Cornered

by Turner, Linda; Weaver, Ingrid; Miller, Julie

  They had dinner at a little French restaurant located on a secluded section on the river. They were shown to a candlelit table for two under the stars, and the night turned magical. The food was delicious, but later, Josephine couldn’t have said what she ate. All she remembered was the touch of Wiley’s foot under the table as he played footsy with her and the almost physical stroke of his eyes as they wandered over her.

  “Dance with me,” he said huskily when they’d finished eating and the waiter had taken their plates away.

  Surprised, she looked around. “Here? There’s no band.”

  “There is across the river,” he said, nodding to the bar across the river, where couples swayed to the romantic song the live band was playing. Rising to his feet, he held out his hand and smiled.

  She could no more resist him than she could convince her heart to stop pounding when he smiled at her as if she was the only woman in the world. Placing her hand in his, she let him gently tug her to her feet and into his arms. Their waiter smiled, as did the other patrons seated around the restaurant, but Josephine never noticed. She was in his arms. Nothing else mattered.

  When she melted against him as if there was nowhere else on earth she would rather be, Wiley swallowed a groan. He should have taken her home right then and there and ended this madness before it went any further, but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go. When Boonie had told him she was leaving her half of the business to her great-niece, the librarian, he’d never expected his new partner to be anything but a prim and proper pain in the neck. Instead, she’d turned out to be the most fascinating woman he’d ever met.

  Josie moved with him to the sounds of the old Frank Sinatra number being played by the band across the river, and the soft, subtle scent of her perfume drifted between them, teasing his senses. Urging her closer, he knew he was playing with fire, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Over the course of the last two days, he’d pretended to be her lover for the sake of work, but he didn’t want to pretend any more. And that shook him to the core. What had she done to him?

  He was, he realized, getting in too deep, too fast. If he’d had a brain in his head, he would have ended things right then and there and taken the lady home. But he only had so much willpower, dammit, and when she was in his arms, there was no way in hell he could make himself let her go. Kissing her ear, the side of her neck, he took her from one dance to another.

  Lost in the feel and heat and softness of her, he never noticed the passage of time until their waiter appeared and discreetly cleared his throat. When he pointed to his watch, Wiley realized with a start that the rest of the diners had left and the restaurant was about to close.

  Shocked, he started to laugh. “It’s time to get out of here,” he told Josie, grinning.

  Blinking as though she was coming out of a daze, she lifted her head from where it rested against his shoulder and frowned. “Why?”

  “Because they can’t lock up until we leave,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s after ten, sweetheart. We’ve been here all evening.”

  “Are you kidding? It can’t be!”

  When she glanced at her watch and blushed, Wiley wanted to pull her right back into his arms. After he paid their bill, however, he had to be content with taking her hand, instead, and walking her back home.

  On her perch in the living room, Ethel stirred and observed them with what looked like irritation in her eyes. “Turn out the light!”

  Chuckling, Wiley did just that. In the darkness, Josie grinned up at him. “I guess she told us.”

  “She’s cranky when she doesn’t get enough sleep,” he said. “Boonie was the same way.”

  In the darkness, Ethel grumbled under her breath, then settled down to sleep. Wiley knew he should have taken that as his sign to leave, but when he stared down at Josie in the dark shadows of the night, leaving was the last thought in his head. He’d been waiting all night for a chance to kiss her, and this time, it would be for himself, not because some lowlife might be watching and he couldn’t take the chance that either one of them might be recognized.

  “I had a great time tonight,” he said huskily. “I loved dancing with you.”

  She smiled and had no idea how she glowed. “It was wonderful. I didn’t want it to end.”

  “It doesn’t have to,” he rasped, and reached for her.

  A kiss, he told himself. Be content with just a kiss.

  He should have been. It seemed as if they’d known each other for years, but it was only a matter of days since she’d first stepped into the office and introduced herself. Considering that—and the heat she stirred in him just by breathing—it was way too soon to jump into anything other than a kiss.

  So why couldn’t he let her go?

  Because she lifted her mouth to his before he even touched her. Because she kissed him back hungrily, sweetly, and slipped her arms around his neck as if she would never let him go. Because just that easily, she made him want her so badly that he burned.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” he rasped, kissing her again and again. “I’ve been wanting to do this all evening.”

  “Me, too,” she said with a groan as his hands slid over her caressingly. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “Good,” he growled. “Because I’m not.”

  Crazy about her, insane with need, he swung her up into his arms and carried her into her darkened bedroom. A few short minutes later, he laid her on the bed and reached for the zipper of her skirt. He was still struggling with it in the dark when she unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders.

  When her hands moved over his shoulders, tracing every muscle, he abandoned her skirt to snatch her sweater over her head. An instant later, he pulled her back in his arms for a scorching kiss. When he finally let her up for air, he was stretched out on the bed and his legs were twined with hers. When he reached for her zipper again, it slid down easily. A heartbeat later, the rest of their clothes went flying.

  Gathering her close, skin against skin, he moved against her and Josie gasped softly. How long had she wanted him so badly? It seemed like forever. He stroked and teased and kissed his way up and down her body, and she forgot to think, forgot to breathe. He filled her senses, filled her, and she’d never felt so wonderful in her life.

  When she came apart in his arms, Wiley very nearly lost what was left of his control. Groaning, he fought to hold on, to savor her release, to draw out the pleasure until they were both out of their mind with need, but he was fighting a losing battle. She was so sweet, so hot, and when she tightened her arms around him, urging him closer, she destroyed him. With a groan, he gave himself up to the need that tightened around him like a fist and lost himself in her.

  She was falling in love with him.

  Lying in his arms, feeling more complete than she’d ever felt in her life, she was almost asleep when the thought came out of the darkness to jerk her wide awake. Wiley never noticed. With his arms around her, her head on his bare chest, he soothed her with his stroking hands and slowly drifted to sleep.

  Her heart slamming against her ribs, Josie didn’t understand how he could possibly sleep at a time like this. Didn’t he realize she was falling in love with him? She’d never loved anyone before. Did he love her? Should she ask him? She felt like a teenager suffering from her first crush, and she didn’t know what to do. There were no books she knew of that she could study, no standard rules of procedure for falling in love for the first time in her life. She felt wonderful, on top of the world, terrified. All she needed in order for her world to be perfect was for him to tell her he loved her, too.

  He didn’t, unfortunately, say a word.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, she drove him back to the old polo field to get his motorcycle. Relaxed, he teased her just as he always did and didn’t say a word about the previous night. Pain squeezing her heart, Josephine followed his lead, but it wasn’t easy. She couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened between them. Sh
e was falling irrevocably in love with him, and he didn’t seem to notice—or return her feelings. And that hurt. All she wanted to do was drop him off, then go back home so she could cry.

  “You’re going to go back to the office and work on the report for Olivia Sanchez?” he asked as she pulled up to his motorcycle.

  It’s Sunday—I need the day off, she almost told him, only to bite back the words just in time. Work would, she realized, distract her, and right then, she needed to think about anything other than the fact that Wiley wasn’t in love with her.

  All business, she said quietly, “I was going to drop the film off for development, then work on the report. What about you? What do you have to do today?”

  “Paperwork,” he said with a grimace. “I got behind when Boonie died and I haven’t caught up yet. So I guess I’ll see you back at the office.”

  When he pushed open the passenger door, then hesitated, she thought he was going to say something. His eyes searched hers, and Josie actually felt her heart skip a beat. Holding her breath, she waited for him to say something, anything, but he’d already thought better of it. “See you later,” he said huskily, and stepped out of the car.

  Fighting tears, she didn’t dare look at him or she would have cried. As soon as he slammed the car door, she drove off and told herself not to look back. He’d given her directions to a camera shop where she could have the photos developed in an hour, so when she turned right at the next corner, the opposite direction he was going, he was lost to view. Only then did she let the tears flow.

  Caught up in her misery, she didn’t realize she had a low tire until it suddenly went completely flat. Alarmed, she quickly pulled over onto the shoulder and cut the engine. “Well, this is just great!” she said aloud, swiping at the tears that trailed down her cheeks. “Wiley’s headed back to the office and I get to change a flat. It must be my lucky day.”

  Feeling sorry for herself, she reached for her cell phone and punched in the number of her road service. She knew how to change a flat, of course, but she just didn’t feel like getting her hands dirty. Not when all she wanted to do was cry.

  When she hung up a few minutes later, however, she was tempted to call the road service back and cancel. It would be fifteen to thirty minutes before anyone could arrive to help her, and by that time, she could have the flat changed and be halfway to the tire store to have it fixed.

  The decision made, she reached for her cell phone again, but before she could make the call, a vehicle pulled up behind her. Help, at last, she thought with a smile, and pushed open her door. “Thank you for stopping—”

  The rest of her words died in her throat at the sight of the man stepping from the black SUV parked directly behind her. Roberto Sanchez. Horrified, she didn’t believe for a minute that he had come across her by chance.

  His first words confirmed it. “You’ve been following me,” he said coldly. “Who the hell are you?”

  The office seemed empty without her, and that surprised the hell out of Wiley. It wasn’t like they’d worked together for years. And even if they had, he’d just left her. How could he possibly miss her so soon? He didn’t even know her that well.

  You know her well enough to know her smile, a voice in his head pointed out. And what about her taste? Her scent? Out of all the women in the world, you would know her kiss even if you were blindfolded and on the dark side of the moon. What do you mean…you don’t know her that well? Your heart recognized her the second she walked into the office. What else is there to know?

  Stunned, he sat at his desk as if turned to stone, unable to deny the truth when it hit him right in the face. He was falling in love with her! And he didn’t even know how it had happened. He played the field—he always had. Everyone in his family was divorced and miserable, so he’d decided a long time ago that he wanted nothing to do with marriage. But Josie made him think of wedding bells and kids and holding her hand when she was in labor. He wanted to go to church with her and sleep with her in his arms for the rest of his life. He didn’t care that they hardly knew each other. He’d been hers from the first moment his eyes met hers. And he had to tell her. Now!

  Suddenly noticing how late it was, he frowned. Where the hell was she? She’d told him she was dropping the film off, but even then, she should have made it to the office twenty minutes ago. Had she decided to run some other errands? She didn’t have to answer to him, of course, but she could have at least called to let him know that she’d be back later than expected. After all, they were partners, and keeping in touch was just common courtesy. Maybe he’d just call her and tell her that.

  But when he punched in the numbers of her cell phone, she didn’t answer. He tried to tell himself that she was probably caught in traffic and didn’t want to take her hands off the wheel to answer the phone, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut that something was wrong. And he’d learned a long time ago to trust his gut.

  Maybe she’d had car trouble, he thought worriedly. Was she all right? For all he knew, she didn’t even have her cell phone with her. He’d just retrace the route she took and see what had happened to her. If nothing was wrong, then she could rib him the rest of their lives about being a worry wart. He could handle that. What he couldn’t handle was something happening to her.

  Jumping onto his motorcycle, he quickly retraced the route to where she’d dropped him off at the old polo field, then followed the directions he’d given Josie to the camera store where he usually had film developed. The second he turned the first corner, his heart stopped dead at the sight of her car parked on the side of the road, the rear right tire flat as a pancake. And parked right behind her was Roberto Sanchez’s Mercedes SUV. His vehicle, like Josie’s, was empty.

  Sanchez had her.

  Wiley couldn’t ever remember tasting pure fear before, but he tasted it then. Swearing, he braked to a stop behind the SUV. Across the street was the entrance to a subdivision. Sanchez wouldn’t have taken her there—if he was going to hurt her, he’d take her some place isolated, some place where there were no witnesses…some place like the woods right next to where the vehicles were parked on the side of the road.

  Quickly reaching for his cell phone, he punched in 911. “He’s taken her into the woods on the north side of the polo field,” he told the dispatcher after giving a quick summary of the situation. “Get someone over here quickly. I’m going in after them.”

  “I’ll have someone there in a matter of minutes, sir,” the dispatcher said disapprovingly. “Please wait and let the officers do their job.”

  “The hell I will,” he growled, and hung up. A split second later, he rushed into the woods.

  Roberto Sanchez wasn’t a man who wore his rage on his sleeve. He didn’t rant and rave or cuss her out, he just grabbed her by the arm with a control that was frightening and forcibly marched her into the woods before she could do anything but gasp.

  Hurrying to keep up with his long strides, Josie had never been more terrified in her life. He hadn’t made a single threat, but he hadn’t had to. His cold black eyes had spoken volumes. He was livid and someone was going to pay. She was that someone.

  “There’s no reason for force,” she said as he jerked to a stop and his long fingers bit into her arm like talons. “If you’ll give me a chance to explain—”

  Lightning-quick, he jerked her arm up behind her back. “Who hired you?”

  Hot fire streaked from her shoulder to her elbow. Crying out in pain, she gasped, “No one!”

  “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m an idiot,” he warned. “You’ll die regretting it. Now I’m going to ask you one more time. Who hired you to follow me?”

  Fear clutching her by the throat, she almost blurted out, “Your wife!” But the words wouldn’t come. How could she tell him Olivia had hired her? For all she knew, he’d go home and kill her…or have someone do it for him. Just the thought of that chilled her to the bone.

  “I’m a librarian from Seattle,” she blur
ted out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  For a moment, she thought he believed her. Surprise flaring in his eyes, he dropped his hand. Relieved, she released her breath in a rush…and never even saw the backhanded slap that knocked her off her feet.

  Her scream echoed through the trees.

  A hundred yards away and closing fast, Wiley felt his heart stop cold. Sanchez had hurt her! Enraged, he ran like a man possessed through the trees, bursting into the small clearing where Sanchez held Josie just as the man jerked her to her feet and drew back his clenched fist. Growling low in his throat, Wiley launched himself at Sanchez.

  He hit him hard from the side and wrapped his arms around him, dragging him to the ground and away from Josie. Caught off guard, the older man grunted as he landed on a sharp rock, but it took more than that to bring down a bully like Sanchez. Swearing, he was back on his feet almost instantly and throwing punches like a heavyweight.

  Wiley took the first one with a grunt. The second one sent his temper, which was already boiling, over the edge. He was quicker and younger than Sanchez, and, snarling he landed three hard shots before the older man knew what hit him. Staggering, Sanchez started to sink to his knees, but he wasn’t done yet. He muttered a curse, clenched his jaw, and forced himself to his feet. Before he was fully erect, he lunged at Wiley.

  In the distance, the whine of sirens cut through the silence of the woods, but Wiley hardly noticed. His eyes locking with the older man’s, he waited for his next move. He didn’t have to wait long. With the last of his energy, Sanchez swung at him.