If Only for Tonight

by Sherelle Green

  The smile dropped from his face the instant she mentioned his family. He stopped eating his food and cracked his knuckles. “We aren’t close. They’ve never accepted me and my decisions.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cyd replied sympathetically. “Maybe they will come around someday.”

  “I doubt it, but it doesn’t matter.” Jim cracked his neck and resumed eating before he continued. “I have another family, so I don’t need them or their judgment.”

  Cyd took a sip of her water. “That’s good. What are they like?”

  He didn’t clam up as he had moments prior. But his current expression wasn’t a pleasant one, either. He looked down at his plate. “They take me for granted, but they are a better family than my family ever was to me. I’d do anything for them.”

  “So when you were talking about your family earlier, you were referring to your other family? Why would you do anything for them if they don’t appreciate you? That’s not fair.”

  His face rose from his plate, void of expression. Looks like I went too far. He went from looking at her like a confidant to looking at her as if she were a threat to his “other” family.

  “I’m done with lunch,” Jim finally said as he waved over the waiter to get the check. Cyd looked down at her half-finished salad, forcing her eyes to stay down, avoiding Jim. He was still staring at her and even though there were other patrons in the café, the look in his eyes was a little intimidating. Cyd realized she was intimidated because he was void of emotion. She was pretty sure she had irritated him by asking so many questions and he was finally realizing how much he’d told her.

  When they left the café, Cyd excused herself by saying she had to change before tonight’s festivities began. They were headed to Indianapolis in the morning, so it was their last night in Carbondale.

  “I’ll see you later,” Jim said, stopping her in her tracks. She turned back toward him and noticed his relaxed smile. The smile was even eerier than his being angry with her. Cyd gave a quick head nod and hurried away from him.

  As she walked farther down the hallway, she couldn’t help but turn around to see if he was watching her. Surely enough, his eyes were glued in her direction.

  * * *

  Cyd opened a large manila envelope and poured the contents on the bed in her hotel room. She glanced at the array of pictures and notes she’d accumulated since she’d started investigating Jim. She found out a lot of valuable information at her tennis date with Jim earlier that day. She also realized that she needed to leave this situation alone.

  Growing up, Cyd was always a bit of a detective. She loved the idea of solving the case of a missing sock or having a Q&A with her cousins on who ate the cookies from the cookie jar. She even entertained the idea of being a detective or investigator while she was in college, but she quickly realized that planning events was definitely her passion. When she was younger, her spy antics hadn’t put her in any danger. Now she wasn’t so sure. Although she didn’t think Jim was really dangerous, she knew it wasn’t smart to continue to investigate him. She honestly had no idea why she’d thought it would be a great idea in the first place. Because you needed to occupy your time and get attention from someone else since Shawn was ignoring you. The voice inside her head was right. Even though she disliked Jim to some extent, she did like the attention he was giving her.

  Shawn. His named crawled into her mind for the first time all day. Shawn was the chief information security officer, so it only made sense for her to tell him about the suspicions she had about Jim.

  “But how would I explain why I started following him in the first place?” she asked aloud. How was she supposed to explain to him that since he was ignoring her, she was bored and liked the attention she was receiving from Jim? She wouldn’t dare give him the satisfaction of knowing how badly his dismissal affected her.

  “But what other choice do I have?” She glanced at the pictures and notes again. Jim talked on the phone four times a day at precisely the same time every day. Twice, she’d noticed that the call came up unknown, which wouldn’t seem like an issue except for the fact that he always seemed to leave her abruptly and answer like he knew the person. Her conversation with Jim today was icing on the cake.

  Cyd began placing the pictures and notes back into the large envelope. “You have to tell him,” she said to herself as she put on her gym shoes and texted Shawn to meet her in the lobby. She left her hotel room and headed to the elevator. As soon as the elevator door opened, out stepped Jim, running right into her.

  “Oh, sorry,” Jim said as he gripped her arms to help her maintain her balance.

  “That’s okay,” Cyd said, slowly easing herself out of his grip. “Why were you walking so fast, anyway?”

  “I guess I was just anxious to see you,” he said, although Cyd didn’t believe him. She straightened out her T-shirt and yoga pants, making sure she tightly gripped the envelope, holding it close to her chest.

  “I have to meet with the hotel staff before I finish getting dressed,” she said, thinking quickly. She tried to move around him to get on the elevator, but he stepped in front of her. “Do you have to leave right now?” Jim asked as he bent down to tie his shoelace while stationed in between the elevator and floor. “I was hoping we could have a little wine before the events later today.” Only then did Cyd notice the wine bottle and glasses in a tote bag on the floor of the elevator.

  “Sorry,” Cyd exclaimed as she finally made it around him and into the elevator. “I have a lot to do tonight and before we get to Indianapolis. Can I take a rain check?”

  Jim stood there for a few seconds and Cyd prayed he wouldn’t give her a hard time. “That’s fine,” he finally said as he stepped back into the elevator with her and pressed his floor number.

  “Great,” Cyd exclaimed in relief. After Jim got off on his floor and the elevator let her off on the ground level, she spotted Shawn waiting in a corner of the lobby. His head immediately turned as she approached him.

  “Hello, Shawn.” He had on a pair of worn jeans and T-shirt. On any other man, the outfit would look casual, but on Shawn, it looked rugged and sexy.

  “Hello, Cydney,” he responded in his raspy voice. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Cyd glanced around and pointed in the opposite corner of the lobby that had a couple chairs and a table. “Do you mind if we sit over there?”

  “Sure, why not,” Shawn said as he followed the direction of her hand. When they arrived at the chairs, taking seats right across from each other, Cyd opened the manila folder, but didn’t remove any contents. “I wanted to talk to you about an employee who I believe may be up to something.”

  Shawn’s eyes squinted together as he placed his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands together. “I’m listening,” he said, giving her the green light to continue.

  Cyd explained the entire story, leaving out the part about her wanting attention from Jim due to Shawn’s decision to ignore her. The corner they were stationed at was very private, so Shawn was able to unobtrusively skim through the pictures and notes without looking suspicious.

  “So you’ve been following him?” Shawn asked, although the question had to be rhetorical since she’d already told him that. “Why did you think that was a good idea? Do you know how much danger you put yourself in?”

  Cyd was taken aback by the way he was speaking to her. She felt much younger than her twenty-seven years. “Seriously, I’m an adult, so I’d appreciate it if you talked to me as such.”

  Shawn threw his head back in a sarcastic laugh before leaning over to talk lower. “For an adult, you certainly weren’t thinking like one when you created a plan to investigate Jim Pearson.” He leaned even closer to her. “Cydney, I will look into this. But I need you to stand down and drop this investigation. You’re liable to get hurt.”

  She wished hi
s concern warmed her heart. Instead, she was irritated and a little embarrassed that he thought her investigation was so childish. She’d wanted to tell him because she’d known it was the right thing to do. What she hadn’t planned on happening was her feeling stupid for even coming to him in the first place. When she’d first met him in Anguilla, she’d felt a passion unlike any she’d ever experienced. When she’d seen him again at her sister’s wedding, she’d felt desire at the highest peak. Ever since she saw him in the conference room, he’d made her feel minuscule and unimportant, with the exception of their time in the whirlpool.

  “I understand,” Cyd exclaimed, her voice rising slightly. “I was only trying to...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed the look of irritation in his eyes.

  “I know what you were trying to do,” Shawn said in impatience. “I can’t believe you’d be so irresponsible and put yourself in danger. I’ll handle it from here.”

  His heartless words were like daggers to her pride and self-esteem, making it impossible for her to hold in her feelings.

  “Well,” Cyd said as she stood to retreat back to her hotel room. “Thank you, Shawn.” She counted to three to try to get her emotions under control. “I hadn’t known what rejection and humiliation felt like until I met you. But somehow you’ve made me feel both in a matter of weeks.”

  “Cydney,” he said, standing and reaching for her.

  “Don’t touch me,” she all but yelled as she moved away from his hands. She then brought her voice back down to a normal level. “I gave you control when I let you use my body in ways I’d never allowed any man.” She got the courage to look him straight in the eye before she brought her lips to his ear. “Rest assured, Shawn Miles, I will never make that mistake again.”

  Chapter 9

  “You’re an idiot,” Shawn said aloud to himself as he walked around the outside premises of the host hotel for the Indianapolis Customer Appreciation Cultural Fair. Yesterday, Shawn and Cydney had been placed on the same bus on their commute from Carbondale, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana. He’d tried to talk to her several times and apologize, but each and every time he was rejected.

  You deserve it after talking to her the way that you did, he thought to himself. Even worse, he should have been happy that she was just following Jim and wasn’t actually attracted to him. He’d been following them both and had been unsure if Cyd was using Jim or if she actually enjoyed Jim’s company. Shawn hadn’t known what had come over him that day. He’d had a feeling that she was going to talk to him about Jim, but instead of being understanding, he’d reprimanded her as if she was a child.

  Early this morning, he’d called Micah and told him there had been a change of plans and he needed him to reroute and meet him in Indianapolis. Micah was due to arrive soon and Shawn needed to debrief him on his recent findings. It was actually more like Cydney’s recent findings. She’d gotten close enough to Jim to have some intimate conversations with him and the information she’d found out had given Shawn an idea.

  “Man, what are you doing out here?” Micah asked as he approached Shawn. “I know it’s still fall, but it’s a little chilly.”

  “I guess I don’t feel anything,” Shawn said as he led Micah through a gathering of trees near a creek. He handed Micah a flash drive. “I scanned and uploaded all the files I received from Cydney. I need you to go through them while I prepare the team for the cultural fair that’s starting in a couple hours.”

  “No problem.” Micah placed the flash drive in his pocket.

  “Great. I need to call Malik and see if he has an update.”

  “I talked to him on my drive over here. He wants to verify some of his findings, but he expects to give us an update tonight or tomorrow.”

  “That’s perfect. After reviewing everything that Cydney found out, I think that Jim may be hiding more than we thought. For starters, there’s no way Jim Pearson is in this alone.”

  “I thought the same thing weeks ago,” Micah added. “He didn’t go under the FBI’s radar without any help from the inside.”

  Shawn was about to respond to Micah’s statement when he noticed they were being watched from the window. “Did Malik tell you anything about Paul Jensen?” Shawn asked.

  “Malik said he’s clear. There’s nothing in his background that would indicate otherwise.”

  “Well, he’s definitely watching us right now from the window. Something about him doesn’t sit well with me.”

  “Me, neither,” Micah added, knowing he couldn’t turn around to take a look. “Let’s wait and see what Malik has found before we count him out.”

  “Definitely,” Shawn agreed as he watched Paul leave the window. “Let’s get to work,” he continued as he began making his way back inside the hotel.

  As soon as they entered through a side door near the lobby, Shawn wished he had stayed outside for a few more minutes.

  “Shawn, there you are,” Brittany said, briskly walking toward him.

  “I’ll go play catch up and review the files,” Micah whispered in Shawn’s ear before patting him on his shoulder and turning to leave.

  “Hello, Brittany,” he said when she grew nearer.

  “Hey, yourself,” she replied when she reached him. She looked attractive in her snug-fitting skirt and blouse, but she didn’t make his body feel any bit the way it felt when he was around Cydney.

  “So what time are you heading to the conference room for the festivities?” she asked as she played with the collar of his shirt. His eyes trailed from her manicured hand to her heavily made-up face. Despite her being attractive, he never did go for the prima-donna type. I really don’t need this right now.

  “Probably in a couple hours,” he stated, making sure he looked her in the eye even though she’d perked out her chest, hoping he’d sneak a peek. “But I’ll be on duty.”

  She closed the small gap between them and puckered her lips in a pout. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” He had enough on his plate tonight and entertaining Brittany wasn’t on his agenda at all. He noticed someone in his peripheral vision and slightly turned his head to get a better look, hoping it wasn’t who he thought it was.

  When his eyes landed on Cydney, she quickly turned her back to them but she wasn’t quick enough. He’d seen the look of hurt on her face. Brittany noticed his attention was projected elsewhere and turned toward the direction of his gaze.

  “I swear that woman spends too much time looking at you. Hasn’t she gotten the hint already? You ignore her every chance you get.” Brittany placed her hands on both sides of his collar and pulled him closer to her. “You’d think she’d save herself the embarrassment.” She voiced the last statement a little louder than the others. Without turning around, Cydney walked out of the lobby, clearly having overheard some of the conversation.

  Shawn grabbed both of Brittany’s wrists and pulled her hands away from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I suggest you keep your mouth out of things you know nothing about.”

  “Ooh, so now you’re done with me and you’re all over Little Miss Perfect, huh?” Brittany flipped her weave over her shoulder. “It’s cool, though. Just wait until you see my dress tonight. You won’t even be thinking about her. You’ll only see me.”

  Was she delusional? How did I even get myself wrapped up in a love triangle? Shawn knew whatever he said would only make the situation worse, so he excused himself and went to the security room, glad to find Micah in there reviewing the documents he’d received from Cydney.

  “That woman is crazy,” Shawn said as soon as he closed the door and took a seat next to Micah.

  “I can tell that much from the little episode that just happened in the lobby,” Micah said with a laugh as he pointed to the television screen with the camera aimed at the exact spot Shawn and Brittany had been standing. “Man, y
ou’ve got these women all over you.”

  “I guess so,” Shawn responded. “Why me and not you, I have absolutely no idea.”

  “Me, neither,” Micah said with another chuckle. “I’m younger and more attractive.”

  “You may be younger, but you wish you looked as good as I do,” Shawn laughed. “Okay, on to more important matters,” he said, quickly changing the subject. “I spoke with Agent Wolfe and Mr. Vallant to update them on our progress. Mr. Vallant will actually arrive in thirty minutes. How much did you cross-reference between our footage and Cydney’s?”

  “Enough to know we need to regroup and call all the men together before tonight’s cultural fair. My gut is telling me we need to be on alert tonight.”

  Shawn had the same feeling in the pit of his stomach. “My sentiments exactly.”

  * * *

  The cultural fair cocktail hour had begun thirty minutes ago and so far, everything was running smoothly. The Peter Vallant Company had several rebuilding initiatives in the Middle East and Africa, most of the contributors and investors coming from Indianapolis and Chicago. Mr. Vallant had arrived and uttered his appreciation for all of their hard work so far and the attendees really seemed to be enjoying the worldly theme in dedication to the different countries they’d helped.