The man focused on Seamus. His brows rose, and Seamus knew that the glare that covered his face was solely responsible. Dammit. He didn’t want anyone touching Aislyn but him. For an instant longer, they held gazes, then Maxwell grinned.
"My mistake," he said, his hands falling away from Aislyn.
Seamus let his breath ease out. Good. Hopefully the same scenario wouldn’t reoccur since he intended to hustle Aislyn out of here half an hour tops. He grabbed Aislyn by the hand and tugged her after him, using his larger body to force their way to the other side of the crowded room. There were way to many hungry eyes for his liking. He tightened his grip on Aislyn in a way that spoke ‘mine’ and met the gaze of each predatory male with a challenge of his own.
"What took you so long?" Gill complained. He indicated the drinks that waited on the table. A heartbeat later, he smirked. "Ah! Never mind. You’re here now. Rachel, you remember my partner, Seamus? And this is his...." His mouth curled up in a wicked grin. " ... friend, Aislyn," Gill finished.
Seamus scowled, his hands fisting at his sides. Perhaps now would be a good time to forget their friendship and pummel Gill long and hard. What was so funny? Aislyn was his friend and that was as far as it went. Hell, he was practically betrothed--as soon as he chose the lucky female. So, what if they’d kissed a few times. Didn’t matter. Didn’t count. Friends kissed, didn’t they?
"Quit while you’re ahead," Gill advised as he handed Seamus a drink. "The writing is on the wall. Your single days are numbered," he whispered in an aside that neither woman could hear. "Man, you are history. You’re crazy if you think you can outrun that woman. You are caught--hook, line and sinker."
"You don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Gill smirked again and this time one brown eye closed in a sly wink. "Care to bet on it?"
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A pile of papers plopped onto the top of Aislyn’s overflowing in basket. Her head shot up. "More?"
Gary’s grin held sympathy as he nodded. "Afraid so."
A heart felt sigh escaped. The flood of papers pumped out by the police department seemed never ending. And for some insane reason, it seemed essential that Aislyn study each one and attach a rubber stamp before burying the pages inside filing cabinets. Aislyn jerked her gaze from the offending papers that spewed across her desk to stare at Gary. "Please remind me why I wanted to join the fairy force."
"You wanted adventure."
"Exactly." Frowning down at her right hand, she leaned back in her chair until it squeaked. "Not a mass of paper cuts."
A frown sprinted across Gary’s face. "Ah, girlfriend, whatever do you have in that bag?"
"My lunch. Why?" Aislyn bolted upright in her chair.
Gary shook his head, and the beads he’d had woven into the long extensions the day before clacked together in a soft musical sound. "Because whatever you brought for lunch is still on the hoof. Probably objects to being dish of the day."
Aislyn followed Gary’s gaze and gasped out loud as her bag inched across the linoleum floor.
"What do you need such a big bag for anyway? Do you have that much money?"
"I wish. Things are expensive human side."
"I hear you," Gary agreed. "But that doesn’t answer my question." He stepped behind Aislyn as the bag shot another three inches across the floor. "Why is your lunch moving?"
"Coward. I saw that. And you’re bigger than me too."
"Ain’t my bag moving," Gary pointed out.
"True." Aislyn slithered from her chair and crept toward her bag. Just as her hand touched the bright red elephant appliqué on the side, the bag wriggled. The contents rattled.
Gary leapt back a foot. "Shoot it," he ordered. "Where’s your gun? Shoot it."
Aislyn rolled her eyes. "Good idea, Gary. It’s in the bag."
His eyes widened, the beads clacked in agitation. "Your gun? With your lunch?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, man. I think we’re in trouble."
Aislyn snorted at his theatrics. "Come here and help me."
"Ah-ha. Not me." Gary folded his arms across his skinny chest. "I’m staying right where I am."
"Coward."
"Better a live coward than a dead hero."
In the midst of their argument, the bag emitted a soft sigh.
"Whoa! Did you hear that?" Gary demanded, his eyes bulging.
Aislyn aimed a sour look at Gary, seized the bag and shook it. The closing flap flew open and a small furry beast leapt out. The half grown cat sprang on top of Aislyn’s in-basket and balanced precariously on the pile of papers. It glared at them with huge orange eyes.
"I thought I’d heard that noise before," Aislyn said.
Gary approached the desk, eyeing the cat with misgiving. "I thought you were meant to test the anti-cat remedies, not attract the wee beasties."
As they glared at each other, the cat slid off the mountain of papers. Clawed feet scrambled for traction, papers flew in all directions.
"That looks like the same cat that I saw in the alley last week. I’ve no idea how it came to be inside my bag."
"You’d better get rid of it before the boss turns up." When Aislyn bent to pick the cat up, Gary seized her forearm. "Wait! I’ve a better idea. Why don’t you try out one of the anti-cat remedies on it? You were complaining that you hadn’t been able to find any cats. That fluffy black thing there is your opportunity."
"The remedies are back at the hostel."
"So take the beast home with you."
"Seamus won’t like it," Aislyn muttered.
Gary’s brows shot upward. "Since when do you worry about Seamus’s finer feelings? I thought it was your mission in life to rile him."
"Mmmm." Aislyn considered the cat that was calmly grooming itself. Gary might have a point. It was something that the board hadn’t considered--the supply of cats in the middle of a city. "All right. It’s a good idea, but where do I stash it? I can’t keep it here because Seamus will see it. I can’t take it back to the hostel because those stupid recruits will tell tales."
"Easy. Smuggle the cat in and out of the hostel in your bag, and in the weekends, when you need to test your potions, you can bunk at my flat. Or...." He paused and scratched his chin while his eyes narrowed. "Why don’t you get your own flat? That way you won’t have to put up with the bozos at the hostel, you’ll be able to keep the cat and test your potions without anyone else being the wiser."
"I don’t have enough money--"
"Gary! Where the devil are you?"
"Oops, the boss calleth. I’d better go and see what he wants." Beads clacked as Gary sauntered in the direction of Seamus’s roar. "You’d better do something with that cat before Seamus sees it."
"Gary!"
"In here, boss."
Aislyn scooped up the cat and thrust it back into her bag, then shoved the bag under her desk out of sight.
"There you are. Why didn’t you answer me? Aislyn, haven’t you finished that paperwork yet? We don’t pay you to sit around. Gary, I want a fairy force meeting scheduled for this evening. Do you have any questions before Gill arrives? Good, I need the Scavenger Hunt file. I want to look at all the info again." He dragged a hand through his dark unruly hair, and Aislyn noticed with a trace of concern how exhausted he looked. No wonder he didn’t spend much time at the colony if this was a sample of the workload he carried.
Seamus stared at the desk. "I’ve a niggling feeling that I’ve missed something. I want to go through the file again. Now!"
The last thundered word made Aislyn jump.
"Hell’s teeth! What are the pair of you waiting for?" He stormed into his adjoining office, the slam of the door summing up his mood.
Gary exhaled loudly. "Whew. I thought he was on to the cat for a moment there."
"I do not have a crush on that man," Aislyn stated, her tone crisp and concise.
"Neither do I," Gary added with feeling, still sta
ring at the door that Seamus had disappeared through.
A slow clap of applause sounded, and they both whirled about to face the newcomer. Gill grinned slowly, his brown eyes lit with silent laughter. "I’m pleased to hear that. I’m sure Seamus will be too."
"You did not hear that," Aislyn stated.
Gary’s hair beads clacked as he shook his head. "It was a private conversation."
Gill chuckled and the sound wasn’t reassuring to Aislyn. "Of course it’s my business. Seamus is my best friend." He laughed again as he entered Seamus’s office. The mocking sound was blocked by the thud of the door.
"Are you sure we can’t use magic on the human side?" Aislyn demanded. "If anyone needs a sneaky spell cast on them it’s those two."
Gary sniffed. "I hear you, girlfriend. Your bag’s on the move again. I can see it under the desk."
Aislyn shunted it back out of sight with her foot. "I’ll take it back to my room during my lunch break. I’ll buy a paper too and start looking for a flat. Even sharing with two or three people would have to be better than the hostel."
Gary left for his office, and Aislyn started on the paperwork again, after sorting all the papers that the cat had dislodged. A loud huff of exasperation emerged when she picked up a form in triplicate. Boring. Boring. Boring. This was not exactly what she had envisaged before she left the colony. And the way Seamus hovered over her like a clucky hen was driving her insane. Nuts. Batty. All of the above. She couldn’t move without tripping over the bad-tempered male. His mood had jammed in grumpy, his mouth set in a permanent frown. One black scowl and whomever she’d been speaking to invented a hasty excuse to leave, just to get out of Seamus’s glare range.
Then there was her problems with testing the anti cat measures. Aislyn frowned. She was meant to post her first report tomorrow, and no doubt since her first week was up another package would descend on her tomorrow. She smoothed her shoe over the red elephant on her bag. "You, my little furry friend, are a savior. I think Gary’s right. I’ll take you home with me and start the tests straight away."
* * * *
The alarm chirped with a cheeriness that made Aislyn want to toss it out the window. One hand crept from under the blankets and slapped at the alarm clock. The noise continued--loud, piercing and annoying. Aislyn lifted her head from the pillow and remembered that she had stashed the clock across the other side of the room.
With a loud groan, she crawled from the warmth of her bed. During the night, the cat had curled up against her back, and he grumbled sullenly at the rude awakening.
"Do you think I’m happy about getting out of bed?" she demanded. Goosebumps sprang to life on her bare arms and legs as she hurried across the dark green carpet to shut the pesky alarm up. "Next you’ll be wanting breakfast."
The cat stirred at the mention of food. It bounded off the blue fleece blankets and jumped to the floor then stretched lazily. Exercise completed, it padded over to Aislyn and rubbed against her legs.
"Shower first," Aislyn said firmly. "Then I’ll go and find something for breakfast. Tomorrow, we can move into our new flat, and we can keep our food handy."
Aislyn yanked a faded floral dressing gown from the back of the wooden door, grabbed her towel and toilet bag and headed for the female shower block. Two women leaned against the wall waiting for a free shower. Aislyn attached to the end of the line, and stared straight ahead, pleased that no one expected scintillating conversation at this time of the morning. She stared out the dusty third floor window and noticed that the streetlights were still on. The gloom of the early morning combined with the wisps of fog made the narrow street outside the hostel look forbidding and unwelcoming. Aislyn stirred herself when the line moved.
"O’Sullivan," a masculine voice roared down the passage.
Aislyn straightened from her slouch, her heart upping the tempo. Maybe it was work--a case. "Yeah?"
"Phone."
Rats--probably a furtive message from her mother or Seamus with another lecture. Sighing loudly, Aislyn yielded her place in the line and went to answer the phone.
"Aislyn speaking."
"Hell’s teeth. Where were you? Does it take that long to answer the phone? Why don’t you get a mobile?"
Irritation sliced through Aislyn along with something else that was more complicated and confusing--an emotion that cropped up a lot where Seamus was concerned. It was obvious he didn’t like her presence in Auckland so why did he keep bothering her? If he’d just leave her alone, she was sure she would get over the unhealthy crush she had on him. The trembling hands, uneasy belly and the heat that made her heart pound could be consigned to the past. She rubbed idly at her arm then pressed a little harder when the itching continued.
"Have you taken your pill?"
His voice, although harsh, sent yearning throbbing through her body. She swallowed and hoped she didn’t give herself away with her voice. "I’ve only just got out of bed. Give me a chance."
"I’ll be there in five minutes."
"But--" A loud click signified that the countdown had commenced. Bother the man. If he thought she was going to miss her shower because he was visiting then he could think again. Aislyn stomped back up the stairs and joined the line of five women waiting for their turn in the showers, but she couldn’t quite suppress the surge of eagerness that made her look forward to seeing him again.
Half an hour later, showered and dressed in black jeans and a pale green t-shirt, Aislyn hurried back to her room, her damp curls swinging loosely around her face. Seamus pushed away from the wall outside her door, his scowl making her mutter under her breath.
"I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes."
"I’m here now." Aislyn silently counted to ten. Obviously, his eagerness was not the same as hers. It was the kid-sister syndrome all over again. The kiss in the lift was a figment of her fertile imagination. "What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until I arrived at work on Monday?"
"I have to go away for a while."
Aislyn lowered her voice and leaned toward him. "The colony?"
"For some of the time, but the rest of the week Gill and I are going out to Little Barrier Island to help with security. Aren’t you going to ask me in? I’ve brought breakfast." He held up a bag from Peter’s Bakery.
He was acting strange. Why wouldn’t he look at her? Aislyn opened her door then stopped abruptly. The cat was in there. He’d see it.
"Aislyn, we can’t talk out here. I need to tell you something." Once again, his gaze wandered across the top of her head before skittering away to study the pale yellow walls.
Aislyn sighed. He wasn’t going to change his mind--the stubborn set of his jaw told her that. Silently, she opened the door and stood aside to let him enter. Seamus prowled straight across to the single window in the room, and pushed back the torn net to peer down at the street below. Aislyn shut the door, dumped her dressing gown and toilet bag on the bed and waited for an explosion.
The cat padded out from under the bed, swishing its black tail in the air as if it anticipated a good show. It shot a look at Seamus then sat back on its haunches. "Miaow."
Seamus whirled about. He took one look at the cat then speared her scowl so black Aislyn thought he’d blow a blood vessel. "Have you taken leave of your senses?" His voice was quiet, but it sliced through the air with the preciseness of a surgeon’s knife. "Have you taken your pill?"
Aislyn took two steps back before she realized what she was doing. Halting abruptly, she reclaimed the space she’d yielded. "If it’s the weekend, Gary rings me at eight in the morning. During the week, I take my pill as soon as I arrive at work. We’re following procedure, exactly as you directed. It’s not eight o’clock yet."
"There’s a cat sitting by your bed. If I look under the bed, will there be one there too? Or behind the door?"
Aislyn sniffed and then sauntered over to sit on one of the mismatched chairs that flanked her bed. "Did you come to harangue me or to bring breakfast?"
"I heard you the first time. Do I get breakfast or not?"
Seamus eyed the cat with distaste as he crossed the room to sit on the end of the bed. "The cat is dangerous."
Aislyn gaped at Seamus who sprawled comfortably on her bed. A soft snarl reached her ears, interrupting her frenzied thoughts about touching his arm and smoothing her hands through his hair. She swallowed trying to push her fevered fantasy of kissing and touching away and glanced at the cat. The feline had arched its back, while orange eyes glared at Seamus. Aislyn bit back the urge to chuckle. "Seamus, you’re overreacting. Look at me." She shot to her feet. "Look at me," she repeated insistently. "Joe is scarcely bigger than one of your hands. As long as I take my pills, I’ll be safe."
"That’s not the point." Seamus heart pounded as if he’d just run a three-minute mile. He was sure if he held out his hands, they’d shake. He tucked his hands out of sight and glared at the cat. Joe. Huh! Still, it was best he concentrated on the cat because every time he sneaked a look at Aislyn in her tight T-shirt and form-fitting jeans he wanted to throw her onto the bed and kiss her. Hell’s teeth--that wasn’t all he wanted to do. The need to run his hands through her copper curls and kiss the pale skin at her nape was driving him crazy. Seamus shuffled uncomfortably, willing the blood from his groin. Probably best if he was away for the next week, he decided. As well as pushing his libido to the limits, the female attracted trouble like no one else. Seamus forced his lungs to expand with fresh air but only succeeded in drawing essence of apricots and Aislyn into his befuddled brain. Concentrate, damn it. "Is there a reason you have a cat?" There. That was better. He’d sounded reasonable instead of deranged and cranky.
"It followed me," Aislyn said. "But then I realized it was the answer to my problem."
What problem? She could have come to him. He opened his mouth to snarl the suggestion then hastily snapped his mouth shut. Considering the way he’d snapped and growled lately, maybe not--or so Gill had informed him last night. He reached for the brown bakery bag. "What problem?" he asked mildly, right before he bit into a cream donut. He paused, catching her gaze.
Aislyn Page 14