“What was that for?” Kellan asks, his tone just a little hoarser than it should be.
I shrug and ease out of his embrace. “You’re not such a bad guy after all.”
“Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment.” His lips twitch, the heaviness between us gone.
“I didn’t say you were a good guy either.”
His arm goes around my waist. “I know almost nothing about you.”
The statement takes me by surprise. My eyes rise to meet his, and I flinch at what I see in them.
For a moment, it’s like I’m looking at a different person…someone who’s genuinely interested in me, not in peeling off any layers of my inhibitions.
Or maybe it’s a ploy to do just that.
Either way, I sort of like the sudden gentleness about him.
“I’m a single child. Both of my parents are composers.”
“Ah,” he says. “That’s why you hate music.”
“No.” I frown as I consider his statement. “Maybe. I’m not sure.” I shrug. “Does it matter? They wanted me to follow in their footsteps, but I wasn’t really interested. For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out the cello. Surely you can imagine how disappointed they were that I didn’t inherit their talents. I wasn’t a child prodigy. They were so enthusiastic and pushy, until one day they realized their plans of raising the female version of Beethoven or Mozart were nothing but a pipe dream.”
“So, what did you do?”
I shrug. “I moved out, went to college to study journalism, and now I write articles.”
“About what?”
I laugh. “Whatever pays the bills. I’m a journalist. Mostly, I dig out all the crap I can find about companies and expose them.”
“Sounds like you’re no-nonsense.”
I glance at him to take in his expression. He’s seems honest, serious. “I am. I always try to uncover the truth. If you dig hard enough, you’ll find that most companies have secrets, but some are shadier than others.”
His brows shoot up in interest. “Yeah? Like what, for example?”
I shrug. “Like writing off charity donations when the charity’s just some bogus company. Or a company cutting employees’ pension funds while raising their board members’ salaries.” We resume walking. “Josh mentioned brothers,” I start, ready to shift the focus on Kellan. “How many siblings do you have?”
Kellan hesitates, but only for a moment. “One sister. Two brothers.”
“Must be nice to have a big family,” I say. “I’ve always wanted siblings.”
“You can always borrow mine.”
I laugh. “Only if they’re nice. So, what were you doing back in NYC when your life seems to be here?” I can feel him tense before I’ve even finished the question.
He doesn’t pull his hand back, but his grip loosens, the soft butterfly strokes on my skin ceasing.
For a moment, he’s perfectly still, his eyes hooded, his expression cagey.
“Business,” he says matter-of-factly and clears his throat. “Montana’s beautiful, but not the only beautiful place in the world.”
A tactical change of subject. It’s not even a subtle one.
The feeling he’s hiding something is stronger than before.
As soon as I get back home, I know I’ll be trying to find out as much as I can about Kellan Boyd.
That’s a promise to myself.
I nod, sensing the usual ‘one day I’ll take you there’ BS guys always dish out. But it never comes. I take off down the dimly lit road, unsure which direction to take.
“You said you wanted to show me around. This is your chance.”
His laughter echoes behind me a moment before I feel his arms on my body again, guiding me into what looks like a deserted dark alley.
“And I was planning on using it. There’s definitely something I need to show you.”
I peer around me, unsure what exactly we could possibly see in the dark. My confusion intensifies when he opens a gate leading into someone’s back yard and pulls me inside, closing the gate behind us.
“We’re trespassing,” I hiss.
“Are you afraid of being caught?”
“No,” I say slowly. “But someone’s not going to be happy.”
“Well, that someone isn’t going to be me.” Kellan laughs and pushes me against the gate, capturing my hands in one of his and raising them above my head.
Holy shit!
We’re in someone’s back yard, and Kellan has me pinned against the gate, his mouth inches from mine as his other hand begins to roam over my body.
“I’ve waited so long for this,” he whispers, his hot breath sending an electric tingle down my spine. “Do you have any idea how much my hand hurts?”