Hidden Threat (17 page)

“No, I’m good.” His body was still reacting to the sight of her.

***

Matthew rode up in the elevator with her, never more than a few feet from her at any given time. True to his word to never let her out of his sight, he walked her to Lisa’s desk and gave strict instructions that Cali was not to be left alone for any reason and that her door was to remain open.

Cali was a little unnerved by all the restrictions, and according to Matthew, she would have no privacy either.

Once he finished giving his instructions to Lisa, he walked Cali into her own office and closed the door behind them, effectively disregarding his own orders. Cali looked pointedly at the door and then at Matthew, raising her eyebrow in question. His mouth broke a smile for the first time since they’d left the house.

“The rule doesn’t apply to me.”

She smiled back. “I see.”

They locked eyes for a minute and the tension that always hung in the air around them began to build. With an effort, Matthew closed his eyes to regain his focus.

When they reopened, his face was once again serious. “I need to go down to my office for a while. I want to go over a few things and see where we are at on the investigation.”

“You don’t have to babysit me. Really, I’ll be fine. I mean who’s going to bother me in my office with Lisa right outside?”

She thought it was a rhetorical question. He didn’t. Walking toward her, he said, “Cali, someone tried to kill you two nights ago. At the very least, someone is stalking you. I’m not taking any chances with your safety.” He’d continued to move closer while he spoke, adding urgency to his words. Their noses were now inches apart, and Cali felt his breath on her face. They hadn’t been this close since that night in his office, and she knew the minute he realized it. The color of his eyes changed slightly, and his breathing grew harsher. Neither moved, locked in each other’s gaze.

Cali stole a glance at his lips so close to hers. Did she want him to kiss her? Yes!

Yes. At that moment, she didn’t care who he was or who she was. The thought of his lips on hers was the only thing that mattered.

As her gaze returned to his, Cali saw what she’d never dreamed she would. She saw the emotions she was feeling reflected back at her. His eyes drifted down to her lips, and he closed the gap between them. Cali felt the moment his soft mouth touched hers.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and as it opened swiftly, they jumped apart.

Lisa strolled into the office. “Sorry to interrupt, Cali, but Mr. Russell is on line two, insisting he speak with you.”

It didn’t take a brain surgeon to realize she’d interrupted something, and she mentally cursed Mr. Russell. Lisa watched as Matthew moved away from Cali and walked to the door. He paused for a moment and looked back, keeping his eyes low and unfocused. “I’ll be back before lunch.” With that, he disappeared through the door.

Cali didn’t waste anytime. “Thank you, Lisa.” 

Moving to her desk, she reached for the phone and sat down. “Good morning, Tony. What can I do for you?”

***

It was an effective dismissal if ever Lisa had seen one. She left the door open as Matthew had instructed and went back to her desk. Picking up the phone herself, she called her contact at Chicago Memorial and adjusted the Stanton invitation for the gala on Friday night.

As she hung up the phone with Misty, she saw line two go dark and heard her boss moving around in her office. Pulling up the file she’d been working on before Mr. Russell’s phone call, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. Things were beginning to get interesting.

***

As promised, Matthew arrived at Cali’s office just before lunch. His shoulders were set, and he had an air of professionalism that had been missing these last two days. Without saying much of anything, he closed her door and walked to a far corner of the room.

“What are you doing?”

He kept his focus on the ceiling. Glancing over his shoulder, he grabbed a chair, sliding it against the wall. Removing a small object from his right pocket and another from his left, he said, “I’m installing a camera in here.” 

Cali waited for him to say something more and to explain what she saw as his irrational behavior. But he didn’t; he just kept on doing his chore. She was about to ask him why he was installing a camera in her office when Jason opened the door and walked in with Lisa on his heels, holding several bags of food. “Cali,” Jason acknowledged with nod of his head before closing the door behind them.

With the sudden flurry of activity in her office, Cali watched Jason help his brother finish things with the camera hook up while Lisa set up the small conference table with the food. Clearly, they were all going to have lunch together in her office.

Aside from the four place settings and Jason’s brief acknowledgement of her presence, Cali could have been a ghost for all the attention they paid her.

Ten minutes later, Matthew climbed down from the chair and pulled out his phone. He punched in a few numbers and showed the screen to Jason who smiled. Obviously, whatever they were looking at pleased them. Finally, Matthew lifted his head and began walking toward her. Holding out the phone so she could see the screen, she noticed it was them. All of them. Here in this room. Now.

She looked up with questioning eyes before darting them to the camera and then back at Matthew. “I’ve set up the camera feed to come directly to my phone. No one will know it even exists except for the four of us.” 

Not being able to keep silent any longer, Cali stood. She moved a little too fast and winced. Something changed in Matthew’s eyes. “Are you hurting, Cali?”

“I’m fine.” It was an automatic response. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. It still hurt, but she needed to get this out. “Don’t you think this is a bit much? I mean the chances of someone—” Cali didn’t get to finish. 

“I’m not taking chances. That’s the point. I can’t physically be with you every minute of the day, so this is the next best thing.” She opened her mouth to protest again. “You’re not going to change my mind on this.” 

It was final. She could see it in his eyes. He wouldn’t budge, and truthfully she didn’t have the strength to argue.

Lisa decided to take that moment to ask if she needed help getting over to the table. Cali declined and moved unassisted to her seat, taking extra care in sitting back down. Matthew watched her closely as she ate. The worry on his face was obvious. She needed to take another pain pill, but they made her sleepy. So she’d put it off for as long as she could.

Matthew decided it had been long enough and pushed himself away from the table and walked to her desk. When he returned, he held two tiny pills in his hand.

Looking her straight in the eye, he said, “And don’t tell me you don’t need them. It’s my job to see the details, and I know you’re in pain.” Not in a condition to argue with him, she took the pills and popped them into her mouth.

The rest of their lunch involved Jason giving them a run down of where the investigation stood. They’d made a fair dent in the list of suspects this morning but still had over thirty names to go. So far, only two individuals were possibilities since they were supposedly alone during the time in question.

Thirty minutes later, Cali was beginning to feel the effects of the medicine. Lisa stood and began to clean up. 

“I’ll take you home.” She heard Matthew’s voice suddenly beside her. How had he gotten across the table so fast?

Without the strength to disagree, she just nodded. He helped her stand. 

Lisa appeared with her purse and briefcase in hand before hugging her. “I’ll make sure everything here is taken care of. You get some rest.”

“Thank you,” was all Cali could say.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Matthew helped Cali walk to the elevators.

When the doors opened to reveal Peter, Matthew instinctively held her tighter as Peter’s eyes traveled the length of her body, pausing on Matthew’s arm around her waist longer than necessary.

“Ms. Stanton’s had enough for today, and I am going to see she gets home safely,” Matthew said, answering the unspoken question and stepping inside the elevator.

“Oh. Well, Cali, if you needed a ride home, I would certainly be more than happy to provide one.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a weak smile. “You have to make sure our financials are on track since it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to meet this week.” Her voice was weak but still clear. 

“Alright then. If you need anything, you be sure and call me. I did promise your father I would look after you in his absence.” Cali felt Matthew’s body go rigid and wondered what was going through his mind.

She didn’t have time to ask though as the doors opened. Matthew quickly moved them out of the car, leaving Peter behind.

Waiting until they were in the vehicle and the doors closed, she turned and asked, “Are you okay?”

Matthew gave a small nervous chuckle. “I was going to ask you the same thing.” 

Cali laid her head back on the seat as he pulled out. “I’m fine. Just tired.” 

Nothing more was said as they drove to the house. He parked around back, helped her into the house and up to her room. She was barely conscious as she leaned against him beside her bed. Knowing she probably shouldn’t sleep in her three-piece suit, Matthew had a dilemma. Could he stand there and undress her while keeping his body and its reactions in check? Should he?

“Help me with my jacket and shoes? Everything else I don’t care about,” she said slowly, making the decision for him.

Following her instructions, he unbuttoned her jacket and tried not to think of the many times he’d done the exact same thing in his dreams. Slipping it down her shoulders, he turned to lay it on the chair at the foot of her bed. When he turned back to face her, she was already sitting. Moving back to her side, he knelt down and removed her shoes from her feet. He couldn’t help that his hand lingered a little too long on her soft ankles.

Shaking off his desire to run his palms up her calves, he stood back up and helped her under the covers. “Just get some sleep. I’ll be right downstairs.” 

A soft sigh escaped her lips as her breathing found a steady rhythm, and she fell asleep. Matthew stood at the door for a few minutes, watching her. She was beautiful.

He pulled the door closed and walked down the stairs to Alvin’s study before his body betrayed him again. Pulling out his laptop, he connected to his computer at the office and picked up where he’d left off before lunch.

The sound of movement on the stairs brought him out of his trance. He got like that sometimes when he worked especially when it was something important.

And this was, perhaps, the most important project of his life, at least since returning home, and definitely the most meaningful to him personally.

Closing his laptop down, he moved cautiously to the hall. Knowing it was probably Cali didn’t mean he would take unnecessary chances. Looking around the corner, he saw her copper hair as she limped into the kitchen. Without pause, he followed her.

She’d just opened the refrigerator door. “Hungry?” he asked, leaning casually against the archway.

Cali jerked slightly. She hadn’t heard him approach even though she knew he was in the house somewhere. Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “Yeah. A little.” 

Pushing off the wall, he strolled over to her. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Pizza is sounding really good, but I don’t think we have any,” she said with a frown. “My dad isn’t really big on pizza.” Matthew raised his eyebrows at this with a who didn’t like pizza look clearly written on his face. Cali laughed and then groaned as the movement sent pain to her sides. “Strange, I know, but true. He’s more of a steak and potatoes type of guy.”

Matthew smiled. “Can’t argue with steak and potatoes.” He paused. “How about we have one delivered?” he said, already reaching for the phone. “What do you like on your pizza?”

Shutting the door to the fridge, “I can do anything but anchovies.”

“Ah, my kind of girl,” Matthew said with a huge smile and then caught himself.

Where had that come from? She was not his girl and never would be. Ignoring Cali’s stunned expression, he turned his attention to ordering the pizza.

***

That night Cali lay in bed reflecting on her day. Matthew had gone into protective mode where she was concerned. When he’d told her father he wouldn’t let her out of his sight, it hadn’t been far from the truth. And now, with the addition of a camera in her office, she would have less time out of his sights.

Cali wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Having Matthew around was nice, more than nice, but also very confusing. And then today in her office—their kiss, well almost kiss—she wasn’t sure if touching lips for a fraction of a second actually counted as a kiss or not.

The problem was, she wanted that kiss. She wanted it, and he’d spent the rest of the day acting like nothing had happened. He’d been kind and courteous to her.

He’d taken care of her when she needed it, but that was all. Matthew hadn’t attempted to kiss her again nor talk about what happened or nearly happened.

It was late now, almost midnight, and she wondered if he was asleep. With him being just two doors down from her, she found it comforting but also frustrating.

After today, she knew without a doubt that whatever this was between them affected him as much as it affected her. And the part of her brain that told her she couldn’t be with him because he was her employee was getting smaller and smaller.

Flipping slowly to her back as not to cause herself pain, she looked up at tiny patterns in the ceiling. What would happen if they gave in to whatever this was?

Cali knew how he felt about office romances. He’d been furious when he found out about Jason and Lisa. They made it work though. No one but Cali and Matthew seemed to know. Could they manage the same? Would he want to?

Cali shut her eyes tight against her thoughts. It didn’t matter. None of this mattered unless Matthew felt the same way and wanted something more with her.

As much as she tried to suppress the thoughts and feelings running through her, it was impossible. It was well after two in the morning before she finally drifted off to sleep, and even then, Matthew Andersen was the one who filled her thoughts.