Accidentally Yours (4 page)

Jason ignored that. “You and your son allow Mr. King to present himself in a more favorable light.”

“Lucky us.”

Nathan stayed by the window, watching rather than participating. He admired Kerri’s bravado when it was obvious, at least to him, that she was terrified. Her hands trembled slightly and she kept inhaling deeply, as if consciously telling herself to breathe. None of the indicators were blatant, but he knew what to look for. It always paid to know what the enemy was thinking and feeling.

Not that she was his enemy. She was too far out of her league for that. He kept thinking he could squash her like a bug, if he took the time.

Except he couldn’t—he needed her. He, who prided himself on needing no one.

Jason led her to the conference table and set a
folder in front of her. “Here’s the paperwork. If you would please look it over before you sign.”

She opened her purse and pulled out a sheet of paper. “I have a few requests of my own, first,” she said.

“Excuse me?” Jason asked.

Nathan ignored him and turned his attention to Kerri. “The hell you do.”

“I mentioned it when you were at my house.”

“You were kidding.”

“I was at the time, but when else am I going to be able to negotiate with the great and powerful Nathan King?” She fluttered her lashes at him. “I’ve been reading about you online. You’re even richer than I thought. So I’m going to need a little bit more to cooperate.”

“Did I mention the money hasn’t been transferred yet?” She was bluffing, he thought. She had to be, but damn, she was good.

“You’ll do it.” She pushed the list toward Jason. “The top two are not negotiable.”

Nathan took another sip of coffee. “Read it,” he said, intrigued even as he prepared himself to be taken.

He could guess what she would want. A new car. Hers was a piece of crap. Some dented, rusting import with an engine that missed and bad tires. Maybe some cash. He eyed her cheap handbag. A shopping spree. The women he knew always wanted to go shopping.

“New baseball uniforms for the Songwood high school baseball team.” Jason looked up at him. “Apparently their old ones were destroyed in a flood.”

“They store their equipment in the basement,” Kerri said. “A pipe broke last week and everything was ruined. They’ve been fund-raising and they’re doing pretty well, but they aren’t going to have enough for new jerseys. The pants, too. And before you ask, you don’t get to put your name on the back or anything. This isn’t about you.”

If he’d been drinking, he would have choked. Baseball uniforms?

“Ah, a commitment to provide all the turkeys needed by the First Baptist Church of Songwood for their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners,” Jason continued. “Two thousand tulip bulbs for the Songwood community center to plant in the fall. A new fence for the elementary school playground and five thousand dollars for the local library.”

She had to be playing him, Nathan thought. No one got him alone with what they thought was a blank checkbook and asked for tulip bulbs. That, or she was an idiot.

“What about for yourself?” he asked.

She looked at him. “I have what I want. Money for research. I wish I could just buy a cure, but I can’t. This is the next best thing. You made that possible and I appreciate it.”

“I can tell,” he said drily.

“No, I mean it. You’re paying for a miracle. How often does that happen?”

Nathan shifted uncomfortably. He looked at Jason and nodded. “Fine.”

Kerri beamed. “Seriously? All of them? I should have asked for low-cost housing for the needy.”

She didn’t mean herself, he thought, amazed when he would have assumed he was beyond amazement. She had nothing but her current paycheck in the bank. No savings, no IRA, no nothing.

It was a game. A strategy. She would reveal herself soon enough.

“There’s just one more thing,” she said, smoothing her skirt. “It’s personal.”

He put down his coffee and folded his arms over his chest. Here we go, he thought. Now they were going to see the real Kerri Sullivan.

“I need help with something.” She stared at Jason, rather than Nathan. “Something big. I need to fly.”

“You want a plane ticket?” Nathan asked.

“No.” She sighed.

“You’re not getting a private jet.”

She turned to him. “I don’t want a private jet. I want to fly. By myself.” She held out her arms, as if they were wings. “Or maybe walk on water, although that could be more problematic.”

Great. He was making a deal with someone insane. That would help his stress level.

She looked back at Jason. “When my son was di
agnosed, he got depressed and I was terrified he was going to give up. He was only five. I decided that I needed to give him a reason to live. A reason to think he would make it when other kids couldn’t. I told him I had superpowers and because he was my son, he had them, too.”

Jason was good, Nathan thought. His lawyer barely blinked.

“Superpowers?” Jason asked.

“I have a costume and I do tricks. I’m Wonder Mom. I arranged for Cody to see me lift a car, which was pretty cool. But he’s older now and honestly, my last stunt was with a cat and I don’t think he believed me. So I was thinking if I could do something special, that would be good.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Do you have an idea how you want to make this happen?”

“Fairy dust?” Nathan asked.

Kerri ignored him. “A harness and a crane for the flying. A platform just under the water for that. I don’t know and I don’t have the resources.” She looked at Nathan. “You do.”

He held up both hands. “You’re Wonder Mom. How can a mere mortal possibly help?”

Kerri narrowed her gaze. “Is he always an ass?”

Jason started to choke on his coffee. Nathan waited patiently until the other man managed to croak, “No. Not at all.”

“You should make that sound more convincing,” Nathan murmured.

Kerri faced him. “What does it matter to you? You’ll assign some secretary to find me what I need and be done with it. It’s nothing to you and it’s everything to my son. Do you get that?”

Nathan had been called a lot of names in the past eighteen or twenty years, starting when he was in college and taking rich kids for their allowance at high-stakes poker games. He’d been written up in newspapers and magazines as a heartless, money-hungry bastard who would rather rape the environment than spend an extra buck on saving whatever microscopic insect he was displacing with his buildings.

He’d been told he was heartless, soulless, lacking in morals, and he’d felt nothing. But when some corn-fed, blond
hairdresser
looked at him like he was slime, he felt…guilty.

What the hell was up with that?

He felt awkward and uncomfortable—emotions he didn’t allow himself. This was
his
meeting. He was in charge. Who did she think she was?

“Kerri, you’re asking a lot,” Jason said. “Maybe if there was—”

“Do it,” Nathan told him.

Kerri’s eyes widened. “Just like that?”

“Like you said, I’ll assign some secretary to take care of it. What do I care?” He made it a point to never care. That’s why he was the best.

“Okay. Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

She frowned slightly, as if not sure what was up with him or what he had in mind. Good. He liked her off balance.

“Then we have a deal,” Jason said.

Kerri nodded and reached for the pen. She added the “Wonder Mom” clause to her list, then started to sign the documents already prepared.

Jason grabbed them. “You have to read them first.”

“Why?” she asked, taking them back and signing them. “We all know I don’t have a choice. Mr. King gets what he wants and I get what I want.”

Nathan still wasn’t sure he liked her, but he was beginning to respect her. “Still not a deal with the devil?”

“Still not.”

“Then maybe you should call me Nathan. What with us doing business together.”

Her eyes widened, as if she remembered their conversation from a few days ago during which she’d told him to call her by her first name because sleeping together otherwise would be awkward. Only he wasn’t going to sleep with her.

Yet as she stood, he found himself looking her over, taking in the curves underneath her loose dress.

She shook hands with Jason, then looked at him. “I guess I’ll go find Tim.”

“I’ll walk you down.”

She smiled. “Still don’t trust me?”

“I want to keep an eye on you.”

“Because I might run off with a stapler? It’s a law office, Nathan. What possible trouble could I make here?”

“You’d be surprised.”

He led her to the elevator, then pushed the Down button. “Jason will mail you a copy of the documents you signed.”

“I know he will. He seems very efficient. And nice. I didn’t expect that from a lawyer.”

“Have a lot of experience with them?”

“Not really. Is he married?”

Annoyance exploded hard and hot inside of Nathan. “Is that the game? You can’t get me, so you want Jason? He makes a lot of money, but unfortunately he does have a wife. They just had a baby.”

Kerri patted his arm. “You have quite the temper. Do you know what all that built-up anger is doing to your cardiovascular system? It’s not healthy.”

The elevator arrived. She stepped on, then looked expectant. He put out a hand to hold the door.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“That’s because I thought it was rude.” She sighed. “I saw a sign in one of the big corner offices on the way in—It’s A Boy. I wondered if it was his. I was going to send a card. Nothing more.”

Nathan couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like an idiot. He was confident he’d been a lot younger and somehow his father had been involved.

He got on the elevator. “I’m sorry,” he said, the words unfamiliar and hard to form.

“You should be.”

“That’s gracious.”

“You assume the worst about me.”

How was this his fault?

He was a master of negotiation. He didn’t get flustered or confused or run out of things to say. But this woman made him crazy.

He turned to tell her that, then realized he couldn’t admit the weakness. She looked up at him expectantly, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.

N
ATHAN’S MOUTH WAS
warm and firm, but not demanding, which surprised Kerri. She’d expected to be ravished, not kissed. He didn’t grab her. Instead he let his lips handle all the action, and they did a fine job.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she gave herself up to the kiss, enjoying the heat, the pressure, the little tingles that shot down her arms. Without meaning to, she tilted her head slightly, in silent invitation.

One he ignored, she thought sadly. His touch was fleeting, more heat than substance, and left her wanting more. Something she wouldn’t have guessed. When he pulled back, she felt an unexpected whisper of hunger. Probably because she hadn’t kissed a man since Brian had died…before Cody had been born. How sad was that?

He looked stunned, as if he hadn’t planned to kiss her. She quickly reassured him.

“It’s okay,” she told him. “I don’t mind.”

His expression hardened. “Is this about sleeping with me for the money?”

“What? No. Besides,
you
kissed
me.
”

“It’s your fault it happened.”

“That’s mature.” Why was he making this so difficult? “I don’t mind. It’s fine. I owe you.”

“So you’ll have sex with me?”

“Not the most subtle come-on.” She considered the question, then answered honestly. “If it’s important to you.” She touched his arm. “You came through for me. That means a lot.”

“Fifteen million dollars’ worth of meaning.”

She smiled. “At least I’m not cheap.” Her smile faded. “Don’t make this more than it is. I was grateful and I spoke in a moment without thinking. I offered Tim a kidney. That doesn’t mean I’m scheduling surgery.”

“So you won’t sleep with me.”

“Are you asking me to?”

“No. I’m looking for clarification. Is sex on the table?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“This isn’t about me.” He sounded frustrated.

“But you’re the one asking.”

“I’m not asking. I’m not interested.”

“Then we don’t have a problem.”

“But if I was, you’d say yes?” he asked, sounding as if he really wanted to know.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She eyed his mouth. Maybe with a little more kissing.

Then she jerked her head away. No, she reminded herself. She had to put all her energy into Cody. If
she turned her attention from him for even a second, something bad might happen.

“You don’t want me, so it’s not an issue,” she said. “Right?”

The elevator doors opened and she stepped out into the parking garage. Tim was waiting by the limo. She sighed. It had been a lovely ride. She looked forward to the return trip. Maybe they could stop by Kidd Valley for burgers before they headed up I90. She was starved.

She turned back to Nathan. “I’ll see you soon,” she called.

He muttered something she couldn’t hear and pushed a button. The elevator doors closed.

“Strange, strange man,” she said to herself, and walked toward Tim.

F
RANKIE TYPED
frantically on her computer keyboard. Even when she wasn’t sure what to say, she kept typing because the rhythm was as important as the words. Her to-do list hovered in the periphery of her mind, but most of her attention was on her article for the monthly newsletter. She had the lead.

Damage to the Puget Sound continued at a devastating pace. So many species of plants and animals had already disappeared. Many more were on the verge of becoming extinct. Sometimes, when she wrote, she felt as if the fate of the planet rested on her shoulders. That if she could just find the right
combination of words and sentences, she could change everything.

“Frankie, got a sec?”

Frankie looked up at her boss and nodded, not showing her irritation at being interrupted. She hated to be interrupted before she was finished. It broke her rhythm. But she’d learned that most people didn’t understand that.

She finished her sentence, saved her file, then pumped some hand sanitizer onto her palms and began rubbing her hands together.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Exactly eighteen times the groups of four, because seventy-two was her favorite number.

She followed Owen into his crowded office. There were reports and books and office supplies stacked everywhere. The room seemed to close in on itself. Sometimes Frankie couldn’t stand to be in there—she needed order—but today she was strong.

She looked at her boss. “What’s up?”

He sighed heavily. “We’re not going to make it, Frankie. We don’t have the funding. I’ve been fighting them for nearly two years and it’s a battle that can’t be won. We’re shutting down.”

“No,” she breathed, unable to believe him. “No, no. This is where I belong. We have to stay in business. We have to make a difference. We’re needed.”

Owen, a thirtysomething, heavyset man, shrugged. “We’ve let most of the staff go already. The truth is
we’re too radical to get mainstream funding and the fringe element that agrees with us is generally lacking in funds. Right now the only thing that keeps us from going under is the money you put in. I can’t keep taking that from you.”

“I don’t mind,” she said quickly. She didn’t need the money. Blood money, she thought as she closed her eyes and saw the blood on the living room walls. It wasn’t like in the movies. It wasn’t clean or neat or organized. When someone got shot in real life, it was messy. It smelled and it stayed inside your brain forever.

“It’s not right,” Owen told her. “You need that money yourself.”

“I don’t.” For what? This place was her life. “We need publicity,” she said. “Something big.”

Owen’s eyes were kind. “Frankie, let it alone. I figure we’ve got a month left. I’ll understand if you want to leave now and look for something else. Or hell, take a vacation now that you’re not spending every penny here. Check out the endangered plant life in Hawaii.”

“We can get him,” Frankie told Owen. “He wants those towers and there’s going to be a lot of protesting. We can use that. We can get him.”

It was what she wanted more than anything. To destroy Nathan King. To punish him in every way possible. To leave him weak and alone and afraid.

“You can’t keeping doing this, Frankie.”

“I can. I will. I’ll find a way.”

“It’s time to put the past behind you.”

She’d trusted Owen enough to tell him the truth about what had happened—she’d never thought he would use it against her.

She stood. “It will never be time. I’ll never forgive him. I’ll get him, then people will listen and we’ll have enough money.”

Owen rose to his feet. “Frankie, he’s your brother. He’s the one who gives you the money. You can’t use it to destroy him.”

“Sure I can. That’s what makes it a perfect plan.”

She walked back to her desk and returned to her typing. But her mind wasn’t on the article anymore. It was on how she was going to destroy Nathan once and for all.

“B
UT
I
DON’T WANNA
,” Cody whined. “It’ll be boring.”

“Probably,” Kerri said as she smiled at her son. “Long and boring.”

“So we could stay home.”

“You’re right. Why should we worry about all the kids in the world who don’t have food or a home or toys? I mean, they should just have to put up with that. It’s way more important than you being bored.”

Cody sighed heavily. “You’re trying to make me feel bad.”

“I know. Is it working?”

“Kinda.”

“Look at it this way. I’ll bet the food will be really good. And it’s a charity for kids, so there might be some fun stuff for you to do. Either way, we’re helping and that matters.”

“Okay.”

The consent was grudgingly given. Kerri could have just told him they were going and he didn’t have a choice, but she preferred to have him a willing partner. Besides, he had to learn about the importance of giving to others. Although technically they were attending the charity because Nathan King had e-mailed her that her presence, along with her son’s, was expected. But she preferred to put a happier spin on things.

“Can we have some of the charity?” Cody asked.

“Not this week.”

“But what if there’s really cool stuff there?”

“Then you’ll know what to put on your birthday list.”

Although if it was too expensive, she wasn’t going to be able to afford it. Something to worry about later, she told herself. Fortunately, Cody’s wants had been fairly manageable to date. Although he’d asked for a video game system at Christmas last year, it hadn’t been one of the really pricey ones and she’d been able to swing it…barely.

“Tell you what,” she said. “Events like this usually have a raffle. If it’s for something really cool, I’ll give you five dollars for tickets.”

“Sweet.” He grinned. “Think we’ll get lucky?”

“If it’s a car, I really hope so.”

“Me, too. But don’t buy any tickets if it’s weird, okay, Mom? Remember that year’s supply of soup you won a couple of years ago? They were really bad.”

“I know.”

It had seemed like a great prize until they’d sampled the first can. The soups had been inedible.

“You wouldn’t even give some of them away,” he grumbled. “We had to eat them all.”

“I didn’t want to make anyone else suffer.”

“But it was okay to make me suffer?”

“Of course,” she told him with a grin. “You’re my child. I can do all kinds of horrible things to you. Like make you eat vegetables.”

He laughed. “And clean my room.”

“And do homework. Or like now, when I tell you to go pick out something nice to wear.”

He grumbled under his breath as he turned on his crutches and moved out of the kitchen. She watched him go, seeing so much of her late husband in her son. Every day Cody reminded her more and more of Brian. She treasured the similarities, even as they continued to break her heart.

Someone knocked on the front door. She walked through the living room and let in her friend Linda.

“I come bearing basic black,” Linda said. “Along with a couple of blazers and accessories.”

“Thank you. You’re saving me here. I don’t have
a charity-worthy wardrobe. It’s just an afternoon thing, but I know all those rich people are going to be really well dressed and I need to fit in.”

“You’ll do great,” Linda told her. “Now let’s get you dressed.”

Kerri led the way into her small bedroom. She’d already curled her hair and put on makeup. After Linda closed the bedroom door, Kerri slipped out of her robe, then studied the selection her friend had brought.

“I like the black skirt,” she said, picking it up and holding it in front of her. “Basic, but a good simple style. I bought some black pumps at the thrift store last week. They’ve barely been used and they’re Stuart Weitzman. Who gives those away? I figure somebody must have died or something and the family had no idea what they were donating.”

“Lucky you.” Linda held up a cobalt-blue blouse. “What about this? I have a black tweed blazer. You’ll look coordinated without being too matchy. With some earrings and maybe a bracelet, you’ll be good to go.”

“It’s perfect.”

Kerri quickly tried everything on. The blouse and blazer were a touch long but otherwise fit great. The shoes were two kinds of heaven. Stylish but comfortable. She shrugged out of the blazer, then went into the bathroom where she began removing the curlers.

“Tell me you’ve received the money,” Kerri called. “I’m not stepping one foot into that limo if it hasn’t been transferred yet.”

She looked in the mirror as she spoke, making sure she got all the curlers. Linda was still in the bedroom.

“It’s been transferred,” the other woman said.

“Good. So you’re going to be hiring more researchers?”

“It takes time to pull it all together.”

That didn’t sound right. Kerri dropped an electric curler into the sink, then stuck her head in the bedroom. “Is there a problem?”

Linda shook her head. “It’s fine. Things are moving along.”

All the right words, so why did Kerri suddenly have a knot in her stomach? “The money got into the bank, right?”

“All fifteen million. Apparently it came from Nathan King’s personal account.”

If only, Kerri thought ruefully. “Yeah, I’ll have that much when I get paid on Friday.”

“Oh, me, too.”

They laughed.

“So what’s he like?” Linda asked. “Are you enjoying him?”

“I haven’t tied him up and asked him to call me his love poodle yet.”

“Good to know. You’ll want to save that for your second week together.”

“We’re not
together.
I have to admit he’s good-looking, but his attitude could use an adjustment.”

“It’s not in your nature to be totally grateful, is it?”

“I’m grateful, but I won’t crawl. I think I bug him, which is just an added bonus. He’s a little straitlaced.” She returned to the bathroom and pulled out the rest of her curlers, then smiled in anticipation as she said, “Not a bad kisser.”

There was a moment of silence followed by Linda’s appearance in the small bathroom.

“You kissed him?”

“He kissed me, but it was still good. Lots of tingles. It made me realize I haven’t seriously kissed a guy since Brian died. I miss kissing and touching.” But not with just any guy. If she had the choice, she would like to be doing all that with Brian.

“Now you can do both,” Linda said. “Although I’m not sure about Nathan King. Be careful. He’s a dangerous guy.”

“Not to me. I’m not interested in him or anyone that way.”

“How did you come to be kissing?”

Kerri tried to remember. “I’m not sure. We were talking about whether or not his giving up the fifteen million meant he could sleep with me.”

“What? He expects to get sex?”

“I’m not sure. I think it was more an intellectual discussion, then he kissed me. Probably to shut me up.”

Kerri bent over at the waist and brushed her hair. Then she fluffed it with her fingers, straightened and reached for the can of hair spray.

It took a couple of good passes to get all the
curls to stay in place. “I’ll do another spray right before we leave.”

She put on fake pearl earrings and a gold-tone watch, then slipped into her fabulous shoes and pulled on the blazer. Then she stared at herself in the mirror.