Branded (7 page)

When she arrived at the park, there were two
mothers playing with a group of children on the playground.  Another woman
complete with headphones and wearing jogging shorts headed down the sidewalk
away from her.

Nicole shifted her gaze to the parking lot
noticing a red van, a white sedan, and a sweet-looking silver Corvette.  The
moment she looked at the sports car, the driver’s door opened, and Xander
stepped out.

A shiver of attraction burst through her anxiety
like a ray of sun through the clouds as he walked toward her.  Oh.  My.  He
looked good.

She’d forgotten his compelling gaze, the sensual,
yet predatory way he walked.  She’d called him because she’d been at her wits
end and was desperate for help, not because she needed a delicious piece of eye
candy.

His black trench coat blowing in the breeze lent
him a sexy, dangerous air.  Beneath it, the top button of his shirt was undone
and a beautiful, red tie hung loose around his throat.  It was as though he had
one foot outside the corporate world, easing toward freedom.

“Hello,” he said, his deep voice a soothing balm
to her spirit.

She tried to appear unaffected.  “Hi.”

He reached down to pet Stormy who affectionately
licked his fingers.  She’d always heard dogs were a good judge of character. 
If he had any ill intentions toward her, Stormy would surely sense it, wouldn’t
she?

He shifted his gaze to her.  “Do you want to sit
or walk?”

“Walk.”  It would help her nerves.

They moved in tandem along the sidewalk, Stormy on
one side of her, Xander on the other.  The lineup brought her comfort even
though she knew she couldn’t trust Xander yet.  “I want to know how you think
you can help me.”

He chuckled.  “Nothing like getting right to the
point.”

She stopped, facing him.  “I don’t have time for
anything else.”

He sobered.  “No, you don’t.”  He started walking
again, and she fell in step beside him.  “First, I have a strong background in
the financial world.  I know how transfers are made and how they can be traced.”

“Even to offshore accounts?”  She wondered if she
should squash the tiny seed of hope growing inside her.  Even now, she could
hear her aunt reminding her to lower her expectations. 

“They can be tricky if it’s transferred more than
once.  Is that what happened in your case?”

“I guess.  Actually, I have no idea if it was only
transferred once or many times.  I’m just guessing the thief would have.  How
would you be able to check that?”

“I have a friend with police connections.  He
could possibly look into it.”

“Is that legal?”  The last thing she needed was to
be implicated in another illegal activity.

“Does it matter?”

Her suspicion alarm spiked.  “Of course it does.” 
Unless she needed to play dirty to figure out who’d framed her.  “Doesn’t it?”

“That’s your call.”  The cool look in his eyes
gave her no indication what he was really thinking.

“I’d prefer to keep things above board.  Is there
any way to find out what exactly the police know?  I think that would give us a
good direction to go in, and my lawyer doesn’t seem to be making much progress
in that area.”

He shrugged.  “It can’t hurt to look.”

She frowned.  “I thought when you said you could
help you had some legitimate avenues of recourse.”

He grinned then.  “I’m as legitimate as they
come.  Feel free to have me checked out.  I’m a financial analyst at Neider
Financial Partners.  Never been arrested.  Never given the cops any reason to
look in my direction.”

Her spirits plummeted at the reminder that they
now had eyes watching her.  “Neither have I,” she whispered.  “And yet, here I
am.”

He blew out a breath, running his fingers through
his hair, leaving him with a tousled look.  “Yeah.  I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, words clogging in her throat. 
She’d thought she had herself under control, but the past few days had been an unimaginable
hell.  She turned from him in an effort to regain her ground.

“Nicole.”  His apology attached to the syllables
of her name.  He touched her shoulder, and she crumbled, dropping her head to
her hand as the wind whipped her hair around her.

Without another word, he pulled her into his
embrace.  The rich, earthy scent of his cologne and the warmth of his body drew
her in.  He was an unknown, but she sensed he was a safe place to rest her
wounded soul for a few moments.

He held her while she gathered the emotional
pieces of herself.  When it seemed as though she was a little more solid, she
pulled back.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to do that.  I don’t even know you.” 
She exhaled a weighted breath.  “It’s just there hasn’t been anyone else I
could really talk to.”  Her voice wavered, and she nearly lost it again.

“It’s okay.  I told you I wanted to help.”  He
removed her glasses and tipped up her chin, leaving her vulnerable to his gaze.
 “What about your family?”

She shook her head.  “I only have my aunt, and she’s
struggling with her health.  She knows the police have questioned me, but I can’t
let her know how worried I am.”

“Friends?”

“I either worked with them, or they have their own
troubles.”  She rolled her eyes.  “God, I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

He pushed an errant strand of hair away from her
face.  “You’re in a bad spot, but not pathetic.”  He searched her gaze, and she
drank in the sight of him, wishing she could drown herself in his mesmerizing
eyes.

He heaved a sigh and stepped back.  “What are we
going to do with you?”  He took her hand, and Stormy pushed her way between
them.  Xander paused to rub the dog’s ears.  “No reason to be jealous, girl,”
he whispered to her before he took Nicole’s hand again.  “How about dinner?”

“I’m pretty much ostracized from everywhere in
town.”  She ran a hand over her windblown hair.  “Besides, I’m a wreck.”

He tilted his head, a kind smile gracing his
lips.  “If you’ll let me, I’d love to cook for you.  Come to my house and
escape your life for a while.  It will be good for you to be away from
everything that reminds you of what’s been happening.  Consider it a temporary
diversion.  Then tomorrow, I’ll call my friend and see what he can find out.”

Her bones nearly liquefied at the thought of running
away from everything.  “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“It would be my pleasure.  I even have some
leftover chicken for Stormy.”

At the sound of her name, she perked up her ears
and wagged her tail as though she agreed it was a good idea.

She should say no.  Hadn’t she been the one to say
now was not a good time to start anything new?  “Okay.  I’ll come.”  An
impossible smile claimed her lips, leaving her heart feeling lighter than it
had in forever.

*        *        *

Xander held open the door of his Corvette and waited
while Nicole slid onto his leather passenger seat, glad that he’d finally
convinced her to give him a chance.  Stormy had to climb up on her lap.

“Nice car,” she said around her face full of
Stormy’s fur as he claimed the driver’s seat.

“Thanks.  I made a decent profit off my accounts
last year, and I love having power beneath me.”  He looked over at her and laughed. 
“Are you two okay over there?”

She pulled a hair out of her mouth.  “Absolutely.” 
She seemed to relax into the seat, her tension easing.  Good.  The more
comfortable she was around him, the more likely she’d say something to give her
away.

“What do you drive?”

She snorted.  “Nothing right now.  A couple of
months ago, I sold my old Mazda, thinking I’d go green, try to save some money,
and only use public transportation.  Ironic that it was my TriMet pass I’d gone
back for that put me in the building at the time that money was stolen.”  A sarcastic
laugh escaped her lips.  “Seriously, a TriMet pass, and now I’m looking at
prison.”

She was good with her story details, he thought. 
Good at creating a sympathetic persona, too, with the whole sick aunt and no friends
she could lean on.  The emotion he’d found swimming in her eyes had tugged at
his heartstrings, and
he
knew what she was like beneath the facade. 
Imagine what she could do in front of a jury.  There was no way they’d convict
her. 

He’d have to make certain they had an irrefutable
case against her.  And he didn’t have much time to pull it all together. 

“Try not to stress too much.  Things have a way of
working out.”  Sam was too good at his job to fail, and with Xander working
this from the inside, they’d find a way to bring her down.

“I’m trying, but it’s hard.”  Anxiety shadowed her
emotions, but she didn’t tear up again.  He wanted to reach out and give her a
reassuring squeeze, but the less touching, the better.

They were at his house on the other side of the
river in a matter of minutes.  A large, wooded yard surrounded his gray rambler
home, leaving a nice amount of room between neighbors.

“Wow,” Nicole said, sliding her bangs out of her
eyes with a finger.  “This is really nice.  Where did you say you worked?”

Pride swelled inside him.  Even without his father’s
money, he’d managed to carve out a nice space for himself.  “Neider Financial
Partners.”  He watched her face, waiting to see if her expression changed,
waiting to see if the mention of money elicited any kind of response.  Maybe
once she trusted him, she might suggest they work together.  He would expect
someone looking to steal a lot of money would find a guy like him highly
attractive.

She answered with a wistful look in her eye.  “Someday
I hope to have enough money to buy a home, to settle down and have a couple of
kids.”

Not the reaction he’d expected.  The look on her
face was so downhearted, he did take her hand this time.  “You’re worried about
what might happen if they arrest you.”

“How can I not?  They are threatening some serious
charges.”

“I know.”  He squeezed her fingers, his thumb
grazing the soft skin on the back of her hand.  “But we haven’t given this our
best shot yet.  I’ll give my friend a call tomorrow when he’s available.  Let’s
see what he can come up with and go from there.”

*        *        *

Xander had done a fairly good job furnishing his
home, Nicole thought as she entered the large, rock structure.  Blues and
greens contrasted with dark, walnut wood furnishings and seemed to bring in the
outside colors of the sky, river and trees, leaving the house with a tranquil,
dreamy quality.  Her surroundings coaxed a sigh from deep within, and her
stress level dropped another notch.

He tugged Stormy’s leash from her hand and removed
it from her dog’s collar, allowing Stormy free access to his place which she
immediately took advantage of.  Her dog danced around, sniffing the carpet
before she dashed down the hall.

Xander gestured with a nod of his head, indicating
Nicole should let her dog be and follow him.

The sizable kitchen was impressive.  A dark wooden
table and matching cabinets combined with several lush potted ferns gave a
woodsy feel to the spotless room.  “Your kitchen is cleaner than mine.”  She
gave a little chuckle, but made a mental note that if she ever decided to
invite him to her place, she needed to do some deep cleaning first.

“I have a lady who comes in once a week to tidy up.” 
He slid her jacket from her shoulders and draped it across the back of a white
leather bar stool, leaving her very aware of exactly how tall he was, and
giving her another delicious whiff of his earthy cologne.

“A cleaning lady?  Now, I’m really jealous.”

He gave her an indulgent smile as he removed his
overcoat and slung it across another bar stool.  “Don’t be.  It’s a tradeoff
for putting in too many hours at the office.  As I was building my career, I
always worried about money.  About the same point I started to have enough
money, time became the hot commodity.” 

She watched with fascination as he shrugged out of
his suit coat and slipped the tie from around his neck. 

His fingers deftly unbuttoned his cuffs as he
spoke.  “Can I get you a glass of wine before I change out of these clothes?”

An appreciative sigh for the fine sight in front
of her was halfway out of her lungs before she changed it to an embarrassed
cough.  “That would be nice.”

“Red or white?”  An interested smile tilted his
lips. 

She matched his expression.  “White, please.” 
There was a definite undercurrent passing between them that was impossible to
ignore.  It was much too early to determine if it was anything other than a
spark, but the flash of energy she experienced was addicting.

Earlier, when he’d approached her at the coffee
shop, she’d been certain she couldn’t possibly be interested in someone while
her life raged out of control.  Now, she wasn’t so sure.

He removed a bottle from the fridge and poured her
a glass of wine.  After setting the bottle on the counter, he reached up and
undid the first button on his shirt.  She was sure he hadn’t meant anything by
it, probably didn’t realize how removing his tie, undoing his buttons affected
her, but his casual moves sent her mind in motion.  She tried to hold her gaze
to his face, but failed and couldn’t resist peeking at what he’d uncovered. 

“If you’re okay for a few minutes, I’ll be right
back.”

She nodded, not exactly meeting his gaze as she
picked up her wine glass and sipped.  As he headed out of the room, she eyed
him from head to toe.  Nice.  Very nice. 

Wow.  Life could sure throw some curve balls.  One
minute she was being questioned by the police.  Next she was sitting in Xander’s
house, and her legal issues were definitely not the first thing on her mind. 
Perhaps she should have her head examined.

When he returned a few minutes later with Stormy
trotting after him, it was as though he’d morphed into a different person. 
Gone was the button-down shirt and sexy tie.  His professional clothes had been
replaced by jeans and a tight-fitting gray t-shirt that outlined his chest and
an oh-so-very-nice set of biceps.  She probably stared longer than was
acceptable, but she was quite fine blaming her behavior on the wine she’d
consumed.