Soul Rest: A Knights of the Board Room Novel (37 page)

“Matt invited Leland to come,” Marcie said.

Five sets of bright, curious eyes turned toward Celeste. “Bride can do no wrong,” Marcie reminded her, giving Celeste a wide grin as she threw her to the wolves.

“On her wedding day,” Celeste said darkly. “This is not your wedding day. A black eye wouldn’t go so well with that hot dress.”

“If three guys couldn’t get through my defenses this morning, you have no chance.”

“Yeah, yeah. Big talk.”

“So, someone at the table has caught the attention of the world’s most ineligible bachelor,” Dana noted. “It’s a miracle. How long have you been seeing one another?”

“Less than a week. But it’s not like that. We’re not really seeing one another. It’s just…it’s not dating.”
Shut up
, Celeste told herself.
Stop talking
. Nervous people tended to fill up silence with information they shouldn’t reveal. She used it as a tactic herself in interview. She picked up a platter of cheese straws and offered it to Marcie. “Here. Get fat. Tell me about the wedding. Music, self-written vows, what?”

Marcie waved that away, took one cheese straw and nibbled. “He brings you up here himself for your protection. Stays the night with you. Sounds to me like you’re seeing one another.”

“Stop poking at her, Marcie,” Cassandra said. “You know what it is.”

“Of course I do. I’m just hoping I can get her to give up details. Leland has so rarely played publicly, it’s hard to know what kind of Dom he is. Well, I mean what type of things he prefers. You can see what kind of Dom he is in the eyes.”

Yes, she could. Celeste waffled over it. She shouldn’t want to talk about it. After all, talking about it as if he and she were together, as if she belonged to him…she wasn’t there, was she? Okay, yeah she’d as much as said so in the heat of passion, but that was the heat of passion. To say it out loud now, for real…

Her gaze fell on the hairband, subtly visible under the long sleeve of her lavender knit shirt. Who was she kidding? “He’s gentle. And stubborn. Sometimes ruthless, in a way that’s hard to…resist.”

Marcie’s hand covered hers. “They can be like that. It’s scary and wonderful at the same time. Like a roller coaster. Sometimes you don’t know if the supports are going to give out at the most thrilling part.”

Celeste’s eyes lifted, met Marcie’s. Earlier, she’d spoken about Ben’s motives without thinking, exposing too much of her own bitter emotions about the past. However, seeing the worry behind Marcie’s eyes, and remembering what Cassandra had said, Celeste knew she could help. She could talk about herself in a way that wasn’t about herself. She’d built her career galvanized by how much she wanted to leave her past behind, after all, which meant her past had helped her achieve that success.

“It’s not that Ben doesn’t love you, Marcie,” she said slowly. “The problem is probably how much he does. You open up his heart in a way he never thought was possible. And he doesn’t know how to trust that, because it’s not something he ever expected to have. It’s hard for darkness to believe it won’t swallow light, because he’s probably seen it happen so many times. He found a safe spot for himself, above all of it, where he had everything at arm’s length, but you’re right up inside him. You’ve made him feel clean, a part of the light, too. And that’s a gift so big…he keeps looking for it to be a mistake, like a package delivered to the wrong house.”

She was wrong. She couldn’t talk about it without making it too personal, because she had a hard ache in her throat. She’d stopped talking, but Marcie’s gaze was fixed on her, and she felt the attention of the other women again. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was so wrong. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said all that. This is your day.”

“Yes, it is,” Marcie said, her hand over Celeste’s. “Which is why it’s good for me to hear that. That night you spent with Ben, you saw it in him, didn’t you? And Leland sees it in you.”

Only in this company could Celeste imagine talking with a bride about the night her husband-to-be met another woman at a BDSM club and broke her open like an egg. Before ass-fucking her into climactic oblivion.

“I’ve only known Leland a few days. It’s too much, too soon. I’m just babbling. You need to ignore me.”

“For some people, it only takes a few days,” Savannah said. “For some of us, it’s a single moment.”

“I met him in a convenience store,” Celeste blurted out. “How do you find forever love in a convenience store?”

“Conveniently,” Marcie quipped.

As the women chuckled, Dana shook her head. “We all know Leland. If that man was ever going to find forever love, that’s where he’d find it. So did it happen by the nachos and cheap coffee?”

“Yes,” Celeste said, and couldn’t help smiling at the laughter that exploded around the table. Marcie squeezed her hand, hard, and let her go to snag another cheese straw and a berry tart.

“I recognize the men by their smell,” Dana confided, mischief flirting around her bow-shaped mouth. “Like Ben. I can smell pasty white Irish boy a mile away. Leland’s scent tells me I have a big, fine sexy black man headed my way, and the crappy coffee smell tells me exactly which one.”

“And lemon,” Celeste added. “Old wood, like from a historic house. Sometimes peppermint. He keeps a jar of peppermints on his coffee table.” She flushed a little under their amused regard, but it was kind. They’d all been there. Every woman here had fallen hard for their chosen Dom.

“Jon smells like sandalwood,” Rachel added. “My favorite time of day is when he gets home from work, and I put my nose against his throat, right there at the base, and inhale all of that. Especially when it’s warm outside, so the smell just blends with his scent.”

“Show of hands. Who hasn’t snagged one of their shirts to wear to bed when they’re away on a business trip? Except maybe Rachel, because Jon’s got the lean sexy thing going on and she’s got big tits,” Marcie teased.

“I can wear one of his T-shirts,” Rachel said with dignity. “They stretch.”

“So, um…why hasn’t Leland gone out with anyone in so long? Do you know?” The banter was making Celeste feel more comfortable, giving both the woman and the reporter in her permission to find out more about him. She expected she wouldn’t find a better source, since this group seemed pretty familiar with the man’s personal side.

“That’s just Leland.” Dana shrugged. “He decided he wasn’t in the mood for casual anymore. He wanted it to matter, so he said he’d pursue a relationship with a woman when he felt the right spark from her. He’s a ‘still waters run deep’ kind of guy.”

“A reason he and Max get along well,” Savannah put in. “Janet says they can have whole conversations sitting out on the porch together, trading nothing but the occasional grunt.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. Max is such a chatterbox, I can hardly get him to shut up when he drives me to church,” Dana teased. “Speaking of which, I hear that fine man is on the premises.”

“He’s here,” Cassandra said, glancing toward Celeste. “He said he’d stay out of our way. He’s just keeping an eye on things. Dale will come relieve him in the evening.”

“I’m sorry for that,” Celeste said, feeling a guilty pang. “I told Leland I should have stayed at a hotel.”

“They’re here for you,” Savannah said with firm purpose, reinforced by the other expressions around the table. “We fully support that, every one of us. Matt would have done the same thing if you stayed at a hotel. You did something incredibly brave, Celeste.”

“It didn’t seem brave at the time. I was just so pissed that they were shooting at Leland, and then Jai…” She broke off at that. “It was such a waste. He was a good man. No matter what happens with the two of us, I think he’d like knowing Leland and I met at his place.”

“I agree with all that, but what I meant was your determination to find out who killed those women, even when it brought you squarely into the sights of the man who killed them.” Savannah kept those blue eyes on her, unwavering. “Your past may shape your future, your character, but it’s your actions that determine your worthiness in this life, Celeste. I think Leland is very fortunate to have finally found a woman who can match his own integrity and inner strength.”

Great. Now she was going to tear up as well. She shot Marcie a glance. “You need to call him, dumb-ass,” she declared, fighting back her emotions.

“Leland? That is
so
nice of you. Quid pro quo and all that. A lot of brides have a last-minute fling, right? Is it true what they say about black men…ow.” Marcie yelped and slapped at her as Celeste pinched her arm, hard. “Quit it.”

“Call Ben, bitch. Tell him you’ll meet him at Café Beignet. I’ll take you. I want to do some shopping. Haven’t bought you a damn wedding gift yet.”

“I do have a gift registry, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, stuff I can’t afford. I want to find you something cute and tacky you’ll have to haul out every time I visit and tell me how much you love it.”

“I’ll just say I accidentally knocked it off a shelf and broke it during violent sex.”

“Do you and Ben have any other kind? And thanks for the tip. I’ll make sure whatever I buy is sturdy plastic.”

“You don’t have a car,” Marcie hedged.

“Max will take you,” Cassandra said brightly, shooting Celeste a pleased, conspiratorial look. “That way you don’t have to worry about parking and driving.”

“Here.” Celeste produced Marcie’s phone from under the table. She’d slid it off the edge when Marcie was talking to her sister. By glancing down, she’d quickly found the speed dial button for Ben’s number. “It’s ringing.”

“You bitch,” Marcie said, but she snatched the phone just as Celeste heard Ben answer. Marcie left the table, moving away for privacy. Savannah nodded.

“Nicely played, Celeste.”

Cassandra agreed. “If I’d done it, I would have been the interfering big sister.”

“Well, it’s eating at her. And I’m just the irritating friend from Baton Rouge who visits her every few weeks. She can be mad at me.”

“They’re both terribly stubborn,” Rachel said, fondness in her expression. “It won’t ever be a tranquil marriage, but it will be a passionate and loving one. They’re meant for one another.”

Celeste had always scoffed at what seemed like a pat phrase, but as the women continued to chat, Celeste watched Marcie’s body language out of the corner of her eye. She’d started with the phone to her ear, her other arm across her body, a defensive posture. As they talked, she began to wander and her hand fell to her side. Pressing the toe of her shoe against invisible divots in the grass, she curled a lock of hair behind her ear, her lips pressed together. She responded to something he said, and her gaze softened, as did the set of her mouth, lips curving. Celeste turned her attention back to the table then, her heart aching and every part of her missing Leland. She fingered the burner phone in her pocket, wishing it had come with a texting plan. But she could just call him, couldn’t she? He was probably working. He said he’d call, after all. She’d just wait for that. No need to seem desperate.

§

Max was the head limo driver for K&A. Celeste knew that he and Janet, Matt’s executive assistant, had become an item recently, but Marcie filled in some intriguing details while Max brought the car around. Janet was a Domme and Max…well, Max wasn’t a sub in any way, shape or form. Celeste had to bite back the intense desire to interrogate him about how that worked.

Max pulled up and got out to open the door for them. Though a former Navy SEAL, his mannerisms and the superior fitness of his mouthwatering body suggested he considered himself still on active duty. The black jeans hugged strong thighs and a tight ass, the K&A logo polo shirt stretching over his wide chest and muscular biceps. His firm mouth didn’t smile, but his storm colored eyes did. “Doing all right, Miss Lewis?”

A nice way to confirm that he was assigned to oversee her protection without being overt about it. Celeste nodded. “Thanks. For this. And to your friend Dale as well.”

“It’s our pleasure,” he said.

Leland shouldn’t have set this up without her say-so, but Celeste couldn’t argue his choice of location or the type of people he’d put around her. When Max closed the door and returned to the driver’s seat, she
really
wondered how a Navy SEAL acting as a sub worked. Having that powerful body, firm mouth and the simmering fire in those gray eyes at a woman’s command…

“Don’t worry,” Marcie whispered, seeing Celeste’s expression. “Janet comes to our monthly girl dinner parties. I’ll make sure you get invited sometime soon. I bet we can get her to talk.”

“You’d have a better chance of getting an al-Qaeda suicide bomber to spill,” Max offered from the front.

“Donkey ears,” Marcie said, sticking her tongue out at him in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t make me pull this car over, young lady.”

“Promises, promises.” She batted her eyes at him and Max sighed.

“Incorrigible. All of you. It’s bad enough I have to put up with Dana.”

“He loves us,” Marcie informed Celeste. “Wouldn’t know what to do without us.”

“Stretch out on a beach in Bimini, drink fruity drinks and read the latest
Guns & Ammo
magazine. I think Janet’s due for six months of vacation time, at least.”

“Yeah, and if you think Matt’s going to approve that, think again. According to Savannah, he can barely survive a week without her, let alone six months.”

“Matt can adapt.”

Marcie gave him a look of mock horror. “I’m going to tell him you said that.”

He chuckled and then focused on traffic as Marcie and Celeste chatted about the wedding and less-intense subjects for the drive into New Orleans. Celeste bit back another sigh as they passed areas where she’d be only a hop and a skip away from some story follow-ups. It was only for a few days, she reminded herself. Surely they’d find Dogboy quickly or verify he wasn’t that much of a threat to her. Even if he had gone out of his way to take a shot at her yesterday, maybe the MoneyBoyz would set him straight and he’d give it up.

Yeah, because a psychopath killing women could turn off that urge like a faucet.

“I know you’re going stir-crazy,” Marcie said, touching her arm. “Don’t worry. You’ll be back to work in no time. Just think of it as a short vacation.”