KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1) (12 page)

He punched me lightly— well, lightly for him— in the arm. “Hey, you passed the test.”

“What test?”

“The yes-man test. You see, I only surround myself with yes-men? If you had said I looked like shit, I’d have to let you go.”

“I don’t believe that. Not for a minute.”

Kage chuckled quietly as the doors slid open. “This is your stop, Jamie. See you tomorrow.”

7

AT EIGHT-THIRTY on the following morning, a guy from some professional camera shop showed up at my suite to deliver a top-of-the-line digital video and still camera. When I say top of the line, I mean the camera guy was jealous as hell.

After I sputtered for five minutes about how surprised I was to be receiving it and how I would never have been able to afford such an awesome piece of equipment, the guy said, “We don’t normally do deliveries. So what, do you have a sugar mama or something?”

“No, or course not.” I smiled from ear to ear, marveling at Kage’s generosity. “It’s from this really amazing guy.”

“Oh,” he glanced around my expensive suite. “He get you this place?”

“Yeah, I could never afford something like this myself. I’m just a college student from a middle class family.”

“Now you’ve got a killer place and a great camera. I mean, look at that view. Imagine the shots you can get right from this window.”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll be honest with you. He’s spoiling the hell out of me, and I don’t know how I’m going to leave all of this to go back to school in Atlanta next semester. It’s gonna be tough.”

“Sugar daddy won’t spring for a penthouse down in Atlanta?”

I looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh, it’s not like that!”

“It’s cool, man. I used to be a stripper before I got this gig last year, so I know how all that shit works.” He winked. “I’m down with it.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, wondering how to explain a situation I was legally prohibited from discussing any further.

The guy cleared his throat and held up the camera. “So… If you’d like to have a seat on the sofa, I’ll show you how this bad boy works. Your really amazing guy also bought you a half hour lesson.”

I contained my excitement enough to join him on the sofa without making a fool of myself, and over the next half hour he proceeded to explain the intricacies of using my brand new, ridiculously complicated digital camera.

He was still explaining features when Kage knocked on my door. I jumped up off the sofa, flung the door open, and threw my arms around his neck. Well, maybe it wasn’t so much throwing my arms around his neck as it was wrapping them gingerly around his shoulders in the world’s most awkward man hug.

Kage didn’t hug me back. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back, making me feel even more awkward. It wasn’t my usual M.O. to hug guys, but then I’d never received a gift that cost thousands of dollars. Even my car hadn’t cost that much.

“Sorry. Maybe I should have tried a handshake instead.” I patted him on the back a couple of times, then backed away and smiled. “The guy’s here with the camera. I don’t know what to say, Kage. I’m… Well, I’m speechless.”

“No babbling?” he teased.

“Nope. Not this time. I must be in shock.”

I turned to face the camera guy, ready to introduce Kage, but then I remembered the NDA. I wasn’t sure if this was covered under that or not. I also realized that maybe the hug hadn’t sent the right message about our relationship. While I was pondering these things, Kage stepped around me and shook the guy’s hand.

“I’m Michael Kage,” he said. “Did I interrupt the lesson?”

“Only by a little bit. I just have a few more things to show him, and then he’s all yours.” He wagged his eyebrows.

Kage stepped over to the chair and sat down. “Just pretend I’m not here then.”

It was impossible to pretend he wasn’t in the room. Not only was he always the most powerful presence in any room, but now his eyes were glittering like diamonds. I thought maybe he was as excited as I was. He just sat there in that manly sprawl of his and watched us with those sparkling eyes. When the lesson was over, the camera guy stood up and handed me the camera, and I turned it over in my hands, admiring it for the hundredth time. Then I looked up to find Kage watching me closely.

I smiled. “This is so un-fucking-believable. I can’t wait to take a million pictures of you. If this thing does what he says it does, we’ll be able to see every drop of sweat on your body.”

“Wow.” The camera guy took an exaggerated breath. “I’ve just got to tell you, this is a really nice piece of equipment. You
are
a really amazing guy, and you obviously care a lot about him. Everyone should be so lucky.”

“Yeah? You think?” Kage gave me an amused look, then got up out of the chair and joined me on the sofa. He took the camera from me and examined it for a few seconds. “Pretty nice,” he said.

The camera guy smiled like we were two puppies playing in a cardboard box rather than a couple of jocks on a couch. “Call me if you guys need anything, okay?” Then he left.

As soon as he was out the door, Kage set the camera down on the coffee table and leaned back onto the opposite arm of the sofa, clasping his hands behind his head. “So… why does that guy think we’re fucking?” He didn’t look angry, only extremely amused.

I felt my cheeks flush bright red. “How should I know?”

“Oh, you know alright.” He bit his lip on a cocky smile, which clued me in to the fact that he was enjoying yanking my chain. “What did you say to him? I mean besides that you’d like to take a million pictures of my hot, sweaty body?”

“Hey, you know what I meant!”

He laughed. “I do. But he obviously didn’t.”

I took a deep breath. “I may have also mentioned that you were an amazing guy.”

Kage nodded, waiting for me to continue.

“And that you were spoiling me silly. And…” I covered my face and groaned. “And that I dreaded going back to my old life at school.”

“Well, I guess that sounds vaguely suggestive.”

“That was after he asked if I had a sugar mama.” I started laughing then. “I didn’t think about how it sounded. Just started going on about this amazing guy. God, what an idiot I am. I was just excited about the camera.”

Kage had one leg bent up on the sofa, and he nudged my thigh with the toe of his sneaker. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I know it’s not a gift, that it’s just something for me to use while I’m working for you, but it’s still great. Most people wouldn’t even get to borrow something this nice. I promise I’ll take good care of it.”

“Well, I had actually meant it as sort of a work-related gift. You’ve got a birthday coming up, and what better gift than one I can write off as a business expense.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Are you serious? I get to keep it?”

“Before you give me too much credit, remember my uncle is loaded. I have nothing. So really the only credit I can take is for knowing how to use the company expense account.”

“Thanks for being enterprising, then.”

I got the camera packed up in its case with its three fancy lenses and stood the tripod behind the sofa. Then we went down to meet Marco for the morning session.

I sat on the sidelines and watched as usual, snapping all manner of still picture and video with my new camera. But my mind kept going back to that hug. How strange that I did it in the first place, and how awkward that he hadn’t returned it. It was a possibility that he was just grossed out that I was touching him, but it didn’t seem that way. It seemed like he welcomed the attention in a shy way, but he didn’t know how to show it. It reminded me of Mark Gladstone’s thoughtless comments about Kage being an outsider.

There was an unexpected tenderness growing inside me for the mysterious fighter, getting stronger with every day and every surprising thing that he did. I found myself wanting to make friends, but as much time as we were spending together, I got the distinct impression that we weren’t actually getting any closer at all. That Kage merely allowed me to be near him, hovering like a tiny satellite around his brilliance. In this case, it was I who was the outsider.

KAGE said he had plans to meet a friend that night, so we all skipped the afternoon session. I went back to the office and did some work on my laptop.

I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t driving me crazy to know the identity of the mysterious friend. It must have been someone important for Kage to ditch practice. Marco had been surprised, so it obviously wasn’t a normal occurrence.

At quitting time, I followed the meandering herd of Alcazar employees toward the front door. My suite was beckoning with its endless stream of TV and free Wifi, and its luxurious bathroom, and its river rock soaps that had eroded down to smooth pebbles. Another mind-numbingly uneventful evening in Vegas lay sprawling before me.

That is, until Mark Gladstone blocked my way. He leered down at me with his white teeth and perfect hair, still completely put together after eight hours of work. He slipped his blazer off his shoulders and draped it over his arm, looking like he’d just stepped out of the pages of a menswear catalog. Then he very deliberately unhooked the next button of his dress shirt, giving me a glimpse of black chest hair.

“Jamie, my boy,” he said, his voice overly deep and dramatic like a movie trailer voice over. I could almost hear an ominous soundtrack backing his words. “It’s time to go. Time to introduce you to the city of sin.”

“But… but I’m underage still. My birthday’s not for two more weeks.” I’d been drinking since the tender age of fourteen, but it sounded like a good excuse.

“Not a problem,” he said. “I’ll just order you Shirley Temples all night.”

All night?
That sounded like a long time.

I glanced in the general direction of my room, then back at Mark. “I’m not sure. I have my laptop with me.” I held it up like it was the missing puzzle piece. My saving grace. The irrefutable reason I could not go.

Mark shrugged. “We’ll take it upstairs.”

Damn. This guy’s got an answer for everything.

Unwilling to be easily dissuaded, Mark followed me to my suite and walked right in behind me without being invited. Not that I particularly minded, but it was the first time I’d ever had anyone over, and I hadn’t cleaned yet. It looked like a gym locker had exploded in the bedroom, and snack wrappers littered the coffee table, proof of my late-night snack machine raids. Funny how your own mess never looked that bad while you were alone, but once someone else laid eyes on it, it was downright disgusting.

Maybe I should finally put that maid service sign on the doorknob.

I didn’t even get a chance to apologize, which I was totally going to do, because Mark beat me to it. “Don’t worry about the mess,” he said. “You’re a college guy. You’re allowed to be a slob.”

It’s a good thing my back was to him, because my eyes got wide, and I mouthed a few choice insults. I hadn’t really wanted to go out with him in the first place, and now I wanted to even less. But I was also beginning to feel like the lamest person to ever hit the strip in Vegas, and I figured it would do me some good to get out. Going with Mark would save me from having to explore a strange place alone, so against my better judgment, I went.

Besides, Kage had blown off our afternoon session to go out and have fun. Maybe I ought to do the same. No sense holing up in my room for yet another night of work.

We walked a few doors down from the hotel to a trendy bar full of Mark Gladstone clones and women who looked like they’d just clocked out at the office. Of course, they had freshened their lips and hair. I got the distinct impression that this was an after work pickup spot, nothing more, nothing less. Sort of like the Vegas office drone version of the Collegiate back home.

A couple of women eyed me hungrily, cluing me in quickly to the fact that I was fresh meat around here— chum to the circling sharks. I didn’t like it one bit.

Mark ordered a Shirley Temple for me. Which apparently is Vegas speak for straight cherry vodka. I nearly spewed it all over the bar.

“Whoa, we’ve got a lightweight here,” Mark said jovially, patting me on the back like he was burping a baby.

Jesus. Could this guy get any more condescending?