Page 46 of Some Like It Deadly
No, being with Kate would never be boring.
Chapter 12
Kate
The ease with which they fell into a routine surprised Kate—the fact that she let him get away with lying to her surprised her more. Nights and weekends were spent at his house. They’d stopped at her apartment to pack up two full suitcases so she had plenty of clothes. But on two separate occasions, she’d found him gone and his security completely unaware that he’d left. She’d suspected it that first weekend, but when it happened twice in the same week and he gave her no explanation she couldn’t excuse it or brush it off.
The fact that he’d done it on her watch added to the sting.
First in the office that morning, and then againafterthey’d gone home. He’d mentioned reviewing some contracts and that he’d join her in the pool, but he was a no show. She’d searched the whole house and he wasn’t present.
His security was still on the gate. Giving in to temptation, she turned on the GPS tracker in his phone and found it—in his home office. He’d left it sitting right on the desk. Picking it up, Kate turned the device over in her hand.
Since meeting Richard, she’d never seen him without his phone. Panic burned like a flash fire in her system.
If he left it here…The door creaked behind her and she turned. Richard stood in the entryway, keys in one hand and his expression unreadable. “Hey.”
“Hey?” Irritation scraped along the inside of her skin. Holding up his phone, she raised her brows. “Where did you go?”
He flicked a look from her to the phone, then back to her. “I thought we might grill by the pool for dinner.” That wasn’t an answer. He set the keys down on the bookshelf and shrugged out of the suit coat—a different one from what he’d worn to the office.
“Richard?”
“Or we can order in.” He gave her an easy smile. “Whatever you want. Though, I like the second option because it means we can eat in bed. What do you fancy? Chinese? Thai? Mediterranean?”
Kate grew tired of biting her tongue. It hurt. “I’ll pick up something on my way back to my apartment.” She tossed his phone and strode past while he fumbled to catch it.
“Hey.” Richard followed her down the hall and then up the stairs. But she didn’t stop, and continued to the guest room where she’d left her overnight bags. Her shoulder throbbed with the tension cramping her muscles, however, she continued moving. If she stopped she’d either cry or punch him.
She didn’t really feel like doing either.
Richard’s hand came down on her arm and stopped her at the door. “Kate, stop.”
After halting, she refused to turn. “Yes?”
“You’re angry.” And his almost conciliatory tone was the last straw.
“No, I want to shower, change and go to my apartment.” Firming her lips into a thin line, she pivoted to face him. Sincehe’d ducked answering her question without any pretense of lying, she waited a beat.
He sighed. “Look, Kate, you’re mad because I left, but I had somewhere I needed to be.”
Which wasn’t really an answer. Her pulse thrummed with the surge of adrenaline. He’d been out there, alone and exposed. Anything could have happened. “You’re an idiot.” She shoved him back a step, then retreated into the guest room and slammed the door in his face for good measure.
Fuming, she scanned the room for her bags. They’d been on the bed and now they weren’t. Crossing the bedroom to the closet, she pulled it open. All of the new clothes with their tags still in place seemed to mock her, she still had no idea why he had the clothes. Unfortunately, her bags weren’t in evidence. Aggravated, she headed back to the door.
One part of her mind seemed to take a step back, and recognized her wholly irrational reaction as that of a jealous, worried lover instead of the cool practicality that came from being a bodyguard.
But I am his damn lover.She’d given up the bodyguard gig and traded it in for his bed. Fists clenched, she stopped just short of the door. His leaving without word or security baffled her on all levels—the soldier and the woman. Blowing up didn’t help her cause. Exhaling a long breath, she tried to gather up the ragged ends of her temper.
Opening the door to his cool, impersonal attorney’s face aggravated her all over again.
“As I was saying,” he began as though she’d never slammed the door. “I had somewhere I needed to be?—”
She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Without your security?”
“Look, if they can’t figure out how I’m getting out then neither can the people they’re supposed to be protecting mefrom. And I still think that was a random act of violence and the only reason I haven’t called Armand on his over protectiveness is thatyouwere hurt.” Anger tensed his jaw and for a moment, she saw the same flash of danger in him she’d seen that day on the golf course when he’d taken on Bing in her defense.
The flutter in her stomach warned her she found it just as attractive now as she had then. That only served to piss her off more. “I can’t believe you would endanger yourself so recklessly.”
