DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(122)

Starting with his brother.

“You’re paying me to provide security. And to find out who might be out to sell your corporate secrets. You’re not paying me to sleep with you.”

“But you can’t tell me you weren’t enjoying yourself,” he said as he climbed to his feet, towering over me like Jack’s giant. “I can tell when a woman is enjoying what I have to offer.”

“Yes, well, I’d have to be made of stone not to respond to a guy sticking his tongue down my throat. But that doesn’t mean you get any more out of this relationship than what we agreed to. Speaking of which, when do you want me to show up at your office?”

“Tomorrow,” he said immediately. “No point in putting it off. I’ll leave word with security—”

“No, don’t do that. I want to see what happens when I show up cold.”

“To make sure the security guards aren’t breaking protocol?”

The idea seemed to surprise him. It shouldn’t, if the things he’d told my father were true.

“All right,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “They should call upstairs, get permission from my assistant to allow you up. Try to get there about two o’clock. Jacob and I have a set of meetings that should take all morning, but we’ll probably be having lunch about then. I want him there when you show up.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want a ride?”

“No. My father should be waiting down at the security gate.”

I headed toward the front door, stepping through another archway into the marble foyer. He followed, his hand sliding over the small of my back. I stepped away, but he was a stubborn man. He just moved up behind me again, this time running his hand not just over my back, but along my hip, too.

“Save it for tomorrow,” I said, taking hold of his wrist and pulling it away from me.

He leaned close, his expensive cologne surrounding me in a masculine cloud.

“You like the way I kiss. You admitted it.”

“Doesn’t mean I want your hands all over me when we’re alone.”

I ducked around him and slipped out the front door before he could say anything else.





Chapter 3


Lucien

Jacob was at the table, a newspaper spread out in front of him alongside his plate of toast and a poached egg. He was the only person I knew who still read the newspaper in its original form. Even our parents read it on iPads these days.

“Anything interesting happening in the world?” I asked as I pulled a bowl of sliced melon out of the fridge.

“Not really. The mayor of Sugar Land is threatening a tax on junk food again, but I don’t really think he can get past the local merchants’ group.”

“Won’t do any good, anyway. It’ll just make it forbidden fruit, and more people will buy it.”

Jacob nodded.

I carried my fruit to the table and pulled the pager-sized pump out of my pocket to dial up the amount of insulin I’d need to cover it. It was an automatic action that I rarely thought about anymore. Jacob didn’t seem to notice, either. I dropped it back into my pocket and reached over for the business section.

“Where’s Adrienne?”

I’d known this was coming. In fact, I think I might have been disappointed if he hadn’t asked.

“Slipped out a couple of hours ago. Something about an early meeting.”

“Are you going to see her again?”

I looked up. “I liked her. Didn’t you?”

Jacob shrugged. “There’s something odd about her. Did you see those shoes she was wearing? I mean, who wears silver ballet slippers anymore?”

“She has interesting taste. That’s not a bad thing.”

Jacob looked down at his paper again. “Maybe. Besides, I wasn’t the one she was tangled up with in the backseat of the car.”

“Did that bother you?”

“Not sure how you want me to answer that one, brother,” Jacob said as he gathered his dishes and carried them to the sink. “I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t bothered by a porn show going on right in front of me.”

“It wasn’t a porn show. Just a little making out.”

“If that’s what you call making out, please don’t invite me to witness you moving to second base.”

“What do you call making out, then?” I asked, twisting in my seat so I could see him.

“Some friendly kisses.”

I laughed. “With that sort of mentality, I’d have to assume you were a virgin until your wedding night.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, either.”

I just shook my head, turning back to my breakfast. “I wish you luck in the dating world, brother. Things have certainly changed in the ten years you’ve been off the market.”

“I’m not even divorced yet and you’ve already got me dating? Don’t rush me.”

“Have you seen Lynn since she kicked you out?”

“She didn’t kick me out. She simply said she needed a little space.”

“And made you leave the house that you paid for.” I glanced at him. “I hate to break it to you, brother, but that’s what is called ‘kicking someone out’.”