Page 42 of Untouchable
He gave a little shrug. “It was. It’s business.”
“Yeah, to you. But it’s not business to that poor girl who might lose her scholarship.”
“She won’t. I know how to read people. Her father will do the right thing.”
She let out her breath, forcing her body to react. She couldn’t let him see her real response to him at the moment. She absolutely couldn’t. She slanted a look up at him. “Are you sure?”
He smiled as if pleased that she was falling in line with what he wanted her to feel about this. “I’m sure.”
“Okay. I guess that’s good. It still seems rather ruthless.”
“Anyone you talk to will agree that’s a fair assessment of me.”
She smiled, as she was supposed to, and swayed a little closer to him. “So you’re ruthless, are you?”
“That’s what they say.” A sexy little smile tilted up the corners of his mouth. “Does this change anything?”
She shook her head and slid her hands up to span her fingers around the back of his neck. “I don’t think so. It’s not like I’m the most moral person who ever walked the earth, you know. And to tell you the truth?—”
She trailed off and dropped her eyes.
He tilted her head back up. “To tell the truth, what?”
She let her eyes grow warm and languid. “I don’t want it to go to your head or anything, but I might actually find it a little—hot.”
And that was clearly the right thing to say.
Later that week, Kelly needed to talk to Jack Martin, the private investigator who was helping her and her mother.
It should have been easy enough to make a phone call, but she was constantly on guard. Caleb’s security staff were ubiquitous, and she kept noticing security cameras in unexpected places. She didn’t want to risk a dangerous phone call while she was on Caleb’s property.
She mentioned to Breah that she felt like shopping for clothes, and the next thing Kelly knew, she was being driven to a high-end shopping center. She was trailed by a bodyguard, but she’d expected that—since Caleb was still playing the protector—and she took her time, browsing in a few boutiques and buying a few pieces of sexy lingerie and a pair of shoes she couldn’t resist.
Finally she got to a shop where the dressing cubicles were in a completely separate room from the main store. She grabbeda couple of outfits and went to try them on, making sure the bodyguard waited at the door and didn’t come into the dressing area with her.
She went to the farthest cubicle and hung the clothes up before she pulled her phone out and sat down.
If Jack didn’t answer—right now, in the one chance she had to talk to him—then she would be highly annoyed.
After the third ring, a male voice came on the line. “Martin.”
She sighed in relief, recognizing the gruff tones from when she’d talked to him before she came to Caleb’s. “It’s Kelly.” She spoke softly even though she was alone in the dressing room and the bodyguard was a room and a closed door away.
There was a slight pause. “So I guess that means he doesn’t have you tied up in his dungeon.”
It was so close to the language Caleb himself had used in his teasing, seductive way that Kelly was startled. To hide it, she made sure her voice was very light. “I’ve looked and looked and looked, but I can’t seem to find a dungeon.”
“Too bad. Is everything all right?” Jack sounded a bit concerned.
She knew he thought she was stupid for doing this. He’d told her in no uncertain terms the last time they’d spoken. But she already knew it was stupid. That was hardly the point. She was still doing it.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I just needed to know if you’ve found out anything that will help me.”
“Not much. You’re not in his computer yet, are you?”
“No. I don’t know how I’m going to manage that. The man must suffer from paranoia with all the security he has in place. Plus he doesn’t trust me yet. I’ll need more time.”
Jack muttered something inaudible, and she didn’t ask him what he meant. Whatever he’d said, it was disapproving.
