Maureen Child - The Highest Bidder

“What a throw!” Vance said with a grin. “And a southpaw. You’re going to be in demand on a Little League team, kid. A left-handed pitcher can name his own terms.”

“Bababa!”

Still smiling, Vance rolled him the ball and Jake tossed it again, happy with the game. Vance looked into those dark blue eyes and felt something clutch at his heart. This baby had gotten to him as easily as the boy’s mother had. Between the two of them, Vance didn’t know up from down. All he knew for sure was that, for the first time in his life, he wasn’t looking for the nearest exit.

In fact, weirdly enough, he was enjoying this. The baby. Charlie. The sounds of life and laughter in his normally quiet home.

He frowned and told himself he should probably be worried.

Vance didn’t have to hear Charlie’s approach. He actually felt her watching him. He turned his gaze to the open doorway where she stood, one shoulder leaning against the doorjamb. Her hair was in one long, thick braid hanging over her right shoulder. She was barefoot and her scarlet-painted toes peeked out from beneath the hem of faded jeans that hugged her legs like a familiar lover. Over the jeans, she wore a T-shirt that read Skip the Movie, Read a Book .

“Did I tell you I like your shirt?” He especially liked the way the clingy red fabric outlined her breasts.

She looked down and laughed shortly. “Thanks.”

Then he realized her eyes looked shadowed. “Is there a problem?”

“I got an email.”

Everything in him went on red alert. The baby tossed his ball and it rolled right past Vance unheeded. “What’d he say?”

“You were right,” Charlie reluctantly told him. “He’s agreed to meet with me.”

“Excellent. Did you tell him where?”

“Yes. He’ll be at the Coffee Spot tomorrow at four.”

Nodding, Vance said, “It’s almost over, Charlie.”

“Is it?”

Jake crawled up onto Vance’s lap and he automatically wrapped one arm around the tiny boy’s middle. Holding on to the sturdy weight of her son on his lap, Vance looked into Charlie’s eyes and thought about what he’d just said. Almost over . When they had this wrapped up and the blackmailer stopped, Charlie would be leaving. She and Jake would go back to their lives and he would be here, in the quiet.

That’s when it occurred to Vance that things might just be sliding out of his control.

“So you decided to take my advice and seduce it out of her?”

That sounded a lot colder when Roark said it aloud than it had in Vance’s mind. But yeah, the upshot was, that’s exactly what he’d set out to do. It had all started so simply. A dinner date. Then walks and talks and before he had known it, he had been as seduced as she was.

Sex had been the next logical step.

Seduction might have been the plan at the beginning, but it had morphed into something else. Something that felt a hell of a lot more permanent than he had ever considered.

Scraping one hand across his face in irritation, Vance frowned at the phone in his hand, and muttered, “Yeah, all right? I did.”

“And you sound really pleased about that,” his brother shot back with a laugh.

“It’s … complicated.”

“Uh-oh. Sounds bad.”

“Could be,” Vance admitted, hating the fact that he didn’t know where this thing with Charlie was going. Ordinarily, he’d say enjoy it then move on. Just like always. But he didn’t want to move on. Plus, the thought of Charlie moving on to some other guy made him want to hit something. Breakable.

“Okay, leaving that aside for now, what’ve you found out?” Roark asked.

His brother’s voice rose and fell like applause at a bad play. The connection was terrible.

“Where the hell are you that your satellite phone is having a bad day?”

Roark snorted a laugh that came through loud and clear. “In the middle of the jungle.”

“Still in the Amazon?” Vance stood up and looked out his office window at the Manhattan view. Summer was making the streets practically steam, but he had a feeling the heat and humidity were much worse where Roark was.

“Yeah, almost done, though, so should be able to jet back soon. But we were talking about your assistant, remember?”

Like he could forget.

He had expected that sex with Charlie, finally satisfying that staggering need he’d felt for her, would take the edge off. Would, in a way, be liberating. Allow him to take a step back and look at the situation through clear eyes. Instead, sex with Charlie had just pulled him in deeper. Made him think dangerous thoughts. Made him want—

“So, she’s not the spy?”

“No.” Grateful to have his mind pushed off its traitorous track, he shook his head and studied the street scene below. Office workers striding up and down the sidewalk with purposeful steps. A kid on a skateboard was holding on to his dog’s leash for a fast ride and Vance smiled as a woman in heels had to jump out of the kid’s way.

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” In a few short sentences, Vance brought his brother up-to-date on the whole blackmail situation—and his plans to end it.

“Well, damn, that’s intriguing. Who the hell is this guy?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out this afternoon.”

“How? The street around the coffee shop will be jammed at four in the afternoon. If this guy sees you with Charlie, he won’t make contact.”

“I’ve got that figured out, too,” Vance said, turning his back on the world to sit at his desk again. He filled Roark in on the plan.

“Sounds good. Lemme know how it goes.”

“I will,” Vance said, then finally brought up the real reason he had called his brother. “About the Gold Heart statue …”

“What about it?”

“How’d you find it? Where’s it been all these years? Ann’s letting the world know about it and people are really talking. This auction’s going to be the biggest thing we’ve ever handled.”

“I can’t get into it right now, Vance,” Roark said, his voice fading. “Just trust me, it’s all good.”

“Wait a minute!” Vance called into the phone and heard nothing in reply. Either his brother had just hung up on him, or the connection had abruptly died.

He did trust Roark. But Waverly’s had a lot riding on the upcoming auction of the Rayas collection. They couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong.

Anything could go wrong . Vance wore black jeans, a black T-shirt and boots. Nothing against any of his suits, but if he had to sprint to Charlie’s side he wanted to be able to move fast and sure.

As it was, he didn’t like any of this. Yeah, it had been his idea, but now that it was happening, he really hated the thought of Charlie being out there on her own.

He stood half-hidden behind the edge of a building on Fifth Avenue. A shoe store, he thought, but didn’t really care. What he cared about was that he had a direct line of sight to Charlie, standing in front of the Coffee Spot. It was a popular enough coffee shop that the crowds were moving in and out constantly. Hard to keep an eye on her, but it would also be hard for the blackmailer to try anything dangerous. She was safe, surrounded by hundreds of strangers.

The summer sun was brutal in late afternoon, blasting down out of a clear blue sky. Traffic was piled up as always, and hordes of pedestrians leaped off the curbs and crossed the street whenever the hell they wanted to. Red lights meant nothing to New Yorkers.

Scowling, he lifted his binoculars and focused on Charlie’s face. She looked worried. And his insides twisted in response. He wasn’t sure how he’d developed this protective streak, but when it came to her and her son, it was ramped up beyond anything he’d ever felt before.