She hastily reached for the towel she’d dropped earlier. Her abrupt action seemed to startle him. She didn’t meet his gaze until she’d covered herself.

“Why are you convinced that I’m keeping something from you?” she asked, coaching herself the entire time not to look down and gawk at the sight of his damp cock suspended between his thighs, firm and flushed despite his recent climax.

His mouth dropped open in surprise at her question. He seemed to gather himself after a moment and flung the washcloth he held in the sink. He jerked up his underwear.

“You’re one of the most controlled people I’ve ever met,” he answered bluntly. “But I still think you’d prefer to contain yourself with me even more than usual. Am I right? Are you? Keeping secrets?” he pressed, pulling up his jeans.

“What makes you say that?” she demanded, her voice going up a decibel. What precisely was he saying? How much did he really guess?

He glanced up from buttoning his fly. “Aside from the fact that you told me earlier you were keeping something from me about Phoebe?”

She bristled and turned to the sink, beginning to wash her hands. “You were the one keeping something from me about that.”

“I told you. Phoebe and I are not an item. I thought you believed me before,” he said, sounding slightly suspicious. In the mirror, she saw his dark eyebrows slant. Her discomfort ratcheted up a notch when she saw the dangerous glint in his eyes. “You did believe me. You’re just saying this now to throw me off course.”

She jumped when the house phone rang shrilly. He didn’t move, just continued to study her furiously beneath a lowered brow.

“We should get that,” Lin said levelly, drying off her hands. “It’s probably the doorman calling about Angus.”

“Angus?” he nearly shouted, nostrils flaring.

Lin neatly refolded the hand towel and rehung it. She turned to him. “Yes. Ian asked us to arrange to have Angus flown here to keep you company. That’s my deep dark secret. Never mind, I’ll go get the phone.”

She walked past a dumbstruck Kam.

She couldn’t keep this charade up much more. Her dishonesty with Kam seemed to cause something in her stomach to curdle.

But was she being dishonest? She was betraying no one in carrying on with Kam, except for perhaps herself. Ian didn’t return her feelings; he didn’t even know she had any beyond employer loyalty and friendship. Which brought up another crucial question.

How did she feel about Ian these days? It seemed impossible to focus on the question with Kam eclipsing almost her entire awareness.

Chapter Twelve

Lin had no sooner answered the phone when a brisk knock came at the door. She hung up and turned to Kam.

“The courier was already on the way up when the doorman called. Ian had warned him about Angus’s arrival,” she told him. “I’ll just wait in the dining room,” she said, since she was still wearing the towel she’d wrapped herself moments ago.

“I was wondering why all that dog food was in the pantry. I thought the previous owner had a dog,” Kam said.

Lin just grinned and walked away.

Angus arrived like a furry rocket. As soon as the halter collar was released, she practically brought Kam to the floor with a tackle. He managed to calm her down sufficiently after a few rubs and pats to give the courier a healthy tip and shut the door. Then Angus’s paws were up on his shoulders and she was giving his nose a tongue bath between excited barks.

Kam scolded her, laughing uncontrollably the whole time, turning his chin to avoid her tongue. When he opened them, he saw Lin standing in the living room, watching the joyful reunion with a sublime smile on her face.

“You’ve got good reason to look so smug,” he muttered gruffly as he pushed Angus off him, giving the dog some hearty rubs and scratches. “I missed the beast.”

“I’m not smug. I’m just glad that you’re happy,” Lin said, transferring her gaze to the golden retriever. “Hi, Angus. I’m Lin,” she said, clapping her hands invitingly in front of her. “Did you have a good trip, girl? Are you happy to see Kam?”

Angus pranced over to her, pausing to spin in an excited circle. Lin laughed—a clear, uninhibited, sweet sound.

“She’s a shameless showoff,” Kam warned, but he couldn’t keep the warmth out of his voice. He was glad to see his dog, no denying it. Angus wiggled around happily as Lin scratched and stroked her, and then bounded back over to Kam.

One thing about Angus, it was almost impossible to be aloof or reserved around her. People always seemed to show their true colors around Kam’s rambunctious, friendly dog. She was usually frisky, but she was downright hyper after being penned up on a plane and then on the car ride downtown. He’d never heard Lin laugh so irrepressibly or smile so big as she petted and sported with his dog.

It was a damn appealing sight.

Seeing her carefree playfulness and happiness with Angus left Kam greedy for more of the uninhibited Lin. Why was she always so careful and reserved? Part of it had to do with her upbringing, he understood. Her grandmother had drilled contained, polished elegance into Lin from an early age. But there was something more to it, Kam was sure. She was cautious around him. The only time she wasn’t holding back was when she abandoned herself to sensation and pleasure during sex.

That made him crave her surrender even more than he normally would. The memories of her submission to her desire earlier, of her admission of her arousal at giving him pleasure, even when it was denied to her, would undoubtedly plague him for years to come.

Angus served as a great icebreaker between them for a few minutes, but then the dog had gone and overdone it. While Angus and Lin tussled, the dog inadvertently tugged on the towel she wore. It slithered onto the carpet. Kam had a quick glimpse of shapely long limbs, thrusting breasts, and a pale, smooth belly before Lin scurried to retrieve the towel. She wrapped it around herself while Kam scolded Angus.

“Sorry about that,” Kam said.

“It’s okay. I need to get going, anyway. I need to check in on a friend before I start to get ready for tonight.” He saw the color in her cheeks as she hurried out of the room to change.

“Bloody nuisance,” Kam accused his dog as he fondly ruffled the hair on an unrepentant Angus’s neck.

Lin returned a few minutes later wearing the black pants, high heels, and belted blouse she’d arrived in, looking so crisp, efficient, and untouchable that the memory of her perched naked up on the counter earlier, her eyes shining with lust in the mirror, seemed downright implausible to Kam. The only concession he had as she gave him his opera ticket and quick instructions on where they should meet was that laughter still clung to her lush, pink lips and shone in her dark eyes. Kam was about to breach the barrier and melt her reserve with a kiss—and damn her cool efficiency—when the doorbell rang again. It was Francesca, excited to see if Angus had arrived safely. Lin had made her escape while he made sure Angus didn’t jump on his pregnant sister-in-law.

All he was left with was the promise that he’d see her again tonight.

Lin withdrew her gown from the closet and hung it on a hook, giving it a quick once-over. She hastily chose a pair of heels and a matching clutch from her walk-in, and set them on her dresser. She was headed toward the front door, when the doorbell rang.

“Hi! How are you feeling? I was just on my way out the door to go see if you needed anything,” she told Richard when she saw him standing in the hallway. She stepped aside and waved for him to enter. “You look awful.”

“Stop with the flattery,” Richard croaked, reaching inside the box of tissues he carried. “I’m convinced I have a new form of the plague, but the doctor insists it’s just the flu. How can a three-letter word equate to so much misery?”

Lin’s face collapsed with sympathy. He really did look awful. She touched his forehead.

“You feel a little feverish. Have you taken something for it?”

“The entire pharmacy counter, it feels like.”

“What you need is for someone to cook you a nice meal and wait on you hand and foot. Emile is too busy doing everything at the restaurant.” She hesitated, thinking. She couldn’t really afford to reschedule a meeting between Kam and Jason Klinf, but she doubted Kam would mind not going to the opera. “How about if I cancel my plans for tonight and cook up some hot-and-sour chicken soup—my mother’s recipe? That’d cut through all that congestion.”

Richard groaned. “I love that soup. But your mother’s genius would be wasted on me. I can’t taste a thing. That’s very sweet of you, but nothing is going to help me but time. I just came over to get another box of tissues. I’m going through them by the gross.” Lin nodded and waved him back to her bedroom. “So what are the plans for tonight?” Richard asked, plopping at the bottom of her bed while she retrieved several boxes of tissue from a closet in the bathroom.

“Opening night at the Civic,” Lin said, returning with tissues in hand.

“Wonderful. Otello, isn’t it? You’ll have to tell me if that young tenor can pull it off. It’s not an easy role. Ooh, and I love the dress,” he said, nodding at the red evening gown she’d hung on her closet door in preparation. “You’re going to knock them dead in that. Who are you going to be knocking dead, exactly?” he added as an afterthought.

“No one, I’m sure, but I’m attending with Jason Klinf and Kam. Kam Reardon,” she fumbled the last stupidly. She looked up in time to see a sly grin spreading on Richard’s face.