Damn, damn, damn. She’d known this wouldn’t be easy. She sat taller and cleared her throat. “Um, actually, I already gave Mr. Lambert your name.”
Kurt froze, and then he leveled a dark look at her, his inky eyes unforgiving. “Why the hell would you do that?”
It was a fair question. She took another fortifying breath. “For years I’ve been telling people I’m in a long-distancerelationship. I started because it helps me fend off advances from clients, but Lambert’s son Glenn is a little…let’s call him persistent. At some point he got suspicious and started pressing for details. I think he honestly can’t understand a woman rejecting him.” She grimaced involuntarily.
Kurt’s lips thinned and he stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
“I wouldn’t have bothered toprovide specifics except that I see him frequently,” she said. “I hoped if he thought my boyfriend was real, he’d back off. But he’s the kind of guy who would verify my story, so I gave him your name and told him we had been dating a few years. Recently, I elevated your status to fiancé—” she wiggled her left ring finger, showing off the faux diamond ring “—hoping that if he thought we were more serioushe’d finally get the hint and back off.”
“Did he?”
She sighed. “Not really.”
“Why me? Why not Terrell?” Kurt asked, his voice sharp as a talon.
As her closest friend, Terrell Washington would have been the obvious choice. The three of them had once been inseparable. “Because he was in a serious relationship with Selena already. If Glenn or his dad checked my story, I didn’t want it to fallapart that easily.”
“And what if I had started dating someone?”
“It was a risk, but last time I flew Dan and Alyssa to St. Isidore, Dan said you weren’t seeing anyone and hadn’t dated for a while.” She cringed internally.
“You’ve been keeping track of mylove life? Or the lack thereof.” He flipped a pencil across the desk, his voice laced with bitterness.
“I’m sorry,” she said, softly. “Inever thought it would go this far. But now I’ve been invited, practically ordered, to attend this party and to bring you. I think both Glenn and his dad want proof that I’m not lying to them. Glenn because he’s obsessive and cocky, and his dad because he wants to know he can trust me. If I show up alone, it throws my integrity into question.”
Kurt stared at his fingers, his face impassive. Afterseveral seconds, he asked, “Why would a client invite you to this kind of family event?”
Not the question she’d expected. “Because I saved his life.”
His thick eyebrows rose. “How?”
“I knocked him out of the way of sniper fire.”
“Christ.”
Caitlyn shrugged. “It was instinct. I’m not even sure the guy’s life was worth saving.” She’d had a lot of time to think about it after the initial rushof success. Had she been able to ignore her gut, or just drop to the ground to save her own hide, it might’ve solved everything. “Then again, that’s when I was invited inside and found Rose.”
If Lambert had died, would Rose have been set free? Probably not. After all, Glenn would take over, and he was as bad as his father, if not worse.
“You couldn’t let him die any more than you could stopyourself from breathing,” Kurt said with a hint of a smile. “There’s a reason we called you Braveheart.”
Caitlyn looked away from his intense gaze. The sun shone on DC, making the monuments glow against the backdrop of red and yellow trees, but even in October it was already far too cold for her taste. The sooner she got back to Barbados the better.
The squeak of Kurt’s chair drew her attention.He leaned back to look at the ceiling, hands clasped behind his head in a way that showcased his impressive biceps. An unwelcome shock of desire bolted down her spine.
“I know I’m asking a lot,” she said. “And I know that it’s even more awkward given our history. But I wouldn’t expect you to do this for free. I can hire you.”
“No you can’t.” He dropped his hands and sat forward, propping hisforearms against the desk. “This isn’t about money. Never mind that I have a business to run, there’s a reason I don’t work in the field. There are things you don’t know about me that could change your mind.” He sighed. “And if I did say yes, there are things we need to hash out, because there’s no way I can act like a loving fiancé to you right now.”
All she could do was nod. She was the onewho needed his help, so she would do whatever he wanted, no matter how painful. “I know you were injured. I know it had to be serious for the Air Force to medically retire you.” She almost dreaded knowing. Dreaded the thought of him being hurt… “Will you tell me what happened?”
Kurt pushed his chair away from the desk and stood, pausing for a second before he walked around. He stared at her forseveral heartbeats, the muscle in his jaw jumping. “I was on a call in Helmand Province when our bird took a hit.” He lifted the hems of his pants to reveal black plastic and shiny metal where his legs should have been. “This happened.”
