Expecting His Secret Heir(10)

"Wow," said a masculine voice near her.

Sadie turned her head to see a big bear of a man staring down the  hallway. The hard movement of his Adam's apple told her just how much  seeing this affected him.

The rest of the group that had come in were just ahead, leaving Sadie  and the man behind a bit. "What did you do here?" she asked.

There was no doubt he had worked here. Someone didn't view a building,  especially an industrial building, with such emotion if there wasn't a  personal tie.

He turned to her as if he hadn't realized she was there. He blinked  rapidly. She knew the feeling well. Working in Sheldon Hall for the  Beddingfield family, she'd learned early on all the tricks to hiding  those telltale signs of emotion. Instead of pushing, she waited to see  if he was interested in talking to her or wanted to be left alone.

Once under control, he offered a halfhearted smile. "Oh, I'm Bateman, the day shift foreman."

She snapped a few pictures of the group ahead of them, getting a  long-range perspective, so the foreman wouldn't feel as if she was too  focused on him. "So you must have worked here a long time to reach that  position," she surmised.

"Since I was a young'un," he said, and this time his smile was more genuine. She smiled back, her heart softening even more.

He went on. "I was hired by the old Mr. Blackstone himself. I tell you, I about wet my pants that day."

"Intimidating?"

"Oh, yes," he said, moving forward once more. "He was a fierce one. I  just happened to get lucky-or unlucky, as it were. The hiring manager  was sick the day of my interview. But I must have passed muster, because  he hired me on the spot. I was seventeen."

They picked their way down halls, pausing beside rooms with water and  smoke damage. Sadie managed some more artistic photos of the damage,  along with pictures of Bateman while he surveyed the areas. The deeper  they journeyed into the building, the harder it became for Sadie to  breathe, though she tried not to let it show. Her body felt hot, as if  it could still feel the flames, even though she knew that was  impossible.

The effects of the explosion became more evident as they proceeded.  Sadie could tell they were coming closer to the heart of the plant.  Closer to the connection to the admin building where the bomb had been  placed. Here pieces of the ceiling were missing; what parts of the walls  were left were completely charred and the smoke lay like a blanket over  them.

Bateman paused just inside the entrance to a long, cavernous room. As  Sadie paused next to him, she noticed the remnants of two-by-fours that  had once formed wall dividers, the twisted metal remnants of filing  cabinets against the far walls. This room had once been either offices  or cubicles. At the far end of the room, the group of men ahead of them  also paused. Sadie tried not to watch but couldn't miss Zach's proud  bearing and confident interactions with those around him.

Her heart ached, even if she didn't want to acknowledge it. So she turned back to Bateman.

"Since seventeen? That is a long time."

Bateman's smile was tinged with something sad. "Yes, I've been here a  long time. My sons work here. And last year my grandson came to work  here, too."

"Your family is very important to you."

"Always." Again she saw that sheen of tears, though he tried to hide it  by turning his face in the other direction. "If this place closes, what  will happen to us? We've always been close. But they're already looking  for jobs elsewhere."

Sadie rarely found herself in this position in her day job, but she'd  spent more than her fair share of time in hospitals. Her natural  compassion asserted itself. She couldn't help patting his arm, though  she pretended not to see his tears. Grown men almost always preferred it  that way.                       
       
           



       

"I don't think that will be necessary," she said, hoping her words would  soothe him. "From the sounds of it, the Blackstones are gonna do  everything they can to keep that from happening."

In her peripheral vision, she saw Bateman blink several times and nod.  To give him more privacy, she glanced back at the other men-and found  Zach's dark stare trained on her.

This time, she couldn't look away. She felt almost paralyzed by the intensity, as if by sheer will he could see deep inside her.

And for once, she wished she could show him.

Suddenly the connection broke as Zach glanced up and his eyes widened. "Watch out," he yelled.

Sadie quickly followed his example and looked at the ceiling. Her mind  barely registered some kind of debris falling before she flung her hands  out to push Bateman away.

It happened fast. She pushed. Bateman pulled. Pain slashed across her  cheek. The camera shattered. They both went down, then Sadie saw stars  across her field of vision before everything went blank.

* * *

"Really, I'm fine."

Zach watched as Sadie went a few rounds with the nurse in the temporary first aid center they had set up.

"No, you're not. That cut needs stitches," the nurse, Marty, said.

If anything, Sadie paled even more. "Just butterfly it."

"And mar that gorgeous face forever?" The young guy was aghast. And no,  that slinky dark emotion wheedling into Zach was not jealousy-or any  form of territorial assertion. "No, ma'am."

As others crowded the opening behind him, Zach turned to KC and Jacob,  who both wore concerned expressions. "How is she?" KC whispered.

Zach answered at the same volume, for some reason not wanting Sadie to  know they were talking about her. "Very unhappy in the face of  treatment." An unusually strong panic had graced her features every time  any mention was made of going to the hospital. She seemed to only want  to go back to the B and B and pretend she was fine. Zach did not care  for the curiosity leaking into his thoughts. "And she'll be even more  unhappy when she realizes what happened to her camera."

There was a general chorus of winces before the nurse joined their  little group. "She'll need some stitches for that cut on her face. The  hard hat did its job. Still, I'd feel better if she wasn't gonna be  alone tonight. Especially once she's got some pain meds in her."

There were a lot of logical solutions to this problem. Sadie could stay  at Blackstone Manor with Aiden and Christina. After all, Christina was a  nurse. But she was pregnant and Ms. Blackstone, the brothers' mother,  had been fighting some kind of infection lately.

KC-or hell, even Zach's mother-could take care of Sadie overnight.

So why did he hear himself saying, "I'll do it."

He ignored the myriad glances that swung his way. "She'll be more  comfortable at the B and B with her own stuff," he said, offering a  fairly reasonable excuse. "And I'm the only single person with no kids  in this bunch."

Marty gave him a nod, as if this were the given option. "I'll get some  instructions put together, but I imagine you know what warning signs to  look for?"

He sure did. Zach's military background had trained him for this and a  whole lot more. Unfortunately, he'd had to put that knowledge into  practice a time or two. Times he'd prefer to not just forget but to  completely obliterate from his memory.

Marty went back to his patient and the others talked quietly together in  that intimate way couples had. Zach watched as Bateman lumbered in  across the small space. He knelt by Sadie's chair, the movement oddly  humble in a man his size.

Sadie smiled at the older man, then immediately winced. As they talked,  Zach thought back to earlier, to Sadie's comforting hand on Bateman's  arm, to her push to get him out of the direct path of the falling  debris... All those things matched the Sadie he remembered from before  she'd pulled her disappearing act.

The new Sadie had been more of a challenge, demanding, secretive  almost-instead of just sweet. He didn't want to be intrigued, yet he  was.

What had brought on those changes? Obviously there was some of that  sugary-sweet woman in there somewhere-so where had the new spice come  from?

Zach suddenly realized Sadie was staring at him, her big moss-green eyes  uncertain and almost fearful. The nurse must have told her about  tonight's sleeping arrangements. He didn't care if it was the coward's  way out; he made a quick exit.

There was still work to do-and if it helped him avoid any questions, all the better.                       
       
           



       

But he couldn't avoid Sadie a couple of hours later as he drove her  slightly dopey self back to the B and B. He'd gotten her key before  they'd left the mill.

When they went inside, there was no nosy landlady in the lobby to ask  too many questions. Sadie leaned into him on the stairs. He told himself  it would be rude to make her climb them on her own in her current shaky  state. If only he could just ignore the softness of her body as it  pressed against his-in such an achingly familiar fit. The light caramel  scent of her hair stirred an all-too-base hunger. He felt the echo of  anticipation from another time when he had been leading her to bed.