The Billionaire's Game(5)

He had an instant hard-on as the scent of jasmine surrounded him, making him hard enough to cut through steel. She moved cautiously into the room when he held the door wider.

“Asha?” he croaked, his mouth still dry, his adrenaline beginning to course through his body. She was average height for a woman, but he dwarfed her. Still, she looked fragile, like the slightest breeze would blow her away. Obviously, her looks were deceptive. After all, she’d led him on a merry chase for the last two months.

“What do you want?” she asked impatiently, her eyes flashing dark fire.

Kade closed the door. You! I want you underneath me, on top of me, or any other way you want it. Aloud, he answered, “My name is Kade Harrison. I’ve been looking for you. Didn’t you get my messages?”

Ignoring his question, she answered, “You stole my things. You’re a thief.” Her tone was hostile, but her expression still showed her apprehension.

“I’m not a thief. I was desperate and trying to get you to talk to me. And I wouldn’t have left my contact information if I was trying to rip you off,” Kade answered defensively. Honestly, he was still desperate, only now it was a whole different kind of desperation. His libido, which had been running low while he was recovering from his accident, had finally awakened with a vengeance and taken complete control of his body.

She went and picked up her tattered cloth bag, hefting it over her shoulder after checking the contents. She stopped right in front of him, her deep brown eyes angry, but also showing a hint of vulnerability and fear. “Just tell me why you’ve been following me. Are you some kind of crazy stalker?”

Kade felt his anger rise up at the thought of anyone causing this woman distress, and some personal annoyance that Asha obviously thought he was some kind of psycho. “No. Is someone stalking you?”

Their eyes locked, and she searched his face, as though she were looking for the truth. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “But I know someone has been following me. I’m assuming it’s been you. And yeah, I got some messages that didn’t make any sense to me. Did you really expect me to answer you? I don’t even know you. What do you want from me?”

It was a loaded question that he could have answered in many different ways because of the unusual response his body was having to her presence, but none of them were quite appropriate at the moment. More than likely, any one of the answers that came immediately to mind would have her running away screaming. Kade dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, chagrined that he’d frightened her by following her. She’d been running away from fear, a woman alone who didn’t like an unknown guy following her. It had never occurred to him that she might be scared of him, and for some reason, he didn’t like that thought. Holding up a picture of Maddie and Max, he said, “It was me. I’m doing a favor for friends. We think there’s a possibility that you could be related to my brother-in-law and his sister. I’ve been trying to track you down for almost two months. I’m not trying to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you.”

Asha put her fingertip on the picture and traced it slowly. “These two people?” She sighed. “Do I look like I’m related to these two? My mother was a Caucasian American, but my father was an Indian immigrant. I don’t look anything like these two people. I can tell they’re related. They look a lot alike.” A brief look of regret and sadness flickered in the depths of her dark eyes.

“They have the same mother and father. There’s a chance that they could be your half-siblings, related on your mother’s side,” Kade answered, his heart clenching as he saw the wistful expression on her face. She was trying to put on a brave front, but she looked so weary, so alone, and it made him want to shelter her from anything and everything that made her feel that way. He wondered when she’d last eaten a good meal or slept for a decent length of time.

Looking away from the picture and dropping her hand, she pierced him with a doubtful look. “That’s not possible. There’s no way I’m related to them. Please leave me alone,” she answered sadly and dejectedly as she headed for the door.

Kade grasped her upper arm before she could make any forward progress. “Don’t you want to know for sure? What if you are related?”

Shrugging her arm away from him, she answered, “I’m Indian.”

“But you were born here? To an American mother?”

“An American mother and an Indian father who I can’t even remember,” she agreed, her body starting to tremble. “I was born here, but my foster parents were from India. I was raised as an Indian.”