"Something's wrong, Jack. I don't know what the fuck… But I had Wyler on the phone this morning and he said he never signed." I could hear rustling and then a slam. Blake's voice was clipped, tense. "He said he had every intention to, but that he never got the chance before he left for London."

"But the contract I signed had his signature on it…" My mind was racing. Fuck…. Fuck…

"I know. It was the same one Spencer showed all of us," Blake replied. "So you tell me, Jack.

What the fuck is going on?"

* * *

The rest of the flight back to Asheville had been nothing but phone calls. Every member of the board had seen and approved the contract Spence had prepared. Ed Wyler and Bill Jackson had both given me verbal confirmation of their intention to sign. But I'd known Ed for more than a decade. If he said he never actually did sign it, then he didn't. So the question was… just who the hell had? So far, I had more questions than answers, and Spencer wasn't taking his calls.

Even so, my first priority had been getting Libby back home to the lake house She hadn't slept during the flight. She'd stayed close to my side instead, and kept a watchful eye on Moki's little carrier. The puppy was still snoring soundly as I carried it into the house.

"I'm fine," Libby protested. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You should go, find out what's happened…

"I'm not going anywhere until I know you're taken care of." I nodded toward the stairs. "Up, young lady. And into bed with you."

I followed her up and put the puppy's carrier down in the corner of the bedroom. Then I pulled the covers back… "You should sleep," I said, undoing the tiny row of buttons between her breasts. I pushed the fabric over the curve of her shoulders. "No matter what's happening at Mason, I'm coming home to my wife tonight… And I promise neither one of us will be getting any sleep at all…" I unzipped her jeans and tugged them down, leaving her in nothing but a pale pink bra and panties. I pulled her against me, letting my hands run down the easy curves of her hips. Her eyes were brilliant, shining.

"If I kiss you, I'll never leave…"

"Then I guess you'd better not…"

"You need to sleep…"

"... But I don't feel tired anymore…"

I lifted her face to mine, and bent down… taking the fullness of her bottom lip. I ran my lips over it… my tongue. She was warm… sweet… delicious… I picked her up and laid her in bed. I left her bra where it was, her hard pink nipples pressed flat by the tight, sheer fabric. But I peeled her little panties down and ran my fingers lightly up the insides of her thighs.

"I don't believe in taking chances," I said, making sure my breath touched her before my mouth did.

"Because you're so conventional…?" Her words came out a whisper.

"Because it's my job to take good care of you, sweetheart," I answered back, trailing the tip of my tongue upwards… closer… closer still… "Because you need to lay back and rest… like I told you…

And let me take care of everything else."

* * *

As fucking hard as it was… as I was… I left her sleeping soundly, a contented smile lifting the corner of her mouth. God, she was beautiful.

I made her promise to eat something when she woke up. And I told her I loved her. Then I headed out for the car.

Spencer wasn't a man with strong leadership skills, but he damned well knew how to follow my instructions. Which was why I'd hired him. And in all the years he'd worked for me, he'd never let me down, never failed to deliver. This had to be a mistake somehow… a miscommunication… But he'd missed more than one promised deadline on this deal. If only he'd pick up his goddamned phone…

I needed answers and I needed them now. I hit redial and got his voicemail again. I tossed the phone on the seat beside me and hit the gas harder. Blake would have the family and the entire board waiting when I got there. India was headed over to Spence's place right now…

I pushed the doubt from my mind, determined that before the day was over, we'd have all our answers. There was no fucking way in hell I'd let this deal slip away now. I'd fucking hand-carry the contract to Wyler if I had to. Mason had put so much on the line with this deal that the company was in a weakened position, at least until all the signatures were in place. Companies larger and more powerful than ours had been victims of corporate raiders in the past. And Mason was more vulnerable now than ever before…

I hit the gas a little harder, teeth clenched and jaw muscles working hard. Fifteen fucking years… And I'd been right there, so goddamned close, right on the edge of having it all. But now… it looked bad.

Fucking bad.