Sweet Little Lies (10 page)

“S
o the high-speed rail in Spain is wind powered?” I asked Steven as we sat at my dining room table. We had spent the better part of the day at his foundation offices in San Jose. I was impressed. No, I was blown away. In a few hours I had learned more about trains that went over 110 mph than I ever expected. Dr. Williams was a great teacher.

I don’t know why I was surprised, but I was. I was also seriously pleased that we fell back into our easy conversational cadence that we’d had in New York. When I first saw him at the university, he seemed so guarded and angry. That was replaced with something else today. Professionalism, openness and an unknown tinge of something else I couldn’t put my finger on.

The Chi-Wind Foundation was housed in a two-story, postmodern building in the heart of Silicon Valley. Surrounded by global technology companies, the foundation was in a wind- and solar-powered building made entirely of recycled and refurbished materials. The final product was a brick-and-glass,
sloped structure that resembled a pyramid rounded at the bottom and turned onto its side.

The interior was no less impressive and included state-of-the-art research and development facilities, a computer lab dedicated to simulating train movement, and even a small-scale railcar and track system. It was, in a word, aweinspiring.

After touring the facilities and getting an overview of the project, I met a few of the staff members, including his chief operating officer / business partner, Lance Porter. Lance was the finance guy. He resembled JFK Jr. in both looks and charisma. He knew Steven from Columbia.After scheduling a later time for me to speak with Lance, we headed back to my house to discuss the investigation in private.

“Yes, Arizona is working on one using solar power. Just about every power option associated with these trains cuts carbon emissions, so you also have to factor in the importance of creating green jobs and reducing the greenhouse effect.”

Wow. Smart was the new sexy. And he just displayed a whole lot of smart there. Another sentence came out of his mouth, but I was too busy watching his lips form the words to concentrate on what was coming out of them.

“Christina? Are you listening to me?” Steven waved his hand in front of my face.

I blinked and looked down at my notes.“I got it. So your major focus is on how to make this all work?”

The slow smile that spread across his face told me that I hadn’t fooled him, not one bit. He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms, causing the cotton T-shirt to stretch across his chest. He had on a pale green T-shirt and khaki pants. In the past five years, Dr. McGreen Eyes had developed a fierce six-pack, thighs of steel, and an impressive set of guns. I liked the sculpted, grown-man vibe he was giving me.

Christina, you have got to get your head out of his pants.
I flushed a little at my own thoughts. I didn’t mean it like that.
He was still speaking.“My job is to review the engineering it will take to make this system work nationwide using the existing railroad infrastructure.”

“Oh, but I thought you once told me that your dream was to build light-rail.”

“So you were listening?” I wondered what he would think if he knew I remembered every single moment we spent together.

“I was listening. Go on—what changed?”

“I had to grow up and learn a thing or two. You can’t build light-rail across mountains and rivers and deserts.”

“So where does the funding for all this research come from?”

“The initial influx was part of a government stimulus package under President Obama. States have to match the funds. More government money is solicited and then private entities also contribute.”

“And who tracks the spending?”

He raised his arms in a “who knows?” gesture. “That’s where I step out. Lance Porter, who you met earlier, handles all the money and politics. I just do the research and spit out my findings into reports that people read. Every now and then I show up at a dinner or a banquet or a seminar, share my vision of the future, and checks get written.”

That gave me pause and all of a sudden I wondered if this was a much bigger story than one congressman skimming funds to enhance his lifestyle.The journalist in me woke up. “So how do you know if the money you are spending on research and payroll and the beautiful office building in San Jose is good money or bad money?”

“You lost me.What is good or bad money?”

“How do you know where the money comes from?”

“I don’t.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“It didn’t until right this minute.What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything…yet. So you are paid by the university, right?”

“Right.”

“And you also draw a salary from the foundation?”

“Yes.”

“And there’s no conflict?”

“What kind of conflict? I teach what I research and research what I teach—yes. But I also teach numerous engineering principles that have nothing to do with high-speed rail. I don’t think I like where you’re going with this.” He pushed back from the table and stood up. He started pacing. His expression said he was mulling over all of this in his mind and was not happy about his conclusions.

I stood up, too. “Wait. I’m absolutely not accusing you of anything, but money is missing. Somewhere between Washington and San Francisco, millions of dollars are gone.Are you the least bit concerned that your foundation may be a part of that?”

He paced along the length of the bar separating the kitchen and the living room.“Christina, there are literally hundreds of foundations and state-run agencies that received funding. Why are you so sure that my company is involved?”

“I’m not. But yours is one in the district that Congressman Walker represents. So it stands to reason …”

He sat back down with a sigh.“This could be bad.”

I nodded.“But it could be good. What if we find out that Chi-Wind should actually be receiving more funds?”

“We?”

Without thinking about it, I sat down in his lap.“C’mon, Steven.You have as big if not bigger a stake in getting to the bottom of this as I do. We can help each other out here.”

He put his hands on either side of my waist, lifted and turned me so I was facing him with my legs straddling his. In-stinctively,
I put my arms across his shoulders and leaned in. His voice was a husky rumble when he spoke.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Ti-Ti.”

“What am I doing?”

“You’re playing me.”

“I am
not!
” Maybe I was, just a little bit.

He scooted my hips closer. “You ARE. But it’s okay because I’m cosigning.You need me for access to information for your story. I need you to make sure my foundation isn’t entangled with anything grimy. Just be aware…” He canted his hips upward.

Hmm, he had learned a trick or two in the last few years. Like ways to turn up the heat with very little effort. I liked it. I liked the slow hum of attraction and arousal that buzzed along my veins. And I suddenly wondered if this feeling wasn’t what I had been chasing with my FwBs. He shifted again, aligning the hardest part of him with the softest part of me. I struggled to recall what we were talking about as my hips started circling of their own accord.The conversation seemed far less important than how quickly he would put his hands on me.

“Be aware of what?” I asked impatiently. Work Christina was ready to shut down and let Sex Kitten Christina take over. My lips parted and my eyelids felt heavy.

He circled his hips in the opposite direction from mine, creating an impossibly addictive sensation. “Be aware that the relationship is a separate thing.”

The word “relationship” was like a splash of cold water. My eyes popped open and I tried to raise myself up off of him. His hands tightened on my hips, keeping me in place. My eyes nar-rowed.“Relationship? I don’t do relationships.”

With a flash of white teeth, his smile came and went.“So I hear.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your little YouTube adventure spawned a fleet of re-sponses.Apparently you do just about everyone and everything else
but
relationships. But I’m not Dante Esteban, sweetheart.”

“I never thought you were.”As if I could ever confuse the two!

“Just making sure you can keep all your men straight. You’ve been through a few since I last spent time with you.”

Okay, that smarted. New Grown Man Steven was more than edgy, he was mean. He had verbal weapons and he knew how to use them.“Don’t you dare judge me!”

“Oh, I’m not judging you. I personally like a woman with a little worn tread on the tires … just a little, though. Just enough to make it interesting. But I’m not down to be your bed buddy.”

Did this ninja just say I had
worn tread
on my tires?
I wasn’t sure I liked Grown Man Steven, no matter how hot he was.“I don’t recall asking you to bed me, Steven.”

One of his large hands spread across my back, snaking up to my neck. My body had a mind of its own, leaning into his touch, my nipples beading into points. I shivered as his hand brushed across my chest. I arched my back and he pressed his lips to the front of my shirt, nipping at the tight buds through the layers of shirt and bra. I hitched forward.

He lifted my T-shirt and nipped again.“Yet.You didn’t ask me yet.Why even play the game? You know you want this.”

I was a quivering moist bundle of nerves writhing away on his lap. No way could I pretend to be unaffected. I shifted so he could tease the other nipple. But I was not so blinded by lust that I had completely lost my mind.“I do want you. I want you urgently right now, in all kinds of freaky, worthy ways. But I do
not
want a relationship … ever.”

He lifted my bra up and sucked the bare tip of my breast into his mouth.“Not even with me?”

“Oh my God! Not even with you.”

He had a way of nibbling, with teeth and tongue alternating
flicks and strokes, that completely set me aflame. “You sure?”

“That’s not fair.”What was it about him that made me lose all manner of resolve? I had always been a very sexual being, but he had a way of amplifying my need.

He sucked harder and tilted his pelvis at an angle that rubbed him against me in exactly the right spot. “Who said I had to play fair?”

I pressed harder against him, craving the friction.“Steven, I can’t.You’re gonna make me…”

“Go ahead, baby, take what you need.” He opened the waistband of my pants and slipped two fingers inside.Without hesitating he stroked into my moisture, making sure his thumb and knuckles dragged against my nubbin. His mouth kept time with his fingers and within seconds I convulsed against him. He stroked me through it, sending aftershocks and tingles through me. Finally, I calmed and struggled to take in air. He righted my bra, pulled my T-shirt down and stroked my back.

I leaned into him, placing kisses along his neck and jaw. I had reached release while he was still wired and taut.“Let’s do something for you.” I reached for the button on his khakis and he caught my hands in his.

“I’m good.”

“But you didn’t finish!”

“I got what I wanted. I wanted to watch your face and listen to you make those sounds in your throat and feel your honey on my fingers.” He lifted his fingers to his nose and sniffed.“I got what I wanted.”

Damn, if that didn’t make me hot all over again. “Steven, you make me so…”

“Horny, crazy, needy, happy? I get that.You do the same to me.”

Happy? Okay, maybe I was happy to be around him. I really was, and it wasn’t just the superior orgasms he seemed to be able to pull from my body at will.“You also kind of terrify
me. I don’t want a relationship. History shows that I suck at them. As in epic failure territory. I genuinely like you. I don’t want anything to mess that up.”

He lifted me off him and stood up. My eyes were drawn to the impressive erection straining for freedom at the front of his flat-front pants. “I’m up here, Christina. Focus. You may not think you want a relationship, but that’s what we’re getting ready to have.You want the story, the sources, the friendship, the sex? I want a relationship.All or nothing.”

“Wait—are you blackmailing me into having a relationship with you?”

“I’m giving you an excuse to do what you really want to do. This way you can tell yourself sweet little lies to make yourself feel better, and we both get what we want.”

Grown Man Steven was also kind of arrogant and full of himself.“You think I lie to myself?”

“I think you’re in a huge state of denial, but it’s sexy on you. Now I gotta go—my sister lives out here now, and I’m expected for dinner.” He started gathering his files and laptop.

“Stefani is here?” I couldn’t seem to do anything but ask mimicky questions.

“Yes, she’s married and her husband was transferred to Walnut Creek a year ago.”

As he spoke I realized I didn’t know that much about his life now. And I was a little embarrassed that I hadn’t asked. “Can we just talk sometime?”

“About the investigation?”

“No, about anything, everything. Just because.”

A surprised and pleased smile spread slowly across his face and he seemed for a moment like Younger, Happy Steven. “Anytime you want.” He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.“You better watch out, you’re starting to sound like a woman in a relationship.”

“But about the investigation…”

“Ha! You could not help yourself. I’ll send you over the latest
income and expense documents.You can tear into those. There’s also a reception in three weeks. It’s formal.All of your government liaison, fundraiser, sponsor types will be there.You come with me, chitchat, see what you can see. And you can meet Stefani.”

I was dying to ask him if he didn’t plan on seeing me for three weeks. But I didn’t want to sound pressed. One taste and I was already feenin’ for the next hit. Not good if I wanted to keep my emotional distance.

“I can honestly read the thoughts flying across that pretty face of yours.Walk me out and I’ll talk to you later.”

I walked him to the door. “Do you ever think about the last time you were at my house?” It was the day of the Jay / David meltdown.