Her Unexpected Admirer (15 page)

Kate couldn’t take the teasing any longer.  Her hands had been down at her sides but when his teeth came into play, she wrapped her arms around his head, keeping him there against her breasts while her eyes closed and her head fell backwards.  “Davis!” she begged in a whispered plea. 

Davis heard the need in her voice and responded to it by lifting her into his arms.  Kate’s legs automatically wrapped around his waist and he carried her over to the dining room table, shoving the chairs out of the way. 

Kate was too impatient.  She pulled his sweater over his head then ran her hands over his chest, absorbing his groan, reveling in the power she had over his body.  When her hands moved lower, fumbling with his belt buckle, she couldn’t get it undone quickly enough.  Davis had to take over.  But he didn’t have the patience to even take off his pants or her underwear.  He simply released his erection, rolled on protection, ripped off her lovely new underwear and dove into her hot, wet heat. 

“Kate!” he growled as he held her legs, watching her expressions.  He knew the exact moment when she was about to fall over and he helped her, shifting ever so slightly and watched with growing fascination as she screamed out with her climax.  A moment later, he pounded into her soft body until he found his own release, always amazed at how it just got better and better with her. 

When they could breathe again, Kate looked up into Davis’ eyes.  “You ripped my new underwear,” she said with a mock accusation. 

He smiled down at her.  “I’m not sorry.  If you hadn’t looked so incredible, you’d still be wearing them.”

She laughed and hugged his broad shoulders.  “You’re incorrigible,” she replied back.

Davis adjusted his clothing quickly but then lifted her into his arms.  “You have no idea,” he said as he carried her into the bedroom and started all over again. 

Kate rolled over, her eyes staring out the window at the beautiful city.  She couldn’t believe that she was in San Francisco with Davis.  The idea frightened her and thrilled her at the same time.  After handing the data she’d discovered over to his lawyers, they’d left Seattle for the short flight to San Francisco.  They’d spent the weekend together, just making love and eating.  They went for walks, but those usually deteriorated into a make out session and they had to hurry back to the hotel to finish what they shouldn’t have started in public.  She smiled, thinking of the incredible passion he could incite within her.  It was scary how much he could control her with just a touch or even a look.  As soon as he gave her that look, she was melting inside, too eager to do anything other than be in his arms. 

Rolling onto her back, she looked at him.  He was still asleep but, even relaxed, he had that look about him that told her he was fully in charge.  And goodness, how he could command her body.  And her mind.

That wasn’t good, was it?  She’d just learned to get out from her father’s controlling tempers, was she being stupid to be with Davis?

Her heart was beating wildly at the scary thought.  He could hurt her.  Badly.  He could crush her spirit worse than her father ever might have done.  Her art, who she was deep inside, she’d hidden from him, afraid of what he might say about her art.  It was too personal to share, even with the man she was sharing her body with. 

Kate slipped out of bed, moving quietly to the bathroom.  She turned on the shower and stepped under the warm spray, trying to calm herself down.  Davis hadn’t done anything to try and control her, except in bed.  She smiled as she remembered the way he’d tied her hands the other night, not letting her touch him at all.  She shivered, thinking about how crazy he’d made her.  Goodness, she couldn’t handle thoughts like that! 

Taking a deep breath, she shampooed her hair and washed her body quickly because she started thinking about Davis and how he loved to wash her, his hands sliding along her skin with the scented shower gel, and then when he’d pushed her against the wall….it had been a long shower, she thought.

Shutting off the spray, she grabbed a towel and vigorously rubbed herself dry, refusing to let herself think about how Davis could dry her off with sensual intent.  Goodness, she was too far gone.  She had to get out of this if she wanted to survive.

Stepping out of the bathroom, a big, fluffy towel wrapped around her. 

He was sitting up in bed, talking on the phone with the sheet barely covering the good parts of him.  “Yes.  No, it couldn’t have been ours, but thank you for calling.”  He paused, nodding his head at whatever the other person was saying.  “Yes.  Thank you.”

He hung up and looked at her.  “You can just take that towel off,” he said, his voice firm and thrilling. 

Kate clenched the knot above her breasts but she couldn’t deny that sharp stab of lust.  After the shower, she was ready to burst into flames.  “Who was on the phone?” she asked, considering dropping the towel.

“It was the hotel in Denver.  Someone left an unfinished painting in the closet.”  Kate froze, her eyes wide as she remembered trying to hide her painting from him. 

“A painting?” she asked, forcing a laugh but it came out nervous and stilted.  “Very strange.”

“I agree,” he said.  He stood up and walked towards her, fully erect and looking awesome.  “But what is even more odd is the fact that you’re still covered up when I told you to drop that towel.”

He was just about to reach for her when she stepped out of his reach.  “I think…” she started to say but had to stop for a moment as a wave of intense desire to be in his arms moved through her.  She took a deep breath and tried again. “I think I should go.”

He chuckled, not understanding that her mood had changed.  “Go where?” he asked, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her closer.  “Go back to bed?  Great idea.”

She held her breath, trying to not fall back into his arms.  She needed to be firm about this.  He was too close to her secret.  She’d woken knowing that she had to end this for her own peace of mind but that phone call was too close.  “Davis, please.”

He looked down at her, hearing the serious tone.  “What’s wrong, love?” he asked, loosening his hold, but not letting her get away. 

“I have to go,” she told him, still clutching the towel so she wouldn’t start grabbing onto him.  “I found the information you needed and I have to get back to Boston.”

He shook his head.  “No you don’t.  Your father is an ass.  You’ll come work for me.”

She thought about that for a moment, her heart soaring simply because he had enough faith in her intelligence to offer her a job.  But she shook her head, not wanting to be an accountant.  “Thank you.  That’s very kind of you, but I have to do something different.”

He didn’t understand.  “What do you mean?”

She bit her lip, trying to figure out the best way to tell him this, the best way to get through to him. “I have to go home. I have to do…things…and I…”

“Wait a moment, Kate,” he interrupted.  “If you’re about to say that you need to do this alone, you don’t.”

She stepped out of his arms, grateful that he allowed it.  There had been many times over the past few days when she’d tried to wiggle away and he’d held her still.  Of course, she hadn’t been trying too hard to get away. 

No!  Breathing deeply, she re-focused on her mission.  To save her art and save herself.  “Davis, I think I need to just,” her voice broke here and she took a moment to look back at him.  It struck her in that moment that she was in love with him.  “Oh no!” she gasped, her mouth falling open and her eyes wide with the horror of what she’d done to herself. 

“Kate, what’s wrong?” he asked.  He was still naked and she looked at him, memorizing every detail because she had to get out of here, had to get away from him.  “I just…” she couldn’t really explain it.  It didn’t make any sense to her so she definitely couldn’t help him understand.  All she knew was that she loved him and he had no idea who she really was. 

“I have to go.  I have to get out of here.”

Davis ran a hand over his face, his scruffy cheeks and chin making a scraping sound.  “Look, let me shower.  We’ll get some breakfast, have some coffee and maybe this will make some sense.  Because right now, I don’t see any reason for you to run away.”

She thought about telling him that she wasn’t running away but that was exactly what she was doing.  She was panicking, realizing how deeply she’d grown to love him.  But he’d been making love to a stranger. 

She watched him walk into the bathroom and desperation took over.  She couldn’t stop, she couldn’t fight the panic welling up inside of her.  All she knew was that she had to get out of there.  She had to get away from him.  She loved him, but she couldn’t love him.  She just had to leave.

She threw on her jeans and a tee-shirt, scrambling to stuff the rest of her clothes into her suitcase around all of the paints she’d bought.  In the end, she tossed some of the clothes out, but hesitated over all the shoes.  She couldn’t leave the shoes.  She loved her new shoes!  They were so amazing and made her feel…on top of the world. 

In the end, she took out more of her clothes and stuffed the shoes inside.  She could buy more clothes.  They were just cheap, unflattering clothes anyway.  As she zipped up the suitcase and hauled it out the door, the thought occurred to her that she wasn’t going to replace those clothes.  She’d always hated the stupid black suits that her father said were the only professional color to buy if she wanted to be in the accounting field.

Well, she didn’t want to be in the accounting world!  She hated numbers, she hated the stuffy office her father had assigned to her and she hated everything about accounting. 

She stopped cold and looked down.  She also hated these shoes! 

In the middle of the hotel lobby, she lowered her suitcase, unzipped the side and found the red pair.  Slipping them on, she zipped up the case, stood up, took a deep breath and moved forward.  Her suitcase was behind her, she was wearing jeans and high heels, a look her father would call “slutty” but she didn’t care.

“Could you get me a cab?” she asked the doorman.

He looked at her strangely, glanced behind her but then straightened.  He obviously was looking for Davis and, since they’d been driving around in a chauffeured limousine for the past several days, he was understandably shocked to be asked to get a cab. 

But he quickly adjusted and raised his hand, whistling down the street.  A moment later, a cab pulled up to the curb and Kate dove into the backseat.  “Airport, please,” she told the cab driver.

A split second later, the cab jerked forward, careening through the heavy, morning traffic.  It was only a thirty minute drive and Kate took the time to try and figure out what she was doing, why she was doing it.  But no good answers came to her. 

“What airline?” the driver asked. 

Kate stared at him blankly.  She didn’t have a reservation so she had no idea which airline to take.  “United, please,” she said, just naming the first one that came to mind. 

When the cab driver pulled up outside of the United doorway, she paid him quickly, then stepped out onto the sidewalk.  She had no clue what to do.  She’d never traveled before taking the job with Davis, but she supposed she was going to learn how to do this.  She stepped up to the ticket counter.  “I’d like a one way ticket on the next flight to Boston, please.”

The ticket agent smiled and typed in something to her computer.  “I have a flight leaving tonight at six o’clock which is non-stop.”

Kate cringed.  She didn’t really want to spend the whole day here at the airport.  Oh, why hadn’t she thought this through?  Shaking her head, she said, “Are there any flights that leave sooner?”

Again, more clicking on the computer and the ticket agent said, “I can get you on a flight at twelve-thirty-five to Dallas.  There is a connecting flight from Dallas to Washington, D.C.  After that, there is the shuttle that would get you into Boston at five-thirty tonight.”

She thought about it for about five second before she nodded her head. “I’ll take it,” she told the agent. 

Davis came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his lean waist and another over his head while he dried his hair.   “Okay, so explain to me why you have to leave. Because I really don’t get it.”

When there was just silence, he whipped the towel off of his head, looking around.  Her clothes were still here, he noticed, but they were scattered over the floor.  Kate was almost a neat freak and wouldn’t do that.  His heart slammed against his chest as he grabbed her clothes.  They still smelled like her and he would have laughed, simply because he was smelling her clothes.  Who was the freak now? 

His phone started ringing but he ignored it, opening the closet.  When he didn’t see her suitcase right next to his, he became angry.  The phone stopped ringing and he grabbed it, pressing the speed dial for Kate’s phone.  When it just went to voice mail, he cursed and threw it onto the bed.  Grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweater, he pulled them on.  He was just about to race out the door, intent on finding her and bringing her right back to this suite so they could discuss whatever her reservations were, but his phone started ringing again.  Thinking it was her, he stomped over to the bed and picked up the phone. 

“Kate, where the hell are you?”

There was silence on the phone and he had a bad feeling that this wasn’t Kate.  Looking at the ID, he cursed silently when he realized that it was his nephew Zane. 

“Uncle D, are you okay?” the ten year old boy asked. 

Davis ran a hand through his still-wet hair, not sure how to answer that question.  “Hi there, kiddo.  Sorry about that.  I thought you were someone else.”

The boy laughed and Davis let out the breath he was holding.  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell mom that you said ‘hell’ if you will come back here and give me some soccer tips.”

Davis laughed despite his anger over his missing lover.  “It’s a deal.”

There was another pause and Zane showed his intelligence once more.  “Uncle D, you sound strange.  And since you thought I was someone called ‘Kate’, I’m guessing you’re involved with someone.”

Davis stuffed his feet into a pair of leather shoes, amazed that he’d been about to walk out the door in bare feet a few moments ago.  “You’re right on target, buddy.”

“And since you’re obviously worried about Kate, she must be special.”

“Another zinger, my man.  What else can you tell from this short conversation?”

Zane sighed.  “Well, I could be completely off the mark here, but if she’s special, and she’s not there with you, she must be somewhere that you don’t know about.  Am I right?”

Zane grabbed his wallet and stuffed it into his back pocket.  His nephew was a bit too perceptive but he’d always been too smart for his years.  “Yep.  Where are you going with this?”

“I’m just thinking, if she’s missing and she’s special, why in the hell are you talking to me about soccer?  Shouldn’t you be trying to find her?”

Davis stopped, stunned.  “First of all, don’t cuss,” Davis said as he started moving again.  “And secondly, how the hell did you get so smart?”

Zane laughed, once more showing his tender age.  “If I’m so smart, how come Ella gets to do geometry and I’m still stuck doing stupid multiplication?”

Davis was racing down the stairwell, not bothering to wait for the elevator.  “I’ll tell you what, as soon as I get Kate back, I’ll fly into New York and show you both soccer tricks as well as calculus.  Deal?”

Zane shouted out a whoop of excitement.  “Deal!” he said when he came back to the phone.  “Oh, and I’ll see what I can do to help you from my end.  What’s her last name?”

Davis had no idea how he was going to help, but he said, “Her name is Kate Evans,” he told his precocious nephew.  “And she’s beautiful and smart and funny and when I find her, she’ll be your new aunt.  I’ll let you know as soon as I get her back, okay?”

“Great.  I’ll call you if I find anything to help.”

Davis stuck his phone back into his pocket and chuckled.  The little guy was adorable and smart.  He couldn’t wait to have kids himself.  He actually hoped they had startling blue eyes, just like Kate’s. 

He stopped by the doorman.  “Have you seen the woman I was with yesterday?  Did she come out this way?”

The doorman nodded quickly.  “I got her a cab,” he said.  “I heard her tell the doorman to take her to the airport.”

Davis cursed again, but shoved his way back into the hotel.  “Thanks!” he called out to the doorman while grabbing his phone again.  He hit the speed dial that would contact his pilot.  “Mike.  I need to be in the air as soon as possible.  How fast can you get me a takeoff time?”

He listened for a moment then nodded.  “Fine.  I’ll be there in forty minutes.  Just be ready to take off as soon as there is a window.”  He called his driver and told him to get down to the front of the hotel immediately.  A moment later, he had the hotel manager bowing his head as he said, “Just pack up everything and ship it to the address this woman will give you.”  Davis handed the manager a card with his assistant’s direct line on the back.

“Yes, Mr. Alfieri,” the manager was saying, bowing again and again.  “If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Davis ignored him, too intent on getting to the airport and beating Kate home.  

His driver was breaking all the speed limits as he zoomed towards the airport when Davis’ phone rang.  Looking at the caller, he almost ignored it when he saw that it was Zane again.  But he pressed the button, not wanting to discourage him from calling.  “What’s up?”

“Kate Evans is booked on a United flight going all over the country.  She’ll finally land in Boston later tonight.  I’ve sent the details to your e-mail.”

Davis looked down at his phone, just to make sure it was really Zane calling, his ten year old nephew.  Lifting it back to his ear he said, “Zane, how exactly did you get this information?”

The boy laughed and Davis could picture him in front of his laptop, his face glowing from both the light from the screen as well as his excitement over his success.  “It’s usually better that you don’t know these things, Uncle D,” Zane explained, reverting to his “older” self again. 

Davis shook his head, making a mental note to speak with Adriana about her son’s hacking skills.  But right now, he was just too grateful to have the little guy’s help.  “Okay, well, thanks for the information.”

“You owe me soccer tips, Uncle D.”

“Will do.  And now the odds that I’ll be able to bring Kate home so you can meet her have improved.”

“Sounds mushy.”

Davis laughed.  “Oh, you just don’t know the half of it.”

“Well, just go get her,” Zane advised.  “Call me if you need any other help.”

Davis clicked off and shook his head.  There was no way he was going to go back to Zane for any help if the kid was going to break the law. 

“I need to get to the United counter,” he told his driver.

The man nodded as he sped past several more cars.

Davis made one more phone call to a friend in Virginia who worked in the security industry.  He explained what he needed, laughing when his friend teased him about rushing through the airport like a stereotypical romantic movie.  Davis didn’t care what his friend said because he knew that he’d clear a path for him.  “Thanks!” he said.  “I owe you!”

His driver pulled up to the curb and Davis looked around, immediately spotting the airline agent.  “Mr. Alfieri?” she asked.

Davis nodded his head.  “Right this way, sir,” she told him and led him through some doors.  When they emerged, Davis was in the airport terminal.  “She’s waiting at gate C seventeen, sir.  Her plane is not scheduled to depart for another two hours.”

“Thank you,” he said with a huge amount of relief.  He walked down to the gate, his eyes scanning the restaurants and shops, thinking she might have gotten something to eat.  She’d left early and hadn’t had any breakfast.  But boy, when he finally found her, he was going to…Hell, he didn’t know what he was going to do.  All he wanted was to find her at this point. 

When he finally reached the gate area, he looked around, his eyes frantically searching the people milling through the airport.  When he spotted the woman curled up on an uncomfortable looking chair, sipping coffee and staring at nothing in particular, his heart leapt.  It was Kate! 

He walked over to her, startling her when he bent down in front of her.  “Why did you leave me?” he demanded. 

He knew he’d said the wrong thing when her eyes widened but he couldn’t help it.  He needed to understand.  “I’m sorry, Kate.  I didn’t mean to startle you, but it’s been a crazy morning.”

Kate looked at his rough jawline, amazed that he hadn’t even shaved yet.  “How did you get here?” she asked, looking around as if someone was going to jump out and grab him. 

“I have friends in high places,” he told her, thinking of his little nephew.  “You’re running away and I need to understand why.”

She sobbed and he noticed that her eyes were red, so she’d been crying for a while.  “Because I suddenly realized that you could hurt me much worse than my father’s insults ever could.”

He didn’t like those words.  “And you think that I would?”

She sighed, wiping her tears away.  “Not intentionally. But this thing between us, well, it can’t keep going.”

“Why not?  Why does it have to end?”

Her lips compressed and he watched as more tears fell from her beautiful eyes.  Davis remembered his brother Dylan’s hot pursuit of the woman that was now his wife.  Georgette had left Ireland when Dylan had proposed.  She’d been afraid of Dylan, afraid of being in love with him.  The thought flashed through his mind.  “You love me!” he said, and as soon as he said it, everything made sense.

Kate gasped, her body cringing at his discovery.  “I don’t!” she lied. 

Davis saw the falsehood in her eyes and threw back his head, laughing with relief.  “This is all about you falling in love with me and being scared of what might happen!”  He saw the truth once again in her eyes and he stood up, pulling her into his arms.  “Oh, Kate!  I can’t believe you.”  He squeezed her gently when he felt her arms wrap around him as well.  “I love you too, you crazy woman.”

Kate hiccupped as she pulled back.  “You don’t really know me,” she said, thinking of her painting. 

He wouldn’t let her go but gave her more room.  “I know that you have secrets,” he said.  “And I know that you’re vulnerable because of your past relationship with your father.  But Kate,” he held her hands firmly, looking into her eyes, “I love you.  I love you and whatever your secrets are, we’ll figure out how to fix them.”

She laughed unsteadily, her head bowing to hide her pain from his all-seeing eyes.  “I don’t want to fix this.”

He watched the top of her dark head, his mind trying to sift through the details of what he knew about her.  And then something occurred to him.  The paint!  It was mixed in with her clothes and he hadn’t understood it initially but…

Something flashed in his mind.  The dots all connected suddenly.  “Kate, the painting in the Denver hotel, it was yours, wasn’t it?” he asked gently.

He immediately felt her stiffen and he knew that he’d hit on exactly what her horrible secret was. 

“I don’t paint,” she told him, unable to look him in the eyes. 

He put a hand under her chin, lifting her head so that he could see her.  “Kate, if you want to paint, then I think it would be amazing!” he said, not sure if she had any talent at all, but positive that he wanted her in his life forever.  “I’ll build you a painting studio so you can paint or draw or create until your fingers are numb if that will make you happy.”

His words were shocking.  So shocking that she couldn’t believe him at first.  “You don’t think it’s stupid?  And a waste of time?”

He laughed, relieved that she was finally opening up.  “If it makes you happy and fills a need inside of you, I’m all for it.”

She bit her lip, still not sure.  “You’re only the second person, besides my art teachers, who know about this.”

Davis couldn’t believe that she’d hidden something like that from him.  “Kate, I love you.  I love all of you.  And if painting makes you whole, then I’m going to buy you all the paints that I can find.”

A tentative smile started to form on her pale face.  “Actually, I can afford my own paint.  I just sold a bunch of paintings in New York two months ago.  So I have…”

Something else occurred to him.  “In New York?” he interrupted.  “Was the showing on August twenty-fifth?” he asked, suddenly praying that what he suspected was true. 

That was certainly an odd comment to make.  “Yes.  How did you know that?” she asked. 

Davis threw back his head and laughed, holding her close so that she couldn’t get away from him again.  “You’re going to have to come with me,” he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her along behind him.  He quickly dialed his pilot to get a status. 

An hour later, they were in the air and Davis was watching her as she carefully nibbled at breakfast. 

“We’re getting married, you know.”  He made that announcement and then popped a raspberry into his mouth. 

She coughed as the freshly squeezed orange juice went down the wrong way with his statement.  “We are?” she asked when she could finally breathe.