Dangerous Curves by Dara Girard Page A

past his fun-loving ways. But what was wrong with having fun?
    At least he still had Cassie as a friend and Henson couldn’t do anything about it.
    Except now. Now Henson was in control. He kept Cassie away from him and he couldn’t blame him. It was his fault Cassie had gotten hurt, and Marcus too. If only he knew what had happened. It had to be the car. There had been skid marks so he’d lost control of the car and tried to brake. Something mechanical must have failed. The accident report had been inconclusive.
    He’d taken Marcus and Cassie on a special ride for Marcus’s fifth birthday in a specially designed custom car he’d ordered from Cartwright Cars. He’d used Marcus’s drawing as inspiration for some of the details. He remembered the look on Marcus’s face when Kevin sat him on his lap and let him handle the steering wheel before setting off on their journey. He remembered how the sun glinted against the chrome finish. He remembered feeling happy having Cassie by his side, feeling like the old days when she’d bitch about bad dates and he still thought he had a chance.
    It was supposed to be memorable.
    But he couldn’t remember anything after that. Nothing had warned him of what loomed ahead of them. Now his mind filled with things he couldn’t forget, like waking up in a hospital bed and Henson’s look of rage. A rage that crept into Kevin’s dreams, a rage he also felt because he felt helpless and hated the feeling.
    He rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window and closed his eyes. He wished for a miracle. He didn’t care if he never remembered if only Cassie would just wake up. He’d let her go, never see her again, if he had to. He’d surrender and let Henson win for good if she’d just be okay.
    He opened his eyes and looked at Dominique again. He couldn’t get too close. He could fantasize, but he’d keep his distance. He’d toy with her, find a way to draw her out, but he wouldn’t go further than that. He’d learned to keep some things out of reach.

Chapter 9
    S educing a rogue was supposed to be easy, but Kevin Jackson was proving to be anything but. She’d been his driver for over a week now and hadn’t made any progress. She still couldn’t believe her deception had held this long. The agency hadn’t called and Ferguson agreed to pay her in cash. No questions asked. She found it strange, but didn’t want to press her luck.
    She’d dropped Kevin off at home that first day, certain it would be her last. His questions had unnerved her and she felt her time was short so she’d come up with a new scheme as she parked the car in front of his house. A crazy scheme now that she thought about it, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time.
    She knew he was a man with a seemingly insatiable appetite for women, so she thought of exploiting that weakness. Since he wanted to know a reason why she wanted to work for him, she’d give him one.
    She held the car door open for him, and then said in a rush, “I took this job because I wanted to get close to you.”
    Kevin stared up at her. “Why?” he asked, but she couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t look surprised or repulsed, not even really curious.
    â€œWhat woman wouldn’t?”
    He smiled. “Do I look like I need to get my ego stroked?”
    â€œNo, but I do.”
    â€œWhy?”
    Dominique counted to three. The man was like a kid, why did he have to ask so many questions? Wasn’t he supposed to feel proud? She searched her thoughts for a good lie, then decided it was better to tell him something true. “I caught the man I love with another woman.”
    Kevin slowly got out of the car. “How?”
    She widened her eyes, amazed. Was he being dense or cruel? “What do you mean ‘how?’”
    â€œHow did you catch him?”
    She closed the car door.