Temptation Rising (7 page)

“Lies,” Mel said quickly then sipped her coffee. “They print what they want, what they think’ll sell papers. He’s actually very discreet in who he dates and when. Hey, let’s do lunch. There’s a great sandwich place on Pennsylvania and it’s near the dry cleaners.”

Lunch with Mel. She’d probably talk about her kids, her latest PTA meeting, soccer practice, or something else … normal. Kalina warmed a bit but she wasn’t sure if it was from the tea or the prospect. “Sure. Lunch sounds fine.”

“Meet you at the elevator at one. I like to go later—makes the afternoon pass quicker.”

Kalina nodded. “Me, too.”

“Be good till then,” Mel said, tossing her a smile and walking away.

Be good,
Kalina thought, taking a seat. How could spying on a man and using the nicest woman she’d ever met be good?

*   *   *

The next afternoon, Rome felt like a stalker. Sort of, but not really. He was on his own property, doing something that wasn’t totally out of the ordinary for an employer. There was no law stating he couldn’t walk around his office, take a tour of what he’d created.

If he stopped in the accounting department, just a couple of feet away from the cubicle occupied by his firm’s newest and sexiest employee, well, that was just coincidence.

He heard her voice just seconds after he picked up her scent. A scent he figured he might just be a little addicted to, even though he hadn’t smelled it personally for a couple of years. He still remembered, as if it were yesterday, the first time she’d been close to him, close enough for him to feel a part of her reaching out to him.

“You could back up off me just a little, you know,” she was saying, and Rome’s protective instincts quickly kicked in. Surely no one in his employ was giving her a hard time. If so, he’d definitely deal with them. Despite their little encounter in his office the other night, or possibly because of it, he wanted to make sure he kept her in close proximity this time.

He took a step closer to the cubicle, ready to intervene and reprimand if necessary. But she continued.

“I’d be a lot better off if you’d stop calling every five minutes and let me do my job.”

So she was on the phone, he surmised since the conversation seemed one-sided. He moved closer, the ammonia-like scent of hostility permeating his senses. Whoever she was talking to, she didn’t much care for.

“Fine! Just don’t call me back again.”

Her words were terse, and she really meant them. As he turned the corner of the cubicle they were face-to-face and she wasn’t happy to see him.

“Boyfriend problems?” he said without hesitation.

She didn’t seem startled, only more agitated. “Creeping around the office after hours doesn’t seem like your style,” she quipped.

“No. That would be more your arena, right?” was his reply and her brow furrowed. He’d made her angrier, which really wasn’t his intention. Hell, Rome had no idea what his intentions were where this woman was concerned. What he knew for certain was that he didn’t want another confrontation. It was obvious they were attracted to each other, and from experience it was a lot easier to act on an attraction when you weren’t biting each other’s heads off every time you were together.

So he inhaled slowly, thought about the situation another second, then said, “Is everything okay?” He eyed the cell phone she was slipping in her purse as she stood.

“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “Just dandy.”

Lie. But he smiled anyway.

“Want to get a drink and talk about it?”

“No, thanks. I already have plans for tonight.”

She made sure her computer was shut down then moved to pass him. Rome had plans as well, but didn’t mind being a little late as long as it meant he could spend more time with her.

“Then at least let me walk you out,” he continued, falling in step beside her.

She was tall for a woman—not as tall as him, but she could almost look him eye-to-eye. She walked with self-assuredness and purpose, her heeled shoes eating up the carpet as she moved. There was no problem keeping up with her as they rounded the corner to where the elevators were.

“You parked in the garage?”

“Yes,” she said. Rome hit the
DOWN
button on the marbled panel.

“If there’s a problem you’re having, I can help,” he said when she’d folded her arms over her chest. Today she wore slacks that covered her long legs the way he wished he could. Her blouse was a snug white material with just enough softness to have the insides of his palms tingling to touch. Her hair was slicked on the sides, spiked at the top, giving her eyes an exotic slant he wasn’t sure he noticed the other day in his office.

Rome’s body radiated heat, his dick so hard he bet he could push her against this wall and fuck her right here in the hallway. But that would be classless, something Rome was not. He didn’t take his women in public places, not if he could help it. With Kalina Harper, he wasn’t sure restraint was going to be his friend.

“I don’t need a hero,” she said as the elevator arrived and she stepped inside. Moving all the way to the back, she leaned against the wall and sighed. “Look, I’m sorry if I seem rude.”

He let that comment linger a moment because she was straddling that fence to rude, but he sensed it was more of a defense mechanism than a purposeful snub.

“Guess I’m just having a rough day.”

Rome nodded, pressed the
GARAGE
button, and stood beside her while the elevator began its smooth descent. “It’s Friday, they’re usually rough.” She didn’t respond. “But you said you have plans for this evening. So maybe your weekend will pick up.”

She looked at him then; Rome knew because he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Again, he felt almost like a stalker staring at her every chance he could, even standing a little closer to her than was probably polite. But the way she was looking at him said she was more than a little intrigued herself.

“I hope so.” Her tone was markedly lighter this time, the corners of her lips even going so far as to tilt upward in a slight smile.

As the elevator doors opened, Rome put his arm up to keep the doors ajar and nodded for her to walk out first. “Which way is your car?”

“I’m on this level at the end. But it’s fine, I can manage alone.”

Rome shook his head. “My mother would not be happy if I let a woman walk to her car alone in a deserted parking garage. Come on,” he told her.

She walked beside him, stealing a glance at him every now and then, which only made his erection grow harder.

When they stopped in front of a dark blue Honda, he waited while she found her keys.

“Thanks,” she said with that timid smile again. “For this, I mean, and for the other night.”

He hadn’t thought she’d mention it but was glad she had. Their little tryst on his desk had been one of the foremost thoughts in his mind today. “No problem. I should be thanking you actually.”

“Me? For what?”

She’d found her key and moved in to slip it into the driver’s-side lock. When she moved so did Rome, coming to stand directly behind her, so close that he could smell whatever products she’d used in her hair that morning. “For awakening something in me I thought was long buried.” The words were more truthful than he’d intended, but she wouldn’t know the real meaning behind them.
Hopefully,
he thought with only the slightest regret.

She didn’t move, not even a flinch. But her body temperature spiked, mingling with his own. “That wasn’t my intention,” she said.

“Maybe not,” he said, finally touching a hand to her arm. “But there it is.” He leaned forward, kissed the nape of her neck. “And here we are.”

They were in a very public place. Even though the garage was empty, there were cameras everywhere per his own security specifications. Not to mention the fact that his guards were always close by. Even though he didn’t see the two shifters assigned to his personal detail, they were around, no doubt about it.

But try as he might, Rome couldn’t stay away from her. It both baffled and aroused him.

“This is so not a good idea,” she said, slipping the key into the lock and clicking it. She had to back up to pull the door open. Rome moved with her, remaining close enough to keep both their body temperatures elevated.

“I thought that myself a couple of times with you being my employee and us barely knowing each other. But you cannot honestly tell me you don’t feel what’s between us.”

She turned then, so that her back was to the open door and her front facing him.

“I feel the lust, Mr. Reynolds. I’m not a corpse and I’m not crazy enough to deny it. But acting on it’s a whole other can of worms I’d rather not open.”

Kalina lifted her palms to Rome’s chest, the contact sending an electric charge through his system that almost had him gasping for breath. Then she pushed him back, far enough so that he was now a full arm’s length away from her.

“I know a man whose mother trained him to be so chivalrous as to walk a lady to her car also knows how to take no for an answer.”

She dropped her arms, sliding into the front seat without hesitation. Rome held the door to keep her from closing it on him. Leaning forward, he got close enough to touch his lips lightly to her ear.

“I didn’t hear you say no, Kalina.”

Her body tightened; the only movement was the rise and fall of her chest. She thought he was going to kiss her or at least try to. But he didn’t. He simply stayed right there, inhaling her scent, letting every nuance of her filter through him. She hadn’t said no and wasn’t saying it now. He doubted she could any more than he.

Finally, she sighed. “Good night, Mr. Reynolds.”

Rome pulled back, closed her door, and watched as she pulled off. “A very good night to you, too, Ms. Harper.”

*   *   *

“Where’d you find this?” Nick asked the minute Rome slipped into the backseat of the limousine.

Tapping the glass, Rome gave the signal for Eli to drive. “The collar of my jacket.”

“Tonight?”

He nodded tightly, remembering the moment he’d slid his hands over the lapels and under the back collar. The device was small, intricate, designed to be missed upon inspection. For a minute he’d thought it was a pin left in by the cleaners until tiny hairs on the back of his neck had stood on end.

“It’s tracking you. Why didn’t you destroy it?” Nick asked, still fingering the small diamond-like piece.

“Because whoever’s bold enough to get close to my clothes wants to get close to me. I figure it only makes sense to oblige.” Rome might be calm in his approach, but when pushed he definitely pushed back. If somebody wanted to know where he was, he wasn’t going to make it hard to find him.

“Let the games begin,” Nick added, pushing the left side of his jacket back just enough to reveal the gun he had holstered there.

Rome rarely carried a weapon to functions like this, but Nick was always strapped. So there was no surprise seeing the gun and there was no doubt his friend would use it the minute he felt it was necessary. “We’re keeping a low profile tonight. Ralph Kensington needs this fund-raiser to go well.”

“And I know how much you like Ralph Kensington.”

Rome hated the man, hated the stench of his lies and duplicity like a kid hated visits to the dentist. Still, it helped to keep up pretenses. Besides, Jace Maybon—the Pacific Faction Leader—had picked up a Rogue scent when Kensington visited LA last year. They were positive Kensington wasn’t a shifter, but he’d obviously been in contact with one. Whether the well-known legislator knew that or not had yet to be proven. With that piece of information, Rome made a point to keep in close contact with the man who tonight would announce his run for the US Senate.

“Kensington’s up to something. He knew Baines personally—they gave a dinner together earlier this year.”

“You think he may know something about Baines’s murder?” Nick’s normally cultured tone was slipping, the wild edge to his voice revealing the animal within. It was a subtle change but one Rome knew well.

Rome shook his head, his fingers tapping on the door handle. “I’m not going on what I think right now. I know that Baines and his daughter had their skulls crushed then were ripped to pieces by something the medical examiner could only describe as a vicious, sharp weapon. That’s not a normal murder technique. Jace picked up the Rogue scent on Kensington last summer. When I saw Kensington a few weeks ago, I picked it up as well.”

Nick slammed a fist on the seat. “You should have said something then. We could have defused the situation sooner.”

“I’m not killing Kensington. I want answers.”

“If he’s in cahoots with Rogues he’s not likely to give you answers, Rome.”

Rome’s head snapped toward Nick, sharp canines pricking his lower lip. “He won’t have a choice.”

The Faction Leaders were scheduled to meet next weekend, the senator’s murder bringing all of them here. The need to rein in whatever evil was brewing among the shifters was imperative. Their goal was to live quietly among the purebred humans, to not be discovered for fear of being considered natural-born killers. But every time Rome thought of the grueling way in which the senator and his innocent daughter were killed, he cringed. There was a small element of truth in calling them natural-born killers. He felt it rippling up his spine even now as he thought about it. If faced with the Rogue who did the killings, Rome wasn’t 100 percent positive that he wouldn’t snap the shifter’s neck himself. But that was his animal half, the part of himself he tried to suppress as much as possible while living in this world. He was beginning to think the suppression approach wasn’t going to last for long.