Tempting The Boss (10 page)

“It
is
something that only happens in the movies. It’s a stupid way to off someone.”

Off someone
. Someone wanted her offed… Dean must’ve sensed where her thoughts were going and set a hand on her arm. Without thinking, she leaned into the touch, grateful for the comfort.
What if he hadn’t been here? Then she would’ve been driving the car.
“What happened? How did you get out?””

His hand ran up and down her arm. “When the lines are cut, it’s not subtle. If they were cut clean through, I would’ve noticed as soon as I got into the car, but they weren’’t cut completely. I was less than a mile away when they gave. I was able to trigger the emergency brake and pulled over.”

“Emergency brake? That still worked?” Shock set in more fully. What would she have done if she were in the car? She didn’t know a damn thing about brakes failing, sabotage or not.

“Relax.” Dean stepped in closer. “You’re heading back home tomorrow. Gordon should have some answers by then and you’ll have a real bodyguard, right?”

Her gaze jerked up and she tried to read his face.
Was he counting down the minutes until he didn’t have to risk his life for her?
The man had almost died while picking up her dinner! Of course he wanted to get back to his perfect little sister, who didn’’t give him half the crap he got from her.

“Yeah,” she said. “I just have to survive ’til then,”” she muttered.

“You need to be careful, you know?” She nodded, but Dean continued. “This is twice in one week. That’s serious.”

“I know,” she said between clenched teeth.

“But I want you to realize something else. Whoever is behind this has no idea what they’re doing. The brakes being cut is one of the stupidest ways to kill anyone, and whoever attacked you last week had no idea what they were doing.””

Her brows drew together. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Well, you’ve made it this far, so it’s not bad. But you still need to figure out who’s doing this. How many people besides Terry knew you’d be here today?” he asked.

“Plenty. Denise booked the tickets. Simon knew about the visit. There’s a team of at least ten in the finance department who have touched this project in some way or another.” But the only person who might want her dead and knew about her trip was Terry. To make it look even worse, Terry was exactly the type of person to rush into action. At least if Victoria wanted someone dead, she’d make damn sure she found an assassin who would do the job right.

“Where’s the car?” she asked, changing the subject. Gordon would help her sort out who was behind this. It wasn’t Dean’s responsibility.

“It’s about a mile down the highway, off the shoulder. I wasn’t sure where you wanted it to go from here.”

“We’re going to be tied up here for a while. I’ll tell the guys that we had a flat and the wheel was damaged and you can call to have the car towed. We can catch a ride back to the hotel.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll start making some calls. Think everyone will be okay with pizza, since we can get that delivered?”

Ugh, she’d forgotten about dinner already. Damn it!
“Pizza would be great,” she said.

Dean gently squeezed her arm. “Take a breath. I’ll handle everything.”

She looked up to meet his dark brown eyes, and in that moment, she completely believed him. This broke handyman living paycheck to paycheck said he’d take care of her, and she had no doubt that he would.

She hadn’t had that support from anyone. Even Simon, who she was paying a fortune for, wouldn’t guarantee that everything would be taken care of. It was always “I’’ll see what I can do,” or “I’ll get back to you.” And here was Dean, being dragged into her mess and not even batting an eyelash.

“I need to get back,” she said abruptly. She didn’t have time for murder attempts and handymen who were far too capable for their own good. She had a business to run.

CHAPTER TEN

“You’re serious?” asked Victoria.

“Yep,” said Gordon. “I don’t think Terry is your problem. I found the private investigator he’s been working with, and cornered him last night.”

Her brow creased. “I don’t think I want to know what ‘cornered’ means……”

“It was a friendly corner,” assured Gordon. “Just don’t be surprised if my next invoice has a larger than normal miscellaneous section.”

Great. Bribery.
“What did he tell you?”

“He was able to get a contact at the airlines to tell him where you were flying out to. Since it’s a smaller airport, he guessed which plant you were visiting and spent an entire day calling hotels to track down where you were staying.””

“So I don’t have a leak?” she asked hopefully.

“No leak, but you have someone who wants to kill you.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” she snipped. “And I’’m expecting you to find out who wants me dead.” If one more person reminded her that there was a death order on her head, she was going to snap.
Did they think she’d forget?

“I’m working on it,” he said gruffly. “I have some interviews for muscle lined up for tomorrow. Five guys—all have good qualifications and recommendations.”

“These guys will blend in?”

“All nerdy looking, guaranteed.”

She snorted. “Sounds good. Thanks for the update, Gordon. I’m at the airport now and should be back home by four, but I’ll probably be going straight to the hospital, though, to visit Dad. I’ll be checking my phone when I can, so let me know if there’s any progress.”

“You’ll be the first to know,” he said with a decidedly unoptimistic tone.

“Thanks.” She hung up.

“Everything okay?” asked Dean.

Victoria twisted around to see him standing with two bottles of water in hand. He handed one to her and she nodded her thanks.

“Boarding is in a few minutes. Are you ready?”

“Yep.” She hooked her computer bag over her shoulder.

“Hold up.” He sat down next to her. “I wanted to clear up some things.”

She could already feel the knots forming in her stomach. She found the first man in the history of men who wanted to have
the talk
. “Oh boy,” she muttered.

The corner of his mouth hooked up. “I’m not trying to stress you out. We’re heading back home and I’m thinking you won’t be needing my help anymore after today. So this is it, right? I mean, for us.”

“Oh yeah.” The words rushed out of her mouth. “It was good while it lasted, but we were never really compatible, you know?””

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

An awkward silence stretched between them. She’d never intended to do anything with Dean, and once their working relationship went…further, she’d known it wasn’’t a permanent situation. For one, the media would have a field day. And then there was the fact that they had nothing in common except sex. Good sex. Great sex. Mind-blowing sex.

But besides that, everything about them was different: family life, education, careers. She’d just have to push herself through this irrational infatuation that had somehow invaded her mind.

It might hurt at first, but she’d been through much worse than breaking off a two-night stand. She’d just stop and pick up a fancy new vibrator to keep her company. That way she could get her orgasms without bringing any real, live people into it.

The overhead speaker announced that boarding was starting and Victoria stood, not wanting to spend any more time sitting in silence with Dean. At least during the flight, she could open up her laptop and pretend to work.

And then, just like Dean said, they’d land and go their separate ways.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dean collapsed onto the couch. The hotel room was nice and new and clean, but this couch and he had a connection. He knew the lumps and bumps. Knew exactly where all the holes and tears in the worn leather were. This was his couch, damn it, and it was perfectly conformed to his shape.

Rigby padded over and hopped onto the couch, right onto Dean’s stomach.

Dean grunted as he rearranged the large dog to a slightly more comfortable position. “What the hell?” he muttered.

Katy laughed from the doorway to the small living room. “He missed you.”

Dean rubbed the dog between his ears. He had a feeling Rigby couldn’t care less about him as long as Katy was around, but he didn’t say it. “Have you eaten yet? I was thinking about making mac and cheese.” He’d tried his best to be a surrogate father to Katy, but had never been able to get the whole cooking thing down.

“I ate at Becky’s. It’s like eight o’clock, Dean. You haven’’t eaten yet?”

Shit.
He knew it was late, but hadn’t realized how late. “I must’ve lost track of time,” he muttered. The damn trip with Victoria had definitely been profitable, but he’d had over twenty calls for service while he was gone. Most of them he’d been able to refer to other workers, but a few more of his more loyal customers insisted on waiting until Saturday, so he’d been running around since six in the morning to fit in as many jobs as possible.

“Becky and I were going to the movies and then I was thinking I could stay over there.”

And there went any plans of him relaxing for the night. “Kind of late, don’t you think? Didn’t you just get back from there?””

“I’m not the one who gets up at the crack of dawn,” she reminded him. “Come on. It’s summer break and you can call Becky’s mom if you want.”

Damn it, he hated when she offered to let him call the other parents. If she didn’t offer, he felt as if he was being clever, but if she gave him the option, suddenly he felt paranoid. He could text Becky’s mom, though. Much more casual and less paranoid. ““Fine, fine. Just don’t be stupid, okay?”

“I’m not you,” she reminded him.

He sat up and stared her down. “I’d yell at you if you weren’t right,” he said with a smirk.

~~~~~

Victoria couldn’t tell what terrified her more: the fact that Terry was at the hospital before her or the terrified look on his face. “What’s wrong?”” she asked breathlessly when she finally reached where he sat outside their father’s room.

His lips tightened and he let out a sigh. “Have you talked to the doctors today?”

“No. Last night everything was fine.”

“Things have changed,” said Terry solemnly. “His blood pressure has been dropping all day and his heartbeat is erratic.””

Nerves churned in her stomach and she felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. “What? No. That’s not possible. That’’s why he was put into the coma. This shit isn’t supposed to happen while he’s under sedation. His body is supposed to focus on healing.”

“The doctor told me that something with his kidneys this morning made them take him off the sedation and switch to some sort of fluid.”

“Well, they need to put him back under!” A group of three nurses turned to face her, but she refused to be embarrassed. Instead, she strode over to them, ready to tell them exactly what she thought of their services. “Excuse me, but I was here yesterday and my father was perfectly fine.”
Except for the medically-induced coma thing…
“And now I’m told he’s been woken up and is falling apart. What the hell happened?”

Instead of rolling their eyes at her outburst or telling her to keep her voice down, all three women looked at her with the scariest expression she could’ve imagined.
Pity.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Green. Let me get the doctor for you.”

But Victoria didn’t need a damn doctor. The pity said it all. Her father was going to die, and somehow everyone knew it but her. “I need to see him,” she murmured as she turned away.

Her breaths came faster and faster, and as she pushed open her father’s hospital room door, she realized she’d started to cry.
That wasn’t supposed to happen. This was a routine visit.
He’d been in the hospital for over a week. He was too strong for this. He was supposed to go out with a bang. A plane crash, or skiing accident.

Not after a quiet, drawn-out struggle against his own body.

But the truth hit her like a bag of bricks as she laid eyes on him. Her strong, steamroller of a father was so pale. So thin.
How had he changed so much in just a week?
She stumbled over to his side, grasping his hand in hers.

The rasp of his labored breathing filled the room.
What the hell was wrong with his lungs? How had he fallen apart so fast?
“Dad?” she whispered, but there was no response. ““Dad, please. I need to talk to you.”

Not a single muscle in his face twitched. “You’re not done yet,” she said, unable to stop the tears that streamed down her face. ““You’re stronger than this. Please…”

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see an older man in a white lab coat and Terry, whose eyes were also red and watery.

“Ms. Green,” said the doctor. “I think we need to talk.”

~~~~~

The cab came to a stop in front of the small house and Victoria reached into her purse. The cabbie told her the amount owed, but his words didn’t register.
Pay the driver. Get to the door
. She repeated the steps to herself as she fished out a hundred dollar bill.
Pay the driver. Get to the door
.