Samuel (Samuel's Pride Series) by Kathi S. Barton Read Free Book Online

the stool again and tried to think what the hell just
happened. The man was nuts, certifiable, as a matter of fact. She decided that
she was going to find something else, and as soon as she did, she was out of there.
This place was insane.

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Samuel went to his office and closed and
locked the door. Christ, she was his mate. Leaning heavily against the door, he
closed his eyes while he tasted her again on his tongue. Whatever had possessed
him to taste her was beyond him, but now it was too late to take it back. She
was as much a part of him now as she’d ever be. Because as surely as he was
standing there, he was not taking this any further with her.
    Going to his desk, he found her
application on the top of a pile of mail. He read over every line until he got
to her signature on the last page. Her education was exemplary and a good deal
more than she’d said at the table.
    He’d no doubt that had he not pissed her
off no one would have known about her background unless they picked up her
application and read it. Samuel had a feeling that she’d only said it then to
show him she really wasn’t stupid. Why she’d thought she had to explain that to
him was obvious. He’d been an ass to her and she fought back the only way she
could. He rubbed his jaw, thinking she did have a nice hook.
    Samuel logged into his computer and
decided to do a quick background check on the girl. Not that he thought he’d
find anything wrong, but he wanted to find out who had hit her. When he put a
search in for her name, he got immediate hits. Christ, she was famous.
    At the age of seventeen she’d entered
the college, already having worked at some of the most prestigious restaurants
across Europe. Article after article about her told of her expertise in putting
together meals fit for kings and queens, as well as doing it for soup kitchens
and homeless shelters. Kennedy Buehler was not a household chef. He wondered
why she was working for him and not some five-star restaurant. Digging deeper,
he thought maybe he found out why. Samuel called a friend of his.
    “I need you to do some checking for me,”
he told his good friend, James Burger. He gave him everything he had on her,
including her social security number.
    “How deep you wanting me to go this
time? All the way to how much she weighed at birth, or just enough so her
family will stop hounding you to marry her?” There was a good deal of humor in Jimmy’s
voice, and Samuel realized that he’d had him do this numerous times before.
    “All of it. And there’s no marriage in
mind with this woman. She’s my chef. And for your information, she doesn’t care
for me overly much.” That made his friend laugh even harder. “This isn’t funny,
you moron. I think the woman is my mate, and I want to figure out who the hell
hit her.”
    That shut him up. The silence was so
profound that Samuel had a moment to wonder if Jimmy would come over just to
ask him if he’d heard him right. When he spoke this time it was with caution.
    “What are you going to do now?” Jimmy
knew his aversion to having a mate. Hell, the man had as much reason to
distrust the whole thing as he did. But his had been because of another woman;
Samuel’s was because of his own parents.
    “Nothing. She’s human, so she has no
idea what she is to me, and I’ve told her to stay away from me. I know that for
the long term that’s not going to work, but it’ll give me time to figure out
what to do with her.” Samuel knew he was playing with fire having her so close,
but he was a bigger man than this and thought he could handle it.
    “I don’t think this is such a good idea.
You’re going to take her, and after that, it’s going to be all downhill
afterwards. You should kick her to the curb now and be done with her.” Samuel
wanted to agree with him, but something about her made him think she needed
protection from someone. “Let me take her somewhere for you. I can find her a
job