Bound

Kate

Kate

The tall, lanky businessman with short copper curls had a fire in his narrowed eyes that made me feel like he literally wanted to eat me up. He was creeping me out.

"Let's get you a fresh drink, Kate," he said in a clipped accent. Chad had struck up a conversation by saying I reminded him of someone he knew in his home country of Zimbabwe. Now he lived in New York, where his business was headquartered.

"I'm good with this one," I said, tipping the champagne flute up to my lips. Where the hell was Ryke? I was glad I wasn't standing alone anymore, but Chad was only looking for one thing, and he wouldn't be getting it from me.

"Are you hungry? We could get room service in my room," he offered, smirking and raising his brows.

"I'm here with someone," I said. For the third time. He opened his mouth to respond but stopped when a tall blond man with pale blue eyes approached, reaching a hand toward me.

"Kate?" he said, grinning. "I'm Luke Warner. I saw you come in with Ryke. We're teammates."

"Luke?" I said, giving him a big smile. "He talks about you all the time! Great to meet you."

"Hey, come join us in the bar. He'll be in any minute." Luke held an arm out to me and I sighed with gratitude and took it. I turned to tell Chad it was nice to meet him, but he was already walking in the other direction.

"Thanks," I murmured to Luke.

"Just be glad it was me and not Ryke. He would've had that guy on the floor if he'd seen that."

I shook my head and laughed. "Uh, I doubt he's that possessive of his assistant. Or is it just that he's a hothead?"

Luke pursed his lips, considering. "He can be. I noticed his aggression got a lot worse when . . . um . . ." He looked like he wished he'd stayed quiet.

"When Maggie died?" I asked. "I'd never tell him you said that."

"No," he said, his brows pinching as he looked almost confused. "I was gonna say when he married her."

I looked up at him, surprised by his words.

"Ryke's like a brother to me," Luke said, winking. "Otherwise I'd probably be hitting on you right now, too."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Good luck. I'm unavailable."

"You've got a boyfriend?" Luke's brows shot up with surprise.

"No. I've got . . . baggage."

"Ex-husband?"

"God, no. I'm 22. Ryke didn't tell you where we met?"

Luke shook his head. "That's how I know he likes you. He won't tell me anything about you. Said he hired an assistant named Kate and you were coming with him tonight. That's it."

His words made my stomach flip nervously. Surely Ryke just hadn't mentioned me because he didn't think his teammates wanted to hear about the woman who picked up his dry cleaning.

"Guys, this is Kate. She came with Ryke," Luke said as we arrived at a large round table in the bar. It was filled with several strapping men in tuxes and two women.

I eyed the dark sequined gown on one of the women and the shimmery pink one the other wore. These women oozed money, their hair and makeup perfectly styled. I felt like a cheap knockoff. Surely I looked like I'd consulted a magazine that told you how to look like they did for pennies on the dollar – and it showed.