Concrete Evidence (18 page)

“I was just coming out,” she said hoarsely. She cleared her throat. “I think you should open the door.”

“JT’s gone. He went to get coffee and won’t be back for at least an hour.” A frown marred his handsome face. “Why did you put up your hair?”

She ignored the question. “Is he going to fire me?”

“For putting up your hair? I doubt it, but it’s worth considering.”

The knot in her belly tightened. “Dammit, Lee, I’m serious!” She took a deep breath. She would act calm. Dignified. If nothing else, it was practice for when she faced JT. “What did you tell him?” She enunciated each syllable with precision.

“Your hair is beautiful. You should wear it down.” His voice was low, husky.

Heat slid down her spine. “You didn’t tell him that.”

“I didn’t need to. He’d have to be blind not to notice for himself.”

Her nipples hardened. How could he do that—in this situation—with just words? He wore nothing but a pair of sweatpants. She kept her gaze fixed on his eyes, willing herself to ignore his muscular torso. She would not think about how much she enjoyed snuggling against him last night, or how safe she’d felt with those thick arms wrapped around her.

He plucked out one of her hairpins, and the heavy mass loosened but didn’t fall. She crossed her arms and took a step backward, but his feet moved forward, in sync with hers.

“I want to know why JT Talon was in the living room,” she said, but her voice came out huskier than she’d intended. “And I want to know what you told him about me.”

“This is JT’s condo. He’s letting me stay here during my internship because he’s only in DC periodically. He lives in New York City.” He stepped closer, his gaze locked on her mouth. “I convinced JT there’s nothing going on between us. Not that he’d care, by the way, but I figured you would.” He reached around her and pulled her to him. His other hand removed another hairpin, and several strands fell. “Want to make a liar out of me?”

Foolish laughter bubbled up inside her, and she tucked her head on his chest. Was this what it felt like to be on the edge of hysterics?

A pleasing truth penetrated her jumbled thoughts. JT had given Lee the job and apartment. Lee couldn’t be working for Jake.

She pushed him away and stepped back. “Why didn’t you tell me this is JT’s place?”

“JT and I didn’t want anyone to know we’re acquainted.”

“You’re staying in his apartment. You’re more than acquainted.”

“His family and my family go way back. He’s helping me out.”

“So why the big secret?”

“I’m an intern, and I’ve got to do the scut work, just like everyone else. If you’d known I was staying at JT’s place, would you have treated me the same?”

“Yes.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

She hesitated, admitting to herself that if she’d known his connection to JT, she’d have tried to figure out a way to use that to her advantage. JT was Menanichoch, after all. “You should have told me JT would show up.”

“I didn’t know he was coming. I’m sorry.”

She was slightly mollified. “Does he know why I’m here?”

“Yes. He also knows we’ve only gotten four hours sleep.” He took her in his arms again. “I’m going back to bed. You’re more than welcome to join me.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“It’s a spectacular idea.” His lips traced her hairline as he removed the last of her hairpins. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to my conscience last night.”

She rose on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for that.”

“I won’t be so noble next time.” His fingers threaded through her hair; then he leaned down and dropped a kiss on her collarbone. His tongue traced the line of her V-neck, and she felt goose bumps form.

She gently pushed him away, fighting the reckless urge to pull him to the bed and forget everything in a rousing romp of mindless sex. She couldn’t give in to the wild impulse. She’d known him all of five days, and in that time, her carefully constructed life had collapsed.

“JT will be around all weekend. Get some sleep. Later you can tell him I keep trying to seduce you. You might get lucky and he’ll fire me for sexually harassing you.”

“I know how men are—he’d probably give you a raise.”

“The only person giving me a raise, Shortcake, is you.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.

She collapsed on the bed and picked up his T-shirt, the one she’d slept in. She lifted it to her nose, but it smelled of her, not him. After pulling off her clothing and donning the T-shirt, she slipped back under the covers and mentally listed her troubles. Jake was back. Her job was in jeopardy. And she had the hots for her intern.

Wanting Lee was the least of her problems, but with his current proximity, the sexual hunger between them loomed large and dangerous.

Was four years that big an age difference? Probably. She was a few years away from her biological clock going off, and he was barely old enough to rent a car.

L
EE NEEDED A COLD SHOWER
after leaving Erica’s room. He’d used the attraction between Erica and him as a tool to deliberately rattle and confuse her, and his conscience needled him. His words and actions were accurate—hell, yes, he wanted her—but he’d behaved like a rutting fool to downplay the significance of JT being here.

She couldn’t examine his relationship with JT. A simple Google search would turn up the facts of Joe’s life, including the long-ago marriage, and his mother’s Facebook page, which contained pictures of all of them.

He’d begged his mother to remove the photos, but with Joe’s impending campaign, she was angling for her fifteen minutes. He’d crashed her page and put off her pleas for her techno-wizard son to fix it, and the woman had stunned him by hiring someone to restore her page within a few days.

He returned to the kitchen to face another blatant lie. JT sat at the table in front of his open laptop. Lee had known JT hadn’t left. He’d lied because Erica would’ve insisted on talking to him, and he and JT needed more time to figure out how to handle her presence in his apartment. “She’s going back to sleep.”

He searched through the playlist on his iPod and found a Beethoven symphony. He aimed the speakers toward the entry, then spoke softly, under the music. “I think her apartment was destroyed because of me. I may have tripped a trap in the network.”

JT just looked at him.

“Damn it, JT, that first day, I used her ID. Someone noticed.”

“You’re too good to be caught.”

“I’d like to think so, but I’ve never seen a network this tight. If everyone had systems that secure, I’d have no clients.”

“So you think you screwed up and put Erica in the crosshairs?”

“It’s possible.”

“I don’t think so. I think she’s part of it. And you do too.”

He closed his eyes and could see Erica struggling with her desires and her fears. He knew how important his job was. He understood what was at stake.

“You told me days ago she’s afraid and is hiding something. And we know she’s lied to you and Rob Anderson. Lee, I’m sure she’s a superb piece of ass, but don’t let that fuck with your brain. I need you to focus.”

“I am focused.”

“I don’t think it’s on the job I’ve asked you to do.”

He took a deep breath. This was JT he was talking to. His brother in all but blood. “I am focused,” he said again. “I’m not blinded by Erica’s ass or any other part of her anatomy. I spent time with her last night to learn more about her. I know this: she doesn’t live like someone who’s got another source of income.”

He rubbed his eyes. He felt like hell. Four hours sleep. Sexual frustration. And his closest friend in the world wanted to pin treasonous smuggling on a woman he’d begun to feel protective of—
when the hell had that happened?
—and the theory had merit.

He left the room without a word and retrieved his own laptop, then set it on the kitchen table across from JT’s. “I think I know what—or rather who—we’re looking for.” He’d been itching to Google Jake Novak since he’d heard Drake say the name. Google had an answer for him in .26 seconds. Third on the results list was the website for Novak Underwater Salvage and Treasure.

He followed the link. The homepage featured a photo of Jake Novak on the deck of his boat, the
Andvari
.

“JT, meet Jake Novak. He’s teaming with Ed Drake on a proposal, and Erica is terrified of him.”

C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN

E
RICA STOOD IN THE HALLWAY
, just around the corner from the kitchen, gathering her courage. After sleeping a few hours, she’d sat in her room for a long time, dreading facing JT. She glanced down at her clothing. It was skimpy, but at least she wasn’t braless and wearing a sheer T-shirt. She should have throttled Lee for not warning her that JT could show up.

Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she entered the kitchen. JT sat at the table, sipping coffee while marking papers with a red pen. “JT, thank you for letting me stay here last night.” She’d considered calling him “Mr. Talon,” but since he’d hit on her
and
inadvertently seen her nearly naked, she decided they should be on a first-name basis.

“I’m glad Lee brought you here after what happened.”

She let out a breath, willing the knots of tension to go away, and cast about the room, seeking something to do, to say, and spied the coffeemaker. JT noticed. He stood, fetched a mug from the cupboard, and poured a cup. “Cream or sugar?” he asked.

“Cream, please,” she said with a genuine smile. The CEO had just gotten her coffee. She thanked him and sat at the table, wrapping her hands around the warm mug, feeling the raw edges of her nerves begin to smooth. So far, so good. She breathed in the calming aroma. If only she could forget their earlier encounter.

“I’m sorry about your apartment,” he said.

“Thanks.” She bit her lip. She’d crossed her first hurdle and faced JT, but her apartment would require a pole vault. With a twenty-dollar air mattress and a thrift-store plastic garden chair, she supposed she could live there, but she’d have to stare at walls that called her a bitch and a whore in bloodred paint. It wasn’t all that different from her cell in Mexico, where shimmering flies fed on fecal curse words. Her apartment now had the stink of the cell, but she had nowhere else to go. Maybe she should just disappear, start someplace fresh. Would anyone even notice?

No.
She would not wallow in self-pity. That was the road her mother had traveled.

She’d come here to make amends and restore her reputation. She couldn’t give up. Hell, right now she was sitting with JT Talon, drinking coffee. She might not like how she ended up here, but she could use this turn of events. She just needed a plan.

She felt his stare and realized she’d been sitting in self-absorbed silence for too long. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.”

“No need to apologize.” He cocked his head to the side. “In fact, I should be apologizing to you. The other night—”

She cut him off with her hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I shouldn’t have come on to you. I put you in an awkward position, and for that I’m sorry.” He brushed his thick dark curls out of his eyes in a gesture that seemed almost nervous, and she marveled at the idea that
she
worried
him
. Of course, he feared a lawsuit, but still, it felt strange to have even that small bit of power.

He hadn’t shaved, and the dark stubble on his jaw combined with a scar that bisected one eyebrow gave him a sexy, dangerous look. He exuded masculinity, power, and confidence.

“Thank you,” she said. “Apology accepted.”

He smiled and leaned back in his chair, and she wondered if he’d later place a check mark on a to-do list. He looked like a to-do list sort of man.

“You’ve been in the Bethesda office a lot lately,” she said, hoping to put the awkward moment behind them.

“Bethesda has several military contracts I need to oversee.”

“Because Drake’s more interested in the campaign than managing the projects himself.” She felt her face turn red and couldn’t believe she’d actually said that aloud. She was just a step above intern, after all. She didn’t have enough fingers to count the layers of management that separated her from the man she’d just dissed.