The Billionaire's Secret Life (Rosesson Brothers Book 4)

by Lisa Ladew

  “I’m sorry, Kate. You and your family have been great. It’s not that. I just -”

  “Of course it’s not. Nobody expects you to just slide into this life and not wonder where you came from. I don’t take it personally.” Kate felt guilty that, even in the midst of what had to be a huge struggle for him, he was concerned with her feelings about it. She slid her hand up to his neck and stroked harder, pressing against the taut muscles until she felt them give.

  Dan let out a groan. “You have precisely two years to stop doing that.”

  Kate laughed. “Oh, sure. Until we find out you have a wife and six kids at home, then it’s hands-off.”

  The muscles under her fingers jumped. “Nah, I don’t think so.”

  “About the wife and ankle-biters, or the hands-off?” Kate tried to lace her voice with a tone of teasing offense to show she was making a joke. And, if she was being honest, to protect herself from the idea of having to one day keep her hands to herself where Dan was concerned. As her fingers stretched into the hair at the nape of his neck, she admitted that that would be a very difficult effort for her.

  Dan’s head turned, his hair hanging loosely over one eye as he kept his neck tilted to allow Kate access. “The wife and kids. I don’t have a line on my left ring finger. And I’ve decided I’m the kind of man who would most definitely wear one if I had a family at home to love.”

  Kate’s breath shortened as he spoke, as his eyes darkened and locked on hers. “But also to the hands-off. Because right now and for the last week, Kate, on me is exactly where I want you and your hands.”

  In a move so smooth he must have studied it, Dan turned his back to the tree where his head had been resting, took her fingers from his neck in a firm grip, and used it to pull her against him as he leaned back on rough bark and sighed. Before she knew what happened, Kate was standing between his legs and leaning her whole body against his, her hands braced at his waist.

  As their lips touched, Dan’s warm hands cradled her face, his thumbs brushing along her cheekbones. The kiss deepened and his fingers slid back into her hair, holding her captive as he plundered her mouth with his tongue. Kate moaned into the air they shared and felt, as much as heard, Dan return the sentiment.

  They both turned feral at the same time, Kate’s fingers gripping Dan’s shirt and pulling him closer, as close as she could get him, while one of his hands left her hair to palm her ass and then press hard, bringing her so fully against him she could feel his hardening length pulsing warm beneath her. Oh yum. It felt perfect.

  With a sigh that sounded like surrender, even to her, Kate gave herself over to sensation. Her head dropped back and Dan took advantage, latching his hot mouth to the curve just above her collarbone, growling when she gasped and arched her back, pressed her belly harder against him.

  “Jesus, Kate, I want you. Right here. Tell me why we shouldn’t, because I can’t think of one goddamn reason.”

  A dozen reasons swirled through Kate’s mind: hikers in a national forest, she had no condom, she barely knew Dan… just to name a few. But none of them seemed as important as the one he’d named for her. Right here.

  What if he was only doing this because his emotions were so jumbled over their failed search? Kate didn’t want to be a consolation prize or a barrier to his healing. But, oh sweet, merciful heavens, the way he was touching her, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to say so.

  Just then Molly, who’d been happily exploring the ravine as well as the ledge above it during their search, started barking. Not the sound she made to warn of approaching potential threats, but her confused, whiny yip.

  It was the same noise she’d made almost constantly when Kate had brought home a cookie jar shaped like a cat. All hours of the day and night, Molly would stand in the kitchen and bark at the crockery as if to say, “This cat is up to something and if you humans would just pay attention, I could save you from certain death.”

  Molly had been more determined than Kate, who’d removed the cookie jar from the house after two sleepless nights. It was more than she could do now to ignore the noise, so she peeled her lips from Dan’s and scanned the ravine for her dog as she tried to slow her panting breaths.

  “I need to see what’s up with Molly.” Kate smiled at Dan and gave him a soft peck on the lips. She didn’t want to say no, but she was grateful for the excuse to say not yet, to make sure it was more than just this place and time driving his attraction to her.

  Dan smiled back, breathing heavy, and leaned his head against the tree trunk behind him. “Yeah, go ahead. Things got a little out of control.”

  The comment stung Kate, making her wonder if he truly had been more caught in his emotions than her as a person. She brushed it aside to deal with later as she spotted her wolfhound in the ravine, facing down what appeared to Kate to simply be a large fern.

  “What is it, goofy dog? You find some poor animal’s den?” Kate half climbed, half slid down to the ravine floor, her hands ending up filthy and caked in dirt. She glanced frequently over at her dog, but could see nothing moving in the brush nor any indication of what the problem could be. As far as she could tell, Molly had gone off her doggy rocker.

  “There’s nothing there, Mol. Would you shush?” But Molly kept barking until Kate kicked her foot into the fern and waved it around. A black and red rectangle shot out the other side and landed with a squelch in a puddle. Kate recognized the object immediately.

  “Dan! A phone!” She lunged over the fern and snatched the phone in its red grippy case, shaking it free of droplets. It was obvious it had been through the storms, though, with water filling both its headphone jack and charging port. Kate blew at it ineffectually as Dan came crashing through the undergrowth to reach her.

  “Lemme see.” His shaking hand reached out, waiting for Kate to hand over the goods. She did, watching his face as he examined the phone. Would he recognize it? And if so, what would that mean?

  Dan’s forehead scrunched as he turned the device over and over in his hands. He gave a humorless chuckle and locked eyes with Kate. “I guess I was hoping I would see a clue like this and it would all come rushing back. But I’m not even sure if this is mine.”

  His fingers roamed the sides of the case, looking to Kate like he was searching for a power button, before he finally gave up and ripped it off the phone altogether. Kate could see grit and bits of leaves sticking to the slick surface, telling her it had most likely spent time submerged. Crud.

  Dan pushed the button to power up the phone. Nothing happened. “Could be a dead battery. Aw hell, who am I kidding? This thing’s useless.”

  Kate hated to see him looking dejected again. “Maybe not. I’ve got a friend in the police department who works in IT. Maybe, since you’re a missing person, I could get him to take a look. I can at least ask.”

  Dan met her eyes, not even trying to hide his eagerness. “Could you? I can’t help but think we have to explore it.”

  Without her even thinking about it, Kate’s hand slid over Dan’s as it held the broken phone that was their only lead. “Of course you do. And I’ll do anything I can to help you find out.”

  Chapter 7

  It was near the end of Dan’s shift the following weekend when Angus abruptly went home, leaving his son, Tuck, in charge of closing. Dan’s antennae instantly perked up. What could cause a hardworking man like Angus to up and leave the pub like that?

  In all the time he’d been working at the restaurant, Dan had never seen Angus slow down, much less stop. He admired the hell out of the man for it. Angus worked as hard as all his employees and was always there for closing.

  “What was that about?” Dan half-turned from the whiskey he was pouring for a regular at the bar as Tuck walked behind him. Kate’s brother shrugged and slowed.

  “Dunno. But usually the only thing that’ll get him out of here is his ‘wee lass’.” Tuck added a bit of his father’s brogue as he spoke Kate’s frequent nickname. There was no anger in his to
ne, just a matter-of-fact acceptance of his sister’s special place in their father’s heart.

  Dan couldn’t help but wonder for what seemed like the millionth time if he had brothers or sisters in his old life, worrying about him. Or, what if he did, but they were glad he was gone? It was that kind of uncertainty that woke Dan up in a cold sweat most nights. What if he finally remembered his old life, and it was shitty in comparison to the one he had here?

  Shaking his head, Dan tuned back in to Tuck, who was tossing a last comment over his shoulder on his way to the kitchen. “He said something about her always getting in over her head as he was walking out, but who knows? Could be anything from a car wreck to credit card debt.”

  Dan startled at that. A car wreck? Kate could be hurt? He followed Tuck through the swinging door into the pub’s smoothly running kitchen. “Your dad would say, though, -right? If Kate was hurt?”

  Tuck rolled his eyes as he glanced at Dan. “If she was having her last rites I’m sure he would’ve mentioned it. Otherwise, the show must go on.”

  He gestured at Dan to get back on the pub floor, obviously done with what he considered an unnecessary conversation. For the next hour, Dan stewed about Kate and wondered what could have happened that would have caused her father to leave the pub and go to her. He moved through the pub’s closing routine as quickly as humanly possible, even taking on other people’s duties in an effort to get them out the door faster.

  His compulsion to get to Kate surprised him a little. Since their make-out session in the national forest last weekend, they’d scarcely been in each other’s company. Dan found himself listening for her car on nights when she came home after him, but hesitating to go upstairs and greet her. He was afraid he might lose control of his urges again and wind up insulting her family’s hospitality.

  As he rode home with Tuck, Dan prepared himself to be nonchalant. This wasn’t any of his business; he wasn’t really family. He’d just make sure Kate was okay, then slip quietly into the basement and try not to intrude.

  That plan went out the window as soon as he and Tuck approached the back door and heard raised voices inside. The loudest of all was Kate’s.

  “And you, you had to open your big mouth and tell Da? What the hell was the point of that, Aiden? I’m fine, and I would’ve stayed fine without you interfering, fucker!”

  Dan couldn’t make out Aiden’s mumbled reply, but Kate’s stentorian retort gave him enough clues. “Oh, bullshit. You weren’t so worried that you didn’t tell me I looked like a raccoon on a Walk of Shame! Spoiled little asshole.”

  Tuck let loose a huge laugh at his siblings’ exchange. Kate’s verbal wrath instantly turned in his direction.

  “Keep it up, Tuck. It’s been a shit day already; I will not hesitate to take all your asses down with me.” Dan had never heard such venom in Kate’s voice before. He wondered what could have precipitated it. As he entered the kitchen and cleared the barrier of Tuck’s shoulders, he got a look at Kate and instantly went from curious to outraged.

  Her hair was wet, he guessed from a recent shower, partly because she wore a tank top and sweatpants Dan knew she liked to change into after she bathed. He even caught a whiff of her coconut and lime shower gel as the air between them cleared of obstacles.

  But the skin around Kate’s left eye was a mottled purple and black, and the white of her eye had a huge broken blood vessel that gave her an almost zombie-like appearance. She’d obviously been assaulted. Dan felt his protective instincts flare as he prepared to go to battle against whoever had hurt this incredible woman.

  He didn’t get to say a word before Angus was shouting almost as loud as his daughter, slashing the air with his arm in a gesture of finality. “It’s this damn job of yours. I’ll not allow it anymore, my daughter going out and being in danger every day.”

  Angus paced across the kitchen, his voice softening with paternal affection. “You’ve had a good run, Katydid, but enough is enough. Come on back to the pub now, and let your father’s heart rest easy.”

  Dan watched Kate’s face crumble as her father’s words sank in. “Da, you know I can’t do that. I love my job.”

  Her father shook his head. “There will be other jobs, Katydid. And one day the most important job: motherhood. In the meantime, you do what your Da says, okay? Take it easy on me old heart and quit this silly job. Won’t you, child?”

  Kate turned to look back at Aiden who, Dan noticed, seemed to suddenly find his shoes absolutely fascinating. Dan felt a mingled anger and sympathy for the young man, who surely hadn’t meant for this to happen, despite his contentious relationship with his big sister.

  Finding no backup in that corner, Kate squared her shoulders and picked up her purse. “The hell I will. I love my job, Da. And you shouldn’t try to stop me any more than you’d stop one of your sons from being a soldier.”

  With that, she swept past Dan and out the door. He watched Kate as she made her way down the stairs, aiming for her car. When he turned back, it was to find three pairs of pleading male eyes on him.

  “I, uh, I guess I’ll go with her.” Dan raised his eyebrows as he spoke, waiting for one of them to contradict him, to say he’d overstepped his bounds as a guest in their home. Nobody spoke a word as he turned to follow Kate.

  He heard her unlock the car doors from the inside as he approached, but still he hesitated. “You want some company?”

  “Sure, get in. They won’t call me every twenty minutes for the rest of the night if I have a big, strong man along to protect me.” Kate’s sardonic tone wasn’t lost on Dan. He decided the best course of action was probably to stay quiet and let Kate do the talking. He didn’t have long to wait.

  “It’s been the same bullshit all my life, ya know? No matter how many guys I punched out, no matter how many self-defense classes I took, no matter how few dates I went on, my dad and brothers always acted like I was some kind of shrinking violet. I’m so fucking sick of it!” Kate punctuated her outburst with a slam of her hand against the steering wheel, then went quiet.

  Dan thought about what he wanted to say, about all the protective instincts swirling in his head and fighting for release, but decided to start with a question instead. He cast his voice soft and concerned as he looked at her in profile. “So, what happened to your eye?”

  Kate’s shoulders rose and fell as she sighed. “It was nothing, really. An elderly patient resisted as we were trying to get her on the gurney, and she elbowed me in the eye. Poor lady, she was so scared, who cares about my face? I didn’t have time to ice it or anything, so it looks uglier than it would have otherwise.”

  The side-eye she was giving Dan told him that, despite her words, she was feeling insecure about her appearance. He decided to let the truth fly. “Actually, I think it’s hot. You look like a badass.”

  Kate let out a laugh that filled the car and brought a grin snapping onto Dan’s face. “Are you lying? I should’ve let her split my lip, then. Maybe I could’ve gotten you to kiss it and make it better.”

  The hush that fell between them after her teasing comment was heavy, thick. Dan cleared his throat to begin. “Kate, about that...”

  They’d never talked about the day they’d kissed in the forest, about how much further he knew they both wanted to go. He kept hoping he wouldn’t have to explain his hesitation, but that was a cowardly choice.

  “It’s okay, Dan. You were upset. Nobody’d blame you for seeking out whatever comfort was available. You thought better of it and I understand. I shouldn’t have made that joke about getting you to kiss me.”

  Her dejected tone pulled at Dan’s heart even as her erroneous conclusions pulled at his conscience. “To borrow a phrase from your father, Kate, that is the most daft thing I’ve ever heard. I didn’t think better of it. I’ve been thinking about kissing you – and more – ever since we stopped.”

  Kate didn’t reply, but Dan saw her chest rising and falling more rapidly. Suddenly, she glanced in her rearview mirror, p
ut on her turn signal, and pulled to the side of the quiet, empty road. As the car came to a halt, she put it in park and turned sideways in her seat to face him.

  “What’s the problem then? I mean, if we’re attracted to each other, and we currently live in the same house, what’s the hold up? We could be… closer.”

  Dan watched a blush creep up Kate’s chest to her cheeks. Hot. She was hot and sexy and feisty and loving… the perfect woman.

  “Kate, I want to be closer with you, but I don’t want to insult your father. He gave me a place to stay, I don’t want to shove it in his face by taking advantage of his daughter.”

  The blush deepened to a flush, and Kate’s eyes filled with fury. “Take advantage? You’re no different than he is! Let me clue you in, Dan: you can’t take advantage of a grown woman who’s been dying to fuck you almost since she met you! Maybe you should think less about what my father thinks of you, and more about what I think of you.”

  Dying to… fuck? Shit. Dan’s dick shot ramrod straight and he shifted in his seat. If only he knew who the hell he was, this wouldn’t be so hard, would it? “Well, that’s not how I do things, Kate! I only sleep with women I care about, and I don’t put them in awkward positions with their families just to satisfy my own attraction!”

  Kate shot back almost before the last word had left his mouth. “How the hell would you know how you do things, Dan? You don’t even know who the fuck you are!”

  “I decide who I am, Kate, moment to moment. And I don’t want to hurt your family.”

  He watched her face crumble and her shoulders slump. “You’d rather hurt both of us by missing out on whatever we could have together? You’d rather hide behind my family than be a man who’s willing to take a chance?”

  Dan deflated. Was that what he was doing? Kate’s words replayed through his head and a smirk twitched the corner of his mouth. “You’ve wanted me since you met me? Nice.”