The waiter poured wine into the glasses while the boat swayed gently as it headed back to the pier.
“Today was wonderful. Thank you for the kidnap dinner.” Kenzie sipped her wine. She shivered and Reed slid a shawl about her shoulders as the night air grew colder.
“Me, too.” Never in a million years would he have taken one of the women he used to date hiking and then for a dinner cruise. They would have demanded a refund and called him a cheapskate. Everything that he had done, from dating to mergers, had been to protect the reputation of his company. He dated the kind of women rich men were supposed to date. Kenzie was beautiful, intelligent, witty and stylish and he felt lucky that she was with him. He loved her kindness, her sense of fun and her sassiness. And she took such pleasure in simple things like hiking up a rocky island to look at a broken-down teahouse.
They moved inside to eat dinner.
The waiter served freshly caught rainbow trout with a delicate white wine, asparagus and tiny purple potatoes. Reed watched Kenzie’s face. She looked so beautiful in the flicker of the fake candles on the table. He’d wanted real candles but the captain had vetoed that idea.
“Can I have five seconds to talk about business?” Kenzie asked.
“I’m always about the bottom line.”
“The Mariposa should do this. Buy a boat, hire a crew, rent Donovan and Hendrix out for special occasions like an anniversary or a honeymoon. What could be more exciting than a five-star chef and pastry chef, an elegant yacht and a sunset? If we found a big enough boat, we could squeeze in a string quartet.”
“I think it’s a great idea, but let me ask you one question. Were you thinking about this because you were bored today?”
“No, not at all. This was so romantic and exciting and I want other people to have this feeling and I want the Mariposa to give them that.”
“I’m in. We’ll talk to Miss E. and see what she says.”
Once dinner was over, the yacht slid into its berth. The crew wished them good-night and Reed piled their duffel bag back into the limo.
Kenzie was mostly silent all the way back. Once they stood in front of the door to her suite, she studied him. “Want to come in?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes.”
Chapter 8
Kenzie stood just inside the entryway. Reed looked a little uncertain. To help him understand what she wanted, she ran her hands up his arms to his face and then pulled him to her for a long, deep kiss.
He slid his arms around her and held her tight.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” he asked.
“I’ve never been more certain in my life about anything.”
He kissed her again, his lips soft against hers. He palmed one breast, his thumb circling her nipple until it was so taut, she groaned. Heat threaded through her with little explosive vibrations. She leaned against him hearing the deep thud of his heart and his quick indrawn breath.
“Thank you for today.” She pulled away slightly and took his hand, leading him into her bedroom. The housekeeping staff had turned down the bed and left a little truffle for her on the pillow.
She stood next to the bed and he gently reached for the zipper at the back of her black dress and slid it off. Her dress fell forward, down her arms and then to the floor. He stepped back to look at her. She reached behind, unfastened her bra and tossed it on a chair. With her breasts free, he reached out to trace the darkness of her nipples. His breath took on a ragged quality.
Kenzie reached for him and slowly lifted his knit shirt. He shivered when she pushed it over his head. He drew his arms out of the sleeves and she tossed the shirt away.
He unbuckled his belt, then unbuttoned his pants, the zipper a quiet rasp, and pushed his pants down his legs. She admired his body. Lean with broad shoulders tapering into a narrow waist. His pale skin glowed in the light of her bedroom, catching the golden highlights in his blond hair. She smiled as she pushed off her panties and stood in front of him, unashamed of her nudity. He slid his boxers down and his erection bobbed up. He was so ready for her. She touched the head of his penis with one finger, feeling moisture beading beneath her touch.
He pushed her down on the mattress and leaned in front of her, spreading her legs and leaning in to kiss her breasts. His mouth and tongue moved over the hard peaks of her nipples and desire pulsated through her. She moaned.
Reed lifted each foot, removing her shoes. His fingers caressed the arch of her foot, his fingers so gentle hunger exploded inside her.
Reed looked so earnest yet so sexy. She wasn’t sure what to expect of him as a lover, but this coy mix of gentleness and seduction was not it. He was intoxicating. Her body began to shake and her hand sank into his blond hair. She leaned back, enjoying the sensation. She fell back on the mattress aware of nothing but his fingers on her skin, sliding up the insides of her thighs to reach the hidden core of her body.
She trembled as he slid warm fingers inside her and gently stroked the inner walls of her sex. Hunger grew in intensity and she pulled him up to lie next to her.
He reached toward the nightstand for the condom and she heard the scratching sound of foil being torn open. She watched through the haze of her desire as he put the condom on and then stretched out next to her. He drew her into his arms, her body taut against his while his fingers searched out every curve, every erotic spot he could find.
He kissed each breast tenderly, rolling his tongue around each nipple and then drawing back slightly to blow on them. The heat of her skin and the coolness of his breath sent desire rocketing through her.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, his tone almost reverent. “I’ve never known a woman like you...ever.”
“Nor I you,” she whispered.
He kissed her, his tongue slipping between her lips to caress hers. His fingers slid across her breasts, down her stomach and between her thighs. She gasped as he gently pushed her legs apart and slid in between them, the hardness of his erection tight against her.
A wave of pure ecstasy crashed over her. She arched her back wanting more, wanting him deep inside her. Wanting him to consume her, to take everything he had to offer. She ached with need, writhing against him, the scent of her arousal strong.
“Reed,” she half pleaded.
“Yes, Kenzie?”
“Inside me. Please. Now.” Her voice was harsh and demanding.
Slowly he entered her, moving deep and steady. Her vagina clenched around him. Passion exploded, and her orgasm began slowly, increasing in intensity until her whole body shuddered.
He pushed deep inside her, each stroke adding to the passion building until she fell over the edge, over and over, her body pulsing with each spasm. She was on fire.
The spicy scent of sex clung to the air. He thrust one last time, his own exploding orgasm intense and strong. He groaned, shuddering with each explosion until he went limp, spent.
He rolled to her side, one finger lazily circling her navel. “That was nice.”
She laughed against his mouth. “Nice? Only nice?” This had been earth-shattering to her.
“I think we can do better.” He kissed her breast, his tongue lingering on her tight nipple.
“This would probably kill me if it got any...nicer.”
“Me, too,” he whispered against her ear.
But what a way to go. She snuggled against him and fell asleep to the deepness of his breathing as he fell into sleep against her.
Chapter 9
Reed could barely concentrate. Each time he tried to focus on the code in front of him, his mind skittered off to the image of Kenzie hot and so passionate, and he grew erect with the memory. He couldn’t remember ever having such mind-blowing sex in his whole life. He forced the image of her out of his head. He had to
get back to work. Daydreaming wasn’t going to solve the casino’s problems.
He sent Scott a text. Found something.
Be there in five, Scott texted back.
Reed sat back in his chair, his laptop open in front of him. He’d been chugging coffee for four hours and felt wired. He was a little concerned over seeing Kenzie’s brother and hoping he didn’t have a big sign on his forehead saying, I slept with your sister.
He drummed his fingers on his desk. He’d always been a private person. He’d never dated anyone in his company. He didn’t want to be with a woman whose career depended on him. And here he was dating Kenzie, whose whole life overlapped with his. He worked with her, her brothers and her grandmother. Everywhere he turned, Kenzie, or a member of the family, popped up.
He had to find a way to meet with Scott and not give away that he’d seen Kenzie naked. And boy, was she beautiful naked. He’d gloried in the feel of her skin, the softness of her hair and the delicate shape to her breasts. Just thinking about her made him want to hunt her down and take her off for an afternoon of lovemaking.
Scott opened the door to his office and stepped in. “What have you got?”
“I finally found a module that was added to the original programming for the cash cards used in the slot machines.” He turned his laptop around to show Scott the lines of code he’d found. They’d been buried deep, but he was good.
“What are you showing me?” Scott perched on the edge of the desk. “In English, please.”
“This code here skims five percent off the top of the cash cards when the money is first added. And this line of codes sends the money to a bank account. Here you can see the bank account number and this is the routing number.” Reed pointed to the numbers. Scott shook his head. “The routing number is to a bank that I’m pretty sure is in the Cayman Islands.” Reed was proud that he’d finally tracked it down.
“Wow,” Scott said, frowning. “Can you tell who owns the account?”
“Haven’t gotten that far.”
“Can you tell how much money is in the account?” Scott asked.
“Not until I hack into it. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that I found this. I found a copy of the original program and set up an app to compare it line for line. Any anomalies that showed I checked by viewing them myself, which is why it’s taken so long. It’s a lot of lines of code.”
“You found it sooner than I expected.”
Reed tried not to smirk. “Like you doubted me.” The module had been very cleverly hidden and Reed might have ignored it if he hadn’t known what he was looking for. “This module was post-added and integrated so carefully that I might have missed it if I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“A professional programmer had to build this special module,” Scott said.
“Yes.”
Scott studied the laptop screen for a moment. “I’m glad you’re on our side.”
Reed was glad, too.
Scott grinned. “Now that’s done, how was your date with Kenzie yesterday?”
Reed stared at him, surprised. His stomach knotted up. He had a friend who worked for the government and when he mentioned Scott’s name she got this fearful look on her face and told him to be glad he was on his side. “You’re her older brother—do you feel comfortable talking about my date with her?” Take the offense, he told himself.
“I’m doing my due diligence as her big brother.” His mouth widened into a grin. “And I have video of you going into her suite last night. Late and not coming out until the early morning.”
Reed swallowed hard, a dozen images of his death circling his thoughts. “Are you spying on me?”
“I don’t spy, I do my job.”
“That sounds frightening, overlord,” Reed said.
“Did you just use some geek word on me?”
Reed nodded.
“I got it. I’m sort of proud of myself.” Scott burst out laughing. “You should see the look on your face.”
“Is it fear?” Reed asked. He always thought he was capable of subtle stoicism.
Scott shook his head. “More like defiance. I can respect that.”
Reed thought about that. Kenzie was close to her brothers. How much could he admit without getting his fingers broken? Or some organ that was ultimately valuable to procreation. “We had a good time yesterday.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Are you okay with me dating Kenzie?”
Scott paused. “No.”
Was his estate in order, was his will ready? His palms started to sweat. Reed pushed back from the table, too surprised to answer.
Scott burst out laughing. “Of course I’m okay. We’re all okay. You’re not Sam.”
“I could be worse,” Reed said.
Scott leaned toward Reed. “Miss E. threatened Hunter, Donovan and me with bodily harm if we mangled you in any way.” He cracked his knuckles as though to underscore his comment.
No wonder he had mad love for Miss E. “Thank you.”
“Miss E. is the person you want on your side, and she thinks you’re all right. She thinks you’re good for Kenzie.”
Reed didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until his chest started to hurt. He breathed out, relieved. He respected Miss E. “Then I’m going to get back to work. As soon as I have more information for you, I’ll text you.”
Scott slid off the desk. “Okay. Can you fix it so we can reimplement the software? The casino profits are down. People don’t want to deal in money anymore and they want the convenience of the cards and the rewards.”
“Easy. It will take me a few hours. I can have everything back to normal by tonight.”
“Good. Thanks.” Scott let himself out while Reed turned back to his laptop. Reed could have just used the original software and uploaded that to the casino servers, but improvements had been made over the years and he didn’t want to lose those improvements. He would just remove the module and fix all the lines of code that pointed back to it.
He set to work, half smiling. This was the part he truly enjoyed.
* * *
Lydia sat on the sofa in her family room, the baby in a bassinet next to her. She held a pair of white booties and a white knitted vest, and gushed over them. “Nina, they are beautiful. He will be the best-dressed baby at his christening.”
“I know he will.” Nina’s knitting needles clicked as she worked on a matching hat.
Kenzie constantly marveled at Nina’s knitting. Her own gift was a handmade suit in white satin. “Babies in white are so ridiculous. They’ll only be clean for a moment and then they’ll spit up.” She patted little Christian’s sleeping face. “You’re cute, but you’re messy.”
“That’s his job,” Lydia said with a laugh as she unwrapped another gift. Miss E. had a meeting and had simply sent her offering. She opened a box to reveal a silver spoon and matching silver cup with Christian’s initials, CMR, on the side.
“Up until the time I met Scott, I never wanted one of these,” Nina said with a wave of one hand at the baby. “Before Scott, I had Carl and that was baby enough for me.”
“How is your ex-husband doing?”
“He discovered he liked the weekly grind of a TV series. He was in the running for a movie, but he turned it down. He likes TV better and the show is doing well in the ratings. The network gave it an early renewal. And his spanking new wife figured out he makes more money doing TV. Also he and Anastasia get to stay in one place.” She put down her knitting needles and using air quotes said, “‘To solidify their relationship,’ as she so informed me. My baby is finally growing up.”
“Say what you will about Carl,” Kenzie said, “but his ego was always amusing. With Anastasia in the mix, they’ll be hilarious for years.” She knew Carl had been a han
dful, but Nina had loved him and in a way still loved him.
“Speaking of exes,” Nina said as she resumed knitting, “I heard that Sam has picked his new Kenzie.”
“My old assistant is his new project,” Kenzie said, not at all surprised at Sam’s choice.
“And that was why you and he never worked out. You weren’t a project. You didn’t need fixing.”
“I found that out.”
Nina laughed. “You’re perfect the way you are and I’m glad you’re my best friend.” Nina’s phone dinged. She pulled it out of her pocket. “Wow, look at that.”
“What?” Kenzie leaned over to look at the screen.
“Plane tickets to Florence for our honeymoon,” Nina said. “We’ll be camping at the honeymoon suite at the de Medici hotel.”
“I was there once,” Kenzie sighed. The memory of that visit would never leave her. “The butlers have butlers.” Sam had rented one and Kenzie had been thoroughly impressed. Though she’d thought they were on a romantic weekend, Sam had been gone longer than he’d been around.
“Scott knows what I like and he’s not afraid to pay for it,” Nina said with a smug tone. “He’ll be getting a little something extra tonight.” She winked at Kenzie.
“No, no. Ears burning. Stop.” Kenzie covered her ears.
“I heard that a certain computer billionaire, mogul, geek, was seen outside the door to your suite and didn’t leave until the wee hours of the morning.” Nina grinned at Kenzie. “Spill it.”
“Ladies never talk.”
Lydia sighed. “So this is what it’s like being single, dissecting every romance.”
“And doing a play-by-play afterward. You were single,” Nina said.
“Saint Agnes is an all-girls’ college.”
“Doesn’t that count?” Kenzie asked.
“Uniforms and no boys.”
Drawing Hearts Page 10
