Come Home Again (The Donovans) (11 page)

Nate placed himself between her and Michael then slid his hands into his pockets. The stance appeared relaxed. But she knew him. If she didn’t do something soon, there would be a brawl. “Oh yeah, Michael Ross. You’re that actor. You used to do those action movies right?”

Michael didn’t miss a beat. “That’s right. Still do. There’s already Oscar buzz about my new project. And you’re the new toy CEO they have at Synth, aren’t you?”

Nate showed his teeth, but there was more than a hint of warning in the smile. “I’m the guy who’s going to shred you, if you don’t back off Delilah.”

Michael grinned. Delilah looked around, but no one seemed particularly interested in the mini melodrama unfolding in front of her. It looked like Nate and Michael were laughing and playing catch up.

“Delilah,” Michael said. His voice was sugary sweet but dripped with ice. “Why don’t you tell the pretend CEO here that grown folks are talking and he should mind his fucking business.” He glared at Nate as he added. “I suggest you stay away from me and Delilah.”

Oh shit.
This
could, not, happen
. “Would the two of you stop it?” She slid between both men and patted their chests, making sure to keep her smile in place. She turned to Nate. “You need to go back to your date. I have this under control.” To Michael she said, “You need to take no for an answer. Conversation over.”

Nate looked reluctant to leave her side, but she shoved him in the right direction. Michael, on the other hand, took a quick and decisive step toward her, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed. “Who is he?”

“A client. Like you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She stalked away without a backward glance. She might have imagined the burning stare on her back, but every instinct in her body told her she was being watched.

###

N
ate gripped his glass as he watched Ross stare after Delilah. That shithead needed to get a fucking clue before he gave him one. His date, just returning from the powder room, must have noticed his tension, because she placed a hand on his arm.

“Nate, are you all right?”

His gaze flickered to her. Delilah had been right. Elizabeth was the perfect date. Money, connections. And the air of blueblood about her. She'd introduced him to half the room. Delilah certainly knew what she was doing. He had to give her that much. He didn’t exactly run in these circles, so having someone who did, who could shuttle him around made it all bearable. “Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?”

She coughed with an exasperated laugh. “Well, because you haven’t heard a word I've said for the last five minutes, and right about now, you look like you’re ready to do some physical damage to someone. I promise you that won't go over well with the organizers. Fisticuffs are strictly verboten.”

He knew she meant it as a joke, but his jaw still clenched. It's not like she had any idea about his past. All Delilah had told her was he was the new acting CEO and he needed a date who knew how to work a crowd. But still, he worried she might see through to the kid he’d once been.
Relax, dumbass. She doesn’t see through you.
And he'd better keep it that way. He forced a smile. None of these people would find out about the real him. That thug kid had to stay hidden. At least in front of the masses. He owed Chase that much. “You have nothing to worry about.”

Elizabeth faltered and leaned back an inch.
Damn
. He really had to work on softening the edges. He worked his carefully constructed mask back into place.

This time, she visibly relaxed with a deep sigh. “Now, let's go meet the mayor. He's a terrible golfer, but he's a good man to have in your corner. You should suggest a game.”

Golf
? He'd rather shoot himself in his left nut. But he nodded benignly and followed her.

For the next thirty minutes, he chatted and made small talk, mentally cataloguing everyone he met. All of them had some distinction, and were, so far, fooled by the façade.
Good
. That was what he wanted. He only had to do this for a couple of months. He could do anything for that long, right?

In his peripheral vision, he occasionally caught sight of Delilah laughing and smiling. This sort of thing came so easy to her. Sure, she was working, but there was an authenticity about every interaction that helped her connect to people. She’d always been like that. That was probably the reason she had clients in the first place. People wanted to trust her. Wanted to talk to her because she looked like she was listening.

When Delilah headed toward the far corner of the ballroom, Ross followed at a discrete distance, and the hairs on Nate’s arms stood upright.
Shit
. Excusing himself from some useless bullshit conversation about local politics, he followed Ross to the rear exit.

Once he was in the darkened hallway, he didn’t see any hint of Delilah or Ross. He took a chance and headed down the corridor with quick strides. He passed the fire exit and halted as he spotted a swatch of black through the window.

Making sure he wasn't being followed, he opened the door and ran after her. The click and clomp of her heels echoed through the stairwell with deafening clarity. “Delilah, wait.”

All he heard was a muttered curse, then the clanging echo stopped. “Nate?” she asked, her voice tinny and raw.

When he caught up to her on the landing, she was leaning against one of the large cylindrical ducts. Behind it was a darkened storage closet. He gripped her shoulders. “Are you all right?”

She shook her head. “I was going to take the elevator to the pool area, but Michael thought it might be fun to join me inside, so I waited till the last minute and slipped out.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m hiding from my client. How perfect is that?”

“I saw him follow you, and I was worried. That guy’s a piece of work.”

She swallowed hard. “That he is. And he is also a client.
And
currently under the deluded impression that I'm going to go out with him. I’ve made it clear he’s mistaken. I even made up a boyfriend, hoping to throw him off the scent. He’s not usually so persistent. Drinking doesn’t help. And of course, Jake wanted me to stick to him like glue.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working with me tonight?”

“I don’t think Jake took you too seriously when you said you’d only work with me.”

Nate made a mental note to read Jake the riot act. Her voice might have been calmer, but her eyes were still overly bright, and she trembled. Fury made his hands shake. When he got that pretty boy actor alone, he was going to shred him.

He forced himself to take a breath, then another. “Let me take you home. I'll put you in the limo and call Elizabeth from there. To be honest, I think I was beginning to bore her anyway.”

She shook her head. “No, Nate, I can’t ask you to do that. You need to be at this party. This is work for you. It needs to come first. I'll just head home. I'll go out the back way. I've already texted my car service. Honestly, I'm fine.”

His anger boiled over. “Would you stop saying that? You’re clearly
not
fine. That asshole had his
hands
on you. He's a problem, Lila. He’s the kind of guy who won’t take no for an answer. He’s the kind of guy who takes what he wants, no matter what. He thinks it’s owed to him.” He shuddered as his mind tried to reel in dark memories.

She sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “Nate, I know that. He's slimy. But so far, I'm able to keep it professional. I'll talk to Jake about it. I think Michael’s full of hot air, but I’m not going to take chances. I'm not a fool, you know, I can—”

The echoing creak of the fire door being opened startled them both. Three flights up, where she'd made her escape, Nate heard voices. Both of them familiar. He couldn’t really make out what they were saying though.

Delilah leaned in and whispered, “Is that Jake?”

Nate nodded. “And Ross too, it looks like.”

She squinted. “I can’t hear them.”

They both fell silent. Nate was able to make out Ross poking Jake in the chest. “You said she was mine. Who the fuck is that other guy?”

Jake hushed him. “Look, he’s a client, and he’s insisted that he wants her as his primary. He’s important. Or rather his company is important. I need to give him what he wants. And you need to calm down.”

Michael shoved Jake. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Fix it.” Then Ross dropped his voice and said something muted that sounded like “....Better not....disappoint...in charge.”

Nate dragged his attention back to Delilah. “I didn't get the last part.”

Suddenly, heavy footsteps caused the stairwell to vibrate. Delilah’s eyes went wide. “Shit, is that Michael or Jake coming down?” she whispered.

“Not sure. Look. Take off your shoes and head downstairs. I'll distract whoever that is.”

Delilah looked from Nate, to the stairs, and back to Nate again. “I don’t think we have time for that. Besides, the last thing I need is you and Michael in some kind of fight. Getting in his way will be ugly for you, and we can’t afford that.”

He glanced back up the stairs, and adrenaline thrummed through his veins. “What do you suggest? We keep standing here, and one of them is going to see us. Either Jake will see us together and we need to start explaining ourselves, or Ross is going to get his ass beat.”

She sucked in her bottom lip and raked it over with her teeth, then slid a glance back up the stairs. “I don’t know.”

“Fine, then I’m deciding.” He tugged her behind the duct and tucked her into the closet, following close behind.

“Nate, what are you doing?” she whispered.

“Giving you an escape plan.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, great plan, except for the big ol’ window anyone can see through.”

He grinned. “You seem to forget that you’re tiny. All anyone will see is my back. If anyone comes down, they’ll assume I snuck in here with someone for a little privacy.”

“This isn’t going to work.”

“You’re going to have to trust me at some point.”

D
elilah wasn't sure if she should thank Nate or hit him. Sure, no one would see her in here with his body shielding hers,
and
she’d escaped Michael Ross, but now she was pressed up against Nate, her breasts pushing against the hard planes of his chest—in the middle of a party where she was supposed to be the picture of decorum.

This was a mistake. But knowing didn’t stop her heart from thundering. Knowing didn’t stop her from salivating. Knowing didn’t make her knees any steadier or stop her body from softening for him.

She was primed. She knew what to expect, and her body wanted to twine itself around his. That kiss yesterday had sent her on a spiral, and she
hated
feeling like she was losing control. Helpless and vulnerable were
so not
a good look for her. But Nate had a way of making her feel this way.
Unsettled
. As if she were teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Delilah steeled herself. He wouldn't know a damn thing about her feelings unless she told him. Sure, he knew she was attracted to him, but he was not going to know how much he affected her. That was going to stay a closely guarded secret.

“Nate...” Her voice trailed.

“Mmm?” He studied her closely and trailed the back of his finger along her jaw.

She shivered before clearing her throat. Being this close to him made it really difficult to exercise her best judgment. The hint of musk in his cologne, mixed with a smidge of scotch and mint had her swaying into him. “What are you doing to me?”

His voice was hoarse when he spoke. “I hope the same thing you’re doing to me.” With a groan, Nate kissed her.

Quickly, the kiss went from a meeting of the mouths to a desperate attempt to fuse their bodies. Nate backed her up into the corner of the closet, bracketing her in with his big body. Then, bracing his hands on either side of her face and angling her head so he could deepen the kiss, he teased her lips with the tip of his tongue until she parted them. He slid his tongue in on a sigh.

Even as her body melted, her brain tried to register a warning.
Enjoy him, then let him go. Do not get too close.
But as he licked into her mouth, it felt real...and potent.

Stomping feet, and a brief snicker of laugher registered somewhere in the back of her mind. Distantly, she thought she heard someone mutter “get a room” but then the hulking steps continued on down the stairwell without stopping. The moment their voyeur passed, Delilah could feel tension ebb out of Nate’s body.

Sneaking away from a party to make out wasn’t her. She had every intention of stopping him. Just as soon as—Nate's hand scooped down her back and made contact with her ass, drawing her closer to him, and she couldn’t think. He molded their bodies together. The hard ridge of his erection throbbed against her belly, and she fought back a moan.

He levered himself lower and wound his arm round her waist. Understanding what he wanted, she wrapped her legs around him. Nate growled as her tongue slid over his, gliding against it as she involuntarily worked her heated core against his erection.

Quickly, he pressed her more firmly into the corner, and she realized she had to extend no effort to hold on. All she had to do was keep her legs around him, and he did all the work of holding her up. Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, he devoured her lips. His tongue dipped playfully into her mouth and artfully wove lust and bliss and need around her so tight, nothing could have penetrated it.

Delilah dug her hands into his hair, relishing the silky feel of it between her fingers. Nate slid his tongue in and out of the warm depths of her mouth in time to his hips rocking into hers. Or maybe that was her rocking her hips into him? All she knew was she wanted to be closer to his heat. Feel the delicious way their bodies fit.

With every stroke of Nate’s tongue, she moaned, and he took what he wanted from her. Everything she was willing to give.

Nate cupped her face as he sucked on her bottom lip, teasing her, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. His other hand skimmed up her torso, then stopped as it reached the start of her deep ‘v’ of cleavage. Delilah drew in a shuddering breath and arched her back into him, waiting for him to touch her. Gently, his thumbs traced where the material met flesh. She tried to pull him closer, but she had no leverage and was at his mercy as he drove her slowly insane. When his thumb finally nudged aside the flimsy material, her double-sided tape put up no fight. When the fabric gaped, exposing her pebbled nipple to the air, she shivered, and he groaned.