Everything You Want: Everything For You Trilogy 2 (30 page)

“This is your diamond. The only diamond. From your office.”

It’s not possible. I want to drag him back there right now and confront his lie by pulling it out of my desk and holding them up side by side. “Mine is under lock and key.”

“Was under lock and key. None too safely, I might add, just stuffed in a desk drawer.”

I told him that. It’s the only reason he knows it. I can’t even contemplate the alternative. “Where it still is.” The truth will be easy enough to prove.

“Wrong. It’s on your finger, Tabitha.” His expression dares me to contradict him.

I know I can’t. “You broke into my office?”

“Hardly broke in. I have a set of keys.”

I jump up. He drags me back down. “What the hell do you mean you have keys?”

“It’s a perfectly straightforward concept. I’m a key-holder to CaidCo offices. He digs in his jacket pocket and pulls out a bunch of keys. He holds them in the palm of his hand. I make a grab for them to get a closer look but he shuts his fist around them and I’m grasping at his fingers instead. He isn’t giving them up.

I remove my hand like I’ve been scalded. His skin sparking against mine is never a good combination for sanity or righteous indignation.

“Where the hell did you get my keys from?”

“Now, strictly speaking they’re not your keys. They’re mine.”

“They’re the keys to the CaidCo building,” I challenge.

“That, however, is fact.”

“Stop playing games with me, Jack. I want to know how you got the keys to CaidCo.” All sorts of underhand industrial sabotage springs to mind.

“You seem to like games, Tabitha. Or is that only when you’re playing them with me?”

“Don’t make this about me.”

“This is about you.”

“Why can you never answer a direct question? What are you trying to hide? You have my keys.”

“My keys. Harry gave them to me.” It’s his first direct answer.

Time rushes like forest fire through my brain. “When? How?” What I really mean is why would Harry give Jack Keogh the keys to CaidCo?

“When he was in King Edward VII’s Hospital, I used to visit him every day.”

So did I, when I wasn’t at university. During visiting times. I never saw Jack there once. Harry never said.”

“We had private things to settle.”

Like ownership of Lassec? I’ve always known they were friends as much as business associates. I suppose when I kept far away from Jack and he kept far away from me, I forgot just how close Harry and Jack really were. More like father and son.

“So he gave you keys, to check on things for him while he was ill.” It wasn’t unreasonable under the circumstances.

“Near enough.” Jack nods. He moves to put the keys back in his pocket.

I hold out my hand for them. It would be considered unreasonable for him to keep them now Harry’s gone and CaidCo is my business. “Isn’t it time you returned them to their rightful owner?”

He ignores me and tucks them away. I stop myself overreacting.

“I promised Harry I would keep an eye on things.”

He means keep an eye on me. I know there’s no point arguing about it. I won’t win. But he must keep those keys in Belvedere somewhere along with my apartment keys. I’ll retrieve them both at a later date. If Jack can be sneaky about matters, so can I.

I hit him with his betrayal of Harry instead. “Did Harry have any idea you were going to pull Zee-Com business from CaidCo?”

“No.”

“You waited until he was gone to stuff things up for me.”

“Don’t push your luck, Tabitha. I’m not stuffing things up for you. I’m teaching you to stand on your own two feet.”

“How can I stand on my own two feet when you hardly let me out of your sight?” It’s a direct challenge to his unreasonableness.

“That’s rather an exaggeration. You still need protecting.”

“I’m sure Harry wouldn’t be happy to know you were protecting me like this.”

“Harry trusted me. You should trust me too.”

“Trust you? You broke into my office.”

“I had keys.”

“My office is alarmed.” Few people know the combination.

Jack arches his eyebrow back at me. How come he’s allowed to throw non-verbals with impunity?

“Did you ever change Harry’s combination?”

“No,” I admit. I make a mental note to do it as soon as possible.

“Then Harry’s favourite numbers still stand.” He sounds smug about knowing them.

The origins of Harry’s alarm code was supposedly our secret. He used a combination of the numbers of my birthday and the date he became my legal guardian. He said he would never forget the two most important dates of his life and therefore could never forget his combination. He never forgot to celebrate both dates with me. Now it seems Jack was in on their significance all along. What else does he know?

“So you could have let yourself into my office at any time?”

“I could.”

No time for mixed messages. “Did you?”

“On occasion. When it was absolutely necessary.”

Like when I ran? I widen my eyes. Did he see those awful newspaper photographs Brent Tapper stuck up all over the place? Did he see the one of him and me kissing on my screen saver? I’m not even going to ask.

He knows me well enough. “If you alter the combination, Tabitha, I expect an immediate update.”

“Why should I? Do I have the combination to your office?” Does Amanda?

“Do you want the combination to my office?”

“No.” Yes. I have no idea if I do or I don’t. “It’s the principle of the thing.”

“I don’t come in at night and sneak around looking for dirt on you, Tabitha.” He grins as if he finds the idea amusing. He isn’t the least bit ashamed of himself.

I find it disquieting. The fact is he could if he wanted to. “Then why do you want it.”

“I told you. To keep an eye on things. I promised Harry I would do that and I won’t be breaking my promise to him.”

“So not for my sake.” I’m being peevish and I know it. I’m making sure he can’t win whatever he does.

He grabs my hand. Sighs. “What do you think this is all about?”

“What? The fact that you’re following me, trying to make sure I don’t have any fun? Don’t have any freedom? That’s easy. It’s about the monetary value of an expensive diamond ring.”

He huffs exasperatedly. “I don’t give a damn about the value of the ring but I’m damned sure I’m not going to allow it to be the cause of you getting hurt.”

That’s a funny undertaking. Which he’s lost already because I have been hurt by it.

His phone rings. He yanks it out of his pocket and listens. “I have her with me now. She’s safe. I’ll speak to you tomorrow, Amanda.” He ends the call.

I glare at him.

He rolls his eyes. “You think Amanda doesn’t like you but she offered to help me find you.”

“That would be for your benefit, not mine. She’s manipulating you.”

“For God’s sake, Tabitha. Why do you always want to think the worst of her and me?”

Is that what I’m doing? I hurt so much I probably want him to hurt too for not loving me the way I love him.

He’s sitting so close I feel his body temperature heating my skin. He radiates energy and I simply can’t maintain my indignation when he’s near. I want to wrap myself up inside him. It’s not his fault his heart doesn’t feel the same way mine does. I actually believe him when he says he’s looking out for me because he promised Harry but no amount of wishing he did it because he loves me will make it come true.

“I don’t mean to be a trial. My emotions run away with me sometimes.” That’s the most honest I’ve been with him or myself in a while. It’s probably all the cocktails speaking.

He reaches out and strokes my cheek with the backs of his fingers. His look is affectionate; all temper dispersed on a sigh. “You’re still young.”

I turn up the corners of my lips. “And crazy?” Crazy in love with him.

“I like your crazy.” He smiles back. “Just don’t make me too crazy. I’m not fully in control of myself when I’m around you.”

“That I’ll never believe.” He’s the most self-possessed man I’ve ever met.

“Believe it. You’re driving me crazy now.” His hand settles on my thigh.

“A good crazy, right?”

“A great crazy.” He glances over to the door impatiently. “Where’s Blackstock? I want to get you home.”

Is that what this is all about? Lust. I recognise the craving surging behind his Arctic eyes. At least he wants my body the way I want his. In that, we’re equals.

“Shall we have one for the road while we’re waiting?” I suggest, cheekily.

“I need a drink. Can you stay put long enough for me to go get them?” He looks uncertain.

“Should be able to manage that.” I bite back a grin.

He crosses to the bar and orders from the cute guy. I press my lips together in amusement as they bristle at each other like two rampant bucks locking antlers.

Side by side there’s no competition. Jack is pure male. He has the body of an Olympian which no suit can hide and striking brooding features that wouldn’t shame a Celtic God. When he turns to glance back, no doubt making sure I remain where I’m supposed to be, the combination of black hair, unyielding expression and iced blue eyes makes him luminous under the bar’s spot lamps.

He returns carrying a pint of chilled draught lager with pearls of condensation rolling down the glass and something with orange juice and ice cubes in it which he places on the table in front of me.

“You didn’t ask me what I wanted,” I complain, sipping at it.

“I know what you want.”

I taste it. “It’s just plain OJ,” I state. I’m not surprised.

“You’ve had quite enough alcohol. And you didn’t ask me what I wanted either.”

“What do you want, Jack?”

He stares at me tenderly for a moment. “To make peace with you.”

I snort. “I’ve never heard it called that before.”

Jack regards me with soft reproof. “And I want you sober enough to remember the peace I make with you when I get you back to Belvedere.”

The way he says it makes my body clench and the juice taste sweeter on my tongue. I want to plunge inside his wet mouth and lick his insides. I settle for watching the Adam’s apple in his throat bob as he swallows and imagine my lips tracing that same path less than an hour from now.

Intolerantly, I glance towards the door. “What’s keeping Blackstock?”

Jack laughs as he places his empty glass back on the table. “You’re beginning to sound like me, kitten. Don’t you know patience makes the pay-off sweeter?” He leans in, sweeping his thumb roughly along my bottom lip as if clearing it of juice ready for his own tasting.

His mouth presses to mine and I respond to the subtle shifts in pressure until I’m weak with longing and wishing us anywhere but here.

The phone in Jack’s pocket rings with a different tone and instantly rings off. He separates his lips from mine. “Let’s go. The car’s here.”

We leave the pub to find Blackstock standing by the Bentley parked right outside on double yellow lines. I smile to myself.

“How quickly can you get us home, Blackstock?”

“I’ll do my very best, sir.”

I’m embarrassed to see Blackstock cover up a shrewd smile.

As soon as I attach my seatbelt he moves off. Jack’s fingers play havoc with various parts of my body until patience eludes me and I wantonly caress Jack’s obvious erection to tease him back. He stops me tormenting him instantly.

I smile in the dark as he leans over and whispers. “Witch.”

When I hum
I Put a Spell on You
, he narrows his eyes. Blackstock transports us to Belvedere. My molecules feel scrambled before we’re tumbling out by the elevator.

Jack thumps the call button. “Goodnight, Blackstock.” As the doors open he shoves me inside.

My own “Thank you, Mr Blackst –” is hastily swallowed behind closed doors as Jack’s lips smother my words.

The cage ascends but stops with a jerk a second later. I open my eyes to see Jack’s hand on the panel.

“Why have you stopped it?”

“No time.” He turns me round so my back is towards him and I stare fascinated in the bronzed, low-lit mirrored walls as he sweeps my long hair over my shoulder and kisses the nape of my bare neck. A soft shiver chases all the way down my spine.

Feeling his touch on my body and watching like a voyeur as he toys with me, is the most erotically charged sensation ever.

He lowers my dress zip, widening the gap and kissing his way down until he reaches its limits at the top of my panties. His lips sensitise my bare skin on the exposed curve of my spine. I watch his chest rise and fall as the breath leaves his body through parted lips.

When I try to turn to him, I learn he has plans of his own. “Still.”

I abandon myself to his will as he eases the dress from my shoulders and slides it down my body, to the floor. He looks up to watch me in the mirror wearing only a black lace uplift bra and skimpy matching panties.