“I’ll put on a tie and show the boys how to treat a lady,” he replied, slipping an arm around Charlotte’s waist.
Edith laughed. “Oh, goodness, this is going to be fun!” and she stepped out of the office, still laughing with delight at whatever she thought would be fun.
Oz then turned to Charlotte, triumph lighting those diabolical eyes now. “What time should I pick you up?” Oz asked.
Charlotte pushed his arm away and turned to head into her office. “I’m not going to the dance with you.”
Oz followed. “You’re supposed to be a good role model for the kids,” he pointed out. “How would it look if you crushed a boy’s hopes by not coming to the dance with him after he asked so nicely?”
Charlotte sat down in her desk chair, feeling a bit more in control now that she had an obstacle between herself and Oz’s huge body. Safer, somehow.
“First of all, you didn’t ask me to the dance, and you’re definitely not crushed by my rejection,” she pointed out blandly. She doubted that the man had a vulnerable bone in his entire body!
Unfortunately, her desk as an obstacle wasn’t working very well when he braced a hand on either side of her desk and leaned forward. His lips were less than a few inches from hers and all she could think about was that kiss last night. “How do you know I’m not crushed? I might be reeling from rejecting right now.”
Eyes. Look at his eyes! With an almost painful effort, Charlotte lifted her eyes up to his. “You don’t seem like the kind of man who would reel about anything.”
Those green eyes watched her closely, the amusement leaving them and, somehow, this look was even more devastating. “Oh, you’d be surprised at what sets me off.” His eyes dropped to her lips. “For instance, kissing you last night really threw me.”
It did?
“Yeah,” he replied
Had she asked that out loud? Good grief! “Why?”
“Because of you, Charlotte. I want to make love to you in a crazy way. I want to taste you and feel you.” Did he move closer? “I want to know every inch of you. I want to see what you look like when you climax while I’m buried deep inside of your body.”
Oh my! Had the temperature in the room gone up by about a hundred degrees?
Clearing her throat, she pulled back. “That doesn’t happen,” she replied, stiff and…irritable now. Why was she irritated?
Thankfully, Oz straightened up, giving her breathing room. “What doesn’t happen?”
Charlotte waved her hand in the air, dismissing her accidental comment. “What you just said. I’m not interested.”
Oz watched her carefully, trying to understand what she wouldn’t tell him. “Oh, you’re interested, all right. But you’re scared. Why are you scared?”
She shifted in her chair, furious that she’d revealed so much. “Oz, what do you do behind those concrete walls?” she asked, pulling herself together so that she could make her point.
She watched his body language shift from predatory to defensive. “We accomplish a variety of tasks.”
Her head tilted slightly and her curiosity cranked up about twenty notches. She’d introduced the subject to distract him from the sexual innuendoes…although, those hadn’t been innuendoes. Oz was blatantly sexual. But…now, he was stiff and backing off, if only mentally. “Such as?”
He shrugged. “Security.”
Charlotte waited, but he didn’t elaborate. With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair. Disappointment was hot and bitter in her mouth as she stared across her desk at him. “Oz, my ex-husband had secrets. Secrets that tore our marriage apart. I won’t become involved again with a man who has secrets.”
Oz stared at her for a long moment and she could see that he was surprised. Oz hadn’t known that she had been married. For some reason, surprising him felt good. Really good!
“How about if we get together in a couple of days to go over our ideas for the teen youth program? I’m sure you have some really good ideas. If we work together, combining our ideas, I’d bet that it could be a revolutionary at-risk intervention program, don’t you think?”
Oz nodded slowly. “Yeah. I can do that,” he told her and left her office. Back out in the bright sunshine, he slipped his sunglasses back on and headed for his car which was back at the sheriff’s station about two blocks away. The whole walk back, and during the drive back to The Solutions Group office, his mind tried to absorb the fact that Charlotte, his Charlotte, had been married to someone before. Divorced? Okay, not a problem. He liked that she was divorced. But married? No, he definitely didn’t like the fact that she’d been married. She’d loved someone else and the knowledge was like burning acid in his gut.
Why did that bother him so much? He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t have the brain power to figure it out. Plus, when he walked into his office, he found his friend, Sebastian Hughes waiting inside. And not just Sebastian, but also the man’s adorable daughter, Chloe!
“Hey! What are you doing here?” he asked, then saw the look on his friend’s face and his whole being stiffened, went on high alert. “Is something wrong?” Sebastian Hughes was a good friend, a poker buddy and owner of one of the largest, privately owned banks in the world. To outsiders, he was also the coldest, most intimidating man, but once you got to know him…he was still cold, although all of their friend translated that cold demeanor to what it was; reserved, observant and damned smart.
Sebastian took his daughter’s hand. “Always. But I have something else to discuss with you. I hate to ask, but is there someone who can watch Chloe while we talk?”
Oz knew that something was wrong. Sebastian was smart. Brilliant even. And he loved his daughter more than life itself. But Sebastian had a slew of servants as well. So why was his friend here without Chloe’s nanny?
“Absolutely!” Oz bent down so that he was eye level with Chloe’s. “Hi there, sweetie! Would you like to play with a fluffy dog that needs a belly rub?”
The shy child’s eyes widened. Oz noticed that her fingers tightened around her father’s hand but she looked up at him, hopefully, silently asking for permission.
“Betty won’t bite, I promise,” Oz assured Sebastian. He looked at Chloe again. “I found her as puppy on the side of the road. Someone had tied her to a tree and left her there. She always needs food and water as well as lots and lots of love. Do you think you can help her?”
Chloe pressed her face against her father’s leg, but smiled shyly, obviously hopeful for an introduction to the canine.
“Good!” he clapped his hands softly. “Let’s go find her. Can you call her name? Just yell, Betty!” and she’ll come running down the hallway to you.”
The girl giggled and it was a sweet, shy sound.
“Let’s go!” Oz stood up.
They walked out into the hallway and Chloe called a soft, gentle “Betty!” Oz helped out by whistling and, a moment later, Betty poked her head out of Carly’s office. A flash of a second later, the fluff-ball bounded down the hallway, a stupid grin on her face and her pink tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.
Oz watched carefully, and when Chloe started to back away, looking scared, Oz lifted his hand, giving Betty the signal to stop and lay down.
Instantly, Betty dropped to the carpeting, even bowing her head. The fluff-ball instinctively understood that Chloe was scared. Betty’s whole personality was about wanting to give and receive love, so she crouched down, doing the beta-dog thing for Chloe. Betty waited for Oz’s signal and, when Chloe pulled back from her father’s leg, Oz signaled for Betty to crawl forward. Inch by inch, Betty approached Chloe. The little girl smiled and pulled away again, curious about the moving carpet of a dog. When Betty was close enough, Oz signaled for her to roll over. Betty rolled, exposing her belly for Chloe who laughed, delighted and looked up at her father for permission to touch the dog.
Sebastian nodded. “Go ahead, honey. She won’t bite you. Exposing her belly is her way of showing that she likes you.”
&nbs
p; Oz laughed at that explanation but stood up. Carly walked down the hallway as well, rolling her eyes at the dog’s antics. “You spoil her, Oz,” she announced.
Oz lifted his eyebrows. “I spoil her? Am I the one who has treats in a desk drawer?”
Carly’s shoulder shrugged. “You’re thinking of Danielle,” she said, referring to their former accountant who had gone off and left their company recently in order to marry the Sheik of Stilan. “That woman loves your dog.”
“Right,” Oz replied, not believing his sister for a second. “Hey, can you take Betty and Chloe out for a few minutes? I need to talk with Sebastian.” Oz sent his sister a silent message with his gaze.
“Absolutely,” Carly replied without hesitation. “Hey Chloe, want to toss the ball for Betty? She loves playing ball.”
A moment later, the pair walked out of the building to the patio area where there was a large bucket of toys for Betty.
“Nice dog,” Sebastian replied, still watching the doorway where he could see his daughter laughing as Betty raced after a grungy tennis ball.
“Yeah, she’s great.” He put a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Let’s talk,” he led the way back into his office, closing the door behind him. When they were sitting on the leather couches, Oz started the conversation. “What’s going on?”
Sebastian sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Meredith is threatening to take Chloe away from me. And I’m out of options.” Meredith was a beautiful actress who had married Sebastian, then decided to change her profession to shopper and proceeded to spend as much of Sebastian’s money as possible. She’d gotten pregnant right as Sebastian was growing sick of her mercenary ways and Chloe was the result. They’d divorced a few years ago, but Meredith kept regaining custody of Chloe and that wasn’t a good thing. Meredith was neglectful at best and emotionally abusive all other times. “I know that this is so far beneath you, but I also know that you’re the best. Get me something so that I can keep my daughter out of my wife’s clutches.”
Meredith Hughes was a stunningly beautiful woman, but she was heartless. It was astounding that Meredith had ever allowed herself to get pregnant, but Oz suspected that the bitch had done so on purpose. Sebastian wasn’t an idiot. He’d been pulling away and Meredith wanted to keep her access to Sebastian’s billions. So she’d given him a daughter.
Their marriage had never been good. She was cunning and manipulative. But for the gift of his daughter, Sebastian was willing to pay the woman mind-boggling sums of money. Unfortunately, no amount seemed to be enough.
Oz had been friends with Sebastian for years and knew that the man needed help extricating himself from the vile woman’s clutches. “I’ll get right on it. The problem with Meredith is…” Oz hesitated, not wanting to reveal something that Sebastian might not know.
“She’s sleeping around with every judge in the state?” Sebastian offered up. Apparently, the international banker was fully aware of his wife’s sexual manipulations.
“Well…”
Sebastian sighed. “I know. But I have to save Chloe. Meredith doesn’t want to have anything to do with my daughter. Unfortunately, Meredith knows how much I love Chloe and keeps me from seeing her whenever I don’t…!” Sebastian stopped, breathing in as if trying to control his temper.
“Whenever you don’t pay her what she wants,” Oz filled in. “Don’t worry, Sebastian. I’ll have my people dig into Meredith. We’ll find something. Don’t worry.”
Sebastian stood and Oz detected a bit of relief to the man’s normally harsh, cold features. “Thank you.”
Oz nodded. “My pleasure. I can’t stand anyone who abuses children,” he told his friend.
“Will you be at poker night this month?” Sebastian asked.
Oz laughed. “Ready to lose another ten million?”
Sebastian smiled…sort of. “I think Jabril might have something to say about that this time around,” he replied drily, referring to Sheik Jabril al Mustar, their friend who had married recently. Sebastian never teased, but his sarcasm was legendary.
“Here’s something that will give you a chuckle.” Oz led the way back down the hallway where Chloe was laughing with Betty who raced after the ball, then carried it back, shamelessly begging for belly rubs between tosses. “I’m chaperoning a high school dance this Friday night.”
That pulled Sebastian’s eyes away from his daughter. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not even a little,” Oz chuckled.
Sebastian laughed. Hard! Oz stood there with a smile on his features, letting his friend release some of the pent-up tension. When Sebastian stopped, there was a lingering smile to his harsh features. “Thanks!” he chuckled again. “I can’t wait to tell the others.”
Oz groaned, cringing at the mention of their monthly poker games. The others, Sheik Jabril of Piara, Sheik Tarin of Catare, Sheik Mika of Stilan, and Sheik Kazan of Rian, plus his brother and Ryker would laugh hilariously at the idea of Oz chaperoning a bunch of teenagers. The irony of it would leave the group laughing for months!
“Uh, why don’t we keep that just between us?” Oz suggested.
Jayce walked out of his office. “Keep what between the two of you?” he asked. “The fact that you’re chaperoning for Edith this weekend?”
Oz groaned as his brother crossed his arms over his massive chest and grinned hugely. “How the hell did you hear about that? I only agreed to it about an hour ago.”
Ryker walked up behind him, slapping Oz on the back. “Good news travels fast.” He turned to Jayce. “Think we should get some surveillance cameras set up in the gymnasium?”
“Do you think you need to watch the kids that closely?” Sebastian asked.
Jayce grinned. “We wouldn’t be watching the kids.” He turned to his older brother. “We’d be watching Oz.”
Ryker nodded, a malicious light to his eyes. “I’ll bring popcorn.”
Sebastian chuckled. “I think Chloe and I can stay in town a bit longer.”
Jayce clapped him on the back. “Excellent! I have a great bottle of scotch that has been aging for about thirty years. I wanted to bring it out for a special occasion.”
Sebastian looked at Oz. “Seeing your brother surrounded by overly eager, over-sexed boys and girls sounds like the perfect occasion.”
Oz grunted. “Payback,” he warned, then walked away. He pushed through the glass doors and grabbed one of the balls. “Here’s how you do it. Betty needs to earn those belly rubs.” And he threw the ball into the woods. Betty jerked up, her eager eyes watching the ball for a split second before she raced off after it, barking delightedly.
Chapter 7
Charlotte glared at the door when her doorbell chimed. “He’s early,” she grumbled.
Bart agreed and woofed at whoever was on the other side of the door. But he also stood up, his stumpy tail wagging with curiosity and excitement.
“Don’t get too drooly over him,” she mumbled as she moved to the door, nervously smoothing her yellow dress down over her hips.
Pausing, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused for a moment. When the bell chimed again, she was irritated enough to yank the door open. Bart pushed his way in front, but when Betty wasn’t around, the dog wasn’t impressed with Oz. In fact, he trotted over to the middle of the living room, sat down on his haunches and glared up at the man.
Oz chuckled at the bull dog’s irritation. “I didn’t bring Betty along, little fellow.”
Bart’s response was another “Woof”. He didn’t even dignify Oz’s comment by standing up.
“Right. Not a fan of me. He’s only after my dog, isn’t he?”
Charlotte couldn’t stop the horrified laugh. When Oz pulled out the charm, he was a bit devastating. “You’re early,” she said in place of a friendly greeting.
She walked away, leaving the door open for him to enter or not.
“Right. Well, I sort of have a favor to ask of you,” he said, stepping into her house and clos
ing the door behind him.
Charlotte grabbed her other earring and started putting it in as she turned to face him. “What kind of a favor?” she asked, missing the hole in her ear.
“I was hoping we could…uh…bring Bart some place,” he announced.
Charlotte had been expecting something completely different. She wasn’t exactly sure what that something else might be, but it definitely wasn’t Oz asking to borrow her dog. “Where and why?” she asked, dropping her earring. She bent to pick it up and tried again, but Oz was looming. He was big and tall and muscular and…looming. It made her fingers tremble and she couldn’t seem to find the hole for the post of her hoop earrings.
Oz moved closer, taking the earring. “Here. Let me.” And he carefully slipped the earring post into the hole of her ear. “There,” he said with his deep, sexy voice, his forefinger moving softly down her neck. “All fixed.”
One problem solved. A hundred others fluttering up in her stomach though.
She stepped back and cleared her throat. “You haven’t told me what you need Bart for.”
“There’s a little girl visiting my brother’s house. She’s shy and quiet, but earlier this week, she played with Betty and laughed. She used to laugh a lot but…something is wrong in her home life and she’s pulled into herself. She was afraid of Betty at first, but once she rubbed Betty’s belly, Chloe was in love.”
Charlotte lifted a hand in the air to stop him. “Say no more.” She turned and grabbed Bart’s leash from the hook right by the door. “Bart! Want to go for a ride?” she offered.
Immediately, Bart stood up, his stub of a tail wagging back and forth.
“Did he just start to drool?” Oz asked, impressed.
Charlotte laughed. “It looks like it, but no. He’s just a slob and the kids love it. He’s trained as an emotional support dog, so I think Chloe will love Bart.”
“Thanks,” he said. Charlotte heard the heartfelt gratitude in his voice.
Love & Secrets Page 6
