A Kept Man (24 page)

It looked good on him. Great, really, if she was honest, which she
really didn’t want to be. Even fully clothed, Charlie still
affected her like no man ever had, the mere sight of him sending her
heart pounding, an ache building deep inside her.

Except Charlie wasn’t his name.

Caleb
, she thought. It still didn’t suit him. Or maybe
she just wasn’t used to it yet. And she didn’t intend to
take the time to bother.

“Hi,” he said. Even softened and slightly tentative, his
voice was warm and deep and sent heat washing over her.

The fact that she noticed filled her with fresh anger—at him,
at herself, at this whole situation.

Dropping her backpack on the floor, she folded her arms over her
chest and sent him a bored look. “I see you still haven’t
learned the concept of personal boundaries.”

He smiled faintly. “I’m working on it.”

“What are you doing here— Whatever your name is.”
Pain, sharp and agonizing, twisted in her chest. Somehow she managed
not to bat an eye. Charlie. She’d almost called him Charlie.

A softening in his eyes told her he knew what she’d been
thinking. “Caleb,” he said softly.

“Is that permanent or will you be exchanging it for a different
name soon?”

“It’s permanent.”

“Fine. What are you doing here,
Caleb
?”

“Waiting for you.”

“How’d you get in?”

“I have my ways.”

“Of course you do,” she said darkly. “You’re
very good at gaining admittance to places you have no business being.
I know that firsthand, don’t I?”

He had the grace to look at least a little chagrined. She ignored the
hit of apology in his eyes, not remotely interested in accepting it.
“What do you want?”

“You.”

“You’ve already had me. Nice to know that I’m such
a good lay.”

“You’re a great lay, but that’s not what I mean.”

He rose to his feet and slowly started toward her. Every inch that
brought him closer sent her heartrate spiking. With wariness. With
awareness.

With want.

Jess threw a hand up, taking a step back. “You know what, I
don’t care. Whatever it is, I’m not interested.”

He continued moving inexorably closer. “Look, I understand that
you’re still mad at me—”

“No,” she cut him off. “I’m not mad at you.
I’m mad at myself for falling for your act. Because the
reality is, you didn’t lie to me. Oh, you did about your name
and the details, but when it comes right down to it, you told me that
fucking women was your job, and that was one-hundred percent true.”

“What happened between us was more than just fucking.”

She barked out a laugh. “Geez, Caleb. You’re starting to
sound like some needy girl chasing after a one-night stand. I would
think that you of all people would be a little more adult about such
things. Let it go.”

“I can’t,” he said, a surprising roughness in his
voice. “Because it definitely wasn’t just fucking to me,
and I don’t believe for a second it was to you either. I
listened to every word you said. I watched every instinctive response
you had. I looked into your eyes when you came. And you can’t
tell me it was just sex to you.”

“If I felt anything, it’s only because I nearly had
myself convinced that you were more than just a whore. But that
really is what you are, far more than I even knew.”

“I know,” he said simply.

The fact that he could admit it so plainly only stoked her anger.
“Nice to know you can be honest about some things.” She
shook her head. “At least if you were a guy with a hedonistic
streak who did it for the pleasure, I could sort of respect that in a
strange way. But it really is just a job for you.”

“You’re right. I always knew exactly what I was doing,
what I signed up for. It just never bothered me before. Until you.”

She told herself the words didn’t affect her, that the curious
squeezing sensation that briefly afflicted her heart meant nothing.
“Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“No. It’s just something I had to say.”

“Well, you’ve said it. Now you can leave.”

“No, I can’t. We have business to attend to.”

“No thanks,” she said sharply. “I’m really
not interested in having you ply your business on me anymore.”

“That’s not what I mean. And that’s not my business
anymore. I’ve called it quits.”

Nope. She wasn’t going to be affected by that. She didn’t
care. “A little late to be developing some kind of moral code,
isn’t it?”

“Yes. But better late than never, I figure.”

“Well, it’s too late when it comes to me. Now is that
all? I have things to do.”

“No, you don’t. The book’s done.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. “How did you know that?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to know when it was safe to approach you.”

“Never.”

“I don’t know about that. I’m still breathing,
aren’t I?”

“Only because I don’t feel like dragging a corpse out of
my apartment.” She jerked a thumb toward the door. “The
exit’s that way, or you can try any one of the windows. Just
get out.”

“No.” His voice was firm. “I’ve waited long
enough.”

“If you care so damn much, why did you wait?”

“Don’t think it was easy for me. I thought it was the
least I could do to let you finish the book, since I did my best to
distract you from it before. It also didn’t seem like a bad
idea to give you some time to cool off and get over the urge to lop
off some of my vital organs the first time you saw me.”

“I haven’t made any promises.”

“Believe me, I noticed. And yet, I’m still intact.”

“The likelihood of you leaving that way is going down the
longer you stay. Forget it, Caleb. I’m not interested.”

The corners of his mouth twitched with a suppressed smile. “You’ve
been saying that since the first time I met you. I’m not going
to start believing you now.”

“It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you get
out.”

“You’re still a lousy liar, Jess. You can try to hide it,
but you can’t. I saw it on your face as soon as you walked in
the room. You’re glad to see me, almost as glad as I am to see
you. If I were to guess I’d say the last month have been almost
as bad for you as they have for me.”

Damn but she hated that. Hated that he could read her so well. Hated
that moment of weakness when she’d been happy to see him before
she forced herself to remember what he’d done.

Seething, she could only glare at him in contempt. “And here I
didn’t think your opinion of me could get any lower. It was bad
enough when you thought I was a thief. Maybe a murderer. Definitely
an idiot. But now you think I’m so pathetic that I’d be
willing to take you back after everything?”

“Not pathetic. Smart enough not to give up a good thing just
because it didn’t start under the best of circumstances.”

“No, thanks. I’ve had enough of lying men for one
lifetime. I feel the same way about them that you feel about thieves.
Or was that a lie too?”

“No. It was the truth.”

Despite her words, she knew it was. Once the book had been done,
she’d looked him up, unable to resist doing so, though damned
if she’d admit it to him. It hadn’t been hard to figure
out who his father had been. The story was exactly as he’d told
her. She’d tried not to read too much into the fact that he’d
been honest with her about that when logic said he shouldn’t
have, not if she had just been an assignment to him, not when it
clearly could have jeopardized his cover. Yet he’d told her the
truth for some reason…

No, she definitely didn’t want to read too much into that.

“It must have been hard seducing someone you hated. It’s
a wonder you could stand to touch me. Or was that part of the game?”

“I never hated you.”

“How could you not? You thought I was a thief, didn’t
you?”

“I still couldn’t hate you. Not after I met you.”

“But you could lie to me.” A sharp pain seared through
her. “Get out, Charlie. Or Caleb, or whoever you are. I’m
tired of playing games with you.”

He sighed. “All right. I’ll go. But not before I give you
something.”

“I don’t want anything from you.”

He didn’t bother to respond. Reaching into his back pocket for
his wallet, he withdrew a slip of paper. He stepped closer, stopping
an arm’s length away, but still close enough that she could
smell the familiar scent of him. He didn’t need to move closer
for her body to respond and every cell in her body to come alive with
a sudden awareness of his proximity. She knew the reaction too well.
It was the effect he’d had on her since the moment she first
saw him. Not even knowing the truth or a month apart had diluted the
effect. If anything, it was stronger now. Her senses were that
attuned to this man.

Staring into the shadowed darkness of his eyes, all she wanted to do
was close the distance between them and press herself against him. To
immerse herself in his scent and his heat one more time before he
walked out that door. Before she made him.

The reminder that he would have to leave, of why he had to, broke
through her hormones and cleared her mind long enough for her to see
what he was holding in his hands.

It was a check. For five million dollars.

The desire fled, replaced by a simmering anger that swept through her
from head to foot.

“I hope that’s not a payment. As far as I know, you’re
the one who was supposed to be the prostitute.”

He had the grace to cringe. “It has nothing to do with that.
This is the commission for finding the jewel. It’s yours.
You’re the one who figured it out.”

“How’d Fabiana take the news that she had a real jewel in
one of her headpieces?”

“She was furious. I think if Hastings was still alive, she
would have killed him. Instead, she tried coming after me when I
tried to touch the damn thing.”

“Pity she failed.”

“She changed her tune soon enough when we pulled the real gem
out from among the fake ones. She said she should either get to keep
it or get a huge reward.”

“You should have given it to her. I don’t want the
money.”

“Then that makes two of us.”

“Why not? You earned it, didn’t you? In fact, I’d
say you more than earned it, going above and beyond the call of
duty.”

“I want something else.”

She didn’t pretend that she didn’t get his meaning. She
only shook her head. “Take the money. It’s all you’re
going to get.”

“No.” And with that, he neatly ripped the check in half,
then fourths, then eighths. Then he opened his hands and let the
pieces fall to the floor.

As gestures went, it was a pretty good one. Even Jess couldn’t
pretend that wasn’t a lot of money to throw away. Her throat
fell into her stomach before she regained her senses. She only stared
at him impassively, allowing none of her thoughts to show. “I’m
sure the insurance company can issue you a new check.”

“I’m going to be too busy to ask them.”

She couldn’t help herself. “Doing what?”

“Convincing you not to throw away a good thing.”

“I think you’re the one who just did that.”

He moved forward before she could brace herself, closing the space
between them. His body was so tantalizingly close she could almost
feel the vibrations of his heartbeat, pulsing at a mile a minute. Or
was that hers? Maybe there wasn’t a difference.

He brought his hand to her face, cupping her cheek in his palm. He
leaned close, and in spite of herself, she couldn’t force
herself to look away from his eyes. “Tell me you don’t
feel that.”

A sarcastic response rose to her tongue. She didn’t say it. She
knew what he meant all too well. The hell of it was, she did feel it.
The skittering, uneven pounding of her heart in response to his
nearness. The dizzying rush his touch inspired. The way every part of
her screamed yes when she knew she should say no. He was like a drug
permeating her senses, and going cold turkey for the last month
hadn’t done a damn thing to get him out of her system.

She just needed him one more time. There’d been more than once
in the last few weeks when she’d wished, in the dark of the
night, that she’d had one last time with him to hold on to, one
last good memory to help her forget. That was all she needed. To kiss
him one last time. To feel him moving inside of her one last time. To
feel every inch of his body pressed against her. One more time to
work him out of her system.

It was either the smartest idea she’d ever had or a cheap
rationalization. At the moment, she was going with the former.

“Follow me,” she said, turning on her heel before he
could respond. A moment later, she felt him obey.

She stopped at the entrance to the bedroom and pointed inside. “Get
on the bed,” she said with more confidence she was feeling.

His eyes darkened with suspicion. Smart man. “Why?”

The wariness lacing his voice brought a smile to her lips. “What’s
the matter, Charlie? Don’t you trust me?”

“Caleb,” he corrected. He raised one eyebrow with a
bemused grin of his own. “Since you were in the mood to hand my
balls to me a second ago, I’d be an idiot not to have some
concerns.”

The idea wasn’t without appeal. She folded her arms over her
chest, forcing him to step back. This was her show now. “If you
want me to trust you, the least you can do is return the favor.”

She knew what his answer would be before he said anything. She could
see the desire smoldering in his eyes. He wanted her as much as she
wanted him. He couldn’t have turned her down if he tried.

With a rueful shake of his head, he moved to the bed. He laid an
almost protective hand on his crotch before settling himself on the
mattress. “Sorry, fellas. I’ve got to take the chance.”

She wouldn’t let herself feel the touch of amusement his words
brought. Instead, she moved to the dresser beside the bed and opened
the top drawer. She found what she was looking for buried under a few
rolls of socks.