Steal: A Bad Boy Romance (5 page)

CHAPTER
7

~ K
AT
~

This time, I watched out the
front window.

Just
as the clock hit seven, the red Tesla pulled up to the curb.

Impressive.

I
smoothed the front of my dress. It was a slinky black thing that clung to my
body and showcased curves without displaying too much skin. Hiding and
revealing in equal turns. Paired with heels and careful makeup, I knew I looked
good enough to eat.

I hope James feels the same way.

The
doorbell rang, and I grabbed my purse before opening the door.

James
had ditched the casual wear and wore a silvery dress shirt with a matching tie
and well-fitting slacks. Almost
too
well-fitting—his level of endowment was obvious, but he might not be able
to do anything about that.

“Kat.
You’re looking fantastic.” He held out his hand, which I accepted as he walked
me to his car.

“Thank
you. You do too—not sure I expected you to clean up so well.”

“Real
men know how to put themselves together.” He opened the passenger door for me
and closed it once I’d slid inside.

The
car pulled away, quiet and smooth.

“Thank
you for offering to take me out tonight,” I said. “You called at just the right
time—I needed something to look forward to, and this helped a lot.”

He
smiled. “I had a feeling. You sounded like you’d been put through the wringer
on the phone.”

I
still hadn’t fully absorbed the meeting with Nick, and didn’t want to tell
James about it, so I nodded. Sexual harassment in the workplace was one of
those things that everyone knew about, but I never thought it would happen to
me
. For some reason, I felt embarrassed,
as though it was my fault.

It
didn’t take long to get to the wine bar. One of the best things about living in
the Mission District was its proximity to downtown—not to mention all the
other interesting things to do in the
neighborhood
itself.

The
place was fancy enough to employ a valet, so James pulled up to the front door.
It sat near the top of the hill—the sides of the building were all glass
to take advantage of the view. We were shown to a table by the window with a
vantage over the city.

“It’s
gorgeous,” I said, gazing out. The sun was low enough for long shadows to
stretch across the cityscape.

“There
seems to be a lot of that going around,” James said. He looked right at me as
he spoke, and a flush crept up my neck. His full attention was intense, like a
powerful beam of light.

A
waitress came to take our order, and James made his selection without even
looking at the menu—a pair of glasses of a wine I’d never heard of.

“Tell
me something about yourself, Kat.” His mouth played with my name like it was a
choice cut of steak. It was crazy how the inflections in his voice made me
shiver. “What are your passions? Dreams?”

It
had been a while since I’d actively dated, so I wasn’t used to talking about
myself and my interests. Our wine arrived as I gathered my thoughts, buying me
more time. A taste of the red proved James’ expertise—a medium-bodied
burst of
flavor
and character.

“Well,
I love to travel. I feel like that’s a stereotypical answer that everyone
gives—who doesn’t like to travel?”

“Not
everyone, but it is a popular answer,” he replied. “Where have you been? Where
do you want to go but haven’t?”

I
counted them off on my fingers. “I’ve been a lot of places in the Caribbean
with friends during school, including the Dominican and Mexico, Saint Martin,
Saint Lucia, and Jamaica. I went to Costa Rica. And I spent a month in Thailand
one summer. It was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had—I’d
wanted to go for years.”

James
nodded like he wasn’t surprised. “It’s a beautiful country with wonderful
people.”

“I’ve
also been to Italy and France and Spain, although I need to do more visiting in
Europe. There’s still so much I haven’t seen yet. I’ve heard Croatia is
magnificent, it’s high on my list.”

“That’s
an impressive list,” he said. “You would love Croatia—the islands are
spectacular, and the sea is the most riveting shade of blue I’ve ever seen.”

“What
about you? You must have gone places with the Marines. Was there anywhere
really interesting?”

He
arched an eyebrow. “That’s classified, remember? All I can say is that I could
do with never visiting a desert ever again.”

“I
can imagine.” There were so many horror stories around military service in the
Middle East. That must have been where he was deployed. “What about traveling
as a civilian?”

“I’ve
been around,” he said. “At last count, I’ve been to over a hundred countries.”

“A
hundred!” I couldn’t even fathom. “That’s insane! How could you even fit that
much in? You can’t be much older than I am, and if you were in the Marines for
so long that would have eaten up a lot of time.”

“I
must tell you the stories sometime,” he said. “I’m curious though, what do you
hope to do with your career? Is data security something you’re passionate
about?”

The
sudden change in topic caught me off guard. “No, of course not. It was a
fantastic opportunity I couldn’t turn down. To get a title like this at such a
young age is a huge boost to my options in the future.”

So long as it doesn’t all go to
shit on me.

I
took a long sip from the wine glass to help calm my anxiety about the situation
at work. The alcohol fortified me, and the rest of the glass disappeared in
moments. James
signaled
the waitress.

“It
sounds impressive. Almost unbelievable. What do you want to do after this?
What’s your dream job?”

The
dream job. “I want to do something that helps people,” I said. “Coming out of
school, I almost went the
nonprofit
route, but the
pay was so much lower than the private sector. With how much everything costs
these days, I had to follow the money.” It had been a hard decision that still
shadowed my thoughts. My life would have gone in a different direction if I’d
taken one of those offers.

“That’s
admirable of you,” James said. “Many people pretend they would do those types
of things, but I actually believe you. Anything in particular you want to do?”

It
was something I’d thought about for a long time. “There’s so much waste in the
non-profit and charity world. So much duplicated effort. I met someone who
volunteered in a small village in Africa. He told me about how one of the big
relief organizations came and built a network of wells to give fresh water to
the villages in the region. Then they packed up their things and went home.”

“That
doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”

“No.
You wouldn’t think so. But they used technology the locals didn’t have the
tools or knowledge to fix. So when the wells failed within a few years, there
was no realistic way for the villagers to repair them. Then a different
organization arrived. They already had big plans drawn up for a project, and
they built another set of wells, right alongside the old ones. Then they packed
up their things and left.”

James
shook his head. “Repeating the same mistakes.”

“Exactly.
The same thing happened as the first time around. The wells fell into disrepair,
and there’s nothing the natives could do about it. Can you guess what happened
when a third organization came into the region?”

“No…”

“Yup.
And that’s why I’d love to create a company that focuses on coordinating relief
efforts around the world with different organizations. There could be knowledge
sharing, lessons learned and cooperation on projects. Together we might help
those less fortunate in sustainable ways that work with the culture in place
and empower those people to live better lives, instead of cramming Western
ideas of progress into places they don’t belong.”

“You’re
very passionate about it. I like that.”

The
way he looked at me brought a flush to my face—or was that the alcohol?
While talking we had worked our way through a couple more glasses of wine.

“It’s
something I think could drastically improve the lives of people around the
world without the need for any additional spending or resources. Just people
working together to create better outcomes. Something worth getting passionate
about.”

“You’ve
convinced me,” James said. “If you need an investor down the line, you have one
right here. Now, I’d love it if you danced with me. What do you say?”

A
small dance floor centered the room, an open space I had paid little attention
to. While talking, a small quartet had taken up residence in the corner of the
space and begun to play. Two couples were already on the floor, twirling to the
music.

I
had little experience with real dancing. Bumping and grinding to songs at a
party or a club, yes. Making any kind of elegant show on a dance floor, no.

“Um,
do we have to?”

James
stood and took my hand. “Come on, you’ll enjoy yourself, I promise. Just follow
my lead and I’ll show you a great time.”

He
held my eyes with his own dark gaze as his thumb rested on the back of my hand,
moving slightly and stroking the skin. It sent a tingle up my arm. His eyes
promised things I still wasn’t sure I wanted him to deliver.

No, that’s not it. I definitely
want him to deliver. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.

I
took to my feet with reluctance. “Fine. We’ll try it, but I’m telling you it’ll
be a disaster.”

“Hush.
You’ll be great. Follow me.”

He
didn’t give me a choice, keeping possession of my hand as though to make sure I
wouldn’t retreat to the table. If he hadn’t, it would have been tempting.

This’ll be awkward.

As
if James had timed it that way, we arrived at the dance floor as the musicians
finished their song. They paused only for a moment while James pulled me close.

“Put
your hand here,” he said, pulling my free hand up to his shoulder. His went to
my waist, but he kept holding my other hand. “And now we’ll start off moving,
just like this.”

As
the musicians eased into the next song, James rocked us from side to side,
helping me to feel the melody and the motion.

“Ready?”
he asked.

“You
want to do more than this?”

“Trust
me.”

He
said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

His
feet moved, first in small steps, then growing larger. His hands were strong on
my waist and hand, urging my body along to where he wanted me to go.

“Just
let me move you and place your feet where it feels natural,” he said, his mouth
low to my ear.

I
tried to follow his directions. It still felt awkward as hell, and I was ready
to give up when something clicked. All of a sudden I fell into the pattern his
body showed me, and we flowed together like one.

The
music surrounded us—simple, but classic. I risked looking away from the
floor long enough to look up at James. He smirked at me. Only then did I pay
attention to what expression my face made—equal parts terror and
fascination.

I
let myself relax more, and trust the way James steered us around the dance
floor,
skillfully
guiding me in a weaving and
whirling adventure.

All
too soon, the song wound to a close, leaving us embracing in the middle of the
dance floor, breathing heavily.

“Wow.
That was so much more fun than I thought it would be.”

James
used his hand on my waist to hug me closer. “I told you that you could trust
me. I won’t steer you wrong.”

His
voice was so low, so sincere.

I might fall for this man.

It
didn’t seem like it would be such a bad thing.

“Can
we do it again?” I had to experience it at least one more time.

“Of
course.”

The
next song the quartet played was slightly different in tempo, but after a few miscues
where I trod on James’ feet, I got the hang of it. He even spun me a few times,
catching me as I thought I would fall, and setting me back on my feet no worse
for wear.

We
stayed on the dance floor for another four songs until the musicians took a break.
It was perfect timing—I hadn’t picked my heels for dancing, and my toes
throbbed by the end of the set.

“I
can’t believe I’ve never done that before!” Moving with James had been
incredible. Like a version of sex that could be done in public. My pulse
pounded wildly in my ears.