Intensity Read online

  Melded to his heart, I pledged, “I love you” at the same time, I lunged my hips up with all my might, driving him home—right where he belonged.

  Mylaynee’s witty and comical attitude had me busting a gut half the time. Add Fallon, Paulette, and Sage to the mix and we didn’t have a dry eye in the Fab Five group. Being with them had fulfilled my life in ways I never could’ve anticipated.

  After everything that happened yesterday I needed some girl time. Instead of jumping head first into invoicing facts and figures, I rounded up the crew at first light. Relaxing in lounge chairs, one beside the other like an assembly line, the yelling out and trash-talking resembled a rowdy classroom.

  “I have news.” My announcement delivered at megaphone level, while I teetered on the edge of my seat, a fist pressed to my upper lip, barely able to contain the giddiness bubbling inside.

  Silence. Geez, they never shut it that fast before.

  “Uh, okay, this one’s for our jinx-vault—not a word or you’ll be cursed for life.” We extended our knuckles to each other for a fist bump, and at the same time I made them promise not to tell anyone. In unison they agreed, completing the ritual.

  “I told Linc I love him.”

  Each registered different expressions. Mylaynee: breaking open the piggy bank smile. Fallon and Paulette: clapping hands and high fives. Sage: a scrunched nose and tongue stuck out, wiggling her eyebrows up and down, including a lascivious motion with her fingers and thumb.

  When they settled down, Paulette revealed, “We knew that a long time ago. Took you how long to say it?” She glanced down at her arm and imaginary watch and then fake smacked me in the head.

  As they giggled at my expense, I plunked back in my seat and crossed my arms. “Fine! See if I tell you guys anything anymore.”

  They roared even louder.

  Mylaynee broke through the revelry claiming, “Just remember—I was the one that introduced you.”

  Damn, I loved that girl. Crushing bear hugs all around, the uproar that followed resembled an assembly full of teenage girls’ catcalls and indecent ribbing about the hottest boy in school.

  Riding the high, I gave myself a mental pat on the back. That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

  Until Sage said, “Did he tell you too?”

  Chills rocketed up my spine, giving me an instant brain freeze. Entangled in all the discoveries and emotions yesterday, it didn’t compute until now.

  “Serena…” Mylaynee called my name, but it sounded far off, even though she sat right next to me. A buzzing in my ears drowned her out and bile rose in my throat. My rapid swallowing didn’t help keep it down very well. “Are you all right, honey? You look pale. Do you need to lie down?”

  She clasped the side of my face, inspecting my eyes. “Sage, go get her some water.” Her hands moved from my cheeks to my shoulders and down to my ice-cold hands. She kneeled in front of me and held them tight. “Talk to me, sweetie.”

  A water glass appeared in my view. Sage placed it to my lips. “Open up. Drink.” She insisted like a mother trying to force medicine down her child’s throat.

  Breathe.

  Inhale deep. Exhale slow.

  Repeat.

  That helped get my stomach somewhat under control. I shook the fuzz from my head and grabbed the glass, drinking it to the bottom and plunking it down on the table. “Sorry, I’m not sure, I’m, uh…not feeling well.”

  They looked at each other. Sage, Paulette, and Fallon left. Mylaynee remained crouched at my knees. After a few seconds of studying my face, she nodded and yanked me up from the seat and tucked me into bed.

  Without another word, she left me alone.

  Exactly what I needed.

  “Serena? Wake up.”

  As my dream of a knight in shining armor galloping away from a crying fair maiden disappeared into the fog, a deep and worried voice pulled me from the mist.

  “Are you okay?” A gentle hand brushed through my hair and a solid heat pressed along my back, waking me. I turned my groggy head and came head on with Linc. Worry lines creased his forehead and around his mouth. My stomach clenched at the unknown concern and my brain began to register my surroundings. The sound—boats honking; the smell—woodsy-citrus; the sight—gorgeous and distressed.

  “Linc,” I croaked, clearing my throat, “what’s wrong?” I cupped his chin and brushed my thumb along his frown.

  He removed a few strands of hair from my eyes and tucked them behind my ear, surveying my prone body. “You sick?”

  “No, why?” The clock indicated it was noon. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to…I have something…we need to talk.”

  My chest tightened as early morning memories clamored in my head. My legs tingled not from falling asleep or lack of blood flow but numbness from his ominous and halting message. I stayed silent. Thoughts casting me back to my fading dream. Did telling him I loved him freak him out?

  “It’s important.”

  I sat up and leaned against the headboard, waiting to find out my fate.

  He sucked in a deep breath, diverted his gaze to the windows, and said to himself, “Okay…” After what seemed like forever, he locked his sight on me and foretold my future. “I want to make some changes around here, with you.”

  Oh, God he’s gonna get rid of me. Fire me. Kick me out.

  A new medical term needed to be classified for a heart’s death-defying leap, head first into a bottomless pit in my stomach. I’d be a prime candidate for the case study. Bile once again rose in my mouth, almost gagging me.

  Straight-faced and with a serious business demeanor, he declared, “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things, but I need…want you to hear me out first, without interrupting.”

  I hadn’t said much yet. How could I? This had bad news written all over it. All I could manage was a dip of my chin, so I wouldn’t expel the entire contents rolling in my belly.

  “I own several night clubs, not like this one. I’ve been handling the books, but I don’t like it. I could’ve hired someone before, but I like control.” A sly smirk pitch-hit in the corner of his mouth, and the dimple, hidden most of the time came out full force, along with his blushing cheeks. His deadpan expression switched to puppy face adorable in an instant.

  “I thought, maybe…I could hire you.” He shrugged his shoulders and pulled my hand into his. “If you want, I’d like you to schedule the appointments too.” My mouth dropped open, and he rushed through the rest. “I’d pay you. I think it’d be good for everyone. You wouldn’t have to bartend or go to the lounge, if you don’t want to.”

  He bent down, kissed the top of my hand, and when he glanced up his shoulders relaxed and twenty years seemed to vanish, lightening his features. “What do you say?”

  “Why?” I blurted, since it was all I could get my brain and mouth to put together.

  He whispered, “You really don’t know?”

  I shook my head, returning to my mute state.

  “Hmm…” He slid me onto his lap and set my head on his comforting shoulder. “Do you remember when I told you someday you’d have what you wanted?” I nodded. How could I forget? Until recently, it replayed in my mind on permanent rewind. “My someday came yesterday, Serena. A gift and honor you gave—to me.” My arms squeezed his ribs hard, and I looked up, needing to see his face. He smiled and pecked me on the nose. “Many are the stars I see but in my eye no star like thee.” His sincere gaze and deep baritone recited the verse like a ballad composed and sung just for me. “Did you hear me say it before?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, brushing my fingers across his lips.

  His smile increased a hundredfold. “So you do listen to me?” For that smart-ass comment, I stuck my tongue out at him. He chased after it, sucking it into his mouth.

  Our bodies repositioned, me underneath him, his hair draped both sides of my face, creating our own private haven. “When you came in for the interview…” He paused and shifted hi
s hand through my hair, twirling the strands around his fingers. “Destiny granted me a wish…one I’ve never spoken out loud. Ever. If I did, temptation would somehow alter fate’s hand.”

  He set his temple on mine and continued to melt my heart. “There’s a poem that reminds me of you, and when we met.” I didn’t even know what it would be yet, and my eyes moistened, realizing the rarity of such revelations from this private and reserved man. “It goes like this… once, not long ago, a shooting star so brilliant and magnificent appeared in the daylight. The rare and once in a lifetime vision ignited my heart and captured my soul…a wish fulfilled, when your light transformed me at first sight.”

  Too overwhelmed to respond, I chose a more universal expression—making love to a tune created from two different styles, yet harmonized as one.

  The melody—this man—inscribed on my heart for all eternity.

  I reversed the tables. “We need to talk.” The echoing words sounded so menacing, but this time maybe they were. He grasped my chin and tilted it so I had no choice but to look up at him. As much as I wanted to avoid his eyes, I didn’t. I needed to put my big girl pants on and ask once and for all. “Where does this leave me? I mean, I’ll accept your offer. But what about the other thing?” Okay, maybe I still wore training pants.

  “What thing?”

  I buried my head in his neck and mumbled, “Being exclusive. What does that mean?”

  His lengthy silence made insecurities I thought buried reappear. “You dumping me, Serena?”

  I shot straight up and stared him down. “No,” my voice squawked like a parrot.

  “I don’t know, sounds like you don’t want to be my girl.”

  If he didn’t have a big-ass grin on his face, I would’ve thought he was serious. “Did you ask me to be your girl? ʼCause I don’t remember hearing that.” I tossed him the same expression, upping it with a “What you gonna do about it?” sassy attitude. Take that, smarty pants.

  He threw the covers back, pulled on a pair of shorts and dashed out of the room.

  What the hell?

  Faster than a sixty-second commercial and with both hands behind his back, he plunked down on the bed, bouncing me into his shoulder. His lips a centimeter from mine, but not kissing them, he deposited something in my hand and fisted it closed.

  If I wanted to find out what it was, I needed to sit back and look.

  Inside my palm, a hand-cut, pink heart made from the decorative notepad I had next to my computer. Written in his handwriting it said…

  My hand fixed on his heart, I used an index finger to spell my answer.

  Thanks to the ridiculous amount of money Linc agreed to pay me, I’d be able to save a chunk and make substantial payments in the process. His savvy investments in several cities showed a lucrative bottom line. No matter what he said, his record keeping had been impeccable. I expected nothing less. Control freak or not, it wasn’t his style to do anything halfway.

  Luck had finally taken a turn in my favor, and I attributed it to Gram’s spirit duking it out for her granddaughter, a vision that had me laughing. You go, Gram. Show’em who’s boss.

  Appointment manager came with a lot more responsibility than I ever thought. My first day began with a crash course in encryption and record-keeping procedures. Linc provided a secure tablet PC and asked that it be kept in his office safe when not used. Without question I agreed. No way I’d want to be the cause of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. The rest of the week involved the scheduling process for on- and off-site appointments, security arrangements, and gathering information about employee preferences.

  He wanted anyone attending an outside event to have a “chaperone,” his term for it. My term: bodyguard. His hypervigilance ignored the fact that each client went through a vetting process better than one completed by the FBI. Security personnel had to be in place, regardless, no arguments. Since Sal coordinated that part, I spent quite a bit of time learning the ins and outs. After the multi-session trainings my head spun from the enormity and the pressure, making sure to dot every i and cross each t. How the heck had Linc done this for so long without help?

  Determined not to let him down, I sought guidance from a trusted source. I entered Mylaynee’s apartment after knocking twice and came to a whiplash stop.

  “Uh sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “I was just leaving.” Jax strolled toward me carrying a thick folder. “Later, Serena,” he said to my back, using a professional rather than sex-laced voice and avoiding eye contact as he exited.

  “Come sit down, girl.” Mylaynee patted the cushion that he’d left and tucked her legs up.

  I pointed a thumb to the vacant door and complained, “I still can’t believe you’re friends with that jackass.”

  She shook her head like a fawning mother does when a child does something naughty, but looks so darn cute doing it. “Aw, but he’s such a McDreamy.”

  “Oh, he’s a babe magnet alright and loves stickin’ it to anybody.”

  Her head tilted back, and it took her a minute to calm her howling laughter and clear her watering eyes. “Girl, how many times do I have to tell you he gets off on rilin’ you. That’s how he is.”

  “Doesn’t matter, I’d love give him a knock-out punch right to his big-ass mouth. Freakin’ jerk.”

  She shook her head and wagged her finger at me like I’d done something wrong. “He’s not so bad. Men like him can’t help struttin’ their feathers. Deep, deep down though, he’s a good guy, and not a bad one to have on your side.”

  “Whatever, I’ll do without, thank you very much. So what’s he want now? You working for him again?”

  “Yeah, there’s a case he needs help with.” She picked up a folder from the table, similar to the one Jax had, and flipped through a few pages. “You should give it a try. He pays top dollar.”

  “Seriously? You’re kidding, right? I can’t stand being in the same room with him, let alone listen to more of his crap. No way. I don’t care how desperate I get.”

  “It’s fun,” she emphasized the word, needling me with her elbow. “Change of pace, you know? His company does all kinds a stuff. It’s cool and I love it,” she professed with a wistful, dreamy look. “You might not see me for the next few days. If it takes longer I’ll let you know, okay?”

  I nodded, my mind drifting to the trust fund playboy, astonished he was capable of running a multimillion-dollar business. Ranked at the top in the industry, his company had a stellar reputation and happened to include the best-trained professionals around. Go figure.

  Mylaynee’s interest in “other” work reminded me of the reason I came here in the first place. Jax shoved aside, I pressed on to more important matters. “I need your advice about the appointments.”

  Sex Education 101. Meeting with everyone took quite a bit of time, but the conversations increased my vocabulary a hundredfold, enough to create my own explicit dictionary. The intimate details catalogued in the tablet PC, including likes and dislikes, on- or off-site, work hours, schedule preferences, and on and on. It boggled my mind that Linc had it all memorized. Since I wouldn’t be able to do that and wanted to connect on a personal level, my plan of attack, and one Mylaynee agreed would work well, involved meeting with each employee. After each visit, the mental images and documentation expanded my knowledge base, and described in full detail sexual practices, fetishes, BDSM, and a bunch of other terms never mentioned in the erotica novels I read. Thank goodness for Google. I created a glossary that had at least ten pages, explaining any term I didn’t understand, or was too embarrassed to ask about. Goodness, I never realized sex could be so complex.

  I stood outside the last apartment, my stomach twisting in knots. After I knocked, the door flew open, showcasing a five-foot-four pain in the ass in nothing more than a see-through pink teddy.

  “What do you want, Sadrena?”

  Okay, Gram wherever you are, beam it down, woman, because I need the almighty powe
rs for this one. “You have some time to talk?”

  She leaned against the door frame, her face contorted and shriveled up like a prune. “You think you won?”

  Gram, now would be great.

  Ignoring her, I pressed on. “If you and Tanya have a few minutes, I’d like to discuss the appointments.”

  “I do it all, Sadrena, in bed and out. Maybe you should be the one making an appointment with me, so I can school you. Oh, wait a minute…” She stood straight and clipped the tablet in my hand, causing me to readjust my grip so it didn’t drop. “We don’t have nursery school around here, so you’ll have to go somewhere far, far away.” She propped her hand on her hip, long manicured daggers at the ready—to claw my eyes out.

  “I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to like me, but I have a job to do, and it’d be better if you worked with me. If not, then you’ll have to take whatever you get.”

  Thanks, Gram.

  “I get plenty and give just as good. Ask Linc. He told me about your pathetic attempts to seduce him. We laughed about it in my bed. Maybe that would be great conversation for your appointment, Sadrena. With me.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. She needed a snake named after her, because that hiss—toxic. Her sting paralyzed me, my vision turning pitch black. Woozy, I slapped air before clutching the wall. My confidence disintegrated as an image of the two of them in bed wouldn’t stop replaying in my head.

  Her cackling ricocheted through the hall, causing my head to spin all over again. No doubt my continued silence disclosed the internal damage, all the air and fortitude knocked right out of me. Damn it. Anytime she mentioned Linc it made me sick, even now, after all that had happened between us. I still hadn’t asked him about her yet, my old insecurities and fear of losing another vital person in my life overtook my actions. A risk I wasn’t willing to take this early in our relationship. The fire in my stomach told me otherwise, since all I wanted to do was bitch-slap her straight to hell. But after the poison she spewed, my jaw locked in place, keeping me from forming a coherent sound.