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“Actually,” I said, “it doesn’t matter either way to me.”
“Oh?”
I shrugged. Maybe I should play good cop. “If you aren’t, makes my job easier, I think. I clear your name, they become disinterested and move on to someone else.”
“Ah.” He shook a finger at me. “See? For now you’d be satisfied. But the next time I go to some no-name place around the globe and come back in the night, or talk to someone even remotely shady, someone else is going to be wondering what I’m up to. It’s a never-ending cycle. They want you to walk naked in the street to make sure you aren’t up to something, and then they want to arrest you for public indecency.”
“Life for the rich must be crazy tough,” I said, unable to curb my tongue.
He leaned in, his hand lowering until it was almost hovering over my shoulder, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his fingers. I sensed he was testing me to see how close he could get. “See, why does it have to be like that? You act like I’m the bad guy, but you’re the one that walked into my home, crashed my party, and stalked me like a teenager following a boy band. Do you get people breaking into your home and wanting to know all your dirty little secrets?”
Yes. “Maybe.”
He laughed, the sound rich and genuine. “Maybe you do. Most people don’t. Maybe it’s just you and I are the lucky ones.”
I removed the bottle from my neck to take another sip of water. His smile faltered, and his gaze lowered from my face.
“Sweetie,” he said. He reached for my neck.
I let him. I don’t know why, but like Raven and the others, I sensed that he wouldn’t really hurt me.
His fingertips traced along my skin. There was a coolness to his touch at first, but it warmed quickly. He smoothed over the corner of my neck. I winced as he got to a sore spot. “You’re bruised,” he said. His fingers slid down, following to my collarbone. I bit back a shiver and turned my head away. He hooked a finger at the material, pulling it back to expose my shoulder. “Baby doll, you’ve got bruises all over.”
“Huh,” I said in a tone suggesting that I wasn’t surprised.
His eyes narrowed. “And these are older. Who’s doing this to you?”
“No one.”
“Kate,” he said, stronger and determined for an answer.
I flinched, and smacked his hand away. Between Raven and the other boys, and then my own father, I had all kinds of bruises, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He wouldn’t understand. “I’m not here to talk about me. I’m here to do you a favor.”
He smirked. “Some favor. Next time I’ll let you carry me home and then I’ll wrestle you on my way out the door.”
My eyes flared. “You—”
“Wait.” He dropped a finger across my lips, cutting me off. “Hang on, sugar. Let’s not start this again. I’m sorry. Okay? Let’s try to get along for a minute here.”
I glared at him, but stilled, trying to control my breathing. I was flying off the handle. Probably because I was hungry. And my throat hurt. This was the same problem I had with Marc and the others. I needed to stop before I got myself killed. Or worse, got the cops called on me.
He released my lips and his palm cupped my jaw. His fingers rubbed at a tender spot behind my earlobe. It was a slick move, but his fingers were incredibly skillful, picking just the right delicate area to stroke. It relaxed me incredibly. “All right, I’ll let you in on what I’m up to. But you have to promise not to tell them exactly what I’m doing. What I do is my business, but you can tell them I’m not up to anything evil. Would that work to satisfy their curiosity?”
I wasn’t sure. Would they trust me? I’d already left them behind. They wouldn’t trust me when Axel told them what really happened with Marc’s leg. “They may want to know.”
His fingers smoothed back and forth along my jawline. “Kate, I need you to promise you’ll try to convince them. I think when you see, though, you’ll agree. It needs to stay a secret.”
I hesitated, considering. It would require the Academy boys to trust me, and they had no reason to. I’d abandoned them. My curiosity was getting to me. He didn’t seem like the monster they told me about. His warm fingers and those eyes, the golden flecks sparking, made me silent promises, and I surrendered. “I promise.”
??????
He showed me back to the bedroom, where I could get the clothes he’d purchased for me. I used his bathroom to shower. I shaved by borrowing one of his razors and got dressed. I tried not to focus on the fact that his bathroom was bigger than the hotel room. I allowed myself to be jealous of him for having plush towels that felt soft against my clean skin. I wanted to wear one all day and even toyed with the idea of stealing it.
When I was dressed, I opened the bathroom door. He was sitting on the bed, studying something on his cell phone. I approached, and his head lifted. Those hazel eyes lit up, sending a wave of sparks through me that I didn’t want to think about. He turned his phone off, tossing it back onto the comforter. He leaned back on his hands. “See, I didn’t think you were a pink dress type of girl when I first saw you.”
I twisted my lips. “I hated that thing.”
“I could tell.” He curled his fingers in a come hither motion. I hesitated a moment before I approached slowly. He snagged my hands, and pressed our palms together, intertwining our fingers. “Well, before I show you my devilish side, let’s go out.”
“Huh?” I tried not to be distracted with his open flirting. I didn’t encourage him, but I didn’t stop him, either. It was tempting to see how far he went. Part of me was flattered, this handsome, rich guy who could have had anyone was at least curious and playing with me. I tried not to forget that he probably had girls in his bedroom all the time. I didn’t want to be another notch on the post.
“We’ve got a few of hours to wait,” he said. “Until then, what do you want to do?”
“Why do we have to wait so long?”
“Who we want to see won’t be available until later.”
“Who are we going to go see?”
His smile broadened and he brought one of my hands to his mouth and kissed the knuckles. “So you can knock me over with a vase and run out on me? No thanks.”
My heart was tripping over itself. This was becoming difficult to control. “I may not use a vase.”
He laughed, pushing me away and standing up. He grabbed his phone, putting it in his pocket. “When’s the last time you went sailing?”
SAILBOATS
It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. He was going to go sailing with or without me. Now that he knew people were on to him, he could skip town if I left him alone. Not that I was any sort of law enforcement, but I didn’t want to leave him alone if he decided he wanted to run.
And it wasn’t like I could just lose him now. I was going to find out what he was up to. Wouldn’t Marc, if he had any sense in him, have done the same thing?
He had a Mercedes in the garage. It was black, with tinted windows. At first look, I recoiled as it seemed so gaudy a car to have. He opened the passenger side door for me. The interior was heady with the smell of new leather. Is that what new cars smelled like? I’d never been in one before.
I’d gotten my boots back, and I retied them to distract myself as he got in. Guilt weighed on me a bit as I thought my shoes were too dirty to put inside his nice new car. He didn’t say anything so I forced myself to forget about it.
After he started the car and pulled out of the garage, he headed south toward City Marina.
To get to it, he passed right by the Sergeant Jasper. At the sight of the boys’ apartment tower, I pulled back in the seat, trying to be small. At the same time, I scanned the parking lot, looking for their cars. The guilt was heavy, even though I felt I shouldn’t be. I was still a stranger to them. If I disappeared forever, they would forget about me in a couple days. They were probably at that house from yesterday, on the roof finishing the work I had caused a delay in. Eve
ryone except for Marc, who was probably recovering. He was probably happy I was out of his hair.
“Something wrong?” Mr. Coaltar asked.
“No,” I said. I turned my head and purposefully avoided looking at the apartment tower any more. “What’s your name, anyway?”
He grinned. “You forgot? Like you forgot your boyfriend’s name?”
“I know your last name is Coaltar,” I said. “I mean your first name.”
He tilted his head around as he looked at me. “Are you sure you’re an FBI informant?”
“The rumors I heard were only about what you were up to. There weren’t too many details.”
“Like my name?”
I rolled my eyes. “I can call you Bob if you’d like.”
“Close. Try Blake.”
I twisted my lips. “Blake?”
“Something wrong with it?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know if you’re a Blake.”
He laughed. “Is there anything you do like about me?”
I stilled, unsure how to answer him. The truth was, I didn’t know how to behave around him. Blake Coaltar sent new thrills through me, tempting me to play whatever game he was up to. I think I was tempted because he felt different. Most guys were predictable. He was a lot like the Academy guys, unpredictable, impulsive. I liked that. “Your car is okay,” I said.
His smirk broadened and he stepped on the gas.
It was a short stretch before he turned into the marina. He squeezed the Mercedes into a parking space. He shut off the engine and hopped out quickly, opening the door on my side. I joined him in walking toward the docks.
