What You Need(81)
Brady tied his athletic shoes. “You mentioned you’d worked in her department, but that was it.”
“That’s all I’m allowed to say. And I don’t do a job hoping to make another employee look bad. My only concern is doing the job to the best of my ability. When I first started at LI, I’ll admit I was gung-ho. Being the hardest worker isn’t always appreciated.”
He crossed the small space and kissed my nose. “I disagree. But I’m a workaholic, so I’ve got a skewed work ethic.”
“You can’t be all work and no play. So along those lines . . . you have to do something fun and wild while you’re in the Windy City.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not dictating what you do, just reminding you to do it. I’ll expect a full report when you get back, Mr. Lund.”
“Deal.” He smoothed his hand over my hair. “I’ll miss you. Tonight was—” Lust darkened his eyes. “Better than I’ve ever had, Lennox. Better than I’ve ever known it could be.”
Now there was a compliment.
My phone started to buzz in my purse. Grateful for an excuse to break the intense moment, I dug out my cell. “Hey, Kiley. What’s up?” She started babbling and I was afraid she’d had a run-in with her ex and she’d climbed in the bottom of a bottle. “Slow down. Start over.” When I finally made sense of what she was saying, my heart hurt for her. “Look, I’m on my way home. Do you want me to bring you anything? You sure? Okay. See you in a bit.” I hung up.
“What’s going on?”
“Remember those kids we did the volunteer session with through LCCO? I don’t know if you’re aware that we met in the park that day because they had lost their normal meeting place. With the snow last week, they couldn’t meet in the park. Kiley just found out one of her kids from that group got arrested. And she feels like she failed him because she hasn’t found another place for them to meet. And with crappy weather being forecast for this weekend . . .”
“So they just need a place to let off steam and chill for a few hours?”
“I guess.”
“I have a half court and a full gym at my place. They could hang out there for a few hours.”
I stared at him. “Brady, while opening your home to them is”—crazy talk—“above and beyond, I hate to say it, but these kids are borderline delinquents.”
“Which is why they need a safe place to go, right?”
“Yes, but you were trying to keep a low profile. Brady the accountant, not Brady the heir to a billion-dollar company with a million-dollar car and a multimillion-dollar house in the Old Mill District. You heard Juice that weekend, bragging about his cousin getting into Flurry. What if he does that? Brags to his cousin about the rich white dude with a soft spot for kids with issues? What if their thug friends show up at your place? What if they break in and rob you? What if they threaten you? God, what if they hurt you?”
“Lennox. Take a deep breath. First of all, they don’t have to know it’s me. You don’t even have to tell Kiley I live there. Just let her know you’ve got a place lined up for this weekend through a friend of mine. Since it’s a warehouse built into the back of a bluff, there’s no way they could know what’s on the level above them unless I take them up there. And, baby, I’m a Lund, so my security system is the best money can buy. Nobody is getting anywhere I don’t want them to.”
“You’re serious? It’s not just the afterglow of crazy hot sex talking?”
He grinned. “Maybe. But this volunteer project is special to me. I don’t need to tell you why.”
There was his sweetness again. “I’ll talk to Kiley.” I had a thousand things on my mind as I walked out of the dressing room. I was glad to see someone had fetched my coat and hung it up on the coatrack just inside Brady’s office door.
“Forgetting something?” he said behind me.
I whirled around. “Security. I bet you have to let me out.”
“Yes, I’ll walk you out. But that’s not what you’re forgetting.” He hauled me against him and made my knees weak and my head fuzzy with a reminder of how it had been between us, locked in passion. When he finished ravishing my mouth, he murmured, “Plan on staying with me Saturday after the kids leave.”
Once again I hoped the week went by fast.
Chapter Eighteen
Brady
‡
The three-day trip to Chicago seemed to drag on for three weeks.
Ash and I spent all day Wednesday touring the facilities of the factory we were interested in acquiring. I managed to beg off from a dinner out with the corporate officers, but Ash happily went to represent LI. I needed to clear my head, so I left the Ritz-Carlton and headed down Michigan Avenue and actually wandered into a couple of shops. When I passed the perfume and jewelry stores, it occurred to me . . . Was I expected to bring my girlfriend a gift from my travels? Since I was new to all this, I wasn’t sure. That set me on edge and everything I saw afterward looked cutesy or schmaltzy and that wasn’t Lennox at all.