Kisses to Remember (5 page)

“Is there something to all this, Sabrina?” Vaughn asked.

“I won’t know until I do some investigating, but a matter like this isn’t to be taken lightly.” She glided over to their side of the desk. Reaching out, she took Vaughn’s hands in hers, and an actual sigh escaped from Vaughn’s throat.

Is his plan actually working?

Holden’s urge to leave that office was more powerful than it had ever been. He was Alice down in the rabbit hole. Where else could a man show a potentially dangerous invoice, then possibly get laid?

“I want to thank you both. Financially. Your loyalty should be rewarded even if this turns out to be a misunderstanding.” She released Vaughn’s hand and walked between their chairs. “You’ll both be getting raises. Huge ones.”

Holden jumped when Sabrina’s bony hands slid onto his shoulders. She massaged him for a few moments before returning to her side of the desk. God, he needed a disinfecting shower immediately, and as sweet as a raise would be, Holden didn’t feel right about getting one. He felt like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

“I received a call from one more exec in San Diego,” Sabrina said. “She was originally scheduled to fly out on today’s trip, but her son was sick or some nonsense.” She rolled her eyes, giving further proof to Holden’s theory that a human heart did not beat behind her ample bosom. “Anyway, I was going to have you boys pick her up tomorrow. You’re still going to do that, but try to get friendly with her. See if she’ll give you any information that may support our suspicions.” She arrowed a grin toward Vaughn. “Use the charms I know you have, Mr. Bennett, then bring her here.”

Vaughn smiled from ear to ear over Sabrina’s attention and compliment. “Happy to, Sabrina. Whatever we can do to help.”

He was like a puppy, ready to play fetch, roll over, and get his belly rubbed. Holden had seen Vaughn be smooth and slick with the ladies on zillions of occasions. He made it look so easy. Only Sabrina could turn his buddy into an unsure adolescent with acne. Was that love? Maybe. Holden didn’t know. If it was, he didn’t want any part of it.

“Wonderful. I’ll put the flight into tomorrow’s schedule, departure time of 8 a.m. I’ll also review this invoice in more detail, and we’ll meet…” She flipped through screens on her phone looking at her calendar. “We’ll meet at 5 p.m. for dinner at Razzle’s on the corner. You know the place?”

“Of course,” Vaughn answered. “I’ve been there a few times.”

Holden was already working on the imaginary illness he was going to contract at about 4:45 p.m. tomorrow evening. No way in Hell he was meeting Sabrina for dinner to discuss the possible weapons trafficking going on at Donovan Electronics. Not in his job description no matter what his new pay was going to be.

“My treat,” Sabrina purred. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, boys.”

Vaughn stood as Sabrina slid over to him. She took his hands again. “It had to take some courage to come in here and tell me this, Vaughn. I won’t forget it. Or you.” She reached up on her toes and dropped a light kiss on Vaughn’s cheek.

Holden got up from his seat to make sure his buddy wasn’t going to pass out over the actual contact with Sabrina.

“And you…” Sabrina grabbed Holden’s forearm with a feather light touch, one that made his flesh feel as if it had bugs beneath it. “You don’t say much, but you were willing to come in here with Vaughn and back him up. I’m honored to have such men of character on DE’s team.”

Don’t kiss me. Don’t kiss me. Don’t kiss me.
Holden braced himself for the worst, may have even squeezed his eyes shut, but he couldn’t be sure. 

In the next moment, Sabrina’s finger traced the DE logo on Holden’s polo shirt. Her fingertip was a hot poker searing his skin, branding him as company merchandise, her merchandise. Almost worse than a kiss. More intimate somehow.

Before Holden could step away, Sabrina released his arm and sat on the edge of her desk. She glanced from Vaughn to Holden then back to Vaughn.

“You ever have a three-way, Vaughn?” Sabrina’s eyes had darkened to a pewter shade, her mascara-coated eyelashes hitting her cheeks as she blinked slowly and grinned.

“Yes.” Vaughn took a step closer to Sabrina as if her question had been an invitation.

Holden stayed frozen in his spot. The only three-way he had knowledge about was the three-way power adapter on the end of his shop extension cord. He generally didn’t imagine the three-ways Sabrina was suggesting. He had enough trouble imagining a successful two-way lately. Truthfully, anyone worth the trouble usually ended up hating his work schedule. By being alone he never had to cancel plans or abandon some perfectly nice woman at a restaurant or a movie to go flying for DE.  

Sabrina allowed Vaughn to get within inches of her. He put his arms on either side of her, his fingertips grazing the top of her desk. She lightly pushed on his chest when he leaned in.

“Help me get to the bottom of this situation, and maybe the three of us can celebrate afterwards.” Her voice was just a whisper, but it echoed in Holden’s head.

She caught Vaughn’s lips in a heated kiss, and Holden didn’t know where to look or how to erase what he witnessed from his memory. Suddenly, Sabrina’s enormous office seemed no bigger than the glove compartment in his Camaro. He couldn’t breathe.

He had to get out.

Get out fast.

Now.

Somehow the doorknob was against his palm, and fresh air from the corridor yanked him out of the panic attack. Holden was vaguely aware of Vaughn shuffling out of Sabrina’s office behind him, edging him along the corridor, shoving him into the elevator.

“That went better than expected.” Vaughn whistled and ran a hand through his short hair.

“Speak for yourself,” Holden managed as the floor numbers lit up in descending order toward the parking garage.

“Are you crazy, Hold?” Vaughn shook him by the shoulders, which didn’t help the headache forming in his skull. “She believes we heard something, wants to work together on solving the mystery, and buy us dinner. Plus the added bonuses of a raise and a sweet ménage a trois. This night is turning into a dream come true.”

Holden rubbed his eyes. “Or a nightmare.” 

****

Sabrina stared at the door Vaughn had closed after leaving her office. Having Holden captive in her lair had felt good even if it was only for a short time. Too bad he hadn’t come to see her on his own. Why was Vaughn always around? If Holden allowed himself a single taste of her, he’d be begging for more. Men always were. Men like Vaughn. He wanted her so bad it was pathetic. True, he was attractive with his hazel eyes, short, sandy blond hair, and oversized frame, but he lacked…something. Something Holden had in abundance. Something that made Sabrina’s insides tighten whenever she looked at Holden. Maybe it was purely the fact that Holden didn’t want her that made her want him. He was an unconquered battlefield.

Sabrina was used to winning all her battles. Holden Lancaster should have been no different, but now she had to deal with this? She held up the invoice Vaughn had given her.

“Careless.” The word was a growl as she crinkled the sheet in her palm. Was she the only competent businessperson these days? Why was she constantly managing idiots and cleaning up their mistakes? 

She picked up her cell phone and dialed. “Aaron. Come back to work.”

“Why? What is it, Sabrina?” Aaron’s whiny, lispy voice grated on her nerves.

“I need to discuss a few details with you.”

“About what?” Aaron yawned noisily.

“Just get in here. There isn’t much time.” She hung up the phone confident her assistant would do as he was told.

Everyone did what Sabrina Donovan told him or her to do. Everyone. There could be no exceptions.   

****

“I should have your business cards and T-shirts ready for mailing on Thursday.” Johanna listened as her client gushed thanks and admiration. “You willing to write all that down, Deidre? Would make a lovely testimonial I could use on my website.” Being a small businesswoman meant taking every opportunity to promote her work so someday she could be a small, rich businesswoman.

“Great. Email it to me, and I’ll stick it up at WareTeez.com. Thanks.” Johanna walked by the big front window in the living room. Kam and Miles ran around outside as Ted threw a frisbee to them. The sun was out in full force making the grass greener, the sky bluer, the awful racket overhead louder.

What the hell is that?

“Deidre, I’m going to have to let you go. It sounds like an alien spacecraft is landing on my roof outside. I can barely hear you.”

Deidre mumbled a response Johanna couldn’t make out so she hung up and went outside. By the time she got to Kam and Ted, the noise had reached thunder-level status. The ground under her sandals vibrated with the sound.

“Mom, look!”

Johanna’s gaze followed along Kam’s outstretched arm until she had to shade her eyes against the sun with her hand. Out of nowhere, the belly of a small plane screamed directly over them, a river of black smoke trailing from the right side of it.

“Holy shit!” Ted shouted, but the horrible roar of the plane as it nose-dived toward the back field drowned out his voice. Miles went wild with barking as the underside of the plane filled Johanna’s vision.

It took a moment for her brain to put the pieces together as the plane skimmed the treetops. “It’s going to crash!”   

“Call 911!” Ted pushed Kam toward the house, and the boy took off, Miles galloping behind him.

Johanna ran toward the plane, toward the black smoke filling the sky, toward the screech of scraping metal. Planes flew over her farmhouse and fields all the time. She was in a flight path and had long since tuned out the drone of passing airplanes. When Kam was little, he sometimes awoke from his naps when a plane flew by. Never had Johanna expected one to crash on her property.

But this one was about to.

When she reached the back field, the plane was taking down trees as its nose plowed through the woods. Johanna ran faster, but stopped and screamed when the small white and black aircraft slammed into the ground with a metallic crunch. The left wing dug up chunks of earth, while the underside created a sizable trench across the field. A plume of black smoke blurred her vision for a moment, then Johanna slapped her hands over her ears as a deafening explosion sent up fiery shards of…of plane parts.

Ted was suddenly beside her, his hand grabbing her arm and jarring her out of her shock. “Stay here, Johanna. We don’t know if that thing is done exploding. Fire and rescue should be here shortly.”

“Somebody’s got to be in the cockpit, Ted. They may not have time to wait for fire and rescue.”

Before Ted could stop her, Johanna dashed toward the crumpled plane. She coughed as the smoke surrounded her, and she tore off her sweatshirt. Using it to shield her face, she acted on instinct alone and made her way toward the front end of the plane.

Something popped at the rear of the wreckage, and Johanna crouched down, her arms going over her head. Fire raged from the right wing, but the left wing, aside from being firmly embedded in the ground, appeared safe to stand on. Johanna climbed on top of it and leaned toward the cockpit. Using her sweatshirt to wipe dirt and soot from the window, she peered inside.

“Oh, God…”

Two men slumped in the pilots’ seats. They both were motionless, and Johanna looked up to the sky, ready to say a prayer though she’d stopped saying prayers a long time ago. She didn’t know these two men, but surely a beautiful, sunny day like this was not meant to be their last.

The first hot tears for these strangers slipped down Johanna’s cheeks. She’d never be able to come to this field again without picturing this plane, these bodies. Good thing Ted had sent Kam to the house. No child should see this. She wished she hadn’t either.

Johanna prepared to jump off the wing and go back to the house to wait for the rescue folks, but a thud on the cockpit window made her snap her head up.

A palm pressed to the glass. Just behind it, a set of turquoise blue eyes pleaded with her from beneath dark lashes. Those eyes fluttered open and shut, open and shut. Blood trickled down his forehead, matted his coppery brown hair.

“You’re not dead.” That realization propelled Johanna into action. Careful to stay away from the smoldering right side of the plane, she found a hatch and searched for a way to open it.

“You’ll probably need this.” Ted’s T-shirt was damp with perspiration, and his face was flushed. He held a crowbar up to Johanna. “You’re a nut. You know that, right? This thing could blow up at any second.”

“Then stop yapping and give me that crowbar.” Johanna reached down and took the tool. “At least one of them is alive in there.”

Ted climbed onto the wing beside Johanna and helped her pry the hatch open. Heat rushed out, nearly knocking them both to the ground.

“Stay out here,” Johanna said. “I’ll drag them out if I can and pass them to you.”

Ted nodded, coughing a little on the fumes.

Johanna knew this was crazy. She should definitely wait for the rescue team. She had a young son who needed her. She couldn’t afford to risk her own life like this for a couple strangers.

And yet, that pilot’s eyes had called to her. She couldn’t leave him there, stranger or not. She had to get him out.