Hard to Handle (25 page)

“I'm back in the office on Monday, but let me know the particulars as soon as possible. It sounds like a small mission, but I'll pull together the plan and the required team.”

“I need to be back in New York this week,” she said after a pause.

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow evening.”

Sam knew that she had planned to be in Virginia for only a few days, to meet with McMann and see her family. But he was still surprised by her sudden announcement.

“I'll help with the planning for the dinner with the mayor from there. Then I'll come back here on Friday,” she added.

He must have made some kind of appropriate gesture of acknowledgment because Kaylee stood up and started clearing their dishes from the table. Sam joined her and they worked in silence, but his thoughts were far away. She was going back to New York alone, without anyone there for her security. Yes, he reminded himself, there was now a state-of-the-art digital surveillance up at both her apartment and office, but was that enough? What if people from Ross suspected she had provided information about their threats to her?

He took a deep breath, knowing he was overreacting, trying to remind himself that Kaylee was very smart and capable of taking care of herself. A ninja. The thought almost made him smile to himself. Or maybe he had since, at that moment, Kaylee looked at him funny. He went back to stacking even more leftovers into the fridge, and trying to figure out why the thought of her leaving was creating a giant crater in the base of his stomach.

It was only because they'd spent every day together for the last two weeks. Two very dramatic weeks. That's all. He got used to her company. Once she was gone for a few days, everything would go back to normal, and he'd have a few good memories out of it.

His inside voice was right, he was full of shit. Sam slammed the fridge door harder than necessary.

“I'm going to take Niko for a walk,” he said, standing. The terrier came running up to him as though on cue.

“Okay, I can come along if you'd like,” Kaylee offered, but Sam was already through the front doorway.

“No need. I'll be back in a few minutes,” he explained politely. If only it would help to figure out what the hell was eating at him.

CHAPTER 25

It was surprisingly easy to get a titled Scotsman into a sold-out society dinner just days away. By Monday afternoon, Kaylee had secured four tickets to the event, with two seats at the mayor's table.

She wondered briefly who had been bumped to accommodate someone thought to be higher up on the food chain and shook her head at the silly things that matter to people. The same petty, inconsequential things that had been an everyday part of running the Clement charity with her mom. They did such good work for the improvement of literacy in the D.C. area, but lots of the “society” women involved treated it like a popularity contest in a college sorority.

Once the tickets were secured, Kaylee called Sam with an update. By Tuesday afternoon, she was on a video call with him, Evan, Renee, and Raymond to iron out the details of the very simple plan.

“Kaylee and I will sit at the mayor's table, while Evan and Renee use the extra tickets,” Sam explained. “We'll be suited for any issues, but mostly, Evan DaCosta is there with a date as a show of strength. Raymond will be connected to provide communication and logistics support, if needed. At some point during the dinner, I will have a private chat with the mayor, ideally in front of his wife, making it clear that I have evidence of city corruption and that his only option is to publicly announce that he is starting a public inquiry.”

“What evidence are we going to hint at?” Evan asked.

“Fleming and the Groveland contracts,” Sam said.

“From four years ago,” Kaylee added. “The feds are looking at Groveland using Ross as a front and the corruption in New Jersey. Only we know they used a different shell company to do the same thing in Baltimore four years ago.”

“Exactly,” concluded Sam. “It's enough to show I have real information and I'm serious about giving it to Marchesi if necessary.”

“So we make sure he gives the speech that night, and Bob's your uncle,” Renee said.

“I think we have to make sure it gets as much media coverage as possible,” Kaylee suggested. “Send tweets, post a video of the speech on YouTube, and push the story to as many mainstream media outlets as possible.”

“Good plan,” agreed Raymond. “I'll create an online profile that can do that from the event. Maybe for you Kaylee, since you're known in Baltimore as Kaylee Stone?”

“Am I going as Kaylee Stone, or under my real name?” she asked through the video link on her computer, not sure what made the most sense at this point.

“It should be Kaylee Stone. Mikayla Stone-Clement is too close to George Clement for my liking,” Sam said.

“Okay, I'm fine with that.”

Sam continued for a few more minutes to review the more technical aspects of the small assignment. Kaylee was still a little surprised that the Fortis team was so willing to support her.

“When are you returning to Virginia, Kaylee?” Sam asked.

“Friday morning,” she confirmed.

“The event starts with cocktails at six o'clock on Saturday. Let's meet in Baltimore at four o'clock so we can scope things out a bit in advance. So we'll meet at headquarters first.”

Kaylee could see the agreements around the room. That was it, the plan was happening.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked when everyone had walked away from the large video monitor. He was standing near the middle of the room he was in, so she saw the top half of his body. But it still felt strange not to be there with him.

“I'm fine, just thinking about what to wear,” she lied with a smile. “And how to get an emergency visit with my hair stylist by Thursday.”

“You hardly need it, lass.”

Kaylee smiled, pleased by the suggestion.

“There's been no sign of trouble there, right? No one from Ross Construction?” he asked.

“Nope. Everything has been pretty quiet over the last two days,” she told him.

“How's Niko doing?”

“Good. He's pretty easygoing so he went right back to his schedule before all this craziness began,” she explained. “I went for a run this morning. Not as far and not as fast, but I did okay.”

“I did too,” he replied, relaxing in his stance with his hands on his hips.

“I bet you went much farther and faster without me holding you back,” she teased. It felt so good to talk to him, even for a little bit.

He shrugged. “It's not important.”

They looked at each other for a few moments.

“What time do you arrive on Friday?” Sam finally asked.

“Around eleven o'clock.”

“Okay, I might be able to pick you up at the airport.”

“That's not necessary. I'll just take a car.”

“You're welcome to stay with me again while you're here.”

Kaylee smiled since she had hoped that was the case. “Okay, I'll do that.”

“I'll send you the security code for the back door so you can let yourself in.”

“Sure, that works.”

Sam cleared his throat.

“I have to get to another meeting,” Kaylee told him, sitting up in her chair to show some urgency. “I'll talk to you soon?”

“Sure, whenever.”

They both said bye and she disconnected the link. The truth was, there was no meeting. Kaylee just didn't want Sam to know she was perfectly happy just looking at him by video even if there was nothing to say. Pretty pathetic. She sat back in her office chair to indulge in another few minutes of deep thought. Ever since she had returned to New York alone, Kaylee had felt a little lost. Like Niko, she had fallen back into her routine pretty easily and did all the same things as before the threats had started. Except, back then, she'd had a purpose. There had been a reason for living in New York, building a small company, and living with one of her really good friends.

Then, suddenly, after two weeks of what could only be described as crazy drama, her purpose was gone. Problem (almost) solved. And now, when she went to sleep at night in her Manhattan apartment, Kaylee no longer had a reason to be there. And it didn't help that where she really wanted to be was with Sam. And there were no easy answers for that problem since Sam clearly wasn't certain that he wanted her.

Her five minutes of time wasting were up, and Kaylee got on with her day. Wednesday and Thursday were much the same, except she and Sam didn't talk, text, email, or communicate in anyway. She tried not to dwell on it or give it any significance, but by the time she flew back to Virginia, Kaylee was tired of the uncertainty in her current situation. So she made a commitment. One way or another, by the end of the weekend, she would have a plan for what came next in her life, with or without Samuel Mackenzie.

She was walking through the airport when her phone vibrated with a message from Sam with the security code to his back door, noting that he would join her there shortly after five o'clock that afternoon.

It was a very hot day, and Kaylee sat out in his backyard in shorts and a tank top, working on invoice payments to the various Antonoli suppliers and subcontractors. Niko barked just as Sam came out of the house.

“How was your flight?” he asked, stopping by her chair.

“Good,” Kaylee replied, looking up at him, then back down to her work.

“It looks like it's going to be a pretty big storm,” he added.

She looked around, noticing the darkening skies for the first time. There had been perfect blue skies just about thirty minutes ago.

“I should take Niko out for a long walk now. Just in case he hasn't done anything yet. He hates going in the rain.”

Kaylee jumped up and grabbed her laptop and other things to bring them into the house. Sam followed her.

“Give me a second to change and I'll go with you,” he suggested. “There's a trail along the back that he liked last weekend.”

It took a few laps along the shoreline between Sam's property and that of a few neighbors before Niko put some effort into doing his business. They were just about to cut through the deep backyard to the rear entrance of the house when the sky opened up and poured buckets of rain down on them.

Kaylee screamed in surprise, frozen in place. The sheet of water was so heavy that she could hardly see in front of her. She felt Sam take hold of her hand and they started running across the grass. Niko was way ahead of them, already cowering under the roof line with his head bent in fear, and shaking off as much water as possible. They stopped at a dry spot on the deck, pausing for a moment to look around at the downpour with amazement. Thunder boomed, followed by several bolts of lightning that seemed to hit too close for comfort. Kaylee jumped a foot in the air with another sharp yelp, and Sam started laughing.

She looked to him, then down at herself. They were both completely drenched from head to foot, and Kaylee started laughing also. Another deafening thunderclap made her grab his arm. Sam pulled her close until their soggy clothes slapped together.

“Not to worry, lass. I'll protect you.”

The rain should have felt cold against their skin, but the evening was so hot and muggy that it was a welcome relief. Kaylee looked up at Sam, and he leaned in and brushed her lips with his. They shivered from the electricity between them. He coaxed her mouth open gently so he could stroke his tongue deep within. She gasped at how good it was, knowing it had been so long since they had kissed like this. His hold around her waist quickly became more firm as he pulled her closer against his length.

“Kaylee,” he whispered when their lips separated for a brief moment.

“Yes,” she answered.

Suddenly, the heat outside and from his touch was unbearable. She pulled out of his embrace to strip off her wet clothes quickly until she was standing naked in front of him. Sam looked down at her. His blue eyes were now as dark and stormy as the sky, and they ran over her body like a hot caress. Kaylee reached out and took hold of his T-shirt and pulled the fabric up to reveal his rippled abdomen. Sam caught on pretty quickly, tearing off his top and shorts in record time. He was proudly aroused and so mouthwateringly masculine that she wanted to lick her lips in anticipation. His eyes fell to her lips, and Kaylee realized she had done just that.

Inspired by the weather and the week since they had last been together, she held out her hand to him, then walked backward into the storm, now measurably calmer. Sam quickly pulled her into his arms as the warm summer rain showered down on their bare bodies with a massaging force. It was the most erotic thing she had ever felt.

“Blimey, lass. Ye'r driving me mad,” he growled before they were kissing again with even more wet intensity.

God, Kaylee felt so alive, so powerful and in charge. She stroked her hands over every part of his body that she could reach, memorizing all the hard slab, contoured ripples and shallow valleys. Reaching between their bodies, she took hold of his jutting cock, using a tight grip to stroke down its wet length. He shuddered against her, so she did it again until Sam was moaning into her ear.

Sam picked her up as he liked to do, carrying her over to a lounge chair nearby. He put her down, turning her so she faced the back and surrounded her with his size, effectively shielding her from the steady spray. Pulling her tight against his body with his arms wrapped around her waist, he pressed up with the power of his thighs to take her deep.... Wow, it was incredible. Kaylee cried with satisfaction, then arched her back to beg for more.

“Ah, Kaylee. Sweet lass,” he groaned, then whispered her name over and over again with every long thrust. The rain flowed relentlessly over them, adding both slickness and friction to their every touch. They didn't last long, coming one after the other with loud cries of completion that were muffled by the storm.

They were still breathless, and Sam lifted her into his arms and sprinted back into his house. A very relieved white terrier ran in behind him.

“Let's get you warmed up.” He put her down in the bedroom, then dashed into the bathroom to grab a stack of towels.

“I'm fine,” Kaylee insisted. But he ignored her, covering her head with one, then using another to dry down her body.

“That was just mad,” he mumbled, finally wrapping the fluffy cotton around her body and tucking it in like a sarong.

She rubbed at her hair, watching as he dried himself down.

“It was fun,” she insisted with a teasing smile that showed off her dimples. “Wasn't it?”

He stopped, letting go of his towel so it fell heavily to the floor. With both hands cupping her face, he looked down into her eyes.

“Of course it was fun. You're fun.” He kissed her gently, stroking her lips as though trying to discover every inch. “I missed you.”

“You did?”

“Aye, very much.”

Sam took one of the damp, plush cloths off of her and guided her backward, maneuvering her body until they were both in the middle of the bed. With deliberate movements, he unwrapped the second towel around her like a present, then tossed it on the floor with the other.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, taking hold of both her feet and planting them wide so her knees were bent.

“Aye,” Kaylee whispered with another cheeky grin.

He slid his hands down the inside of her thighs and rubbed his thumbs in massaging circles right at the apex. Her breath caught sharply as she watched his every move.

“For years, I've slept comfortably alone. And now suddenly I'm wide awake at all hours because something is missing.”

“Were you lonely?” she asked, trying to maintain the light, teasing tone.

Sam stopped and looked down for a second, fixing his steady gaze on hers again. “I was.” He stroked one of his thumbs along the tender ridge of her wetness, before delving into the slippery valley. Kaylee moaned and bit at her bottom lip. “I don't know what to do with you, Kaylee. I want you so much, it's making me mad.”