Sleeping With The Enemy (A Stranger's Touch) (9 page)

“No.” Kate was growing more frustrated with each question. “No, you’re not listening to me, Mr. Davenport. I don’t want any of his money. I just want out.”

“Kate, I hope you’ll excuse me for saying this, but you’re husband is a very wealthy man. I did a little checking,” he added when he spotted Kate’s confusion. “You do realize that as his wife—”

“No—I told you, I don’t want any of his money.” Was the man deaf or what?

“All right
.” Thomas Davenport looked positively crestfallen. “I’ll make all of the arrangements. I’ll have the papers served to him at his office sometime tomorrow.” He paused for a moment then added, “Now, how would you like to take care of the retainer?”

Chapter Nine

I’m not going to cry
... Kate told herself as she left the attorney’s office. This was just a formality. The marriage had been a huge mistake and they both knew it, even if Alex wanted to be stubborn about the whole thing for reasons Kate couldn’t understand.

A
s much as Kate tried to convince herself her marriage to Alex meant nothing to her, she barely reached the SUV before the tears started. She slipped into the driver seat and leaned her head against the steering wheel.

I’m such an idiot...

She was just emotional. Discovering the extent of Alex’s deceitfulness had been traumatic. There were bound to be some emotional moments. After all, she still loved him. Correction, had loved him. She didn’t love him anymore. How could she. He’d lied about everything. Kate wasn’t even sure she knew who the real Alex Bradshaw was. Maybe he’d been married a dozen or more times. Not that she cared. She just wanted their particular marriage over.

Kate thought about going back to the apartment, but the last thing she needed right now was more time to think about her mistakes. Instead, she drove to the bookstore. What she needed was to stay very busy. She needed her work now more than ever.

Brandy clearly wasn’t expecting to see her so soon.

“When did you get back...wait, have you been crying?” Brandy stopped questioning Kate when she spotted the evidence of her tears.

“No, why would I be crying?” Kate brushed a shaky hand over her eyes, swollen from tears. “Last night. I picked Earl up already this morning...I don’t want to talk about it,” she added when Brandy tried to ask more questions.

“Okay...”

“How’s business?” Kate glanced around the store. Everything seemed to be just as she’d left it the night she and Alex left for Vegas.

Don’t think about that now!

“Did the new shipment come in?” She dug her nails into her palms to keep from crying at the thought of how happy she’d been that night.

Fool...

“Yes, just yesterday. Debbie helped put most of them away. She’s going to finish up today.”

“How are the records? Did you have any trouble doing the deposit?” Kate took off her jacket before heading for her office.

“No, everything balanced out just fine. You know if you want to take the rest of the day off, there’s nothing here Deb and I can’t handle.”

“No—I need to work.” Kate draped her jacked over the back of her chair and sat down. There was a small stack of mail on her desk. She focused on it instead of the questions in Brandy’s eyes.

“Is it true?” Brandy asked quietly.

“Is what true?” Kate knew what was coming, but didn’t know how to face it.

“Did you marry him?”

“How did you—”

“He called looking for you already. He sounded upset…actually, he sounded desperate.” Kate closed her eyes and actually considered lying for a brief moment. But figured she’d need the support of her family and friends to get through this thing unscathed. Unscathed?

Too late for that...

“Yes,” she admitted at last. “But it was a huge mistake.” Kate looked up in time to see Brandy’s gentle smile.

“Why is that? He sounds crazy about you.”

“There were things I didn’t know about him. He was only using me.” She held up a hand when Brandy would have asked more.

“I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I just need to work. I need to forget about Alex for a little while. Can you take care of things on the floor?”

“Sure, don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make sure you don’t get disturbed.”

“Thank you.” She smiled up at her cousin. “Would you mind just keeping this our secret? Debbie doesn’t need to know.”

“No problem,” Brandy said with confidence. “She doesn’t know about him and she won’t hear anything from me.”

“Thank you. And if Alex calls or stops by looking for me, I’m not in, okay?”

“You got it.” Brandy closed the door and left Kate alone with her misery.

* * * *

“Alex, hey man, it’s Tom. Have I got a story for you...” Alex was knee deep in legal documents when his private line buzzed. He picked it up right away, hoping it might be Kate. Instead, it was his law school friend, Thomas Davenport.

“Tom,
buddy, now is not a good time, okay?” he told his friend wearily, knowing full well how dreadful he must sound to the man who knew him so well.

“Guess who came to see me today?” Tom ignor
ed Alex’s answer entirely.

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not in the mood, Tom.” Alex bit back his anger with difficulty. He hadn’t slept since leaving Ronnie’s place. Not that he’d slept much the night he’d spent in Kate’s arms.

“It’s about your wife...” Tom announced with something resembling the cat that had swallowed the canary in his tone.

“My wife...” Alex repeated. His wife? How did Tom know about his wife? How did Tom even know he had a wife unless... “Oh no, don’t tell me she came to you.”

“She wants me to handle her divorce,” Tom added, a little too pleased with himself.

“There won’t be any divorce.”

“Really? Well, have you talked to her about this, because the stunningly beautiful Mrs. Bradshaw seems determined there will be.” When Alex said something unflattering under his breath Tom continued, “Oh, but don’t worry, she didn’t marry you for your money; although, I tried to tell her you have plenty of it.”

“Dammit, Tom, what did you say to her? Did you agree to take the case?” Alex felt betrayed by the thought of his friend agreeing to take on Kate’s attempt to push him out of her life.

“Oh, she thinks I’m handling the case for her, although technically there’s nothing in writing. I thought I’d see what was going on with you before I let her down. So, when did you get married and why didn’t you tell your best friend about it?”

For the moment, Alex ignored Tom’s attempt at humor. His thoughts were spinning. What if... His sharp, analytical mind began forming a plan.

“When did you tell her you’d give her the answer?”

“I told her I’d file the paperwork tomorrow once she paid the retainer. And then I’d have you served. I might say, she seems to be in an awfully big hurry to get rid of you,” Tom told him with a little laugh when he heard Alex’s explosive reaction.

“I thought you said—”

“Hold on—I’m not actually planning on taking her money or the case. But I figured if she actually got you to marry her after all these years of bachelorhood, then she must be more than just a casual fling. After seeing her today, I’m inclined to agree. But if this is the case, then I can only assume you are in love with her and you don’t want to let her go so easily. So what did you do to her to make her this desperate?”

“That’s none of your business, Tom.”

“I’d say it’s very much my business. The lovely Mrs. Bradshaw needs my help.” Tom chuckled at his own joke
.

“That’s too bad. But you’re right, I do love her and I certainly am not prepared to let her go over a little misunderstanding.”

“Not so little in her opinion. She’s furious with you.”

Alex sighed deeply and debated how much to tell Tom. “Yeah, well, it is little; but she won’t let me explain. Look
, Tom, I need you to do me a favor,” Alex said when the answer became clear.

“Sure, anything. You name it, buddy.”

“Go along with her for now; you can hold onto her check. I’m going to give Eddie a call.”

“Eddie, oh man, I like where you mind is going,” Tom said with another little laugh.

“Yeah, well I hope this all works out. Because if it doesn’t—you and me are both going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble with the bar.”

* * * *

Alex called the apartment three times that night, but Kate didn’t pick up. The following day, she hid out in her office most of the day, expecting Alex to come storming in the moment Tom served him with the divorce papers. Kate wasn’t sure how to feel when the day passed without any word from Alex.

She took Earl for a long walk around the neighborhood, hoping to relax. She was too wound up. Kate had just unlocked her apartment door when Alex stepped up behind her.

“You went through with it? You actually filed for divorce!” he demanded, reaching for her arm. Earl recognized him immediately and began yelping with excitement, even though he and had Alex only met twice.

“Alex, you shouldn’t be here.” Kate opened the door and pushed Earl inside.

“I’m not giving you a divorce, Kate. I don’t want this.
You
don’t want this—I know you don’t.” She tried to ignore him and simply walk past and close the door, but Alex blocked her efforts.

“Kate, let’s at least talk about this first. Don’t just write our marriage off without giving me a chance to make things right between us.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We both know why you married me. I just can’t believe I was foolish enough to fall for your lies. There is no marriage. There’s only a huge series of mistakes.”

“You don’t believe that.
Dammit, Kate, why won’t you let me talk to you?”

“Alex, please.” Kate stopped when new tears threatened to take away her voice. God, all she did anymore was cry. “Please just let me go. Please—just go.”

But he didn’t. Alex spotted the tears and guided her inside the apartment, closing the door. “I can’t let you go, Kate. I won’t. Not without a fight.”

They stood facing each other in the semi-darkness. He looked so good. Kate’s resistance crumbled.

Alex moved slowly towards her, forcing her to back away until she reached the wall of her tiny living room. He stood in front of her, quietly watching her closely and reading every-thing in her tears.

“You don’t want this anymore than I do, baby,” he told her softly. “Why fight it. Stop fighting me and let’s work together to save your marriage.”

“No.” her voice shook with emotion. “I can’t. I can’t trust you, Alex.”

“Yes, you can
.”

“Don’t,” she said desperately, as his finger stroked away her tears. “Don’t do that.”

“Kate, you love me. You can’t deny that.”

She took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter.” She jerked away from his touch. “Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter why you married me. You still lied.”

“I didn’t lie about how I feel about you, baby.”

Kate tried to push him away, but he simply gathered her close and held her while she cried. He felt so good. So strong. She let him hold her close for a moment. She wasn’t ready to let him go just yet. But soon, his hands grew restless, roaming over her body, his lips brushing across her temple. She pushed at his chest, but he didn’t release her. Alex gripped her chin and forced her to look at him.

There, for a moment, before his lips took hers once more she saw so much uncertainty in his eyes it took her breath away. Alex uncertain? She’d never imagined him feeling vulnerable.

“Please stop fighting me, Kate. I know you don’t want this to end. Neither do
I. Whatever needs fixing between us, we can work it out. Stop fighting me.”

The second his lips touched hers, it was over. Kate knew she wasn’t going to fight it or him tonight.

Alex’s mouth met hers again, this time unhurried. His lips brushed tantalizingly across hers, awakening responses in her that surprised them both. She lifted her hands to touch his chest, before letting one of them slide slowly down. Alex grabbed her wrist and brought it lower allowing her to feel his reaction. His eyes never left hers.

“This is how you make me feel,” he whispered softly, before taking her hand in his once more. Alex took their joined hands and slipped under the hem of her dress pushing it up until their fingers touched her panties. When she tried to jerk her hand away, he held her fingers tight and moved beneath the edge of her panties, pulling them down to her thigh. Their fingers moved over her body, parting her legs. Kate’s breath came in a rush as he stroked across her moist inner lips, parting them before their fingers joined together moved inside of her. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t look at him and let him see how excited she was. Not that it mattered. He’d felt her reaction.

“No,” she whispered against his lips.

“Yes.” Alex released her hand—and she jerked it free, but his continued to explore the intimate parts of her. When another finger slipped inside, Kate couldn’t hold on any longer. Her body tensed around his searching fingers. She shuddered and climaxed against his touch. Weak with reaction, she leaned against Alex for strength.

“You feel so good,” he whispered into her mouth

His fingers caressed her breast through the course fabric of her dress creating a painfully exciting friction.

Alex unzipped the dress and let it fall from her body before kneeling in front of her. He leaned in close and spread her legs. One finger dipped inside again. He watched her reaction. She was close again. His lips rested against her warmth where his fingers once touched. His tongue stroked across her moistness before slipping inside. Her reaction was immediate. She came in a burst of passion. When she was still once more, he got to his feet and lifted her against his body, letting her feel how much he wanted her. And then he carried her slowly to the bedroom and set her down close to the bed.

Alex Bradshaw was the perfect lover. Skilled in all the ways to make her want him—beg him to take her. He was much too good for Kate’s resolve to last. His fingers slipped over her body clothed only in her bra, making her aware of how vulnerable she was at that moment.