by Debra Webb
Lucy eyed it cautiously. “You take the first bite.”
“The green looks off-putting, I know, but it will be your new favorite,” Melva said. “We can all be thankful Ken’s wife only sends it in once a year.”
“I think I need more information,” Lucy said.
“Just hurry up and taste it,” Melva insisted, pinching off another bite for herself. “You can’t let me eat it all.”
Lucy obeyed and the burst of sweetness on her tongue surprised her. “Holy cow. That’s good.”
“Exactly.” Melva’s smug expression made Lucy chuckle.
“You’re crazy to share.”
“A shared treat has fewer calories. Scientific fact. We can’t all be as young and fit as you,” Melva said. “You and Rush looked happy at the coffee shop this morning.”
Lucy had to smile, to pretend their reunion was real. “It’s nice to be back in town,” she said, taking another bite to prevent any verbal slipups.
“You’re just what he needs,” Melva said with a wink before she walked back to her desk.
Lucy devoured the rest of the treat and licked the sticky bits and pieces from her fingers. She was mid-sigh, her lips clinging to the finger in her mouth, when Rush walked out of his office.
His gaze locked onto her mouth, his eyes full of an unmistakable lust. Going hot, her body leaned toward him, pure instinct and desire. Desperate, she swiveled the chair around and took a moment to pull herself together.
“Time for that tour. Bring the Gray Box tablet along,” he suggested. “Leave your phone here,” he added under his breath.
She did as he asked and followed him to the elevators. He pressed the button for the express, and when the doors parted he encouraged her to enter first. She felt his eyes on her backside and quickly turned around to face him.
That made matters worse. The doors had barely closed when he pulled her in for a kiss. Nothing sweet or easy as he’d done at the coffee shop; this was a thorough possession, his tongue twining with hers in hot, velvet strokes. She gripped his sleeve with her free hand to keep her balance.
He made a little humming sound in his throat. “You taste like Christmas.”
“You can’t kiss me here.” She protested, trying to establish an appropriate distance though it was far too late.
His fingers flexed on her hips and he kissed her again. “Seems like I can.” The car stopped and he reached over and smacked at the panel. His hands slid under her sweater, up her spine, setting her nerves on fire through her shirt. “No cameras in here. Don’t worry.”
A year ago that might have made her feel better. Right now she could only imagine the other women he’d kissed in here since the building had opened. The thought that she was bookending his flings turned her voice sharp. “Are we going to R & D at all or was it a ploy to get me in here for an elevator quickie?”
He stepped back, looking a little hurt. “Tempting as you make that sound, we are down here for a reason.”
“I’m sorry,” she began.
“No.” He cut her off. “I should apologize.” He hooked his thumbs in his back pockets with a heavy sigh. “Kissing you last night opened the floodgates for me. I don’t want to stop.”
She bit back the admission that would only urge him on, searching for a way to be honest without giving him the wrong idea. “I understand,” she said. It sounded lame to her ears. “Better if I could kiss you without the distraction of your reputation and Kathrein’s leverage hanging over my head.” That was a far more honest and complete answer.
He grinned. “You’re worried about my reputation?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes. You have a company with global interests to protect. A different woman every week can make investors worry about your stability.”
“Oh, bull. You don’t believe that garbage any more than I do. Gray Box is the best program of its kind. My investors appreciate the returns and our clients appreciate the security we offer. Why are you really pushing me away?”
She couldn’t admit she was trying again to mitigate the risk to her heart. Steamy kisses and blazing sexual chemistry hadn’t been enough for her a year ago. By his own admission, the romantic happy-ever-after didn’t suit Rush. She didn’t want him to resent her for having feelings he couldn’t reciprocate.
“Kathrein will surely retaliate if he discovers you’ve helped me,” she said, seizing on the most logical argument. “You’ve worked hard, Rush. I don’t want to put all of your effort and success in jeopardy.”
“I can deal with any corporate attack,” he said. “What else?”
“We’re at the office.” She clutched the tablet to her chest like a shield. “You said we’d table talking about us. Why do you keep bringing it up?”
“Now is later enough for me,” he said with a shrug. “What did last night mean to you?”
To her chagrin, she felt a wave of tears brimming. If there had been an escape hatch, she would have leaped through it rather than face him at this low point in her life. “You listened with compassion.” She could stick with the truth and still protect herself. “Rather than turn me over to the authorities, you offered to help me. I appreciate that more than words can say.” His gaze narrowed and a chill slid down her spine, bumping along over each vertebra.
“You ripped open my shirt and crawled all over me as a show of appreciation?”
“You started that part,” she snapped. Her jaw was cramping, her teeth were clenched so tightly. “Stop making it bigger, more important than the flash of lust between old lovers.” Desperate for a way out of this elevator as well as the unbearable conversation, she reached for the control panel and pushed the Open Door button, but the doors didn’t budge. “Come on, Rush. Nothing really happened.”
“Huh. I’m not feeling much appreciation for my extraordinary restraint and courtesy,” he said.
“Why are you picking a fight?”
“I want to know where the boundaries are.”
The man made her want to scream. She calmed herself with a quick visual of pounding some sense into his thick skull. “It’s not as if we ever had many of those.”
His grin flashed across his face and disappeared so quickly she thought she imagined it. “If it wasn’t solely a matter of appreciation, what prompted you to rip open my shirt?”
“Stop saying that!” She clapped a hand over her mouth at the outburst. “You’re impossible!”
“Is that why you walked out on us?”
She’d walked out because she needed him too much and he never thought twice about leaving her stranded, consistently less valuable than his growing business. “This is not the time or place,” she said, using his words from last night.
“I’m not opening the doors until you give me an answer.”
“To which question?”
He shrugged. “Lady’s choice.”
“Fine. You win.” Her free hand fisted at her side. “Last night I wanted to take every ounce of comfort any way I could get it,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Last night I wanted to forget the terrible moments of recent days and sink into the memories of how good we were together.” His chest swelled with pride at her words. “Last night I was grateful for your common sense as well as your kindness and thoughtfulness. You were a perfect gentleman. But right this second?”
“Yes?” he urged.
“I’m working to remember that you’re going above and beyond to help me. Right this second, if I had a better option to save my family, I’d give in to the urge and give you a kick rather than let you steal another kiss.”
“You’re mad at me?”
Her shoulders sagged. “That sums it up, yes.”
“Then we’re even.”
“Pardon?”
He caught her chin and held her gently, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Here are a few answers to questions I wish you would ask me. I was furious when you moved to Chicago. Livid when you replaced me with another man. I promised myself if you ever stepped foot in
San Francisco again, I’d find a way to infuriate you in kind.”
“Payback?” When he nodded she barely kept from giving him that kick. His tirade, his anger over something personal was so out of character she could hardly process the words. She opened her mouth to admit she’d lied about the new boyfriend and caught herself in the nick of time. She couldn’t leave herself that vulnerable. “You do know how obnoxious that sounds?”
“Yes.” His smile of pure satisfaction made her pulse skip. “I don’t plan to stop, although I’m done being mad about it.” His lips feathered across hers once more and then he reached for the elevator panel.
She caught his arm, stalling him. “You realize I was mad at you when I moved to Chicago? You being mad at me made us even last year.”
“How could I have known?” He tugged free of her grasp and pressed the button to release the doors. “You didn’t stick around long enough for us to kiss and make up.”
The doors parted to reveal a small crowd of people who scrambled back in a comic tangle, pretending they hadn’t been eavesdropping on the private conversation.
Finally his behavior and the bizarre argument made more sense to Lucy. Like the coffee shop earlier, he’d staged a scene that would underscore her role here, in case Kathrein’s spy managed to get someone inside Gray Box to talk.
In spite of the sudden, lonely ache in her chest and the sting of tears behind her eyes, she had to give him points for the performance.
Chapter Nine
While his blood pounded from the combination of impossible arousal and heated argument, Rush introduced Lucy to everyone and gave her an extensive tour of the R & D floor. He ignored the smirks and speculative glances along the way. He should’ve thought about the potential gossip, especially on the heels of Trisha’s tantrum, and kept himself in check.
No one would dwell on it long. Most of his employees assumed the worst about his social life anyway. “Spoiled billionaire” and “incorrigible player” had become more common descriptors for him than the previous references to his brilliant ideas and business savvy. He endured it by imagining the utter shock on their faces if they knew how completely his relationship with Lucy had altered him.
She made him think and feel on a completely different level. Though it was more than lust, he knew it wasn’t love. He needed her and he valued her. He’d thought those feelings had been mutual.
Watching her, guilt nagged at him for picking a fight. When Lucy was close, conflicting priorities went to war inside him. He wanted to confide his latest concepts and keep her at arm’s length. He wanted to charge into battle beside her and whisk her off to an island where Kathrein would never find her. He wanted to show her the facets of his personality only being with her had revealed.
More shocking was the urge to admit he hadn’t slept with anyone since she’d walked away, but the confession battered against his pride every time he thought about her replacing him. The public displays of affection with his various dates had been nothing but smoke and mirrors. Now that she was here, the self-inflicted abstinence was starting to take a toll. The next time a kiss turned that hot, he wouldn’t let either of them off the hook. That was one good reason to start applying some of his notorious self-control.
She made notes as they moved along and he explained the potential of several projects. Her astute questions reinforced his opinion that they were a smart match in any industry. Her mind was as gorgeous as the rest of her.
When they reached the far end of the lab, he aimed a hard look at the closest team and the trio quickly moved out of earshot.
“I had more questions,” she said.
“So ask. I’ll give you the answers.” He picked up a plastic ring, examining the piece that made up part of a drone propeller so he wouldn’t be mesmerized by her eyes.
“Uh-huh,” she murmured. “I had no idea you were working on so many hardware applications.”
“I don’t intend to bring all of these ideas to the general market. We’re integrating cutting-edge software for a few specific applications.”
“For a few contracted clients, you mean.”
“Yes.” He ran his finger over the seamless plastic repeatedly. If he looked at her, he’d be hard-pressed to maintain that self-control he’d just promised to apply. “We might take a few of these out for a field test in a day or two,” he added. They had only three full days left to find her family.
He took her quiet gasp for understanding. Several of the cameras, drones and surveillance programs being developed down here could help them find and capture Kathrein without Lucy caving in to his demands. It would never be official and he’d never be able to brag about it, but if any of these devices worked, the right people would be more confident and inclined to sign his development teams for additional projects.
“Which item is closest to completion?”
He met her gaze. “For general market?”
“Sure.” She held her stylus over the tablet, ready to make notes.
“The drone cameras have the greatest consumer potential. They’re completely operational now. We’re just tweaking the software to make it more user-friendly and we’re beefing up the optics quality to meet expectations.”
“That’s exciting.”
She sounded more pensive than excited. “And?” he prompted.
“You still face the issues of who can fly drones and where,” she said. “The market seems limited.”
“Don’t you believe a small market is worth my time and attention?” He walked around the end of the worktable, hoping she understood they were discussing far more than his position leading the field of cutting-edge technology.
What he focused on, he brought to life. He didn’t give up on technology or people.
He scowled at the plastic ring and carefully set it down. He’d never given up on having her in his life again. Telling himself he was giving her space, honoring her wishes, he’d never moved on with someone new. He refused to squander this chance to win her back, no matter what stood in his way.
An enormous pressure weighed on his shoulders. There was far more at stake than his happiness or his ability to make Lucy happy. Even with his skills and connections, there were no guarantees. Kathrein held the lives of her family in his hands. An overwhelming desperation washed over Rush. He would do anything to reunite Lucy with her family and spare her any more grief and loss. That mattered above all else. She evaded him, keeping the worktable between them. “How would you like me to proceed as your assistant? I can draft press releases or contact trade magazines about interviews or events.”
“We’re not at that stage yet, although the teams are eager for that step.”
“So how does the stunt in the elevator and this little tour affect a certain French hostage taker?”
“He’s not French.”
“Not the point.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you think someone down here is working for Kathrein?”
“Absolutely not. We’re keeping up appearances. I wanted you to see I have the tools to assist the particular situation. If you’ll trust me.” He supposed if he wanted her trust he should stop irritating her at every turn.
“Got it.” Her gaze slid toward the other end of the room and then she peered at him from under her thick, dark lashes. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “You have two appointments this afternoon and the first is scheduled in fifteen minutes.”
They returned to the executive floor in silence, each of them lost in thought. Rush valued the quiet as much as the fact that his first appointment was early.
If Lucy recognized Parker Lawton’s name as he ushered his friend into his office, she didn’t show it. Calling in this favor was a big risk. Despite what he’d told her, if the man Kathrein sent to keep an eye on Lucy caught wind of this, Rush might have blown the element of surprise.
Kathrein had given Lucy an impossibly tight timeline to crack the strongest cyber security company in the world. While Rush assumed it was to bring the matter to an
end swiftly, he wanted to be sure they weren’t missing a critical piece of the puzzle.
Lawton, formerly with military intelligence, now consulted and conducted investigations for private clients, like Rush. He knew how to track down real-world intel almost as fast as Sam could unravel a trail online.
Flipping the switch for the privacy glass, Rush asked, “What did you find?”
“Not as much as I could get with even one more day,” Lawton replied. “Paris officials did rule the journalist Garmeaux’s death an accident, but you were right to be suspicious.” He held up a hand to waylay Rush’s question. “I don’t have anything conclusive. His boss said he was on the story of a lifetime, but he hadn’t turned anything in. All the normal substance screens were clear but the witness reports don’t add up and the bike disappeared from police custody.”
“Not good.” Rush resisted the urge to get up and pace.
“Nope,” Lawton agreed. “As for the other issue, Dieter Kathrein is definitely a paranoid recluse. The public persona is managed by his daughters and his grandson who is poised to make a big political splash.”
“What about his real estate? Did you find him?”
Lawton slid a report across the desk. “This is every property I could tie to him in Europe.” He sat back. “That email attachment you sent me is pretty inflammatory.”
Rush had only sent Lawton two pages of documentation connecting Kathrein to the Nazi regime. “Is it true?” A silly question considering the bastard was holding Lucy’s family hostage to keep a lid on the information.
Lawton nodded. “While I’d appreciate more time to verify any loose ends and conduct my own interviews, my answer is yes, Kathrein assumed his dead cousin’s identity. On top of that, my contacts were able to verify Garmeaux had been reaching out for interviews and diving deep into Kathrein’s past. If he brought this report to your attention, be confident he was exercising due diligence, not throwing out wild accusations.”
Rush let out a low whistle. “If this gets out, the consequences will destroy his grandson’s political dreams. There’s no way to spin a family fortune built on lies and war crimes.”
