The man nodded once and backed away.
Daniel looked her up and down, a quick sweep that was anything but clinical. “You’re leaving so soon?”
She ignored that heated look, unsure what to even make of it. “Yeah, I guess something is going on with security?” She pointed over at the tables. “We decided to reschedule.”
He nodded and kept watching her.
She shifted on her feet. Had he changed his mind about searching her stuff? “Ah, your guy can look in my purse if he wants.” She held her big purse out and started to open it, but he just waved a hand at it.
“You look really good,” he said quietly, his voice as intense as his gaze.
Oh. Wow. For a moment she wanted to melt under that gaze. “So do you,” she said just as quietly, unable to get anything more out. And it was true. He somehow looked even better than she remembered, which just seemed unfair. She’d tried to convince herself that she’d worked him up in her mind, that of course he wasn’t as sexy as she’d remembered. All lies.
“I’ve missed you,” he blurted out, surprising her, and she was pretty sure he’d surprised himself with the admission if his expression was anything to go on.
She stared at him in shock, mainly because this was something she’d never expected from him. It was so raw and real, and for this one moment, Daniel wasn’t wearing a mask. He wasn’t the mysterious and closed-off man she’d shared a whole lot of orgasms with.
Oh God. She didn’t know how to deal with this. “Oh, ah… I…” She didn’t want to tell him she missed him too because it would give him an opening. And it would just rip her heart open all over again. Even if it was the truth.
“Mr. MacArthur.” A woman wearing heels and a sharp business suit hurried over to them, nodding at Kathryn once. Then she murmured something to Daniel, so Kathryn took the opportunity to slip away. She headed straight for the security guard named Henry, who only nodded politely at her and motioned that she was okay to leave without a bag check.
She heard Daniel curse behind her but she ignored him and resisted the urge to sprint the last few feet out the door. She wanted out and it had nothing to do with the job. Nope, she just needed to get away from Daniel and his ice-blue eyes.
Daniel with the wicked grin and talented hands that had turned her to mush once upon a time.
Once she was outside in the bright sunshine, she slid her sunglasses on and sucked in a sharp breath. She felt as if the weight of the entire building had been lifted off her shoulders as she hurried to the waiting car.
They’d pulled it off.
But for reasons she understood very well, she didn’t have that normal high she got after completing a job. No, she just felt…hollow and wrung out.
Chapter 2
Daniel wanted to run after Kathryn, but what the hell was he going to do? Beg her to talk to him? Demand that she take off that stupid ring so he could throw it in an incinerator? The ring that was very definitely real. He recognized quality when he saw it.
Not that he was surprised someone had scooped her up. She was a diamond in the rough and he’d been stupid enough to let her walk away. Unfortunately he still wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong. One moment they’d been on their way to a date and then she was suddenly telling him that it was over, that she’d realized she wasn’t interested in a serious relationship. That what they’d had was finished.
To say he’d been blindsided was an understatement. He still hadn’t recovered—or figured out what had gone wrong. Maybe all the overtime he’d been working back then? After she’d ended things he’d tried to talk to her about it—multiple times—but she’d blown him off. Seeing her today had him rattled.
She’d looked good too. No, she’d looked stunning. He was used to seeing her in jeans and T-shirts but today she’d been wearing a dress that showed off all her curves—and legs he was obsessed with. She wasn’t tall, just average in height, but she did a lot of yoga and swimming and her legs… He had to actively stop thinking about the many times she’d had the sexiest legs ever thrown over his shoulders as he went down on her. Brought her pleasure. Gave her orgasms. Damn it—he had to stop obsessing but it was hard when she’d been here in the flesh.
He’d had to resist the urge to run his hands through her long, auburn hair, to touch what most definitely wasn’t his anymore.
He was determined to finally get answers. She might be wearing a ring, but he couldn’t kill that small kernel of hope inside him that maybe he still had a chance.
He walked away from his assistant, waving her off as she tried to keep talking to him, and pulled out his cell phone.
“Hey, now’s not a good time,” his sister Sienna whispered.
“Why not? What are you doing?”
“I’m on a job,” she whispered again. “But you never call, so I answered. Is everything okay? Is it Mom and Dad?”
He ignored her questions. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that Kathryn is engaged?”
There was a moment of silence. “Kathryn’s not engaged. I would know, trust me.”
Hope shot through him, painful and intense. Just as quickly, he squashed it. “When was the last time you saw her?” Because that ring had been very real. And she’d been carrying bridal magazines, on her way to meet a wedding planner. Kathryn! The woman who’d once told him she thought most weddings were ostentatious, and that if she ever got married, she’d just elope.
“I’ve been really busy this month. I don’t know… Hell, I guess it’s been almost two months since you guys broke up and I haven’t seen her since… Oh, shit, I’m a totally crap friend,” she muttered to herself. “I’ve talked to her and we’ve texted but I haven’t seen her in two months.”
“I just saw her and she had a giant rock on her finger.” His fingers tightened around his phone. And she’d been practically glowing, her green eyes bright and captivating.
“Well, what do you want me to do about it? Break the guy’s kneecaps?” She snorted.
“Call her and find out about him.”
“Are you hiring me? Because I’m not going to stalk a friend.”
His sister was a PI, and even though he’d offered her a job at his company many times over, she always turned him down, preferring to make her own way instead. Something he respected.
“No, don’t spy on her. I mean, maybe spy a little bit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Oh my God, I’m not having this conversation and I’m not spying on my friend. I’ve gotta go.” The line went dead.
Daniel cursed and nearly crushed his phone, but since he didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of replacing it, he simply shoved it into his pocket. He had to deal with this mess here and then he would figure out what to do about Kathryn.
He’d thought he could move on, could somehow live without her. She’d made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. But after seeing her today? The attraction burned even brighter between them and he’d seen the look in her eyes. She might be engaged to another man, but she still wanted him.
That changed everything.