The Ceo’s Accidental Bride

Five

In the restaurant’s parking garage, Lindsay twisted the key in the ignition of her silver Audi Coupe and pushed the shifter into Reverse. They peeled out of the narrow parking spot and into the driving lane.

“I suppose that could have been worse,” Kaitlin admitted as they zipped toward the exit from the underground.

Zach had hated the renovation designs. No big surprise there. But since they were in a public place, he couldn’t very well yell at her. So, that was a plus. And she wouldn’t change them. He could gripe as much as he liked about a modern lobby not being in keeping with his corporate image, but they both knew it was about money.

Lindsay pressed a folded bill into the parking lot attendant’s hand. “He stole your briefcase.”

“I knew not seeing them was making him crazy,” said Kaitlin, still getting over the shock at this turn of events. “But I sure didn’t think he’d go that far.”

Lindsay flipped on her signal, watching the traffic on the busy street. “All that righteous indignation, the insistence on principles.”

“I know,” Kaitlin added rapidly in agreement. “The lectures, the protestations, and then wham.” She smacked her hands together. “He steals the drawings right out from under my nose.”

“I’m not a pirate,” Lindsay mocked as she quickly took the corner, into a small space in traffic. “Nobody in my family was ever a pirate.”

Kaitlin turned to stare at her friend. “What?”

“We have morals and principles.”

“Are you talking about Zach?”

“Zach didn’t steal your drawings.”

“He sure did,” said Kaitlin.

“Dylan was the guy with the briefcase in his hands.”

“Only because Zach asked him to get it. Dylan’s just being loyal.”

“Ha!” Lindsay coughed out a laugh.

“Linds?” Kaitlin searched her friend’s profile.

Lindsay changed lanes on the brightly lit street, setting up for a left turn. “What?”

“I say again. Do you think you’re getting a little obsessed with Dylan Gilby?”

“The man’s a thief and a reprobate.”

“Maybe. But Zach’s our problem.”

Lindsay didn’t answer. She adjusted her rearview mirror then changed the radio station.

“I think Zach’ll leave it alone now,” she said. “I mean, he’s seen the drawings. He gave it his best-”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Hmm?”

Kaitlin gaped at her friend in astonishment. All this fighting was a ruse. “You’ve got a thing for Dylan.”

“I’ve got a thing for proving he’s a pirate,” Lindsay stated primly, sitting up straight in the driver’s seat, flipping on the windshield wipers. “It’s an intellectual exercise.”

“Intellectual, my ass.”

“It’s a matter of principle. Plus, the semester just ended, and I’m a little bored.”

Despite all the angst of the evening, Kaitlin couldn’t help but laugh. “I think it’s a matter of libido.”

“He’s incredibly annoying,” said Lindsay.

“But he is kind of cute.” Kaitlin rotated her neck, trying to relieve the stress.

“Maybe,” Lindsay allowed, braking as a bus pulled onto the street. “In a squeaky-clean-veneer, bad-boy-underneath kind of way.”

“Is that a bad kind of way?” The few times Kaitlin had met Dylan at the office, she’d mostly found him charming. He had a twinkle in his blue eyes, could make a joke of almost anything and, if it hadn’t been her briefcase in question, she might have admired his loyalty to Zach for stealing it.

Lindsay gave a self-conscious grin, rubbing her palms briskly along the curve of the steering wheel. “Fine. You caught me. I confess.”

Grinning at the irony, Kaitlin continued. “His best friend’s locked in an epic struggle with your best friend. You’ve called into question the integrity of his entire family. And you practically arrested him for stealing my briefcase. But other than that, I can see the two of you really going somewhere with this.”

Lindsay shook back her hair. “I’m only window-shopping. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a little libido mixed in with an intellectual exercise.”

Kaitlin couldn’t help laughing. It was a relief to let the anger go. “Zach groped me under the table during dinner. How’s that for libido?”

Lindsay sobered, glancing swiftly at Kaitlin before returning her attention to the road. “Seriously?”

“I guess he’s still trying to distract me.”

They pulled into a parking spot in front of Kaitlin’s apartment building, and Lindsay set the parking brake, shifting in her seat. “Tell me that’s not why you showed him the plans.”

“It wasn’t that distracting.” Well, in fact he was entirely that distracting. But the distraction was irrelevant to her decision. “I showed him the plans to shut him up.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” Mostly.

Lindsay gave a wry grin. “Poor Zach. Part of me can’t wait to see what he tries next.”

And part of Kaitlin couldn’t help hoping it involved seduction.

In his office Monday morning, Zach was forced to struggle to keep from fantasizing about Kaitlin. He was angry with her over the lavish designs, and he needed to stay that way in order to keep his priorities straight. Thinking about her smooth legs, her lithe body and those sensuous, kissable lips was only asking for trouble. Well, more trouble. More trouble than he’d ever had in his life.

“-to the tune of ten million dollars,” Esmond Carson was saying from one of the burgundy guest chairs across from Zach’s office desk.

At the mention of the number, Zach’s brain rocked back to attention. “What?” he asked bluntly.

Esmond flipped through the thick file folder on his lap. The gray-haired man was nearing sixty-five. He’d been a trusted lawyer and advisor of Zach’s grandmother Sadie for over thirty years. “Rent, food, teacher salaries, transportation. All of the costs are overstated in the financial reports. The foundation has a huge stack of bills in arrears. The bank account has maxed out its overdraft. That’s how the mess came to my attention.”

Zach couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How had things gotten so out of hand? “Who did this?”

“Near as we can tell, it was a man named Lawrence Wellington. He was the regional manager for the city. And he disappeared the day after Sadie passed away. My guess is that he knew the embezzlement would come to light as soon as you took over.”

“He stole ten million dollars?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“You’ve called the police?”

Esmond closed the file folder, his demeanor calm, expression impassive. “We could report it.”

“Damn right we’re reporting it.” Zach’s hand went to his desk phone. Someone had stolen from his grandmother. Worse, they’d stolen from his grandmother’s charitable trust. Sadie was passionate about helping inner-city kids.

“We’re having him arrested and charged,” Zach finished, lifting the receiver and raising it to his ear.

“That might not be your best option.”

Zach paused, hand over the telephone buttons. He lifted his brows in a silent question.

“It would generate a lot of publicity,” said Esmond.

“And?” Who cared? It wasn’t as if they had any obligation to protect the reputation of a criminal.

“It’ll be a media circus. The charity, your grandmother’s name, all potentially dragged through the mud. Donors will get nervous, revenue could drop, projects might be canceled. No one and no company wants their name linked with criminal behavior, no matter how noble the charity.”

“You think it would go that way?” asked Zach, weighing the possibilities in his mind, realizing Esmond had a valid point.

“I know a good private investigative firm,” said Esmond. “We’ll look for the guy, of course. And if there’s any benefit in pressing charges, we’ll press them. But my guess is we won’t find him. From the records I’ve reviewed, Lawrence Wellington was a very shrewd operator. He’ll be long gone. Sadie’s money’s long gone.”

Zach hissed out a swearword, dropping the receiver and sliding back in his tall chair.

The two men sat in silence, midmorning sunshine streaming in the big windows, muted office sounds coming through the door, the familiar hum of traffic on Liberty Street below.

“What would Sadie want?” Esmond mused quietly.

That one was easy. “Sadie would want us to help the kids.” Zach’s grandmother would want them to swiftly and quietly help the kids.

Esmond agreed. “Are you in a position to write a check? I can pull this out of the fire if you can cover the losses.”

What a question.

Like every other transportation company in the world, Harper’s cash flow had been brutalized these past few years. He had ships sitting idle in port, others in dry dock racking up huge repair bills, customers delaying payment because of their own downturns, creditors tightening terms, and Kaitlin out there designing the Taj Mahal instead of a functional office building.

“Sure,” he told Esmond. “I’ll write you a check.”

He put Esmond in touch with his finance director, asked Amy to have Kaitlin come to his office, then swiveled his chair to stare out at the cityscape, hoping against hope his grandmother wasn’t watching over him at this particular moment. In the three short months since her death, it felt as if the entire company was coming off the rails.

Not entirely his fault, of course. But the measure of a business manager wasn’t how he performed when things were going well, it was how he performed under stress. And the biggest stress of his present world was on her way up to see him right now.

A few minutes later, he heard the door open and knew it had to be Kaitlin. Amy would have announced anyone else.

“You can close it behind you,” he told her without turning.

“That’s okay,” she said, her footsteps crossing the carpet toward his desk.

He turned his chair, coming to his feet, in no mood to be ignored. He strode around the end of the big desk. “You can close the door behind you,” he repeated with emphasis.

“Zach, we-”

He breezed past her and firmly closed it himself.

“I’d prefer you didn’t do that.” Her voice faded off as he turned and met her head-on.

She wore a slim, charcoal-gray skirt, topped with a white-and-gold silk blouse. The skirt accented her slender waist, and was short enough to show off her shapely legs, while the blouse clung softly to her firm breasts. The top buttons were undone, showing a hint of cleavage and framing her slender neck. A twisted gold necklace dangled between her breasts, while matching earrings swung from her small ears beneath a casual updo.

His gut tightened predictably at the sight of her, and he took the few steps back to the middle of the room.

Did she have to look like a goddess every day in the office? Had the woman never heard of business suits or, better yet, sweatpants? Could she not show up in loafers instead of three-inch, strappy heels that would haunt his dreams?

“I would prefer…” She started for the door.

He snagged her arm.

She glanced pointedly down to his grip. “Are you going to manhandle me again?”

Manhandling her did begin to describe what he wanted to do. He’d gone home Friday night with his muscles stretched taut as steel. He’d tossed and turned, prayed for anger, got arousal, and when he finally slept, there she was, sexy, beckoning, but always out of reach.

He searched her expression. “Am I frightening you?”

“No.”

“I’m making you angry?”

“Yes.”

“Deal with it.” He wouldn’t scare her, but he truly didn’t care if she got mad.

She set her jaw. “I am.”

“Because you’re making me angry, too.” That wasn’t the only thing she was making him. But it was the only one he’d own up to-both out loud and inside his head.

“Poor baby,” she cooed.

“You’re taunting me?” That was what she wanted to do here? He could barely believe it.

“I’m keeping the upper hand,” she corrected him, crossing her arms, accentuating her breasts, increasing his view of her cleavage.

He coughed out a laugh of surprise, covering up the surge of arousal. “You think you have the upper hand?”

“I know I have the upper hand. And there’s nothing you can say or do to make me-”

He took a step forward. He was at the end of his rope here. The woman needed to wake up to reality.

Her eyes went wide, and her lips parted ever so slightly.

“Make you what?” he breathed.

“Zach.” Her tone held a warning, even as her expression turned to confusion and vulnerability.

His attention locked in on her, and her alone.

“Make you what?” he persisted.

She didn’t answer. But the tip of her tongue flicked out, moistening her lips.

He closed his throat on an involuntary groan, and his world shrank further.

He shifted closer, fixated on her lips.

His thigh brushed hers.

Her lips softened, and her breathing deepened.

He inhaled the exotic perfume, daring to lift his hand, stroking the back of his knuckles against her soft cheek.

She didn’t stop him. Instead, her eyelids fluttered closed, and she leaned into his caress. His desire kicked into action. And he tipped his head, leaning in without conscious thought to press his lips against hers.

They were soft, pliable, hot and delicious. Sensation instantaneously exploded inside his brain. He was back on the yacht, the ocean breeze surrounding them, her taste overpowering his senses, the stars a backdrop to their midnight passion.

His arms went around her, and hers around him. Their bodies came flush, the sensation achingly familiar. She molded to him, fitting tight in all the right places.

He moved her backward, pressing her against the office wall. His hands slipped down, cupping her tight little bottom, resisting an urge to drag her sharply against his hardening body. He was on fire for her.

His hands went to her hair, stroking through the softness, cradling her gorgeous face while he peppered kisses, tracing a line over her tiny ear, down the curve of her neck, along her shoulders, to the edge of her soft silk blouse.

Her fingers twined in his hairline. Her lips parted farther, her tongue finding his, her perfect breasts pushing tightly against his chest, beading so that he could feel them. She stretched up, coming onto her toes, fusing her mouth with his, and slid her hands beneath his jacket.

Those small hands were hot through the cotton of his shirt. He wanted to rip it off, strip her bare, hold her naked body against his own and finish what they kept starting.

But a jangling phone penetrated his brain. Sounds from the outer office came back into focus. He heard Amy’s voice. Someone answered, and he came to the abrupt realization of where they were.

He forced himself to stop, cradled Kaitlin’s head against his shoulder, breathing deeply, all anger toward her having evaporated.

“We did it again,” he breathed.

She stiffened, pulling away. “This is why I didn’t want the door closed.”

He let her go, pretending it wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done. Then he forced a note of sarcasm into his voice, refusing to let her see just how badly she made him lose control. “You don’t trust yourself?”

“I don’t trust you,” she told him for at least the third time.

Fair enough. He didn’t trust himself, either.

But it wasn’t all him. It definitely hadn’t all been him.

She straightened her blouse and smoothed her hair. “What is it you needed to see me about?”

Zach forced himself to turn away. Looking at her was only asking for more trouble.

“Can we sit?” He gestured to two padded chairs at angles to each other in front of his floor-to-ceiling windows.

Without a word, she crossed to one of them and sat down, fixing her focus on a point on the skyline outside, folding her hands primly in front of her.

Zach’s hormones were still raging, but he inhaled a couple of bracing breaths, taking a seat and focusing his own attention on a seascape painting on the wall past Kaitlin’s right ear.

“I just spoke to my grandmother’s lawyer,” he explained, composing and discarding a number of approaches on the fly. He had to convince her to pull back on the renovations. It was more important than ever, and he couldn’t afford to screw this conversation up.

Kaitlin’s attention moved to his face, her lips pursing, green eyes narrowing. “What do you mean by that?”

He gave up and met her gaze. She was so damn gorgeous, feisty, challenging. Even now, he wanted to take her back into his arms and change the mood between them. “Just what I said.”

“What happened?” She jerked forward in her chair. “Am I out of the will? Did you find a loophole? Are you firing me?” Then she jumped to her feet. “If you’re firing me, you should have said something before…” She gestured with a sweeping arm, across the office to the spot where they’d kissed. “Before…”

Zach stood with her. “I am not firing you. Now, will you sit back down.”

She watched him warily. “Then what’s this about?”

“Sit down, and I’ll tell you.” He gestured to her chair and waited.

She glared at him but finally sat.

He followed suit, refocusing. This wasn’t going well. It was not going well at all. “A problem has come to light with my grandmother’s charitable trust.”

Kaitlin’s features remained schooled and neutral.

“There’s been some money-a lot of money-embezzled from the bank account by a former employee.”

He paused to see if she’d react, but she waited in silence.

Zach leaned slightly forward, his feet braced apart on the carpet in front of him, choosing his words carefully. “Therefore, I am going to have to shift some cash from Harper Transportation to the trust fund, or some of her projects will collapse, like the after-school tutoring programs and hot lunches.”

Kaitlin finally spoke. “Do you need me to sign something?”

Zach shook his head.

“Then what?”

“Harper Transportation’s cash flow will be tight for the next year or so.” He mentally braced himself. “So we may need to talk seriously about scaling back on the renovation-”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” She emphatically crossed her arms.

“Let me-”

“You mess with my emotions.”

“I’m not messing with anything,” he protested.

“Try to put me off balance,” she accused.

“I’m offering you honesty and reason.” He was. He was giving her the bald truth of the matter.

“One minute we’re kissing-” she snapped her fingers in the air “-next, you’re asking for concessions.”

His anger trickled back. “The two were not related.”

“Well, it won’t work this time, Mr. Zachary Harper.” She tossed her pretty hair, tone going to a scoff. “Embezzlement from dear ol’ granny’s charitable fund, my ass.”

“You think I’m lying?”

“Yes.”

What was the matter with her? He had documentation. It was the easiest thing in the world to prove.

“I’ll show you the account statements,” he offered. “The bank records.”

“You can show me anything you want, Zach. Any high-school kid with a laptop and a printer in his basement can fake financial statements.”

“You doubt the integrity of my accountants?”

“I doubt the integrity of you.” She came to her feet again, color high, chin raised, shoulders squared, looking entirely ready for battle.

Once again, he rose with her.

Though her hair was in an updo, she swiped her hands behind her ears, tugging at both gold earrings. “You’ve tried evasion, coercion, outright threats, theft, seduction and now emotional manipulation.”

He clenched his jaw, biting back an angry retort.

“Good grief, Zach. Granny, a charity and hungry kids? I’m surprised you didn’t add a dying puppy to the mix.” She tapped her index finger against her chest. “I am renovating, and I am doing it my way. And for that, you get half a corporation and a divorce decree. It’s a bargain, and you should quit trying to change the terms.”

Zach fumed, but bit back his words. He knew that anything he said would make things worse. A contingency strategy was his only hope. And he was all out of frickin’ contingency strategies.

Having apparently said her piece, Kaitlin squared her shoulders. She put her sculpted nose in the air and turned on her heel to leave.

As the door shut firmly behind her, Zach unclenched his fists. He closed his eyes for a long second. Then he dropped into his chair.

The woman was past impossible.

She was suspicious. She was determined. And she was oh, so sexy.

She was going to bring down a three-hundred-year-old dynasty, and he had no idea how to stop her.

“Plan C is a bust,” he informed Dylan, spinning the near empty glass of single malt on the polished, corner table at McDougals.

Dylan dropped into the padded leather chair opposite, nodding to Zach’s drink. “Well, at least you waited until five.”

“I’m lucky I made it past noon.” How could one woman be so frustrating? Her renovation plans went way beyond repairing her reputation. What she was planning to do to his building was just plain punitive.

Dylan signaled a waiter.

“I talked to a couple dozen more people today,” said Zach. “Nothing’s changed. I can get her an entry-level job, easy. But nothing that comes close to the opportunity she has at Harper Transportation.”

The waiter quickly took Dylan’s order and left.

Dylan shrugged in capitulation. “So, give it up. Let her go for it. You’ll have a weird, incredibly expensive building. And you’ll live with it.”

“She’s adding three stories,” Zach reminded Dylan. “Knocking out nearly five floors for the lobby. Did you see the marble pillars? The saltwater fish tank?”

Dylan gave a shrug. “I thought they were a nice touch.”

“I bailed out Sadie’s charity today.”

“Why?”

“Some jackass embezzled ten million dollars. My cash flow just tanked completely. So, tell me, Dylan, do I sell off a ship or slow down repairs?”

Dylan’s expression and tone immediately turned serious. “You need a loan?”

“No.” Zach gave a firm shake of his head. “More debt is not the answer.”

“Another partner? You want to sell me some shares?”

“And be a minor partner in my own company? I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m not mixing business with friendship.” Zach appreciated the offer. But this problem was his to solve.

“Fair enough,” Dylan agreed. “What are your options?”

“Nothing.” Zach took a drink. He needed Kaitlin to scale back on the renovation. Short of that, his options were very limited.

Selling a ship was a stupid idea. So was slowing down repairs. He’d need the entire fleet up and running so they could capitalize on any rise in demand. A company the size of Harper Transportation had to have serious cash flow to keep going. More ships, more cash flow. Fewer ships would result in a downward spiral that could prove fatal.

“Always the optimist,” said Dylan, accepting his own glass of Glenlivet from the waiter.

Zach tossed back a swallow. “Kaitlin is going to bankrupt me, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop her.”

Dylan’s voice went serious again. “What exactly do you need her to do?”

Zach spun the glass again. “Come to her senses.”

“Zach. Seriously. Quit wallowing in self-pity.”

Zach took a bracing breath. “Okay. Right. I need her to scale back. Build me a reasonable quality, standard office building. No marble pillars. No fountains. No palm trees. And no mahogany arch. And especially no two-thousand-gallon saltwater aquarium.”

Dylan thought about it for a moment. “So, make her want to do just that.”

“How?” Zach demanded. “I’ve tried everything from bribery to reason. It’s like trying to use a rowboat to turn the Queen Mary around.”

Dylan was quiet for a few more minutes. Zach tried to focus his thoughts. He tried to get past the emotions clouding his brain and think rationally. But it didn’t seem to be working.

“What about Sadie?” asked Dylan.

“What about her?” Zach didn’t follow.

“Sadie left Kaitlin the company.”

“And?” How was that a plus in Zach’s present circumstances?

“And Kaitlin would have to be downright callous not to care about what Sadie would want.”

“You think I should convince Kaitlin to respect Sadie’s wishes?” That would be an awful lot easier if Sadie had actually left wishes. But her only wish seemed to be for Zach’s wife to control him.

Dylan lifted his glass in a toast, ice cube clinking against the crystal. “That’s exactly what I think you should do.”

“What wishes? Where wishes? Sadie left no wishes, Dylan.”

“Would she want a flashy, avant-garde showpiece?”

“Of course not.” Zach’s grandmother Sadie was all about heritage and tradition. She had been the guardian of the Harper family history Zach’s entire life, and she had an abiding respect for everyone that went before her.

“Then help Kaitlin learn that,” Dylan suggested.

Zach couldn’t see that happening. “She’s already accused me of emotionally manipulating her.”

“Did you?”

“No.” Zach paused. “Well, I made a couple of passes at her. But it wasn’t manipulation. It was plain old lust.”

“Better stop doing that.” Dylan drank.

“No kidding.” Though, if Zach was realistic, it was probably a whole lot easier said than done.

Zach still couldn’t see Dylan’s plan working. “I doubt she’ll listen to me long enough to learn about Sadie. And, even if she does, she’ll assume I’m lying.” At this point, there was no way Kaitlin would believe anything Zach said.

“Don’t tell her about Sadie.”

“Then how…” Zach tapped his index finger impatiently against the table.

Dylan gave a secretive little smile and polished off his drink. “Show her Sadie.”

Zach gave his head a shake of incomprehension, holding his hands palms up.

“Take her to the island,” said Dylan. “Show her Sadie’s handiwork. Then ask her to design something for the office building that respects your grandmother. Kaitlin seems pretty smart. She’ll get it.”

Zach stilled. It wasn’t a half-bad idea. In fact, it was a brilliant idea.

He let out a chopped laugh. “And you claim to be honest and principled.”

“I’m not suggesting you lie to her.”

“But you are frighteningly devious.”

“Yeah,” Dylan agreed. “And I’ve got your back.”