DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(128)

“Lucien Montgomery got an email this morning that reads like a death threat to me. It says he should be more careful about who he talks about. That the device has been compromised, and if he knows what’s good for him, he should just let it go.”

My father was quiet for a long moment.

“I’ll call Robert, have him trace the email back to the origin IP.”

“Okay.”

“Stay with him. It might be an idle threat, but it could be real. You need to stay with him as much as you can until we figure out just how high the risk is.”

I glanced over at the desk where I’d left Lucien. He’d moved over to the small table on the other side of the room and was gathering his abandoned lunch trash. He wasn’t looking at me, but I got the impression he was listening just the same.

I covered my mouth and the bottom half of the phone.

“I don’t know if I can do that, Poppy. You know this role playing stuff isn’t really my thing.”

“I’m aware of that. But you’ve already begun. He knows you. If we suddenly introduce someone else into the equation, the guilty party will get suspicious.”

“I know, but surely—”

“You’ll do as you’re told, mija.”

“Okay.” I dropped my hand back to my side. “I’ll call you later with any other developments.”

I disconnected before my father could say anything else. My cheeks were burning, and I felt like a chastised child. Which, I supposed, I was.

“Everything okay?”

I nodded without turning around. “My father’s going to have one of our people see if he can figure out where the email came from. In the meantime, he wants me to stick by your side.”

Lucien didn’t respond immediately. But when I turned, he was watching me with a small smile on his handsome face. I could imagine how that smile might make some women’s hearts twitter like birds in the spring. But not mine. He might be pretty, but he really wasn’t my type. Too tall. Too handsome. I liked my men to look more like they belonged in the world I grew up in, a place where the men proved their masculinity by fixing a carburetor on the kitchen table and sweating on the basketball court. Lucien looked like he didn’t even know what a carburetor was. Though I could imagine he might have seen a few basketball courts in his time. But it was probably in a fancy club where the pool was heated and the track had a nice, padded carpet to protect that precious instep.

“What does that mean, stick by my side?”

“That I stay here for the rest of the afternoon. And when you go home, you’ll need to take me with you.”

That smile widened just slightly. “There’s something I should probably tell you, then.”

“What’s that?”

“Jacob and I are supposed to drive out to our parents’ house tonight. If you’re supposed to stick with me, you’ll have to come along.”

“Where’s your parents’ house?”

“Not far. They have a beach house in Kemah.”

“Kemah.” I’d expected him to say River Oaks. But Kemah was a good hour’s drive from my little apartment in the second ward.

“Have you ever been to that part of Galveston Bay?”

I shook my head. “I don’t spend much time at the beach.”

“Well, you’ll need a bikini. When everyone’s home, my parents like to throw a barbecue. And my sister, Rachel, will drag you out onto the beach.”

Great.

I just nodded again because I didn’t know what else to say. What I really wanted to do was call my father and beg him again to have someone else do this. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t spend an entire weekend with this man and his family. We had absolutely nothing in common. What would we talk about? I wasn’t even sure I would know how to behave at a meal. What if it was one of those Princess Diaries moments with a dozen forks and knives and spoons? What if I made a fool out of myself tying to be something I wasn’t? I was a middle class girl, the daughter of a cop and a schoolteacher. I barely graduated from high school, and spent five years in the Army. That was the sum value of my experience in the world. I didn’t know anything about fancy wines and high end fashion and expensive cuts of meat. And all that on top of this little act we had going on… What was I going to do when it was time to go to bed and everyone expected me to sleep with Lucien?

I felt panic building in my chest. I really didn’t want to do this. But I knew there was no way out of it. I was committed, whether I liked it or not.

“We should go do our tour of the building, or Jacob will think we’ve gotten up to no good in here.”

Lucien laid his hands on my shoulders, and the closeness was almost too much. My skin crawled at the same time my stomach tightened. I stepped away, adjusting the stupid purse on my shoulder (I never carry a purse. I prefer pockets. In my jeans.) so that he wouldn’t think I’d pulled away specifically to get away from him. For some reason, I cared about what he thought. And that was so unlike me. He was a client. I cared that he didn’t get hurt or dead. Nothing else really mattered. Why did I care if his feelings got hurt?

Eyes were on us from the moment we stepped out of the office. Lucien slid his arm around my waist and held me close as we walked down the hall to the elevator. He introduced me to the executives who found some excuse to come out of their offices and wander near us, their curious eyes suggesting that Lucien didn’t often bring women around the office. I also got the impression that there were a few of his coworkers who would have much rather been in my place than theirs.