Fall from India Place (On Dublin Street 4)

“I don’t appreciate your disdain for the proceedings,” she said, picking at an invisible piece of lint on her dress and sweeping it away. “You’re determined to ruin the whole thing without even really trying. It’s an insult to all the preparation I’ve done.”

“At least I was willing to show up tonight. More than you can say.”

“So you actually want me there?” she demanded, giving him a sideways glare.

“I figure you’re the best bet I have.”

Her nostrils flared slightly as they faced off in the silence.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Ian said. Both Lin and he turned to look at him.

“Yeah. I’m still here,” Ian said drolly under his breath.

“Fine,” Lin said abruptly, as if Ian had never interrupted. Kam blinked when she practically hurled herself out of the chair, her actions rapid yet graceful, controlled but somehow aggressive as well. Ian seemed as cowed into silence as Kam was as they both watched her grab a pad of paper and pen off Ian’s desk and lean over to write in a slashing scrawl. Kam saw that the sexy shirtdress was slightly longer in the back than the front, but still gave him a tantalizing view of slender calves. In her bent-over position, he could see the outline of her shapely, taut ass through draping fabric. It twitched ever so slightly as she wrote.

She ripped the piece of paper off the pad with a vicious swipe.

“Meet me at this address at noon. Bring your credit card,” she said, handing Kam the slip of paper. She turned to Ian and flipped her hand open in a succinct demand. “If you’re finished with the Tyake numbers, I need them back.”

Ian handed her the file wordlessly. They both watched Lin sweep out of the office.

“I’ve never seen her this way,” Ian said a moment after his office door shut briskly behind Lin. He stared at Kam looking a little sideswiped. “What in the world did you say to her when you two met?”

“Nothing,” Kam said laconically as he stood. He noticed Ian’s skeptical glance. “I just told her I thought she took her job way too seriously.”

“You told Lin Soong that?”

“Yeah,” Kam muttered under his breath as he walked over to study the view. “I didn’t realize at the time it was a dead-on poke at the hornet’s nest.”

Chapter Four

She circled the tailor’s podium like a sleek cat on the prowl, examining every detail of the tailor and his assistant’s work, occasionally calling out adjustments she wanted.

“No, the sleeve is too short,” Lin said.

Kam glowered at her display of cool efficiency in the mirror, but she was impervious. He felt very much like an elephant in the center ring as the tailors poked and prodded at him. He’d purposefully goaded Lin into guiding him through the next few weeks. He’d realized too late she’d issued a return challenge when he saw that the address she’d given him was a high-end men’s haberdasher. Knowing what a big deal he’d made in Ian’s office, it was too late to back down. Now that he stood here with one man kneeling before him and another poking at his arm and back, however, he wished he’d turned tail and run while he had the chance.

The assistant’s hand brushed against his balls as he measured his inseam.

“Merde,” Kam muttered heatedly. The young tailor’s assistant’s hand jerked back guiltily. “Watch where you put that tape measure!”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

The boy looked too anxious to continue. Kam glanced up in the mirror and noticed the amusement in Lin’s expression.

“You’d better get on with it,” she said from behind them. “We have three more suits to go plus a tuxedo.”

“Can’t they just go by the measurements from this one?” Kam demanded.

“Each suit is slightly different in the cut.”

“Why so many?”

“We have more than just the meeting with the Gersbachs. I told you that Monday night. There are other parties interested in your product. I have other meetings lined up for you,” Lin said, her focus returning to watching Mr. Marnier’s actions. “And I want you to be perfect for each one. Besides, it’s not as if you won’t need the suits for future business.”

He snorted in derision. Still, he couldn’t pull his gaze off her face. Or her legs. Or her anything, really. A man could make a meal out of looking at her. He couldn’t deny his appreciation at being granted access to look his fill. She glanced up and met his stare in the mirror. He went rigid in awareness and was suddenly glad Junior had stopped poking around his privates.

“You are bound to be disappointed,” he told her point-blank. His gaze sunk over her lithe body. “I’m not the perfect one in this scenario.”

Her nostrils flared slightly as their gazes clung. “It’s a relative term,” she replied softly. “I meant to perfect what you already are.”

“You make me sound like I’m a doll you’re trying to make pretty for tea. It’ll never work.”

Her chin tilted up in a subtle dare. “We’ll see.”

•   •   •

Her heart leapt an hour later when he caught her elbow on the way out of the store. She honestly couldn’t say if it did so in panic or in acute anticipation.

“Where are you running off to so fast?” Kam asked when Lin glanced over her shoulder as she finished buttoning her coat.

“I have a thing called a job.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I think we established that the other night.”