Do Not Disturb (23 page)

“Dane.”

“Soon, baby. Gotta take this slow.”

Using his fingers, he spread the lube, rubbing at that little hole until she felt herself loosen up for him.

Only him.

Her breath caught as she felt him press one finger into her, just the tip, and even that felt way too big.

Jesus, this would never work.

“Trust me, babe. Press back.”

Without really knowing what she was doing, she moved, and his free hand smoothed down her ass, petting her.

“That’s right. I swear this will feel amazing. Trust me.”

She did. More than any other man in her entire life.

And she wanted this. Wanted to be completely owned by him.

“Good. Jesus, Tally. Yes.”

His finger started to pump, slow and gentle. Widening her.

When he pulled out completely, she groaned, needed more.

“Slow. Gotta go slow.”

She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or himself. She only knew she didn’t want him to stop.

“Now,” she panted. “Now.”

He made a rough sound in his chest that made her pussy clench and ache.

And then she felt the broad head of his cock pressing against that tight rear entrance.

She didn’t think it would ever fit. It couldn’t. He was too big, and yet she wanted—needed to be filled.

The steady pressure increased until it almost became pain. But a pain so pleasurable she knew she wanted more. So much more.

Finally, that tight ring of muscle released and he was inside. And now the pressure made her gasp.

Wow, too much. She couldn’t take more.

Still, she didn’t release the headboard to push him away. She wanted it all.

“Relax, baby. It gets so much better.”

Then he showed her just how much.

She’d never imagined how sensitive those nerve endings were, how much that slight bit of pain made her want to scream and beg for more.

And when he finally started to move and the pleasure jolted through her like an electrical shock, she became a creature dedicated only to pleasure.

And the man who gave it to her.

***

Talia woke with a start, feeling as if there were an elephant sitting on her chest.

Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she sat up and slid to the edge of the bed, not even trying not to wake Dane.

The second her feet hit the floor, she made a beeline for the bathroom.

All she knew was she had to get behind a closed door before she had a panic attack. She knew them intimately, though she hadn’t had one in years.

Why now?

Hands clenched around the edge of the sink, she concentrated on her breathing.

She’d had the best sex of her life last night. Why would that have triggered a panic attack?

Because it wasn’t about the sex. It was about him.

It was all about Dane.

She didn’t want to leave him. Wanted to blow off everything in her life and spend every moment with him. Her heart was engaged, and that was a disaster waiting to happen.

The worst part was, she’d let it happen. Opened herself up to it and went down without a fight.

And yet, part of her couldn’t breathe. Part of her wanted to run.

Part of her knew she needed to break this off now before she couldn’t find a way out.

It wasn’t fair to Dane.

Yes. Absolutely, it wasn’t fair to Dane that she took what he offered but gave nothing in return. She didn’t have anything to give in return. Not now. She couldn’t. He didn’t know who she was and when he did . . .

No, better to leave now.

Then why did the rest of her feel like she wanted to cry?

***

“Are you free tonight? We could get some dinner.”

Talia smiled over her shoulder but quickly looked away as she buttoned the last button on her sweater.

“I’m not sure. Can we play it by ear? I’ve got so much to do today, I’m just not sure where I’ll be with everything by dinner. I may need to work all day.”

Dane’s gaze narrowed. That had sounded legit, but he heard something in her voice . . . “How about tomorrow?”

She shook her head, not bothering to turn this time. “Can I let you know tomorrow? I had a great time last night, Dane, but I’ve just got so much work . . .”

Finished with her sweater, she turned toward him with an apologetic little smile.

And his gut clenched. Under the bland smile, he saw a little fear. And that made no sense whatsoever.

What the fuck?

“Everything okay?”

Rolling her eyes, she ran her hands down her sides, smoothing her clothes, but Dane was pretty sure it was out of nervousness.

“Yep, fine. Thanks again for last night. I had a wonderful time.”

Yeah, now he knew something was definitely wrong.

“Tal, wait.”

She did, giving him more of that same smile, but there was a hint of desperation to it now.

“Spend the weekend with me. I don’t care if we do nothing but sit in my condo and watch TV and eat delivery. I want to be with you. For more than just the weekend.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted in stunned shock.

He’d shocked himself, but now he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more. He’d never asked another woman to do nothing at all with him except spend time. And he wasn’t above using the command she seemed to love in bed.

“Pack a bag and be here Friday. Tell me when you’ll get here and I’ll make sure we have the entire weekend to ourselves.”

She blinked and, for a second, he thought she was going to give in.

Then she shut down. He couldn’t think of any other word for it. She simply went blank.

Her smile totally fake, she sighed and grabbed her overnight bag and the garment bag hanging from the armoire door.

“I’m sorry, Dane. I really need to check my schedule before committing to anything. I’ll let you know. Talk to you soon.”

The door closed behind her, leaving him feeling like he’d been kicked in the gut.

“Will, you got a few minutes? I need to talk to you.”

Tuesday morning after the wedding, Dane stuck his head in his brother’s office. With Jed gone, Dane needed a sounding board.

Because he’d fucked up good, and he wasn’t sure he could fix it.

“Of course, what’s up?” Will didn’t bother to look up from his computer, just waved Dane into the room.

“I need advice.”

Will’s head popped up and, before Dane had even closed the door behind him, Will was asking, “Jesus, who died? You look like you’re gonna be sick.”

“No one died. But I think I fucked up pretty good and I might’ve ruined my relationship with Talia.”

Will’s eyebrows shot sky-high. “Whoa, you used the word
relationship
. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use that word when you’re talking about yourself. Ever.”

Dane took a deep breath as he walked to the window overlooking the city. He wanted to kick the glass, but he’d freak out his brother and he didn’t want that.

“Shit, Dane. What’d you do?” Will’s phone signaled a text. “Hold that thought. Wayne’s here.”

“Good. That’s good. I think I’m gonna need all the help I can get.”

“Damn, that sounds really bad. What the hell—No, just . . . hold the thought. Wayne will be here in a minute.”

Dane used the time to get his thoughts in order, though that was pretty much a lost cause. Jesus, he’d been so stupid. And arrogant.

Christ, if she ever found out . . .

Behind him, he heard the door open.

“You ready to head out—Oh, hey, Dane,” said Wayne. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“He wasn’t until a minute ago,” Will said. “Close the door. Dane’s got a problem.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of problem? Are you okay? What happened? How can we help?”

Even without seeing their faces, Dane heard the worry in his brother’s and brother-in-law’s voices. The fact that they were so seriously concerned for him helped steady his nerves a little. Not much, but some.

Because, Jesus Christ, he’d screwed up.

Turning, he found Will leaning against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, his brows drawn down hard. Dane recognized that look. He’d seen it more than once during contentious editorial meetings. Wayne’s expression held a world of compassion. And that perfectly explained the difference between them and why they worked so well together.

“It’s about Talia.”

“Okay,” Wayne encouraged. “What about Talia?”

“I’m pretty sure I fucked up pretty good.”

“Okay,” Wayne said again, even more patience in his voice this time, as if he understood Dane’s precarious state and didn’t want to push him over the edge. “And . . .”

Dane sighed, trying to find a way to say what he needed to say without coming off as a complete asshole.

“Dane, just spit it out,” Will barked at him. “Whatever it is, we—”

“I dug into Talia’s background and came up with a mother lode of shit. And I think I set something in motion, and I don’t know how to
fucking
undo it now.”

Will and Wayne exchanged a glance before their narrowed gazes landed back on him.

Finally, Will said, “And by shit, you mean . . .”

“I mean I found out something that’s gonna make her hate me.”

Wayne frowned. “I’m sure she won’t—”

“Yeah, she will. Damn it.”

He wanted to kick the desk, kick the chair, punch a hole in the wall. Anything to alleviate some of this miserable, angry frustration. And he only had himself to blame.

Sighing, he threw himself into the closest chair, elbows on his knees, fingers laced together until they turned white.

“I found out she changed her last name around the time she turned thirteen. Her parents were divorced and I didn’t really give it much thought. And then yesterday morning . . .”

“Yesterday morning . . . what?” Wayne prompted when Dane shook his head, shoving a hand through his hair.

“Yesterday morning, she started to pull away, physically and emotionally. And I—”

He cut off, unable to find the right word.

His brother had no problem. “You panicked.”

“I didn’t panic. I . . . got concerned.”

Will rolled his eyes. “You panicked and decided you needed to know all her secrets.”

“No. Yes.
Shit.
Maybe.”

“Jesus, Dane.” Will sighed and rubbed at his forehead with his fingers. “I thought you learned your lesson in college.”

“What happened in college?” Wayne looked between them as Dane sank back into a chair.

“I almost ruined one of my professor’s careers by exposing his private life.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Yeah, the operative word being
almost
. Still, I thought you learned your lesson.”

Dane snorted. “You would think, right?”

“So what’d you find out that’s so awful?” Wayne asked. “Is she a closet serial killer?”

Dane shook his head then stared directly into Will’s eyes. “Nothing we say can leave this room. You have to swear.”

Will and Wayne exchanged a quick look then nodded slowly.

Dane took a deep breath. “I told you her parents were divorced and her mom changed their names back to her maiden name, but that wasn’t all. Someone did a thorough and careful wipe on her first thirteen years. They basically wiped her father out of her existence.”

“And, of course, your curiosity got the better of you.” Will shook his head. “Jesus.”

“Damn it, I had every intention of leaving it alone. I swear. And then yesterday morning . . . She basically told me it’d been fun and she’d call. And I’m pretty sure she meant she wasn’t going to call.”

“Ooh.” Wayne winced. “I can see how that would sting.”

“So I thought if I knew what’d happened in her past, I could figure out what I needed to do to get past this. I just wanted to know what happened.”

“And you found out.” Will settled into the couch across from Dane, where Wayne already sat. “I can’t imagine you went out and shouted it from the windows. And please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to confront her with it.”

Dane grimaced. “Of course not. But when I hit a certain level in my, um, investigation, it triggered an alarm. Someone knows I went after that information. Of course, that just made me more determined to ferret out the information.”

“And obviously you did.” Will looked more intrigued than upset with him now, the newshound in him coming out. Will had the heart of an investigative reporter and, even though he hadn’t worked as a reporter for more than ten years, the guy still had all the instincts pointing him toward a good story.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t what I thought.”

Wayne lifted his brows. “So,” he drew the word out to at least four syllables. “Are you going to share with the class?”

Dane looked straight at Will. “You gotta promise me, Will. You can’t run with this. Seriously. Now that I know why she changed her name . . . You have to give me your word.”

Will paused. “Before I do, am I right in guessing this is newsworthy?”

Dane didn’t have to answer. He only had to stare at Will.

“Fuck.”

Wayne looked between the two of them. Then he put his hand over Will’s and squeezed. “Will.”

Will sighed. “Of course. But you know, if the story breaks, I can’t—”

Dane nodded, his stomach taking a dive at the hell that it would cause Talia. “I know.”

“You have my word.”

Dane closed his eyes for several seconds. Damn it, he was such an idiot.

“She’s Robert Crimmon’s daughter.”

Will closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, sighing.

“Who?” Wayne’s brow furrowed. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“
Fuck.
Only you, Dane. Jesus.”

“Hello?” Wayne knocked on the table between them as Will opened his eyes and shook his head at Dane. “Someone want to clue me in?”

Finally, Will sighed and turned to Wayne. “Remember the Dawson Savings and Trust failure?”

“Yeah, but I don’t— Oh. Oh,
shit
.
That’s
her father?”

“Jesus. You still can’t mention his name in certain parts of the South without risk of being stoned. He embezzled more than $30 million and nearly bankrupted the town. Family businesses went under. Hundreds of people lost everything. Their houses, their retirement funds, college funds. He almost took the county government down with him. He went to jail, got shanked, and has been in a vegetative state for the past several years. An interview with Talia or her mom would be a fucking gold mine.”

“Even after all this time?” Wayne asked.

“Hell, yes. There were a few congressmen who wanted to indict his wife, as well, even though they never turned up any evidence that she knew what her husband was up to. I also remember the huge controversy when a local reporter used a connection with a friend of the daughter to ambush her for an interview. The girl tried to keep her cool but ended up looking like a spoiled, delusional brat and the video went viral. She was thirteen and she got savaged.”

“And this just keeps getting worse.” Wayne shook his head. “You have to tell her you know, Dane.”

Dane grimaced, closing his eyes in disgust. “I haven’t told you the worst part yet.”

“Spill it.” Will leaned back into his chair. “It’s not gonna get any easier the longer you wait.”

“I think I tipped off one of your damn reporters about the fact that she’s living in the area.”

Will dug his fingers into his temple, as if trying to rub away the pain. Dane knew the feeling. “How the hell did you manage that?”

“I needed background info. I was digging through the online archives and Jason Kelly was looking something up at the same time. He’s a goddamn investigative reporter and of course he wanted to know why I was digging into a decades-old case from Kentucky. So he started to follow my trail and I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s got a lead on the mother. Thanks to me.”

Will’s indrawn breath was a hiss. “Kelly’s a pit bull. When he’s got his teeth in something, he’s not gonna let go.”

“I know that.” Dane could barely get the words out from between his clenched teeth.

Wayne laid his hand on Dane’s shoulder. “You have to warn her.”

“I’m not sure Jason’ll be able to dig out the info he needs. It’s buried to hell and back. I think the only reason I kind of knew where to look is because I know her. Hell, I might just be paranoid and completely off track. But my gut says I’m not wrong about this.”

Will shook his head. “Christ, Dane. You really know how to make a mess, don’t you?”

Dane slumped back in the chair. “Not helping.”

Wayne grimaced. “So how are you going to fix it?”

“I don’t have a fucking clue. If I tell her I was digging into her past, she’s going to hate me. If I don’t tell her, I’ll feel like shit for keeping it from her. If anyone else finds out, she’s going to be in the center of a shit storm that I brought down on her.”

Will shook his head. “Yeah, anyway you look at it, you’re fucked.”

Wayne held out his hands. “Let’s not get too far down the rabbit hole yet. Can you do anything to fix this?”

“Other than making sure Jason doesn’t track down her mother, you mean?”

“Can you do that?” Wayne asked.

“Short of having Will tell him straight-out to stop?” Dane took a deep breath and shook his head. “No.”

“Shit, Dane.” Will stared at him. “What the hell are you going to do?”

“I don’t have a fucking clue.”

***

Dane hadn’t called.

Of course, she’d told him not to when she’d left. She’d told him she’d be in touch.

Although she’d meant about the board retreat next weekend and she knew he’d realized that.

Wednesday morning, Talia sat at her desk, setting up last-minute details for Connelly Media’s board retreat, staring at her phone as if she could make it ring.

Which was stupid because she didn’t want him to call.

If he called, she’d break down and answer it and that would totally contradict what she’d said Monday morning. When she’d told him she’d had fun but it was time to move on.

Groaning, she leaned forward, resting her forehead on her arms crossed on her desk.

The headache she’d been trying to hold off for hours wasn’t letting up, and she was going to have to move to dig out some pills for it in a minute.

But for now, she just wanted—

“Knock, knock. I brought hot chocolate and cupcakes from that shop in West Reading. Oh, my god, I think I died and went to chocolate heaven. Just the smell put ten pounds on my ass, I swear. Hey, what’s wrong? Too much partying last night? Were you out with Dane again? Get your head back in the game. We’ve got work to do, girl.”

With a long-suffering sigh, Talia looked straight at Kate and said, “I hate you.”

That was the good thing about friends. They knew how to read you.

Kate hmphed and set the box of to-go cups and a pastry bag on her desk. “What’s up your butt this morning? Did you forget we had this appointment? Nice to know I’m so—”

“I wasn’t with Dane last night. And I’ve got a slight headache. Sorry.”

“Did you take something for it?”

“No.”

Kate dug around in her purse, withdrew a pillbox and set two pills in front of Talia. Then she waited with her arms crossed until Talia swallowed them with a sip of water from the glass on her desk.

“Satisfied, Mom?”

“Not yet.” Kate divvied up the cups and set a decadent-looking chocolate cupcake with a mound of white icing dusted with more chocolate in front of her. “Tell me what’s wrong. And don’t screw around and say ‘nothing.’ We still have business to discuss, so let’s get this out of the way now.”

“It’s just the headache.”

“Bullshit. That’s not why you look like death warmed over.”

“And thank you so much for making me feel even better.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, even your death warmed over looks better than me on a good day. Are you coming down with something?”

“Other than a case of indigestion if you don’t stop asking all these questions, no, I don’t think I’m coming down with something.”

No, she’d already had her episode of utter stupidity for the year. Pneumonia on top of that would be anticlimactic.