Turn on a Dime - Blane's Turn by Tiffany Snow Page B

the soft satin of her cheek. “So young and innocent.” Which he would do well to remember, in spite of the heat between them. She wasn’t a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. He’d need to go slow, be gentle. He ached just imagining it.
    Kathleen wouldn’t look at him so Blane forced her chin up until her gaze lifted to his. He wanted to make sure, despite the kiss, that she understood the danger.
    “Be careful,” he said. “Don’t get involved any further in this.” Blane brushed her lips once more in a fleeting kiss. Her eyes were still closed when he got out of the car and walked away.
    Maybe she did think he was dreamy.
     

     
    The burning impatience to see Kathleen didn’t abate, his curiosity about her overwhelming, and Blane knew he had to see her again. Unfortunately, after their kiss last night, she seemed even more determined than usual to avoid him.
    Blane found an excuse to loiter by Clarice’s desk around the time Kathleen usually came by, but she never appeared. Frowning and avoiding Clarice’s sideways glances, he went to get a cup of coffee. When he returned, she was on the phone. Blane took up his position loitering again, listening with half an ear.
    “Um . . . yes, Mr. Galloway, we do have those files you requested,” Clarice said.
    Blane closed the file he’d been fake-reading. He knew for a fact that Galloway was in London this week, which put him at having dinner right about now. She had to be talking to Kathleen.
    “Absolutely,” Clarice continued. “You’re correct about that, sir.”
    Blane held out his hand, giving Clarice a look that said he knew what she was up to. She sighed, realizing she’d been caught, and handed the phone over in time for Blane to hear Kathleen say, “ . . . interference for me, Clarice. He’s the last person I want to see right now.”
    “I assume you mean me and not the aforementioned Mr. Galloway,” Blane said, careful to keep his voice flat, as if he was angry. “I’d like you in my office, Kathleen,” and about a dozen other places just off the top of his head, but who was counting? “You have three minutes.” He hung up the phone.
    “Don’t scare the poor girl,” Clarice gently admonished.
    “I’m not scaring her,” Blane protested.
    Clarice just looked at him until he sighed. “Fine. I’ll be nice. I promise. Send her in when she gets up here.”
    Blane was too keyed up to sit, so he stood behind his desk, staring at some papers on his desk, but not seeing them. It was ridiculous how much he wanted to see Kathleen. He wasn’t a high school teen with a crush. He should take a step back, regain his usual aloofness.
    Which was all well and good until a light tap on the door made his pulse jump. He glanced up, as if he didn’t already know who was there.
    Kathleen.
    She looked nervous, Blane noticed as he waved her into his office. “Close the door behind you,” he said, and she obeyed.
    Blane walked toward her, thinking. He had to have some excuse for making her come see him, right? And somehow he doubted “Because I can’t get you off my mind” would go over real well.
    Kathleen stopped when he got close, her eyes wide and unsure. Well, he had threatened her last night. Blane heaved an inward sigh.
    “Did you bring that list for me?” he asked. He knew she hadn’t. She couldn’t. He’d taken the phone.
    “No,” she said.
    He waited for an explanation.
    “It was gone when I got home last night,” she said.
    Blane frowned, playing dumb. “What do you mean?”
    “Just what I said. I left the phone on my kitchen counter yesterday and when I got home last night, it was gone.” She looked at him strangely, and for a moment, Blane thought she suspected him.
    “Was your apartment locked?”
    “I always lock my apartment.”
    Just not your car, he thought but didn’t say.
    Kathleen cleared her throat. “Is that all?”
    Blane wasn’t ready for her to leave. “I don’t like the idea of someone breaking into your