When her rescuer held out his hand again she chose the lesser of the apparent evils and accepted it. Strong and warm, his fingers closed around hers. Shivers threaded through her spine. “Let’s get out of here.”
Her arms crept around him again and he sped off, the cycle’s velocity pressing them together. She laid her cheek against his back to keep the wind off her face and felt his heartbeat, strong and steady. His scent, slightly musky, mingled with the sea, touching off more memories. Like Jesse....
Stop it!
Mentally, she shook herself. He wasn’t Jesse. He wasn’t in the least like Jesse.
Finally, when they reached the next small town down the coast, he pulled into a diner parking lot and killed the ignition. Mid-morning bustle kept her from panicking. Too many witnesses mulled about for him to try anything stupid.
She stayed glued to him for several moments, the droning engine still ringing in her ears, loath to separate herself from his warmth, loath to question her motives for feeling so. He reminded her of Jesse that was all. He was the first man she’d come into contact with since her husband’s death. It meant nothing.
Really.
Sir Lancelot cleared his throat and twisted in his seat, forcing her to lift her head and unwind her arms from his waist. “I’ve saved you twice and don’t even know your name, Guinevere.” He grasped her hand and kissed it, his lips warm and firm.
Her disloyal flesh tingled for the first time in two years and she snatched her hand back as if burned, staring at the traitor.
Sir Lancelot dismounted, then circled her waist with his hands and lifted her off the cycle, swinging her to the ground beside him. He took her elbow, propelling her toward the diner.
She gazed up at him and realized she had to crane her neck to look him in his eyes. Not a short woman, she rarely had to do that. She dug her heels into the gravel driveway, refusing to budge another millimeter. “Where do you think you’re taking me?” She’d stopped being led a long time ago. She wasn’t about to start up again easily, and not without fully trusting the person she was following.
“I’m starved. Thought you might like to grab a bite, too.”
“I’m not hungry.” Food was the last thing on her mind after that nasty little scene. Her stomach still felt queasy, as if someone had lit a few bottle rockets inside it.
“The least you could do is share a cup of coffee with me. After all....”
“You saved my life.” She chuckled despite herself. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”
The man’s expression sobered. He clasped her elbow between his fingers and this time, she let him guide her into the diner. He chose a booth in the corner and stretched his length across the entire seat. When a heavily made-up waitress sashayed up to the table with eyes only for him, he winked at her. Any moment the woman would swoon.
Irritated, she moved the condiments lest the young woman collapse on their table. Then she scooted further back on her bench to get out of the way.
“What do you want?” Cody flashed a lazy smile at their server. It was about the sexiest, sultriest smile she’d ever seen. If she were a weaker woman, like the waitress, she’d probably melt at his considerable charms. But she wasn’t one to crumble easily.
“Just coffee. Black.” She handed the menu to the waitress who barely tossed her a glance. She didn’t much like being ignored although common sense dictated invisibility her best ally. Always before, she’d been the center of attention, even at the carnival. With or without her family’s money backing her, her presence lit a room. Her fiery red hair attracted male attention wherever she went.
Maybe it was time to dye her hair so she would truly be more invisible.
Most women seemed to be intimidated by her rare beauty. Not that she minded. She didn’t need to cultivate women friends. She’d always had more than enough men around to make up for lack of female companionship. Her younger sister, Christina, provided all the female friendship she needed. Lately, Mia had filled that void.
Thoughts of her sibling tugged at her heart as they did every time she let down her guard. Quickly, she pushed the unwelcome thoughts from her mind. Christina was from another life. Much as Melissa loved her, Christina was part of the past and didn’t belong in her future. At least not until Nathan was out of the picture, and she’d not been able to find anyone in authority that she could trust enough yet to expose him. It was best to forget both Christina and her father. They were all wrapped up with Nathan.
Christina had been spellbound over Nathan since he’d first followed Melissa home from her first political campaign volunteering stint. If Nathan’s flirtations had been the least bit genuine toward her younger sister, she was certain Christina would have done her best to steal him. A few times, Melissa had accused Christina of flirting with her fiancé.
No denying Nathan had been a charming one. When he wanted to be....
If anything, their father had been even more enamored, infatuated with Nathan’s political aspirations. He’d often referred to himself as ‘the father-in-law of the future president of the United States.’ He’d pushed them together, nagging Melissa to accept Nathan’s proposal when she’d hesitated. Even then, she’d entertained doubts that Nathan was the right man for her. Unlike her family, charm and power had never fascinated her. Being the first lady had loomed a huge burden.
Unlike Christina, she didn’t swoon just because a man kissed her hand and flattered her. She looked for the hook, even back then.
Now charming, sleazy men made her ill and she snorted at the memories.
Her rescuer ordered half the menu, nothing with less than a few thousand carbohydrates, a real cholesterol nightmare. She wondered how he stayed so slim and fit if this represented his typical diet? When his omelet came, he delved into the creamy concoction. Butter dripped from every forkful. Cheese oozed out the edges.
She regarded her companion closely, deciding he had too many rough edges to charm anyone in the conventional sense. He obviously hadn’t attended finishing school the way he shoveled the food into his mouth and obviously appreciated the common fare. That wasn’t an entirely bad thing. Like Jesse....
Nix that. He wasn’t Jesse. He wasn’t like Jesse.
He fixed her with his steady gaze again. “You’ve still not told me your name.”
The truth was, she still hadn’t decided on her new alias or that he was fit to be told that much. She didn’t want anything that would attract attention, which meant not too fancy, nor too mundane. No Smith or Jones. And she rather liked the sound of Guinevere …
Her mind went blank. Who did she want to be this time? Wholesome, like Molly? Or fancy, like Vanessa?
“I told you mine, so it’s only fair if you tell me yours.” He stopped chewing and stared at her mouth as if willing her to speak.
Laughter almost gushed from her.
Fair? Since when was this world fair?
Studying him through her lashes, she sipped her coffee slowly. Was he too interested? Or was she too paranoid? It was a normal question and she of course was totally paranoid.
“Lisa....” Jesse had called her Lissa. She couldn’t use such a natural extension of her real name, but Lisa sounded enough different that it shouldn’t raise suspicion. And it was middle of the road pretty so as not to draw undue awareness, either. She glanced out the window, struggling for a last name to go with her new moniker. Woods filled with brightly colored wild flowers and green leaves surrounded the sleepy little town.
“Woods. Lisa Woods.” She stirred her coffee, avoiding his probing gaze. “I really must return home.” She tossed a couple of crumpled, faded dollar bills on the table and scooted out of the booth. “Thanks for the white knight routine. I owe you two now, Cody Richards.”
He stood in a flash, blocking her way, his shadow falling over her. “Don’t you want to file a police report on that guy?”
Panic palpitated in her chest. Nathan’s police?
“No!”
God, that sounded desperate. She was definitely paranoid.
“No? Do you care to explain why not?”
“No.” Goaded, irritated, she glared at the overly nosy white knight. She leaned forward, resting her head on her linked hands. “Look, I appreciate your help but just because you saved my neck doesn’t mean I suddenly owe you any explanations. I don’t know you. Let’s keep it that way.”
“How do you plan to get home?”
Would he never quit? She needed a way to get rid of him for good. “I’ll call my husband to pick me up.” Mention of her husband usually did the trick to rid her of unwanted male attention.
Shock flickered across his face. His gaze sought her empty ring finger. “You’re married?”
“According to my husband and the great state of New Jersey.” She crossed her fingers behind her, hoping lightning wouldn’t strike her dead on the spot. She crossed her toes and she’d offer penance later. She also cursed herself for not wearing Jesse’s ring which would help her in such instances.
She was Jesse’s widow. She used to have a husband so she just hadn’t updated the truth even if she had locked away the ring in an effort to get on with her life. That wasn’t exactly a lie, was it? Vaguely she wondered why he looked so shocked. Millions of women were married. Why not her? Had she suddenly sprouted three heads?
The waitress dropped the bill and smiled saucily. “Who wants the bad news?”
Like omelets and hash browns would break anyone’s bank? Melissa remembered dishing out two-hundred dollars for more cosmopolitan fare many breakfasts ago and had to bite back a sarcastic retort. Instead, she inclined her head at her dining companion.
Sir Lancelot stuck his hands down into his pocket and frowned. Then he rummaged through his other pockets. He chuckled uneasily and held out a palm full of silver and copper. “Geese. My wallet must’ve dropped out in all that ruckus back there. This is all I’ve got. I’ll have to go back and hope some Good Samaritan turned it in.”
The waitress turned to Melissa with a hopeful gaze. “Dates aren’t what they used to be. I know. I go Dutch more than I care to admit.”
Melissa grimaced, recalling that she’d left her purse at home. She groped around in her own pockets and pulled out a couple of tens. “This is all I have.”
The bold woman plucked one ten out of her hands and scooped up the check. “This’ll do. Thanks. I’ll be back with the change.”
Melissa shook her head and scowled at her dining companion. The real Sir Lancelot wouldn’t have stuck Guinevere with the check. “Why am I not surprised?”
Cody leaned closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Surely you remember our little altercation back there. I was more concerned with saving your pretty little neck than making sure I didn’t drop anything out of my pockets.”
“See, we have to go back. We can’t get far on ten bucks.” She shuffled out of the booth and ambled to his motorcycle. Even with a motorcycle, gas alone nowadays would eat up the cash in no time.
He picked her up and hauled her to his cycle, depositing her on the seat. “Money or not, I don’t like the idea of going back and chancing running into your new friend. He definitely won’t remember me very fondly.”
So be it. She wanted to ditch him anyway so it fell in with her plans. She pointed herself at the pay phone inside. She’d call Mario and ask him to bring her purse. “I’ll just call my husband to come get me from here. Thanks again for the rescue.” She wiggled her fingers in the air. “Ta ta.”
Disbelief warred on the man’s face. “I’m not leaving you alone until I know you’ll be safe with the Mister. Gentleman that I am, I couldn’t live with myself if I read your obit in the paper tomorrow morning. Give me his phone number and I’ll call.”
Caught in her web of deception, she chewed her bottom lip, seeking another lie. Her Jesse had trusted her implicitly, secure in the knowledge she loved him with all her heart. “He-he’s the jealous type. He wouldn’t take kindly to me being alone with you.”
“All the more reason for me to turn you over to him.”
She thrust out her jaw. “I can call my own husband.”
“Why don’t I believe you? I don’t think there is a mister.”
Why didn’t he? She found herself speechless. “You’re calling me a liar?”
He climbed on board and pulled on his helmet. He snapped it with jerky, angry movements. “Either give me his phone number right now or get on.”
“Our-our phone’s disconnected.”
“Uh huh.” He patted the seat and sent a challenging her smile her way. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
Deathly afraid.... But she was damned if she’d show it. “You sure know how to sweet talk a lady, don’t you?” she said, her words so dry she thought her tongue would turn to dust.
“I don’t sweet talk married women. If you’re married.” He revved the engine and gunned the cycle, his knuckles white as he grasped the handles tightly.
The iron monster took off so fast, she almost slid off the rear. Clutching at him, she cursed the renewed fear bubbling up in her throat. What was happening to the tough woman she’d become in the last four years?
Chapter Two
I’ll be damned.
So, Jesse Dalton lived and breathed. And Miss Vanderbilt-Smythe had married the slob.
Well Jesse could have his little vixen and good riddance to the pair of trouble makers. Right after he delivered Miss Melissa Vanderbilt-Smythe--rather Mrs. Jesse Dalton--to her beloved hubby, he’d call his client and tell him where to find the newlyweds so he could wish them well. And he’d collect his reward and get on with his life.
Cody didn’t need bad tempered heiresses messing with his head. Just because the sunlight kissed her hair didn’t mean he had to waste one more thought on her spoiled highness. His position meant he couldn’t allow sweet thoughts about the object of his mission. Let her husband deal with her nonsense. He’d bet his weight in platinum that the moron who’d attacked his quarry was a man on his identical mission. He hadn’t needed to blunder in like a terminator and risk hurting and frightening the woman, though.
Soon as he captured the elusive husband, he’d haul both their butts back to the Senator. Alexander had promised triple the reward money to get his hands on Jesse Dalton. Triple the bounty would enable him to pay for his mother’s keep with cash to spare. Chasing around the country looking for his missing sister had emptied the family kitty. Her funeral and his widowed mother’s nursing home kept him more strapped for cash than was comfortable. Nursing facilities with round-the-clock medical care cost a mint nowadays.
Beyond caring for his aged mother, he needed the money promised by Alexander to start his own private detective agency to find wayward youths like his kid sister, like young Melissa Vanderbilt-Smythe Dalton, before they wound up dead like his sister. Unfortunately, his good intentions wouldn’t pay for rent or any of the other expenses it took to run such an agency.
This one job would pay enough to get him set up in business. Although ‘job’ wasn’t the right term and left him cold. This was his ‘mission.’ Whether she wanted to be saved or not, Miss Vanderbilt-Smythe was going to be rescued from that no good husband of hers and returned to her worried, loving family and fiancé. He’d already saved the ungrateful woman’s life at least twice.
Once he got her squared away, helped her get her head screwed back on right, he could hire a staff to help countless others. Little did the headstrong young woman know she was helping to pave a path to save others lost like herself.
He couldn’t bring back his sister or ease his family’s pain, but something good could come out of this. Starting with the Vanderbilt-Smythe family reunion.
Traveling at mach speed, the return trip took a fraction of the time. Looking for signs of intruders, for Dalton himself, and for his missing wallet, he circled the still deserted carnival.
He killed the engine, and looked about warily, sensing danger in the air. He curled his f
ingers around his ward’s, holding her tightly when she tried to squirm away. If she had truly married Dalton, he’d deal with that later. Right now, he was her bodyguard.
And if she was legally married to Dalton, he had a sneaking suspicion her family would have it annulled and that the Senator would forgive her transgressions. Alexander seemed crazy in love with the redheaded beauty.
Pangs shot through Cody when he thought of either Alexander or Dalton by Melissa’s side. Neither were the right man for her. But he wasn’t about to try and decide who was. He’d have to be a brave son of a bitch to weather her strong-willed independence.
She stared at their linked hands and dragged her feet in the rock-strewn soil, kicking up a dust cloud. “What do you think you’re doing?”
When he stopped short, she smacked into his chest. Her eyes flashed feral fire up at him. The beauty had spunk all right.
“Someone has to protect you until your husband shows his face. Looks like I’m the only one around.” Pointedly, Cody’s gaze roved about them.
Fire flashing in the depths of her eyes, she hiked her chin regally. “This isn’t the Dark Ages. I’m capable of protecting myself.”
“Uh huh. Like you were able to fight off that Neanderthal this morning unaided?”
Independence and gratitude warred in her eyes. Finally, she licked her lips and muttered, “Thank you. But my husband and I can handle this from here.”
“Okay. Introduce me to your husband and I’ll be gone.” He felt like a skipping disc.
Glaring at him, she planted her hands on her hips and faced off against him. “He’s not due home for awhile. I’ll visit with my carnival friends until he gets home.”
Great! She was still suspicious. Of course she hadn’t eluded Alexander and the authorities being careless. He was amazed she’d stuck with him this long. “That dude wasn’t messing around. Do you want to endanger your friends if he returns? He meant business.” Closing the distance between them, he asked huskily, “Do you know what kind of business he meant?” Not that he expected the truth, but he couldn’t bite back the words. He didn’t understand why the heiress was affecting him this way.
Deadly Love Page 3