Exposed (Tropical Nights) (7 page)

Rachel looked around and behind her, trying to see
the person the stranger could be talking to.

“I’ve been looking for you.” The man was older, perhaps in his fifties, with graying hair and a still fit physique.

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, “you must have me confused with someone else.”

“
No, I don’t think so.” The ‘S’ in his word was held just a little longer than necessary, and Rachel realized the man was drunk. “I’ve been watching you since you got here. Saw you talking with Hanlon.”

“Watching me?” Rachel was confused. She had never met the man and she couldn’t figure out why he would be watching her earlier or looking for her now.

The man stepped closer to her and Rachel drew back. There was nothing overtly threatening about the man but he moved in a vaguely predatory way that made Rachel uneasy. “Yeah,” he said. “Figured there’d be some girls here, work for Hanlon, pretty ones like you to convince me to shell out a fortune for a plane.”

“Oh, no, I don’t work for Hanlon, I’m just here
—”

The man cut her off with an impatient wave of his hand. “Tha’s OK, sweetheart, you don’
t have to explain.” He grabbed Rachel’s arm and squeezed it tightly, pulling her to him. She tried to pull away, but she lost her balance and ended up falling into him when she tried to right herself. “Yeah, that’s right,” the man said, clearly thinking Rachel’s stumble was a coyly deliberate invitation.

“
Stop it,” Rachel snapped, wrenching her arm from his grasp and pushing the man away. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but you have the wrong idea.” She brushed past him, wanting to get away from the drunken man in the dark corner as fast as she could and rejoin the party.

He grabbed her
arm again and pushed her roughly against the wall. “Tell me your name, sweetheart.”

             
“Let go of me,” Rachel said firmly.

             
“S’okay, I won’t bite…too hard.” He squeezed her arm.

             
“Ow, you’re—”

             
“Let. Her. Go.”

             
Rachel whipped her head up to see Leo standing a few feet from them. He had spoken in a low and controlled voice but there was no mistaking the threat underlying the command.

The drunk
en man immediately dropped his hands from Rachel and stepped back. “Hanlon,” he said in greeting, as if they were just two friends meeting for a chat. “I was just talking to your girl here about what she could do to sweet talk me into buying one of your planes.”

“You are mistaken
about who she is and the purpose of this party.” Leo reached into his suit coat and pulled out his cell phone.

“Oh, I think I’ve got it just right. I
—”

“
Laniard,” Leo said into the phone, completely ignoring the drunken man. “Call Mr. Kelley’s driver and have him bring his car around. Then come collect Mr. Kelley and personally escort him out. We’re back near the bathroom.” He put the phone back in his coat.

“Now wait just a minute! You can’t throw me out just because I chatted up some chick
—”

“You’re done here,” Leo said, his tone a clear warning to Kelley to
be quiet and do as he was told.

“I’m not going anywhere. You know who I am?” Kelley spoke in the
whiny voice of a spoiled child being told he can’t have another cookie. “If you ever want my business I suggest you apologize and—”

“Let’s get one thing clear.
” Leo spoke forcefully as he took a step toward Mr. Kelley, causing the man to shrink back. “Hanlon Enterprises does not want your business. You are not going to be buying a Hanlon jet. Not now. Not ever.”

Kelley sputtered for a moment, clearly affronted yet
too intimidated by Leo to actually say anything.

“Ah, Mark, you’re here.
” The stormy expression clouding Leo’s face lifted as he talked to his friend. “Please escort Mr. Kelley from the building and make sure he leaves.”

“Is there a problem here?” Mark
Laniard looked from Rachel to Kelley to Leo.

“No. Mr. Kelley has just had a bit too much to drink and needs to go home.”

“Sure thing.” Mark put a hand firmly on Mr. Kelley’s elbow. “Let’s go.” Mr. Kelley looked for a moment like he wanted to protest, but after a glance at Mark and then Leo, he wisely thought the better of it and allowed himself to be led away.

Leo watched them go and then turned to Rachel. “Are you
okay?” His voice was soft and tender now, all traces of hardness gone. “Did he hurt you?” He touched her arm lightly where Kelley had grabbed her.

“No,” Rachel said. “He didn’t hurt me. He was just drunk and annoying.”

“I’m so sorry. Kelley’s always been an entitled ass, but I never thought he’d act like that.”

“I’m fine
, really. You didn’t need to kick him out though. It can’t be good for business to offend potential clients.”

“Screw business,” Leo said
. “After the way he treated you, Kelley’s lucky all I did was throw him out. If I’d acted on my first impulse, Mark would be calling an ambulance rather than Kelley’s driver.” Leo’s anger surprised Rachel. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Leo put his thumb under her chin, concern softening his voice.

“Y-yes. I’m okay. I think I’m just tired. I should probably go home.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed with worry as he studied her for a moment. “Kelley’s gone, you don’t need to leave. I won’t move from your side if you want to stay a little longer.”

Rachel shook her head. She
truly didn’t want to stay, but it had nothing to do with Kelley. That man was nothing more than a drunken nuisance.

It was Leo she wanted to get away from.

She reacted to him so strongly she didn’t trust herself to be near him any longer. His glances at her made her blush. Her skin tingled every time he brushed against her with the lightest touch. His nearness made her forget to breathe. The kiss, dear God, his lips on hers had jolted her with such a heated sensation she was surprised she hadn’t passed out. And the way he was looking at her now, with such tenderness and concern, the way he had thrown out the man who had disrespected her even though it cost him a very lucrative deal—all of it had awakened something in her she thought she had been successful in burying long ago.

“I should get home.” Rachel looked down at her hands, afraid that if she met Leo’s eye her resolve would crumble and she would fall into his arms. She couldn’t
let that happen. “I’ve been working some late nights this week and need to catch up on sleep.”

“I’ll drive you home.”

“That’s not necessary,” Rachel said quickly. “I’ll call a cab.”

“I want to make sure you get home safely.” Leo said. Rachel knew there was no point in arguing with him, so she nodded in agreement.

It was an uncomfortable ride home. Leo was obviously still worried about her in the aftermath of her encounter with Kelley. Rachel was over it, but she didn’t know how to convince Leo she was fine without giving away the real reason for her unsettled demeanor: her feelings for Leo.

She felt confused and muddled, like she couldn’t make sense of anything. There was one thing, however, that the events of the evening had completely clarified for her
: she wasn’t going to do the
New York Exposed
gossip article on Leo Hanlon. That decision would be a disaster for her in so many ways, but she couldn’t do it, not now, not after getting to know him and seeing the kind of man he was. A kind, intelligent, witty man. A man of great integrity who loved his company. A man who had earned the respect and loyalty of everyone who knew him. A man who would destroy his chances at a multi-million dollar sale rather than tolerate loutish behavior against her.

A man Rachel knew she was in danger of falling
for.

Leo’s muscles burned to the point of fatigue as he punched and kicked the heavy bag. It was after midnight and he was worn out from work and the cocktail reception, but he couldn’t sleep. He was restless and cagey, and he had decided to work out his energy in the dojo. He was succeeding—physically at least. He could feel the tension leave his body as his movements warmed and loosened his muscles.

Leo
couldn’t seem to shut off his brain though. It was why he hadn’t been able to sleep. His mind was flooded with thoughts and images of Rachel. How the sight of her when she walked into his hangar that evening had taken his breath away. How the short, tight, cocktail dress had skimmed over her body, showing every curve and angle. How her hair had been swept back, fully revealing her beautiful face. He had been hit, full force, with the aching wanting of her. He hadn’t been able to control his reaction to her then, physically or mentally. The memory of her was causing the same reaction in him now.

The entire night had been exquisite torture. He had laughed privately at
Rachel’s high heels, knowing her propensity for klutziness, but he had also secretly reveled in the excuse the shoes gave him to extend his arm to her, to touch her under the guise of steadying her. He had loved the feel of her there, by his side, on his arm. And when he had kissed her, when he had finally gotten to taste the sweetness of her mouth, it had taken every ounce of self control he possessed to not throw her down on the plane’s plush leather sofa and take her right there.

He had realized his attraction to her earlier, so
while he was mildly annoyed with his response to Rachel, it hadn’t taken him completely off guard. He
was
completely surprised by his reaction to Kelley, though. Seeing that drunk bastard with his arms on Rachel, hearing what he said about her, Leo had felt a current of anger flow through him that he almost hadn’t been able to contain. He had wanted to destroy Kelley, to obliterate him, to wipe him off the face of the earth so he wouldn’t contaminate the air Rachel breathed.

It didn’t make sense.

Leo had no problem protecting himself or those close to him, but the level of aggression he had felt toward Kelley was all out of proportion to what had happened. He couldn’t explain why that incident had triggered such protectiveness in him; he only knew that he
hated seeing her upset in any way.

And he hated seeing anyone else touching her.
He startled at the realization, but he couldn’t push it away. He wanted Rachel for himself. Not in a grunting caveman “you my woman” sort of way…well, okay, he couldn’t deny he felt a little of that visceral male possessiveness about Rachel.

Leo hit the heavy bag with several quick punches to release a sudden surge of frustration.

Fine, dammit.

I
f he was going to be completely honest with himself, he had to admit he going more than just a little caveman over Rachel. He couldn’t deny that aspect, no, but he knew it was also tied up with something deeper. He liked having her at the office and he found himself missing her when she wasn’t around. He liked talking to her, listening to her, finding out everything he could about her. He wanted to take her to dinner so their time together wouldn’t end with the workday. He wanted to take her out dancing so he could hold her close to him. He wanted to fall asleep with her tangled in his arms and wake up to see her smiling face.

Whoa.

Leo told himself to slow down. He was getting ahead of himself. It was perfectly fine to find a woman attractive and to enjoy spending time with her—Leo did it often enough with the women he dated casually—but the ridiculous thoughts running through his head about Rachel were precisely the kind of entanglements he had spent the last few years trying to avoid. His company needed his full attention right now. His focus was especially needed now, with the PR hit the company had taken with his parents’ crash and the way the changing market was shrinking his client base. He would have time for everything later, when he had gotten the company where he wanted it to be. Then he would let himself mourn his parents. Then he could take some time for relationships or his other hobbies that had fallen by the wayside recently.

And he didn’t care what Rivers said. It was the demands of his company that kept him more socially isolated right now than he was usually, not any ridiculous ideas about closing himself off
to people due to sadness over his family…or whatever psychobabble crap Rivers was prone to spout. Rachel intrigued him because she was an intelligent, interesting, beautiful woman, and since he was a normal, healthy male, that was all to be expected. But mild interest in her was where it ended. Tomorrow was the last day she was scheduled to spend with him. Then she would file her story and be out of his life and everything could go back to normal.

The pang he felt when he thought of Rachel
leaving was merely tiredness after a long day. It wasn’t panic over his feelings for her that was making his heart pound—it was physical exhaustion from working the heavy bag.  He repeated that to himself as he threw punch after punch after punch, as if he could physically beat into submission the nagging thoughts in his head insisting otherwise.