Claiming Her (Keeping Her Series) (5 page)

She swallowed, his
voice brooked no argument and the look in his eyes said quite plainly that if
she balked at this he would be across the room, and she had seen him move; he
might get to her before she could get that door open and escape.  She tried
anyway, her voice more hesitant with her argument than she would have liked.  “Not
sure that’s a good idea.”

“You trying to run on
me baby?”

“No, I just think we
should keep this low key for a bit. At least until we have a chance to discuss
our choices.”

“Our choices?”  His
voice had turned menacing and she felt her shoulders tense.

“Our . . . options.” 
Then Isabella realized she was reacting to his intimidation and got mad.  “Oh
for goodness sake, stop trying to boss me around.  I’m not getting my luggage
and you can’t make me.”  Then she flung open the door and ran.  Like a little
girl.  Not exactly her finest moment. 

But he didn’t follow so
at least she won a slight reprieve.  She just knew, though, he was so going to
make her pay for that later.  She needed to shore up her defenses fast and
figure out how to handle this situation like an adult with an actual working
brain.  If she didn’t, Lucas Gibbs would be quick to take advantage of any
openings she gave him.  Then she might very well become the catalyst for a pack
war that could get them all killed.

Lucas watched Miley run
from the room.  The only reason he didn’t go after her was because he knew she
would be back.  For now he could wait.  For some things anyway.

He picked up the phone
and dialed.  Logan answered on the third ring.

“I take it things are
not progressing as you would like?”  Logan’s voice was mild and lacked
inflection, and still managed to irritate.

“I want a full team
here tomorrow.”

“Cleo as well?”

Lucas ground his teeth
at the thought of his baby girl anywhere near this island of hedonistic
pleasure.  But she had been close to Miley and she might get her talking.  “Fuck. 
Yes, shit.  But give her an escort.”  Then with some vehemence, “Not her
brother.  Someone who isn’t distracted by tail.”  The last thing he needed was
Ian and his young lion hormones at large on Pleasure Island.  He thought
another minute.  “We’ll leave Demon, Mac, and Ben home to protect their mates
and the cub, but I want everyone else here ASAP.”

“You thinking this job
is going to be that challenging, or do you have something else in mind?”

“The island itself is a
security nightmare, but we knew that.  The changes we planned are still the
best way from what I can see, but while we are in transition, there is too much
scope for trouble, and I want my mate safe.”

“Ahh.  I take it
congratulations are in order.”

“Not yet.  Not really. 
But I’m working on it.”

“This should be
interesting.”  The fact that he did not try to hide the humor in his voice for
his boss’ predicament was not lost on Lucas. 

So he didn’t bother to
try to hide the exasperation in his.  “Just get it done.”

Logan chuckled.  “I
would think that would be your job.  But if you need pointers . . .”

Lucas hung up with a
snarl.

***

He smelled her coming
down the hall.  Her scent was always fuckin’ miraculous, all spicy and soft,
but now his was mingled with it and it made him want to rub all over her and
wallow.  What he did not care for, however, was the stench of male wolf that
followed close behind.  Young, scared, and horny, no doubt from watching Miley
walk down the hall. 
Little Fucker. 
He listened as she walked into the
room in those sexy heels she always wore, the ones that showed off those
fucking amazing legs of hers.  Then he snarled when she held open the door for
the young pup carrying a food tray.  She gave Lucas a withering look when the
little shit wobbled it, his face going bone white under his tan. 
Fucking
pubescent wolves.

“Just leave it on the
side table, Max; if his lordship wants to snarl and snipe at everyone, he can
come and fetch it to the dining table himself.”

Without another word or
a single look towards Lucas, the little wolf walked out of there as fast as he
could without running.  Miley just glared his way and shook her head, before
bringing over the pile of files he had asked for.  She slapped them down on the
corner of the big desk and crossed her arms.  “If I am supposed to be working
as the liaison between you and this pack, I would appreciate a little effort on
your part not to snarl or snipe at them.”

Lucas looked her up and
down taking in her belligerent stance, the hint of nerves in her eyes that she
was trying so hard to hide, her sexy wisp of a blouse and tight skirt wrapped
around all that gold skin and curves.  She hadn’t changed much in two years,
except her hair had more gold highlights from her time in the sun and it was a
little longer when it was spread across her pillow.

He stood up so quickly
she jumped a bit, but then her eyes narrowed as he came around the desk to
tower over her.  He leaned his ass back against the desk and stretched his long
legs out around her so that she was, for all intents and purposes, standing
between his “giant man thighs” as she called them.  He crossed his massive arms
across his chest in a parody of her move.  His luggage had arrived while he was
in the shower, and he had changed into custom made slacks and a linen button
down, that he hadn’t bothered to button all the way, and the sleeves rolled up
to just below his elbows.  It was his version of island business, and from the
way Miley looked him up and down and started smelling even sweeter, he knew she
liked it.

Miley licked her lips
and he was tempted to throw her down on his desk and live out a familiar
fantasy he had held for years watching her work.  But she took a deep breath
and uncrossed her arms to point her tiny finger in his face.

“You need to be nice to
the staff.”

“A male wolf comes into
my office, after watching my woman’s ass walk down the hall, smelling like he’d
like to mount her, my gut reaction is going to be to rip his fucking head off. 
That
was
me being nice.”

“How could you possibly
know whether he was watching my ass or not?”

“With you wearing that
tight skirt and fuck me shoes?”  She blinked at him like she had no idea what
he was talking about. 
Fuckin’ adorable.
  “Trust me, Miley, he was looking
at your ass.”

After a minute with her
mouth hanging open like she wanted to say something, she snapped it closed and
threw up her hands.  “Ugh.  You are impossible.”

“I’m a man, and I know
how men think.  Even little scrawny puppies who should know better.” 

Apparently she had no
answer to that since she just rolled her eyes and moved the conversation on.  “Are
you ready for brunch?”

“I am.”  She grabbed
the heavy tray and moved it to the dining table on the balcony.  She looked
tiny in comparison to that tray and still she had no difficulty carrying it. 
For a mostly human, she sure moved like a shape-shifter, and she unerringly
knew what he wanted, bypassing the inside table and heading outdoors.  But then
she had been supplying his needs before he even knew he wanted them all
morning.  He had forgotten in his overall unhappiness at her dismissal how good
she had been at this particular job.  Probably why he had never really replaced
her.

There was a mild breeze
coming off the water and the sun was still rising so it was cool under the
awning, and the view was stunning.  Even better because Miley was sharing it
with him.  She started to walk away once she set the tray down, but he was
following right behind and was able to direct her to a chair and force her down
into it.  She gave him a baleful look but seemed to want to pick her battles. 
Clever
girl
.  This was not one he was willing to lose.

“I have all the files
you asked for, plus I added any employees that were either fired or quit within
the last year, and also any services we use that are not considered full-time
employees, like the caterer we bring in for large weddings.”

“We can discuss work
after we eat.  I’m making meal times off limits.”

“Really?  Since when?”

He looked up and raised
a brow.  “Since now.”

She blew out a breath
and grabbed the silver dome off the tray and pulled it off.  “Fine.”

For brunch, she had
ordered him steak and eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice and black coffee. 
Again he was struck by how well she anticipated his wants.  He looked up and
she was tucking into French toast with fresh berries and bacon along with her
own juice.  “So are you going to tell me why you faked your death, or do I have
to wait for Eli to flush it out?”

She dropped her fork
and choked down her bite.  “You have Eli working on this?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“You are . . . did it
not once occur to you that it was my business and not your place to go snooping
through it?”

He just looked at her. 
“Are you being serious right now?”

She growled and he was
sure for a moment that her juice was going to come right at his head.  “I’ve
lost my appetite.”  She threw her napkin over her fork.  Lucas grabbed her arm
before she could stomp off.  “Your ass leaves that seat and I’m going to be
pissed.”

“Lucas . . .”

“You want me pissed,
Miley?”  His thumb rubbed over the forearm he was holding, reveling in her
softness.  Miley shivered beneath his fingers, her eyes widened and her breath
hitched while he watched.  He felt his eyes shift to cat and knew she understood
when she swallowed and licked her soft lips. 
Son of a bitch.  She is
killing me.
 

“Fine,” she said, “I’ll
stay and eat.”

He let go incrementally,
holding her eyes the whole time until with a last brush of his hand, he sat
back in his seat and started eating.  “So tell me.  Why?”

She shook her head and
slumped back in her seat.  “If I tell you will you call off Eli?”

“Depends.”

“On what?” she asked,
clearly exasperated with him.

“On whether you hold
anything back.”

Miley looked over at
Lucas in his sexy nearly see-through linen shirt that had the top three buttons
open over a sleekly muscled chest, and the sleeves rolled, his forearms on
display.  He was leaning back in his chair all golden skin and hair, with the
savoir faire of a cat in the sun.  But she did not miss the sharpness of those
eyes slowly fading back to cerulean blue, or the way they followed every move
she made.

“Let’s start with
something easy,” he said.  “Why did you refuse the job offer at Deckland?”

She snorted and leaned
back in her own chair, her arms crossing.  “Maybe because you arranged for me
to have it.”

“So it was just pure
stubbornness on your part?”

“Of course not,” she
scoffed, throwing up her hands again.  “Lucas you fired me for no reason and
with no notice.  I was not about to take a job where you had the power to do
the same thing on a whim, and for no good reason.”

“I wouldn’t . . .”

“You already did,”
Miley interrupted him before he could deny it.  “I was damn good at my job and
you fired me anyway.  If you could arrange for me to have a job at Deckland,
then you had the wherewithal to get me fired just as fast.  I was not going to
be in the same situation again.  So I took the large
guilt
compensation
package you awarded me and moved on.”

She could see he was
grinding his teeth from the way that razor sharp jaw tightened and released. 
It made her want to lick it so she focused back on her French toast and started
eating again.

“And then?” he asked
quietly.

She chewed again,
swallowed, and since it tasted like ash on her tongue, she gave up on breakfast
and sighed, dropping her fork.  “Then I went to work for a friend of my
grandfather.  They gave me the job even though I was not considered pack, and
through the Minos pack I made the acquaintance of a visiting alpha.  He asked
me out and I said ‘yes’.”

She felt the air around
her shift and really did not want to look up to see what mood he was fighting
that had a chill factor of -5 Fahrenheit.  “You said ‘yes’?”  His voice was low
and gruff, as if he was trying to speak through gravel.

Miley finally couldn’t
take the suspense so she looked into his cold, cold cat eyes. 
Not happy at
all,
she thought, feeling adrenaline kick in just from meeting those
pissed
eyes.  “Is there some reason I should not have said ‘yes’?” she asked quietly. 
“Was I supposed to give up men just because the great Lucas Gibbs didn’t want
me?”