Recluse (Wolfes of Manhattan 2)

“I can call a cab.”

“Nope. I’ll take you. Plus, I have an ulterior motive.”

“What’s that?”

“This way I can find out where you live.”

“Ha! You can find out anyway the same way I did. Check the employee files.”

I smiled. “You forget. I don’t work there. This way is much easier.”

“So you’re giving me the boot?”

“Only for now.”

“What about—”

“I want to wait. Until tomorrow. You’ll see why when you come back.”

“Uh…okay. I guess I’ll get my clothes back on, then. Though I hate to give up this glorious robe.”

“Keep it,” I said. “I have more.”

She smiled, rubbing the plush collar against her cheek. “No, I’ll leave it here. I kind of like having something here.”

I kind of liked it too.

“Your call,” was all I said.

She walked toward the bedroom.

I was tempted to follow her. My cock was hard as a rock beneath my jeans, and I could easily fuck her into oblivion, but I’d meant what I said. I had something special in mind for tomorrow. Something we’d both enjoy.

A few minutes later, she came back out fully clothed in her stiff office garb, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail once more. A shame. She looked the most beautiful with it down, in disarray around her creamy shoulders.

“My car is downstairs in the parking garage.”

“Okay. Lead the way.”Her apartment was in a converted brownstone.

“It’s a studio. All I can afford,” she said, reaching for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride. And…for everything.”

“I’ll see you up,” I said.

“You can’t stop here. You’ll get a ticket.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“You still might get a ticket.”

“So? Then I’ll pay the ticket. It won’t be the first parking ticket I’ve gotten, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

She smiled. “Okay. It’s sweet of you to…see me up.”

I hurried out of the car and made it to her door just as she was opening it.

“Wow. A gentleman.”

“My father may have been a first-class shithead, but he did teach my brothers and me how to treat women.” I frowned, remembering. “Actually, that was my mother, not my father.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” We walked up to the concrete steps leading into the brownstone, and Charlie quickly put in a code. I opened the door for her. “Connie Wolfe was nothing if not the etiquette queen. She had an image to uphold. To the public, at least, and her sons were going to be perfect little gentlemen.”

“Even Rock?” she asked.

“Even Rock. Until he left.”

“Why did he leave, Roy?”

“You’d have to ask him,” I said. “None of us know, and he’s not exactly forthcoming.”

“Your parents didn’t tell you?”

“They told us he’d gotten into some trouble and they sent him off to military school. But that’s not the whole story.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he wouldn’t be the first pampered rich boy to get into trouble. Usually the mom and dad buy off whoever they need to, and the kid ends up in a different boarding school to wreak havoc in a new place.”

“Oh.” She stopped walking. “This is my door. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s okay. But if it’s the same to you, I’d rather not talk about my brother.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

I cupped her silky cheek, gazing into those sparkling silver eyes. “This.”11CharlieHis lips came down onto mine in a soft kiss. A gentle kiss. Not the raw kiss of untamed passion we’d shared earlier.

This was sweet. Gentle. A promise of something to come.

Something I was definitely looking forward to.

Still, this man was a riddle in human form. Did he truly think anything could be art? He seemed to talk in circles. I wasn’t sure what he actually believed.

But this was new, for both of us. I had all the time in the world to discover what made Roy Wolfe tick.

Too soon, he ended the gentle kiss, our tongues parting.

I pulled out my key and unlocked the door. “You want to…”

He shook his head. “Until tomorrow, silver.” He gave a mock salute and walked toward the staircase.

I watched him until he was out of sight.My phone alarm rang too damned early the next morning. I managed to make it into the office by eight, though, and already Lacey had piled the work on for me.

“We’re meeting in the same conference room at ten,” she said. “I need this stuff before then.”

“I’ll get right on it.” I sighed and began to tackle the comprehensive list.

A few minutes later, she appeared in my doorway. “What did you decide?”

“About what?”

She entered and closed my door. “About Roy.”

“Oh.” I’d nearly forgotten that I’d asked her about him yesterday. “I guess I’ll go for it if he’s still interested.”

I felt bad lying to her, but Roy was such a recluse, and part of me felt like this was still too new. I didn’t want to share it. I wanted it to be mine and only mine for a little while. To tell anyone about it would taint it.