Secret Passions (8 page)

An hour later he walked into Carter’s office, interrupting a heated conversation
between his partner and Eve, who was their top employee and had been a close friend for longer than he knew.
The two of them never seemed to be getting along. Once, Mitchell had asked his friend if they should fire her, to which his reply was, “Why on god’s earth would I want to get rid of our best asset?” He’d followed it up with, “Don’t you ever tell her I said that.” Knowing it was just a little game the two played, he shut the door loudly and smiled as the pair jumped and glared at him.

“Hello, why don’t you two just get a room and get it over with.” He chuckled at the similar looks of horror the pair made at his suggestion.

“What do you want? I thought you were off for the next few weeks.” Carter sat down behind his desk and waved him in, then he looked at Eve. “You can handle that client on your own.”

Eve put her hands on her hips and stood there, glaring down at him. Finally Carter sighed and said, “Fine, I’ll make the call later.”

She smiled and started to walk out of the room. “Mitchell, I hope you’re enjoying your vacation.”

He knew she didn’t like him laughing at how well she could handle his friend, so he just nodded his head as she walked past him.

When the door was shut, he burst out laughing. “Man, the least you can be doing is sleeping with her to end up that whipped.”

Carter glared at him. “That woman knows more tricks to get what she wants than you and I put together.”

They both chuckled at that. “Of course it doesn’t help that she looks like a Greek goddess.”

“Yeah, there is that.” Carter smiled and looked at a stack of papers on his desk. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I need your help.”

“Shoot.”

“I need to take Sandi somewhere safe for a while, after she heals from the whole ordeal yesterday. Someplace not traceable to any of us.”

Carter thought about it. “You still haven’t heard from Ethan?”

He shook his head, no. He hadn’t kept any details from his friend and knew Carter would guard it with his life. After all, they’d been best friends growing up.

Carter was the complete opposite of Mitch in every way. His dark hair, eyes, and skin weren’t the only things he was talking about, either. Carter was a businessman, always looking at the angles of every deal. Mitch tended to go with his gut and heart. It was hard to explain, but Mitch could just tell how a person was, if they were going to be a good investment or be a flake and not worth the time.

The agency worked well with the pair of them. Mitchell’s heart and Carter’s business smarts had proved a lethal combination. Since starting the business, they’d built the company to what it was today, a company with over three thousand high-profiled clients and growing.

“Hmmm, I might know someplace. My grandparents’ place. But I’ll have to get back to you, make sure my neighbor has time to prepare it for you. When are you thinking of leaving?”

“Well, in a day or two, I suppose. She can barely walk right now.”

His friend nodded, “I hope she’s okay.”

“Yes, just bruised.”

“Eve keeps asking about her. She feels so bad that she couldn’t be there to help her.”

“I know, but I think the less attention we draw, the better. We still don’t know how they found out about her. The only thing we can come up with is through K&E.”

Carter frowned. “I’d hate to think that someone working for us would be the cause.” He shook his head. “I doubt it. No one, not even Eve, knew Sandi’s real name. It’s not like it’s in her file. Trust me, I’ve checked. Her cover wasn’t blown by us.”

Mitch released a sigh. He’d guessed as much, but, hearing it come from his friend, made him feel more confident.

“I’ll check on this and get back to you later this week.” Carter stood and Mitch followed, noticing the young blond woman standing in Carter’s doorway. Lisa was Carter’s latest catch. Even though she was ten years younger than Carter, it didn’t seem to fizzle the relationship.

As Mitchell walked out, he realized Sandi was exactly ten years younger than him. Shaking his head, he stepped into the elevator and asked himself what he’d gotten himself into.

W
hen Mitch walked in a few hours later, Sandi was fast asleep on the couch. A ball game was blaring on the television set, but he doubted she’d been watching it. He walked over and switched it off, looking at her sketch pad. Taking it with him, he walked into the kitchen as he flipped through the drawings.

There were some sketches of beautiful scenery, all very well detailed and extremely good. Then he stopped on one of himself, and he sat at the bar stool, just looking at it. He’d never seen a drawing of himself before. Is that really what he looked like? What she thought of him?

He must have studied the drawing for a while. When he looked up, Sandi was standing on the opposite side of the bar, watching him. He hadn’t even heard her walk into the room.

“Well?” She sat at the bar stool on the other side, looking at him.

“It’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He looked up at her again. “I didn’t know you drew people.”

“I normally don’t, but I make exceptions for people who matter.”

There was something in her eyes. Something he couldn’t deny himself. The attraction wasn’t the problem. Hell, he was a man after all. Wanting an attractive woman was in his nature. But it was what was lying underneath that attraction that scared him. He’d been burned before and the fact that he was finding it hard to trust women, especially sexy women, made him realize he had to think about taking it slow. Besides, he didn’t know exactly what experience she had with men. He did know she wasn’t that schooled. Oh, it wasn’t as if she was a bad kisser. Hell, she’d lit him on fire with her naivety of it all. He’d never realized that he’d find the lack of experience in a woman so thrilling. Actually, it had made him want to see how much farther he could get with her. How naive she was and how much fun it would be to teach her, slowly.

“What?” Her question broke his trance.

“Hmm?” He tried to play his horny thoughts off.

“Mitchell, just like you told me before, there are some expressions you can just read on a person. And you were just looking at me like you wanted to devour me.” She smiled, shyly. “I don’t mind it, you know.”

He shook his head and set the sketch pad down. “I do. We need to keep our heads clear. We need to come up with a plan.” He turned and started pulling food from the refrigerator. He was running low on supplies and would have to make a run to the local market soon.

“Mitch? I’m worried about my money.” She said out of the blue.

He stopped and turned. “What do you mean?”

“
Well, I haven’t touched my accounts since seeing my father and cousin. I’d like to ensure that it’s all still there. If I can use your computer...?”

He thought about it and saw no possible way that her cousin or father could trace her bank account login to his machine. Not without one of them being the best hacker on the earth.

“Your father or cousin aren’t computer geniuses are they?”

She laughed, “No, my father didn’t even know how to answer his cell phone for over two months. My cousin Anish knows a little about computers, but I don’t think either of them would know how to trace your connection.” She started to frown. “Now, my uncle, Adham…” he saw her shiver. “My father’s brother knew the most about computers. But he is in  a federal prison in Colorado.”

“He’s the one that tried to kill my friend Ric?”

She nodded. “He always scared me. He looked at me...like I was property. I always made sure my father was in the room with me when he was around. At least after I hit the age of ten.”

He looked at her and thought about wringing her family’s necks, every single one of them.

“I take back what I said earlier.” He tried for a causal tone, but knew his voice sounded rough. “I’m glad I helped you escape those people. I’m glad you’re here, safe.”

She smiled at him and he felt something shift inside, something he’d never felt before. A barrier being lifted. How had she moved him to this so quickly? He didn’t even know that much about her, and here he was falling hard and fast.

He pulled out the kitchen knife and cutting board. “So, while I whip us up dinner, how about you tell me all about Sandi?”

She smiled and leaned on the countertop and started talking about her life up until the point where she’d banged on his door a few nights ago.

Later that night, when he couldn't sleep, he headed downstairs to use the equipment in his gym. He found that working out curbed his desire to have a drink. He knew it was part of his recovery, finding something to replace that feeling, and lifting had taken its place. He not only felt healthier for it, but more centered in life. There was no way he'd ever fall off the wagon, as long as he could move his body.

Later that night as Sandi lay in bed, she listened to a storm brewing outside. She watched the lightning streak across the empty room as she stared at the ceiling and thought of Mitch. Was he lying in his bed thinking of her?

She had no experience when it came to love or sex. She knew what she wanted, but not how to get it, and she didn’t think she had the courage to take it herself. But after almost an hour of lying there watching the rain on the window, she pushed back the covers and walked out her door. If he was asleep, she’d turn around and crawl back in her bed, alone. If she looked in on him and he was awake...well, she didn’t know what she’d do.

Standing outside his door, she reached for the doorknob. Then she heard his workout equipment clang from downstairs. Curious, she headed downstairs and was surprised that he was lifting weights at this time of night. She pushed the door wide and looked into the dim room. The TV was going with no sound and she watched with excitement as Mitch lifted a bar with heavy weights on it above his head. He was bare-chested and she realized she could have stood there watching him for hours.

“Come here.” She thought she heard a chuckle when she jumped.

“You should be asleep.”

“So should you. Come over here.” He set the bar of weights down and sat up on the bench.

She cautiously moved into the room, and when she got about a foot away, he reached up and grabbed her. Before she knew it, she was sitting on his lap as she nervously laughed.

“Why are you still up at,” he looked at the clock on the wall, “a quarter till one in the morning?”

“I... I couldn’t sleep.”

“You couldn’t? And you thought I could do something about that?” He started running his hands over her soft tank top, his hands making small little circles on her stomach. She felt like purring. She realized her hands were pinned between them and when she moved to get them free, he shook his head.

“I know what you thought. It's right there on your face.” He lifted her in one quick motion and started walking out of the room.

“Where?” She started to ask.

“I'll just help you get back to bed.” He smiled down at her. She thought he meant to carry her back to her room, but was shocked when he walked into his own door. He left the lights off and walked to the edge of the bed were he laid her down gently.

She started to ask him what he was doing.

“
No, sssh. I’ll help you.” His hands moved downward until he reached the bottom of her shirt, then he slowly inched the soft material up, exposing her heated skin, pushing it higher until she was almost exposed to his view. She wanted to pull her shirt down and run back to her room. What had she been thinking? How could she have been this foolish to expose herself? Then he gently touched her and all thoughts of escape fled her mind. How could she not want this?

Closing her eyes, she rolled her head back on a moan. His fingers gently cupped her and circled her delicate skin. Then he started running his hand down her ribs, lower until his fingers were at the waistband of her shorts. One finger dipped below, tickling her soft belly until she moved her hips slightly, giving him permission to explore further.

He took the opportunity and with just his fingertips pulled her shorts down, exposing her hip bones. She heard him catch his breath and realized he’d seen her bruise.

“It looks a lot better since I put ice on it today.” She tried to smile as he looked down at her. Lighting flashed, causing the room to light up, almost making his green eyes flash, so that in her mind, all she had seen was the emerald color sparkle.

His fingers continued on their path, pulling her shorts lower until they were at her knees and he moved aside to pull them all the way off her legs. Then his hands slowly traveled back up her legs, rubbing and touching her skin lightly. She closed her eyes and marveled at the feel of his calloused hands on her soft skin. The cool sheets below her were quickly heating from her skin.

He used his hands on either side of her thighs to spread her legs a little wider. Her eyes shot open and she saw that he was on his knees between her legs, still fully dressed in a shirt and shorts, just looking at her.

Her tank top was still pushed up and she was almost completely naked. Her hands came up to cover herself.

“No, don’t. I want to look at you. You’re so perfect. So beautiful. Let me just enjoy you.”

Her hands moved back to lay beside her on the bed. What seemed like minutes later, he moved his hands and started running his fingers up the inside of her thigh until she once again closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of him touching her.

When his fingers reached her most sensitive spot, her shoulders lunged off the bed as she felt sparks shooting behind her skin. One of his hands reached up and held her down to the bed, his fingers spreading wide across her stomach.

“
So soft.” He ran his finger over her sensitive skin, playing with the moisture there, rubbing it over her lips until she thought she would explode. She gripped the sheets under her and swore it couldn’t get any better than having Mitchell touch her private parts.

Then
she screamed as his mouth touched where his fingers had just been. Her hands went to his hair, trying to push him away. This couldn’t be happening, she thought as she frantically tried to pull him loose.

“Sandi, let me just...mmmmm” He kissed her again and she lost her will to fight him. His fingers ran over her skin as his tongue rolled over her, in her, deeper, until she was screaming again. This time his name was ripped from her lips as he pleased her beyond even her wildest imagination.