“So you’re done with her?”
I heard the underlying suspicion in his words. “What exactly are you asking me, Steinburg? You’ve never given a damn about my private life before,” I said softly.
He studied me for a few minutes before shrugging. “I don’t give a damn. Your father never let personal relationships get in the way of his success, and I’m sure you won’t do the same.”
Snorting, I shook my head. “I own an international company, Steinburg. I’ve already achieved success.”
“Don’t think it can’t be taken from you, my boy. Even Rome fell in a single day.”
I looked at him sharply as he rose, but I couldn’t decide if he was threatening me or warning me. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to know you think she has that much power.”
“I don’t think she has that much power, Montgomery. I just know how much power a man can give when they’re thinking with their cock instead of their head,” he said coldly. “The company is a success because you are always in complete control.”
He wasn’t wrong. I enjoyed women quite frequently, but my thoughts never strayed past morning. At work, I was focused. At night, I could play.
“Is that all?” I said with great restraint. This wasn’t a conversation I was prepared to have.
He shifted uneasily and nodded. It was obvious that he had more to say but was afraid to push the envelope. Instead, he rose and smoothed a hand over his shirt. “Keep me informed, Montgomery.”
“If I feel that’s necessary, I will.” I didn’t bother getting up or showing him to the door. I didn’t care if it was rude. I was unhappy with his accusations, and I wanted him to know it.
When I was left alone with my thoughts, I couldn’t help but replay the scene again in my head. Steinburg wasn’t one to overstep his bounds often. Just what had gotten into him today?
I asked my secretary, Cecilia, if she could page Torrence to my office. There had been some heavy flirting between the two of them lately, but I tried not to concern myself with it. Torrence was a hard man to love, and while Cecilia had love to give in spades, her main focus was always on her kids. So if she wanted to indulge in some harmless flirting at work, it wasn’t my business.
Half an hour before my next meeting, Torrence entered the office. Tall and broad, Torrence had a few visible scars from his time in the military and perhaps twice as many invisible scars. He was a rugged and hardened man with a dark past, but I trusted him with my life.
He’d worked for my father for several years before I hired him, and although I considered him a friend, his past was so classified that I couldn’t even begin to investigate it. Not that I would.
If there was one person that I trusted in this world, it was Drew Torrence.
“You rang,” he said with a yawn as he walked in. Plopping himself on the couch rather than the chair, he groaned and rolled his head around.
“Long night?” I asked dryly.
“Long weekend. It wasn’t easy getting information about your would-be kidnappers from the detective and even harder trying to figure out what the hell happened. These aren’t professionals who are maintaining their loyalties. They’re so amateur that if I held a gun to their heads, they’d piss their pants. Whoever they are protecting scares the shit out of them, and that’s never a good thing.”
I leaned back and frowned. “You think this plot to extort money from me and the mole are connected?”
“I think there isn’t enough information about either to come to any conclusions. One would definitely distract you from the other, but the only other way I can see a connection is if the mole wanted to blackmail you for money. If that were the case, I would have thought that we would have heard something by now. How’s the woman?”
“Sloan is fine,” I said shortly.
“She spent the weekend with you.”
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. “She spent one night with me.”
Drew narrowed his eyes and studied me for a minute before bursting out laughing. “My God, man. It bothers you that she didn’t stay the weekend. What happened? Did she slip out without saying goodbye and now your feelings are hurt?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped angrily. “A one-night stand is just fine with me.”
“So Steinburg storming out of your office and muttering that the woman had you by the balls has nothing to do with Sloan?” I shot him a startled look, and he smiled coyly. “Cecelia knows all.”
“Steinburg needs to keep his fucking mouth shut. I’ve made him a rich man, and he needs to keep his opinions out of my personal life. And Cecelia needs to —”
Torrence held up his hands and interrupted me. “Whoa. Easy, boy. Take a breath and check that temper. If you piss Cecelia off, she’ll leave and your life will be in shambles. You wouldn’t be able to find your arm pit without that woman, and you know it. If Steinburg is concerned, he’s not wrong. You need to get your personal life in order before it affects your professional life.”
“My personal life is in order,” I said icily. “I wanted her. I had her. End of story.”
“So you don’t plan to see her again?”
The right answer would have been, yes. I had no plans to see her again. The honest answer was that if she walked through the door right now, I’d bend her over the desk and slide into her sexy little body until we were both breathless. “If the urge arises, I won’t deny myself the pleasure of having her again,” I said finally. “What’s the next step in identifying the mole?”
“I’m sweeping for bugs everyday, but nothing new has shown up. I have the PR department scouring for information about you on the web, but nothing has turned up. I’m still looking through your employee’s finances, but frankly, it’s a long process. Until they try again, I don’t have a whole hell of a lot to go on.”
How ironic was that? “I would prefer if we found them before they leak any more sensitive information.”
Torrence rolled his eyes. “Thank you for pointing out the obvious. If I could wave my magic wand and produce them before that happens, I would. I told you from the beginning that this could be a lengthy process. You need to be careful with what you say in the conference rooms and don’t ever have a meeting before I can sweep for bugs. Ideally, we’d search the board members as well.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I know that. You want secrecy, and I’m trying to keep a low profile, but you’re playing a dangerous game, Montgomery. You may have to decide between keeping things a secret and protecting your business. It’s probably just someone trying to make an extra buck by spying for another company. If they’re spooked, they’ll probably stop, but you’re taking a great chance.”
I studied him. Despite his words of warning, he was practically falling asleep on the couch. “Last week you were chomping at the bit over this. Now you’re unconcerned.”
“Last week I was pissed because you weren’t sharing information. Now that we’re on the same page, I’m thinking a little more clearly,” he said with a shrug.
“Excellent. I’m so glad you’re thinking clearly,” I muttered sarcastically. “Get back to work.”
“You’re awfully cranky for someone who got laid this weekend,” he chuckled as he stood. “Maybe you should figure out a way to make it more of a regular occurrence.”
“Out,” I ordered. “And stay away from my secretary!”
His laugh followed him all the way out, and I shook my head. Still, his words rang in my head.
If quenching my desire for Sloan kept me levelheaded, maybe I did need to find a way to see her on a more regular basis. Eventually I would get tired of her.
Women rarely kept my attention for long.
Chapter 3
Sloan
The day was absolutely beautiful. I tried to bask in the sun’s warmth as I looked over my textbook. Campus buzzed with life with students rushing to and from class, students laying out on the dorm lawns, and several games of Frisbee and tossin
g footballs, but these weren’t the things that kept me from studying.
After an hour of trying desperately to read about cognitive recognition in adolescents, I wasn’t even pretending to look at the book.
I had all but begged for him. I’d been a mess in his arms, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What the hell had happened?
I tried to tell myself, once again, that I wasn’t this woman, but I was starting to sound like a broken record. Maybe I wasn’t the woman who fell for complete strangers, got kidnapped, and had mind-blowing sex a month ago, but I certainly was now.
“Hey!”
I looked up sharply to see Randi bouncing my way. Her dark skinned glowed under the sun’s rays, and her hair was absolutely perfect as it flowed down her back. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a pink halter-top and a pair of jeans that clung to ever curve.
I, on the other hand, was burning to a crisp with my curls pulled into a pony-tail. In jeans and a blue t-shirt, I looked like a complete bum next to her.
As she closed the distance between us, I thought briefly about pretending that I was running late, but I knew that look of determination on her face. She was out for information, and she wasn’t going to let me go until she got it. “You have been gone all weekend. What is going on?”
I closed the book and tried to give her an innocent smile. “Hi, Randi.”
“You’re about to lie to me. I can already tell,” she said dryly. “Your cheeks are already reddening, and you’re biting your lip. You’re a horrible liar so you might as well save yourself the trouble and tell me the truth.”
“I’ve been in the sun, and my lips are chapped,” I said defensively, but I was about to lie to her.
“Sloan!”
“I slept with Lucas,” I said quickly. Once the words were out of my mouth, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. I didn’t even know I was dying to tell someone until just now.
Randi clapped excitedly. “It is about time! Tell me everything. Was it amazing? I bet it was amazing.”
“It was…nice,” I said breathlessly. “It was more than nice. Trust me when I say that Victor was never like that. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”
My friend frowned and studied me. “Sloan, I know it’s been awhile for you, but you can’t fall for a man just because he’s good in bed. This is Lucas Montgomery we’re talking about.”
“I know,” I said as my shoulders slumped. “He’s way out of my league.”
Randi quickly slapped me in the arm. “No. You don’t ever say that, and it is certainly not true. You are worth ten of him. But he’s not the man for you, Sloan. Lucas is the kind of guy you have a couple rolls in the bed with, enjoy immensely, and then walk away from. He’s a playboy, and if you let feelings get involved, you’re only going to get hurt.”
I guess it was something that I had known all along, but hearing it said out loud was so harsh to my ears. “You’re right. I’ve never done a casual relationship before. What exactly am I supposed to do now? Do I call him? Do I wait for him to call me?”
“You absolutely wait for him to call you. He’s probably used to women falling all over him. It will do him some good to work for what he wants.”
My ears burned with embarrassment. Had I just been another woman who had fallen all over him? It certainly didn’t take me very long to give into his seduction. “I should just walk away and never think of him again,” I muttered as I leaned over to shove my textbook back into my bag.
“Sweetie, are you okay? I know it’s not your usual thing, but casual sex can be pretty rewarding. Of course, if you have feelings for him, it would be disastrous. You should definitely walk away.” She cocked her head and studied me, and I tried to smile.
“I don’t have feelings for him,” I said with as much conviction as possible. “But he is distracting, and I’m too far behind in my thesis to indulge myself.”
I could tell that Randi didn’t believe me, but she didn’t say anything else. She started chatting about her weekend, and I tried hard to pay attention. As usual, she was the freest person I meant. She lived life with absolutely no fear and no regrets. When she finally gave me a hug, it was tight and comforting. “I’m here for you,” she whispered.
As she walked away, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I glanced at it and felt my blood run cold.
It was Lucas.
I willed myself to ignore it and push it back into my pocket, but just before my voicemail picked up, I answered it.
God, I was weak.
“Hello,” I said softly.
“Ms. Whitlow,” he said in a low voice. “I thought that you might join me for dinner tonight.”
Ms. Whitlow? So we were back at that again. “Lucas, you’ve seen me completely naked. Please don’t call me Ms. Whitlow again,” I growled.
“Good to hear your temper is still intact. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“I did not agree to go out with you,” I snarled. “This is what you do. You just assume that you’re always going to get your way. You didn’t even actually ask me out to dinner. You just said that I wanted to join you for dinner. Why don’t you try asking me for once?”
There was silence on the other end, and I thought he’d actually hung up. “Lucas?”
“I’m suspicious that you’re setting me up just so you can have the pleasure of denying me,” he said finally.
“Would it really be so bad if someone turned you down once in a while?” I muttered.
Lucas cleared his throat. “I don’t want you to turn me down.”
I had a feeling that was the closest thing I was ever going to get to a confession of any sort out of him. “Seven will be fine,” I said finally.
He didn’t even bother to say goodbye as he ended the call, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
But I did feel a little lighter as I picked up my bag. Lucas Montgomery wanted more than just a one-night stand. Something about that felt very good.
By the time he’d picked me up, I had once again gone through every piece of clothing in my closet. Part of me wanted to raid Randi’s closet, but I wanted this date to finally be about me. Not about protecting me. Not about using me for the media. Just about me.
I chose a pair of black pants and a simple blue top. It was filmy enough that I hoped it was sexy but it didn’t reveal any cleavage.
“Classy,” I whispered as I stared at myself. “It’s classy.”
Sure. Maybe if I said it one or two more times, I’d start to believe it.
He was prompt. Always prompt. I opened the door right at seven and tried not to drool. He just got sexier every time I saw him.
His eyes slowly raked over me. “Hello, Sloan.”
“Lucas,” I whispered. “Thank you for the dinner invitation. I didn’t think you’d contact me again. I figured that since you didn’t need to protect me anymore, you wouldn’t feel obligated to hang out with me.” Hang out with me? Could I sound any more immature?
“Tonight isn’t about your protection,” he said quietly. “I’m sure you already figured that. Come on. We’ll be late for our reservations.”
He kept a hand on my back as he led me to the car. I was surprised to see that his driver, Danny, wasn’t present.
“You drove?” I asked as he opened my door.
“I like to drive.” There was no other explanation, and I slid into the car.
“I assume that you’ve been busy with your paper, and that’s why you slipped out of my bed without saying goodbye.” He didn’t even bother looking at me when he started the car, but I heard the accusation in his voice.
He wanted an explanation. I latched onto his excuse. “Yes. Study, study. That’s me.”
“Have you recovered from the incident?”
I’d barely even thought about. No nightmares. No residual fear. Memories of my night with him consumed me.
“Yes, thank you. It helps me to stay busy.”
The conversation was strained and polite
, and we soon lapsed into silence. I was already regretting my decision to dine with him.
When he pulled into Chateau Jean-Paul, I breathed a sigh of relief. A public restaurant that hopefully had no secret level that afforded couples more privacy and intimacy.
Being alone with Lucas was dangerous. Being intimate with him again would be worse.
“Relax,” he whispered in my ear as we walked into the restaurant. “Tonight we’ll eat like everyone else.”
When I did relax, he chuckled but didn’t remove his hand.
Conversation at dinner was just as tense as the car ride. I hid frequently in my wine glass and behind my food. When the bill finally came, I looked forward to leaving. The ritzy restaurant was his world, but I was too busy trying to not embarrass myself that I couldn’t even enjoy the food.
There were times when I thought Lucas had lust in his eyes, but it wasn’t often. I started to think that maybe I was wrong. He seemed cool and controlled. I couldn’t help but wonder if this date was to remind me that we were from different worlds.
That would be for the best, but that didn’t stop my heart from pounding painfully in my chest. I grew so anxious that my hands visibly shook when I picked up my wine glass to finish it.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I muttered. Maybe it was the three glasses of merlot, but I decided that hiding wasn’t the answer. If I wanted to know what he was thinking, I would have to ask. “Actually, I’m not fine. I’m not sure why you invited me out tonight.”
He smiled slowly. “Why do you think I invited you out?”
Clearly, he wanted to play one of his games. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I think we can both agree that tonight is just not working. So thank you for the meal and the wine. You can clear your conscious of guilt.”
“You think I feel guilty?” he chuckled. “If I seem quiet to you, it’s because I’m trying to gauge your state of mind. There is something that I want to discuss with you.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“I enjoyed spending the night with you, Sloan. I think you enjoyed yourself as well.”
Montgomery Billionaire Series Page 9
