CLOSE TO YOU: Enhanced (Lost Hearts) (28 page)

             
"I know." Kate surrendered. "All right. I'll stay here . . . for a while."

             
Teague took that victory and built on it. "Avoid Oberlin today. Do everything you can to stay away from the bastard."

             
She rather enjoyed the idea of turning over the problem of Senator Oberlin to Teague. Idly, she decided her inaction was a combination of two things: the incredible revulsion she felt knowing a man like Oberlin was interested in her, and Teague's lovemaking, which had rendered her soft and mushy—and deeply, dreadfully, terribly in love.

             
Stupidly in love.

SIXTEEN

              All day Monday, Teague sat in the main security room in the capitol as his on-duty staff—Chun, Big Bob, and Gemma—came and went. He researched Oberlin on the Internet, watched as Kate cooperated with his order, and reflected with grim satisfaction that he had her under control.

             
If only he held the same influence over George Oberlin.

             
Oberlin wandered the corridors searching for Kate. He questioned her coworkers. He made calls to her television station. He saw one female who, from the back, looked like Kate, and he primped. He caught her arm. And when she furiously turned on him and cursed, his face turned dark red and his fist rose.

             
Truth to tell, Teague wanted him to hit her. Teague would have made sure the female got rescued right away, and a public mistake like that, backed up by videotape Teague would provide, would be hard to hide.

             
In the service, Teague had known how to deal with enemy soldiers. In the security business, he knew how to prosecute criminals. But a senator? A senator who had committed murder? Multiple murders? Who had gotten away with it?

             
And Teague was bitterly aware of his own vulnerability. He was half Hispanic, half Anglo, with no family, no influence, a house with a mortgage, and an outstanding loan taken to expand his business.

             
But he'd damn well better figure out some way to protect Kate pretty soon, because as Oberlin failed to find her, he grew more and more agitated.

             
By late afternoon, Big Bob leaned over Teague's shoulder, gazed at the monitor, and asked, "What's up with Senator Oberlin? He looks like he rubbed honey on his ass, then sat on a mound of fire ants."

             
It was time to bring his people in on the situation, so Teague faced them. "He's making Kate Montgomery uncomfortable, and she asked me for help in ducking him."

             
"I thought you didn't care what happened to Kate Montgomery." Big Bob hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, rocked on his heels, and grinned. "You said once we caught her stalker, she was no big deal."

             
"I'm no longer sure," Teague said softly, "that we caught the right stalker."

             
His pronouncement smashed through the room like a gunshot.

             
His people stared at him, wide-eyed.

             
"Are you accusing Oberlin?" Chun asked incredulously.

             
"You are shittin' us, Teague." Big Bob pointed at the monitor where Oberlin stood, arms crossed, a thunderous expression on his face. "That man is a white, God-fearing, influential son of a bitch, and if he's chasing Miss Kate Montgomery you're better off letting her handle it, or he'll cancel our security contract so fast it'll make your head spin."

             
Big Bob had captured almost every ounce of Teague's attention. A few ounces remained to watch the monitors as Oberlin started walking again. "Now why do you say it like that? I had heard Oberlin had a reputation for being a power dealer, but fair and honorable."

             
"He does.
Here
," Big Bob said. "But my aunt lives in his county two little towns and a hopscotch over from Hobart, where he's from, and there he's
not
known for being such a good guy. She says a long time ago there were some pretty nasty rumors making their rounds about Oberlin, and they've never quite gone away."

             
Teague had never seen Big Bob so emphatic. "What kind of rumors?"

             
"The kind of rumors that suggest it doesn't do to stand in his way, or he'll run over you with a filled cement truck, then back over you just to make sure he's done the job." Big Bob looked as solemn as a funeral.

             
Teague realized Oberlin was on a collision course with Kate, and he spoke into the microphone. "Juanita, do you see Kate Montgomery talking to Mr. Duarte the janitor?"

             
On the monitor, he saw Juanita nod her head. "Yes? Go instruct her she needs to head east, leave the building, and circle around to enter underground. That's right. Thanks, Juanita." Turning back to Big Bob,Teague asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

             
"Didn't matter before," Big Bob said. "You weren't trying to go crossways of him before!"

             
"So we're going to let him run over Kate Montgomery with a cement truck to save our own asses?" Teague asked.

             
It was interesting to watch his people struggle with the dilemma—save their jobs or do the right thing? But Teague hadn't hired Big Bob or Chun or Gemma because they did things the easy way. He'd hired them for their integrity, and they didn't disappoint now.

             
"Sleazy bastard," Chun muttered, his gaze on Oberlin.

             
"He always gave me the creeps." Gemma shivered.

             
"Well, hell." Fondly, Big Bob patted his stomach. "I was eating too well anyway."

             
"I knew I could depend on you all." Standing, Teague started toward the door.

             
"You taking Kate home at night, boss?" Chun asked in sly amusement.

             
Teague stopped.

             
"Sure he is." Gemma chuckled. "He's making sure she's safe night and day."

             
"What's wrong with that?" Teague snapped.

             
"Nothing." Big Bob rocked on his heels again. He grinned again. "Nothing at all. But if I were you, boss, I'd be careful, or you could end up driving that sleek little sports car permanently."

             
Teague snapped the door shut on their hilarity.

             
He was the quintessential bachelor. He had nothing beyond good sex to give to a woman. Some women— good women, women like Kate—eventually craved things like love and intimacy. Craved a
relationship.

             
When he was a kid, on the occasions when he'd tried to show affection, his mother had used a coarse laugh or a sharp slap to drive home the fact that his hugs and his tender words repulsed her. He couldn't try for a loving bond with Kate—if she laughed at him, whatever bit of soul he had left would wither and he would be nothing but emptiness and anguish.

             
No, damn it. Big Bob was wrong. There was no way he and Kate could last.

             
When Kate wanted more than he was willing to give, he would make it clear she needed to respect his space and back off.

             
Regrettably, she picked that moment to walk around the corner from the Senate Chambers. Worse, she smiled as if she were happy to see him.

             
The woman knew no shame.

             
He did not return her smile. "C'mon." Grabbing her hand, he headed for the cars.

             
She giggled. Giggled!

             
Had he really thought he had her under control? She was leading him by the nose—or rather, by the dick.

             
An early norther had blown into Austin, dropping the temperature twenty degrees in less than an hour. The cold cut right through his suit.

             
Kate crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her head against the stiff breeze as they walked to her car.

             
But he didn't pull her close.

             
If what he'd seen of Oberlin on the monitor proved anything, it was that they were dealing with a full-blown obsession. Too bad it had taken Mrs. Oberlin's death to sharpen Teague's perceptions. Mrs. Oberlin's
murder
.

             
What a damn mess.

             
Teague glanced sideways at Kate.

             
She caught his look and smiled at him.

             
He couldn't help it. He smiled back as if he hadn't a care in the world.

             
He hoped no one blabbed to Oberlin that Teague and Kate were leaving together. No telling what the senator would do. Go ballistic, Teague guessed. It would be better if they left separately, but Teague couldn't take a chance that Oberlin would find her.

             
And Teague needed her now, now. . . .

             
She offered him her car keys.

             
Teague opened Kate's door. He started her engine, and when it caught with no problem, he jumped out and stuffed her in. "Drive to my house."

"I thought we were going to my place so I could
pack." She looked up at him, her wide eyes fluttering with astonishment. As if she didn't know
exactly
what he wanted.

             
"Later." He slammed her door and leaned his palm against the cool metal of her car. He was a turmoil of worry and lust and aggression and love . . . no. He already knew that.

             
Not love
.

             
He followed her through the streets of Austin. He was the only one following her, he made sure of that, and when they got to his house, he ushered her inside with his hand on her back. It was as if the idyllic weekend of making love and swimming and talking had never happened. He was desperate with need. He had to have her. Had to have her
now
.

             
At the sight of Brenda ensconced at her desk, they both stopped short.

             
"Hello, Teague, Kate, how's it going?" Brenda asked cheerfully.

             
"Working late?" Kate sounded only mildly interested in the answer.

             
Teague wanted to snarl at her. He had a boner she could hang her coat on, and she wanted to chat with his secretary

             
"I planned to catch up on my paperwork"—Brenda caught Teague's killing glance—"tomorrow." Standing, she shuffled pages into neat piles. "So I'll see you tomorrow morning. Or, um, not. Good night!" She grabbed her jacket off the rack and headed out into the windy evening.

             
Kate leaned against the wall. With a half smile, she watched as Teague set the lock and the alarm.

             
Then, with a ferocity that took him by surprise, she wrapped herself around him and kissed him. She was reckless with passion, greedy with desire. Her arms held him, one leg wrapped around him, and for a long moment he let her take charge.

             
Then he remembered—when the time came, when she began to demand intimacy, he planned to give her up. To drive her away.

             
Picking her up, he carried her into the living room. He lowered her onto the rug and made fast and furious love while the formal nineteenth-century black-andwhite photos looked on.

             
And Kate stayed with him. She matched his speed, his wildness. Without self-consciousness, she cried her pleasure aloud, and for a moment, one moment, he forgot that he had to dominate her and he just . . . lived. Lived as he had never lived before.

             
Afterward he lay sprawled on the rug, staring at the cove molding, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his breath. His composure.

             
Himself.

             
Rolling over, Kate raised herself on one elbow and looked down at Teague. "It's time we went to visit my mother."

             
Teague tensed, but he didn't open his eyes. "Why?"

             
"Because this thing with Senator Oberlin may have something to do with my birth parents, and Mom might know something."