Between a Ridge and a Hard Place Read online

  Finally, he broke the kiss. “I’ve got to get in there.”

  “What will you do when you find out who it is?” she asked, breaking through the tension.

  “Hang them out to dry.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “You can be sure whoever it is will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

  He stood for a minute watching Morgan’s car turn the corner and disappear from sight before striding to the office. The first thing he saw upon entering was Carter sitting at Morgan’s desk, his focus centered on her computer.

  “What the hell are you looking for in there?” He rounded the desk and stood behind Carter. His partner had emails open and was going through each one. Ridge bent and looked closer. Shit. Carter wasn’t perusing his own emails, he was dissecting Morgan’s.

  “No way.”

  Carter turned, a grim look on his face. “I’m afraid so, Ridge.”

  “No.”

  Carter sat back in the seat and spread his hands. “Where is she?”

  Ridge’s breath caught. Gone. She had something she had to… Shit. Had she fucking played him? Had she panicked when he’d told her there was a mole at Malone and Casey? Is that what she had to do that was so all-fired important instead of coming back here with him? Had all the clothes and sex been a distraction for him?

  “Son of a bitch.” He didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t believe it. Not from Morgan, his PA, the woman who’d been closer to him over the course of the last year than his own sister. He hadn’t been lying to her when he’d told her he hadn’t been with a woman since hiring her. Had she been lying to him?

  “Where is she, Ridge?” Carter repeated.

  Ridge dragged a hand through his hair and sank onto the corner of the desk. He shook his head. “No. No. She didn’t do this, Car. You know she isn’t capable of this.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought so either, but damn it, Ridge, the evidence is all right here.” Carter stabbed a finger at the computer screen.

  “You know as well as I do that computers can be manipulated. It has to be a plant.”

  “Because you slept with her?”

  Ridge stood, his fist cocked at his side.

  Carter threw up his hands. “I’m just saying. She’s been with you for a year, and now all of a sudden she wants to be your bed buddy? She’s never shown a lick of interest in you until today. You want me to think this is a coincidence? Come on, Ridge, what else am I supposed to think when the woman’s not even here to defend herself?”

  The same goddamn thing I am. “Christ.”

  “Exactly. I think we’ve been played.”

  Fuck. Ridge wiped his face with both hands. If he couldn’t go after Carter’s pretty face, then the wall was looking pretty good to take out some of his anger on. “All right, let’s think this out logically. We know how easy it is to plant evidence. Maybe it’s someone else. Let’s not jump the gun and automatically pin this on Morgan until we hear from her.”

  “Do you think we will hear from her?”

  Ridge clamped down his jaw. If she didn’t show up, he’d hunt her down himself. No. She didn’t do it. He had faith in her.

  Question was, did he have too much?

  “She’ll be back.”

  Carter eyed him suspiciously before nodding once. “Okay. I don’t want to believe it’s her either. So say she’s being framed. Who has access to this computer?”

  Ridge snorted. “Anyone. We’re in the outer office. Literally anyone can come in off the street and sit down here.”

  Carter raised an eyebrow. “Kind of grasping at straws there, aren’t you, Ridge? How likely do you think it is that someone would walk in here, packed with insider knowledge just to use against us?”

  “Not likely,” Ridge agreed, “but possible.”

  “You’re right. But let’s narrow it down to our employees.” Carter checked off on his fingers. “Raymond, Susan, Olivia, Ted, Jack, Amy Lee, Martin, not to mention the cleaning crew.”

  “What could anyone from the cleaning crew actually gain from sabotaging an architectural business?”

  “Money? I know you don’t really need me to answer that.”

  Fine. He’d give him that. “What do we know about Biggs and Hilliard then? Like who works for them. Anyone we know, someone we pissed off and they’re out to get us? I’m just trying to straighten things out before we go accusing the wrong person.”

  “And what if she’s the right person, Ridge?”

  She was the right person, but not for being fingered for selling information. She was right for him. “Then I’ll deal with her when the time gets here. Until we have irrefutable proof those emails weren’t planted on her computer, then I’m going with my gut. She didn’t do it.” Damn it. He hated this. If she hadn’t insisted on leaving him to go do some secret mission, she would be here now to refute the charges against her. He didn’t fault Carter’s thinking. The evidence did look damning.

  “Does Morgan look stupid to you?” Ridge continued.

  This caught Carter by surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “In the year since she was hired has she ever done anything in the least bit shady to you?”

  “No.”

  Good. At least his partner’s answer had been unequivocal and immediate.

  “Then does it stand to reason she would be so stupid as to leave this type of evidence right here where it can so easily be found?”

  Carter saw the light. His eyes widened, his mouth compressed. “I’ll keep looking.”

  Ridge breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  “I’ve called in Max Jensen to help too.”

  “Absolutely. As soon as Morgan gets here we’ll talk.” After he found out where the hell she’d needed to go so bad.

  He stepped into his office, leaving Carter behind to do his dirty work. He had a few loose ends to tie up for a meeting tomorrow anyway.

  An hour later he glanced at his watch. Where the hell was Morgan? He would have thought she’d be here by now. She had some information he needed, and he wasn’t about to go searching through her bizarre methodical filing system to find it. She’d likely kill him for leaving fingerprints behind.

  “Hey, Ridge.” The sultry sound of Amy Lee’s voice made him jump. She stood in the doorway, one leg bent at the knee, showing off a long, muscular, bare thigh and calf. Since he was used to seeing her legs beneath her short skirts, he wasn’t fazed.

  “What do you want, Amy Lee?” He wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now. Instead he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the numbers for Morgan. His thumb hovered over the send button but he didn’t press it. He had to trust her. She would be back.

  “Just wanted to say I’m so sorry about what’s happening.” Amy Lee’s bottom lip formed a practiced pout as she stalked toward him with all the grace of a woman used to grabbing a man’s attention.

  “Thanks,” he said, dismissing her and bringing up the calendar on his computer. Maybe Morgan had a meeting today. A doctor’s appointment? Had to get her taxes done? Shit.

  A smooth knee and thigh slid into his vision along his desk edge, and he did a double take. Christ, one inch less of skirt and he’d have an uninhibited view of her crotch. Exasperation had him leaning back in his chair. “What the hell do you want?”

  One long, red nail trailed slowly up her thigh. If he was supposed to be turned on, she’d gone after the wrong man. He pictured Morgan sitting on his desk instead, her nails raking up her leg and easing the skirt back. His cock stirred in his pants. Then Amy Lee spoke.

  “I just thought you might want something to take your mind off things.”

  Ridge reared back in horror, his erection deflating instantly. Before he could move, Amy Lee swung her leg off the desk and over his thighs until she straddled his lap. Her hands settled on his shoulders and her overabundance of perfume burned his nose.

  Chapter Five

  Morgan felt a zillion times more normal in regular clothes. S
he flicked away a piece of lint from the navy cotton shirt she’d donned and pushed through Malone and Casey’s door to a hustle and bustle she wasn’t used to. The head of the security firm they used, Max Jansen, stood like a sentinel next to her desk, his arms crossed over his chest. She could tell from his profile there was a serious look on his face.

  She understood his seriousness. Someone selling information, someone she probably knew and worked with on a daily basis, was not a laughing matter. Max shifted his weight, revealing Carter at her computer, studying something. For a second she wondered why they were using her system. It seemed like the sort of the thing that might be better discussed somewhere private. And then it hit her. Of course they had to investigate everyone. It stung that she might be lumped in with the suspects, but then she supposed everyone in the office would be a suspect at first. What was it they said? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Something like that.

  So based on Carter’s expression was she a friend or an enemy? Better find out. She stepped closer. Both men were so involved in whatever they were looking at, neither had noticed her enter.

  Time to offer her assistance if she could. “Have you found out anything yet?”

  “Morgan?”

  She jumped back at Carter’s surprised bark. “Um…yeah. Who did you think I was?”

  His eyes narrowed suspiciously and her stomach gave a nervous upheaval. So far, if she had to choose, she’d lean toward Carter thinking of her as the enemy.

  “Where were you?” he demanded.

  “Oh.” Her cheeks flooded with heat. She couldn’t lie to her boss and after all, he did comment on her rather skimpy outfit this morning. He ought to be able to figure out why she’d gone home for God’s sake. “Er, I was…changing clothes.”

  “Changing—” He eyed her up and down, a scowl on his face. “Why?” He sounded thoroughly perplexed.

  Perfect. Here she was, standing in front of one of her bosses, the head of their security and a few other uncomfortable-looking co-workers, having to explain why she’d gone home to change. He had to know by now that Ridge had literally dragged her out of here earlier. Hell, he probably knew exactly what they’d been doing while they were gone.

  Her cheeks went supernova. Any more and her face would catch fire.

  “Do we have to talk about this now?” she muttered.

  Carter waved his hand in obvious irritation. “No.” Then he beckoned her over and pointed at her screen. “Perhaps you’d care to talk about this then.”

  She squinted to see more clearly what he was showing her. It was an email program. Her email, in particular. What the heck?

  “That’s mine,” she said unnecessarily.

  “I know it is.”

  She leaned over his shoulder and read the mail on the screen. It didn’t look familiar, but then, it was dated today and considering she hadn’t been in the office for most of the morning…

  “I don’t know what I’m looking at, Carter.” She had to admit, she knew her job and how to do it well, but when it came to the ins and outs of computers, she might as well live back in the Stone Age. Sending and answering emails, spreadsheets, reports, calendars and surfing the internet were about the extent of her technological knowledge.

  “It’s an email to Biggs and Hilliard.”

  Biggs and Hilliard? She didn’t even know anyone over there. Her gaze searched the message and her breathing came to a stop. There were numbers. Big numbers. Ones that looked very much like the bid Malone and Casey had put in for the Honor Center. The nausea swam full force to her throat. Morgan wasn’t stupid. She knew now she was public enemy number one.

  “I didn’t send this, Carter.” If he didn’t believe her then she had no way of defending herself.

  “Any reason someone would want to frame you for this?” He looked skeptical, which made her wonder if he thought she was lying.

  “I honestly don’t know. Anyone can get to it though, it’s right out here in the open.”

  “You don’t have it password protected?”

  “I do.”

  “So anyone can’t really get to it.”

  “Well…” Biting her bottom lip, she stepped around him and picked up a Post-It note attached to the side of the monitor. It wasn’t visible to the general public, but no one would have to look too hard for it and anyone could have seen her put it there.

  Carter hung his head. Apparently he hadn’t thought she’d do something so unconscionable or he would have found it by now. “Why?” he asked.

  Nothing like your boss making you feel like you were two years old. “Because Ridge said I should change it at least twice a month, and half the time I can’t remember what I had to eat for breakfast let alone a new password every two weeks. It’s not like I broadcast it over the loudspeaker.”

  Carter seemed to accept her explanation. “I think Ridge is waiting for you in his office. We’ll talk more later.”

  “I didn’t do anything to compromise Malone and Casey, Carter.”

  Carter stared at her for a moment, then nodded.

  She wasn’t sure if the motion meant he believed her or he was just trying to appease her for the time being. She hoped it was the former because neither of her bosses was the type she ever wanted to have to go up against.

  Morgan wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs before opening Ridge’s door. He had to know she was innocent. Didn’t he? She’d worked for him for a whole year, and she couldn’t remember any time when she’d given him cause to think she’d been anything less than a faithful employee.

  Except for today, of course. Would he see what had happened between them as her way of distracting his attention? All the blood left her face. She’d shot from rank of skank to whore. Please God, don’t let him think she’d used her body so he wouldn’t suspect her.

  She opened the door to be greeted by Amy Lee straddling the man whose bed Morgan had shared not two hours ago. The bitch’s skirt had ridden up to reveal two round butt cheeks, confirming that Amy Lee did indeed wear a thong. Only a tiny black line could be seen against tan skin.

  I haven’t had a lover since I hired you.

  I’ll be ready to take this ‘you know’ further.

  Oh God, had he only been playing with her? She really was going to be sick. For a year she’d tried to work up the courage to make a move for her boss. She’d foolishly thought she’d meant something more to him than another in his line of women. Obviously not. She must have been a damned easy conquest for him. She’d certainly made it easy.

  “Morgan.”

  She jerked at the sound of Ridge’s deep voice and found him struggling to get Amy Lee off his lap. She couldn’t watch anymore.

  The last thing she heard before slamming his door was his garbled, “Get off me.”

  Angry tears threatened to fall and she choked back the vomit still trying to push its way out. With a sob, she jogged to the front door, ignoring Carter’s startled leap from her desk.

  “Morgan?” He sounded concerned, but why he should care when he thought she’d sold them out, she didn’t know.

  She only knew she had to get out of there. Pushing through the door, she ran all the way to her car. Thankfully she’d never put her bag down, so her keys were readily available. If she had left them behind, she would have kept on running until she found the first bus she came to. There was shouting behind her, but she didn’t know and didn’t care who it came from. As angry and embarrassed as she was, she would probably never find it in her to come back. Let them think she’d been the mole.

  Morgan no longer cared.

  But she did. And a few minutes into her getaway, she had to wonder if what she’d witnessed in Ridge’s office had really been what she was seeing, or what Amy Lee wanted her to.

  “Damn it.” Ridge punched the doorframe and relished the sharp pain that streaked up his arm from the knuckles. Long after her car tore out of the lot he stood staring down the street. Little fool was going to get herself killed driving like
a maniac.

  Max’s booming voice drew back to the problem at hand. There’d be plenty of time later to go after Morgan and convince her he wanted nothing to do with the woman who’d surprised him by plastering herself on his lap at the most inopportune time.

  He hoped there was time anyway. He didn’t know what he’d do if Morgan refused to listen.

  Ridge narrowed his eyes as he turned and surveyed the chaos that had become his office. Normally he and Carter would be at meetings right now or out at the construction sites of buildings their company had designed. Morgan might be with him or sitting at her desk.

  Now Carter occupied her chair, with Amy Lee hovering over his shoulder, and Max sprawled in the chair across the desk from them. He looked relaxed, but Ridge knew the appearance was deceiving. Max was one of those people who could move and in a split second have another man plastered against the wall, his arm bent sharply behind him before he knew what hit him.

  Right now his otherwise lazy attention was focused on…

  Amy Lee.

  Damn. Hadn’t she caused enough trouble today? He wouldn’t have thought Max would be swayed by a woman dressed to attract every man in a one-hundred-foot radius. He seemed more the discerning type. So why was he watching her so intently? Ridge tried to see what Max did.

  Amy Lee was nervous. He wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been looking for it. She was fidgeting. Her lower lip was tucked between her teeth, and her thumb and forefinger rubbed together. They stopped abruptly as if she’d realized what she was doing, then a small smile tugged at her lips. One manicured hand landed on Carter’s shoulder and those fingers went to work with a gentle massage. Carter rolled his head, savoring the favor.

  Un-fucking-believable. Five minutes ago she’d been giving Ridge a lap dance, and now she had her claws in Carter.

  Max spoke before Ridge could say a word.

  “Amy Lee.”

  She jumped. “Yes?”

  One eyebrow lifted lazily. “Do you have something to be nervous about?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” There was a haughty tone to her voice and her chin lifted in regal bearing.