Damien laughs. “He owes us both. Shall I tell him as much?”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you dare.”
Damien opens the door, and Dallas climbs in, and from the way he looks at both of us, I’m certain he knows exactly what he’s interrupted. I feel the blush rising on my cheeks and force myself to ignore it as Damien demands, “What the hell, Dallas?”
“Sorry,” he says. “I couldn’t say any of this with the others around so I called Edward back.”
For an instant, I wonder how he managed that, then realize that he’s worked enough with Damien and Stark International that he was surely given access to the limo—and to Edward’s cell number so that he can contact the driver.
“What’s going on?” Damien asks, voicing the bigger question.
“It’s about Frank.” Even though Damien asked the question, Dallas is looking at me. “This is going to sound crazy, but he’s the guy who was watching you on the island.”
A cold chill races up my spine, and I try to find words but only manage a gasp. Damien is not nearly as tongue-tied.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Exactly that,” Dallas says. “He’s the man who spooked Nikki.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, but I can see from his expression that he is. “But why?” I look between the two men. “Maybe he just wanted to meet me before our appointment and then didn’t have the nerve?”
The explanation sounds ridiculous even as I say it, but I like Frank and don’t want to consider the possibility that there’s anything nefarious going on.
Beside me, Damien’s body has gone rigid, and his tone is just as tight. Whatever Frank is up to, I know he’s going to find out.
“Do you want to go in and confront him?” Dallas asks, but Damien shakes his head.
“No. I want to think. And I want to get a little more information on Frank Dunlop.”
“Let me know if I can help,” Dallas says, which strikes me as funny. After all, the man runs a department store. How detailed can his employee background checks possibly be?
“Too bad the device you pitched this morning isn’t already in prototype,” Damien says.
“There are other ways to investigate people,” Dallas replies.
“Very true. I’ll get Ryan on it in the morning.”
I hug myself. I have no idea what device they’re talking about—and I want answers, too—but I still can’t help but feel that all of this is a misunderstanding. I mean, I like this man.
“Damien—”
He cuts me off with a tight shake of his head. “No.”
“But—”
“I know what you’re going to say, and yes, this may turn out to be nothing. But I’m not risking you. Not even for a second.”
I nod. I know how futile arguing would be. More than that, I know he’s right. I’ve been burned—and badly—by people I liked before. People like Sofia, who’d drawn me in to her elaborate ruse, made me trust her, and then just about destroyed me.
So, no, I’m not arguing. But that doesn’t mean I’m not profoundly sad.
“I’m sorry, Nikki,” Dallas says. “I know it’s not fun to be stuck in the middle of something like this.”
“Thanks,” I say. “You’re right, but at the same time, I guess I’m lucky you were around. Otherwise, we’d never know.”
“I’m glad I was, too,” he says, then tells Damien he’ll speak to him in the morning before he climbs out of the limo.
“It’s going to be okay,” Damien says once we’re back on the road.
I nod as I lean back in my seat. I don’t want to think about Frank, and so I focus on Dallas instead. “What’s the device you guys mentioned?”
“I’ll tell you after I see a prototype. Let’s just say that it’s pretty damn innovative. There’s definitely more to Dallas than he lets on.”
“I believe that,” I say, thinking about the man and all his contradictions. “But what? And why?”
Damien shakes his head as he scoots closer to me. “That’s something I haven’t figured out yet.”
“But you’re trying.”
“Definitely.” He tucks my hair behind my ear, then runs his hand down the collar of my dress. “But you know me. I like a puzzle. Like right now,” he says.
“Now?”
“Absolutely. Right now, I’m focusing on the most efficient way to undress you…”
Chapter 6
Damien’s fingertip once again teases the hem of my dress, tracing the edge of the material across my skin. I close my eyes, wanting the sensation to sweep me away. To erase all my worries and fears.
But it’s just not working.
I like Frank. Genuinely like him. And I don’t understand why he’s been following me. More specifically, why he followed me, but then didn’t tell me once we officially met.
Maybe he was just shy? Embarrassed?
Or maybe I’m being blinded by the pleasure of meeting a new friend. After all, it’s not as though I can’t be played. God knows Sofia played me like a finely tuned instrument. But Frank? Is that what he’s doing?
I press my hand over Damien’s, halting his finger that is still teasing my hem. “He has some master plan, doesn’t he? And I’m right in the middle of it, and once again I just don’t see it.”
Damien’s face is a study in sympathy. “Oh, sweetheart. You don’t know that. For that matter neither do I.”