Trade It All(31)

Lance shook his head. “Sorry, who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m a freelance security specialist.” He lowered his voice and folded his arms across his chest, his sleeves pulling up enough to expose his web of tattoos that ran up his arms. He was exactly the type of security Lance imagined Dax would need to employ. “We should talk about this in a less public place.”

“Dax called you?” Lance asked, not actually caring what he was saying. His attention had already slid away from the man to Willa. He ran their last conversation over in his head again and again. He shouldn’t have pushed for the truth right away. He should have given her time. His impatience was that of the twenty-year-old he’d been. Grow the fuck up.

This doesn’t have to be a repeat of the first time.

It was apparent Emmitt was quickly losing patience and looked as if he was barely holding back what he really wanted to say. “Yes, Dax Marshall. He said you were looking for added security. You had some sort of breach in the office. I can assure you if that’s the case I’ll track down the problem and it won’t happen again. But I do think we should take this meeting elsewhere.”

“No,” Lance answered flatly. He had always handled his own business. The last thing he needed was another brother thinking he needed guidance.

“No there was no breach?” Emmitt asked, still clearly fighting his annoyance.

“No, I don’t need your services. Dax was wrong,” Lance said shortly. In that moment he didn’t give a shit about the woman who had passed herself off as his secretary. All he cared about was that Willa was hurting, and she had cut him out of her life—again.

Expelling a harsh breath, Emmitt grunted, “I flew up from Texas because I was told you had a situation on your hands.”

“I do,” Lance said with a self-deprecating smile. “But it’s nothing you can help me with.” With that, Lance walked away from a very pissed-off-looking Emmitt. Normally he wouldn’t have treated anyone that way, but he was irritated Dax had gone against his wishes. And he was at a loss for what his next step should be with Willa.

In the past he’d chosen to withdraw from the politics of his family and steer clear of emotionally messy situations. He’d been raised to keep his head down, his thoughts to himself, and to put peace within the family above his personal needs.

That was about to change.

He strode to the elevator and punched the button to his floor. He was still glowering as he walked through his secretary’s office. She went three shades of red.

“I’m so sorry. I never would have. Please don’t report this to the temp agency. I’m paying for college on this salary. God, I’m so sorry.”

Lance waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not going to say anything.” The last thing he needed was something else to feel badly about. His tie was suddenly too tight. He loosened it. “Am I a complete asshole?” he demanded.

With huge round eyes, the young woman answered, “I’m not qualified to answer that question, sir.”

Lance paced in front of her desk. “She said the best thing I could do was leave her alone. You’re a woman. Did she look like she meant it?”

The woman made a pained face and looked down at her desk.

“I left her alone the last time she asked me to. It made things worse. This time I’m handling it my way.” A euphoric thought accompanied his decision. God, she’d tasted so damn good. If she’d felt nothing toward him, she would have never kissed him the way she had. No, she was holding back for some reason, and he intended to find out why.

In a weak voice, his secretary said, “If you don’t tell me, I won’t know anything if anyone asks.”

Lance looked at her and realized she’d gone pale. He replayed his last words in his head and smiled wryly. “I’m not going to kidnap her.” He arched an eyebrow. “Unless you think that would work.”

The woman accidentally knocked her keyboard off her desk, bent to retrieve it, and looked sweaty and nervous when she met his eyes again. Her mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish trying to catch its breath.

I should probably tell her I’m kidding before she faints or calls the police. “How about you just order an insanely large bouquet and send it to this address.” He wrote Willa’s address on a sticky note. “In fact, have a bouquet sent there every day until I tell you to stop.”

With that, Lance returned to his office. He answered several emails regarding the Capitol Complex project. Work always calmed him. It also gave him time to think before choosing his next step with Willa.