“The only one of us who is married,” Jerry added. “Hi, this is my place,” he said, stepping up to Kate.
“Hi,” she responded.
Michael observed Kate, noticing the way her jeans hugged her ass as she reached forward for Jerry’s outstretched hand. He glanced at his friends who were lined up next to him, looking somewhat ridiculous as they waited for their introductions.
“You remind me of a younger version of Denzel Washington,” Kate said when she released Jerry’s hand.
Jerry exposed his white teeth when he grinned. “I’ve heard that a couple times.”
Michael introduced Kate to the rest of his crew before they settled in at the poker table. “Want a beer? I think that’s all we have.”
Kate shook her head no as she took a seat across the table from him. “I don’t drink when I gamble,” she said before giving him the gift of her gorgeous dimples.
He set his Corona down in front of him and reached for his wallet.
“How much? Is this a tournament or a cash game?” she asked while reaching into her purse.
“Cash game. You can put in as much as you want. No limit,” Michael responded.
“Hell, no. There is a limit—a thousand. We aren’t all drowning in cash like this one,” Ben said while poking at Michael, who was sitting on his left.
“Okay, sure. A thousand. But you can buy back in if you run out of cash,” Michael added.
“And you’ve done that plenty of times,” Jerry said before cracking a smile. “Welcome to the game.” He raised his Corona in the air to Kate, who was sitting next to him.
“Thanks,” she said, placing two hundred dollars on the table.
“High card is the dealer,” Jerry said while shuffling the deck of cards. He flipped a card face-up to everyone at the table. “Looks like you, Michael.” He pushed the cards to him and sunk back in his chair.
“Not going to put your sunglasses on?” Michael asked Kate while deftly shuffling the cards.
“I don’t think I’ll need them.”
I think you do. Your eyes tell me everything, Michael thought as he dealt.
After several rounds of Texas hold ’em, Kate proved to be a legit player, but Michael had yet to go head-to-head with her. His cards were always shit whenever she was in the pot, and so he spent his time watching Kate, reading her, studying the way her eyes looked down and her lower lip would sometimes catch between her teeth. It was a nervous habit of hers he had picked up on during their first meeting. She always won the hand when he saw her do this. She was trying to appear worried, to dupe his friends into thinking she was bluffing.
It was the longest hour he had ever played poker. Sitting across from Kate killed his focus on the cards. He could smell the sweet, flowery fragrance of her perfume, and since she was wearing barely any make-up, Michael noticed a slight dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
God, did he want to kiss her.
“Michael? Michael?” Jerry was waving his hand in the air as if pushing away a cloud of cigar smoke.
Michael looked up. “Sorry. My turn?” He glanced at his cards. Pocket kings. Finally, a decent pocket pair. He placed his bet and leaned back in the black folding chair, which was a bit too small for him.
“I’m all in.” Kate looked up at Michael and tilted her head.
He kept his eyes on her as his friends to her right bowed out of the game. When it was back to him, he studied her, checking for tells. She swallowed and adjusted back in her seat. That was new. Was she bluffing?
Or was he just feeling sexual tension from her? The magnetic pull between them was making it hard to breathe. He reached for his chest, ready to loosen a tie that was strangling him, only he was wearing a T-shirt. “Is it hot in here?” he found himself asking as he stood up from the table.
“Come on, you afraid of a challenge? A duel of the sexes?” Jerry joked.
Michael tried to focus, but he found himself consumed by his past, by the memories he had tried to silence. Why was this happening now?
The rocky terrain as his boots slipped on the climb.
Gunfire.
IEDs.
Torn flesh.
Blood.
He turned away from the table, not wanting Kate to see him like this. His throat constricted, and he wondered if he was choking. He opened the patio door and walked outside. He braced against the railing and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the steady stream of images that exhausted his mind.
“You all right?” Jerry asked. He slipped through the door and leaned against the railing next to him. “Kate wanted to check on you herself, but I figured you’d prefer not.”
Good call. He inhaled a sharp breath and opened his eyes. “I’m fine. Really.” He tucked the painful memories back inside and rubbed his hands over his face. “Be right in.”
After a few moments, he sat back down at the table and reached for his beer. He took a swig of his drink and studied Kate. Her mouth was angled down, and her shoulders drooped forward. Was she worried about him? Or worried he might call?
Perhaps she was just playing him.
“I fold.” He set his beer down and watched her cheeks flush.
The two players to Michael’s left also folded, leaving only Kate in the hand. She began to gather in the pot. “So, what did you have?” he asked as he leaned back in his chair, feeling more relaxed.
“A good player never reveals,” she said as she stacked the chips in front of her.
And then she winked at him.
You’re killing me, woman. Michael straightened in his seat, feeling overwhelmed by his desire to kiss the edges of her mouth as her lips shifted up into a sexy grin.
***
“You’re really not going to tell me, huh?”
“No way,” Kate said, swatting his chest. “What if we play again?”
He stopped walking for a moment. “Can it be just us next time? And maybe . . . a different kind of poker game?”
She studied his eyes as they focused on her mouth, wondering what sinful albeit delicious thoughts he was harboring. This man was going to get her into serious trouble if she wasn’t careful. “In your dreams.” She couldn’t help but crack a smile. Maybe in my dreams, too.
Michael cleared his throat. “Why’d you change hotels?”
I think I’d rather go back to talking about strip poker. She started to walk again, not sure what lie to spin. “I just thought it would be more convenient to be here for the gala.” Totally plausible, right? And true, in part. It would be a lot easier to stay at the same hotel as the ball.
“Miss Adams?”
Kate looked away from Michael and toward the concierge, who was approaching her. The staff had become well acquainted with her from her work on the ball. “Yes?”
“We had a delivery for you earlier this evening.” He was carrying a glass vase of at least two dozen white tulips.
Michael tilted his head and studied Kate. “Secret admirer?”
Kate swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. The memory of the flowers that had been laid upon her mother’s grave flashed in her mind.
Michael removed his hands from his short pockets and reached for the vase when Kate didn’t move. “You okay?” he asked, nodding toward the concierge and studying her.
She was staring at the vase in his hands. The color of her rosy cheeks had adjusted a shade lighter to match the feeling of panic that was encouraging her heart to escalate.
“Kate?” Michael gripped the vase with one hand and rested his other hand on her shoulder.
She looked up into his eyes, not sure what to say. “Yeah, I’m okay. No note?” She kept her hands to her sides, not eager to touch the flowers, which were no doubt from the man or woman who was following her. She had started to believe it was a jealous ex-lover of Michael’s who was trying to scare her away, but now her mind reeled, trying to come up with alternate theories.
“I don’t see a message,” he replied as he held the vase
up. “I’ll ask the concierge.”
She watched Michael head to the desk, and she rubbed her hands against her thighs, unconsciously sucking her bottom lip between her teeth.
The texts had made her nervous. The red envelope had tripped her up a bit, making her more alert. More cautious. But the flowers—the flowers felt different. Perhaps it was the connection to the grave, to her mother, that was making her ready to run to the bathroom and throw up.
“No note,” Michael said upon approach. “Any idea who sent them?”
Kate rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know. It’s no big deal.” She started for the elevator, but Michael grasped her arm.
“Kate, what’s going on?”
She gulped and turned to face him. “The flowers are probably from someone who knew my mother. Someone left the same white tulips at her grave when I visited last weekend.”
His hand slipped from her forearm to her wrist, and he pulled her closer to him. The gentleness of his grip, despite his massive strength, surprised her. “You’re going to drop those,” she said, her gaze drawn to the vase, although she wanted it nowhere near her room. Maybe I’d like him to drop them, she thought as her chest lifted with breath.
“Do you want me to leave the flowers down here?”
They were close. Their bodies would have been touching if it weren’t for the massive vase of flowers between them. “Yes, please,” she whispered while looking up at him, her eyes unable to hide the emotion that was stirring inside her.
He released his grip on her and walked to the nearby lounge area. He set the vase down and walked back to her. “Let me take you to your room.” It was a statement, not a question.
She stared at the floor in silence as the elevator moved to the top floor. She held the strap of her bag with both hands, clinging to it like a lifeline. Her knuckles whitened.
“Will you let me inside and tell me what is really going on?” he asked once they reached her room.
She searched her bag for her keycard. “I’m fine.” She turned to open the door but shuddered when his hand touched her back.
“I may be a bit cold-hearted when it comes to women, but I’m always there for a friend.” His voice was low and raspy.
“Are we friends?” she asked, her back still to him.
“I think so.”
“Then I’d better say goodnight now.”
She had no idea what she would do once inside her room. She knew it would be easy for her to lose herself in his arms. To forget her confusion and fear.
But then Michael would simply become another problem.
She felt a little cold when his hand left her back. She pushed open her door, nervous that she would change her mind. “Good night, Michael,” she said as she turned to face him.
“See you tomorrow?” he asked, pressing his palm against the wall outside the door frame.
Kate hesitated for a moment. “Probably not until the gala. I’ll be working in the ballroom, to make sure all the preparations are complete.”
He pushed away from the wall and shoved his hands back in his shorts pockets. “Good night.”
She watched him turn and walk away, feeling all kinds of alone.
Chapter Eight
It was Friday afternoon. Kate hadn’t seen or heard from Michael since he dropped her off at her room, and she also hadn’t received any other messages or deliveries from her mystery stalker. Of course, her father had called her numerous times—she assumed to push the topic of her return home—but she always put him to voicemail. She felt guilty, but she needed to focus. Besides, she would be going home soon.
She had spent the last day and a half working nonstop on the Maddox Gala. And everything for the ball was about as perfect as it could be for such a last minute event.
Kate walked around the ballroom, making sure everything was decorated as spectacularly as she had imagined. And it was. The designer had done a fantastic job. The room looked sleek and sophisticated. The ballroom had a baby grand piano, large crystal chandelier, two stages (one for the orchestra and another for the auction), and plenty of room for dancing. Thirty tables surrounded the dance floor. The ice blue linens with metallic overlays and silver chairs would be enhanced by the vases of fresh, cream-colored roses that would be placed tomorrow as centerpieces. Kate’s favorite part of the ballroom were the two terraces. On each, French doors opened out onto a romantic and cozy overlook: one of the city, the other of the hotels massive rose garden. Kate could picture the band playing with the French doors open, the fresh September air ventilating the room. It would be perfect . . . she hoped.
She smiled and took a seat at one of the tables. She was waiting for her friend Joseph, the caterer. He’d arrived early that morning but had been busy shopping for his menu. She tapped her short, pink nails on the table in front of her and reached for her phone. With it, she began to research Michael on the internet. She had done a little research before she accepted the invite to Charlotte, mostly about his investment company and the women he dated. She skipped the details of his life in the Marines, curious about whom Michael Maddox was now. So far, he had been very different from what she expected. He continuously surprised her upon each encounter, and she found herself growing even more attracted to him. She was beginning to wonder if her feelings were starting to cross the line of simple attraction, which she knew was as dangerous as running in Central Park alone at night. Or maybe even more so.
She scrolled down the page of web hits until she found an article that had been published in GQ a few years earlier. Next to the article was a photo of Michael in his marine’s uniform. Oh God. Hot. Hot. Hot! He looked like a man not to be reckoned with in a business suit, but in his military uniform, he looked downright dangerous. Have some self-control.
She averted her eyes from the photo, needing to still her pulse, and began reading the article.
Michael Maddox is a real life superhero. He is a man whom men dream of becoming and women fantasize about. He is an American military hero.
But today? Today he is dressed in a custom-fitted Ralph Lauren three-piece suit and sitting across from the board of directors for a company he just sold for three-hundred million dollars. Today, Michael Maddox is a multi-millionaire.
But before the brawny man became a superhero, before he received the Purple Heart and Silver Star, before he became a superrich entrepreneur—who was he?
He grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina; his parents were both teachers. According to his parents, Michael was a gifted child. A prodigy. He enrolled at Duke when he was only sixteen and completed his Bachelor’s in Engineering by his eighteenth birthday. Then he went on to earn Master’s degrees in computer science and business at Yale, graduating at the top of both classes in 2001.
But when the tragic event of 9/11 occurred, Michael found himself pursued by government agencies and both the Army and Marines. They wanted him for his genius and his athleticism. So, Michael decided to serve his country and place his entrepreneurial desires on hold for the greater good.
He enlisted in the military as an officer and quickly worked his way up to First Lieutenant. He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, completing several tours of duty for his country.
In 2005, a pre-unified command plan to fight against global terror networks was proposed, and in February 2006, in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was activated. Michael became a member of the elite Special Forces after completing seven months of training at Camp Lejeune. In addition to the rigorous military training he’d already received, he trained in reconnaissance, maritime navigation, foreign internal defense, survival evasion, asymmetric warfare, close quarter combat . . . and the list goes on. After his training, he was deployed to Afghanistan on several reconnaissance missions, which was when Michael began working on building and refining his intelligence software and technology. He improved the tactical remote sensor system to better monitor enemy activity
and helped develop more advanced SATCOMS.
But it was his experience before Operation Knife—
“Kate!”
Kate stopped reading the article and looked up to find Joseph approaching her. She pressed against the table and stood up, feeling like she had one too many to drink. As soon as she was standing, she found herself lifted into the air as Joseph spun her around.
He planted a kiss on both her cheeks when her heels found the ground again. “Nice to see you, too,” she said. Laughter filled her voice as she looked up at the bright-eyed chef. She’d forgotten how attractive he was. “How’s everything going?” she asked as they began walking toward the hotel’s industrial kitchen.
“Fantastic,” he remarked. “I procured all of the fresh food we need for tomorrow, and we’re good to go. My team is practicing the menu as we speak. The hotel servers seem competent and professional. Everything is going smoothly.”
“That’s great news. Anything I can do for you? Anything else you need?”
“We’re good. I’m just looking forward to seeing you in an evening gown tomorrow. You will dress for the occasion?” His green eyes widened with his smile.
“Yes, of course. I’m torn between red and navy. You know . . . I want to dress in our countries’ colors since the fundraiser is for veterans.”
“Red,” he all but shouted. “Definitely red. With your long, golden locks, you absolutely must wear red.”
She gave Joseph a genuine smile and looked around as they entered the busy kitchen. “Smells fabulous,” she commented.
“Then my staff is doing an excellent job,” he replied. “I was wondering, instead of waiting until tomorrow to see you, maybe we could catch up over a drink tonight? I would love to take you to dinner, or even make you dinner, but I know I’ll be working in the kitchen all day.” He reached for her hands and held them in his own, keeping his eyes on her.
His touch suggested he had yet to give up on dating her, even though she’d lost count of how many times she had told him she wanted to keep their relationship professional. “One drink won’t hurt. I guess.” She squinted one eye at him, and her lips puckered, giving a playful warning that she suspected his intentions.
Silenced Memories Page 7
