Chapter 5
He felt the prickling at the back of his neck and turned slowly around in anticipation. And then he did, the jolt was electrifying. He had spent the entire week wondering how to get in touch with her.
His weekend trip had lasted more than the two days he had planned. He had come back home two days ago and was overwhelmed with meetings and the usual family drama.
He had not planned on coming to the annual medical gala but had changed his mind because it was an event that was put on by his own company. It would have been glaringly obvious if the CEO was not in attendance.
Cutting the chief of staff of a major hospital as he droned on about what R he turned towards the steps that led to the immense parking lot.
Biting back a groan as she minced her way in the heels, she wished she could take the damn things off and heave them. They were new and she cursed the day she had bought them.
His strides were long, but so were hers and within minutes she had caught up to him. He stopped at a bench facing the water with the boats bobbing on the surface. It was getting cold and she just realized she had come out without a jacket.
As if sensing it, he shrugged off his navy-blue sports jacket and draped it around her shoulders. “I can see you shivering.” He started to say something else but changed his mind and sat down.
Stretching his long legs out, he crossed them at the ankles and looked out at the water in silence. Seated next to him, Margo was so acutely aware of him that she had to force herself not to shift.
He continued to sit in silence for a few minutes before reaching into his pants pocket and taking out a slim gold case. Flipping it open, he took out a cigar and finally glanced at her.
“Do you mind?” He asked politely.
“No.” She shook her head and watched as he extracted a solid gold lighter and lit the cigar.
“You smoke.”
He squinted at her through the fragrant smoke as he slid the case back into his pocket. “I do, yes.”
“No one told you smoking is bad for your health?”
He gave her a lazy smile. “They might have. I only smoke when I am stressed. Curiously, since meeting you the first time, I have picked up the habit.”
She did not dare allow herself to react. She was on the job and that was that.
“Meaning, I’m bad for you?”
He flicked her a glance again. “Meaning, I cannot seem to stop thinking about you.” Before she could respond, he nodded to the boats bobbing on the surface. “Want to go for a ride?”
“You own a boat. Of course you do.”
“Several actually. The company keep a couple on hand for when associates come for a visit. What do you say?”
She wanted to tell him that as a black woman she did not think about going near the water, but that would have been a damn lie. She loved the water and swam like a fish.
“Why not?”
With a pleased expression on his attractive face, he rose and offered her a hand to help her up. Ignoring the hand, much to his amusement, she stood up and started forward.
“Which one is yours?” The night had a romantic feel about it, with the star-studded sky and the moon peeping through the clouds.
“This one.” They climbed onto the boardwalk, and he had to force himself not to take her hand. She was a self-sufficient woman who did not need any of that.
“A speedboat?”
“You expected something else?”
“A yacht, maybe.” He started to climb aboard when he noticed she was just standing there.
“Problem?”
“I am not wearing the right shoes. You know what? Screw it.” To his amusement she simply bent and slipped them off, hissing out a sigh of relief.
“I take it that’s much better?” Taking her hand, he helped her onboard.
“You have no idea.” Her eyes roamed the deck slowly, noticing the trim lines and the sleek built. “Impressive.”
“Thanks.” Going to the wheel, he gunned the engine and made a three sixty degree turn that took them into the opposite direction.
“Where are we going!”
“It is a surprise.” He flashed her a grin and she felt her heart taking a slow dive. She was going to have to be careful here. The man was lethal.
“Want a try?”
She nodded, eyes sparkling. Moving forward, carefully, she positioned herself behind the wheel and tried to ignore the slide of his body against hers as he exchanged positions with her.
Shoving the lever forward, she increased the speed and laughed for the sheer joy of it, when he stumbled slightly.
“Slow down!”
“Why?”
“You are going to capsize us. And you do not know where the hell you are going.”
But he did not care. He loved the fact that she was having fun and realized that he was having fun right along with her. No wonder he was so fascinated, so damn turned on her. He had never met anyone like her before.
They had been going for twenty minutes, when he stepped up behind her and took control. She started to move, but he imprisoned her body with his hands covering hers as he slowed them down and took a neat left turn.
She was without shoes and barely came up to his chin. His cologne was subtle and expensive and sort of woodsy. His body was lean and muscular. Even with the wind blowing, she felt hot and bothered and it made her uncomfortable.
“Look.”
She jolted as his breath touched her ear.
“What?”
It was a patch of land in the middle of the water, with palm trees growing and was wide enough to build a house.
“It’s beautiful.”
“It is.” Pushing the lever down, he brought them to a halt and, to her immense relief, stepped away from her. “How about something to eat? I think I can rustle up something from the galley. They always leave the place fully stocked.” He gestured to one of the comfortable benches on the deck.
“That sounds good. I am starving.”
“I’ll be right back.” She sat and stretched her legs out, lifting her head to breathe in the fresh air. She was enjoying herself and she did not feel uncomfortable with him. Well, not really.
She had not been on a date in so long, she had forgotten what it was like. But in the past, it never felt like this. Of course, she had never been with a man like Merrick Pendergast before either and she had to quickly remind herself that this was not a damn date.
He came back with a tray loaded with food and what looked like a bottle of champagne.
“Cheese, fruit and crackers.” He dumped the tray on a table attached to the floor and sat across from her.
“Champagne?” She stared at him with lifted brows. “What are we celebrating?”
“Our first date.”
“This is not a date.”
He merely smiled and popped the cork, his eyes intent on her face. She had dug out an elastic band from her foolish little purse that could barely hold her shield and had put her hair up into a careless bun.
“How old are you?”
She stared at him wide eyed at the bluntness of his question.
“Are you supposed to be asking me that?”
“You strike me as a woman with no coyness to her and I am too damn old to be playing games. You look like you are either in your late thirties or early forties.”
Her smile came and was wide with pleasure. “I’m actually fifty-two years old.”
He stopped in the process of pouring the wine, a frown deepening his brow. “You’re lying.”
“It says so on my birth cert and my driver’s license.” She told him cheerfully, her cheeks dimpling. “Want to see them?”
“I might.” He continued to stare at her. “My God.” He whispered. “How on earth do you manage to look so young?”
“I work out a lot and eat right. Screw that. I have lousy eating habits, and I binge eat sometimes. I don’t know what to tell you.” She took the glass from him and took a sip, her eyes widening. “This is very good.”
“Glad you appreciate it.” He was still staring at her and in his mind he realized that he had been wondering if she was too young for him.
“You’re getting weird.”
“What do you do for a living?”
She had expected the question and was ready with an answer.
“I am an aspiring novelist.”
His brows lifted in surprise. “Aspiring?”
She shrugged and took a bunch of grapes. “I am just starting out. I was a photographer before that and just decided to follow my dreams.” She wondered if she sounded as lame as the statement and decided that she did when she saw him staring at her skeptically.
“What genre?”
“Historical romance.” She latched onto the first thing she could think of. Her aunt was an avid fan of historical romance and always had a pile of them in her library.
“You don’t strike me as one who would write novels, let alone a romance novel.”
She bristled. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“it means you don’t strike me as being the romance type.” He told her bluntly, intense gray eyes watching her too closely for comfort.
“You don’t know me well enough to assume that.” She went on the defensive and drank champagne to avoid looking at him.
“You are right of course, but I happen to an excellent judge of character. From the little I have seen; you are a straight shooter with no form of coyness about you. You shy away from accepting help and you are very careful when it comes to men. Are you sleeping with the guy you came with?”
His assessment of her was close enough to the truth to have her feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
“He’s just a friend.” She said tightly. “And that’s none of your damn business.”
He simply inclined his head, expression neutral. “I have offended you.”
She backed down when she realized she was being defensive.
“It’s fine.” She thought of letting the subject die, but something he said nagged at her. “How do you know I am careful when it comes to men? Because I said I was not sleeping with you?”
“Firstly,” he began with a smile. “We would not be sleeping and second, I said it because I think it is the truth. Are you going to tell me otherwise?” He enjoyed talking to her and wondered fleetingly if they were going to end up using the cabin down below.
He wanted their first time together to be somewhere solid, like inside his bedroom, but he would take what he can.
“No. And nothing is wrong with being cautious. Men are often known to be faithless pigs.”
A chuckle escaped him at her fierce expression. “is that right?”
“I am guessing you’re going to tell me you’re not one of them.”
“I’m not.” Leaning back, he picked up his glass and took a sip, watching her over the rim.
“Bad experiences?”
“Not really.” She shrugged. “Just enough to make an evaluation.”
“I am betting I can get you to change your mind about my species.”
“I am fine.”
“Not up to the challenge?”
She cast him a retired look that had him grinning and taking several years off his face.
“I’m not sleeping with you.” She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself and was sure he heard it too.
“Why not?”
“Because.”
He merely lifted a brow and waited.
“It would only complicate things.”
“What things?”
She could not very well tell him the real reason, so she reached for something else. “You’re involved with someone.”
“Not anymore.”
Her tapered brows shot up. “That was quick. I hope it is not on my account.”
“It is on mine. We were simply enjoying each other’s company, nothing more.”
“The last time I saw you, she was saying something about buying painting for your bedroom.”
Jennifer already knows I do not need any more paintings for my suite.”
“I’m guessing that statement was for my benefit?”
“Possibly.” He inclined his head, watching her closely.
“Which only proves that she wants the relationship to continue.”
“She knew the deal from the beginning.”
She took another sip of wine. “And that is what you would want from me? A diversion?”
Amusement intensified his gray eyes. “I would consider you more of a distraction.”
“Which is all the more reason not to start anything.”
“I never tagged you for a coward.”
Her eyes flashed, and he watched in fascination as she stamped it out. “You’re good.”
“It seems you’re better.” He took another sip of the wine. “There is a perfectly clean and tidy cabin down below. One might even call it the height of luxury. We could simply indulge.”
She had to force herself not to react to the obvious invitation even while her heart was thudding actively.
“Is that what you do? Indulge?”
He contemplated her question for a minute, as if turning it over inside his head. “We are both adults and unencumbered at the moment. I have been attracted to you since the moment I laid eyes on you.
It is more than that if I am being honest. You intrigue me and not a hell of a lot of women do. In fact, you are the first since…,” his voice tailed off and for a moment, he remained silent. “Suffice it to say that I’m very interested to see where this will take us.”
So, he was still hung up on his dead fiancée, she mused. Not that it made one bit of difference to her. She just wondered what it felt like to be loved so completely that not even death and years could diminish it.
“Not interested.”
“Are you sure?”
She tried for sarcasm, which she was so good at. “Why, Mr. Pendergast, is it a novelty being turned down by a woman?”
Instead of rising to the bait, he seemed to guess exactly what she was trying to accomplish.
“I will back down for now. But keep expecting me to come back.” His gray eyes had a light in them that was making her warm. “Count on it.”
“Is that a threat?”
He laughed softly. “I have a feeling that a woman like you would not take that lightly. No, it’s a definite promise.”
*****
She declined his offer to take her home. And even if Brad had already left, she would rather call an Uber. He had disturbed her in ways she had not expected. He was too damn confident of his ability to charm her and finally get her on her back.
So, she was going to take a step back and give it a day or two. She had not asked him anything about his company, figuring it was too soon.
“You’re quiet.”
Shaking her thoughts loose, she turned her head to look at Brad. “Just thinking.”
“How was it?”
“Okay.”
She whipped her head around when he made a snorting sound.
“What?”
“Come now Margo. The guy zeroed in on you as soon as we entered the room. He took you off to someplace private and all you can say, is it was okay?”
“What the hell else do you want me to say?” She snapped irritably. She certainly did not want to rehash the time they had spent on his boat and how tempted she had been to accept his offer of going down below.
“I want you to say that you will be careful. I want you to say that you will not get in over your head.”
“I already know all those things.”
He slid her a glance, which she ignored. “He wants to get you in bed.”
“And you are implying that I have no say in the matter. That I cannot control my impulses.”
“How do you feel about him?”
“He is a mark. Someone I am using to get the job done. Period. That is, it. People are dying, young people at the beginning of their lives and I want to get to the bottom of it. There is no time to think about getting laid.”
There was silence for a few minutes as Brad navigated the midnight traffic, which was to his estimation, still crazy.
“And if it comes to that?” He asked her quietly. He had seen them leave the balcony, because he had been on his way to bring her a glass of champagne and to find out what the hell was keeping her so long. He had stood there with the two glasses in his hand and watched them make their way to the harbor.
He had stood there long enough, eaten up with jealousy as he further noticed them going on the boat. Things were progressing rapidly. He had also seen the way the man looked at her and knew he was extremely interested.
“It won’t.”
“If it does?” He persisted, even when she cut him off with a look.
“It won’t. Now shut the hell up and concentrate on your driving. I got this and I don’t need you looking out for me.”