by Lori Foster
Thank God. Robert wiped his brow with a shaking hand. “Then…then perhaps you’ll agree to keep her for a week?”
“Keep her?” Clint asked, and Robert heard Julie’s immediate denials in the background.
He ground his teeth together, wishing that Julie would be docile and agreeable just once. Since falling in love with Marie, Julie and her pushy temperament had really rubbed him the wrong way. Still, he was relieved that she had survived. He was very fond of her, he just wasn’t in love with her and never would be.
He needed her money, only he didn’t want her dead for it. But if she wasn’t home yet…Drew would surely give him more money for her ransom, more money to hire private investigators, more money for anything that was needed. Drew adored Julie, and worried about her as if she were his own. He didn’t have to know that Julie was safe and sound. Robert could extort enough money from Drew to pay off Asa, to reward Clint Evans, and to cushion his departure from Julie’s life.
Brilliant. He was absolutely brilliant. “Listen, Evans, you’re the perfect man to keep her safe.”
“Uh huh.”
“It’d just be until I’ve had time to hire private investigators and to get some safeguards set up. New locks, new security system, maybe even a bodyguard. Not that Julie will like that idea. But she lives alone, damn it, insisting on her privacy no matter what…”
“I’ve noticed that she can be a bit stubborn.” There was a rustling, and Robert heard Evans say, “Ow.” Amazingly enough, humor infused that dark voice when he added, “And violent, too.”
Robert froze. Oh, no. Surely Julie wouldn’t antagonize…no, of course she wouldn’t. She wasn’t that headstrong. And she would be safe with Evans. The man couldn’t get paid if he didn’t deliver her back in one piece. “I’ll double your pay.”
“Double it, huh?”
Marie stepped back into the bedroom.
“Robert?”
“I have to go, Evans. Tell me you’ll keep her safe for me while I do some checking, try to figure out what the hell is going on.”
“That could be dangerous for you, Burns.”
Robert sighed, looking at Marie through the glass doors. “Yes, but I’m willing to risk it.” He’d risk that and more for his Marie.
Evans grunted. “Yeah, I’ll keep her safe.”
Robert turned his back. “Good, that’s good. Call me back in the morning and we can arrange…” Robert looked at the dead phone. Evans had hung up on him. “Well, hell.”
The glass doors slid open with a hiss, and Marie stepped out into the night. “Robert? What are you doing out here?”
He turned to face her and held up the phone with a smile. “Business call. But I’m done now.”
Her beautiful pale eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Business at this time of night?”
“Morning, actually. It’s after midnight.” In many ways, Marie’s eyes were as notable as Clint Evans’s, but for opposite reasons. Marie’s exuded warmth and caring, not menace. “It was just a small problem. I got it taken care of.”
“It wasn’t that woman, your fiancée?”
He smiled at her jealous display. “No, darling, of course not. I told you that’s over.”
“It won’t be over until you end the engagement.”
“And I will. Soon now. I promise.”
The total opposite of Julie, Marie didn’t continue to question him. She smiled. “All right, then.” Stepping into his arms, she rubbed her nose against his chest. “You are such a wonderful man, I can’t believe she’s letting you go.” Her fingers trailed down his chest. “Come back to bed. The sun will be up all too soon and I’m not done with you yet.”
Robert dropped the phone into his pocket and enfolded Marie in his arms. She was wary of every man, but him. She was feminine, luscious, and so sexy, she made his heartbeat erratic. He loved her more than he’d ever loved anything on earth.
If only she wasn’t Asa’s sister, and if only Asa didn’t have it in for him.
“Robert.” She groaned his name while kissing his shoulder, his throat, taking small love bites.
“I want you to live with me. I want to go to bed with you at night and wake up with you in the morning and not have to count the hours.” She toyed with his chest hair, one fingernail grazing his right nipple. “I want to know that you’re all mine, and that other women, especially your fiancée, are out of the running.”
Robert tugged her towel away and let it drop. Her large, dark nipples were already stiffened. He cuddled her lush ass, lifting her naked body up and into his. “There’s no one but you,” he panted, already on the ragged edge, even though they’d just made love less than an hour ago.
“Then let me tell my brother now. He wants me to be happy, he—”
“Sweetheart.” Robert cupped her face, determined to make her understand. Everything depended on her being patient, on her abiding by his wishes. There was still a chance he’d be able to make everything work out, especially if he could get Asa paid back. Never would he let Asa think that he’d used Marie to even the score. But he knew that’s the way Asa’s mind would work.
No, Robert had to pay him his blood money, and until then, Asa couldn’t know about them. “Your brother hates me.”
“No.”
“Yes,” he insisted. “He does. I told you, we’ve clashed in business. But that won’t always be the case.” Robert cupped her neck, kissed her full mouth. “Asa will come around, you’ll see. Then I can leave Julie and we’ll get married and have babies and be happy.”
She smiled up at him, her blue eyes hurt, but accepting. “We’ll have everything.”
“Everything.” Guilt nudged at Robert, but he shoved it aside. He cared about Julie, hoped she would be spared. But didn’t he deserve some happiness, too?
Marie took his hand to lead him inside. Robert held her close and fell with her onto the bed. Fate had intervened, and he’d be damned before he wasted the opportunity. He’d think of something. Somehow.
He had at least a week.
Clint replaced the receiver in the cradle on the wobbly Formica nightstand. He eyed Julie’s anxious expression. “You’re not engaged.”
She waved that away as unimportant, when Clint knew it was anything but. “No. We used to be, but that ended a while ago. Robert was afraid you’d take advantage of me if you knew I was…available.” She made a face. “Dumb, I know. But he thought if—”
“Not so dumb.” Even now, seeing her there on the bed gave him ideas—ideas only a real bastard would act on. Clint stood, determined to put some space between them. “I’ll run your bath. Sit tight.”
“I’d rather have a shower.”
“I’d rather you didn’t try standing on your sprained ankle.” He ignored her disgruntled rumblings and went into the miniscule bathroom. When he turned on the tub faucet, the water spat and sputtered and ran cold before finally settling in a warm, steady stream. He laid the bath mat on the floor, set out a towel and washcloth, and did his best not to picture Julie Rose’s slim, naked body settling into the tub, lounging back, sleek and wet…
“Shit.” He rubbed his face with both hands.
“Clint?”
“Nothing.” He stepped through the doorway and surveyed her huddled form on the edge of the mattress. She looked exhausted, her eyes puffy, her shoulders slumped. Yet she tried so damn hard to hide it all.
The urge to lift her into his arms and pamper her shook him. “Why don’t you soak until Red and Mojo get back? That way you can put on clean clothes when you get out.”
“Clean.” Her smile tilted. “I’ll never again take the concept for granted.”
Despite the roiling mix of emotions, Clint indulged his own smile. She was a trouper, fighting hard to hold herself together. He propped his shoulder against the doorframe. “You said you weren’t engaged anymore. What happened?”
After folding her arms around herself, she looked away. Her shoulder lifted in a negligent shrug. “Robert was seeing some
one else. I caught him at it.” She made a small sound of humor. “Quite embarrassing for all concerned.”
Clint went to her and helped her stand. He was thinking things he shouldn’t, but knowing that didn’t help clear his head. He gave up with a show of exasperation meant to hide the depth of his interest. “You don’t look particularly broken up about it.”
“No. I care for him and nothing will change that. He worked for my father, and now for my uncle and father’s estate. I’ve known him a long time. But we weren’t right for each other, not for marriage.”
Lifting her to spare her ankle—or so he told himself—Clint cradled her to his chest and carried her into the bathroom. Julie Rose didn’t object; she just twined her slim arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.
Trusting. The woman was far, far too trusting.
“I’d already realized that marrying Robert would just be a convenience.”
“A convenience how?”
She shrugged. “There wasn’t anyone else I wanted to marry, and I’m getting older.”
“You’re still young enough.”
“I’m almost thirty.” She lifted her head with a sigh. “And my uncle approves of Robert, so it seemed an ideal situation.”
Ideal for whom? Clint slowly lowered her to the tile floor. He bent to turn off the tub and gave in to his curiosity. “Why the hell would your uncle care one way or the other?”
Amused irony lit the darkness of her eyes. “He’s my closest relative, and he was also my father’s business partner.”
“So now he’s in charge of the estate?” Robert had told Clint plenty, but he wanted to hear it from Julie Rose, too, to get the truth in case Robert had lied.
Nodding, Julie said, “He’s the one responsible for doling out my funds and trying to keep me on the straight and narrow. He teases me that it’s quite a daunting task.”
Robert had claimed Julie Rose was wild, indiscreet. Clint crossed his arms, affronted on her behalf and not yet ready to leave her to her bath. “Yeah? How so?”
“It’s silly really.” For just a moment, she looked lighthearted, free of the strain and hurt from the past day. “Uncle Drew is very old-fashioned, as was my father. He thinks a woman should be pampered and protected. And he’s scandalized if a woman dates too often, parties too hearty…”
“Has sex?”
Her mouth twitched with that innate humor he’d first seen in her photograph. “Yes. Because I’ve had a few relationships but haven’t yet married, he worries about my reputation, and about my trust fund. He thinks that men pay me attention to get my money.” Her chuckle was husky, sexy, surprising Clint. “Not that I’m a femme fatale or anything. I mean, you’ve seen me.”
Clint narrowed his eyes, and suddenly the memory of her velvet breast against his chest stirred the air between them. “Yeah. I’ve seen you.”
Julie realized how that sounded, and she blanched. “That is, I mean…”
To save her from further ramblings, Clint reached out and brushed her downy cheek with the back of his knuckles. Every time he touched her, she went as still as a deer caught in his headlights—and for some reason, that turned him on. “Why should a sexy woman keep herself chaste? That’s just dumb.”
Her eyes widened. “You think so?”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t keep his narrowed gaze from drifting over her. “I think so.”
A long moment of silence stretched between them before she found her voice. “Well, I’m hardly sexy…”
Clint could see her vulnerability, her desperate need for a compliment. It was strange, because he’d expected her to be jumpy around guys after what she’d just been through. And she was, just not with him.
Thumbs in his pockets, his stance as un-threatening as he could make it, Clint said, “You’re sexy, Julie Rose.”
Her eyes widened even more. She swallowed hard, turned pink, and got flustered. It was cute. She was cute.
He couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t go fainting on me again.”
“No, I won’t.” Nervously, she crossed her hands over her middle. “Uncle Drew considers Robert an excellent catch. He thinks because we’re from similar backgrounds, Robert will make me happy. And once I marry, the trust fund gets turned over to me and my husband. Robert already has money, so Uncle Drew knows he’s not after my wealth.” She sighed. “It did seem like a good idea. But then I found out that Robert hadn’t been faithful.”
A thousand questions buzzed through Clint’s head. The more he knew about her, the easier it’d be to find her kidnappers. “You caught him in the act?”
“Yes, and got quite a rapid education.” Her eyes twinkled, and she whispered as if sharing a scandalous confidence. “I’d had no idea that stuffy, proper Robert could be so kinky.”
The hypocrite, Clint thought with annoyance, remembering how he’d accused Julie Rose. “So you broke things off?”
“Not immediately.”
“Well, why not?” Clint didn’t mean to sound so surly when he asked that question. Not that Julie Rose seemed to notice. She merely shrugged.
“I don’t know. My life was sort of up in the air. I’d been subbing in this small, wonderful community, and I kept thinking how nice it’d be to teach there full-time. I realized that I didn’t really love Robert, because the idea of moving away from him didn’t bother me at all. But I do want to marry and have kids some day, and if I ended things with Robert, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have another chance.”
“But then you busted him in the sack with another woman.”
“A really beautiful woman. She’s everything I’m not.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s…” Julie held her hands out in front of her chest. “Voluptuous. Very fashionable. And sensual. I felt…I don’t know. Insulted, of course, because we were engaged. But sort of hurt, too. Not because I loved Robert, but because he’d chosen another woman over me. Bruce encouraged me to free myself. He said I deserved better than Robert.”
Clint’s eyebrow lifted. Another man in her life? “I agree, but who’s this Bruce? A boyfriend?”
She grinned as if his assumption pleased her. “No, of course not. Bruce is Bryan’s twin.”
“Bryan?” How many damned men did she know? “Who the hell is Bryan?”
“An ex–bounty hunter turned businessman. Bruce is his brother. They’re identical twins. Bruce is also a preacher, and recently married. He’s a wonderful man, but we’re only friends.”
Jesus. A bounty hunter, a preacher…But if Bruce talked her into breaking ties with Robert, then Clint had to respect him. To get her back on track, he said, “Okay, I’m with you so far. You and Robert aren’t engaged anymore, but the two of you have remained friends?” If they weren’t friends, that’d give him one more reason to suspect Robert.
“Very good friends. Uncle Drew thinks it’s just a lovers’ quarrel, that we’ll get back together, but Robert and I both know that won’t happen.”
“I don’t think Robert knows it at all.”
“He does.” She looked prim as she said, “I made it most clear to him.”
“You made it clear to Drew, too?”
Wincing, she said, “I tried. But he worries so much. I hate to dissappoint him.”
Drew sounded like a pain in the ass, to Clint. Was she surrounded by judgmental users and takers? “You should be careful about who you trust, Julie Rose.”
Her lips parted. “You’re not suggesting Robert was behind my abduction, are you?”
He narrowed his eyes and shrugged. “Honorable men don’t cheat on women.”
A smile brightened her eyes. “I agree, but he hired you to save me, yes?”
“Yeah but…” She wavered on her feet, making Clint curse softly. He caught her to him. “Damn it, I’m sorry. Here you are ready to collapse and I’m shooting the breeze.” He dipped his head to see her face. “Julie Rose? You okay?”
“Yes, I just…I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”
That damn worry pushed at him again. He channeled it into anger, because anger he could deal with. It was more familiar to him than worry. “They didn’t feed you at all, did they?”
She shook her head. “I received only a few drinks of water.”
“Bastards.” He held her shoulders. “Maybe you should eat first…”
Wrinkling her nose, she leaned back from him and said, “The bath is my first priority. Go. I’ll be fine.”
Still he didn’t move. There were shadows under her soft eyes, amplified by the whiteness of her skin. “Do you want me to help?”
Her mouth fell open while color rushed into her face, making her less wan. “No.”
“You’re sure?”
She pokered up with insult. “I’m a big girl. I’ll manage just fine.”
“Big.” Clint shook his head and cautiously released her delicate body. “Not quite.” He headed for the door. “I’ll be right outside. If you need me for anything, don’t hesitate. You’ve been through an ordeal, so don’t push yourself, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
Clint grinned reluctantly. “Smart-ass.” He went out, pulling the door shut behind him. Julie Rose had grit, he’d give her that.
A minute later he heard the soft splash of the bathwater, telling him she’d gotten in the tub.
Telling him that she was naked.
He closed his eyes, but that only made the images clearer.
Luckily, for his peace of mind, Mojo returned a few minutes later. He balanced a tray filled with sub sandwiches, a pitcher of beer, a can of Pepsi, and assorted snacks.
He set the food on the dresser, and his dark eyes went unerringly to the bathroom door. “She’s in the tub?”
“Yeah.”
“You talk to her fiancé?”
“Robert Burns.” Clint practically snarled the name. “We talked. Only they’re not engaged. The bastard lied about that.”
“No shit?”
Clint nodded. “To protect her from me.”
“Idiot.”
“Yeah, he is. But then, I realized that right off.” Which was why he’d bugged Robert’s office. He’d call in first thing in the morning and listen to any conversations that might have transpired.