SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version (9 page)

Dear Miss Bennett,

After research into your case,
we have contacted the necessary parties, and they do not, at this time, wish to
make contact. Should they reverse their decision, we shall contact you.

Regards,

William
Walker
Managing Partner, Walker and Associates

In two succinct lines, William Walker had once
again killed her search for her birth mother. It didn’t matter. She’d get what
she wanted eventually. She was too stubborn not to.

Jaya’s call came as she walked into her office. Her
friend didn’t bother with a greeting. “You want to tell me what’s going on
between you and Caleb?”

Micha held the cell phone between her shoulder and
her ears as she prepped for the editors’ meeting. “Jai, sorry honey, can we do
this later? I’m prepping for a meeting.”

“What time’s the meeting?”

“Huh?”

“The meeting—what time is it?”

Micha stuttered, and Jaya caught her in her little
trap.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re avoiding me
and Ricca? Ricca said she called this morning and you sent her to voicemail. What’s
going on?”

Shit
. She should have
known they wouldn’t give her a day or two of peace. “Nothing. Everything is
under control.”

“Let me ask you this—what the hell happened with
Caleb at the party? He’s been running around the hotel all surly and taciturn
today. That’s not Caleb. He almost always has some retort or other for Alec,
and nothing. Someone going to tell me what’s up?”

“Shit, honey, not now okay? I’m trying to work
some stuff out.”

“Some stuff that has to do with Caleb?”

“Yes, no. I don’t know.”

Jaya was silent for several heartbeats. “Did
something happen last night? Do I have go get Ricca and we go kill him?”

Micha chuckled. “No, nothing like that. He…we—” What
the hell could she say?
We had an awesome make out session,
then I begged him to fuck me and he said no, then I freaked out?
“It’s
complicated.”

Jaya was silent again. “Holy shit, you slept with
him.”

Micha widened her eyes. “Damn it, Jaya. Would you
keep your voice down?”

“Micha, I’m in my office. No one is here. When did
this happen?” When Jaya wanted information, she was a like a dog with a bone.

“Look, Margarita Mondays is tonight. You and Ricca
come over, and I’ll fill you in. Now I gotta go.”

“Micha?”

“Yeah.”

“Look, I want to give you shit for Caleb, but I’m
actually worried about you. I’m worried.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you
guys. Can we talk tonight?”

“Sure, I’ll gather the other trooplette. Just tell
me—you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Peachy.” Micha hung up and stared at her files. At
least peachy was the rhetoric she repeated to herself on a daily basis.

***

Caleb woke to the remembered scent of Micha. Her
strawberry shampoo. He cursed as he checked the time; he only had an hour
before his client meeting. He had two new clients to meet with today and he
still had to deal with the Sabine situation. He had real world shit to take
care of and deal with, but instead his thoughts were consumed with one woman.

He padded into the bathroom, and unable to shake
the lingering memories of her, he turned the water on. He had excellent recall,
and his mind insisted on replaying every moment of the elevator ride. From the
way her hips had rocked into his, to the way she’d moaned his name, to the
satiny feel of her thighs as she’d wrapped them around him.

Caleb’s hips jerked at the memory. She’d been so
soft, so ready for him, so willing. But then he’d gone and ruined everything
with his damn crisis of conscience. He couldn’t get her out of his head. The
memory of Micha sliding her slick tongue over his. Those magnificent breasts of
hers plastered against his chest. Her thighs splayed wide for him, with the
slit in her dress so daring. He’d been able to hitch it up by inches to access
her sweet slickness.

His hips rolled again, and he reached down to
adjust the throbbing aching length between his thighs. Big mistake. The moment
he wrapped his hand around his cock, all he wanted to do was come. His balls
ached with the remembered pressure of almost having release. Impatient, he
stroked, and the memory of Micha was enough to bring him to the brink again.

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. But that didn’t
curb the need. In slow, measured movements, he worked his hand up over the
bulbous tip with a firmer grip then came down over his full length.  As he stroked,
his brain conjured memories of Micha tugging at his shirt. Of her wrapping her
legs around him and rocking her hips into him.

His fingers slick with her wetness as he slid them
over her sensitive folds. The way she’d tossed her head back and exposed the
column of her throat. The way her hands had fisted in his hair and she’d moaned
his name. The little mewling sounds she’d made when he’d closed his lips over
the tip of her breast. Her nipples hardening to little pebbles as he’d licked
them, suckled them. His breath caught. Micha coming was a sight he’d never
forget in his life. He could still feel her hands in his hair as she tugged. The
disbelieving expression in her eyes when he’d slid his finger over her clit and
sent her reeling over the edge. The way she’d ridden the waves of pleasure,
directly meeting his gaze, her lips parted as she whispered his name over and
over and over again.

Caleb’s orgasm slammed into him, quick and hard. His
body trembled as the memory of her took hold, nearly solidifying in his brain. Even
as the warm water sluiced over his sensitive skin, he wasn’t satisfied. The
tension wasn’t as prominent, but the need was still there.

“Fuck.”

He turned the water to icy and gritted his teeth. Harsh,
but it was the only way he was going to get her out of his head. She didn’t
want anything to do with him, so the best he could do was focus on work.

Teeth chattering, he turned off the water and
wrapped a towel around his waist. Before heading into the bedroom to get
dressed, he grabbed his phone off the kitchen counter and made quick call.

“Sabine, bring the girl over.”

Caleb eyed the young brunette as she strolled
around his apartment, touching all the electronics. “Something doesn’t feel
right about this, Sabine.”

Sabine ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “Look.
It’s a babysitting gig. You only need to watch her for a couple of days. A week
tops. I’ll get everything sorted and get the heat off of me, and I’ll come back
for her. That’s it.”

Caleb studied Sabine. Her large, doe-brown eyes
made people want to believe her. They had been her greatest asset in the field.
She looked innocent. It didn’t hurt that she was beautiful, but her eyes sold
it. As she turned them on him now, he knew better than to think she didn’t
understand the effect she had on people. But the Sandersons had died. And she’d
been partly to blame. He wanted to believe that Sabine had an in with the
cartel, that he could finally find out who killed all those agents. That family.
That little girl. But he also knew better than to place his trust in Sabine. When
all had been said and done, Sabine had pointed the finger at him at the debriefing.
Said it was his poor planning to blame. And the brass had believed her. Sure,
he still had his post, but he’d lost the will to keep working. If she’d told
everyone what she’d seen, he might have had a very different life.

Through the corner of his eyes, he watched the
girl as she examined his television. She ran her hands across the top. Her eyes
widened like she couldn’t believe how big it was. As she flicked her hair over
her shoulder, she glanced back at him. Caleb’s heart seized. Flat, dark brown
eyes stared up at him, but there was something... He couldn’t put his finger on
it, but there was something familiar and sad about the girl. 

Maybe because she had that same glassy, panicked
look in her eyes as Micha had at the rehearsal. “Carlotta?” he asked. “How old
are you?”

Immediately her gaze darted to Sabine before she
answered. “I’m twelve. I will be thirteen in December.” Her accent was lilted
and thick, but she spoke English. Her father had gone to school in the states
before returning with his business degrees from Wharton to take over his family’s
criminal enterprises. An America success story of sorts.

“Do you watch much television at home?”

This time the gaze she gave Sabine was hostile,
reproachful almost, but she answered him quietly. “No. I wasn’t allowed.”

That would explain her fascination with the
television.

“Caleb?” Sabine snapped her fingers in front of his
eyes. “Do we have a deal? I don’t have much time. If you’re not going to watch
out for her, then I need to make other arrangements. But I have to tell you,
given that we’re here, I don’t really have many options.”

Caleb turned his attention back to the woman he’d
once believed he loved. There was something off about her. About the girl.
About the whole situation. And he’d find out what it was. But that girl was an
innocent, and she needed his protection. “Yes. I’ll keep her safe.”

In the meantime, he’d figure out exactly what
Sabine was up to.

***

Micha had finally come to a decision. After her
little chat with Ricca and Jaya, she knew she couldn’t let her internal fear
keep her from moving on with her life. Even if her past did catch up with her,
she wasn’t the same scared little girl.

But still, as Micha strolled toward her boss’s
office, she prayed she wasn’t making a mistake. Things were different now; New
York a distant memory. She could do this. At some point she needed to move on
with her life. Things had spiraled out of hand. And she needed to start facing
her dark and uglies.

A slow, slimy shiver stole up her back as her
brain played the memory reel of the lights going out and the elevator jerking
to a halt. Her palms grew damp from the remembrance alone. The hairs on her
arms stood on end, and her heartbeat amped up from sedate
thud,
thud, thud
, to an instant gallop, like the first time she’d tried to run
a half marathon and thought she would die at mile eleven.

She drew a deep breath and slowly let it out. Like
those long ago doctors had told her to do when she’d first started having the
panic attacks. When that didn’t work, she forced another breath, pictured her
heart going from racing to a softer rhythm. It helped, but not enough, so she
dragged in one more. Several of her coworkers gave her an odd look, but she
ignored them, trying to focus on something calming. Something like Caleb’s
voice soothing her, telling her she was going to be okay, telling her she was
the strongest woman he knew. He’d chased off her demons last night. And to
thank him she’d nearly fucked everything up.

Kissing him had been a horrible idea. Showing that
vulnerability was the one thing she regretted in a life of mostly no regrets.
She really wished she could take it back. Well, not all of it. Boy, that man
could kiss. It was like he had a direct line to her body, and he knew exactly
how to touch, tease, and caress. Her body temperature increased, chasing off
the earlier chill, but the hairs on her arms stood up for entirely the wrong
kind of reason.
Shit. Get your shit together, Bennett
.

When she reached Miranda’s open office door, she
went in without preamble. If she’d paused, she might have chickened out of her
decision.

“Micha, hello.” Miranda glanced up at her
expectantly. “I’m hoping you’ve made a decision, because the sharks are
circling.”

Micha pursed her lips. “I’ve given this a lot of
thought, and I’ll do it. But I want some guarantees from you. I want to choose
my camera crew if at all possible.” That way she could check them all out
herself
. If only you knew someone who had a security
background and could check them out for you
. She ignored the inner voice
and continued.

“I also want to call the shots on my personal
team.” She’d keep it small, just in case.
Nothing like last
time is ever going to happen again.
She drew in a steadying breath. “And
I want veto and approval power on all questions. If they want me to ask
something bullshit and fluffy, and I refuse, I don’t want them hanging an axe
over my head. I say no, and I want support that they won’t try firing me every
two minutes. It will get tedious for me and very frustrating for them, because
I won’t back down.”

Miranda smirked. “Anything else I can get for you?”

“No, that should cover it.”

“Good, then let’s get to work. I’ve emailed you
your first assignment. Producers want to meet with you this afternoon. The
subject can be a bit prickly about his personal life, so they’ll help you
navigate around that. You’re also being assigned a research intern. Screen
tests will be this week.”

Micha raised a brow. “An intern? I’d prefer
someone with more experience. And I want to be Senior Features Editor with a
clear path to Editor in Chief.”

Miranda crossed her arms. “You’re after my job?”

Micha shrugged. “Eventually. As my boss, you should
be aiming to replace yourself. Eventually, when you’re ready, I’ll be that
replacement. Those are my terms.”

Miranda crossed her arms. “You don’t ask for much,
do you?”

Micha raised a brow. “Not at all. Now about that
intern?”

Miranda smirked. “Try them out, see how you like
them. I promise you, the younger they are, the faster they learn new techniques
to glean information you need. Any questions?”

She wasn’t going to argue that small thing. She
had excellent research skills herself. If push came to shove, she could do the
background follow up. Had she really tossed herself into the fray? This was a
good thing, right? Moving on with her life. “Only one. Who’s the subject?”