by A. C. Arthur
Okay, so her past was barreling toward her. She would not let it defeat her. The next time Harold called her, and she knew without a doubt that there would be a next time, she’d tell him for the last time that it was over and then she’d threaten to use some of the maneuvers they’d learned together against him. She didn’t need Renny for that.
Now as she wandered through the gallery she wondered what exactly she did need him for. Before that knock on the door, before those flowers and that stupid card she’d been convinced that she and Renny were embarking on a very satisfying affair. But his words and his attitude after the flowers had given the impression of more. That was silly, she knew, because Renny was not into relationships. While she’d go along with the fact that he wasn’t the womanizer the press had painted him to be, he was clearly a bachelor, at least for the time being. He liked his solitary style, that was evidenced by the distance he’d moved away from his family, not to mention his decision not to go into the family business. His life was his art and now this gallery. There was no room for a wife and kids.
Bree didn’t even know if she wanted to be a wife with kids.
“Don’t you have a job or something? Or is freeloading off family friends your career?”
The shrill tone came from behind her. She turned to face the blond bombshell with the stilts she called shoes and the claws she called nails. She looked down at Bree as if she were an inconsequential bug to be squashed, a thorn in her side that she had no problem getting rid of. Bree squared her shoulders and gave her the go-ahead-and-try look. “For your information, I have a career that doesn’t include chasing men that clearly don’t want anything to do with me in that way.”
Yolanda gave a bland chuckle. “Oh, please. Spare me. I see how you look at him and let me just save you the trouble. He is definitely—” she looked Bree up and down “—not interested in you that way.” Flipping her hair behind her shoulders, she rolled her eyes. “I suspect he’s simply too kind to send you on your way. I, on the other hand, am not that caring.”
Bree prayed the sting of Yolanda’s words wasn’t evident on her face as she took a step closer to the woman. “And that means what, Yolanda? Are you coming to put me in my place?” At her side her fingers itched to slap her just once. She’d love to see the look of shock register on that carefully made-up face.
“That means—” Yolanda took a step, meeting Bree head-on “—that I’ve worked long and hard at what Renny and I have together and I’m not about to let some little tart mess that up. So…”
Tart? Bree was incensed and despite her conscience telling her to walk away, to not give this woman her time or energy she was ready to show Yolanda just what this “tart” was made of. “So what?” She took another step until she was close enough to inhale the woman’s overstated perfume.
“So,” Yolanda looked down on her with a smirk on her face as if she’d already won the battle and with one long manicured finger poked Bree in the arm. “So you need to go and find yourself someone in your league. Oh, like that nice police officer or some other public servant. Yeah, that’s more your speed.” She threw her head back and laughed.
Now, Bree thought, she’d gone too damned far. The comments were one thing, but touching her was well beyond her limits of control. She could have broken her pretty little neck or at the very least cracked the bone in her perfectly pert nose. But she had the good sense of a well-trained soldier to gauge what sort of force was necessary and what wasn’t. Besides, she had no desire to end up in jail. So instead, Bree grabbed Yolanda by the wrist, twisted her bony little arm behind her back and pushed the smart-mouthed Amazon. Yolanda twisted and flailed her arms, unable to hold her balance in her high heels, and careened into the blessedly empty podium behind her. As she fell, a delayed yelp escaped her and Bree almost laughed. Instead she went to stand over her. She knelt down, the ball of her foot on Yolanda’s wrist so she couldn’t level herself to get up. “It seems you’re the one not up to speed. Like I said before, there’s no future between you and Renny other than this gallery. I’d hate to have to prove my point again.”
Yolanda yelped again as Bree applied pressure with her foot.
“Sabrina?”
She turned at his voice, cursing that he’d caught her in this position. Suddenly she felt like a jealous schoolgirl, embarrassment creeping up her neck like a spreading virus.
“What’s going on?”
He came closer, taking his eyes off her momentarily to look at Yolanda, who was now trying to get up off the floor. Bree stepped to the side so that she was no longer blocking or hindering her. When he looked back at her he seemed to expect an answer, an explanation of some sort. She was in no mood to give him one, mainly because she wasn’t sure why she’d done what she’d done.
Hadn’t she already deduced that there was no future between her and Renny? But they were having an affair and she at least had a right to have him all to herself for however long that lasted. She couldn’t do that with Blondzilla hovering around him all the time. Squaring her shoulders, she stared right at him. “You should have your employees checked out. She’s terribly clumsy.”
With that said she walked away quickly without looking back. No way was she going to tell him she’d pushed her and threatened her to stay away from him. She was definitely going to spare herself that embarrassment.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and that was mostly thanks to Gabrielle. She’d come to the gallery looking for a birthday gift for a friend and even though they weren’t technically open for business, Renny had relented. Gabrielle walked Sabrina around the gallery, the two of them conversing over paintings and sculptures and the two new life-size statues that Yolanda had secured for the opening. While bronze was his preferred medium, Clayton Justinian was quickly proving that the originality and weathered look of stone were still winners in the sculpting world. Renny would have to call Clayton to let him know how much both women enjoyed the twentieth-century African-American gods he’d provided on loan for the gallery’s opening.
He was used to Gabrielle’s bold sexual comments, but Sabrina’s had been a surprise. He liked the idea of her sexuality, her passion being a secret that only they shared. When she boldly stroked the muscled buttocks of the sculpture named Samson his gut had clenched.
“A firm buttocks is definitely essential, don’t you think, Gabrielle?” She’d been speaking to his sister, but her gaze had breezed by him as if by accident. Only he’d known she meant for him to see what she was doing. “I mean, there’s nothing like the feel of tight muscles beneath your hand as you guide. It makes the contact so much more intense. Would you agree?”
Gabrielle, who had been lost in the striking form of Gladiator, moaned her agreement. “That’s certainly true. But you know I’m partial to nice strong legs and arms that can hold you up and support your weight as you ride in a standing position.”
Sabrina’s hand had paused over Samson’s thigh as she tilted her head. “You know, that’s a good point.”
As he’d watched her fingers moving slowly over Samson’s naked form he wished it were him standing on that podium. He’d grown quite uncomfortable standing there watching her and listening to the conversation, so much so that he’d had to thrust his hands into his pockets and politely excuse himself. He had no desire to stand in his erect glory with his sister in the room.
They’d shared a lunch of soup and sandwiches in his office, to which he’d had Yolanda, to her chagrin, order but not share. The tension between Yolanda and Sabrina was thick. Gabrielle found it amusing. Renny, however, wasn’t sure how he felt about it. On the one hand he was mildly flattered by Yolanda’s misplaced interest in him—but he’d never given her any reason to think they were anything more than coworkers. The flip side was that her interest had apparently uncovered something about Sabrina that he was sure she’d rather have kept to herself.
She was fiercely protective of those she loved, those she felt belonged to her. She must consider
him one of those people, why else would she have knocked Yolanda down? The purely male part of him had suffered from severe ego inflation as he’d watched his new lover knock the tall, gorgeous Yolanda on her butt, then proceed to threaten the woman. He’d been looking for Sabrina and when he heard their voices had stopped to see what they were speaking about. The tone of the conversation had first amused him, but then he’d heard something in Sabrina’s voice shift and before he could make his presence known she’d attacked. He smiled now with the memory; it was very impressive indeed.
Now she and Renny were on their way back to her sister’s house, where they would share a bed again tonight. She had no doubt that Renny’s concession to sleep on the floor was a noble act of the past. Last night had been comfortable, a little too comfortable if she told the truth, and he would most assuredly be in that bed beside her for a repeat performance. She was game for whatever he was for the moment. If this was all she could have of him, so be it. She’d realized this afternoon that after she’d told Yolanda in no uncertain terms to step off she’d meant it. For the duration of this affair she wanted Renny Bennett all to herself. Now, after this job was over and after they’d had their fill of each other she’d happily turn him over to Yolanda. Well, maybe not to Yolanda, but certainly to the next woman in line.
“Ah, Sabrina, about Yolanda—” he began as he eased the car into the left lane.
She expelled a deep breath. Dammit, she’d thought he was going to let that ride. “What about her?” She tried to sound nonchalant, but could hear the edge in her own tone.
“There’s nothing going on between us,” he said seriously.
Bree looked over at him, wanting desperately to believe his words. “Look, don’t think that I’m jealous or anything. It’s just that when I’m sleeping with someone I expect to be the only one, at least for the duration.” Her hands fidgeted in her lap as she tried to keep her composure. If she wasn’t jealous, this warm swirling in the pit of her stomach must be indigestion or something.
Renny wasn’t sure he liked what she’d said. Outside of the blatant lie of not being jealous, she hadn’t said they were in a relationship, she’d only admitted that they were sleeping together. Was that all she thought this was? “There was nothing going on between Yolanda and me before I slept with you and there will never be anything between her and me.”
Bree shrugged. “Whatever. Just know that while I’m involved with someone I don’t get involved with anyone else. That’s just not the way I work. So I expect the same from you. What you do after that is your business.”
“What I do after what? After we’re finished sleeping together, you mean?” He couldn’t help it, anger clawed at him with each word she spoke. Could she really be that unaffected by the night they’d spent together? Here he’d been trying to pinpoint the emotions she’d set off in him all day, trying to give them a name so that they could move on from there. And she was simply thinking of it as sex.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
He clenched his teeth. “And when do you suppose that’ll be? Tomorrow? Next Friday? Or maybe in a month? Are you at least planning on sleeping with me that long, Sabrina?”
His tone was definitely that of an angry man, and Bree couldn’t quite figure out what had set him off. They were having sex now, that was true enough. As for the duration, she didn’t have a clue how long it was going to take to wrap this case up and she didn’t dare hope it would last beyond that. “I don’t know an exact time span and I didn’t think I needed one.”
“Obviously you think what we shared is monitored by some damned clock.” A car cut him off and he slammed on the brakes, banging his hand against the steering wheel, muttering a course of very explicit curses.
“Are you all right?” Ever since she’d met him, Renny had always seemed in complete control. Except for that time when she’d saved his life. But other than that he’d been the epitome of calmness. Now he looked as if he was barely holding on.
He took a deep breath, slowly lifted his foot off the brake and continued to drive. “I don’t take sex lightly, Sabrina. I thought I told you that already.”
“You did. And neither do I. That’s why I’m telling you that I don’t share my lovers with other women.”
He pulled into the parking lot and slowly switched the ignition off. “Is that all we are?”
His eyes were intense, his lips drawn into a tight line, and Bree felt something akin to guilt snake through her skin. “I…I thought…I mean, after last night I assumed—” She was confused and was beyond pretending any differently.
“You thought and you assumed, but you didn’t feel, did you? You didn’t simply allow yourself to feel what was happening between us. If we’re lovers and that’s all, that’s because you won’t open yourself up to the option of anything else. Just like you refuse to open up to me about anything personal in your life.”
Bree was quiet. She didn’t know what to say, how to counter his bitter words, and she didn’t want to accept that they might be true.
Her silence infuriated him. “You know what, Sabrina? You’ve had it all wrong from the get-go. You thought I was the player, that I was the one who slept with women and toyed with their emotions, then dropped them without malice. But you’re the uncaring one, you’re the one that does what she wants with people, then chooses when she’s done with them.” He climbed out of the car and for the first time since he’d known her, didn’t open the door for her. Instead he made his way to the front door without looking back.
She stalked up the walkway prepared to enjoy dinner with her sister and nephew and to ignore Renny Bennett, if need be. She wouldn’t discuss this with him again. Either they were lovers or they weren’t, it didn’t make a difference to her. But when she stepped into the house she heard voices and before she could make them out clearly she felt thick arms encircle her and sweep her up off her feet.
“Bree! You’re safe now, little sis. And whoever’s bothering you will have to face me should he be man enough,” Cole Desdune whispered into her hair as he swung her in a small circle.
After a round of introducing Renny to her parents and her brother, Cole, Bree frowned because her father dismissed all the women from the room.
When the females were out of the room, Bree’s father, Lucien, turned to Renny again. “What do you know?”
The man wasn’t looking at him with speculation and reserved judgment in his eyes anymore, but Renny still felt he hadn’t quite passed Mr. Desdune’s checkout, so he moved slowly away from the window, dropping his hands to his sides. “He’s an ex-marine just like Sabrina. I haven’t been able to pinpoint their connection and she’s not saying much. I know that he left North Carolina two days ago and that those flowers were purchased from a florist here in Greenwich.”
“Bree’s pretty stubborn. Getting information from her is going to be hard if she doesn’t think you need to know.” Cole took a seat in one of those high-backed chairs that Renny thought looked way too uncomfortable.
“She’s as pigheaded as her mama can be at times and it drives me crazy.” Lucien sighed. “But if this man has come here, then he has a plan and we need to find out what that is.”
Renny wholeheartedly agreed. “Sam’s trying to get more information, as well as trying to find out where this guy is staying.” Renny dragged his hands down his face. “Like I said, I’ll be with her most of the time, so I’ll keep a close eye on her.”
Lucien looked up at Renny, his eyes narrowing on the young man. He was from a good family, that he already knew. And he wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He even looked like he could take a good tussle and give an even better ass whuppin’. Still, he didn’t easily trust men with his daughters. “And why is it you’ll be spending so much time with her again?”
There it was, that deadly look again. Renny swallowed hard and squared his shoulders. This was the first time he’d had to deal with the father of a woman he was interested in. Truth be told, this was the first woman
he’d really been interested in. “Sam’s company was hired by my family to take care of some security issues we’re having.”
Cole grinned. “Lynn says there’s some lunatic stalking your family because of that big merger I keep reading about in the papers.”
Cole reminded him of Gabrielle, blunt and itching to keep things going. Still, he liked the big fella and he smiled back at him. “Yeah, apparently somebody doesn’t like the idea of Bennett Industries and Coastal becoming the largest communications entity in America.” He shrugged. “But it’s not a big deal. The merger will go through in a couple of weeks and then everything will be back to normal.”
“And then you’ll be out of my little girl’s life?”
Renny couldn’t tell if that was a statement or question coming from Lucien. He decided that honesty was the best policy in this regard even though if he said the wrong thing he was positive the much larger man would break him in two, with his not-so-small son grinning while he did. “I have no intention of leaving your daughter after the merger.”
Lucien nodded and the room was deathly quiet for a few minutes. Then he rubbed his beard and rocked back on his heels. “So she’s wrapped you around her little finger, too?”
Renny finally let his stance relax. A physical confrontation with Mr. Desdune didn’t look imminent. “Something like that.” He grinned.
Cole stood and moved closer to Renny, clapping a meaty hand on his back. “Watch out, she’s got claws and fangs and she’s not afraid to use them. I know, I taught her everything she knows.”
Taking the other hand Cole had extended to him, Renny shook it casually. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Chapter 10
The evening had progressed with Sabrina’s parents soothing and talking to her about any and everything that had nothing to do with her job or her personal preferences. On more than one occasion she’d looked up at Renny balefully. He could see her straining to keep her cool, to remain respectful and not upset their dinner.
