“And of course you were right,” Virginia said.
Owen nodded, disgusted. “By the time I got back to accounting with security, he was gone. Just up and left, in the middle of what he was doing. He must have walked out as soon as I was out of sight. And that was the last time anyone saw him. Everything else on his resume was fake too, of course. Along with his address. I tried to find him, but there was nothing I could do. And I didn’t think it was that big a deal. He’d lied on his resume, but he was gone. Problem solved.”
“Until now,” Gilbert Norris said.
Owen nodded. “Until I traced the missing money back to his computer. It isn’t a whole lot—a few thousand dollars, not like hundreds of thousands, or even tens of thousands—but I hate to see him get away with it. Especially when he used one of my friends’ names to get the job in the first place.”
Norris and Virginia both nodded. “But at least you figured it out,” Virginia said. “Have you spoken to the real Damian? Just in case he has some idea who this person is? It’s someone who knew him well enough to use his name and educational history.”
“I just figured it out this afternoon,” Owen said. “That’s why I was late.” He shot a glance at Kaylee, who ducked her head so Mr. Norris and Virginia wouldn’t see her smile. Sure, he’d been a few minutes late coming through the door, but it was the interlude in the hallway, and then the shower, that had made them as late as they were.
“I put in a call to Damian,” Owen added, “the real Damian, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. I’m sure I’ll hear from him tomorrow.”
Mr. Norris nodded. “Let me know how it goes.”
“Yes, sir.” It sounded like a dismissal, and sure enough, Owen turned to Kaylee. “Let me find you something to eat.”
“That would be great.” She was starving. She was always starving, but the exercise this afternoon had taken it out of her a little more than usual. “Nice to meet you both,” she told Mr. Norris and his daughter—Mr. Norris smiled, Virginia scowled—and then Owen put his hand on her back and steered her away.
The Norris Corporation had rented the biggest ballroom in one of the swankiest hotels in town for their shindig, and Kaylee thought she’d never seen anything fancier. There were huge twinkling chandeliers overhead, almost as big as Owen’s car, and lots of tables with white cloths, and live musicians playing—there would be a DJ later—and there were waiters in tuxedos circling with flutes of champagne and trays of hors d’oeuvres. Owen snagged two glasses of champagne from someone—“One won’t hurt. Just sip slowly and make it last,”—and a couple of stuffed mushroom caps from another. She thought he’d hand her one, but instead he turned to her with a grin. “Open up.”
He was going to feed her? Really?
Obediently, she opened her mouth and Owen popped the mushroom inside. Kaylee closed her mouth and chewed. Flavors exploded on her tongue and she couldn’t hold back a delighted moan.
“I thought you’d like it. Here’s the other one.” He fed her that too, before looking around. “We should find somewhere to sit. And more food. You need to keep up your strength.”
Definitely. If the look on his face was anything to go by, she was in for another enthusiastic session of lovemaking when they got home. And she was eating for two.
They headed toward the big tables set up in the middle of the room, where Owen filled a plate to overflowing with all kinds of goodies before steering her toward a table out of the way, where there were empty chairs. Just as he helped her onto one, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the display, frowning. “I have to take this.”
“The real Damian?”
He nodded. “Excuse me. I’ll only be a couple minutes.”
Sure. She’d just sit here and stuff herself with all this delicious food. No problem at all.
Owen walked off, already talking, and Kaylee turned her attention to her plate. The baby was doing summersaults in her belly, maybe sensing that something good was coming. She put a calming hand on her stomach while she started feeding herself with the other.
“How far along are you?” someone asked.
Kaylee looked up to meet the eyes of a woman twice her age, in a classic black dress and pearls. “Mind if I sit?”
Kaylee shook her head and swallowed. “Sorry. Not at all.”
“I’m Mina. I’m in human resources.”
“My husband used to work there,” Kaylee said, scanning her plate for another prawn. “He’s in accounting now.”
Mina didn’t say anything, and after a moment of silence, Kaylee looked up.
“You’re Owen’s wife,” Mina said. “Of course.”
What was that supposed to mean? “You know him?”
Mina gave her a sort of strange look. “We all know Owen.”
Right. He’d worked all over the company, so that made sense. “He gets around.”
“Something like that,” Mina agreed. “So how far along are you?”
Kaylee said she was between five and six months. “Do you have children?”
Mina had two. “My son’s about Owen’s age. His wife is expecting, too. She’s a bit farther along than you. Seven months. What are you having?”
“A boy. What about your daughter-in-law?”
Mina’s son and daughter-in-law were having twins. They ran in the family. She and Kaylee spent the next few minutes talking pregnancy, until Mina got a funny look on her face. “Excuse me,” she told Kaylee.
“Something wrong?” Kaylee looked over her shoulder, in time to see Virginia Norris, or whatever her married name was, come to a stop a few feet away. By the time she’d turned back to Mina, the older woman was gone.
Chapter Fourteen
VIRGINIA DIDN’T ASK permission to sit. She just pulled out the chair Mina had vacated and seated herself on it. “Hello.”
It was accompanied by a smile, but there wasn’t anything very friendly about it.
“Hi,” Kaylee said, warily.
“I thought I’d take the opportunity to get to know you a little better.” That sounded OK, at least until Virginia added, ominously, “Without Owen.”
Kaylee had gotten the impression earlier that Virginia didn’t like her very much. Now she was sure of it.
But this woman was Owen’s boss. If Kaylee wanted Owen’s job to be secure, she’d better make nice. So she pretended Virginia was a sleazy customer at Peckers, and pulled out the smile she’d used when she was thinking about the tips she was hoping to make. “Sure.”
“Where are you from?”
“Originally? I grew up in a little town an hour or so south of here. Durham, Georgia.”
Virginia nodded. “How long have you been here?”
Two years, give or take. “I moved up when I left college.” Halfway through her second year. “I thought it would be easier to find a job.”
“And what do you do?” Virginia asked.
Gah. “I lost my job when I got pregnant, and it’s been hard to find another one. Owen says I don’t have to work right now.”
There. That sounded nice and simple, without mentioning anything about Peckers.
“And what did you do before you got pregnant?” Virginia wanted to know.
Kaylee took a breath. Unless she wanted to lie, and that probably wouldn’t be a good idea, there seemed to be no way around it. “I was a waitress.”
“I see.” Virginia didn’t say anything else, nothing Kaylee could actively object to, but the censure was there in her voice and her eyes. “How did you meet Owen?”
“We were neighbors,” Kaylee said. “He moved in next door when he came back to town in May or June.” And gah, how bad was it that she couldn’t even remember the exact month?
“So you started dating when he came back from university?”
Kaylee hesitated. How much did Virginia know about hers and Owen’s situation? How much of her business was it?
On the one hand, Kaylee didn’t want to offend Owen’s boss by refusing to answer t
he woman’s questions, but on the other hand, she also didn’t want to say anything Owen might wish she hadn’t mentioned. And was it only her imagination, or did it seem like Virginia was hinting at something in particular?
“No. I mean, yes. We had a date over the summer.” Or at least they’d had a pizza together, on Owen’s sofa, along with a movie. She hadn’t really considered it a date, but now it would serve the purpose well enough. “But we didn’t really date. Much.”
“So how did you get pregnant?” Virginia asked, point blank.
And there it was. Virginia had to know the truth already, because it wasn’t a question someone would ask otherwise.
Kaylee bit back the desire to say something snide—“See, Virginia, when mommies and daddies have special cuddle time, there’s this thing they do...”—and instead answered as bluntly as Virginia had asked. “It isn’t Owen’s baby.”
Virginia sat back on the chair, but it was impossible to tell whether it was the instinctive recoil of shock, or the distancing of herself from a harlot. Or maybe something else. She didn’t look shocked, or for that matter repulsed. If anything, there was a glint of something almost like satisfaction in her eyes.
Or maybe it wasn’t satisfaction, maybe it was triumph instead. “So you’re using him,” Virginia said.
“No, I’m not!”
It came out too fast and too loud, and Kaylee flushed and moderated her voice. “I’m not using him. He takes care of me. And I...” Yes, what did she do, exactly? Other than make his bed, wash his clothes, and be available whenever he wanted her? “I care about him.”
“You care about him.” It was said without inflection, but it still made Kaylee blush. “And you show that by making him pay for another man’s baby?”
“It was his choice! He asked me to marry him. I didn’t ask him!”
“You didn’t have to say yes,” Virginia said.
Kaylee took a breath. “I’m sure you would have preferred that I didn’t, Ms. Norris.” Or whatever her married name was. “But Owen and I have worked things out. We have a relationship. Maybe it isn’t the relationship you would have picked for him,”—and how was it any of Virginia Norris’s business what Owen did in his free time, anyway?—“but it’s the one he picked for himself. He wants me. He cares about me. And I care about him. He takes care of me, when no one ever took care of me before...”
To her shame, her voice wobbled. And just then, to make her humiliation complete, Owen’s voice sounded behind her. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Virginia said sweetly. “Your wife and I are getting acquainted.”
Owen looked at her for a moment, and then turned to Kaylee. “Are you all right?”
His eyes were concerned behind the glasses. She nodded, but she didn’t trust her voice, so she didn’t actually speak. And she couldn’t hide the way her eyes were brimming over.
Owen turned back to Virginia. “Let’s get something straight,” he told her. “I’m an adult. I don’t need anyone telling me what I can and can’t do. And Kaylee is my wife. If you make her cry again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
“Owen...” Kaylee said—he really shouldn’t shoot himself in the foot with the whole Norris Corporation like that; what if they fired him? Then where would he be?—but he shook his head.
“No, sweetheart. We’re going home.” He turned back to Virginia. “I love her. Lay off.”
Virginia didn’t argue, and to Kaylee’s surprise, she didn’t fire Owen on the spot either. Instead, she smiled. Smiled. “Have a good rest of the evening.”
“No thanks to you,” Owen snarled and turned to Kaylee, while Virginia walked away. “C’mon.”
“We’re really going home already? Why?” She let him help her to her feet, his hands as gentle as always, in spite of his obvious bad temper.
“I’ve done my duty. We’ve put in an appearance. And you’ve been insulted by someone who should know better. It’s time to go home and take your dress off.”
She glanced up at him, on their way toward the door. “Don’t you like my dress?”
“I love your dress,” Owen said. “But I love what’s underneath even more. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I did promise I’d take care of you tonight.”
“You took care of me already. You always take care of me.”
“I love taking care of you.” He winked, although there was something in his eyes, something that hadn’t been there before. There were an awful lot of mentions of love in his vocabulary all of a sudden. He loved taking care of her, he loved her dress, he loved her body. He loved her.
He was probably afraid she’d misunderstood what he’d told Virginia.
Well, he didn’t have to worry. It was just what a husband said when someone was bothering his wife. “She’s my wife and I love her. So leave her alone.” It didn’t mean he actually felt that way.
Sure, he loved her dress. She did, too. It was a great dress. It made her look hot, and that was no small feat for a six months pregnant woman.
And yeah, she’d believe that he loved her body, or at least that he enjoyed it a lot. He certainly made her feel loved, with the way he touched and petted her. And she didn’t doubt that he loved their sex-life. He was unflaggingly enthusiastic when it came to bringing her pleasure and taking it for himself.
But loving her—? Beyond the purely physical and sexual?
She’d love to believe it—no pun intended. Nothing would make her happier than to know that Owen loved her. She’d fallen for him so hard her invisible self had bruises. She was crazy about him. She might even, if she were to be brutally honest with herself, love him.
The fact that he stood up for her, that he’d told his boss’s daughter—the daughter of the man who owned the company he worked for!—to leave Kaylee alone because she was his wife and he loved her... that alone would have been enough to make her fall for him. On top of everything else he’d done for her, everything else he continued to do on a daily basis, it made the conclusion hard to escape.
Yes, she loved him. And instead of realizing it, instead of opening her eyes and seeing that the man of her dreams was living next door, she’d gone to bed with Fake Gil Norris instead. It could have been Owen. Owen had wanted it to be.
He appreciated her now. But would he still want her after the baby was born? Would he be willing to bring up another man’s baby?
Or would he kick her out—love or not—once she’d given birth to Fake Gil’s baby and she was no longer in need of Owen’s health benefits?
KAYLEE WAS VERY quiet the whole way home, and Owen was worried.
It was his fault. He should have been prepared for the altercation. Like he’d said, he was a big boy. It was years since he’d left home. He didn’t need his mother running interference for him anymore. But he should have known she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from trying to put Kaylee on the spot. She was just looking out for him, he knew that, but Kaylee didn’t know Ginny was his mother, and besides, Kaylee was off-limits, even to Ginny. They had worked out their own relationship, he and Kaylee. Sure, it might seem unconventional to some people, but it worked for them.
And what was up with that smirk his mother had given him as she walked off? Like she knew something he didn’t.
Was it something he said?
The parking lot was dark and empty when they got back to the Panorama Townhomes, and Owen cut the engine and the lights and turned to Kaylee. “Are you all right?”
She sniffed wetly. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not crying, are you?” He squinted at her, suspiciously. She laughed, but that sounded a bit wet too.
“Of course not.” And that sounded like a lie.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK.” She sniffed again. “It’s just... she made me feel bad.”
Damn. “She means well,” Owen said. “But sometimes she leaves her tact at the door.”
“I wanted to tell her to mind her own business. But then I thought, s
he’s your boss...” She trailed off.
“She’s not my boss,” Owen said firmly. “And she can’t fire me.”
Disown him, maybe, but apart from that, there was nothing she could do to take Norris Industries away from him. He was the only grandchild, so he’d inherit it when his grandfather retired whether his mother liked it or not. And his mother liked it just fine. She might be pushy, but she loved him. In time she’d come to love Kaylee, too. Assuming he could convince his wife to stick around. “Did you want to stay at the party longer?”
She hesitated. “No.”
“Are you sure?” Because she didn’t sound sure. Damn, had he taken her away from somewhere she wanted to be? He’d seen his mother going in for the kill and Kaylee shrinking back, tears in her eyes, and his only thought had been to get her out of there. Had she wanted to stay?
“I want to be where you are. If you didn’t want to stay, I didn’t want to stay either.”
“I’d rather be here with you,” Owen said. “There are things I want to do to you that I couldn’t do there.”
Then his mother really would disown him. Or maybe she wouldn’t, but everyone else would probably quit on the spot, and he’d be left with a company with no employees.
They were here now, anyway. It was too late to go back. So he got Kaylee out of the car and helped her up to the door and inside. And then he hung their coats in the hallway before he turned to her. “Did you get enough to eat?”
She nodded.
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
Good. He picked her up, carried her upstairs and set her gently on her feet to stand in front of him before turning her around. “Let me help you with this.”
His hands found the zipper at the back of the dress, and pulled it down. And then he unsnapped the closure at the back of her neck and let the whole thing just drop to the floor. She stepped out of it, clad in nothing but those white cotton underpants with the strawberries and that pair of sexy strappy sandals.
Friends With Benefits Page 12
