His Unexpected Lover (The Thorpe Brothers) (3 page)

He pulled her closer, his hands resting lightly on her back as he kissed the top of her head.  “I was hoping you might transfer to the University of Chicago.”

She smiled up at him, but her smile wasn’t as bright as it had been a moment ago.  “Why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because I’m going back to start up the mergers and acquisitions division at The Thorpe Group, the law firm my brothers own.”

She pulled back slightly.  “You’re leaving Washington, D.C.?” she asked, a sharp, stabbing pain shooting through her stomach and chest at the idea.  “I thought you loved your job at the Supreme Court?  It’s such a coup to have that opportunity.”

“It is, but it’s also just a stepping stone.  The ultimate goal all along was to figure out which type of law I wanted
to practice, so I could start up and build that division in my brothers’ law firm.  It’s a great opportunity.  And when you finish school, I’m sure there would be a job there for you as well.”

Kiera pulled back, appalled by the idea.  “I can get my own jobs, thank you very much.”
She was offended that he would suggest that he get her a job somewhere.  She was going to be a great lawyer!  She definitely didn’t need handouts!

Axel pulled her back into his arms.  “Of course you can.  But why would you when you could have a
ready-made job waiting for you?”

She didn’t like his answer one little bit.  “Because I need to prove myself on my own
?” she suggested sarcastically, unable to hide the hurt in her voice with his idea.  Did he think she couldn’t cut it on her own merits? 

He laughed again, shaking his head.  “I have complete faith in your abilities, Kiera.  That was never a question.  But if you transferred to U of Chicago, we could still be together.”

She pulled back, irritated for some reason.  “And what about Georgetown University?” she challenged.  “It has a better reputation than the University of Chicago.  I had to work very hard to get into Georgetown.”

He pulled back slightly, looking down at her with eyes that were hurt at her
quick rejection.  “I thought you wanted to go to law school?” he asked, his shoulders straightening in the face of her resistance.  It all seemed like a great plan in his mind.  Why couldn’t she see how perfect this was?

“I do!”

“So what’s wrong with law school in Chicago?”

She couldn’t believe what he was actually suggesting.  “What’s wrong with working in a law firm right here in Washington, D.C.?  It’s the center of legal activity.”

He shook his head, dismissing her idea completely.  “This is all politics and lobbyists.  It isn’t the type of law I want to practice.”

Words failed her.  “Are you suggesting that I give up a great school, one that I’ve wanted to attend since I was ten years old, just because you have a cushy job with your brother’s law firm?”

Axel stood there looking down at her, confused.  “I’m not sure I understand.  There is no downside to this for you.  Hell, Kiera, you don’t even need to work if you don’t want to.”

Kiera stood there staring at him, not sure how to react. 
“I don’t think I understand what you’re suggesting.”  Her body was going numb.

Axel pulled her closer, feeling her tense muscles underneath his fingers.  “I want you to marry me. I would love it if you would come back to Chicago with me and be my wife.”

Her mouth fell open and her chest felt about the same but with additional pain shooting throughout her whole body.  “Are you suggesting that I give up going to law school, drop out of college and just follow you so I can be your wife?”

“You don’t have to give up anything.  But if you wanted to, I’m just saying that’s okay.  You can do anything you want.  I intend on making enough money to support both of us.”

Kiera knew he thought this was a good deal.  But to her ears, she was giving up everything and he was getting the life he always wanted.  “So let me get this straight.  You want me to drop out of one of the best schools in the country, follow you to Chicago so you can pursue your dream career.  You’re not willing to get a job here in Washington, D.C., not even look for one here that might fit your desired legal area, because you want to go back to Chicago.  You want me to give up everything while you gain everything.  Is that it?”

He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with the way she was interpreting his offer.  “It isn’t like you have to give up everything.  Just transfer schools!  And we can still be together!  I know you love me and I feel exactly the same for you!  What’s the problem here?” 

“The problem is that you’re not sacrificing anything and yet you’re asking me to sacrifice all of my dreams!”

They stood there in his small living area, glaring at each other. 

If he thought that was who she was, he didn’t know her at all. 

“I have to go,” she whispered, hurt beyond anything by his attitude and assumption
s. 

“No you don’t,” he said, trying to calm her down. “Just stay and talk about this,” he tried to coax her. 

She slipped back into the bedroom and grabbed her clothes, refusing to even look at him.  When she was dressed, she walked back out to his barren living room and something occurred to her.  “You’ve never really made this into a home because you always knew you’d be going back to Chicago, right?”

He’d grabbed his jeans as well, his frustration obvious. 
Axel looked around his apartment, not sure what she was talking about.  “What do you mean?”

“This apartment…” she
said, waving her hand around to encompass the sofa and books but no television, no coffee table.  There was nothing that would make one sit back and relax.  “It isn’t just a bachelor pad.  You’ve never really moved in here.”

“Of course I have.  All of my stuff is in the closet. 
What would you expect me to do?”

Kiera closed her mouth, so many things falling into
place.  “Well, I guess I should at least be flattered that you wanted me to come with you.”

He grabbed his shirt, buttoning it up partway but his frustration was obvious. 
“We’re not finished talking about this,” he said and started looking for his keys.  “Let’s just go out to dinner.”  He stopped looking for them when he noticed her chin wobbling, a sure sign that she was closer to breaking down than he thought.  He sighed heavily and moved towards her, intending to take her into his arms and reassure her that they could make this work. 

She pulled back when he started to touch her, not sure what she might do if she felt his hands on her
back.  Kiera was so hurt by his suggestion that she didn’t need to work.  But she was also feeling a great deal of pain caused by the fact that he wouldn’t even consider finding a job here in Washington, D.C., at least until she finished school herself.  He wasn’t willing to sacrifice anything for her.  She’d been such a fool!  She’d thought he genuinely cared for her, that they had something special, but his offer explained it all to her.  She was a convenience.  He didn’t see her as an equal partner at all, but just a good lay that he wanted to transport to his home town. 

She was holding on
to her emotions with all the control she had at the moment and she didn’t want to break down into tears now.  He already thought of her as the kind of woman who went to college to get an MRS degree, what would he think of her if she started weeping all over him, begging him to stay here with her?  He’d lose even more respect for her. 

She couldn’t handle that.  If there was nothing else, she wanted him to at least respect her. 

“I’m not really hungry any more.  I’ll just make my own way home.”

That infuriated Axel.  “There’s no way I’m letting you take the bus or catch a cab, Kiera.  I’ll drive you home.
  And we need to talk about this.  There has to be some way to make this work.”

“No!” she snapped at him
, not sure if she was saying ‘no’ about making it work or him driving her home.  “I’ll get home on my own.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he practically growled.  “Hold on.  I think my keys are in
the bedroom.”

As soon as he disappeared in search of his car keys, she slipped out the door.  Thankfully, a cab was at the curb
letting someone else off so she was able to dive into the back just as Axel was rushing out the door.  Her last image of him was his furious face as the cab driver pulled away and she knew that the tears were already streaming down her cheeks. 

Current Day….

Kiera pushed the martini out of her line of sight.  She wasn’t going to drink it. 
She looked up to try and find a waitress, wanting something a bit less lethal.  She was just about to raise her hand when the office manager for The Thorpe Group spotted her from another table.  Kiera wanted to just slide under the table and pretend like she wasn’t here, but Autumn – a stunning brunette woman – walked gracefully to Kiera’s table. 

“What are you doing here all alone?” she asked, smiling sincerely at Kiera.  “Why don’t you join us?  We’re about to celebrate Mia’s newfound freedom
, and I heard that you were instrumental in figuring out what was really going on with that sleezebag ex-fiancé of hers.”

Kiera was already shaking her head when Mia Paulson herself appeared at the edge of the table.  “It’s you!” she gasped and bent low, hugging Kiera tightly.  “I didn’t have a chance to thank you for what you did earlier today!  You are my hero!”

Kiera laughed, feeling painfully self-conscious, when a blond woman appeared next.  Of the three new arrivals, Autumn was the tallest, but only because she was wearing three inch, spike heels that must kill her feet every day.  Mia was a bit shorter, but only because her sleek black slacks and neat white shirt weren’t in a style that could handle three inch heels.  The latest arrival was about an inch shorter, which meant that Autumn and Mia were about Kiera’s own height of five feet, six inches. 

“This is our former client, Mia Paulson,
but of course you already knew that,” Autumn was explaining, “and this is Cricket Fairchild, who we found cursing out our beloved leader. So we kidnapped her into joining us as well, thinking she would be a perfect addition to our party.”  Cricket was a vivacious blond woman with startlingly intelligent eyes. She was shorter by a couple of inches, but what she lacked in height, she made up for in energy.  It practically sizzled throughout her body and her blond curls bounced around her beautiful face. 

The three women didn’t wait for an invitation
.  They hustled Kiera over to their table, an empty chair already pulled over from another table.  Autumn even pulled Kiera’s work folder away and stuffed it back into Kiera’s leather bag before turning to raise her hand, getting the attention of the waitress. “We’ll have a pitcher of margaritas and four glasses please,” she said with a smile to soften the request. 

Kiera sat uncomfortably by the
three, gorgeous women, feeling insecure and inadequate while she slowly sipped her drink.  The women chatted on about Ash Thorpe and how Mia was furious with him for being so arrogant and domineering.  A few “stupids” and “jerks” were thrown in there for good measure. 

But as they talked, Kiera realized that
, although these ladies were shockingly beautiful, they were all down to earth, funny, and more laid-back than they’d initially appeared. 

“Sounds lik
e we all have man troubles,” Kiera observed, taking another sip.  These women weren’t intimidating.  They were just like her, all in love with men who were just as irritating and obnoxious as Axel. 

Of course, she wasn’t in love with Axel. 
At least, not any more.  There had been a time…

No, not going there, she told herself firmly and took another long sip of her margarita. 
She felt the other women’s eyes on her and silently cursed herself for revealing her feelings. 

“Axel?” Mia asked carefully, her eyes narrowed as she considered the woman’s predicament. 

Kiera was proud of herself for not cringing.  “Everyone has their albatross,” she replied wistfully, wishing she honestly felt nothing for Axel Thorpe. 

There was a bit more chatter back and forth but Kiera
suddenly stopped, feeling something strange…she wasn’t sure what.  She’d had too much to drink to figure it out, so she ignored the strange, oddly familiar feeling and took another long sip of her drink, still trying to get Axel out of her mind.  She shook her head and set her glass down on the table.  Unfortunately, the weird sensation wouldn’t go away.  It was almost the same feeling she’d gotten that first time…No!

“Ladies,” she started to say, trying to give them a warning about…well, she wasn’t sure
for what.  Her head was spinning and she was feeling too relaxed to feel truly threatened. 

Kiera smiled wistfully as Mia admitted that she was in love with
Ash.  It was so sweet that she stopped thinking about Axel for a few moments and welcomed the relief. 

“But he doesn’t trust me,” Mia was saying before
sighing with frustration. 

Mia
almost spilled her drink when the man snuck up behind her.  “Yes I do,” Kiera’s new boss was saying, probably in reference to trusting Mia but none of the women were completely sure.  Kiera swallowed painfully, her mind still too murky to figure out the rest.  But she shifted in her seat and…yep, sure enough.  All four Thorpe men were standing behind them, partially hidden by the décor of Durangos, but it was obvious that they had all heard their conversation.

Her eyes lifted slowly, her heart racing in that horrible way that it always did when Axel
moved around the table.  And he was definitely coming nearer to their table.  Or was it more grammatically correct to say closer?  She wasn’t sure about the appropriate grammar at the moment because her margarita-fuzzy mind was spinning with both the alcohol and his proximity. 

“What are you doing here?” she
whispered when he stopped right next to her.  She wasn’t worried.  The alcohol had taken care of any nervousness for her.  But there was still that zinging chemistry that was always present whenever he was around.  She’d thought the years would diminish the impact of his body so close to hers, but the truth was, the years had only made the affect more acute. She should have realized that when she’d almost tripped earlier today after just a glimpse of him in the hallway. 

Axel looked down at the obviously inebriated but still shockingly beautiful woman that had haunted him for years. 
Damn, he’d missed looking at those freckles.  She looked so sophisticated and untouchable with her lush curls flying everywhere and her brown eyes drawing him closer, as if she could read his soul. 

She was a bit thinner now than she’d been in college.  Definitely more sophisticated with her power suits and her
killer heels.  But he knew what was underneath those suits and it drove him nuts that he couldn’t strip away all those layers and get to the real woman underneath.  He wanted to see the woman who writhed in his arms or laughed at his jokes, challenged his arguments. 

He wasn’t sure if he was angry with her or thrilled that she was finally here in Chicago. 
“I’m going to drive you home,” he explained, picking up her leather bag and her purse and tucking both under his arm as he took her hand and pulled her out of her chair. 

“I don’t want to go home,” she
shot back, her voice breathy and nervous.  She stumbled slightly, not sure if that was because she’d had too much to drink or because her legs were always wobbly whenever she was close to Axel, but his arm immediately wrapped around her waist, pulling her hard against his muscular body.  “Don’t hold me like that,” she commanded, but even that order was said without much force.

He turned slightly so he was holding her against his chest, enjoying the view of her cleavage from this angle.  He took in her
unfocused gaze and the soft curls that had escaped the clasp at the back of her neck.  She looked so soft and sexy, and she had no idea how gorgeous she was.  Men stopped and stared at her and she was oblivious.  From a distance, she looked like some sort of sexual siren, luring men closer but once they saw her, many pulled back, struck by how lovely she was.  Those adorable freckles only confused the issue.  Years ago, he’d been thrilled to know that he was the only man who knew that the freckles were only on her face. 

He hated the idea that another man, possibly more than one, had held her incredible body
, experienced her passion, and discovered that the rest of her lush body was covered in milk white skin without a blemish anywhere. 

Right now, her hands were resting against his chest and he didn’t say a word.  There was a point when he’d thought he’d never have her soft, gentle hands on him again but here she was, holding onto him like a lifeline. 
“Are you going to fall over?” he asked, looking down into her expressive brown eyes with amusement, enjoying her dependence on him, even if it only lasted until she sobered up. 

Kiera narrowed her eyes and her adorable tongue poked out of her mouth, as if she were trying to evaluate the possibility of falling over. 
“I haven’t decided,” she told him honestly, then berated herself for that honesty.  “But I don’t need your arm around me either way.”  Unfortunately, she didn’t have the will or the ability to move out of his arms.  He was stronger than she was by a significant margin, but there was also his warmth seeping into her body that she’d desperately missed since she’d walked out of his apartment all those years ago.  Standing here with his arms around her, she realized that she hadn’t been warm since the last time he’d held her.  And that warmth had absolutely nothing to do with the air temperature and everything to do with how he made her feel inside. 

He didn’t let go of her
but, instead, turned her around so they were walking out of the bar.  “Let’s get you some coffee,” he said. 

“I don’t want coffee either,” she grumbled. 
She wanted to stand there in his arms, revel in just being close to him and how wonderful it felt.  But there wasn’t much to do about it since he was walking her out the door.  Thankfully, she wasn’t so far gone that she said anything to him about how much she liked his arms around her.  Yes, at least she’d held that back, not wanting to make a fool of herself. 

“Tough,” Axel replied
, chuckling to himself because this was the first time he’d ever seen Kiera drunk.  He liked it actually.  He was enjoying the soft feel of her body against his, her gentle curves that he remembered so vividly.  This woman had appeared in his dreams over the years so often, he’d actually cursed her when he’d woken up.  “You probably need some food too, don’t you?”

“Not at all,” she countered, proud that she could say that she wasn’t the least bit hungry. 

“What have you eaten tonight?” he asked, evaluating how far gone she really was.  She was leaning against him but she wasn’t stumbling.  That was a good sign. 

Damn he’d missed her!  He hadn’t let himself admit it all these years, but having her here, in his arms
tonight, he knew that a part of him had never felt alive after she’d walked out of his life.  And he’d let her!  That was the worst part. 

But now she was here.  He’d known that Ash was hiring her
.  The four brothers discussed all hiring decisions before they were finalized, except for the support people who Autumn managed.  But when Kiera’s name had come up, her brothers had instantly been impressed, eager even to bring her on board.  She had outstanding credentials and had more trial expertise under her belt than all the other candidates, several of whom were older than she was.  What could he have told his brothers?  No, you can’t hire the best trial lawyer to come out of law school in the past five years because I might just toss her in bed and never let her out again?  Axel didn’t think that would go over too well with his brothers.

Unfortunately, when he’d seen her earlier this afternoon, even after he’d known to be expecting her in the hallways, he’d still felt like someone had punched him in the gut.  Over the years, she’d grown even more beautiful than she’d been while in college.  Back then, she’d had a sort of innocent-bohemian quality to her.  She’d been casual and
laid back but in an oddly intense sort of way. 

Now she was all polished and sexy
– with those professional suits that he wanted to just peel away and find out what she wore underneath. 

He tucked her into his car, almost groaning as she crossed her legs with those damnable heels that made her legs look even sexier.  He stared at her legs, unaware of what he was doing until he heard a noise behind him.  He’d just drive her home, make sure she was safe and then head home himself.

“Where do you live?” he asked when he slipped into the leather seat beside her.

When he got no response, he looked over at her and was surprised to find that she’d
fallen asleep. 

“Well, hell,” he thought with a chuckle.  “I guess I’ll just have to drive you to my place,” he told the sleeping beauty. 
The idea didn’t bother him one little bit.  In fact, he preferred it this way. 

He drove through the night, his body on fire for the woman in the passenger seat but, more importantly, he was more relaxed now than he had been in…years.  He had
his Kiera right where he wanted her. 

Well, not exactly, he thought.  He might put her in his bed to let her sleep of
f the tequila, but unfortunately, he couldn’t share that bed with her.

As he carried her into his house, he thought about the conversation the four women
had been having before he and his brothers interrupted.  Kiera had said, “We all have man troubles.”  But did that mean that she was as attracted to him as Autumn was to Xander? Or did that mean she had another man she was interested in?  Was she seeing someone?  She’d only been in town for a few days, having moved here from San Francisco, where she’d taken a job right out of college.  She’d graduated from Georgetown Law School with honors and had been a hot commodity, he knew.  He’d watched her career, followed her through his acquaintances and knew that she’d excelled at criminal law.