Hornet's Nest (5 page)

THERE WAS ONLY one thing that could help me get over the initial shock of having to actually work side by side with Lance Walton… a bottle of Merlot.

It was moments like this when I wished I had told Jordan everything that happened between Lance and me, but I just couldn’t. The only thing that she knew was that we had kissed once, and I let her think that. I never told anyone about what happened. The embarrassment of being played by the ultimate player won over any thought of wanting to tell my friend. I didn’t feel like dealing with the “I told you so,” which would have clearly happened.

I heavily sipped as I allowed the wine to give me a pep talk throughout the rest of the evening. Lance Walton would not ruin my life. I would further garner the attention of one Joshua Black. I would make it my personal mission to ensure that. I went through my closet and picked out a slightly more revealing outfit that I might not have normally worn to work. This was due to two reasons:

1. Joshua Black actually came to my office and spoke to me. Sure, it was because of a work related issue, but who was to say another one wouldn’t arise?
   
2. I needed to prove to Lance Walton that he played with the wrong girl.
   

I understood it was quite common for guys to say that they would call after what turned out to be a one-night stand, and they didn’t. It had happened to me before, but what occurred between Lance and I was so much more than a typical one-night stand; at least, it seemed that way to me. The aftermath that had followed was almost too much to bear, all from just some stupid silly country boy.

By the next morning—sans hangover—the familiar ease I usually had when stepping off the elevator was not present. My stomach gnawed at me but not from hunger. I really couldn’t eat if I tried. My insides were a fit of nerves. I knew I would see Lance today.
Lance fucking Walton
. Charlotte was
my
sanctuary. I never dared to go back to the country to visit Jordan so I wouldn’t have to risk running into him, and now he was here in Charlotte, working at
my
firm and in
my
department. I went through too much remorse after our romp in the country. I had been trying to let it go—albeit poorly with a lot of whiskey—but it was working until he had to show up in Charlotte at
my
law firm out of all places.

I walked down the corridor with my head held high. He would not have the satisfaction of knowing that he ever got to me, especially for longer than just the one night. If I could put him out of my mind, I would. I needed more liquid numbness from the whiskey brothers. My black, stiletto knee-high boots clicked against the marble floor as I strutted through the office in a tight black pencil skirt and a red buttoned down blouse with a few buttons conveniently left open. I turned the corner heading toward my office. One Lance Walton stood leaning against a cubicle, talking to another member of the accounts payable department. He stopped mid-sentence and the look on his face was priceless. I approached him, flinging my hair behind my shoulder. As I passed by, I peered over my shoulder to give him a sexy smirk. “Good morning, Lance.”

Take that, asshole.

I didn’t receive a response, of course. Lance Walton was not very good with the follow up. I swayed my hips, feeling his familiar stare on my ass, the way he had done so long ago. That was fine. He could enjoy the view as I walked away. The ache of my feet from these boots was totally worth it. I unlocked my office and a relieving sigh escaped through my lips. At least I still had some sort of sanctuary. As I rounded my desk, I stopped suddenly when I saw a coffee and a sticky note resting beside it.

Katherine,

Thanks again for your help

with my foreign account.

Josh

My stomach twisted into even more knots. Hot attorney broke into my office to surprise me with a coffee.
I wonder if Lance saw.
I closed my eyes tight. It wouldn’t matter if he saw. I hope he did see. He needed to know that I had moved on… even if I hadn’t.
Damn it, Katherine. It was just one night!
But it wasn’t just the one night… I would never be able to forget.

I settled in my chair, starting up the computer while staring at this gift of coffee. The back of my brain questioned if this was a Trojan horse situation, but his smile had been genuine yesterday. I still didn’t understand Josh’s interest, and I’d had my guard up toward men for well over a year. Maybe it was time I accepted that men did like me and didn’t see me as some sort of conquest.

A
ping
from my email pulled me out of my head and toward my fully loaded computer. An urgent message popped up from Mr. Palmer requesting an immediate meeting in his office before the staff meeting. I hurriedly grabbed a pen, a note-pad, and my wonderful coffee before I headed down to his office.

When I arrived to Mr. Palmer’s office, it was vacant except for that familiar someone filling one of the guest chairs. I didn’t know if I would ever get used to seeing Lance at my office every day. His eyes locked on mine as I entered. There wasn’t a lot of room between Mr. Palmer’s desk and the guest chairs. He stood slowly to let me pass, peering down at me… those evil, painful, unforgettable, beautiful, sparkling, stupid green eyes.

I tried with every molecule in me to not graze him as I scooted by. My body buzzed with him so close to me. I held my breath until I sat down in the seat next to him. I placed my cup down on Mr. Palmer’s desk in order to get my note pad situated.

“You didn’t have a coffee when you came in this morning.”

That husky drawl sent a shiver down my spine, and my stomach clenched.

“That is a good observation on your part.” I reached for my coffee and took a sip, not bothering to give him a glance. I couldn’t. Those damn eyes sucked me in every time.

“Well, where did you get it from?”

“Why do you care?” I gave in. My eyes flickered to his. His face slacked, and I didn’t understand why. Why
would
he care?

“Katherine—”

“Hey y’all. Thanks for coming so quickly,” Mr. Palmer said, interrupting Lance with his entrance. Lance’s stare tore my chest in two. I shook my head slightly as Mr. Palmer sat down behind his desk. “This will only take a few minutes. Joshua Black has a multi-billion dollar client who has requested copies of all the trust checks issued from his account. I’m going to need the both of you to work together to locate all of these. There will need to be a lot of research on both parts since this has been his major client for a few years, and it will unfortunately take some time and digging.”

Oh, God. I had to work closely with him. My eyes fell to my lap as I stared at nothing. How was I going to do this? His hand caught my eye as it moved from his knee to the arm rest of his chair which was flush to mine. My body betrayed me with his hand so close. Memories of that very hand caressing every curve of my body flashed in front of my eyes as my heart began to thump against my chest. How the
fuck
was I supposed to do this?

“Hey guys.”

My eyes shot up from Lance’s hand toward the door, meeting the warm chocolate ones of Josh. He smirked as he noticed the coffee in my hand, and I sipped it as a nod to his thoughtfulness.

“Mr. Palmer, could I borrow Katherine for a minute before your staff meeting?” Josh asked with a slight glimmer in his eye.

“Sure, we were done,” Mr. Palmer said, and Lance and I stood. Lance allowed me to leave the room first. I grazed by him and our bodies touched, my breath hitching at our contact. My eyes sought his as his gaze met mine. A shot of hope speared my heart. Why did he have to give me hope? Blinking out of his stare, I pulled away from Lance and followed Josh out of Mr. Palmer’s office to an empty cubicle.

“Are you enjoying your coffee?” He nodded at my cup and I couldn’t help a little smile.

“Yes, thank you. That was sweet of you,” I answered as Lance passed by. My eyes flickered to his as a pained look crossed his face and he walked away. What the hell was his deal? I tore my eyes away from a retreating Lance and looked back up at Josh.

“Would you like to join me for a drink, say about five-thirty down the street? To go over the trust checks, of course,” he said as he hinted a playful smile.

“Well, if it has to be done.” I sighed with a playful sarcasm, then smiled and said, “Sure.”

“Great, I’ll meet you there.” He stepped close to me and placed his hand on my hip as he bent down to my ear and whispered, “Have fun at your meeting.”

I turned to watch him go, completely unable to get over the shock of what had just happened. I was going to have a drink with Joshua Black.
The
Joshua Black. I stood for a moment as I replayed and absorbed the conversation. I paused. Why wasn’t I more excited about this?

I shook it off as just being numb and headed toward the conference room. I passed by a few more cubicles and was pulled off my route into another cubicle. I stumbled and those damn green eyes caught me, only a few inches away. The numbness wore off as my body hummed from the touch of his hand on my arm.

“Katherine, we need to talk,” Lance whispered as his eyes roamed my face. I should have pulled my arm away from his grasp, but I didn’t. I craved his touch for so long. I didn’t want to move though I knew I had to. I gently eased my arm out of his grip, tearing my eyes away from him.

“We have nothing to talk about Lance,” I whispered as I took a step away, but he grabbed my arm once more.

“The hell we don’t.”

“Lance, we have a meeting. Not now.” I pulled away again and continued to the conference room. His following footsteps came up behind me and I had this feeling that he would keep following me, not just into the conference room, but also into my life. I couldn’t let him in. Not again. Not after what happened.

THAT WOMAN INFURIATED me to no end. She already pushed me out of her life once. I was here for a reason, damn it! I didn’t know if the planets aligned or if hell had frozen over, but I got a job working in the same city, the same building, the same law firm, the same department as Katherine Klein. Was I supposed to think this as a coincidence? No one in God’s green Earth would ever think that this was a coincidence. It was fate, pure and simple.

To watch her walk away was pure agony and pure ecstasy. She wanted nothing to do with me, but that ass in that skirt should be illegal. I remember how every one of her muscles moved and the sensual touch of her skin. I experienced heaven in one day… but I’d be damned if I had to endure this hell without her.

I couldn’t believe she agreed to go out with that douchebag. The way that blonde barmaid waited on him hand and foot didn’t seem like someone who was just going after tips. There was definitely something going on there, and if he thought I would move to the side so he could go after Katherine, then he had another thing coming. The hell I would. I wasn’t going to back down from any suit, even if I was one of them now.

Katherine walked through a doorway. I paused before I followed. My rage over this whole situation was taking its toll within one day.
How the hell was I going to do this?

Cowboy up.

I blew out a breath, allowing the anxiety to dissipate before entering a conference room that was nearly full. Katherine sat on the far side of the table without an open space next to her. I walked around to an open chair opposite of her and a few seats away. I sat down and noticed everyone else had a notepad with them.
Good job, Lance
. I was going to blow this opportunity before it even started. I leaned back in the chair and tried to look everywhere else except in her direction, but that damn shirt had one too many buttons undone. A sense of possession came over me. While I enjoyed the view, this room was half-filled with men. Did she even know the effect she had on men, or was she totally oblivious to her male coworkers chomping at the bit to be with her? I glanced around the table, noticing a few eyes on her, but I wouldn’t allow it to get to me. I didn’t need any additional competition. I already had a hot shot attorney on my radar. Joshua Black and the rest of these suits weren’t even competition. Katherine would be mine. I just had to play my cards right.

Mr. Palmer walked in and began the meeting. People around me started taking notes. I pretended to listen attentively. It was no use though, not with Katherine in plain sight. I couldn’t take my eyes away from her. The way her long auburn hair hung over her shoulder and a strand of it lay in between her breasts. The way they had molded inside my hands once. The way her body had felt underneath mine. The tight black skirt that hugged those hips could knock the socks off any man watching her walk by. And those boots… those boots were killing me. I wanted her in nothing but those boots. If I kept staring, I was afraid of what my animal instincts would do. I bowed my head and bore through this meeting as best I could.

The day dragged on as I took my time learning the firm’s computer program. I would have probably had this down by now had my head been in the game, but I couldn’t get the girl a few doors down off my mind. I left the country to prove something to myself and to my family—to prove something to Katherine—but it was no use. I was going to fuck up here because of a girl, just like I had done in the country with Ellie.

My office phone rang and pulled me out of my stupor. The number that flashed across the caller ID would either add to my stress or relieve it. There had been only one person not supportive in my move, and that one person could be the caller. I hoped it wasn’t. I hoped it was the other person from that household. I took a deep breath and answered the phone like a professional, ready to impress whoever was on the other line.

“Lance Walton.”

“Hey, son. How’s your day going?”

I breathed in relief at the deep voice on the other end of the phone. “Hey, Dad. It’s going okay.”

“You were worried I was your mother, huh?”

“Damn straight.”

“She’ll come around eventually.”

“I’m only a few hours away. She does realize that, right?”

“Son,
you took her baby boy away
,” my dad replied in a shrilly high-pitched voice. I laughed at his antics. I definitely knew where I got it from.

“Don’t do that to Mom.”

“She’s the one who made a big scene about it.”

“Y’all are children. Maybe I should come back to keep you two separated.”

“Nah… you need to be in the city making the big bucks so you can put us in a nice retirement home.”

I could hear the grin on his face and in that moment, everything was okay. I sighed, knowing I had to ask. “How is she doing though?

“Like the world has ended.
Her baby boy left his mamma!
” He barreled in laughter. He loved the woman. They just fought like cats and dogs. It was never mean spirited; at times, it was actually funny. They were total opposites. In some weird way, their constant head-to-head gave me some sort of hope.

“Oh. Need to go. She’s back from book club. We don’t need her nagging while you’re still on the clock.”

I shook my head and replied, “At least not the first week.”

“By next week, you’re on your own, kid.” The line disconnected with his warning. I shook my head again as I placed down the phone. Reality struck me again as I looked at the clock. I refused to lose any more chances with her. She was stubborn and I was stubborn. I grew up watching a stubborn marriage. It worked. It could work for us, but she had to ease up on her stubborn.

I stared at the clock, my knee bouncing with each minute. I probably should try to work, but what was the use when my mind wouldn’t get off her. There wasn’t much work for a newbie anyway. I stood up. With ten minutes left in my workday, I walked over to the window and stared across Charlotte. I had come this far already. Why would I stop now? I turned away from the window and grabbed my jacket from the back of the door. It wasn’t quitting time yet. I knew I would never quit on anything. I had to go get my girl.

I bolted out of my office just as people’s heads started to be seen over the cubicle walls. I didn’t know why I had to put myself through this agony, but I was going to that bar down the street. I was going to do whatever it took, and apparently that meant watching her go on a date with Josh. I didn’t trust him. He gave me no reason to trust him after what he said about her yesterday. If it took me months to get her under me, it was going to take him a hell of a lot longer than a day. But we would never find out. I would make sure of that.

I almost ran down the street to make sure I beat both of them here. As I reached the bar, I pulled open the door and instantly saw the douchebag leaning over the counter and talking to that blonde barmaid. I knew there was something going on there. I made myself unnoticeable and sat back in a corner. A male waiter approached. I was reminded about the six-dollar beers.

“Light.” It had to be cheaper than anything good. He walked away while I focused back on the attorney and the bartender. He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. The faint smile on her face had fallen with whatever he told her. She pulled her head away from his with a disgusted look on her face and mumbled something back at him. I couldn’t read lips very well, but from where I sat, it looked like she called him an asshole. I liked her already. He attempted to reach out for her, but she moved away from his grasp, fleeing for the other side of the bar. He grabbed his beer and turned around, leaning his elbows back against the bar as he scoured the room. I ducked my head to avoid being noticed. Thankfully, my beer arrived and I pulled out my card, handing it to the waiter.

“Just this one, thanks.”

The waiter left and I looked back at the bar. The douchebag wasn’t there. My eyes flickered to every other corner of the place and found him at the door
hugging
Katherine. She was unimaginably breathtaking. And her smile was all for him.

This was a nightmare.

After an hour of being forced to endure their flirtatious advances, I watched as he rose from his seat and excused himself to the men’s room. I watched as he walked away. When he noticed he was out of her sight, he grabbed leggy blonde barmaid and pinned her against the wall, whispering something in her ear. Her face lit up with whatever he said and she pulled his face down to hers. He proceeded to full on make out with her.

Rat bastard.

I looked at Katherine as she sipped her wine and flicked her phone on the table. Her face seemed distant as if she wasn’t mentally on the date. That was probably a good thing, but my chest clenched as she just sat there, oblivious of my watching her. God, I was a stalker, but for some reason, I didn’t care. I could watch her all day and never tire.

Josh rejoined their table. I couldn’t watch anymore. I needed to talk to Katherine, though. She needed to know that I was still here, waiting in the wings. I went outside and walked a bit to clear my head, but not too far. I wanted to keep a good view on the bar. A car roared its horn as it moved up the street. I sighed. I missed the peace of the country, but I wasn’t going back without giving the city a fair shot. The sound of heels caught my attention. Turning, I saw Katherine and Josh walking down the sidewalk. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. My hands rolled tight into fists. That would be the last one.

She started walking in my direction with a grin on her face and I sighed as I saw her happiness. Why couldn’t I make her smile like that?

Katherine passed in front of me and didn’t even realize I was standing there. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What does he have that I don’t?”

She jumped and turned around. She had a wide-eyed doe look which turned into a she-devil glare. She turned away and said, “Oh, leave me alone, Lance.”

I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. I stormed behind her and grabbed her shoulders, turning her around and pulling her close. Her breath hitched as her eyes searched mine. I raised my hand to cup her cheek. I missed the touch of her skin. Her lips parted slightly, and I wanted to kiss them so bad. I missed the taste of her.

“Why can’t you give me a chance?”

She pulled my hand away from her face and seethed, “I gave you a chance, Lance.”

If that was my chance, how did I blow it? She started to walk away again. I couldn’t let her go. I followed after her on a busy sidewalk and asked, “Why do you hate me so much?”

She halted her steps and turned toward me screeching mad. It was time we dealt with this once and for all. I needed to be put out of the misery that was Katherine.

“For starters, you didn’t have the common decency to call.” She was up in my face like the firecracker I knew she was. I started to speak, but I was interrupted. “But you know what’s worse?”

Her eyes clouded with tears. Why was she breaking down in front of me? “What Katherine? What could possibly be worse than the wall you’ve built up between us?”

“You got me pregnant, asshole!”