he was sleeping with. And while the man was recovering nicely from his heart attack, he still wasn’t back at full strength. He still needed Kirk to carry the load of the company for him. Finding out about the baby had thrown Kirk for a loop, but he couldn’t allow it to make him forget all his other responsibilities.
He allowed his fingertips to trace small circles on Sally’s back as he listened to her deep gentle breathing. Somehow he had to disentangle himself from her warm, languid body and get dressed and get out of here. Put some distance between them so he could clear his head and do the job he was here to do.
While it was still possible that Sally was the leak that was passing information on to HTT’s biggest competitor, he no longer wanted to believe that it could be her. Not the mother of his child. Not the daughter of the man he held in higher regard than any other man he’d ever known.
This pregnancy was a messy complication, but they’d work through it. Sally shifted against him, and Kirk found himself curving naturally to her. This wasn’t the action of a man about to leave the woman lying next to him, he warned himself, and yet, try as he might, he couldn’t find the impetus he needed to pull away. Perhaps just this once, he told himself, letting sleep tug him into its hold. It wasn’t the cleverest thing in the world to remain in her bed, but for now it felt like the right thing.
* * *
It was still dark when he woke. Dawn wasn’t far away. Beside him, Sally slept deeply, and he gently extricated himself from their intertwined limbs. His body protested, an early-morning erection telling him that leaving the bed was the last thing he should be thinking about. But he needed to get home to change before getting into the office for an early meeting. And he needed to examine his growing feelings for the woman still slumbering in the mussed-up sheets. He quickly and quietly dressed in his shirt and trousers and, carrying his jacket and shoes in one hand, he made to leave the room.
Something made him look back and take one more look at Sally as she lay there, the sheet halfway down and exposing her back and the curve of a perfectly formed breast. It took all his self-restraint not to drop his things where he stood and move to take her back in his arms.
Work, he told himself. Think of work. He wanted to be in full possession of all his faculties by the time he and Sally crossed paths in the office today. As he left her building and walked toward his car, he saw a town car creep into the visitor parking area. He recognized the man at the wheel as the bodyguard he’d met last night. It made him think. One of Sally’s security team could just as likely be the leak he needed to find and eradicate from HTT. He knew how easy it was to conduct a business call in the back of a car without considering the ears of the person driving.
Benton got out of the vehicle and looked across to where Kirk was parked. The man’s eyes narrowed as he identified him. Taking the bull by the horns, Kirk walked toward him. He didn’t want gossip about his relationship with Sally, such as it was, getting back to the office until she was ready for it to be made public.
“Good morning,” he said to the bodyguard, extending a hand.
Benton’s grasp was firm. Perhaps a little too firm, Kirk judged with an ironic lift of his brow.
“Morning, sir.”
“I trust that Ms. Harrison’s best interests are always at the forefront of your mind, Mr. Benton.”
“Always, sir.”
“Then I hope I can rely on you to keep the fact you saw me here this morning to yourself?”
The man hesitated a moment. “That depends, sir.”
“On?”
“On whether or not you are in her best interests...sir.”
Kirk nodded. “Fair comment. I will never do anything to hurt Ms. Harrison. You can rest assured on that score.”
“Then we don’t have anything to worry about, do we, sir?”
“No, we don’t. Have a good day, Mr. Benton.”
“Just Benton will do, sir.”
Kirk nodded again and returned to his car. Somehow he didn’t think that a bodyguard who took his duty to Sally so seriously could be a mole, but he’d have to check. Both Benton and whoever else ferried her about.
He looked up to Sally’s apartment windows and saw the bedroom light come on. He needed to get going.
* * *
That evening, after work, Benton drew the car to a halt outside the front portico of her father’s house. Sally thanked him and made her way to the door, where the housekeeper stood with a welcoming smile on her face.
“Good evening, Ms. Harrison. Mr. Harrison is in the library waiting for you.”
“How is he today, Jennifer?”
“He’s almost his old self, but we’ve had to remove all the saltshakers from the house.”
Sally gave a rueful laugh. No matter what his cardiologist told him, her father still railed against his new dietary restrictions. “I’m so glad you have his best interests at heart. I don’t know what we’d do without you all.”
“It’s our honor to work for Mr. Harrison. We’re just glad he’s recovering so well.”
“Aren’t we all?” Sally said with a heartfelt sigh.
She made her way to the library, where her father sat before an open fire nursing his one approved glass of red wine a day. He put down his drink when he saw her and rose to give her a welcoming hug. There was nothing quite like it in the world, Sally thought as she allowed her father’s scents and strength to seep into her. And it still terrified her that she’d come so close to losing him.
“Hi, Dad. I hear you’re giving the staff grief about your food again?” she said as they let each other go.
“Just keeping them on their toes,” he said with a gruff laugh. “Can I pour you a glass of wine? This is a very nice pinot noir—you should try it.”
“I—no, not today, thanks, Dad. I’ll just stick with mineral water.”
At some point she was going to have to tell her father why she wasn’t drinking alcohol. She wasn’t looking forward to the revelation, but she certainly wanted him to hear it from her before he had the chance to find out through anyone else. Especially after her fainting spell at work yesterday. Gosh, was it only yesterday? It already seemed a whole lot longer ago.
Her cheeks fired as she remembered exactly what had chased so much of yesterday’s activity from her mind.
“Too hot in here?” her father asked, handing her a glass of water.
“No, no. It’s fine. Lovely, in fact,” she answered, flustered.
“Then what is it? What’s bothering you?”
That was the trouble with being close to your parent, she admitted. They knew you too well and saw too much.
“A few things,” she hedged.
“Is it work? I hear that Kirk has ruffled
