Chapter 12

Brandy overslept.

And once she got dressed, walked out of her bedroom, and saw Grey, the first thought that came to her mind was that they both looked like hell. It was quite obvious that neither of them had gotten a good night sleep. That would have been all well and good if they’d spent the entire night making love, but that was not the case.

“Good morning,” she tried to say in a cheerful tone of voice.

“What’s so good about it?”

Brandy met Grey’s gaze. In spite of the fact that she felt like hell this morning and probably, although she’d spent a decent amount of time in front of her mirror, looked like it, too, she couldn’t help but smile. Men were rather funny when they needed to get laid. They just couldn’t handle things. Whereas she had a reason for being moody and agitated, since it had been nearly a full two years for her, and to be quite honest, she couldn’t even count that night with Thomas, since it had been so disastrous. She was sure it hadn’t been that long for Grey. Unless, however, he was still grieving for his wife and as a result had been celibate since her death almost three years ago. Brandy shook her head finding the very thought of that ludicrous. A virile man like Grey would not be able to go without sex for three years. There was no way.

“What’s so funny?”

She glanced at Grey and saw his deep frown. “Me. You. And the reason we didn’t get any sleep.”

Grey lifted a brow, evidently surprised at her honesty and candor. “And you find it amusing?”

“No, quite honestly I find it pathetic, but then at the same time I also find it refreshing. It’s good to know at thirty-two that I can still turn a man on.”

Grey leaned against the kitchen counter, the same spot she’d left him in the night before, but this morning he had a cup of coffee in his hand. He had a feeling that she would still be able to turn a man on at sixty-two. “Were you trying to turn me on?”

She tossed him a glance as she walked into the kitchen to pour her own cup of coffee. “No, and that’s what so nice about it. But then you should feel good, too, since you definitely got my blood heated up pretty darn good, so consider us even.”

His frown deepened. “I wasn’t aware we were competing.”

She lifted her head from pouring her coffee and smiled at him. “We weren’t. It’s this sexual chemistry thing. Trust me, I know all about it. I have parents who have a double dose of it for each other. They have never married but can’t stand to be in the same room with each other for a few minutes before they blow up in smoke. It’s not uncommon for them to just disappear for a while.”

Brandy chuckled when she recalled how at the age of sixteen she’d finally realized what was going on with her parents. “At times they act like they hate each other but then when people aren’t looking, or when they think people aren’t looking, they can’t keep their hands or eyes off each other.”

Grey set his coffee cup on the counter. “Why didn’t they ever marry?”

That question brought another chuckle from Brandy. “It’s depends on whose story you want to believe, so over the years I’ve come up with my own.”

She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “Although both my mother and father would doggedly disagree with me, I think getting married was too easy for them. I believe that in the beginning my mother wanted my father to marry her since she was only sixteen when she got pregnant with me and doing so would have been the honorable thing for him to do. But I can see how right the decision was for them not to marry. While my father was in college at Morris Brown, he got a girl pregnant and her parents forced him to marry her. That meant he had to drop out of school and lose out on a football scholarship. As soon as Victor Junior was born the girl divorced my father and moved back to Ohio and finished her education at some other college and conveniently left her baby to be raised by my father and grandparents.”

Brandy shifted in her chair to get more comfortable as she continued. “Three years later my father met my mother. She had slipped into this nightclub claiming to be eighteen when she was only sixteen. Anyway, she met my father there and lied about her age. Since he didn’t know any different, he slept with her and she got pregnant. There were some who claimed she’d seen him around and had set her sights on seducing him and that he wasn’t her baby’s father, since she was known to be what everyone considered ‘a fast gal.’ However, any doubt that I was his child ended when I was born. I look too much like my father for anyone to claim otherwise.”

Brandy took another sip. “Anyway, I think Dad would have asked Mom to marry him but she pissed him off when she tried forcing his hand. He’d already been forced into one marriage and didn’t intend on getting forced into another. So he rebelled like hell and didn’t marry her. He joined the army instead and when he returned two years later he brought home a Japanese wife, Tokya, which only pissed my mother off even more.”

Grey shook his head, thinking her parents’ history was definitely colorful as well as cultural. “Did he and the Asian woman have any children?”

“No, and I even heard that she really didn’t like having sex, and that the only reason she married him was to get to America and to what she considered as a better way of life. Well, her plans backfired because my father is a man who strongly believes in having sex anytime, all the time, and when she continued to place limitations in their bed, they got a divorce and he sent her packing.”

Brandy decided not to tell Grey that she’d also heard that Tokya’s sister had come for a visit one year; one night after having drunk too much her father found his way into Tokya’s sister’s bed, the two had a night of wild sex and the woman had ended up getting pregnant. It was common knowledge within the Bennett family that her father had an Asian daughter living somewhere up north, and occasionally they would hear from her.

“But getting back to my parents’ story,” she said as she watched Grey refill her cup with more coffee. “Seeing my father with other women only made my mother angry and she was determined to show him just what a mistake he’d made by choosing those women over her. But in the process she forgot one major thing.”

“What?”

“My mother has an addiction to my father. She hates him but she can’t stand to be without him. I know that sounds rather crazy but it’s true. She can give him pure hell one minute—which can last for months—but then when he comes around and throws her that lethal Bennett smile and gives off this sexual chemistry that she can’t resist, she goes bonkers. But then the same thing happens to him. He’s as addicted to my mother as she is to him. No matter who he marries or what woman he’s with at the time, he never stays away from my mother’s bed for long. So to my mother’s way of thinking, she literally has him just where she wants him.”

Grey rubbed his chin that was in need of a shave. “Is your father married?”

“No, he’s been divorced now for almost three years, and there’s no doubt in my mind that as we speak he and my mother are somewhere together.” She signed heavily. “That’s sad isn’t it?”

“Not if your mother is satisfied with that sort of relationship.”

Brandy chuckled as she set her coffee cup down. “I think she is. Besides, I don’t think I could handle it if they got married.” She then glanced at her watch. “I have to make a quick call to Carla, then I’ll be ready to go.”

“All right. When you’re through, I’ll walk you down.”

“What did you find out, Brandy?”

Brandy heard the deep concern in Carla’s voice. “I checked a few things out when I got in from dinner last night and I hate to say it but this Jesse Devereau may be one and the same. I understand he’s a wealthy businessman from L.A. who’s here on business. It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere soon since he has his suite booked for an entire week.”

Carla nodded, not liking what she was hearing. She shifted uneasily in her seat at her kitchen table. “Is he alone?” she asked.

“No,” Brandy said with a heavy sigh. “But if you’re asking if he’s here with a woman, the answer is no. He’s here with a man I assume to be a business associate by the name of Mike Kelly. They have connecting suites.”

“And you’re sure he’s not here with a woman?”

“Positive. My female employees have been going nuts since he’s been here and they watch his every move. The man is so fine. I can see how you were attracted to him the first time you saw him.”

“Yeah, but that was then and this is now. If he’s here on a business trip that’s fine, however under no circumstances do I want him to find out about Craig.”

“And you think he has?”

“No, I really don’t.”

“Then you don’t have anything to worry about, but to play it safe I would suggest that you lay low for a while and not visit me at the hotel.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Carla replied.

A short while later when Brandy and Grey walked off the elevator, her secretary gave her a big smile. “Why, good morning, Ms. Bennett, I thought you had decided to sleep in this morning.”

Brandy chuckled. “No, I just overslept.”

“Oh, I see.”

Brandy was sure the woman thought she saw more than there really was, since Grey was standing so close to her. “Did I get any calls, Donna? Do I have any mail?”

“No calls but yes, these are for you,” Donna said, handing Brandy a stack of envelopes. Brandy was surprised when Grey followed her into the office and closed the door behind them. She thought he’d only planned to catch the elevator with her to the administration floor.

“You didn’t give me your agenda today,” he said, taking the seat across from her desk.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right, I forgot. I was too busy giving you Bennett History Lesson Number One instead,” she said, flipping through the bunch of envelopes Donna had given to her.

Grey chuckled. “You mean there’s more.”

She looked up, met his gaze and smiled. “Believe me, I could write a book.” She then glanced down at one envelope in particular as she tossed the others on her desk. A frown suddenly marred her forehead.

“Something’s wrong, Brandy?”

She glanced up and met Grey’s gaze again. “I’m not sure but for some reason I’m getting a funny feeling about this one letter here. I’ve noted all the things you told me to watch out for. There’s no postage, no postmark and no return address.”

Grey stood. “Let me see it.”

She didn’t waste any time handing it over to him, and he quickly ripped it opened and scanned the contents. “Damn.”

“What is it, Grey? Let me see it.”

He hesitated a moment before passing it on to her. Brandy was visibly shaken while reading the letter.

I don’t like that another man is getting what is mine. For that you will pay.

The Man

As Carla swung her car into Osborne Computer Network’s parking lot, the conversation she’d had earlier with Brandy was still on her mind. She hoped what she assumed was right and Jesse was in town on business and nothing more.

Juggling her keys and briefcase in one hand she closed the door to her car, turned around, and froze in place. There standing a few feet away next to a Mercedes sports car was the one man she had hoped not to see…ever again.

Jesse Devereau.

And he was waiting for her.

Seeing him again made her realize that he was the one and only man who had ever touched her body. And even now she could admit he was the one and only man who had once gone so far as to touch her soul as well as her heart within forty-eight hours of meeting him. But that had been before she’d found out just what type of man he was.

Seconds ticked by and Carla was unable to move. She was surprised that she was capable of breathing. After the initial shock at seeing him she quickly surmised that he was still the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. But she didn’t want to think about that. What she wanted and needed to know was why he was here waiting for her.

Taking a deep breath, she walked toward him, his eyes holding hers.

He looked taller and darker, and his hair was longer and caught in ponytail at the back of his neck, Steven Seagal–style.

As she got closer she tried not to look at his mouth. She remembered that mouth well and how he had put it to use on her. All over. She moved her gaze from his mouth and met his eyes. Like his son’s they were hazel, darkly intense and contrasted starkly with his dark almond complexion. But then so did the straight hair. She again wondered what he was mixed with? White? Hispanic? Some other nationality?

Her attention slid past him to the entrance of the building. She saw Sam Barnes, Osborne Network’s security guard standing in front of the revolving doors, watching, looking, and making sure all was well and that the man waiting for her posed no threat and was safe.

For some reason she felt Jesse wasn’t safe, especially to her peace of mind. She suddenly felt angry, annoyed that he was there. If he didn’t know about Craig that meant he’d sought her out for another reason. Did he think she was willing to give him a repeat performance of what happened over two years ago? If he did then he had another thought coming.

Jesse’s gaze remained fixed on Carla’s face as she came closer. She was even more beautiful than he had remembered. He had thought about her often, sometimes thinking that the night they’d shared had not been real but a figment of his imagination.

He inhaled as a deep, primitive ache spread throughout every part of his body. What had it been about her that had drawn him to her like a bee to honey? They had only spent two days together, less than that if you were only counting hours; yet from the first there had been something about her that had touched him, entranced him. In his heart he had believed there wasn’t a pretentious bone in her body and everything he’d seen about her that night was real and genuine. She had made an impact on him like no other woman and he’d let his guard down, which was why finding out about her betrayal had hurt tremendously, tarnishing the special memory he’d retained of her. Receiving that anonymous letter had been like a knife twisting in his heart. He didn’t want to believe that she hadn’t tried contacting him to let him know she’d gotten pregnant—even if their encounter had been for one night.

He distinctly remembered how she had talked at dinner about her deceased father and how close they’d been and the special bond and relationship they’d shared. If her child was his then didn’t she think he deserved a chance to have that same bond and relationship with his child as well? What she didn’t know but would soon find out was that family meant a lot to him since he’d never had one, other than Mike, and he needed to know if he had fathered her child; if he actually did have a son as the birth certificate claimed.

As she got closer still, he could see she looked annoyed, angry, put out, and the moment she came to a stop in front of him he could tell she was on the defensive already. The dark eyes holding his blazed and she lifted her chin. “Jesse.”

He leaned back against his rental car. At least she hadn’t pretended not to know him. And for a moment he still wanted to believe there wasn’t a pretentious bone in her body, a body he had gotten to know quite well that night.

“Carla,” he said returning a greeting just as somber as the one she’d given. He felt her discomfort, her nervousness. He also felt his blood stir and felt the blatant chemistry that flowed between them although he tried not to. Hell, he almost wanted to laugh out loud in startled disbelief. If what she’d done was true, he had every right to be angry, furious, but all he could think about was taking her into her arms and kissing her, tasting her.

“Why are you here, Jesse?”

Her question recaptured his attention. Since she’d asked he might as well get on with it. “I received a letter a couple of days ago.”

She lifted a brow. “A letter?”

“Yes. It was short and to the point. In fact, I think I’ll let you see it.” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled it out. Without wasting any time he handed it to her.

He watched as she opened the folded piece of paper and read it. She then read it again as a dark frown touched her face and her forehead bunched. She shook her head as if to clear it of the staggering effect it had on her. He watched as she finally took a deep breath before folding it back up, met his gaze, then handed it back to him. Then there was sudden stillness. Total silence.

“Well?” he asked when she stood there and didn’t say anything.

“Well, what?” she all but snapped.

He reached out and lifted her defiant chin so their gazes could lock. “Did you have my child, Carla?” he asked softly.

Carla swallowed deeply. Should she tell him the truth? What right did he have to know, considering everything? But the question that burned foremost in her mind was, who had sent that letter? She breathed deeply, unsure how to deal with this. She wasn’t even sure what rights he had where Craig was concerned, since she had listed him as her son’s father on the birth certificate. The reason she had done so was because she’d felt she had owed that much to her son when he got older and wanted to know the identity of his father. The complete truth.

Truth.

That was the one word she had thought she and Jesse had shared that night. They had been two individuals alone on a holiday set aside to give thanks. She couldn’t stop the pain she always felt when she remembered how he had lied to her, how he had looked her in the eye and told her he wasn’t involved with anyone and she had believed him. So as far as she was concerned she didn’t owe him anything. Not even the courtesy of answering his question.

Clearing her throat, she removed his hand from her chin and took a step back. “I won’t answer that,” she said bitterly, stiffly.

Jesse’s eyes darkened, narrowed. “I have ways of finding out,” he said curtly. He did and had thought of using those ways but had decided to meet with her first, hoping that she would admit or deny the letter’s allegations. And if it was true, explain why she hadn’t tried contacting him to let him know he had a son.

“Then find out, because I’m not telling you anything,” she said with a stiffened spine.

“Don’t you think I have a right to know?” he asked, scowling darkly.

In her mind’s eyes she saw the picture that had made front page of a Los Angeles newspaper. A photograph of him and a beautiful and elegant older woman—a white woman at that—as the two of them danced together at some social function. Sonya, who’d been on a business trip to L.A., had brought the article back to show her. Even now the headlines still glared out in her mind: heiress susan brady takes a lover.

“No,” she said bitterly. “You have no rights and I don’t ever want to see you again.”

Not waiting for him to respond, she rushed off and quickly went into the building.

Amber was not having a good day. She hadn’t slept well last night but had come into the shop anyway only to find that a huge shipment of books that had been delivered were not the books she had ordered. That meant that the Reading for Fun readers group would not have their books by Saturday unless the distributor sent another order overnight.

Then there was the fact that Cord Jeffries had unexpectedly shown up that morning. Unlike the other times, he didn’t have a whole lot to say. In fact, he barely said anything other than a quick hello. He had plopped down a copy of Black Enterprise on the counter with the correct change and before she could get the words “thank you” out, he had walked out of the shop. Well, that was just fine and dandy with her. After all, she barely knew the man…even if she did have a bad case of the hots for him.

She glanced down at her watch. Carla had called a half hour ago sounding rather strange and saying she needed to talk with her right away. “Eileen,” Amber called out to the other woman who was putting up books. “I’ll be in my office for a while. If Carla shows up she can find me there.”

Once inside her office Amber decided to make a fresh pot of coffee. Even if Carla didn’t want any, she sure did. She sat down, waiting for it to start brewing, and couldn’t help but think of her dreams last night. Boy had they been wild! In them she and Cord Jeffries had made love in every way known to man. Even a few ways man didn’t know about yet.

She couldn’t help the wistful smile that touched her lips. In her dream the two of them had been so naughty, so downright sex-crazy. And then seeing him this morning, although he hadn’t been talkative, had done something to her. Just the mental image of him touching and kissing her all over, taking leisurely yet greedy licks of her feminine flesh almost sent her up in smoke.

It was getting harder and harder to control her urges.

“Amber?”

Amber glanced up as Carla stuck her head in the door. “Carla, come on in. I made us a pot of coffee.”

Carla came in and took the nearest chair. Amber sat up straight when she saw her friend’s distraught expression. “Carla, what is it?”

Carla tried to smile. “I’m going to need something a lot stronger than coffee.”

Amber raised a brow. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“You know last night when I mentioned Brandy’s phone call telling me that a man by the name of Jesse Devereau had checked into her hotel?”

Amber nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

Carla leaned back in her chair. “Well, this morning I found out it’s him. He was waiting for me in the parking lot when I got to work.”

Amber’s eyes widened. “He was?”

“Yes, and he had a letter someone sent to him, telling him about Craig.”

Amber looked at Carla. “A letter? Who sent it?”

Carla sighed deeply. “I don’t know and neither does he, but there is a letter because he showed it to me.”

“Did you recognize the handwriting?”

“It was typed.” Carla’s throat tightened, wondering who could have sent it; the first person that came to mind was her mother, since she’d always been obsessed with having Craig’s father know the truth. But her mother never knew the identity of her baby’s father and the birth certificate was supposed to have been concealed.

“What did he say?” Amber asked, reclaiming Carla’s attention.

“He asked me if it was true.”

“And what did you say?”

Carla stood and began pacing Amber’s office. Moments later she came to a stop. “I refused to answer him. He hasn’t been a part of Craig’s life so why should he care?”

Amber met her gaze. “But you know the reason he hasn’t been a part of Craig’s life, Carla. You never told him you were pregnant.”

“Because he didn’t deserve to know. He lied to me.”

“Yes, but he’s still Craig’s father and with that come certain rights.” Amber knew she wasn’t telling Carla what she wanted to hear but she, Carla, and Brandy had agreed to always be completely honest with each other.

Carla grabbed her purse from off Amber’s desk. “Look, I need to go see my attorney and get legal advice. If Brandy calls looking for me, let her know that’s where I’ll be.” She then quickly left.

Cord Jeffries felt ill. He had awakened that morning with barely enough energy to lift his head and somehow he’d made it to the bathroom to take a shower. Even now he felt weak as water and didn’t want to think about the phone call he’d received from Dev last night. Cord’s test results indicated his blood pressure was high and he needed to slow down and start eating properly. Or else…

Cord didn’t want to think of the ‘or else’ that he’d been presented with. He wasn’t sure if Dev was kidding or just trying to scare him, but the thought of being confined in a hospital was not something he wanted. So he had promised Dev, who’d called from the airport on his way to a medical convention in Dallas, that he would take a couple of days off to relax and would start eating properly.

And he had intended to keep his promise, but when one of his biggest clients, Fred Powell, had called and said he’d received a letter from the IRS, he’d had no other choice but to get dressed and go into the office.

He had made a stop by Amber’s shop on his way in, needing to see her again, if only for a brief moment. But he hadn’t hung around for long, fearful that she would take one look at him and see he wasn’t feeling well. He’d heard women could easily detect that sort of thing.

He looked up when a knock sounded at his door. “Come in.”

His secretary stuck her head in. “I’m about to leave for today. Is there anything I can get for you before I go?”

“No, Janelle, I’m fine.”

“Well, you don’t look fine.”

He glared at her. “Thanks for the compliment, now go and drive carefully.”

“Thanks, and take my advice and stay home tomorrow.”

“I’ll think about it.” He then thought of something. “There’s something you can do, but tomorrow will be soon enough. That bookstore that I’ve been frequenting will be celebrating their second anniversary next week. I want an arrangement of flowers sent to the owner. Her first name is Amber but I don’t know her last name.”

Janelle nodded. “That won’t be hard to find out. Is there any specific type of flowers you want sent?”

“No, just something nice that will last awhile.”

“All right. Anything special you want on the card?”

Cord leaned back in his chair. “No, just congratulations and my name will do.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. Now, boss, I suggest you close up shop and head on out, too. Whatever you’re working on will be here when you return.”

Cord forehead bunched into a frown. “Yes, but I don’t particularly want to see it. Good night, Janelle.”

“Good night, Mr. Jeffries.”

The minute Grey heard Brandy’s shower going he picked up his mobile phone and began dialing. The phone was picked up on the second ring.

“Masters here, and I hope you got something for me. Another note was left today with her secretary,” he said, his tone curt and to the point. In the last week one of his investigators had been hired by the hotel as a bellman and another, a female investigator, was hired to work in housekeeping. No one knew they’d been planted there to keep their eyes and ears open. He hadn’t even mentioned it to Brandy.

He’d also solicited the aid of a couple of men that he knew who were special agents working in DC to run background checks on a couple of Brandy’s employees. The reports he’d gotten back earlier that day on her friends Carla Osborne and Amber Stuart were clean, and he expected to receive the report on Thomas Reynolds at any time.

He listened attentively to what the man on the other end was saying. “Umm, I find that rather interesting as well. I appreciate you uncovering that information and it may possibly be the break I need. I’ll check back in with you on tomorrow.”

After disconnecting the line he rubbed his chin at the information his friend, Ernie Baker, had uncovered. He found it rather interesting. It was definitely something that he doubted Brandy was aware of.

He was just about to go into the room where his laptop was set up to check to see if there were any messages for him on his computer when Brandy’s phone rang. He could still hear the shower going and decided to go ahead and answer it.

“Yes?”

“Grey, this is Alexia. It’s been over two weeks and I thought you were going to check in and let me know how things were going.”

Grey shook his head. His brother had definitely married an impatient woman. Beautiful, but still impatient. “There’s nothing to report yet.”

“Oh. Well, how is she? Rae’jean and Taye will want to know when I talk to them later tonight.”

“Brandy is fine but I haven’t figured out who’s sending her those messages, although I’ve been able to piece together a few things.”

“Like what?”

“That’s for me to know. Right now I need to keep a lid on everything.”

“And you think I’ll talk?”

Grey couldn’t help but laugh outright at that question. “Hell, yeah, I think you’ll talk. And anything that’s leaked could jeopardize this case.”

“Really, Grey, it’s not like I know those people.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just let me handle things, all right?” There was a slight pause. “Alexia,” he said in a warning tone when she didn’t answer him.

“Oh, all right. I guess I’ll tell Rae’jean and Taye that we need to cancel our trip to Florida next week.”

Grey raised his gaze to the ceiling. He’d wondered how long it would take for them to plan a trip to check up on things themselves. That’s all he needed was to get tied up with the Bennett cousins. “Yeah, I think canceling that trip to Florida would be a good idea. Remember when you asked me to take this case you promised to let me handle things my way?”

“Yeah, well . . .”

“And I’m holding you to it. Trust me. Brandy is in safe hands. Now where is Quinn? I need to talk to him for a second.”

Grey sighed when Alexia grudgingly told him to hold on. He didn’t envy his brother one bit. In fact he didn’t envy any man who married a Bennett.

“Yeah, Grey, what’s going on?”

“Nothing is going on, but I believe I got some information today that may help move things along. I just need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure. What?”

“Handcuff your wife to the bed or something.” He could hear Quinn immediately start laughing on the other end.

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea, but any particular reason that I should?” Quinn asked. “Other than a few ideas I have of my own.”

Grey could just imagine his brother’s ideas. “I think she and those other two cousins of hers are planning a trip to Florida and I definitely don’t need that. They may decide to take matters into their own hands and heaven help us if that happens. I’ll have my hands full keeping all four of them safe. The person who is sending Brandy these notes is a lunatic or he’s trying hard to convince us that he is.”

Quinn sighed deeply. “All right, I’ll just have to come up with something to keep Alexia busy. Maybe I’ll get her pregnant again.” He sounded content and just a bit smug.

Grey laughed. “Hey, that’s your call.”

Grey had just hung up the phone when Brandy’s bedroom door opened and she walked out, fresh from her shower and looking sexy as hell in the same velour bathrobe from last night.

He had stayed pretty close to her most of the day and when he wasn’t around, he’d made sure the other investigators he had hired were. “Are you ready to order dinner?” he asked when she came into the living room. She sat down on the sofa, her gaze studying the floor.

“I’m not hungry,” she said softly, without looking up.

He nodded. That last note had really bothered her. “You need to eat something, Brandy.”

Her head snapped up and the look in her eyes was pure fire. “You don’t know what I need, Grey. What I need is for the person who is sending me those damn messages to stop. If they’re trying to scare me off it won’t work. I won’t give up my hotel, I won’t.”

He immediately closed the distance separating them and sat down on the sofa next to her. He reached out and tucked his thumb under her chin and raised her face to meet his. “Hey, everything’s going to be all right, I promise. I told you from day one that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

Without thinking twice about it, he pulled her into his embrace and began rubbing his hands up and down her back. “Don’t let the bastard get to you, Brandy. I’ll find out who he is, I promise.”

He could hear her deep sigh. He could also smell her scent. The latter was beginning to drive him crazy. It was also making his body hard as a rock.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, Grey. This pervert is turning me into a fraidy-cat.”

Grey chuckled softly, his breath warm against her ear. “You’re not a fraidy-cat. I happen to think you’re brave. Only a very brave woman could have managed to continue on with her plans today like there was nothing wrong. I think you should be proud of yourself.”

She leaned back and met his gaze. Her eyes, he noticed, were unusually bright and it seemed that every emotion she possessed was right there in that gaze. “You think so?”

His gaze slowly dropped to her lips. “Yes, I think so.”

For the longest moment neither said anything, then in a soft, barely heard whisper, she said, “Kiss me, Grey.”

When he didn’t move, she leaned her body forward toward him and whispered lower still, “Go ahead, even if you don’t want to kiss me, just do it to humor me. I need the kiss, Grey.”

He arched a dark brow, wondering how on earth could she think he didn’t want to kiss her when he was literally burning up with the need to taste her.

He folded her into his warm embrace as his mouth came down on hers. Her lips immediately parted under his and he stuck his tongue inside her mouth the exact moment he heard her long sigh of pleasure. The sound sent jolts of excitement racing down his spine. He felt vibrantly alive and passion, the red-hot kind, nipped him all over.

He made a noise that could have been a growl, he definitely wasn’t sure. All he could do was to continue to suck, lick, and taste her.

The kiss was mind blowing, slow torture.

She wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on and he couldn’t stop kissing her if his very life had depended on him doing so. Moments later, when breathing became a necessity, he eased back but not too far where he couldn’t kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheek, nibble her bottom lip and sink his fingers into the thick mass of braids that spilled over her shoulders.

He continued to brush his mouth back and forth across hers, after not getting nearly enough of her taste. His gaze raked hers hotly. “One more kiss okay?”

Without giving him an answer, she took the initiative and covered his mouth with hers, staking her claim, continuing what he had started, and not holding back anything. He felt her shiver when his hand reached up and parted the folds of her robe, unerringly going straight to her breasts. His breath caught when he smoothed his fingers across a path that went from one nipple to the other. He made up in his mind, then and there, that the next time he would know the taste of them. He would also know the taste of her.

And there would definitely be a next time.

Once again they had to let loose for air and Grey closed his eyes and sank back against the sofa, not knowing if he would survive. He lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, in an effort—a totally wasted effort—to cut off her scent. It was stronger than ever—hot, enticing, seducing.

“Grey?”

It took all his strength to force at least one eye open to gaze at her. Talk about a woman being easy on the eyes, she was definitely that. Her robe was still parted and he could get a glimpse of her bare breasts. He decided to open both eyes and get an eyeful—at least as much as he could get. He was definitely a breast man. Always had been and always would be, and hers were every man’s dream. Even now he was tempted to lean forward, take his tongue and lick and suck her nipples until he was the ripe old age of one hundred.

“Grey?”

When she called his name a second time, he lifted his gaze from her breasts to her face. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

He lifted a brow. “What are you thanking me for?”

“For giving me what I needed tonight.”

Inevitably, his gaze left hers and lingered downward, stealing a token glimpse of her breasts again. “Is there anything else you need, Brandy?” She was truly a beautiful woman, he thought. And he wanted her.

He watched as she gently swiped her lower lip with that sweet tongue of hers. If she was trying to provoke him, it was working. He felt his already hard erection get harder.

“No,” she finally answered, softy. “I think that’s all for now.”

He met her gaze. “Are you sure?”

She smiled, the first he’d seen since she had received that letter today. “No, I’m not sure, but I’m trying to do the right thing.”

He arched a brow. “Which is?”

Her smile widened. “Spare you. I’ve got two long years to make up for.”

He sighed. She didn’t know it but he had a year up on her. Mental images, most of them crystal clear, flitted across his mind. “I don’t want to be spared.”

Now it was her time to arch a brow. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive.”

She nodded as a soft chuckle escaped her throat. “I’ll keep that in mind…the next time.”

The lone figure paced the room, edgy, agitated. The plan wasn’t working. Another would have to be put in place and soon. There was no time to waste. Brandy Bennett had to get what was coming to her.