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They werephotographed, but Chantelle suspected these women take such things intheir stride. They commanded attention and had been written up inseveral magazines around the world, not just for the fact they weremarried to wealthy and powerful men but also for the charities theycontributed to.
The night had goneout mostly without a hitch. There’d been a tiny moment whensomeone had gotten drunk and rather loud, but that’d been takencare of very quickly. He’d been hustled out and poured into acab that had been waiting.
Kane provided forcontingencies like these and it would, of course, be put on the man'stab. All in all, it’d been a wonderful evening, and she had toadmit it. She rose from her position around the glossy white andbrown counter to put the kettle on.
It was anotherSunday, and the weather had taken a turn. She hadn’t beenoutside yet but had heard the rain making a noise on the window pane.The sky was a dull, metallic gray, and the temperature had droppedsomewhat. She’d contemplated idly about going in to do somepaperwork but was going to see how she felt later on.
She hadn’tslept much, twisting and turning inside her bed. Caleb was right.She’d never been so out of sorts before. She was twenty-eightand had her share of relationships, well, two to be exact, and she’dbeen able to walk away without a backward look. No one had evertouched her the way Kenji had, and it frightened the life out of her.
Plunking the kettledown, she turned the flame on and went to get the tea. She’dhave a coffee and something to eat later on, but now she was havingtea to settle her nerves.
The jealousy hadrisen up inside her when she caught herself staring at him at onepoint. He’d been leaning towards the blonde and intimatelylistening to something she was saying. His arm had been around herwaist.
He'd told her hewanted her, and yet he was salivating. No, men like him don't lowerthemselves to anything so demeaning, she thought with a tinge ofbitterness. He’d told her plainly that he wanted her, and yet,there he was, wrapped up with that bitch. It’d proven herpoint, but it still stung.
She’d wanted tomarch over and boot them out, but she didn’t have the power.The place belonged to Kane, and, as Kenji reminded her twice, he hada ten percent interest that entitled him to be there.
Closing her eyeswearily, she rose to make her tea and try and settle her nerves.
*****
He was restless andon edge. Last night had been a disaster. Karen had wanted to know ifthere was a chance there was something going on. “I understandyou’re going through something right now, and I can honestlytell you that if I come back to your apartment, there’ll be nostrings attached.”
And, by God, he’dbeen tempted. After spending the entire night watching her with thatbastard, he’d been tempted to take up her no-strings offer andtry to get the woman lodged inside his bloodstream. He was smartenough to know he wouldn’t be able to be satisfied with anyonebut her, and it was frustrating the hell out of him.
So he’d refusedthe lush and lovely actress to come home alone to his apartment,where he’d stripped and went immediately to his gym to poundthe hell out of the bag hanging from the ceiling. He’d punchedit until his knuckles were raw and bleeding, and still, it hadn’tbeen enough.
He could go to herhome as he knew where she lived. If her guy was there, then there’dbe a confrontation, and he wanted to avoid that for now. He was angryand sexually frustrated enough to cause some serious damage to hispretty face.
Moving towards thecoffee pot, he poured a second cup and took it with him to his homeoffice. He’d introduced a charter service to the board, onethat he was interested in acquiring.
He was a licensedpilot himself and had a helicopter at his disposal. He also had aspeed bike and a speed boat he’d take out every now and then.His therapist had told him that his need for speed was himcompensating for a lack of stability in his life. He’d laughedat that and told the man he could’ve come up with thatdiagnosis on his own.
Going around hisdesk, he took his seat and booted up his laptop. The prospectus wasthere, he had the financial statements for the past ten years, andhe’d done his research. He’d also run it by Kane.
The man was afinancial genius and would know a good deal with just a glance. Hiscousin had been sold on the idea of acquiring the company, and thatwas enough for him. Drawing his cup towards him, he settled intowork, determined to get her off his mind.
*****
She ended up goingin. The restaurant was closed to the public for today, but latertonight, there’d be a private party, some sort of weddingcelebration, in one of the large conference rooms.
She wasn’trequired to be here for the event because they’d be taking careof everything. They just rented out the venue and hired the chef forthe evening.
She was going to sitquietly in her office and do some paperwork. There was a CFO and ateam of accountants to take care of the business side, but she was incharge of everything else. The place was practically empty, with justthe cleaning crew finishing up and the security at the gate.
Caleb was busyworking on his next novel and had only grunted when she called himearlier.
“Why are you upso early?”
“It’safter twelve.”
“Christ! Ihave work, a draft to prepare, and a shit load of things to do. Dropby later for supper and bring something – Mexican will do.”
“You’regoing to have to cook sometime.”
“But not now,and you owe me.”
She’d dressedcasually in leggings and a thick dark-green sweater and was wearingtennis shoes. Her hair was scooped back into a ponytail, and shewasn’t wearing makeup.
