The Billionaire's Impulsive Lover (The Sisterhood) (6 page)

Shaking her head, she moved forward, pulling out another box. This one she’d built to measure any kind of electric currency. Even though nothing was showing up, she still moved carefully, but quickly. The man was only on his evening run, so she’d given herself barely ten minutes to get in, download the data on the laptop and get out. She was even more anxious since she hadn’t seen Mitch leave. Assuming he could be back sooner rather than at his normal time, she re-calculated the time she had left before he might return, she sped up slightly. She knew he ran ten miles in the evenings which normally brought him back in under an hour and a half. But since she didn’t know what time he started, she had to hurry.

At the door, she had to shake her head as she quickly and easily picked the lock on the side door. A security company owner with a door this easy to open? The electronic code was a piece of cake, only taking a few seconds before the program she’d written had deciphered the code and released the lock.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to convince herself that opening the lock hadn’t been too easy. Shaking her head, she told herself that she’d been reading way too many mystery novels lately and pushed the door open, stepping inside what looked to be a mud room or some sort of utility area. It was very neat with tools lining one wall, held in place by a peg board and hooks, and storage bins on shelves in another area. Her curiosity was killing her to find out what was inside those bins, wondering what a bachelor man would need so many storage units for, but she was on a mission and couldn’t be distracted.

Walking carefully through the room, she found the door and inched it open. When no alarms sounded, and no growling came through the crack, she slipped out of the room, staying close to the wall as she walked down a hallway. Claire wasn’t exactly sure where Mitch kept his computer, but assumed it would most likely be in one of the empty bedrooms upstairs, which was where she kept hers in her apartment.

She frowned slightly as she wandered through the house. The man had a gorgeous, huge house but all the rooms were empty. She hadn’t noticed that while she’d been spying on him over the past few days, but then, she’d been fascinated by the man versus his house, and his fun interactions with the German Shepherd. If he caught her…she pushed that out of her mind. Better to focus on finding out about the man rather than that last encounter out in front of her previous company.

Her fingers trailed along the edge of a book case, the only part of the room that was filled up. The man really loved to read, she thought but didn’t dare turn on even her small flashlight to see the titles. That was just asking to get caught, so she was extra careful not to give out any light. Even her hair was covered tonight, not wanting the moonlight to reflect off her platinum curls.

She reached up and scratched her head, wishing she could take off the wool cap but knew better than to give in to personal inconveniences. This was a mission, she reminded herself. She had work to do and learning more about this enigmatic man that so fascinated her was not her top priority.

Claire smiled with anticipation as she thought about seeing him the next day. Any type of communication with that man just made all of her nerve endings sizzle with excitement. It was so much better than picking a lock or hacking into a computer system.

She was just about to take the first step up the stairs when the glinting from the moonlight caught on something in the family room. She stepped into the dark room and looked around. It was more of a great room than a family room, but she refused to satisfy her curiosity since she now had the computer in her sights. Instead of in a spare bedroom made into an office, Mitch kept his computer in the middle of his great room. Huh!

She sat down and quickly booted up the computer, her fingers flying over the keys as she worked the code that would let her bypass the password. Within seconds, she was in, again amazed that Mitch would have so little security on his home computer. Of course, there were multiple layers of security, but she’d expected that and had a workaround for it.

Claire froze. She was about to put the flash drive into the port when she thought she saw something to her left. Impossible! She thought. But her fingers started shaking which slowed down her speed. Something was wrong. She could feel it and she knew instantly that she needed to get out of there. Just a few more seconds and she’d have the computer’s security system beaten, she told herself. Don’t let the silence get to you, she thought. Just calm down….

She was strolling slowly through the next room, wondering what the empty room could be used for when she heard the front door open and close. Claire’s heart beat went into overdrive as she frantically looked around for a place to hide. There wasn’t anything, literally nothing, in the room. No curtains, no furniture. Not even carpeting since the enormous room was done in shiny hardwood that beautifully reflected the moonlight through the uncovered wall of French doors on two sides. There weren’t even any shadows!

Claire hurried back to the previous room where at least there were book cases that might distract her silhouette. Was there someone else here? Or was it Mitch? Good grief, being caught breaking into his house was bad enough. Breaking in and being caught, that would just be the end of her great new job. She didn’t think she could explain this away.

Claire’s face flamed in the darkness at the memory of her dreams where his strong, powerful arms were holding her against him and his extremely large hand covered her breast, of waking up so hungry for him that she was actually aching inside.

She almost smiled at the memory and how he might react if she were to tell him what she’d been dreaming about for the past few nights, but then the whistling started. Oh no! It was Mitch! He was back early! Why wasn’t he on his normal killer run like he normally did at this time of the evening? He’d been working until eight or nine o’clock every night this past week and then hitting the asphalt for his normal grueling workout. Why did he have to pick tonight to change his routine? What kind of luck was she running these days?

“Come on Duke,” he called out.

Claire’s heart nearly stopped when she heard the massive dog’s name being called. Mitch’s deep voice called Duke again, obviously when the beast didn’t instantly obey.

Claire wanted to run, but there wasn’t any place to go. She started to turn, intending to try and move toward the front of the house since Mitch seemed to be heading towards the back where the kitchen was located.

She was turning slowly, praying her feet wouldn’t make any noise when she stopped, her stomach dropping out of her body and her breath catching in her lungs. There he was, Duke himself, sitting not three feet away. The huge dog didn’t move. He didn’t sniff or in any way give away her location. He simply sat there, calmly watching as Claire realized his presence.

She didn’t move a muscle, frantically trying to remember what she was supposed to do with a threatening dog, one who could viciously tear out her throat without a second’s pause. Get lower, she thought. Dog’s want to be in charge, want to be the alpha male. But her knees wouldn’t move. Her body wouldn’t move. She realized she couldn’t even call out for help because she was so completely terrorized by this enormous beast as it waited for her next move.

Just as she was telling her knees to bend, praying her mind would start to work and comply with her only knowledge of how to tame an animal, a whistle came from the back of the house. “Duke, heel.”

Instantly, the dog’s attention was diverted, his head snapping around to stare away from where she was standing and into the portion of the house where there was light.

On seemingly silent feet, the animal stood and walked away as if there was nothing wrong with a stranger being in his master’s home.

It took several more moments before Claire’s heart slowed enough for her blood to start pumping once again. Another few more moments until her brain functioned. Finally, her feet moved and she was able to start her forward momentum to exit the house as quickly as she could, not sure what Mitch’s reaction would be to finding her here in his house.

She made her way as silently as possible towards the front door, thinking if she could just make it to the door, she could sprint out and make a run for it. Mitch would know someone had been there, but maybe if she were fast enough, he wouldn’t know who it was.

At the door to the first darkened room, she peered around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. Mitch wasn’t anywhere in sight. Letting out a deep breath, she was just about to step towards the front door when she dropped her gaze. There he was again – standing between her and the front door. Between her and freedom. Duke’s large brown and black head with the intelligent black eyes simply watched her, as if he were laughing at her attempt to escape from his house without his knowledge and permission.

She considered trying to walk around him, but when she took a step, Duke stood up, his head completely focused on her.

“Go away,” she said, shooing the animal with her hands. When that produced absolutely no reaction, she started to go around him. Apparently, Duke was having none of that. He simply turned so he was still facing her. Not threatening, but still watching, still amused by her efforts.

Claire sighed and reached up to scratch her head, wishing the silly woolen cap to purgatory. She was definitely in a pickle and the wool was itchy. Tearing it off, she fluffed her curls and looked around, wondering if there was another way out of this monstrously large house. One that wouldn’t set off the alarms as she fell into the shrubbery, preferably. The windows were all sealed with special locks which she had no clue how to open even from the inside. The back of the house contained the one man she was trying desperately to avoid and the front door was guarded by the beast. Surely there was a side door? Weren’t there patio doors in the back? Maybe one she could sneak out of?

“He’s not going to let you past, you know,” Mitch’s deep voice said from the hallway to her left.

Claire swung around, her hands hiding the wool cap behind her head and bracing herself against the door frame. “What?”

“Duke. He’s not going to let you out that front door.” He pushed away from the door and lifted one hand. “Wine?” he asked.

Claire looked down at his long, masculine fingers and finally noticed the two glasses that dangled from them. His other hand was holding an opened bottle of what she suspected was red wine.

“Wine?”

“Yes. Wine,” he replied, amused by the confusion and fear on her face. “Most people drink it. Usually eat a little something with it if the wine is especially good.” He glanced down at the label and nodded. “I think this one is decent. Care to try a glass?”

Claire’s tongue couldn’t form the word, so she silently nodded her head.

He moved forward, pouring the rich red liquid into one of the glasses, his walk silent even on the hard wood floors.

She took the glass he offered, still very confused. “How did you know I was here?”

His response was a simple raising of one eyebrow, as if to say, “Are you kidding?”

“Okay, what did I do wrong?” she asked, her shoulders slumping as the knowledge of her failure became complete.

Mitch turned and walked towards the back of the house, obviously assuming she would follow. Claire glanced at Duke who was still watching her, then to the man’s retreating back. Accepting defeat with dignity was probably her best course of action, she thought, and took a sip of wine as she followed behind him, admiring the way his shoulders stretched the immaculate fabric of his tailored dress shirt, now open at the neck, his tie discarded somewhere unknown.

“I’m guessing you didn’t bother to get something to eat before you started on tonight’s adventure, did you?”

Claire’s stomach rumbled as she smelled the delicious food that was simmering on the stove top. “No. That didn’t really occur to me,” she replied, sliding onto one of the bar stools pulled up to the counter by the stove. “Are you going to tell me how you knew I was here?”

He chuckled. “I don’t think so.”

She thought about that for a moment, then sighed once again. “I’ll just have to keep trying then.”

“Be careful of your actions. Breaking into my house might have consequences.”

She considered him for a long moment. “You could simply teach me how to do it correctly so I won’t get caught.”

He stopped stirring the vegetables and looked at her sternly. “You’re not going to break into anyone’s house except this one, Claire.”

“Says who?”

“Says me. And if you do, I’ll fire you and make sure you’re doing data entry for the rest of your life.”

She grimaced at that threat. “I’d rather go to jail.”

He laughed and picked up the spoon again. “No you wouldn’t. But that won’t even be an option.”

She sipped her wine while he chopped up something green and shoved it with the knife into the sizzling oil. “What if I try it and get away with it?”

“What would be the purpose?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Getting away with it?”

He stopped chopping and looked over at her. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you can break into my house without me catching you, then I’ll teach you whatever you want to learn. But until then, you can’t even try to break into any other building. Do we have a deal?”