A View to a Thrill (Masters and Mercenaries Book 7) (23 page)

Too bad his eyes weren’t Simon’s. Still, she couldn’t help but admit she felt flattered by his attention. Oh, it was complete bullshit, but he sold it well. Ten had given her the hard sell in the limo and then showed her just what he was offering. Sure, her room here at the Circle M wouldn’t be hers, but she got the point. He would lavish her with money and attention and treat her like the cyber queen she was if she would just come and work for him.

She was pretty sure he might even sleep with her. He was just that kind of guy, but she wouldn’t be his one and only. She would be strictly business for him, but she was pretty sure he would give it a go if he felt like he could control her that way.

Simon wasn’t business. Simon was all about her and she had to really think about what she could offer him. The morning had proven that. Simon was good and she was…difficult to deal with at the very least. If she clung to him like she wanted to, he would get pulled into her shit. He would get mired in it. Dragged down. Just like her sister, and one day in the future he would realize that he needed so much more than what she could offer him.

Would it be different if she took Ten as her part-time, never-wholly-hers lover? Simon would give her everything and in return require her to be his in every way, including changing for him. She would have to shove out of the darkness and into his light.

Ten would be happy to have her in the darkness. He’d made it plain that he would fuck her or let her be. He would find her a lover she liked and then deal with him for her so she could happily do his bidding. Ten would make sure she had anything she wanted.

Except Simon Weston.

He couldn’t buy Simon. Ten couldn’t turn her into some perfect princess that Simon’s family would approve of. Even the Texas branch of his family felt like royalty. She’d been informed that Simon was being held close by and he would wake up and understand that his family was involved and he would want to play things close to the vest. She’d been told that David Malone understood what was going on, but Ava Malone was in the dark and should be kept there for Simon’s sake as well as her own. Apparently, they’d kept her away from the news so she didn’t know about the warrant. As far as she knew, her son had brought some friends out for the weekend. JT was in the dark as well, though she thought he had his suspicions—especially when it came to her. Michael had talked fast to explain her appearance here at the ranch. He’d told his brother that Simon was on his way.

Was he? She glanced around the yard and wondered if she was doing the right thing. Should she blow this little plan of Ten’s all to hell by throwing a fit until they took her to Simon? Or should she figure out what the hell was going on? That was the question she’d been asking herself from the moment she got in that limo. She’d decided the likelihood of Ten truly hurting Simon was minimal. And she couldn’t see Michael Malone allowing his cousin to die. So she’d chosen to play the game even as her heart ached.

She needed to get Ten on her side if Simon was going to be let out of whatever cell they had him in. Once she’d been given her very lovely room in the main house, she’d also been given new clothes. Skinny jeans, a pink tank, and a white
T
that didn’t quite meet her waist actually made her look very feminine and curvy. Someone had known her shoe size, but they’d given her a set of medium heels she could barely walk in. They added height, but her leg was already aching. Still she was trying to fit in and that had more to do with the fact that Simon’s family was here than trying to look pretty for the men around her. “The clothes are great.”

There were a couple of sets hanging in her closet and some bras and—oh thank god—some undies in the dresser of the room she’d been given. They were silky and had matching lingerie that she would never have bought for herself.

God, where was Simon? She couldn’t ask because she didn’t want Ten to know just how tangled up she was with Simon. He needed to think she was just hanging with him, that he didn’t really matter, or Ten would have a massive button to push with her. She’d probably already screwed that up at the motel, but she wasn’t going to make it worse.

“They look damn good on you.” Ten handed her a glass of champagne. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

She took it because she had a part to play. She gave Ten her sweetest smile. “Thank you.”

All the while she wanted to punch him in the gut and ask him the question that had been killing her. Where is Simon? Where is Simon? Where the holy living fuck is my Simon?

Nope. She wasn’t going to ask. She wasn’t going to let him know that she was dying to figure out what had happened to Simon. She was going to flirt and skirt the question.

“So have you thought about my proposal?” Ten waved over one of the waiters who offered her a ridiculously oversized shrimp.

She took it. “I have but it’s a lot to think about. I have to worry about more than just me.”

Ten took a sip of his champagne. “Who are you talking about? Charlotte? Because I heard it through the grapevine that she and Ian are thinking about starting a family. You’re not living with them. You’re not full time at McKay-Taggart. Why is that? You strike me as a girl who likes her work.”

She was her work until Simon had come along. Then she’d worried she hadn’t been anything at all but the girl who was crazy about him. “Ian and I don’t get along.”

The smile that crossed Ten’s face let her know he was happy with her answer. “Big Tag can be a bit self-righteous. I think you’ll find I’m a little more magnanimous. I want you to explore your creative side. There will be no Deep Web restrictions.”

Like the rules Ian had given her. He’d told her to stay off the Deep Web for the most part. When he’d needed info, she’d been given the go-ahead because she knew it better than Adam.

Simon had protested.

Again, what kind of future could they really have? He wanted her to love him, to be the kind of girl she just wasn’t. She wanted to sleep with him, to know what it felt like to be with him but to keep some very needed distance.

Ten got in her space, his big body brushing against hers as a twangy country waltz started playing. “You want to dance, pretty girl?”

Yes. So badly. Just not with him. It was so frustrating. Ten was offering her everything she wanted. Free access to all the information she could handle and a team at her back, him in her bed when she wanted him and no need to say I love you.

She took a sip of champagne. Ten was the whole package, so why was she hesitating? “I would love to dance. I just can’t.”

His face split in a gorgeous smile. “Of course you can. Just follow my lead. That’s actually really good advice for life, Chelsea. Follow my lead and I’ll make sure you get everything you want.”

What she wanted was to see Simon. She just wanted to see Simon, but she had to be patient. The last thing she wanted was to get them moved to a more secure location. Simon knew this ranch. Ten might not understand it, but Simon had the upper hand here and she wasn’t going to lose it for him. Patience. He would want her to be patient.

He took the champagne glass from her and threaded his hand through hers, leading her to the patio which served as the dance floor. Ava Malone and her husband, David, were already out there along with Theo Taggart and a pretty blonde woman who had been introduced as Beth and who couldn’t seem to take her eyes off JT.

Ava was a lovely woman with auburn hair who appeared to be in her late forties, though Chelsea was pretty sure she’d read the woman was sixty. Her husband was a burly man whose hair was graying but his body still bore the muscular fitness of a man who worked for a living.

Ten started out slow, which was good because she really was terrible at dancing.

“Hello, dear,” Ava said as they met on the floor. “Are you having a good time?”

She still had a British accent. She was Simon’s aunt, his father’s youngest sister.

“Yes, everything is lovely,” Chelsea replied, trying to concentrate on the steps. Why did everything have to be so hard? The other women on the floor made it look effortless, but she had to think about every step.

“I can’t wait to see Simon.” Ava moved with grace. And she had that smile on her face that told Chelsea her husband had done a brilliant job of keeping her away from the news. She had to wonder what would happen when Ava eventually discovered the truth. “It’s been a while.”

David frowned as he twirled his wife around in time to the music. “Too long. That boy’s avoiding us, I tell you.”

Ava shook her head. “He certainly is not. He’s been busy with his new job. That’s all. You know how single-minded that boy can be. Chelsea, dear, how did you say you were connected with my nephew?”

The last thing she wanted to do was lie to Simon’s relatives. But how exactly did she say “we’re locked in a power struggle because I want to jump his hot bod and he won’t take my virginity until I tell him I love him. Which I don’t. Because I can’t.” Yeah. That probably wouldn’t go over too well. “We just work together.”

“At that security firm? David, why don’t you move our security to them now that Simon is working there. I really prefer to keep it in the family.”

“I’ve got in-house security, baby. And then there’s Michael’s firm, of course.” He gave Ten a pointed look.

Yeah, David Malone should probably leave the spy stuff to his son.

“Michael hasn’t exactly signed on as of yet,” Ten said with a sure smile. “I’m looking to seal that deal this weekend. He seems to get along really well with the rest of the team. I think he would fit in perfectly, and with all his experience as a SEAL, he would move right to the top.”

“Well, I for one will be happy to see him leave the military,” Ava said with a sigh. “It’s bad enough to have JT constantly on oil rigs in the middle of warzones, but Michael actively seeks battle.”

“He’s served his country.” David frowned at his wife. This was obviously an argument they’d had more than once.

Ava soothed her hands over her husband’s chest. “And I’m proud, but I’m also very happy that he’s settling down. The corporate security world isn’t the same.”

Chelsea exchanged a look with Ten. He winked her way as if he enjoyed pulling a fast one on Simon’s aunt. What she didn’t know was the corporate world was one long war after another.

“What do you say we go somewhere and talk for a while.” Ten pulled her close and whispered into her ear. “You know I can give you more than Big Tag can. And Simon is a Boy Scout. He’s never going to understand you the way I can. Let’s go somewhere and talk.”

And he would attempt to seduce her. He was attractive and smart. She could handle him because he wouldn’t push her the way Simon was. It made sense to go somewhere quiet and see if Ten could move her.

She just wasn’t going to do it. She might end up taking Ten up on his offer of employment, but she suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn’t go to bed with him. Not ever.

Damn it. She was going to die a virgin because she didn’t want anyone but a British do-gooder Boy Scout who always acted like a gentleman.

“Sorry to interrupt this little party, Aunt Ava,” a familiar voice said.

Simon stepped up and he wasn’t alone. He was making a human shield out of his cousin as he stepped onto the patio. He had a SIG shoved under Michael Malone’s ribs.

Every man in the room stood up and suddenly Simon had five guns pointed his way.

“Give me Chelsea Dennis and I won’t gut my own cousin. Do you understand me, Ten? Get your bloody hands off her this very second or I swear I won’t give a damn who I kill as long I get to you,” Simon said.

Gentleman? He didn’t look like a gentleman now. Well, he kind of did because he was still in his dress shirt, slacks, and vest, though there was blood on the shirt. It didn’t matter. Without the jacket, he was predatory and lean and so gorgeous it kind of hurt to look at him. But it was the gleam in his eyes that really got her. He was dangerous. He was on the edge and it was all about her. He wasn’t a gentleman. He was her Dom and she was in serious trouble.

Jesse winked her way as he obviously lined up a shot in Ten’s direction.

Ava had gone a pasty white but she kept her stiff upper lip as she turned to Chelsea. “Just work partners, then?”

Yes, that cover seemed to have been blown all to hell.

Chapter Eleven

Simon didn’t feel even vaguely civilized as he watched Chelsea step back from Tennessee Smith. He felt like shooting the bastard. His hands had been all over her. There had been no mistaking how the agent’s big palms had been inching their way down to her ass. And she’d been smiling at him. Dancing. She’d been bloody dancing with the bastard. She never danced and she never wore heels but she did both for Ten.

“Hey, cos, could you maybe let up on the gun a little. I think you’re going to crack a rib,” Michael managed to say.

“I think he should drop the damn gun all together or I might have to ruin this little party by splattering his brains all over this lady’s nice garden,” the man who had to be Ian’s brother said.