The Manhattan Encounter

by Addison Fox

  “I’m sorry for what I said.”

  The words were quiet and she’d barely heard them, the ringing laughter of the stewardess he’d waved down for ice still echoing over her head.

  “Oh?”

  “Before. You were just trying to be helpful and I was an ass.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “I am sorry for it.”

  She’d never been a person to hold grudges—had often wondered, in fact, why others found it all too easy—yet she couldn’t quite let the matter go. “That’s the second time you’ve insulted me and my work. It’s clear you think things are my fault so why have you taken on my situation?”

  “You need help.”

  “So do lots of people, including lots of people who likely come to your firm for services. Surely you have an evaluation process?”

  “Of course.”

  “And do you take on every case that comes in?”

  “No.”

  “Yet you took on mine.”

  The discomfort that had his large body restless in his seat took on a new dimension. Where he fidgeted before, now his large form grew still, yet she could practically see him quivering in anticipation.

  “I made a business choice along with my family. Our grandfather’s voice carries significant weight and he believes we should help you.”

  She knew her grandfather’s decades-old friendship with Alexander Steele had gone a long way toward greasing the wheels, but it didn’t change the fact that Alexander wasn’t in the field, handling cases. She had no doubt if Liam hadn’t wanted to take on her case he’d have found a way out of it.

  “And what do you believe?”

  “I don’t make it a habit to explain my behavior.”

  “Well, maybe I’d like an explanation.”

  * * *

  Liam fought the waves of discomfort that pulsed under his skin.

  How had she turned the tables so neatly? And since when did he get so off his game he’d allow the tables to be turned in the first place?

  “I’ve given you an answer, but it doesn’t seem to satisfy.”

  “It’s a simple request. I’d like to know why you’ve decided to help me when you’re so disdainful of my work and my situation.”

  The penetrating stare and the softly spoken words hit with the force of a bomb exploding at his feet.

  Why was he helping her?

  He’d done nothing to understand her situation and had, just as she’d suggested, gone out of his way to belittle her when given the opportunity. Before he could even consider his words, they were cascading from his lips like a waterfall.

  “You created something without thinking through the consequences. For a woman as smart as you are, I find it hard to believe that your actions were completely innocent.”

  Even if she is innocent.

  And that was the real rub, Liam knew. He wanted to paint her as the calculating woman, in full possession of a diabolical plot to wreak havoc. Instead, he had a woman who had unleashed something she wasn’t prepared to handle and had put herself in the crosshairs to boot.

  When she claimed she didn’t know the deeper consequences of her actions, he believed her. And when she said she was committed to keeping the science out of the wrong hands, he believed that, too.

  “My actions weren’t innocent. I’ve created a capability I now must live with for the rest of my life. Do you think I don’t understand that? That I’m somehow unaware of the implications of my work?”

  The truth shimmered in the depths of those green eyes, lit softly by the plane’s overhead lighting. Even with the muted glow, he saw the truth there.

  “No. I don’t think you’re unaware.”

  “Yet I came to you and your family for help. I went around my grandfather to one of his oldest friends in hopes I can stem the tide on those implications.”

  “You haven’t told him?”

  “No. He’s already lived with the bone-deep disappointment of his son’s betrayal. I can’t do that to him, especially as I stand here, repeating history.”

  And there it was.

  Her father.

  Damn, but he was a raging idiot. “You’re not the same as your father.”

  “It depends on what side of history you’re on for that argument to hold any weight.”

  “It’s not the same.” Urgency lit his words and even with his earlier judgment, it was important she didn’t think he equated her actions with her father’s. “I don’t think it’s the same thing at all.”

  “Well, whatever you believe, rest assured I’m not ignorant of what I’ve done. I’m anything but.”

  Her words pelted him like an icy rain, abrading the skin with sharp edges. “I won’t do it again.”

  “Then I accept your apology.”

  The clouds lifted from her eyes so quickly if he hadn’t been looking at her so closely he’d never have believed they were there to begin with.

  “That’s all?”

  “Yep.”

  That strange sense of being so far off his game as to be playing a different one rose up once more, throttling him. “You’re not still angry? Or holding a grudge.”

  “What would be the point? You’ve apologized.”

  “Then you’re the rare woman, indeed, if you’re not still angry.”

  “All right. If you want to ignore the fact you apologized, which I think is rather significant, I’ll keep going. I hate conflict and I have to spend a lot of time with you.”

  “And?” He let that single word hang there, his mind still whirling through her litany of reasons.

  “No more ands. That sums it up.” She took the last sip of her champagne, her glass punctuating her comments. “For the record, I’ve seen men hold a grudge, too. And while the reasons tend to be different, men are as adept at it as women.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “It’s exactly the same. Do you know how many colleagues begrudge another for their work? Their accomplishments? Their grants? It’s practically an industry sport.”

  And there it was again. For a woman who seemed somewhat immune to social cues, she’d hit the mark square on the nose.

  “You’ve observed this behavior?”

  “Repeatedly. No one’s immune from petty jealousy or human foibles. We’re just wired to get irritated about different things.”

  His thoughts from earlier refilled his mind and the impish urge to press her on her comment filled him. “Is that why you were angry about the airport lounge? Petty jealousy.”

  “No.” Her mouth snapped shut as a light flush crept up her neck. “Of course not.”

  Those urges pressed him on, tempting him to push harder. He leaned toward her, his gaze direct as his voice dropped to a low hum. “You weren’t the slightest bit jealous of my conversation with Stella at the bar counter.”

  “Why would I be jealous?”

  “I don’t know.” He tilted his head for effect, as if he were trying to come up with the answer. “Maybe because we had that explosive kiss in the elevator and then didn’t talk about it.”

  That delightful blush crept higher and filled her cheeks with a rosy glow. “That meant nothing. You even apologized after. It was a simple defense mechanism to ward off the threat in the lobby.”

  “There’s no threat now.”

  Even as he said the words, Liam knew them to be anything but the truth. She was a threat. A threat to his ordered world.

  A threat to his self-control.

  And damn the woman, a threat to his sanity with those lush lips and large green eyes a man could drown in.

  She swallowed hard and nodded her head. “No, there isn’t.”

  “Then why do I want to kiss you so desperately?”

 
Chapter 6

  Isabella stared into those endlessly deep blue eyes and wondered how she’d gone from crushed and defeated to the top of the world in a matter of moments.

  Was that the true miracle of attraction? Highs and lows with very little in between?

  The strange thought tunneled through her subconscious as her very active conscious fought to hang on and stay in the moment. “Somehow I don’t get the feeling you’re a man who asks for kisses all that often.”

  Was that her voice? Those seductive, breathy tones that sounded like they came from the deepest part of her?

  “I can’t remember ever wanting one more.”

  He hesitated for the briefest moment, those vivid blue eyes sparking with fire, before pressing his lips to hers. Where she thought the awkward angle of their airplane seats would make it difficult to enjoy his kiss, it did the opposite. The barrier actually made the kiss sweeter, a subtle reminder they needed to work for what they wanted.

  Or, reach out and take it.

  The thought hovered in the back of her mind as she laid her hands on Liam’s shoulders. If their kiss in the elevator had been a surprise assault on the senses, this was a lush invitation.

  His tongue was cool, the lingering effects of the ice in his glass an erotic counterpoint to the heat emanating from his large form. He drew her in, moment by moment, with the press of his lips and the subtle pressure of his mouth. He kept his hands at his sides and that restraint—counterbalanced by the thick muscle of his shoulders under her fingertips—played a sexy counterpoint.

  Control. Barely leashed yet absolute.

  What would it be like to make him lose it?

  Emboldened by the thought, she matched the thrust of his tongue, wrapping her mouth around his erotic assault. Although she couldn’t hear his moan over the heavy hum of the airplane’s engine, she felt its light echo from the back of his throat.

  He lifted his head, sexual need shining from his eyes. Without warning, the space pirate from her book came to vivid color in her mind. She’d imagined Liam in the role earlier, but she now finally understood what her subconscious had already figured out.

  Here was a man who lived life on his own terms. By his own rules.

  The thought was thrilling. And more than a bit scary.

  The moment was broken by the arrival of their stewardess with the ice he’d requested, her bright, vivid smile amped up like the lights in a stadium. Liam thanked her, but offered nothing further.

  Isabella observed the exchange and wondered at it. “She’s rejected.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You smiled at her before the ice and now you’ve dismissed her. She’s hurt.”

  A puzzled frown flittered across his face, the look of surprise so genuine she had to believe she was reading him correctly. “I thanked her. I’d hardly call that dismissing her.”

  “She was expecting something more.”

  “It was just some ice.”

  “I guess it was.”

  Isabella picked up her tablet once more and flipped to her book. She needed to put the observations on hold for a while and let her thoughts simmer. In the meantime, she’d read about her space pirate and let the lingering feel of Liam Steele’s kiss on her lips bring the words to life in a way they never had before.

  She now knew what it was like to be plundered.

  * * *

  As the late morning sun stole through her bedroom curtains, Kensington Steele stared at the diamond winking off her left hand and marveled at how her world had changed in a matter of months. She’d spent years purposefully marching through life, anxious to tackle the next big challenge and prove to herself that she could do whatever she’d set her mind toward.

  And all the while she’d been missing the simple joy of sitting still with the one she loved. Of holding his hand in hers and allowing the quiet to wrap around them in a warm cocoon. Of laying her hand against his chest, the strong, steady heartbeat underneath reassuring her she had a partner on the journey.

  “I can hear your mind whirling.” Jack’s voice was sleepy but she didn’t miss the note of humor threaded underneath his words.

  “I was thinking.”

  “Damn, but I didn’t do it right. Morning sex is supposed to be lazy and all-consuming. No thinking allowed.” He tightened his arms around her. “I’d better try again.”

  “Oh, don’t worry.” She ran a lazy finger over his stomach, pleased when the firm flesh of his abdomen contracted at her touch. “You did everything exactly right.”

  “I still think I should try to persuade you once more.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and punctuated it with a light tickle to her ribs.

  She wiggled from his arms and sat up in bed. She knew herself and the voracious appetite he’d managed to unleash in the past three months. If she stayed in his arms she’d be in the exact same spot until they left for the airport to get Liam.

  Which wasn’t such a bad idea...

  “Jack!” He tickled her again and it was the incentive she needed to put some distance and step out of bed. “I’m serious.”

  Those dark brown eyes—hungry with that incredible need for her that never seemed satiated—captured her own. “So am I.”

  On a sigh he sat up and settled his large frame against the headboard. “Then I go back to my first question. What’s got your mind whirling like that?”

  “I can’t get over my conversation with Liam.”

  When he just sat there and waited for her to continue, she was once again reminded that she had a partner in all aspects of her life.

  He got her and that was such an incredible gift all by itself.

  “He’s convinced the guy in his lobby yesterday morning was a problem and Isabella had the problem at her hotel.” She slipped into her robe, supremely satisfied when a small moue of dissatisfaction tightened Jack’s lips. “Add on the fact that Campbell can’t find a scrap of video in either location’s feeds and the likelihood they’re both right is high.”

  “I never took your brother for one to imagine a threat.”

  “No, but we don’t know Isabella. She’s scared and you know as well as I do that can make a client see the boogeyman where he isn’t.”

  “Or it can make them alert and heightened to the danger around them.”

  “True.” She sat back down on the edge of the bed and worried the silk tie of her robe in her fingers. No matter how she spun it, she couldn’t fully dissuade herself of the unnamed danger underlying the assignment. “But why is the threat in London and here in New York? She claims her apartment’s been broken into and strange things have happened at her lab. And she wasn’t even supposed to be in London but ended up going at the last minute. And—” she broke off at the smile covering Jack’s face. “What?”

  “Keep going, you’re on a roll, Sherlock Holmes. Put it together for me.”

  “Don’t you need a new stand-in? Last time I checked Watson and Holmes didn’t sleep together.”

  “More’s the pity for them.” He ran a finger down her arm, his touch leaving a small layer of gooseflesh in its wake.

  She nearly gave in—almost—but held back. “That would have made for quite a different story.”

  “I’ll say. But come on and enlighten me before I can’t constrain myself any longer and strip that silk off of you.” He tugged on the same tie in her hands. “Slowly.”

  Her scrambled thoughts struggled to keep up at the image he painted and she stood once more and put some distance between them. The wolfish grin she got in return had her refocusing on the task at hand.

  “Why is there a threat in both places? If this was a threat from a professional operative she’d have been taken out already. Instead it smacks of cat and mouse. Who does that? Especially if they want the research she’s squirrel
ed away.”

  “Someone with a grudge.”

  “And access to intel.”

  Jack’s expression changed, the sexy twinkle in his eyes morphing to all business. “From the files you shared with me and the feedback from your grandparents, she doesn’t have anyone to hold a grudge against her. Parents are out of the picture. No exes or messy relationships. Her life is her work. Who could be after her?”

  He stood and dragged on a pair of slacks. Kensington allowed her gaze to drift over the firm planes of his body, momentarily distracted by the flex of muscles in his quick, efficient movements. Dragging herself back to the point at hand, she pressed on. “Everyone has enemies.”

  “No, darling. Everyone in our business has enemies. Most people live their life day to day, pleasantly free of that particular problem.”

  “You have a point.”

  “But so do you. Someone’s after her, even if nothing obvious pops.” He stretched out a hand to her. The gesture was simple. Warm. Loving. “Let’s fire up your computer and see what we can find.”

  * * *

  A hard shift in the cabin had Isabella coming awake with a start. She hadn’t slept long—and the few moments she had gotten were filled with endless images of Liam’s mouth pressed along every inch of her body—but another hard dip of the plane had her coming fully awake.

  A quick glance over at the object of her erotic dreams had them vanishing, concern rising up in its place. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” His fingers were pure white where they gripped the arm rests and his jaw appeared cut out of marble.

  She reached for his hand, prying his fingers loose and wrapping them tightly within her own. “It’s fine. It’s just some turbulence.”

  As if to punctuate the thought, the captain came over the intercom with an apology for the bumpy ride and a promise they were climbing to a higher, smoother elevation.

  “I’m sure it is.”

  “It’s like waves on an ocean.”

  The tight set of his jaw relaxed ever so slightly as he turned to stare at her. His pupils were wide disks inside those orbs of blue. “What?”