Undeniably His(70)

“You said new hires didn’t require your approval,” I reply.

“They don’t. But they always ask for my approval, sweetheart.”

“Ooh, sweetheart, now.” Lia grins.

“Stay focused, Lia.” I narrow my eyes at her in a playful glare.

“Brian McMillan. I’m having my lawyer check him out as well,” Kalin mutters. “None of it really makes any sense.”

“But he’s your old college buddy,” I reply.

“Maybe so, but I haven’t seen him for years. Not since we graduated. Why is he suddenly back now, without telling me?”

I shrug.

“The police haven’t even tied the ransacking and the truck incident together,” Lia grumbles. “How can you expect them to tie the rest of this together?” Her brows pinch with disbelief.

“We’ll give them some help, Lia. I’ll make their job easy for them.” His mouth curves into a satisfied smile. I know even now that Kalin is not thinking about himself, but about us. I take a deep breath and let the comfort of his words chase away the fear and uncertainty that have been preying on my mind.

The nurse opens the door and peeks in. “Your lawyer is here to see you, Mr. Davis.”

“Perfect timing. Thank you.” She smiles and ducks out. “See, ladies. Everything is falling in to place already,” he beams.

“Kalin, are you turning your nurses into your personal assistants?” Lia folds her arms and smiles.

“Don’t use your charm for evil, Kalin,” I say. Lia and I burst into a fit of giggles.

Lia heads to the door. “I’ll see you guys later. I have to go to work.”

“Thank you Lia.” Kalin waves at her and smiles. “Thank you for the beautiful flowers.”

“Anytime.” She grins and closes the door.

“Do you want me to go?” I ask.

“Actually, I want you to stay, if that’s okay.”

“Really?” I ask.

“Yes. I want you to hear everything. You’re my confidant, Annabelle. You’re my safe.” Kalin reaches for my hand and presses it to his mouth. The warmth of his kiss rushes up my arm. “Among other things.”

My eyes lock on his, and I am caught between the sensual heat of his gaze, and the meeting before us and all its implications. “I better get ready.” I tug my hand from him, but he tugs my wrist to bring me back to him. His arm slides around my waist and he pulls me toward him. He plants a hot kiss on my lips, melting me in place.

My cheeks flush, and I shift away from him as Larry Atkinson strolls into the room with a briefcase in one hand and a computer bag in the other. With laugh lines around his eyes and a mouth that relaxes into a smile, his face is good natured and calm. His thick gray hair is flecked with hints of dark brown from his younger days, and combed back sleekly. He has sterling silver cuff links with a picture of a sailboat on a blue sea, and I remember that Kalin mentioned he loves to sail.

“Hi, Mr. Atkinson.” I say, extending my hand to him.

“Hello. You must be Annabelle Ried. It’s nice to meet you. Kalin speaks very highly of you.”

“He has to or I won’t feed him.” I titter.

“That would be exceptionally painful, as she’s a wonderful cook.” Kalin chuckles. “Annabelle is also my marketing assistant. At least that was the plan before all this happened. Now she is helping me recover.”

“Just another reason to treat her right,” he smiles.

“Indeed,” Kalin mutters.

“May I sit here?” Mr. Atkinson says, pointing to a small circular table.

“Please,” Kalin insists. “Annabelle will be taking notes for me while I’m hooked up over here,” he smiles.

“How much longer?”

“The doctor says about one more week,” Kalin moans.

Larry has a lively demeanor and gives Kalin his full attention. “Not soon enough, Kal?” His brows lift in vibrant fashion.

“I know I should consider myself lucky, right?”

Larry takes a seat to face him. “I’ll say,” he booms.

Kalin cocks his head and glances at me before returning his gaze to Larry.

“From what we found—the markings on the vehicle, the skid marks on the road, and the repeated rams into your vehicle—I would say in all confidence that they were certainly trying to kill you. Not injure you, or scare you. Kill you. Now why that did not happen is beyond me.” He peers up at Kalin from his stack of notes. “The truck had no trailer to weight it down. No payload. This style of tractor is aerodynamic and fast enough to ram you several times with all twenty thousand pounds of it.” Larry shakes his head. “You shouldn’t have survived.” Larry turns his attention to me. “Neither one of you.”