stared horrified as Ryan Kaur stalked out the library like a petulant child.
“Well,” said Mr. Kaur. His eyes bore into her like hot steel brands. “What are you waiting for?”
“Yes, sir,” said Stephanie. Because the owner of Kaur Industries was not a man to cross, and he held the key to her continued employment, she bounded after Ryan. She kept him in her sites as he blazed through the elegant mansion and followed him to the garage where he grabbed a set of keys out of gray metal box on the wall.
“Mr. Kaur,” said Stephanie.
Ryan’s eyes met hers blazing.
“Your services are not needed,” he said sternly.
Stephanie let the Marine mask fall over her face and stood ramrod straight. She stared him straight in the eye. It didn’t matter to her how angry he was. She sized up his lean, athletic frame and knew she could take him if she had to. But she didn’t know the parameters of this job, other than using her “persuasive moot court skills” to temper Ryan Kaur’s explosive nature.
“Apparently they are,” she said coldly. “Do you not have any self-control? Your father is very concerned about you.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Ryan. “He’s more concerned about a defense contract.”
“Regardless, he is your father. You owe him your respect.”
“Lady, you have no idea what you are talking about.” He moved toward a car, a red Jaguar convertible two-seater, and keyed open the door.
“I’m sure your father does not want you to leave.”
“Too bad,” said Ryan as he entered the car. He fired up the engine as the garage door opened and Steph had to act fast. She rushed to the car and jumped into the front passenger seat with a thud.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Wherever you go, I go,” she said.
“Suit yourself,” said Ryan. He put the car into reverse and squealed out of the garage, and then as they cleared those doors, he threw the car into drive and pulled the car into a steep 180-degree turn. Steph bounced against the passenger side door as she jerked the seat belt into place on her body and snapped the buckle into place.
“Are you a maniac?” she yelled.
“Apparently,” said Ryan. His eyes smoldered with anger as he accelerated the car to race down the gravel driveway of the Kaur Estate. The Jaguar had a smooth ride, but the gravel flew around them. Stephanie thought it was a shame that the paint would get peppered by flying pieces of stone. It was a beautiful car, far beyond anything she would be able to afford. Steph’s initial impression of Ryan Kaur as a spoiled brat was confirmed by his abuse of this magnificent machine.
At the open iron gates at the entrance of the estate Ryan made a hard right onto the country road that threw Steph against the center console that held the stick shift. In the Marines Steph was trained to handle life and death situations, but this man was absolutely reckless. He turned his head to smile at her.
“Having fun?” he yelled above the roar of the wind in her ears.
She rolled her eyes. Steph had more fun on ten km runs with a full field pack. But by the look in Ryan’s eyes he was not caring about her fun quotient. He was deliberately trying to frighten her, which wasn’t going to work.
“Please,” she said trying to look unaffected by his antics. But this only encouraged Ryan to push limits, and he shifted the sports car into high gear. He utterly focused on the road ahead, anticipating the twists of the tiny country road. In a moment of madness Steph found his concentration and command of the road entrancing. The wind swept his straw colored hair into an unruly mess, and his tanned hand moved effortlessly on the stick. She got the sensation that the man and the machine were one, and she was in no actual danger even if he wanted to make it seem they were.
Steph laughed and broke Ryan’s concentration a second when he glanced at her. Although Steph affected a serious demeanor she was a dare devil at heart, just as her father and brothers were, and the road flying under them reminded her of that. From leaping with her brothers from their tree house, to deploying in Afghanistan to an artillery unit, she always pushed the limits of what she could do.
But Ryan Kaur was still a spoiled brat for all his mastery of the road. In the Marines, his attitude would be trained out of him within weeks. One thing she learned in the service was that the ones with the brashest attitudes were the first ones to break. She was sure Ryan Kaur would break with the first hard challenge he faced. Watching him take the road she understood Ryan Kaur now. He was the man who had everything, but more than that, everything he did came easily to him. It was evident he wasn’t just handsome with an athlete’s body, but he was too damn smart for his own good. Kaur probably figured he had all the angles covered, and there was no situation he couldn’t handle.
Well, he didn’t know Stephanie Brooks. Ryan Kaur wouldn’t get the best of her.
And apparently, Kaur was determined that Steph wouldn’t get one over on him. He up shifted once again, pushing the car towards eighty on a road that one should only drive thirty at most. This was the backwoods of Connecticut where the hilly roads were barely wide enough for two lanes, and a sharp curve popped every hundred feet. The ride took on a rollercoaster effect, with Steph rising from her seat as they flew down every hill and pushed her back into her seat as they climbed the next one and then she was pushed into the door or the center console on the next sharp curve. Her hair whipped her face as the tires squealed as the rubber sought to keep hold of the blacktop. She didn’t dare to speak and break Ryan’s focus. Every bit of Ryan’s concentration went into navigating the road at this frenetic pace. She wondered which would happen first, he burning off his anger, or they going up in a flaming wreck.
The trees were close to the road; close enough to produce a whoosh, whoosh sound as they passed each one. Stone fences built by early colonists merged into a grey blur, and yet Ryan kept taking the road with a ferocity Steph would have appreciated if he was a comrade-in-arms. But he wasn’t. He was her charge, and she wasn’t doing a very good job of controlling the situation.
A flash of tawny brown appeared ahead, bounding over a stone fence and directly in the road. Steph’s heart leaped to her throat. Her military target training surged to the forefront, and she estimated the time to impact as mere seconds. The deer, though moving quickly wasn’t faster than the car. Things were moving in slow motion for Steph now. She glanced at Ryan, whose hands were moving to jerk the wheel of the car to the right, which was an instinctual move. But death was on the both sides of the road, from both the trees and the stone fences. Impact with either at an angle would certainly turn the car over and in a convertible that was certain death. Steph leaned and pushed the wheel to straighten it. If they were going to survive, it would only be if they hit the deer dead on. It would crumple the front of the car, but the impact would release the air bags, which would hopefully save them.
It was a thin hope.
Ryan looked into her eyes, and she saw understanding there. He down-shifted in one smooth move though that wasn’t likely to help much, not at this speed. Metal thudded into several hundred pounds of moving flesh and muscle, and the crash jarred every bone in Steph’s body. The air bags released in a hiss, slamming against her abused body, and stealing the breath from her. The world went dark.