Keep (Command #2) (15 page)

“Kara.” His deep voice was heavy with remorse. “They’re waiting on me.”

She climbed out of the chair. Her trembling legs brought her to her clothes, and she tried to pull them on, finding her fingers clumsy. It took him no time to dress. His hands helped her, zipping up her skirt as she put her bra on. He didn’t offer her the panties back and she didn’t bother to ask. He was sure to take great pleasure in knowing where they were. And exactly where they were not.

A sharp knock came from his office door as she’d put her top back on, and his angry gaze went to the sound. It was obvious that no one knocked on Corporate Shawn’s door. His whisper to her was urgent. “That’s not locked.”

She had her back turned, scrambling to pull an arm into the sleeve of her suit jacket when the door swung open and a pair of heels clicked across the floor. The angry, female voice confirmed it. A woman. The German words stopped abruptly, as if she’d just noticed Kara.

It left her with no choice but to finish putting the jacket on. It had to be obvious what she and Shawn had done in his secluded office. Maybe there was a logical reason why she’d have taken it off, but Kara knew if she were the woman, and knowing Shawn, sex had to be the natural place her mind would go.

The tall woman was slender, probably in her early sixties. She had beautifully dark hair and warm, brown eyes. Kara’s mouth went completely dry. She had no underwear on and was about to meet his mother.

She examined Kara closely in a single look, and then her eyes went wide. Her German was fast and furious to Shawn, but Kara didn’t need to speak the language to understand. His mother had asked if she was Laurel’s sister. And when he nodded, she asked if Kara spoke German.

“No,” Kara said, somehow finding the strength to not act as naked as she felt, “I’m sorry, I don’t. I’m Kara Hayward.”

His mother looked at her, then to Shawn, then back again. “Gisela Osterhägen. Forgive me, but why are you here? Is everything all right with L?”

“Yes, it is —”

“She was here for a job interview,” Shawn said, “I asked her to say hello when it was over.”

Gisela didn’t buy the story he’d just attempted to sell her. She went back into her native language and the only word Kara understood was Hayward. Shawn listened, respectfully and unflinching.

There was no point standing in his office being awkward when he needed to get going.

“It was nice meeting you, Gisela,” she choked out. Her path to the door took a lifetime and she may have run the last few steps. She darted past the assistant’s desk and through the main glass doors as fast as she’d arrived, finally breathing again when she was alone in the elevator car.

How the hell was Shawn supposed to pay attention after that? He would have agreed to any proposal or signed anything put in front of him. He’d have sold the entire company with an idiotic smile plastered on his face. He avoided the gaze of his mother, who thankfully was seated far down the conference table from him.

Fuck, Kara had been a fantasy in that lingerie, and the sex had been better than anything he could have imagined. Anything he’d had.

And, holy fuck. He was falling for L’s sister, an American who complained all German sounded angry to her delicate ears. Like a cruel joke. He still had her panties in his pocket. Would she spend the rest of the day like that? He was looking forward to asking her tonight. What color of red would that draw out of her?

When the tedious meeting ended, he abandoned the conference room and returned to his office completely aware his mother had followed him.

“We’re not going to discuss it,” he said before she could get anything out. She gave him the look she was world famous for, the same one Jason and Shawn had spent their lives trying to perfect. Intimidating and ruthless. There was no arguing with her.

“I didn’t come in here for that. However, you brought it up so I’d like to point out that she’s L’s sister. You shouldn’t burn bridges that don’t belong to you.”

They usually kept personal stuff out of the office, so he wasn’t going to get into it. “Yes, Jason has explained that to me. I understand.”

“You have to attend the fundraiser on Tuesday.”

“No, I really don’t.” It was good policy to sponsor a charity event every now and then. But sponsoring was one thing—actually attending the events was another. There were long speeches and bad food, not to mention being insanely boring. The
Forbes
list had made it even more tedious. It’s not that he was mobbed with women, but the volume had grown exponentially while the quality had declined. One had bragged she was working her way up the list, like that was supposed to impress him. He had to inform her she wasn’t going to make it very far.

Besides, what need did he have for any of that now? A blond American, one willing to challenge him in his own office, commanded his total attention.

“Please just do as I tell you.” She sounded far more like his mother than he’d heard in years.

“Forget it. You do realize what day that is?”

“Your birthday? Yes, I was there.” She didn’t cover her frustration. “The company is expecting you. They want to help you celebrate.”

“That is not how I want to… celebrate.” He said it like it was a dirty word.

“You’re turning forty. I assume you’ve had to do something you didn’t want to in all your years.”

That was the end of the discussion.

The day dragged endlessly. All he could think about was what Kara was doing at that moment. What he was going to do when he was finally done at work. The last meeting ran excessively long, and he was too impatient to be of any use, so he asked his assistant to take notes and e-mail him a summary.

He flew into the hotel room, startling her off the bed where she’d been sitting. He needed her in his arms, her clothes off, her body beneath him. He didn’t notice anything else. Only her embarrassed expression when she broke off his kiss gave him a clue something was up.

“Hey, asshole, I’m sitting right here.”

Jason?
What the hell was he doing on the couch? And why did Kara look nervous? Shawn tightened his hold on her. “What’s happened?”

“Scott Rhodes is dead,” Jason said. “The man who pulled a gun on Kara at her office.”

Shawn hesitated. “How?” Obviously the disgruntled man’s mental state was bad. “Suicide?”

“No. Suspicious circumstances while in police custody.”

“He was murdered?” He gazed at Kara, needing confirmation from her, and when she nodded, his emotions battled with each other. Worry, confusion, and anger. What did this mean? Juric was gone. She was supposed to be safe.

Jason massaged a hand behind his neck, looking tense. “My friend in Chicago has a contact in New York’s PD. Right now they don’t have any leads, but this only happened a few hours ago.”

“Is this tied to her?” Shawn asked him.

“Too early to tell. It sounds like someone went to a lot of trouble to get to Rhodes, which makes me think it’s unrelated. Maybe he had a gambling problem and got mixed up with people he shouldn’t have.” Jason stood from the couch and set his focus on Kara, who was still locked in his brother’s arms. “But I don’t like coincidence, either, so we’re going to play it cautious. As soon as I hear more, you will too.”

“All right,” Shawn said.

Jason lifted an eyebrow. “I was talking to her.”

Eventually Jason was going to get past this. The woman Shawn was holding onto wasn’t the first Hayward to interest a Dunn. Jason should fucking relate to Shawn’s situation.

“Thank you,” she said.

Jason nodded. “Can you get your things together?”

She shifted like she was going somewhere, forcing Shawn to steel his grip. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Her icy eyes flooded with annoyance. “I’m going to stay at Jason and Laurel’s.”

“No, come home with me.”

Her body went rigid at the same instant that Jason’s mouth fell open.

“You’re taking her to
your
place?” His brother couldn’t have sounded more surprised if he tried to.

It was true, Shawn didn’t bring women home with him. Allowing a stranger that much access to his personal life was dangerous in all sorts of ways. This was… different. This was what he wanted.

“Do you honestly think I want to go home with you, after you tried to force that job on me?” she said.

“Yes, I do.” He had plenty of confidence there. “Or do you not remember our discussion in my office?”

There was that gorgeous blush he loved. It colored her high cheekbones and matched the soft pink of her lips.

“I’m asking you to come home with me tonight. Please. You can stay with them tomorrow.” He needed her in his bed. In the morning, he’d convince her to stay another day, if he hadn’t already accomplished that by tonight.

Her expression was a displeased look, but her eyes said otherwise. She wanted this. She had a touch of excitement about staying with him. Good, he thought.
Me, too.

She pulled her mouth to the side in an annoyed glare that was kind of sexy. “Is there any point in saying no?”

He tried not to laugh. “I certainly can’t see one.”

She shifted her weight on her feet, relaxing into him subtly. “Fine.” She gave him a stern look. “One night.”

“I don’t like this,” Jason said. “It’s better if you stay at my place, that’s what you should do.”

When annoyance flashed in her eyes, Shawn secretly thanked his brother.

“Oh, I see, trying to tell me what to do is a Dunn family trait.”

She let Shawn’s lips travel the line from her ear down her neck, ending where her shoulder began. There was a sharp noise of discomfort from the man staring at them.

“You’re always all over my sister,” Kara said to Jason, beating Shawn to it. “Like you have any room to judge us.”

Shawn grinned. The word gave him pleasure.
Us
.

Kara was a ball of emotions. Shawn’s hand fidgeted on the handle of her roller bag while they rode the elevator up to his apartment.

“I thought you’d have a house,” she said. “Some enormous estate in the country.”

He gave her the cryptic smile.

The elevator doors slid back to expose a single door, which he unlocked and gestured for her to go inside. Light flooded the space. The entryway opened to a kitchen on the left and a living area on the right. The spacious apartment was European and modern, all sharp angles and minimalist design.

“You live here?” No pictures on the walls. In fact, there was nothing except for large moving boxes with German words scribbled on the sides. His office was polished and organized, but this was a disaster.

“I’ve been traveling a lot.”

Because there was nothing else to look at, her eyes went out the enormous window that had a lovely view of the city. In the distance, the brewery loomed. Smoke drifted from the smokestack, illuminated by the glowing Osterhägen logo. “Where’s your furniture?”

“It stayed with the house I used to have.” He paused. “A few months ago I decided it was too much room. Alicia and I had bought it thinking we might need the room for —”

She sucked in a breath. “Kids.”

“Yes. I’m closer to the office here, anyway.”