigation. But that didn’t change a thing. Eventually the truth would come out about her role at TKG and their affair would end. Badly. Equally as bad, she doubted the Kincaids would take it well if they found out she and Jack were involved in an intimate relationship.

  But until that happened, she intended to treasure every single minute. Indulge herself to the fullest. And hope, desperately, that a solution presented itself, one that would take her out of the equation. Not likely to happen, particularly considering she had another secret, one she’d kept from Jack and the Kincaids. A secret that kept her squarely between all the various combatants in this little war.

  “What about you?” he asked. “Still working on your top secret project for your top secret employer?”

  It was the story she’d given him when their involvement blossomed into something more serious than the dinner date with him she’d won through a charity auction. He’d asked about her job when they’d first become involved and because she’d been unwilling to face a fast end to an amazing relationship, she’d told him the information was confidential. Well, it hadn’t been a total lie. What she did for TKG was most definitely confidential, even if the identity of her employers wasn’t. Fortunately, due to the nature of her work the Kincaids kept her name very low-key, on a need-to-know basis only.

  She rested her head against his shoulder so she wouldn’t have to look at him, so he wouldn’t see the guilt that must be written all over her face. “Yes, still working on that project.”

  He captured her chin in his hand and tilted it upward. “Just reassure me about one thing,” he insisted. “Promise me you aren’t in any danger.”

  Oh, God. How did she answer that? Yes, she was in danger. In terrible danger. In danger of losing her heart to a man she could never have, a man she wanted more than any she’d ever known, but who could never share a future with her.

  “I’m in no physical danger,” she informed him.

  “Swear it.”

  “I swear it.” She risked a quick, teasing smile. “Now do I get coffee?”

  “I think I can make that happen.”

  He drew her up for another kiss, one as hot and potent as the sun at her back, filling her with warmth and a sweet, sharp desire. How was it possible that she’d tumbled so fast? That in just one short month Jack could come to mean so much to her? It was frightening and wonderful and ultimately tragic when their relationship couldn’t end any other way than badly. Even with the knowledge ripping through her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered to a bottomless passion.

  With a groan of demand, Jack swept her into his arms and carried her through the French doors leading from the deck to his bedroom. She dropped her head to his shoulder and snuggled into the embrace. “Bringing me to the coffee instead of the coffee to me?” she asked.

  “Not quite.”

  Nikki’s breath hitched as she recognized the intent beneath the clipped words. “What about your meeting with the Kincaids?”

  “Some things are more important.” He lowered her to the bed, followed her down. The fit of angles to curves caused her to shudder from the intensity of her need, from the helplessness of it. “Right now, you’re the most important thing in my world.”

  She closed her eyes. “Please don’t say that.”

  He brushed her hair back from her face, tracing the line of her jaw and cheekbones. Lingering in a scintillating caress. “Why not?”

  She looked at him then, saw something in his eyes, something she didn’t want to identify. Something she suspected was reflected in her own. “Because it
’s perfect,” she whispered helplessly.

  A smile eased the hard, tough curve of his mouth, turning his customary ruthlessness into something that made him approachable. Something and someone she could lose herself in, who put her heart at serious risk. “Maybe there’s a reason for that,” he replied, his eyes dark and serious.

  Not a reason she dared look at. Not now. “Why you?” she demanded. “Why did it have to be you?”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  She pulled him down, inhaled him, drew him in. “Maybe because I’m a lucky, lucky woman.”

  He smiled with a tenderness that devastated. “You have that backward, sweetheart. I’m the lucky one.”

  After escaping Jack’s bed, Nikki decided to work from home that morning in order to avoid running into him at TKG. She emailed RJ Kincaid to warn him that she wouldn’t be in until after lunch. He shot her back an immediate response asking her to join him at her earliest convenience, no doubt so they could discuss his meeting with Jack.

  She arrived at the office to find the three Kincaids most intimately involved in the daily running of The Kincaid Group just concluding a meeting in the main conference room. Matthew Kincaid, tall and sporting a swimmer’s physique, lounged back in one of the leather swivel chairs, a look of concern disturbing the even tenor of his expression while he listened to his sister.

  “This could turn into a nightmare from a PR standpoint,” Laurel Kincaid was saying. As tall as Nikki, the eldest Kincaid daughter was a stunning redhead, the image of her mother. “We can’t allow Sinclair to throw any question on the stability of TKG by claiming he’s going to run the company once we elect our new CEO at the June meeting.”

  “And gaining new business between now and then will also be problematic,” Matthew added. “Who wants to hire a company who may not have a Kincaid at the helm in another three months?”

  RJ nodded wearily. “We’ve been around this and around it and I don’t see an easy solution. We have got to find something to hang Sinclair with. Speaking of which…” He waved Nikki into the room. “We’d appreciate an update. Please tell us you’ve found something. Anything.”