Page 23 of Some Like It Deadly
“But I’m thinking that you might be interested too. No harm, no foul, Kate. If you want to open the door, that’s between you and me. Not the office, not the job.”
Dammit.She wanted to open the damn door. But they had a lot more standing between them than the office or the job. With regret she knew would sting, she turned to flatten her palm against the wood. “I’ll be down after I change.”
The protracted silence that met her statement wrenched at her heart. She almost opened the door to make sure he was all right. But, then, he tapped the wood once. “Okay.” The word rode a long breath, but no matter how light he made his tone,she couldn’t forget the seductive rasp of his invitation. “I’ll be waiting. On the up side, we got most of the day off.”
“Yeah.” She tried to inject some enthusiasm in her tone to disguise her struggle. “And I had fun.”
“Me too, Kate. Me too.” The hint of a step and he walked away. Kate stayed at the door, waiting until the last of his steps faded away before she made herself move. Personal investment in a protectee was permissible to a point. She couldn’t protect someone and not care about them, because their safety was what they paid her to care about.
But she cared a hell of a lot more for Richard than professional interest allowed. She’d talk to the grand duke and— No, he was also Richard’s best friend and between the two of them, they’d already lied to Richard enough. She’d talk to Peterson. He would understand the need for a replacement.
It was the right decision—the rational, calm and professional one.
So why did her stomach knot up at the idea?
By the timeshe’d dried her hair and come out into the borrowed bedroom, the door to the hallway was closed and she was alone. Opening the closet, she stared at the wide variety of clothes filling the space. Everything from casual to semi-formal, in different colors and—she shifted through the different hangers—different sizes.
Most were women’s clothing, but some were for children. The man had a huge house and a sister, but she didn’t think he had any nieces or nephews. So why all the clothes? Did he have lovers over so frequently in need of a change in clothing?
None of your business, Kate.A snarky inner voice chastised her.
Hell, many of the clothes still had the tags on them. Maybe he kept them for his sister or maybe he had a new lover every week, it didn’t matter. They were clothes. She needed to pick something and put it on. At least the presence of the price tags meant she wasn’t putting on some other woman’s clothes.
Remembering his outfit, she chose a pair of jeans—they were just long enough to fit her legs. Forgoing a T-shirt, she chose a sleeveless button down blouse and found a blazer in the back.
She might be able to get away with moderately casual, but she still needed business dress and—frankly—the less skin she showed around Richard might be for the better.
When she walked down the stairs, her disheveled clothing over her arm, she found Richard waiting. He wore a blazer similar to the one she’d picked out, his hands tucked into his pockets. “You found something that fits. Great.” And no comment about his offer on the other side of the bathroom door.
Relieved, and a little disappointed, she took her cue from him. “I had a great selection to choose from.”
“That’s the idea.” He nodded. “You ready to go?”
“Absolutely.” Fortunately, she’d worn low-heeled pumps with her suit the day before and they worked fine with this outfit. She could run in them—something she did periodically just to say trained in the event that she’d need to. “Do you want me to drive? I can take you back by the office afterward, pick up your car.” Security would have kept their eye on the vehicle that he’d left parked in the garage of the building housing his law office.
For the barest flicker of breath, frustration appeared in his eyes, but he nodded and the moment evaporated. “That would be great.” He picked up his keys from the dish by the door where she’d left them and keyed in the code to disarm his security system. She went out ahead of him and scanned the area.Her SUV sat where she’d left in the circular drive. The follow car wasn’t in evidence, but if she could see his security, they wouldn’t be doing their job.
The little bubble of freedom encapsulating their day shrank the closer they got to the city. Conversation seemed strained and more than a little stilted. Richard’s attention was fixed on the passing landscape, but then he could also be thinking about the grand duke’s summons. Wherever his mind was, it wasn’t on her. They were better off ignoring each other.
She believed that, so why did it still bother her that he remained so silent?
“Hey.” He shifted in his seat about a block from the tower. “Stop over there?—”
Already slowing and moving over to grab the street-side spot he’d indicated, she scanned the area. Steady foot traffic filled the sidewalks, people hurrying to and from the shops and likely the mall around the corner after work. A coffee shop, a newsstand and a flower kiosk also lined up along the street. “What’s up?”
“I want to get some flowers for Anna.” He pulled his wallet out of the inner pocket of his jacket and checked the bills inside. “She hasn’t totally forgiven me for knowing about Armand before she did and, you know, it’s the little things that go a long way.”
“I don’t think she’s that angry at you.” Kate saw the follow car swing past. There was nowhere for it to park near them. Protocol would have it do a pass and go around the block.Crap.“I’ll come along.”
“It’s fine.” Richard swung the car door open. “I’ll just be a minute.”
She couldn’t let him go on his own.
Turning off the engine, she slid out of the car and tried to assess the number of ways this was bad and there were too damnmany of them. Jogging around the hood of the car, she caught up to him before he’d made it more than a half dozen steps.
“Maybe I should get them flowers too. You know, since they invited me to dinner.”Lamest excuse ever. Did you leave your professional brain behind?
Richard chuckled and it was the first sound of warmth and amusement she’d heard since turning down his request to open the door. “Get Armand some pansies. He’ll really appreciate that.”
