Page 30 of Deny Me
“Like what?” Becky asked.
“We know the people buying the baby likely don’t have a personal connection to you. Neither of you recognized the intruder.”
“But he knew our location.” Charlotte worried her bottom lip. King clamped down on the urge to free it with a calloused finger.
“He did, but he wasn’t aware of the new security measures. Which means we need to get to Creating Families and dig in.” He braced himself, knowing the next sentence wouldn’t reassure Charlotte. “The group buying the baby doesn’t know you personally, but the person selling? The one giving them intel? That person definitely knows you and your family, and we need to find them ASAP.”
Chapter Fourteen
Elliot was not getting a cookie the next time Charlotte handed them out. Or ice cream either. The woman had deliberately passed Charlotte over to King without so much as a protest. Not that Charlotte could expect her to protest, really. Elliot had no idea that Charlotte had kissed her teammate yesterday before all hell broke loose with their intruder.
She certainly didn’t know that kiss had kept Charlotte up all night long.
Elliot was supposed to be the one to drive her into town to visit Creating Families. Unfortunately after yesterday’s visitor, Becky was understandably nervous and had insisted Elliot stay. Charlotte wasn’t going to argue with that—Becky deserved every ounce of security they could give her, and if keeping Elliot with her instead of one of the men meant safety in her mind, so be it. But King?
Pull up your big girl panties, Charlotte.
She rolled her eyes at herself. Yeah, big girl panties were all she needed to walk into that foyer and face the man she’d been all over yesterday. That and a can of invisibility spray.
Of course, if she didn’t hurry up, her mother was going to appear at any moment to waylay Charlotte about what she’d seen yesterday. Only the chaos of last night had kept her away this long. Charlotte had no desire to discuss her mistake with her mother. If she went with King, she could delay the inevitable.
She closed her eyes and forced her feet forward.
King’s presence hit her even before she stepped onto the parquet floor. He stood with his back to her, hands in his pockets, seeming completely relaxed. She’d thought at first that he had zero reaction to seeing her again after all these years, after all the emotion they had shared. But after that kiss…she might not have a ton of experience with men, but she had plenty with King, and he couldn’t hide the need his body had so clearly displayed. No, maybe it wasn’t so much indifference as it was a cover. That’s what bodyguards did, right? Kept a cool facade so they could focus on the job at hand?
Still, the fact that his mask hid his inner thoughts so effectively bruised her heart, especially after yesterday. She hungered for the man who’d held her so tight she could barely breathe, not the man casually waiting for her to show herself now.
Squaring her shoulders, she cleared her throat and plunged forward. “Good morning. Ready to go?”
King pivoted, the sunlight filtering through the front windows turning his blonde hair to a golden halo. Eyes hidden in shadow latched on to her—she could feel their intensity; she didn’t have to see it. And yes, she was fully aware of her own contradictions. She’d give anything not to be stuck alone with him in a car for a fixed amount of time, and yet something inside her preened beneath his attention.
Ugh.
“Morning,” he said, his deep voice sending a shiver down her spine. “The car’s just outside.”
The carturned out to be the electric-blue sports car she’d noticed when she arrived home from the hospital. And it came with a second body, thank God. Saint’s muscular form leaned against the passenger door but straightened when he noticed their approach. “Are you sure I can’t drive?” he asked, the pitch of his voice like a little boy asking for a treat.
“You’re lucky I let you pull it out of the garage,” King responded dryly.
Saint winked at Charlotte as he opened the front passenger-side door. “King is territorial when it comes to this baby.” He closed the door behind her and slid into the back.
With her very first breath, Charlotte absorbed the scent of King’s aftershave, the same scent she’d filled her lungs with as he thrust his tongue into her mouth yesterday. She pulled her sunglasses from her head to cover her eyes and reaction as King rounded the car to take the driver’s seat.
He hadn’t missed Saint’s dig. “I like nice things,” he said, and she swore she heard defensiveness in the words. Did his teammates tease him often? It sounded like Saint did, at least. “I like my nice things to stay nice.”
“I can keep things nice,” Saint protested.
“Tell that to my last office chair.”
Charlotte laughed. Saint grumbled behind her, but the thread of amusement in his voice told her he wasn’t offended.
“I feel pretty important with two escorts to the office,” she said, trying to keep the light mood going.
“You are important,” King said.
A sharp glance revealed his mask of indifference was back in place. Of course she was important; she was the link to Becky. There was nothing personal about King’s words.
She really did need to get back to the office, and not only to help with the investigation. Much as the low throb of pain that kept making reappearances in her head made her want to go back to bed, there were loose ends that had been left trailing in her absence, things that couldn’t wait. And she couldn’t hand over client files to Dain’s team even if she wanted to. Confidential information was confidential for a reason. She’d just have to wrangle her headache and do the reading herself.
