LITMIR.BIZ

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check for your watch.”

      “Thanks.”

      “Maybe if you kept your clothes on,” she muttered under her breath. “You might not lose things.”

      He watched her walk away, her hair slightly mussed, her shoulders bare, her legs long and shapely beneath the tight, short dress. It struck him as odd that she’d criticize his behavior. But a split second later, she only struck him as gorgeous, and he forgot about anything else.

      * * *

      Kate took a quick look through the kitchen, and then decided Brody could find his own watch. It was probably in the garden, falling off when he’d stripped down for a quickie.

      It had annoyed her to learn he’d spent the evening hooking up. She acknowledged the reaction was absurd, since it had absolutely nothing to do with her. With his job, he probably had one-night stands all over the world—him and all the other single, wealthy men hanging out with celebrities and groupies.

      But for some reason she wanted him to be better than the rest. Maybe it was because she’d kissed him. Or more important because she’d enjoyed kissing him. She should have better taste than to enjoy kissing a man who was into one-night stands. What was the matter with her?

      She made her way back into the main hallway, focusing on Annabelle again, and wondering how long she dared hang around. She didn’t want anyone to get suspicious, but she also didn’t want to squander this opportunity.

      Time was ticking. Banking on Quentin being a late sleeper, she decided to have a look upstairs before she left.

      She guessed Annabelle’s nursery would be on the second floor and hoped Christina and Annabelle had gone back there when they left the kitchen. If anyone questioned her, she could always use the excuse of Brody’s lost watch.

      At the top of the stairs, she heard the gentle pings of a lullaby. She walked toward them, coming to an open bedroom door.

      Annabelle was lying in a white crib, cooing softly, her hands and bare feet wiggling in the air as she watched colorful cloth jungle animals circle above her.

      The rest of the big room was a jumble, containing a change table, two armchairs, a rocking chair. Through an open doorway to a connected room, she saw a single bed and a dresser. Everything was covered in cardboard boxes. Some were open, some taped shut. Plush toys were strewn around the nursery, and the walk-in closet was wide-open, revealing empty shelves and more packing boxes.

      “Wow,” said Kate. “You’ve got some work on your hands.”

      Christina looked surprised by the sound of Kate’s voice.

      Kate knew she was being unforgivably brazen barging in on them. She squelched her discomfort. “Do you want some help?”

      “That’s not necessary.”

      “I’m happy to do it.” Kate forced herself to ignore Christina’s obvious lack of welcome, moving to one of the open boxes of baby clothes to look inside. “Shall I put these in the closet?”

      “No, really.” Christina started toward her.

      Annabelle let out a cry.

      “I’ll get her,” Kate impulsively announced.

      “No,” Christina said sharply.

      Their gazes met.

      Kate realized she couldn’t pull it off. Maybe in the midst of a party she could pretend to be self-centered and oblivious to the needs of others. But she couldn’t do that to Christina.

      “I’m sorry,” she said. She took a step back. “I don’t mean to put you in an awkward position.” She took another step back, steadying herself on the doorjamb. “I wanted to see Annabelle is all. I’ll leave the two of you in peace.”

      Disappointment running through her, Kate turned for the door.

      “Wait,” said Christina.

      Kate paused and turned back.

      Christina took a deep breath. “I’m not trying to be suspicious. It’s just that most of Quentin’s friends are...”

      “Untrustworthy?” Kate guessed.

      “I try to keep Annabelle out of their paths. They think she’s a toy, and they’re not always...”

      “Sober?”

      Christina looked stricken. “I shouldn’t be saying these things.”

      “I’m not like them.” Kate realized she was ready to come clean with Christina.

      “Not like who?” Quentin appeared in Kate’s peripheral vision.

      For a second, her heart lodged in her throat. How much had he overheard? She scrambled for a plausible response.

      “Not like those uptight people who hate mess and noise.” She gave a brilliant smile.

      Christina looked confused.

      “You mean the Vernons?” asked Quentin.

      “Who are the Vernons?”

      “The people next door. Did they complain about the music again?”

      “I loved the music,” said Kate. “But, I fell asleep on the sofa. Too many martinis. My bad.” She gave a giggle.

      “There’s no such thing as too many martinis,” said Quentin.

      Annabelle let out another cry, and Quentin winced at the sound.

      “Now that kind of noise will make a man nuts.”

      Christina moved quickly to shush the baby.

      Kate bit back a reproach. He shouldn’t blame a baby for crying.

      “Do you have parties every weekend?” she asked instead.

      He gave a shrug. “People tend to drop by.”

      She wanted to ask how that was going to work with Annabelle living in the main house, but she held back.

      One of the bodyguards appeared beside Quentin, holding out a cell phone. “Mr. Kozak for you.”

      Quentin clenched his jaw. Mr. Kozak was obviously not someone Quentin was pleased to hear from.

      The bodyguard met Quentin’s annoyed expression with a level stare.

      “Not now,” said Quentin.

      The bodyguard stayed silent. He waited, obviously expecting Quentin to change his mind.

      Kate could feel the tension in the air.

      “Tell him I’ll call him back,” said Quentin.

      After a long moment, the bodyguard turned abruptly, raising the phone to his ear. He spoke in Ukrainian as he walked away, but it was too fast. Kate couldn’t make out any of the words.

      Christina had moved to the far side of the room, jiggling Annabelle in her arms and cooing softly in her ear.

      Annoyance was radiating from Quentin.

      Kate’s stomach clenched, and her instincts told her to leave, to get out of the room, even out of the house. She didn’t know what was going on here, but Quentin clearly had a temper. She had no desire to be in his line of fire. But she didn’t want to leave Annabelle and Christina alone with him.

      “I, uh...” She scrambled to think what Francie would do.

      After only a second, she came up with a plausible solution. Francie would have been completely oblivious to the undercurrents. She’d be thinking solely of herself. What was Francie feeling? What did Francie want?

      Kate was exhausted, and she was hungry. She went with it.

      “Any way to get some breakfast around here?” she asked him coyly.

      Quentin looked taken

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