Dangerous Secrets (16 page)

Adam turned, expecting to see Ms. Priddy. All the air sucked out of his lungs when he saw Izzy standing in the doorway.

Her mouth opened in shock. A mix of emotions crossed her face almost simultaneously. Shock, confusion, then raw anger. And it was all directed toward him.

“Isabelle. What are you doing here?” Edward asked nervously.

She ignored her father’s question as her gaze narrowed on Adam’s face. “You know my father?” The question was an accusation.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“How long?”

His vocal cords wouldn’t work.

“How
long?
” Her voice raised a few octaves.

“Since before I met you.” The quiet statement dropped with the intensity of a nuclear bomb.

“Bastard.” Her dark eyes narrowed to slits before she turned on her heel and exited the office.

He jumped from his seat and raced after her. As he sprinted down the hall he saw Ms. Priddy returning from the restroom. Okay, that explained how Izzy had gotten past her. “Izzy, wait!”

With her back to him, she pressed the elevator button but didn’t turn around at his request. He touched her upper arm as he neared her, but she yanked it away as if he were poison.

“Don’t touch me.” Her words were coated in ice, and she refused to look at him.

“Damn it Izzy, will you just let me explain?”

She whirled around, unshed tears filling her beautiful dark eyes. “Did you make some sort of deal with my father?”

“Yes.” Hollowness settled in his gut as she shut down right before his eyes. He could see it in her expression when he said the word.

“Was part of the deal to convince me to move back home?”

“Yes.” What else could he say? He’d wanted to tell her the truth, but not like this.

“What about sleeping with me? Was that part of the deal too?”

“No! Izzy, everything between us is real.”

She swallowed and turned as the elevator dinged. “I don’t want to see you again, Adam.”

“Izzy, just let me explain everything.” He could hear the desperation in his voice and didn’t care if he had to get on his knees and beg. He couldn’t let her walk away.

She stepped into the elevator and shoved at his chest when he tried to follow. “My name is Isabelle. Only friends get to call me Izzy, and you’re…I don’t know what you are, but you’re not my friend. You’re nothing but a lie.” She moved back as the doors swished shut.

He felt as if there were a vise around his heart. Each breath he took, it tightened with excruciating intensity.

Adam jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“You feel like a drink now?” Edward Ballantine’s lips were pulled into a thin line and his eyes were filled with misery.
Good.
The other man couldn’t possibly feel as bad as Adam, but if he was going to be dying inside, he wanted company.

4 Weeks Later

In a red-and-black matching bra and panty set, Izzy stared at her closet in despair. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late. Not exactly the kind of impression she wanted to make on her first day at work. Especially since she was the boss’s daughter.

Finally she pulled out a sleek black single-button jacket to go over a black pencil skirt and simple white blouse. Safe outfit and safe colors. Not exactly her style so she slipped on a pair of red peep toe sling back pumps. Just a splash of color.

Her cell phone rang just as she grabbed her purse and was headed out the door. “Hi, Dad.”

“I hope you’re already on your way. Don’t want to be late today.”

“Haven’t we talked about this already?”

He chuckled. “I know. I’m just giving you a hard time. I, uh, I’m not meddling, but I wondered if you’d finally decided to listen to Adam.”

She cringed as she hit the elevator button. Adam had called, sent flowers, emails, letters and even an annoying singing telegram. Talking to Adam or even about him was too painful and if she was honest, she still held a little resentment toward her father. He’d apologized and she knew he meant well, but her broken heart was barely hanging on. Knowing she’d soon be busy with a new job was the only thing saving her sanity. If she was busy, she couldn’t dwell on the man who’d broken her trust and her heart. “Dad, I don’t have time right now.”

“Damn it Izzy, you
know
he tried to turn down the Forester deal.”

Yeah, because her father had only reminded her a hundred times. She didn’t care.

Adam was still a liar. “So what?”

“He loves you. Why can’t you just listen to him?”

She steeled herself against her father’s words. “That doesn’t change a thing. He lied to me. For all I know, everything he told me was a lie. Besides, why is he still on the job if he
supposedly
planned to back out of it?”

“I’ve already told you I threatened to sue him for backing out of the contract and tie him up in court for years. Quit coming up with bogus reasons not to listen.”

“You wouldn’t have sued him.” Her father might be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t do that to Adam. Not that she cared either way. Or at least that’s what she tried to convince herself of.

“Of course not, but he’s a good man and I wasn’t going to let him pass up a lucrative contract because of a mistake I made. I never should have roped him into my little charade.”

“I’m over him anyway. In the future, I’d rather not talk about him if you don’t mind.” Even to her own ears, this sounded like a blatant lie.

“Whatever helps you sleep better at night.” Her father’s condescending tone grated against her ears and on her nerves.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped. Man, she did not need this on her first day.

“Nothing. You told me to butt out of your personal life so I am. That’s the last time I’m bringing Adam up. I’ll probably come by and take you and Larry out for lunch today.”

She tossed her phone into her purse after they disconnected and took a few deep breaths. She was totally over Adam so it didn’t matter that he’d planned to back out of a multi-million-dollar deal for her or if he sent her a thousand bouquets of flowers. She was over him.

Adam stared at his computer screen as it shut down. Today had been another long one and he was about to fall over on his feet. He’d met with two new potential clients but he’d been distracted to the point of being rude. All he could think about was Izzy. For the past month her face had haunted his dreams with increasing frequency. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. She wouldn’t return his calls or emails and he couldn’t force her. He wasn’t going to stop though. Not until she listened to him. As he packed up his briefcase and stood, his brother stepped into his office.

“You look like shit, man.” The first words out of Ben’s mouth.

“Thanks a lot.”

“I’m serious. Come on, we’ll hit a couple bars tonight. Get your mind off her.”

“Leave it alone, Ben. Don’t you have a date tonight anyway?” He maneuvered around him and stalked toward the door.

Work was the only thing that took his mind off Izzy and even that wasn’t working lately. Talking about her was the last thing he wanted to do. Something he couldn’t seem to get through his brother’s thick skull. Unfortunately, it seemed every time he turned around, that’s all Ben wanted to talk about. He was through talking. He’d been by Izzy’s condo over a dozen times but she’d never been there. Or if she was, she hadn’t answered the door. Tonight he planned see if he could catch her before she got home.

His brother cleared his throat obnoxiously. “I talked to Edward today and he might have mentioned that Izzy was going to be out with coworkers for happy hour. The bar isn’t too far from here.”

With his hand on the doorknob, Adam stilled at his words. “You’re sure?”

Ben grinned and slapped him on the back. “I’ll drive.”

Ten minutes later, they sat at a high top table in one of the local hotspots sipping on ice cold beers. It seemed the whole damn city was there for happy hour. Much to his brother’s annoyance, he’d already scared off two women looking for a good time. Or maybe they just wanted to score a couple free drinks. Either way, he didn’t care. He wasn’t interested and couldn’t fake a civil conversation. And Izzy still hadn’t shown up.

“Did Ballantine really say Izzy was going to be here tonight?”

“I swear, he said…Shit. Don’t look now, but I think your girl just walked in.”

“Knock it off.” He glared at his brother, not wanting to talk or meet any more women. After this drink, he was gone. He loved his brother but he figured he’d lied just to get him to stop feeling sorry for himself.

“
Isabelle.
Over there.” Ben nodded behind him. Adam turned and his heart skipped a beat. She’d just walked in with a group of people. Two women and three men. And one of the men was standing a little too close for Adam’s taste.

Every primal instinct inside him told him to go over there, throw her over his shoulder and leave. The civilized part of his brain, however, told him to turn around and shut the hell up. For the sake of not going to jail tonight, he swiveled back to his brother. “Order me a shot.”

Ben grinned and waved over their waitress. “Two shots of whiskey and another beer for each of us.”

The woman nodded and disappeared back into the crowd. Adam glanced over his shoulder again and watched as Izzy’s group made their way to a high top table not too far from theirs. She still hadn’t noticed him.

“You gonna talk to her or what?” Ben’s voice forced him to tear his gaze away from her.

“She looks good,” he muttered under his breath. Too good. That only pissed him off. He’d been miserable for the past month and she looked like she’d just stepped off the cover of a magazine. Designer suit, her hair was tamed into some sort of twisted bun that was probably supposed to look professional, but just made her look like a sexy librarian. To top it off, she was wearing come-fuck-me shoes. And that’s exactly what he wanted to do. His cock was at full alert thinking about the past month without her. Using his fist had gotten old fast.

“So stop being a pussy and go talk to her. This is what you’ve been waiting for.”

He ignored his brother. Like a masochist, he looked at her again. If that guy moved one inch closer, he was going to go over there and—

As if she felt the weight of his gaze on her, she glanced in his direction. She did a double take. Her mouth fell open for a second before she snapped it shut. Almost immediately she broke eye contact, then leaned in close to whisper something to the man next to her before getting out of her seat.

The man nodded, then motioned for their waitress. Adam watched her maneuver through the growing crowd and realized she was heading for the restrooms.

“I’ll be back.” He threw the words over his shoulder. He was going to talk to her all right and she was going to finally listen.

Moments later, he pushed open the heavy wooden door to the ladies’ restroom. Izzy was wiping a paper towel over her face when he walked in. She blinked when she saw him.

“What are you doing?” The words came out as a gasp.

He looked under the three stalls. “Are you alone in here?”

Mutely she nodded.

“Good.” He flipped the lock into place. “Who the hell is that guy you’re with?” He hadn’t meant to start like that. He’d wanted to apologize and tell her how much he’d missed her. Instead, everything came out all wrong.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “None of your business.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, darlin’.” He took a step toward her.

“Don’t call me that. You have no right to call me—”

“Wrong again,” he growled, taking another step in her direction.

Instead of retreating, she moved forward until she stood inches away from him. He stared at her full lips and memories flooded him. Her exotic scent enveloped him, and his cock, which had been at half mast before, lengthened painfully against his zipper. It took a second to realize she was pushing him in the chest and saying something about him being a jackass and a liar.

Without caring about the consequences, he grabbed her by the arms and brought his mouth down on hers. Every fiber inside him wanted to take her right up against the wall and fuck until neither of them could walk straight.

For a brief moment, she protested, but when her arms wrapped around his neck, he knew he’d won. Hungrily their lips clashed. Her fingers dug into his skin as she ground her hips against his. He started to push her up against the door when a loud banging brought him back to earth.

She suddenly shoved at his chest and tried to put some space between them, but he wouldn’t let go of her arms. He’d spent too many long weeks without her.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” she demanded.

He ignored the question. “Who is that guy you’re with?”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “He’s a colleague. Today was my first day at work so I decided to go out for drinks with a couple people in the office. I don’t want to talk about him though. I want to know what the hell you’re doing in the ladies’ bathroom.”

Another bang sounded on the door, but they ignored it.

“I think it’s obvious why I’m in here. I want to talk. Then I saw you looking like
this
and talking to that guy and I lost it.” That man would never know how close he’d come to getting knocked out.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “Looking like
what
exactly?”

He dropped her arms and motioned with his hands. “Like sex.”

Her lips curled up slightly at the sides in a tiny smile. That had to be a good thing, but he prepared himself for the worst.

They stared at each other until she broke the silence a few seconds later. “I’ve missed you,” she said quietly.

“I’ve missed you too.” More than he’d imagined possible. When she simply looked at him with those big brown eyes, he continued. “I really messed things up didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.” She paused and placed a perfectly manicured hand on one of her hips. “So how do you plan on making it up to me?”

“What?” Had he heard right?

“You heard me. If you’re serious, I’ll expect foot rubs on demand for the next year and complete control of the television remote. And that’s just the beginning.”

“You’re very bossy.”

“Yes. I am. I’m also very demanding.”

“How about forgiving?” He suppressed the hope burgeoning in his chest, preparing for another rejection.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I know you tried to back out of the deal. I’ve just been so angry with you for lying I couldn’t talk to you.”

“Damn it, Izzy, I’d give up my left nut for you.” The words were coarse and not what he’d meant to say.

An unexpected laugh burst from her, and his chest tightened. He’d missed that sound. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his chest. “That’s not exactly the poetry I dreamed of, but it’ll do.”

“Marry me, Izzy.” The words came out of his mouth of their own volition. He hadn’t planned to say them. Hell, he hadn’t planned to see her.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t remove her hand from his chest. “Are you seriously proposing to me in a
bathroom?
”

“Yeah.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Okay.”

“Is that a yes?”

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’re not completely off the hook, but it’s a yes. I only have one stipulation.”

“Anything.”

“We’re making up a story about your proposal because I’m not telling people you proposed in a ladies’ restroom.”

“Deal.” He leaned down to kiss her when another annoyed knock sounded at the door.

She groaned. “Let’s get out of here before they kick us out.”

“Where are we headed?”

“My place. We have a lot of catching up to do.” She winked over her shoulder as she unlocked the door.

Raw anticipation coursed through him at her words. They still had a lot to talk about, but talking was the last thing on his mind.