The CEO's Accidental Bride

Her fingers twined in his hairline. Her lips parted farther, her tongue finding his, her perfect breasts pushing tightly against his chest, beading so that he could feel them. She stretched up, coming onto her toes, fusing her mouth with his, and slid her hands beneath his jacket.

Those small hands were hot through the cotton of his shirt. He wanted to rip it off, strip her bare, hold her naked body against his own and finish what they kept starting.

But a jangling phone penetrated his brain. Sounds from the outer office came back into focus. He heard Amy’s voice. Someone answered, and he came to the abrupt realization of where they were.

He forced himself to stop, cradled Kaitlin’s head against his shoulder, breathing deeply, all anger toward her having evaporated.

“We did it again,” he breathed.

She stiffened, pulling away. “This is why I didn’t want the door closed.”

He let her go, pretending it wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done. Then he forced a note of sarcasm into his voice, refusing to let her see just how badly she made him lose control. “You don’t trust yourself?”

“I don’t trust you,” she told him for at least the third time.

Fair enough. He didn’t trust himself, either.

But it wasn’t all him. It definitely hadn’t all been him.

She straightened her blouse and smoothed her hair. “What is it you needed to see me about?”

Zach forced himself to turn away. Looking at her was only asking for more trouble.

“Can we sit?” He gestured to two padded chairs at angles to each other in front of his floor-to-ceiling windows.

Without a word, she crossed to one of them and sat down, fixing her focus on a point on the skyline outside, folding her hands primly in front of her.

Zach’s hormones were still raging, but he inhaled a couple of bracing breaths, taking a seat and focusing his own attention on a seascape painting on the wall past Kaitlin’s right ear.

“I just spoke to my grandmother’s lawyer,” he explained, composing and discarding a number of approaches on the fly. He had to convince her to pull back on the renovations. It was more important than ever, and he couldn’t afford to screw this conversation up.

Kaitlin’s attention moved to his face, her lips pursing, green eyes narrowing. “What do you mean by that?”

He gave up and met her gaze. She was so damn gorgeous, feisty, challenging. Even now, he wanted to take her back into his arms and change the mood between them. “Just what I said.”

“What happened?” She jerked forward in her chair. “Am I out of the will? Did you find a loophole? Are you firing me?” Then she jumped to her feet. “If you’re firing me, you should have said something before…” She gestured with a sweeping arm, across the office to the spot where they’d kissed. “Before…”

Zach stood with her. “I am not firing you. Now, will you sit back down.”

She watched him warily. “Then what’s this about?”

“Sit down, and I’ll tell you.” He gestured to her chair and waited.

She glared at him but finally sat.

He followed suit, refocusing. This wasn’t going well. It was not going well at all. “A problem has come to light with my grandmother’s charitable trust.”

Kaitlin’s features remained schooled and neutral.

“There’s been some money—a lot of money—embezzled from the bank account by a former employee.”

He paused to see if she’d react, but she waited in silence.

Zach leaned slightly forward, his feet braced apart on the carpet in front of him, choosing his words carefully. “Therefore, I am going to have to shift some cash from Harper Transportation to the trust fund, or some of her projects will collapse, like the after-school tutoring programs and hot lunches.”

Kaitlin finally spoke. “Do you need me to sign something?”

Zach shook his head.

“Then what?”

“Harper Transportation’s cash flow will be tight for the next year or so.” He mentally braced himself. “So we may need to talk seriously about scaling back on the renovation—”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” She emphatically crossed her arms.

“Let me—”

“You mess with my emotions.”

“I’m not messing with anything,” he protested.

“Try to put me off balance,” she accused.

“I’m offering you honesty and reason.” He was. He was giving her the bald truth of the matter.

“One minute we’re kissing—” she snapped her fingers in the air “—next, you’re asking for concessions.”

His anger trickled back. “The two were not related.”

“Well, it won’t work this time, Mr. Zachary Harper.” She tossed her pretty hair, tone going to a scoff. “Embezzlement from dear ol’ granny’s charitable fund, my ass.”

“You think I’m lying?”

“Yes.”

What was the matter with her? He had documentation. It was the easiest thing in the world to prove.

“I’ll show you the account statements,” he offered. “The bank records.”

“You can show me anything you want, Zach. Any high-school kid with a laptop and a printer in his basement can fake financial statements.”

“You doubt the integrity of my accountants?”

“I doubt the integrity of you.” She came to her feet again, color high, chin raised, shoulders squared, looking entirely ready for battle.

Once again, he rose with her.

Though her hair was in an updo, she swiped her hands behind her ears, tugging at both gold earrings. “You’ve tried evasion, coercion, outright threats, theft, seduction and now emotional manipulation.”

He clenched his jaw, biting back an angry retort.

“Good grief, Zach. Granny, a charity and hungry kids? I’m surprised you didn’t add a dying puppy to the mix.” She tapped her index finger against her chest. “I am renovating, and I am doing it my way. And for that, you get half a corporation and a divorce decree. It’s a bargain, and you should quit trying to change the terms.”

Zach fumed, but bit back his words. He knew that anything he said would make things worse. A contingency strategy was his only hope. And he was all out of frickin’ contingency strategies.

Having apparently said her piece, Kaitlin squared her shoulders. She put her sculpted nose in the air and turned on her heel to leave.

As the door shut firmly behind her, Zach unclenched his fists. He closed his eyes for a long second. Then he dropped into his chair.

The woman was past impossible.

She was suspicious. She was determined. And she was oh, so sexy.

She was going to bring down a three-hundred-year-old dynasty, and he had no idea how to stop her.

“Plan C is a bust,” he informed Dylan, spinning the near empty glass of single malt on the polished, corner table at McDougals.

Dylan dropped into the padded leather chair opposite, nodding to Zach’s drink. “Well, at least you waited until five.”

“I’m lucky I made it past noon.” How could one woman be so frustrating? Her renovation plans went way beyond repairing her reputation. What she was planning to do to his building was just plain punitive.

Dylan signaled a waiter.

“I talked to a couple dozen more people today,” said Zach. “Nothing’s changed. I can get her an entry-level job, easy. But nothing that comes close to the opportunity she has at Harper Transportation.”

The waiter quickly took Dylan’s order and left.

Dylan shrugged in capitulation. “So, give it up. Let her go for it. You’ll have a weird, incredibly expensive building. And you’ll live with it.”

“She’s adding three stories,” Zach reminded Dylan. “Knocking out nearly five floors for the lobby. Did you see the marble pillars? The saltwater fish tank?”

Dylan gave a shrug. “I thought they were a nice touch.”

“I bailed out Sadie’s charity today.”

“Why?”

“Some jackass embezzled ten million dollars. My cash flow just tanked completely. So, tell me, Dylan, do I sell off a ship or slow down repairs?”

Dylan’s expression and tone immediately turned serious. “You need a loan?”

“No.” Zach gave a firm shake of his head. “More debt is not the answer.”

“Another partner? You want to sell me some shares?”

“And be a minor partner in my own company? I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m not mixing business with friendship.” Zach appreciated the offer. But this problem was his to solve.

“Fair enough,” Dylan agreed. “What are your options?”

“Nothing.” Zach took a drink. He needed Kaitlin to scale back on the renovation. Short of that, his options were very limited.

Selling a ship was a stupid idea. So was slowing down repairs. He’d need the entire fleet up and running so they could capitalize on any rise in demand. A company the size of Harper Transportation had to have serious cash flow to keep going. More ships, more cash flow. Fewer ships would result in a downward spiral that could prove fatal.

“Always the optimist,” said Dylan, accepting his own glass of Glenlivet from the waiter.

Zach tossed back a swallow. “Kaitlin is going to bankrupt me, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop her.”