Her Unexpected Admirer (9 page)

“I’m coming to get you,” the next text read. 

Kate stared at the words, not sure what to think about that.  Why would he be coming to get her?  Should she respond?  She stared at the words, unaware of the hush that had come over the whole restaurant. 

“Gentlemen,” Davis said in greeting to her table.

Kate jerked up, almost dropping her cell phone in surprise as she stared up at Davis.  Goodness he looked magnificent!  He was so tall and muscular.  She’d been used to staring at the guys across the table from her and the difference between Tom and his friends compared to Davis was similar to looking at puppies wagging their tails and a full grown, ferocious wolf with fangs showing. 

“Davis!” she gasped and gripped her phone, hoping he hadn’t seen her staring at it with worry.  “What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly. 

His hooded eyes looked down at her, something strange in his blank expression.  “I’m here to get you.”

She shook her head, not sure what to think.  He pulled a couple of bills out of his wallet to cover their entire bar tab, then took her arm and started leading her away.  “Sorry gentlemen, but Ms. Evans has a meeting with me for which she is late.” 

Kate followed him, not really sure what to think.  “Wait!  My computer!  It’s back by the table.”

Davis looked down at her and wanted to tell her to just forget the damn thing.  He couldn’t believe how jealous he’d been when he’d received her text letting him know that she was in a bar.  He’d found her last night in a bar and there was no way he was going to let her have a repeat of last night unless it was with him.  In his bed.  Completely naked. 

Damn!  He was losing control of his mind with this woman! 

“I’ll get it.”  He didn’t want her going back there for any reason.  She might have been staring at her cell phone but the other men had been staring at her.  Not just the ones at her table either. 

This jealousy he was feeling was a new thing.  And he really didn’t like it. 

A moment later, he came back out to find her standing awkwardly on the street. But he liked that she was waiting for him.  His temper was also soothed by the relief he saw in her eyes when he came back out.  It was almost instantaneous and her mysterious blue eyes smiled up at him. 

“I guess I need to find a place to stay for the night,” she said, biting her lip because she really was a novice traveler.  Her father didn’t like to travel so they’d rarely gone on even a weekend trip.  The only travel experience she had was her short trips home from college.

“You’re staying with me,” he grumbled and took her arm to lead her to the limousine parked illegally at the curb. 

With his words, Kate felt both instant relief and a strange tension come over her.  When they were in the back of the car together and driving down the crowded streets, she looked up at him. “But I have my own room, right?”

He looked at her carefully, noted the pink tinged cheeks and the sparkle in her blue eyes.  She didn’t really want her own room.  He could see that.  But something was holding her back.  Something important.  And whatever it was, she’d ignored it last night and had let herself go. 

“If you wish,” he finally replied.  “But you’re having dinner with me.”  He said that with finality and if she argued with him about that, he’d just ignore her.  He suspected she might even be bringing the computer back to the hotel to do more work but he wasn’t going to allow that either.  He was going to get her to talk to him.  Even if it took another disgusting, pink martini.  Davis almost shuddered at the idea but if it worked, he’d use it.

“We’re here,” he said and stepped out of the car.  He turned around and extended his hand to help her out and when his hand wrapped around her soft, delicate one, he kept it. 

Kate looked down at their hands, feeling strange all of a sudden.  His hand was warm and comforting as they walked through the quiet lobby.  She tried to ignore the giddy feeling his touch was producing inside of her, but she suspected it was written all over her face since people were turning to stare as they crossed the lobby floor. 

Everything seemed so hushed!  She’d always thought of the mid-west as having cowboys all over the area with big cowboy hats and horses.  She looked around at the dark wood and intricate lighting, feeling deflated. 

“Your room is ready, Mr. Alfieri,” the manager said as soon as Davis walked in.  “Your luggage has already been delivered to your room and dinner will be served at the requested time.”  The man bowed. Actually bowed!

“Thank you,” Davis replied, barely acknowledging the man as he took the offered keys and moved over to the elevators. 

Kate felt horrible for the man and smiled her gratitude but the man was already bustling off to take care of something else. 

In the elevators, she pulled her hand out of his and backed up against the other side of the small box.  “You didn’t have to be so rude to that man,” she told him, trying to find something, anything, to keep from throwing herself into his arms. 

Davis knew exactly what she was doing and wasn’t going to allow it.  But he was amused by her efforts.  “Kate, the man’s deferential body language irritated me.”  He watched with growing amusement as her ruffled feathers became even more ruffled. 

“You shouldn’t treat someone like that,” she came right back.

Davis considered the best way to handle this.  Moving across the elevator, he eliminated the space between them easily but didn’t touch her body.  With his hands braced on either side of her head, he leaned down.  “How should I treat a body?” he asked softly.  “Should I be more gentle?”  He saw her nostrils flare and her breathing increase.  “Should I be kinder?  I remember treating a very lovely body last night to a bit of toughness.  I didn’t hear any complaints.”

Kate remembered that toughness.  Flashes went through her mind and her stomach muscles tightened.  She’d loved it when he’d become commanding and domineering last night and even a bit rough.  He’d been out of control and she’d done it to him.  In fact, when he’d lost control, so had she.  Memories of how rough she’d gotten came back to her and she almost melted. 

“You should…” she tried to think of something to say besides, “do it again”.  Those words were so close and she wanted so badly to be held in his arms.  He hadn’t been rough initially.  Demanding, yes.  Sensual?  Oh my, the man was crazy sensual.  She’d never thought of that word in terms of a male before.  Chocolate was sensual.  A good glass of wine, perhaps.  But a man?  Especially one as big and strong as Davis?  No, that would not have been the adjective that she would attribute to him.  Well, not before last night.

“We’re here,” he said but didn’t move.  The elevator doors opened up and still he didn’t move. 

“Where’s here?”

He smiled slightly. “Our abode for at least the next few nights.”

She waited, wondering if he would kiss her.  She wanted him to kiss her so badly but she just couldn’t do it herself.  She couldn’t allow herself to lean into him and take what she wanted.  Her whole body ached with the need to feel him against her, to feel his lips against hers and to kiss him like there was no tomorrow, no accounting problem, no disapproving father. 

“Do it,” he coaxed.  Davis could see the need in her eyes and wanted her to make the first move.  He wanted her to admit that they needed each other.  His body was hard and aching for her, especially as he watched her lips soften, her eyes flare and every part of her body was almost leaning towards him. 

“I can’t.”

He was silent, absorbing that statement for a long moment.  “Why?  Can you explain why?”

Kate licked her lips, staring at his and then pulling her gaze away.  Ducking under his arms, she hurried out of the elevator.  “It isn’t appropriate,” she sighed, standing in front of the locked door, shivering and trying very hard to pretend like there was nothing between them.  No sexual tension, no desire and no need to bury her nose against his neck and guide his hands to her...

“Can you open the door?” she whispered.  “I have a lot of work to do tonight.”

Davis opened the door with his key and let the door swing open for her.  Watching her walk inside was both heaven and hell for Davis.  He wanted to touch her so badly.  Soon. He would figure out what was holding her back and eliminate that damn obstacle. 

Kate sighed as she pulled another file from the stack by her elbow.  If only she could work her way through the evening.  Last night had been horrible!  She’d sat across from Davis at a beautiful, romantic table, sipping wine and shifting the food on her plate.  She was too worked up to actually eat much of it.  Davis had tried to get her to relax but she was just too tense, her mind coming up with too many inappropriate ideas.  Like walking around the table and sitting in Davis’ lap so she could kiss him until he carried her away to his bedroom. 

Her father’s phone call last night had been the show stopper.  “You haven’t checked in with me,” he’s snapped.  Kate remembered seeing Davis’ eyes narrow across the table as she tried to come up with a response.  In the end, she’d walked away from the table and gave her father an update on all that she’d been doing.  And amazingly, he’d approved of her process!  It was the first time ever that she’d actually heard him say, “That’s right, Kate.” 

Unfortunately, his next words had been, “Don’t get any silly, romantic ideas about Davis Alfieri,” he’d grumbled.  “He is out of your league.  You’re not even in the game, Kate.”

Kate had gone cold with those words because that was exactly what she was doing.  She remembered looking over at Davis, then quickly away when she found him staring right back at her.  “That’s not happening,” she’d replied, and prayed that she could make it be true. 

She’d gone to bed last night but hadn’t been able to sleep, thinking about her father’s words over and over again.  He’d approved of her!  But warned her not to do exactly what she’d been doing.  Did that make the past two days a success or a failure? 

Now, sitting in the small cubicle where all the files were stacked up around her, she was more confused than ever. 

She needed her paints, she thought as she compared yet another invoice against the inventory on file.  She needed to work her worries out through painting.

The big reason she hadn’t painted yet while close to Davis was her fear of being discovered.  The suite that she and Davis were staying in was enormous, bigger than her apartment.  In fact, the bedroom she’d tried to sleep in last night was bigger than her apartment.

But she needed to paint pretty desperately, to release this stress and work through all the issues that were filling up her mind.  Davis was at the top of her list of things to work out.  She could imagine what she would paint, including all the chaotic, erotic images.  She just knew that, if she could get her thoughts on canvas, they would be outside of her head and she could deal with them better, follow her father’s advice and not weave silly, romantic thoughts around an impossible future with Davis. 

But there was also the enormous joy she was feeling since receiving her father’s approval.  Unfortunately, that joy was mixed in with a great deal of confusion as well.  And she didn’t understand her confusion either.  Why couldn’t she just be happy that her father approved?  What was wrong with accepting that approval? 

Kate looked up when she felt someone standing in the doorway to the small cubicle where she was working. “Hi Tom,” s
,”
he said, feeling enormous relief that it was uncomplicated Tom.  He was a sweet guy without any problems attached to her life.  He was just a nice guy, a friend. 

“Hi Kate,” he replied nervously. “How are things going today?”

Kate leaned back in her chair and smiled kindly up at Tom. He seemed like a really nice guy, if a bit too shy for her taste. 

That thought caught her off guard a little bit. Since when did she actually have a type? In college, she hadn’t dated a whole lot, but the men that she had gone out with seemed pretty varied in type.

It wasn’t that she was attracted to tall, dark and domineering men, was it? Surely she had more common sense than to continue to yearn after a man like Davis. But as she looked at Tom, his sweet smile and kind eyes looking back at her, she knew that he definitely didn’t stir her heart or her body the way Davis did.

“What are you working on today?” he asked

Kate glanced down at the file she was currently reviewing. “I am cross-referencing the incoming invoices with the requisition documents.” She smiled in a self-deprecating manner, but not explaining why she was doing this task.  Davis wanted everything to be very hush-hush about the investigation. “Not the most exciting job in the world, is it?”

Tom shrugged his shoulders, smiling back down at her. It wasn’t that he was a very tall man, in fact he was just about Kate’s height. It was more the way he was standing and she was sitting that created the disparity. “Well, anyway, I was just wondering… If you might want to come out for dinner with some of us tonight.”

Kate stared back at him for a moment, not sure if he was asking her to come out for dinner with the rest of the employees or if he was asking if she would come out for dinner specifically with him while others would also be present. “Dinner?” Her mind immediately thought about that tall, dark, obnoxious man and their tense dinner the previous evening. No, she wasn’t going to think about Davis at this point. Davis was off-limits. Davis was the client. She could not think about Davis in a sexual way anymore or she would incur the wrath of her father. She’d finally earned a vote of approval from him last night, she couldn’t mess it up by acting silly.  Davis was a client. Nothing more.

“Some of the other members of the team go out for dinner on Friday nights, just the ones that don’t have anything urgent to get home to, like a family. You know, just an informal gathering of people. We never know who’s going to show up and who is not.” He shifted nervously on his feet. “So if you wanted to join us, perhaps just come along for dinner or just appetizers, I could introduce you to some of the other team members.” He looked down at the papers that were in his hands, “but if you don’t want to come that’s fine too. It isn’t anything special. It’s just informal.  Same place we were last night.” Tom nudged the glasses higher up on his nose and looked at Kate hopefully.

Kate realized that Tom was almost painfully shy, but he had stepped out of his comfort zone and asked her out. It might only be to an informal dinner with a bunch of other people, but he still made the effort. “That sounds like a lot of fun. What time should I be ready?”

Tom’s breath released in a whoosh and he smiled giddily down at Kate. “Oh, there’s no special time that everyone meets. Like I said, it’s just casual. So, why don’t you just come by my office or call me when you’re finished and I will walk over with you?”

Kate readily agreed to that plan. “I think that I will have to call you. This place is too big, and there are too many people around for me to be able to find you. These offices tend to be a little bit like a labyrinth to someone who doesn’t know where she’s going. Like me,” she said with a self-deprecating smile.

Tom eagerly nodded his head. “Okay that sounds wonderful. That’s great. That will work out perfectly.” He seemed to understand that he was rambling and looked back down at his papers, forcing his mouth to stop moving. “Anyway, my extension is five-six-three. Just call me whenever you’re ready, and I’ll come pick you up.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but he closed his mouth, nodded and turned. Walking quickly down the hallway away from her office.

Kate smiled fondly as the man disappeared down the hallway. It sounded like a very nice night. Completely uncomplicated and relaxing.  Unlike her previous evening where Davis had been sitting across the table from her, looking amazing and virile and oh-so-appetizing. 

Good grief, couldn’t she stop thinking about the man for just a few minutes? 

She turned back to her papers, back to the stacks that surrounded her lately. She was getting into the groove of this forensic accounting stuff. It wasn’t that she actually liked the work, but she had established a pattern of checking, balancing, validating and going through everything one more time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. She was even starting to learn a few things as well. This would never be her passion, accounting was just a bit too dry for her taste, but at least she was feeling like she was accomplishing something.

She saw the message come through on her cell phone, and knew that it was from her father. He had checked in often throughout the day, as if he knew that she needed some sort of guidance. But after the past couple of hours, she wasn’t going to let him disturb her rhythm. So instead of jumping on top of any messages that he might be sending her, she simply ignored her phone and continued working. She knew that she would have to check in with him before the end of the day, but right now he was simply messing up her concentration. He kept feeding her instructions, things she was already doing or things she knew that she needed to do once she had finished a specific process.

It occurred to her that she knew more than she thought; that she had absorbed her college coursework and was able to apply it now better than she ever had. Perhaps there was something about being in her father’s office, surrounded by others that were much more proficient at accounting, that made her too nervous to actually do a good job. But that implied that she might actually be good at accounting, or that she might like accounting. And that definitely wasn’t the case. In fact, her hands were itching to grab a paintbrush or find some sort of item to be recycled onto her canvas and painted around.

Kate worked hard throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. When she realized it was almost six-thirty in the evening, she stopped and forced herself to put away her work. Picking up the phone, she dialed Tom’s extension. She felt a little bit guilty when she heard the enthusiasm and excitement in his voice when she told him she was ready to go.

It occurred to her that Davis might have plans for them tonight, but he hadn’t contacted her and she wasn’t going to check in with him either.  Last night’s dinner had been too tense and awkward.  She kept thinking back to his words in the elevator.  “Do it,” he’d told her.  She hadn’t.  But what if she had? 

Tom’s voice broke through her thoughts about last night’s elevator ride and she shook her head, trying to focus on the present. 

“Okay. That’s great. I’ll be down to get you in just a moment.” Kate heard something fall to the floor through the phone lines but she wasn’t exactly sure what it might be. She could picture Tom tripping over his chair or his desk but she certainly hoped that it wasn’t him that had fallen.

She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse, leaving her coat because it was much warmer here in Denver than it was in Boston. The fall hadn’t quite hit the Midwest yet.

She was standing outside of her doorway when Tom hurried down the hall towards her, a grin on his handsome face.

“You didn’t have to rush to come down here. I’m not in any hurry.” And then it occurred to her. “Is everyone else at the bar?

Thomas was quick to reassure her. “No no. I don’t know who might be there but even if they are there already, we don’t need to rush. Like I said earlier, this is very casual.”

Kate smiled at him, feeling better knowing that she hadn’t kept people waiting. “Okay then, let’s go.” It occurred to her that perhaps she shouldn’t be socializing with other team members. One of them could be the person she was investigating. But she didn’t feel like sitting alone in a hotel room tonight and she was too afraid of searching out Davis for company either. He’d been on her mind all day today and she couldn’t seem to banish him. 

They walked out of the building and across the street again, the warm atmosphere of the bar wrapping around her like a welcoming sweater.  She already knew where the rest of the group would be tonight and the familiarity was comforting.  In the same corner of the bar, Tom found two of the other staff members who already had drinks in front of them. They both greeted Tom and Kate with enthusiasm, raising their glasses in the air in greeting.  They weren’t the same people from the previous night, but they were both friendly and welcoming. 

“Here you go,” Tom said as he put a glass of white wine in front of her, then took a long swig of his beer. “Oh, goodness, I didn’t introduce you to anyone. This is Dave,” he gestured to the man on Kate’s right, “and this is Greg,” waving his hand to the other man at the table. “We all work in the accounting department, although Greg is trying to get his degree in engineering.”

Kate thought that was fascinating and their conversation moved into a discussion on accounting procedures and accounting classes versus the math required for an engineering degree. Kate had to admire Greg for his perseverance because engineering was a difficult subject to study.

After about an hour, the three men seemed to be having their own conversation, one in which she couldn’t participate. And Kate was getting tired, she’d been up since early this morning trying to figure out what she was doing in relation to Davis, trying to figure out what he might want from her or how to avoid him, because she wanted a whole lot from him. So sleep was in great demand in her life right now. Smothering a yawn she took out her wallet and put down a few dollars to cover her meal.

“Thank you so much for inviting me out tonight Tom,” she said but included Greg and Dave as well. “It was nice to get out and have a little bit of a life.”

Greg laughed and shook her hand, “I know what it’s like to have to live in the numbers. So I’m glad you we got to know you a little bit more. We’ll see you tomorrow?”

Dave also shook her hand and Tom stood up, moving a bit closer to her. “I’ll walk you to your hotel,” he said.