“This is very bad, Kate. Very bad.”

Irritation kicked in. For goodness’ sake, she didn’t believe in witchery and spooks. She made a mental note to shift Slade over to Kennedy as his main contact. If she backed off, the whole thing would go away. “And if I decide to block this type of encounter?”

Her mother frowned. “You will cause the energy to be disrupted. And then cons—”

“Yeah, I know,” she interrupted. “Consequences will form.”

“Why is this man so wrong for you? Has he caused heartbreak to others?”

Kate eyed the joint with envy. “He’s a divorce lawyer.”

Her mother jerked back with sheer horror. “Oh, no! Negative energy probably invaded his entire aura. And I wished for so much more for your match,” she moaned.

“He’s not my match. I’m telling you it’s a mistake. I’ll fix it.”

She sucked in a deep breath of the sweetly sick smoke and hoped she’d get a good contact high. At this point, no consequences could compete with the hell of spending more time with Slade Montgomery. He pushed too many buttons, and they were obviously wrong for each other. There must be another explanation for their connection. Her phone bleeped out Maroon 5 “Payphone” and she clicked the button.

“Yeah?”

“I need you. Now.”

His voice leaked over the phone, all hot and creamy, like the favorite hot fudge and caramel sundaes she tried to avoid. Kate blinked through the smoke. “What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re canceling your date with Hannah, that’s just plain rude. And how did you get my cell number?”

He practically hissed at her through the phone. “Never mind, I’m in trouble and it’s all your fault.”

“I never even touched you, the baby’s not mine.”

“You’re a real laugh riot.”

Kate rolled her eyes and propped her phone up by her ear. “Listen up. Hannah canceled our date. She came down with the flu bug, was trying to make it ’cause she felt bad, but decided to pull out an hour beforehand.”

“Well, that sucks, but it’s not her fault. Did you reschedule?”

“I don’t care about rescheduling, I care about having a dinner date tonight.”

She stretched out her legs and rested comfortably against the cushions. Her mother busied herself with pouring another cup of her Japanese tea. “Sorry, not understanding. You can’t go out to dinner alone? Then order takeout.”

She heard the gnash of his teeth over the line. “You’re not listening to me. I need a date here, at my doorstep, in one hour. I’m about to walk into a huge business dinner where everyone has a date except me. I’m up for partnership, I need to make a good impression, and if I don’t show with someone fabulous it’ll take away some major points. I haven’t worked this hard to screw it up now.”

The true facts of his statement hit her in the gut like a sucker punch. Holy crap. His intimate, first date with Hannah was really a business function? Hot, pure anger pumped through her veins. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me for your first date with Hannah you planned to drag her to a business dinner? No alone time? You expected her to dazzle your partners on your terms and used my company to do it?”

A short silence hummed. “You’re twisting my words, and I have no time for this. I approached Hannah with the situation, and she agreed to help me out. Said she didn’t mind at all and she handled business dinners all the time with her job and with her family background. It’s not a big deal.”

Her voice squeaked. “Not a big deal? Of course, Hannah said it was okay. She’s sweet and always tries to help people out, but you used her just as much as you used Kinnections. Now, I’m thinking of kicking you out of our program!”

“Don’t be overdramatic. Listen, you need to get here within the hour.”

The phone almost dropped from her hand. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. I cannot show up alone, you arranged this date for me, and you’re going to get me a replacement. Besides, it’s in the contract. You don’t give me this, I have legal grounds to sue.”

Kate blinked. “That’s an indemnity clause for a completely different reason. It states if you’re not satisfied or get stood up on a date, Kinnections will find you a replacement date. It doesn’t say that night!”

“Your lawyers screwed up and should’ve thought about it. Since the contract clause does not specify a certain time, it can be used the night of the date. I’m invoking my right to get a replacement date within the hour or I’ll take you to court.”

She gripped her iPhone like it was his neck. “You son of a bitch. You can’t do that to me, it will never stick in court.”

“Try me. You have my address on file. Wear something conservative, but pretty. And bring your A game.”

“I c-c-c-can’t get there in an hour! I have no time to shower, change. I have to check in with Robert.”

“I can deal with an hour and a half. No more. And as for Robert, I don’t care what he thinks—business is business. If he can’t understand that, you should’ve dumped him already.”

“You are a horrible person, Slade Montgomery. Pure evil. As bad as-as-as Megamind!”

His laughter rolled over the phone, hit her ears, and stroked between her thighs. “A little old, but still a great movie. My friend’s kid made me watch it. And you must not have seen the whole thing. Megamind started off as the villain but he ended up the hero and saved the girl. Remember?”

“You-you-you—”

“See you later. Thanks for helping me out.”

Click.

Kate stared stupidly at the screen saver picture of her, Ken, and Arilyn in front of the Kinnections sign, arms around each other, goofy smiles on their faces. Her mind sifted through the possibilities of his threat. She doubted he’d follow through, but as the owner of a company that meant the world to her, she couldn’t risk it. And she had no time to begin calling random clients and begging them to meet a surly, arrogant man for a boring business dinner.

No. She had to do it.

Kate glanced at her watch, made calculations, and crawled to her feet. “Mom, I’m sorry, I have to go. I have an emergency at Kinnections.”

“Was that him, dear?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that was him. At least he confirmed once again he could never be the mate I need in my life. There’s definitely something else going on, so I’m not going to worry. I’ll stop by next weekend.”

Madeline rose, gave her a strangling hug, and walked her to the door. “Have fun. I’ll come visit you soon, I miss Robert. Oh, you forgot your purse, dear.”

Her mother went back to the room and came back with her Coach bag.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t forget to use the vibrator to release tension and toxins!”

Kate stifled a crazed laugh. “I will, Mom.”

Kate made her way to her car. She had just enough time to take care of Robert, change, and throw on some makeup. No time for shower, shaving, or primping. Of course, she showered this morning so she should be acceptable. She roared out of her mother’s driveway and headed home, using every imaginable, colorful curse to describe what she thought of her pain-in-the-ass client.

eight

YOU WERE FIVE minutes late.”

Kate refused to give him a response. She stared stubbornly out the smoked-glass window of the Jaguar and watched the scenery whiz by. The Henry Hudson Parkway was gorgeous with no traffic. The massive ship, the U.S.S. Intrepid, dominated the port, and the water of the Hudson River threw a million points of light and flashed it back to the open blue sky. Snow-tipped mountains shimmered in the distance with an arrogant force. Usually, a night out at an exotic Brazilian buffet would’ve filled her with excitement. She had a good relationship with food and looked forward to trying new restaurants. But the moment he met her outside, dressed to kill in his hot designer suit that cupped his powerful thighs and ass like a lover, she realized he’d played her. Big time.

His gaze practically ate her up in all the right places, and she’d had to jump into the car before he put his hand on her. He’d turned her evening topsy-turvy, made her rush into the city, leave Robert alone for the entire night, and he acted as if it were no big deal.

“You wouldn’t have sued me.”

Again, his stare had literal heat and sizzle as her bare thighs tingled under the short dress. Why, oh why, had she worn this outfit? It was her go-to attire for a business/pleasure event when her usual black pantsuit wouldn’t fit. But she felt more exposed than ever, with the hemline barely reaching the top of her knee, and the figure-hugging royal blue sheath emphasizing more skin than it concealed. She shifted in her seat with feigned nonchalance even as her core dampened and throbbed for the slide of his wet tongue. She’d never craved oral sex before as much as she did right now. Maybe she’d inhaled too much secondhand pot. The perfume and quick cleanup should’ve wiped out all evidence, but she still caught the slight traces of sweet smoke in her hair and clinging to her skin. Kate swore she’d never let her mother engage in such activities again. At least not when she was in the same room.

The devil actually grinned at her. “Probably not,” he agreed. “But it wouldn’t have been good business to take the chance.”

She fisted her hands and held her temper. “Do you have any remorse from your actions? You ruined my Saturday evening and treated Hannah like a commodity rather than a date. Have you no shame?”

“Baby, I’m a divorce lawyer. I left shame at the door the moment I stepped through the doors at Harvard.”

She sniffed. “Big Ivy school doesn’t impress me. Even blond cheerleaders can get into law school there.”