The CEO's Accidental Bride

Thankfully, Susan launched into a story about a recent business trip to Greece.

Kaitlin forced herself to listen, responding with what she hoped were friendly and intelligent answers to Ray’s and Susan’s questions, then asking about their trip to London and their new ski chalet in Banff, as appetizers, dinner and then dessert were served.

Zach didn’t touch her again, luckily for him. Because by the time the crème brûlée was finished, the check arrived, and Ray and Susan said their good-nights, Kaitlin’s mood had migrated to full-on rage.

As the waiter cleared the last of the dishes, smoothing the white linen tablecloth, Lindsay and Dylan appeared.

Lindsay plunked herself next to Zach, the briefcase between them, while Dylan sat much more reluctantly across from Kaitlin.

“They stole your briefcase,” Lindsay said without preamble. “They stole your briefcase.”

Kaitlin had presumed that was what happened. She immediately turned an accusing glare on Zach. There was no need to voice the question, so she waited silently for his explanation.

“It was in my trunk,” he pointed out in his own defense. “My trunk.”

Lindsay opened her mouth, but Dylan jumped in before she could speak. His blue eyes glittered at Zach. “Seems there are some finer points of the law you may not have taken into account here.”

“They’re my drawings,” Zach stated.

The waiter reappeared, and conversation ceased. “May I offer anyone some coffee?”

“A shot of cognac in mine,” said Lindsay.

“All around,” Zach added gruffly, making a circle motion with his index finger.

Kaitlin wasn’t inclined to argue.

“They are my drawings.” Her words to Zach were stern as the man walked away.

“I paid you to make them,” he countered.

“You both paid her to make them,” Lindsay pointed out in an imperious tone.

“I wouldn’t argue with her,” Dylan muttered darkly.

Lindsay shot him a warning look.

He didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by her professorial demeanor as he stared levelly back. “I had a math teacher like you once.”

“Didn’t seem to do you any good,” she retorted.

“You stole my briefcase!” Kaitlin felt compelled to bring everyone back to the main point. “Was this entire dinner a ruse?”

She shook her head to clear it. “Of course it was a ruse. You’re despicable, Zach. If I hadn’t told Lindsay you’d invited me here. And if she didn’t have a very suspicious nature—”

“A correctly suspicious nature,” Lindsay pointed out to both men.

“—you’d have gotten away with it.”

“I was planning to put it back,” Dylan defended.

“I need to see the designs,” said Zach, not a trace of apology in his tone. “My company, your company, pretend all you like, but I’m the guy signing the check. And I’m the guy left picking up the pieces once your game is over.”

“That game happens to be my life.” She wasn’t playing around here. If she didn’t fix her career, she didn’t have a job. If she didn’t have a job, there was nobody to pay rent, nobody to buy food.

He brought his hand down on the table. “And whatever’s left when the dust clears happens to be mine.”

Sick to death of the contest of wills, Kaitlin capitulated.

She waved a hand toward her briefcase. “Fine. Go ahead. There’s nothing you can do to change them anyway. You don’t like ’em, complain all you want. I will ignore you.”

Zach wasted no time in snagging the briefcase from the bench seat between him and Lindsay. He snapped open the clasps, lifted the lid and extracted the folded plans. He awkwardly spread them out on the round table.

Just then, the waiter arrived and glanced around for a place to set the coffee.

Zach ignored him, and the man signaled for a folding tray stand.

Kaitlin accepted a coffee. She took her cup in her hand, sipping it while she sat back to wait for Zach’s reaction.

She suspected he’d be angry. Her designs called for some pretty fundamental and expensive changes to his building. But a small part of her couldn’t help but hope he’d surprise her.

Maybe he had better taste than she thought. Maybe he’d recognize her genius. Maybe he’d—

“Are you out of your ever-lovin’ mind?” His gray eyes all but glowed in anger.

Five

In the restaurant’s parking garage, Lindsay twisted the key in the ignition of her silver Audi Coupe and pushed the shifter into Reverse. They peeled out of the narrow parking spot and into the driving lane.

“I suppose that could have been worse,” Kaitlin admitted as they zipped toward the exit from the underground.

Zach had hated the renovation designs. No big surprise there. But since they were in a public place, he couldn’t very well yell at her. So, that was a plus. And she wouldn’t change them. He could gripe as much as he liked about a modern lobby not being in keeping with his corporate image, but they both knew it was about money.

Lindsay pressed a folded bill into the parking lot attendant’s hand. “He stole your briefcase.”

“I knew not seeing them was making him crazy,” said Kaitlin, still getting over the shock at this turn of events. “But I sure didn’t think he’d go that far.”

Lindsay flipped on her signal, watching the traffic on the busy street. “All that righteous indignation, the insistence on principles.”

“I know,” Kaitlin added rapidly in agreement. “The lectures, the protestations, and then wham.” She smacked her hands together. “He steals the drawings right out from under my nose.”

“I’m not a pirate,” Lindsay mocked as she quickly took the corner, into a small space in traffic. “Nobody in my family was ever a pirate.”

Kaitlin turned to stare at her friend. “What?”

“We have morals and principles.”

“Are you talking about Zach?”

“Zach didn’t steal your drawings.”

“He sure did,” said Kaitlin.

“Dylan was the guy with the briefcase in his hands.”

“Only because Zach asked him to get it. Dylan’s just being loyal.”

“Ha!” Lindsay coughed out a laugh.

“Linds?” Kaitlin searched her friend’s profile.

Lindsay changed lanes on the brightly lit street, setting up for a left turn. “What?”

“I say again. Do you think you’re getting a little obsessed with Dylan Gilby?”

“The man’s a thief and a reprobate.”

“Maybe. But Zach’s our problem.”

Lindsay didn’t answer. She adjusted her rearview mirror then changed the radio station.

“I think Zach’ll leave it alone now,” she said. “I mean, he’s seen the drawings. He gave it his best—”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Hmm?”

Kaitlin gaped at her friend in astonishment. All this fighting was a ruse. “You’ve got a thing for Dylan.”

“I’ve got a thing for proving he’s a pirate,” Lindsay stated primly, sitting up straight in the driver’s seat, flipping on the windshield wipers. “It’s an intellectual exercise.”

“Intellectual, my ass.”

“It’s a matter of principle. Plus, the semester just ended, and I’m a little bored.”

Despite all the angst of the evening, Kaitlin couldn’t help but laugh. “I think it’s a matter of libido.”

“He’s incredibly annoying,” said Lindsay.

“But he is kind of cute.” Kaitlin rotated her neck, trying to relieve the stress.

“Maybe,” Lindsay allowed, braking as a bus pulled onto the street. “In a squeaky-clean-veneer, bad-boy-underneath kind of way.”

“Is that a bad kind of way?” The few times Kaitlin had met Dylan at the office, she’d mostly found him charming. He had a twinkle in his blue eyes, could make a joke of almost anything and, if it hadn’t been her briefcase in question, she might have admired his loyalty to Zach for stealing it.

Lindsay gave a self-conscious grin, rubbing her palms briskly along the curve of the steering wheel. “Fine. You caught me. I confess.”

Grinning at the irony, Kaitlin continued. “His best friend’s locked in an epic struggle with your best friend. You’ve called into question the integrity of his entire family. And you practically arrested him for stealing my briefcase. But other than that, I can see the two of you really going somewhere with this.”

Lindsay shook back her hair. “I’m only window-shopping. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a little libido mixed in with an intellectual exercise.”

Kaitlin couldn’t help laughing. It was a relief to let the anger go. “Zach groped me under the table during dinner. How’s that for libido?”

Lindsay sobered, glancing swiftly at Kaitlin before returning her attention to the road. “Seriously?”

“I guess he’s still trying to distract me.”

They pulled into a parking spot in front of Kaitlin’s apartment building, and Lindsay set the parking brake, shifting in her seat. “Tell me that’s not why you showed him the plans.”

“It wasn’t that distracting.” Well, in fact he was entirely that distracting. But the distraction was irrelevant to her decision. “I showed him the plans to shut him up.”