Uncovered (4 page)

“Rough night?” The deep voice boomed over the throttling engine.

“Got into a fight with my boss. Freaking jerk.” I wiped my eyes. “Sorry about interrupting your date.”

All of a sudden it hit me that there
was
a date. I looked in the back seat, but didn’t see seats. “Uh, where is she anyway?”

He pierced me with his eyes. “It turned out we weren’t quite right for each other.”

I turned away from his devilishly attractive face and was now struggling to stop my mouth from grinning.

Kate Simms, who do you think you are? This guy could walk into twenty girls like you on his way home tonight.

The asshole voice in my head wasn’t helping. I was here and now.

“You always drive this fast?” We were flying, speedometer was showing 95.

“Can you tell?” He smirked. “If you can’t handle it I can slow down.”

“I’m fine, just thinking about the cops.”

Cops, Kate? This is a half a million dollar car, you think he gives a damn?

“They know I drive fast.”

He could tell I wasn’t sure what that meant. This guy was like out of a world I didn’t belong to.

“I race on the tracks around here, sponsor a lot of exotic car runs. It helps bring some publicity to city events, so I get to meet cops and they in turn escort us.”

“Are you a race car driver?”

“Just a hobby. I work for a marketing company. You?”

“I work… I
worked
at Beau fashion.” I sighed. “The modeling agency on Michigan.”

“Oh yeah.” He said. “I’ve had some business with them a while back. Do you know Xavier?”

I grated my teeth, “He was my boss.”

“That guy can be fun in very small doses.”
He looked at me knowing exactly what he meant by that.

“He kept increasing the dosage until I couldn’t take it anymore.”

He smiled with his perfect pearl whites. “I think you might have just closed a new chapter and moved to a new one, that’s all.”

It wasn’t time for a wounded calf play. Sure, he looked great and was exciting and rich, but…

But still I let his words sink in and immediately felt more relaxed. Shit, sometimes your life just makes sense when you hear it from another person’s mouth.

“Let’s get some fresh air.” He retracted the huge sunroof, exposing the barely visible stars in the night sky.

“I love
driving with the windows down.” I said as the breeze rushed through the cabin. His perfume carried by it, intoxicating me as it passed by.

“Me too.” He said. “I find the feeling of wind rushing by exciting. It is as if you are storming through nature.” He looked at me with his olive gaze. “My favorite is on a boat, the vast openness of water combined with the warm air blowing by… it really makes me feel alive.”

Looks like you found one, I could hear Olivia’s voice playing in my head. And the summer had just begun.

“I love water in general.” I said. “From the early age my parents realized our family had better vacations near it, so we would try to spend as much time as we could in Florida.”

He stated with a cocky tone, “Then you know exactly what I am talking about. Good girl.”
I had to give it to him, he might have been a little conceited but he was cool and collected. I decided to raise the stakes.

“
May be you show me how you do it here.” I stared at him. He lifted one eyebrow for a quick moment and licked his lips back at me.

“The magic balls says there is a good chance.”

We grinned at each other and I again noticed how attractive he looked when he was smiling. His shimmering light eyes matched by the dark tan could daze anyone. I felt a rush of warmth rise from below my stomach and spread into my legs.

Attraction, Kate Simms? Now?

Before I could work through my feelings, he stopped the car in front of my building. I wished that moment I lived a thousand miles further. I heard Olivia’s voice in the back of my mind, going on about shells, sunlight, and new experiences.

Was he going to ask? Do I want him to ask!?

“It was good meeting you Kate.” His eyes locked into mine.

“You too…” I turned away and looked in front of me.

“Jace.” His voice was so sexy.

“Jace.” I echoed his words.

We looked at each other for a second and our eyes locked again. I realized just how much attraction was sparked in the air. I had the sudden urge to have him pick me up and carry me upstairs in his strong arms to protecting and soothing me. Oh who was I kidding, I wanted him to ravage me all to hell. I opened the car door and looked back at him.
Do it Kate.

BZZZZ… His phone rang.

BZZZZ…

Shit… Come on, Kate, give him the light!

BZZZZ…

“Hello? Who? Oh, hey. One moment” Jace put the phone down and looked quickly at me. “I have to go. Good luck.”

“Bye…” I muttered as he sped off.

What the hell just happened? Did I want him to stay? But I just met him!

Confused, I started walking up the stairs to my apartment. The whole night seemed like it was one long strange dream.

Reaching for the door I remembered that I didn’t even have my keys. I sure hoped Olivia was home.

Chapter 4

Jace

“So, how did last night go?” I launched a basketball towards the hoop. Ben came over and we were catching up on the private basketball court inside my penthouse. His lips curled up as he grabbed the rebound.

“I’d say it was interesting.”

“The good interesting or the bad interesting?”

It turned out he walked in at just the right moment last night. As I was getting bombarded by the sweet talking Sasha I realized that she was moving a lot faster than me. During the time it took us to finish the dessert she had already painted a series of pictures for our future vacation. I instinctively knew that she would be a bad choice for me, and not because she was eager but because I knew I couldn’t give her the emotional connection she wanted. Since Giselle left I’ve had a few girls try to take my mind off her and move on but without the emotional connection I couldn’t feel the passion I was used to. Something inside needed to be healed and I was hoping time was working on it. To a girl like Sasha this wait would be devastating. Even if she accepted it, without me trying to actively engage, she would eventually build up resentment for the guy she supposedly adored. When she dropped the bomb of hoping to become a model, I felt the thermostat in my heart turn a couple degrees colder. Ben’s arrival came at the perfect moment. He banked a shot and threw me the ball.

“So after you suddenly decided to call it a night we went upstairs to have a few more drinks. Sasha was disappointed and I quickly reassured her that it was an emergency and you needed to get home. She took it fairly well and the loud music and the alcohol helped bring her back. By the fifth song she was eying me with her playful eyes. Then she started smiling a lot, and we suddenly felt the urge to hit the dance floor. That about covers it.”

“Ben, our savior.” I chuckled as the ball swooshed through the net.

“You know, that girl was pretty sharp. She caught the bartender try to double charge us for drinks and started raising so much hell that the manager promised me I would not have to pay for drinks there all summer. Don’t know why you’d let that pass by.” Ben said, more to himself. “But how was your night, where did you run off to?”

“It wasn’t anything important.” I hesitated. His brows came down as he looked at me. It was the look I knew all too well, he sensed there was more.

“Yeah right, I could see that you got into your car and headed the opposite direction from your place.”

“When did you get so observant?” I said coolly. “Alright, you got me. A girl made a scene by our table last night, and she reminded me of someone I knew a while back. I only saw her for a moment so couldn’t be sure so I went out to check.”

“And?” Ben stopped shooting and looked at me.

“It wasn’t her. Some girl from the party upstairs. She got in a fight with her boss and had to leave, so I gave her a ride home.”

“What a gentleman you are, Mr. Roland!” Ben smirked. “And then you two kissed and did the sideways tango?”

“Bonus points for creativity, but no, nothing like that.”

“And why the hell not, was she also too blond and too Russian?” prodded Ben.

“Wise ass.”

“Yes sir. So?”

“You gonna make me do this? Fine. I actually thought she was somewhat interesting. I just had to get out of there.”

“But at least you have her number?”

“Nope.”

“Wow man you really are something.” Ben shook his head. “A dude who can have any girl but doesn’t take those that life puts right in front of him. Okay, what was her name?”

“Kate… something. I think she worked for Beau.”

“Xavier’s fashion hustle?” Ben raised his eyebrows. “I wonder what she did for him. Well, I am sure I can find something to help you find her through my contacts.”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Giselle called me last night. She is coming to town next month for a shoot.”

Ben’s eyes grew wider. “Shit.” He said. “I mean… shit.” His mouth moved sideways as he bit inside of his lip, his typical thinking move. “Look Jace, I love you so this is straight from my heart. Forget Giselle. You haven’t been the same since she left and clearly this is because of her. I don’t care what she’s doing, I care about what you are doing. She can come back but that doesn’t mean you need to jump back in, you know?”

His words made sense, I just couldn’t process them. May be I didn’t want to. It was like someone telling you that you can indeed float above the water when you are terrified of drowning. You might want to believe it to be true, but you don’t trust it fully.

“Look, I will make you a deal. I will find the contact for the girl yesterday, this interesting Kate, and in return you can let me borrow the Lambo tonight.”

I launched another shot and missed wildly.

May be I can get this out of my system before Giselle comes. May be Kate can be ..useful.

“What do you say?” he said.

“Do it, my place tomorrow.” I turned to him. “What do you need my Lambo for anyway?”

“What do you think?” he grinned, “I got a second date.”

~~~~~~

Kate

My phone rang, it was Olivia.

“Hey, come downstairs. I gotta show you something!” She was excited.

“Right now? I just woke up.”

“With another beautiful stranger in your dreams? Well I have a surprise, get your butt down here.”

I put on my sweatshirt and headed outside. Outside our apartment Olivia was walking a large black dog on a leash.

She pointed to him with theatrical exaggeration. “Kate, meet Cesar. He will be staying with us for the next two months.”

“Wow, he is huge,” The dog’s head came up to my waist. “Where did you find him?”

“Do you remember Luke, the movie producer guy? He had to go to Europe for work so I offered to keep an eye on his baby.”

When the dog heard his owners name, he twirled his giant head to look around. Not finding him, he lazily turned towards me and licked my hand.

“He’s adorable, isn't’ he?” Olivia beamed. “Now we’ll always have a man around the house.”

I fondled the dog’s thick black coat. “He is super cute. Now I have someone to run with.”

We went up the stairs to the apartment. After getting Cesar took his time to get acquainted with his new home I shared the details of the previous night, and my falling out with Xavier.

When she heard I got fired Olivia frowned her brows, causing a small wrinkle appear in the middle.

She shook her head. “Wow, he just doesn’t learn. I am sorry Kate. You know I
do
know a couple of Russians who would gladly help him understand that he needs an attitude readjustment.” Her lips curled up.

“Yeah right, Olivia, I couldn’t do that. He’s a dick but I don’t need to stoop to his level. What sucks is that I think he was right, I might be screwed. You know how connected he is.”

“Don’t pout now, he was just talking big game.” She said, “Your priority is now on school. You didn’t plan to work in fashion event planning all your life, were you?”

“I guess not, but without first year’s tuition I am not sure I can do either at this point.” I petter Cesar and suddenly it hit me, “Crap, I just remembered my purse is still at La Rouge!” I lowered my voice, “I guess I was lucky that guy happened to stop by.”

“What guy?” Olivia raised her eyebrow.

“He was leaving at the same time and stopped by to check on me, I guess. We started talking and he drove me home.” It was innocent enough.

Her lips parted in a smile, “There ya go, that’s pretty adventurous of you. I hope he wasn’t terrible looking and horny?” she laughed.

“Nope, he was very handsome, I’m afraid.” I said. “Drove this ridiculous sports car too. That was the adventurous part, I think I made it home in record time from work.”

“Sounds exciting.” Olivia looked at me, “Did he have a name?”

“Um, he said it was Jace Roland.”

“
The
Jace Roland?” Olivia’s eyes widened “The guy who’s face is in every local magazine?”

“I don’t know, it could be. Who’s he?”

She shot up from the couch, “You kidding me? That guy is straight fire. Hold up, I think I have a mag around here somewhere.”

Olivia walked over to the counter and brought over an issue of
Chicago Luxury Living
. She flipped it until finding a large picture with an article.

“Jack Roland, the CEO of Monolyth, attends a charity gala at the “Chicago Yacht Club.” Olivia turned to me. “Is this the guy?”

I looked at the picture and saw the handsome stranger from last night starting back. “That’s him!”

“Holy crap,” she said excited, “Way to go Kate. Look at his amazing eyes, what a hottie!" Her saying it brought me back to his car when I was lost in his intense gaze, drunk with it. Olivia turned to me “So, what happened between you two?”