Page 6 of Keep Me Safe
The relief was short-lived. Kara’s eyes went wide with momentary alarm when a man appeared in her office doorway.
“I came as soon as I could,” the man said. “Are you okay?”
And just like that, her perfect, confident front snapped back into place. “I’m fine.”
The man’s curious gaze slid over to assess me. “Have we met?”
“No.” I didn’t elaborate and got satisfaction at the hint of frustration this caused the short man hovering just outside the room. Whoever he was, he made her nervous, and I didn’t like that. I wanted to be the only one to ruffle her feathers.
The man extended a hand. “I’m Paul Werner, CFO.”
Paul seemed much too proud of his title.This is going to be good.I shook his hand, hoping to appear casual. “Shawn Dunn, CEO. Osterhägen Beverage.”
He froze mid-handshake. “What?”
I followed Paul’s surprised gaze as it flew to Kara. She didn’t offer any explanation even though it was so very obvious he wanted one. For her to explain how the head of the second-largest beer company in the world came to be in her office.
Instead, she pulled the laptop bag onto her shoulder and strolled toward me, stopping when she was only a breath away.
“Where are we going for lunch?” She set a hand on my arm. Comfortable. Intimate.
Ah. This must be the ex-husband. She’d mentioned they worked together. I scrutinized the man now and was confident enough in myself to acknowledge he was attractive. Obviously successful. But Paul was a soft eight, whereas I was a hard ten. Actually, an eleven. If she wanted to use me to screw with her ex-husband’s head, I was more than willing to play along.
I curled an arm around her waist. “Same place as last time?”
He probably would have made a similar face if I had sucker-punched him, but this was a hell of a lot more fun.
“It was nice meeting you, Peter.” And I didn’t give Paul a chance to correct me. I took her hand and led her out of the office and down the corridor.
As soon as we were alone in the elevator, she tried to release my hand, but I just gripped her tighter.
“Let go of me.”
“Or?”
She gave a humorless laugh. “Are you five?”
“Wait a minute. Which one of us was making someone jealous a minute ago?”
She pressed her lips together, displeased. “We both were.” She stood there, watching the numbers go by as if counting down to the moment she’d be free from me.
“Thank you,” she said quietly when I relented. “And for your help.” Like it was painful.
“Anytime.” Since I had both hands free, I texted my driver I was leaving. She also got on her phone, pulling up a rideshare app, and whatever was on screen . . . it frustrated her. “Is everything all right?”
She didn’t answer because the elevator doors peeled back and she hurried to the revolving door?—
Only to stop short.
It wasn’t raining outside. It was a torrential downpour, and she had no umbrella. She glanced at her phone with dismay. “The first Uber I can get is twenty minutes.”
“I have a car.”
She immediately shook her head.
“Okay. I’ll wait with you then.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said quickly. “I’ll take a cab.”
