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“No, I hadn’t heard,” said Luke. “A promotion to what?”
“He’s foreman of Madaris Explorations.”
Luke frowned. “But that’s Trevor’s job.”
Blade chuckled. “Not anymore.” Trevor was a family friend and had worked as their cousin Dex’s foreman for years.
“Trevor is opening a facility to train ex-military men. It’s for those interested in tactical military operations.”
“Sounds deep.”
Blade laughed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Knowing Trevor, it will be. And I understand Drake Warren might be working with him at some point. And if Ashton ever decides to retire from the military, he’ll be joining them, as well.”
Luke leaned back against the post. Blade could feel his cousin studying him. He looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
“You tell me. Why are you back?”
Blade took a breath and looked away momentarily to where three of his men were working on the roof of the building, installing shingles. There was no way he was going to confess to Luke the real reason he was back in town, especially since Sam was Mac’s best friend. Since getting married, Luke had become a damn knight in shining armor.
He glanced back at his cousin. “I told you I would be coming back.”
“You said in three weeks, not two.”
Blade leaned against the post that was supporting Luke’s weight. “There are more permits I need to file at the courthouse for the Mosley Building,” he said. He didn’t like having to explain his reasons for anything he did to anyone, not even Luke.
“That’s it?”
Blade met Luke’s gaze directly. “Is there supposed to be more?”
“You tell me.”
Blade knew he couldn’t very well do that. The less Luke knew of his plans for Sam the better. Besides, there were certain things he couldn’t explain to Luke because he didn’t understand them himself. Like why the women back in Houston had suddenly become uninteresting to him. While he had been home, he had begun to take a closer look at the women he’d been dating and had found them lacking, except in the bedroom. But now even that wasn’t enough to hold his interest.
“There’s nothing to tell. When is Mac coming home?” he asked, changing the subject.
The look Luke gave him let Blade know his cousin knew exactly what he was doing and that he wasn’t taking the bait.
“Usually she’s home by now, but she called a few minutes ago to say that she, Peyton and Sam are going for drinks after work to celebrate.”
“To celebrate what?”
“Ashton and Skye’s news. They’ll be going somewhere to eat afterward, so if you haven’t eaten yet you might as well join me for dinner. And if you don’t have a place to stay while you’re in town, you know you’re welcome to stay here.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be at the hotel. It’s located downtown near the courthouse where I need to transact business. There are a number of permits I need to get pulled.”
Although Luke wasn’t saying anything, Blade was aware that his cousin knew enough about the construction business to know that he didn’t have to come to Oklahoma City himself to pull any permits. Blade had people working for him who could have performed those tasks.
He glanced over at Luke. “So what’s for dinner?”
“A casserole.”
Blade smiled. At Morehouse that had been Luke’s specialty. He, Luke and Slade had shared an apartment not far from campus, and the one thing they could look forward to was Luke’s casseroles.
“You didn’t say how long you plan on being in town, Blade.”
No, he hadn’t, Blade thought. “Not sure yet,” he answered. And then he added. “I’ll know by the middle of the week.”
Hopefully by then I’ll have a plan, he thought. There was no way he could tell Luke that he would remain in town for as long as it took to get Sam into his bed.
The man glanced around thinking this particular restaurant seemed as good a place as any for them to meet. He glanced over at the woman who was already there waiting for him.
She looked a little different today and he immediately knew what it was. She was wearing makeup. No doubt to impress him, since she fancied herself in love with him. And she probably thought he had fallen in love with her, as well. He shrugged. What she thought wasn’t his concern. But if believing such would assure that she continued to provide him with the information he needed, then so be it.
He sat in the chair across from her. “You look pretty today.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. His compliment had pleased her, so he would make sure to shower her with more in the future. After a few minutes of small talk, in which he told her again how nice she looked, he said, “The flowers are still being delivered.” It was a statement and not a question.
“Each week, and they are beautiful, too. She likes them and doesn’t suspect a thing.”
He nodded, glad to hear it.
“She thinks she has a secret admirer.”
He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of that, and thanks to Samari Di Meglio he’d had very little to smile about over the past few years. He wasn’t a secret admirer—far from it. But if she wanted to think that she could certainly do so. When she discovered the truth it would be too late to do anything about it.
“How long will you continue to send the flowers to her?”
The annoyingly soft voice had interrupted his thoughts. Now she was asking a question that really wasn’t any of her business. His jaw tightened. His gaze narrowed. “For as long as I want,” he said in a chillingly cold tone.
He saw the look in her eyes, the flash of fear. He breathed in deeply, knowing that he had to get his feelings under control. The last thing he needed was to make her wary of giving him the information he needed.
He reached out and touched her hand, held it in his for a while. “I didn’t mean to scare you. But I’ve told you why I need to make her remember what she’s done, and why she has to pay for doing it.”
The woman nodded. Of course, he hadn’t told her everything. He’d told her just enough to get her sympathy to do what he needed her to do. She assumed the most he would do was scare and harass Samari Di Meglio for a while, and not do anything really serious to harm her. He smiled to himself at the thought of that. Little did the woman sitting across from him know, but he had a much bigger and more sinister plan. It was one he had worked on for years. Now the time had come and no one, and he meant no one, would stand in his way.
Chapter 5
Sam glanced up when she heard the buzzing sound from Security. She reached over and pressed the button on her intercom. “Yes, Rita?”
“There’s someone here to see you.”
Sam arched an eyebrow. The office had closed hours ago. After work, she, Mac and Peyton had gone to Twains, the bar and grill on the corner, to have a drink to celebrate Ashton’s and Skye’s news. They’d also ordered dinner. Afterward, Mac and Peyton had left for home, but since she had been out the past week, Sam had decided to return to the office to catch up on paperwork.
Their building was in a very busy section of town with a popular restaurant a few doors down. But that hadn’t stopped someone from ransacking Mac’s office last year. That incident had prompted them to hire a twenty-four hour security service, since at any time of day, any one of them might be working late at the office. Rita Wilder, one of their three security guards, worked twelve-hour shifts three days a week—from nine in the morning to nine at night. On occasion, however, she made extra money working overtime by staying late. Frank Denson worked the same number of days from nine at night to nine in the morning. And Marlon Fisher covered everything else. Sam was confident they had a top-notch security team, although Rita sometimes got lost in her romance novels.
“Who is it, Rita?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine anyone dropping by the office this late. If anyone glanced in the window, however, they would see the lights were still on in her office and her car was still parked outside.
“He says his name is Blade Madaris.”
The air in the room seemed to suddenly evaporate, and she could hear the pounding of her heart in her chest. What was Blade doing here? When had he returned to Oklahoma City? The last time she’d seen him, his parting words had been that he would see her in three weeks, and it hadn’t been three weeks yet.
“Ms. Di Meglio?”
She could tell from the sound of Rita’s voice that she was probably annoyed that someone had interrupted her novel. “Yes, Rita?”
“Well, do you want me to send him up or not?”
Sam’s first impulse was to say no, to tell Rita to advise him to come back during regular business hours. A smile touched Sam’s lips at how that sort of message would be received. It definitely wouldn’t go over well.
She wouldn’t put it past him to sit in the parking lot and wait until she finally left the building, since he knew she wouldn’t be working all night. Against her better judgment, she inhaled a deep breath and said, “Yes, Rita. Let him in.”
Realizing the impact of her words made her blood surge through her veins. There was a tightness that wedged in her chest. Suddenly, her tongue remembered the taste of him and she forced herself to swallow hard, to fight back the tingling sensation that was sweeping through her body.
Her ears perked up. She could hear the sound of his footsteps as he walked down the hall toward her office. They were paced with practiced precision. The sound of his feet making contact with the floor was hypnotic. She could just imagine the swagger in his every step.
Sam turned to her computer to save the document she’d been working on, and began wondering why Blade was here in her office. Deep down she knew the reason. She had explained it all to Mac a week ago. He saw her as the one who got away. The one he wasn’t finished with yet. The one who refused to let him get to first base. And for a man who was used to hitting home runs, a strikeout was unacceptable.
Usually she would enjoy flirting with a man, especially one who was a player and who she intended to set up for a fall, but not tonight. Blade had a way of unnerving her, and she knew she had to be on her guard around him.
She pushed her chair back and stood, deciding she needed to be on her feet when he entered her office. He was a lot taller than she was, and she still had to look up at him, but not as far.
She came around her desk and leaned her bottom against it. Too late, she realized this was the exact position he’d left her in the last time he’d seen her two weeks ago. The very same day he had kissed her senseless.
Before she could change positions or move to another spot in the room, she heard him take the final step down the hall, and when she looked toward her door, he was there. Her eyes locked on his face, but her breath took in all of him. His manly scent was forcing her to exert a degree of self-control she hadn’t had to exercise in a long time.
She allowed her gaze, just for a moment, to take in his entire body. He wore a pair of dark tailored trousers, an expensive looking dress shirt, a designer sports coat and Italian loafers. As usual, he looked far too sexy for his own good and for hers. He had a body built for whatever he wanted to use it for, and she had more than an idea just what that was.
She inhaled deeply, remembering two could play his game, and at that moment she decided that yes, she would play. And win. She had given him fair warning and he hadn’t heeded it. Instead, the last time they were together he had taken her mouth and done delicious things to it, things she was still losing sleep over. His kiss had been greedy. He’d made it wet. He had flavored it with desire and seduction and then delivered it with a tongue that should be outlawed. But she couldn’t think about any of those things now. This was war.
“Blade, what are you doing here?”
He leaned in the doorway, showcasing impressive muscles, a sleek build and a flabless, taut body that most men would give just about anything to have.
“I came to see you.”
His deep, sexy voice was as potent as anything she’d ever heard, and it sent a yearning, a kind she’d never felt before, through her. Deciding that standing on her feet wasn’t such a good idea, after all, she forced her legs to move as she went back to sit behind her desk.
“Why? And how did you know where I was?” she asked, forcing herself to breathe, and at the same time concentrate on the question she’d just asked.
He took his time answering and continued to look at her. The heat of his gaze was like a soothing caress. “I needed to see you again,” he finally said. “And I knew you were here from Mac. I was at her place when she came home. And when I asked about you, she mentioned you were working late tonight.”
Sam frowned. “She would not have told you that had she known you were going to disturb me.”
He shrugged easily. “Probably not. It wasn’t my intention to disturb you, but my hotel happens to be right up the street.”
How convenient, Sam thought, and then let her mind wander, thinking about all those things they could do in his hotel room. All those things they could do right here. Thank God Rita was up front, although the security guard was probably sitting at her desk, consumed by her novel. But if she heard a lot of unusual noises she would come and investigate. And what Rita would see with her own eyes would put those romance novels to shame.
Sam felt her knees get weak and was glad she was sitting down. Now was not the time to think of all the things Blade could do to her or all the things she could do to him. Nor should she dwell on all those things they could do to each other. The man standing across the room looking so delicious she could eat him alive was a bona fide player. He needed to be taught a lesson, regardless of the sexual chemistry between them. He was too arrogant, too sure of himself to suit her. And when she finished with him he would regret the day he’d ever broken any woman’s heart.
But she knew Blade was not a fool. If she appeared too eager, then he would know she was up to something. So she would take her time, play the part of the reluctant but horny woman, and let him work hard for her. Eventually, he would assume that he was getting close to breaking down her resolve. She, of course, would let him think that. She would tease him mercilessly, even give him a little sample of what he thought he would be getting. She would enjoy building him up, just to break him down. She would be the one to teach him the lesson he sorely deserved to learn.
Blade Madaris had finally met his match.
Blade wondered what Sam was thinking, since he knew for certain that something was going on in that pretty little head of hers.
As far as he was concerned, a one-night stand—as long as it was an all-nighter—was just what he needed to get her out of his system. He was convinced that she was feeling the same sexual tension that was gripping him all the way to his toes. She was trying to be cool, calm and collected. Other women had tried that same tactic, fearful of letting him know the depths of their desire. He hoped that wouldn’t be the case with Sam, because he wanted to know. He needed to know.
It was killing him to find out.
“Come to my hotel room with me,” he said, deciding not to beat around the bush. He had made a pit stop for one reason and one reason only. He knew it and she knew it, as well. They were adults. There was no reason to be coy or deny what just wouldn’t go away.
Her chuckle was like a kick in his groin. “Don’t hold your breath, cowboy.”
He winced, disappointed. She was still denying those needs, still being coy. This wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped.
“May I ask you something, Blade?”
Can we go ahead and get naked? was the question he hoped she would ask. “Yes, you can ask me anything,” he replied.
She placed her hands on the desk and held his gaze. “What part of what I said the other night at the restaurant didn’t you understand? I thought I was very clear when I said you don’t interest me.”
A smile touched his lips. “And I thought I was just as clear, Sam, when I said that you were sending mixed signals.”
She narrowed her eyes. “If that’s the case then I need to immediately make a correction.”
He slowly crossed the room toward her desk. “Don’t bother.”
When he got to her desk he walked around it and sat on the edge, facing her. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was surprised by his boldness.
“Why are you playing hard to get, Sam, when you know you want me? One night is all I’m asking for, and I’ll have you climaxing in your sleep for the rest of the week. The memories will be just that strong and powerful.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Yes, especially since I haven’t had any complaints, just requests for repeat performances.”
He saw the smile that touched the corners of her lips. He was not in the mood to humor her. He wanted to make love to her. Get her naked and get inside of her and stay there until he’d gotten his fill. Was one night too much to ask for?
He held her gaze and felt the air surrounding them thicken with the same intensity of his erection, and was glad that he was sitting down. But he knew she was very aware of his aroused state.
“Have you ever considered the fact that I might be a different breed of woman than what you are used to?”
Yes, he had considered it, and he believed that was one of the reasons he was so hot for her. “That thought has crossed my mind once or twice,” he replied smoothly.
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
He thought her question was odd. “No. Why would it bother me? I’m a flexible guy. I can roll with the flow.”
“Even if it takes you on some very wild fantasies?”
