Come Home Again (The Donovans) (4 page)

Blood simmered under her skin, scorching her flesh from the inside. “And what happens after I help you? You vanish without a trace again? And you know what? Stop calling me Lila. You lost the right to call me that when you left.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” Softly he added, “I remember everything about you.”

His voice, low and husky, had heat pooling in her center and her body vibrating with longing. She hated that he could do that to her with simple words. “God, you know, you are such a bullshit artist.”

The air changed around them, and Delilah shivered. She knew what was coming before he even moved, but there was no bracing for it. He gently tugged her against him, giving her every chance to pull back, but no matter the commands her brain gave, her body refused to comply.

Nate slid his arms around her. His lips were gentle, but demanding. A spike of the electricity flared between them, scorching her lips when his tongue dipped in. With a low groan, he shifted their angle, kissing her deeper and ripping a moan from her as her whole body started to melt.

She didn’t have the defenses to fight off those long dormant feelings. Somewhere in the far recesses of her mind, alarm bells rang, starting as a low buzz, but quickly intensifying to a sharp clang.

He dragged his lips from hers and stared at her. His muttered curse echoed her own feelings.

The elevator dinged at the ground floor, and the doors slid open. She shook her head in an effort to kick-start her brain. “What the hell was that?”

Nate’s heated gaze met hers. “That was something I’ve been thinking of doing for seven years.”

Immobilized, she watched him walk out. Her lips tingled, and her body was too limp to move. After all this time, he still had the power to stun her.

###

A
drenaline flowed through Nate’s veins, hot and thick. Even the twenty-minute ride from Park and Associates hadn’t calmed him down. Kissing Delilah had been a stupid move.

More than stupid. Try potentially devastating.

He’d had a thing for her ever since she pulled him out of that alley when they were kids, but she’d always been off limits. She was
still
off limits. Getting involved with her was a recipe for disaster. Yet like a moron, he’d kissed her.

He had to get himself under control and quickly. In an a few hours, he’d face the board, and they’d decide his fate. He needed his game face, not his some-woman’s-got-my-head-fucked-up face.

Up until he’d walked into that conference room, he’d still been looking for a way to help Chase without taking the job, but seeing Delilah again had put him directly in the want-to-do this-piece-of-crazy category. Yet he hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he remembered everything about her. From the moment he’d met her, she was hard to put out of his mind. Even now, as he fought off the flood of memories, he recalled that rainy night long ago so vividly. He could still smell the rotting garbage mixed with the smell of rain and blood.

Still bleeding from a beating he’d taken, he shuffled to the dumpster at the back of Wang's restaurant in Syracuse. The Chinese place was an upscale version of a chain. So much uneaten food was thrown out each night.

Water seeped into his shoes as he stepped up to the dumpster. Now how the hell was he going to climb in? Hector and his boys had really fucked up his arm. It hurt so much to move it. Hell to even think about moving it sent shooting stabs of pain through him. He considered going hungry or the night, but he hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours, and the shelter was too far for him to walk to. If he didn't eat now, he wouldn’t get another shot until tomorrow night. He'd probably have to spend half the day hiding from Hector.

Gritting he teeth against the pain, he forced his arm to move. With his good arm, He reached for the top of the dumpster. His legs weren't working great, but they were strong enough to step up on the side of the dumpster.
Here goes nothing.
With all of his remaining energy, he pulled himself up, but the rain had made his foothold too slippery, and he lost his footing, eventually crashing down to the ground.

Pain radiated through his body, but mostly in his back and his arm. With the rain coming down hard, he could barely keep his eyes open. It was so much more tempting to close his eyes and go to sleep.

It was then that he heard screaming above the ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta sound of the hard beating rain. Someone was crying out. It was faint, but he could hear the words. “Mom...Mom....Fell...Mom, we have to help him.”

He pealed his eyes open. He had to get the hell up. If cops saw him here, he'd have trouble, and he didn’t need that tonight.
Get up. Get up. Get up.
But he couldn't move.

Finally, an angelic face framed by a huge, curly afro appeared above him, and the screaming continued. “Mom, he's only a kid. Hurry.”

He heard someone else saying something like, “You can't run off...Dangerous, you don't know...” Then there was a gasp. “Delilah, run and get your father. You stay with your brothers in the car. Hurry.”

“But, Mom, he needs our help.”

“I know, baby. And I'm going to help him. Just get your father.”

Heart hammering in his chest, Nate shook off the memory. He’d learned long ago that visiting those old memories was a ticket to heartache. His phone pinged with a text alert. He glanced briefly at the sender, then wished he hadn’t.
Trent
.

His brother always did have shitty timing. Without reading the message, Nate promptly deleted it. If he knew his brother, Trent wanted money, or for Nate to invest in some shady business. Or worse, he wanted someone to fund his drug habit. And when Nate said no, Trent would take the opportunity to remind him that thanks to Nate’s stunt seven years ago, he’d done a stretch in prison. Nate wasn’t in the mood for that bullshit conversation.

Once Nate hit Chase’s office, he was marginally calmer. He hadn't lied to Delilah—he couldn’t pull this off without her. But they also couldn’t work together. Within an hour of seeing her again, he’d had his hands all over her. She was going to be a fucking problem.

Chase’s voice broke through the fog. “You want to tell us what that was about?”

Nate’s gaze flickered to the door. Chase and Lach both stared at him. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, but he had to say something. “Just—I—” Great. Maybe next time he’d try actual words.

“Come on, man, you forget we know you. What’s up with you two? That whole thing was tense, at best,” Chase said.

Lach laughed. “I’ve never seen you like that. I almost suggested that we give you guys the room to work out whatever it is you need to resolve.”

Nate inclined his head. “Okay, fine. I know her.”

Chase's brows drew up. “Was her experience with you so awful that she can’t work with you? Because I have to tell you, I'm out of time. We need their help right the fuck now. And from the looks of it, she can handle you.”

Nate cracked his neck. “I know we need them. I’ll handle it.”

“How do you know her?” Lach asked.

Nate kept his past closely guarded even from his closest friends. He was more aware than most of what could come back to bite him in the ass. “You can say we sort of grew up together.”

Lach and Chase exchanged glances. “How come you've never mentioned her to us?” Chase asked.

Nate clenched his jaw. “It was a long time ago.”

“Whatever you say, man,” his friend muttered.

Nate ran a finger over his chin. “Look, I'll fix it. You have bigger things to worry about.”

Chase narrowed his eyes. “
We
have bigger things to worry about. That vote is in two hours. I can bully them into accepting you, but after that, you'll be on your own. Are you sure you can handle this?”

Nate rocked back on his heels. “Rethinking asking me to take over?”

“Not for a minute. I know you can handle it. Hell, you're part of the foundation this company is built on. You know most of the systems. I couldn't have named a better caretaker.”

“I sense a but.”

Chase sighed. “I assumed you'd have support. Lach will be helpful, but not everyone on the board is going to be so happy about me appointing you. There's more than one douchebag who's been trying to take this company from me for years. If they can convince the public and the shareholders, that you aren’t fit, they'll get rid of you in thirty days, then they'll get rid of me. And since I have to physically be here for a vote, I can’t do anything to stop it. Chloe and Lach’s votes will help, but you’ll need to make some allies.”

Nothing like a little added pressure. “Look, Chase. You worry about getting well. You need to do this. I told you I have this, and I do. Don't worry.”

D
elilah took the back hallway past the kitchen, deliberately avoiding Jake’s office. If she could only have a minute to herself, maybe she could calm down. Steady herself. Get her head straight,instead of focusing on Nate’s lips sliding over hers, making her hot and tingly in places she hadn’t thought about in months.

But luck was not on her side, Jake stood outside her office talking to Willow. “Dammit,” she muttered as she stopped short. He hadn't seen her yet. Was there still time to run? Not like she was going to avoid him forever. Just for the next few hours...or days....definitely not more than a few weeks.

Before she could turn, he lifted his head and looked straight at her.

Dragging in a breath she joined him and Willow. “What’s up, Jake?”

He scanned her face carefully. When he opened his mouth to speak, she braced herself. “Delilah, that was inspired! The bit about community support, shit, I wish I’d thought of it.”

Stunned, she blinked at him. He wasn't angry? He looked happy. Like maybe give her the promotion happy. She’d assumed the electricity between her and Nate had been blatantly apparent to anyone watching, but there was a slight chance she was the only one highly attuned to it. Fraternizing with clients was one of Jake’s hard and fast rules. If he even suspected about the kiss, that would be grounds for termination. She’d never been fired from anything in her life. Not even a babysitting job. She wasn’t starting now. Especially not because of Nate.

She cleared her throat. “Inspired, well, I am trying to prove myself. But you know, I was wondering, since this is such a big case, if you wanted someone more experienced...” The words tasted bitter on her tongue, but they were necessary. She couldn’t work with Nate. Especially not after what had just happened.

Jake stared at her. “Don’t get cold feet on me now, Dee. You’re already showing me what you’re made of. Shit, maybe I should have given you more cases like this ages ago. I was telling Willow to send over what we have on Chase and to pull anything we can on Nate Williams. I’d prefer Lachlan Murphy as CEO, but we get what we get.”

She nodded. “Lachlan would be the easier sell, by far. But you know, if we had more hands, we could really do the dog and pony show. Go full firm support.” It didn’t seem like Jake was going to let her off, but maybe, if she got someone else assigned too, then she’d have less interaction with Nate.

“
I
am the extra hands, Dee. You’ll learn everything you need to learn from me. And from what I’ve seen, it won’t take long until you’re doing this on your own.”

Delilah’s stomach fluttered. The last thing she needed was to spend any alone time with Nate.

Jake turned to Willow. “Have Dee’s assistant set up a planning lunch with Mr. Williams. Invite Lachlan Murphy too, since he’ll be acting advisor.”

Willow nodded. “Sure thing. Anyone else you want included?”

Jake shook his head. “No, I get the feeling given the number of women who were hanging around the conference room just now, that lunch will be already crowded enough with women who want to stop by and say hello.”

As Jake walked away, all Delilah wanted to do was hide. But there was no hiding from Willow. “You want to tell me who kissed off your lipstick?”

Delilah’s stomach pitched. “Uh, what? I—”

Willow glanced around. “From the look on your face, this is probably going to require privacy. Meet you in our place in fifteen?”

Numb, Delilah nodded. When she and Willow wanted to have a totally private conversation, they went to the café three blocks away. There were several between that place and the office so there was little chance of running into anyone they knew. And they made a killer hot chocolate.

The moment they were ensconced in their booth, Willow raised an eyebrow. “Which one was it? Mr-Married-To-the-Mob’s-Fists, Tall-Dark-and-So-Sexy-I’d-Give-Up-My-Prada-Shoe-Collection-For-Him, or Hot-Blond-and-Make-Me-Willing-to-Try-Sex-on-a-Motorcycle?”

Delilah dropped her head. “How can you joke about this, Will? I’m so screwed.”

Her friend laughed. “Given how tense you are, I doubt it. So, which one?”

She groaned. “Blond and all wrong to be a CEO.”

“Ha! I knew it. You like your men without too many vices, so Chase Manning was out, and Lachlan Murphy seems a bit too civilized for you.”

“Willow, focus. I’m about to lose my job.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “Honey, calm down. Jake obviously didn’t notice. So what happened? Leave nothing out.”

Delilah rubbed her temples. “After the meeting, Nate and I were talking in the elevator. Okay, so maybe I
was
spinning out a little bit, but come on. Then he kissed me.”

Willow leaned forward. “I love a man who knows how to shut you up. Tongue or no tongue?”

A shiver stole down her back as she recalled his tongue sliding over hers. “Definitely tongue.”

Willow hooted. “Hot damn! It’s about time.”

“You’re not paying attention here. He’s a client. This promotion means everything to me.”

Willow sighed. “I know it does. But sometimes you have to do what feels good for you too. And technically, Chase Manning is the client. Nate Williams is extra. You’re not doing anything wrong.”

“That’s semantics, Will. Maybe if I come clean right now, Jake won’t can my ass.”

“Are you insane? That man called your ideas inspired.
Inspired
, Dee. He barely mumbles ‘good job’ to most people at this firm. This is what you’ve been working toward. You can’t quit.”