Summer Reads Box Set: Volume 1

by Freethy, Barbara

  Her breath caught in her throat at the look of intense desire in his eyes. No man had ever looked at her like that. A shiver ran down her spine as he shifted, grazing her breasts with his hard chest.

  "I don't know what's true anymore," he said. "There have been so many lies, secrets, inconsistencies in my life. But I know this: I want you, and I think you want me. Is that enough?"

  A week ago Julia would have said it wasn't nearly enough, that she needed romance and candlelight, soft words, proper dating, promises. But none of those things had ever made her feel as alive as she felt right now. Alex was right. She didn't know what was true anymore, either. The only person who wasn't lying to her was Alex.

  She answered him the only way she could—with a kiss. He gave her a second to lead, then took over, his mouth moving hungrily over hers, demanding entry so his tongue could take possession. She'd never been feasted upon, but that's exactly the way she felt now. His kiss was demanding, consuming, overwhelming, and she didn't want it to end. She gave a small cry of disappointment when he pulled away to kiss a path across her cheek. Then her stomach clenched again when his tongue swirled around her earlobe and he licked a delicious path down the side of her neck.

  Conscious thought deserted her as his hands moved up her sides, his fingers flirting lightly with her breasts. She wanted her clothes off and his hands on her—all over her. Then she wanted to return the favor. In fact, she wanted to start right now. She ran her hands under his shirt, touching his hard, muscle-bound chest. He moved closer to her, pressing his groin into her belly. He was hot and hard, and she was melting fast.

  He yanked her shirt up and over her head so quickly that a strand of her hair caught in one of the buttons, and she yelped with pain.

  "Sorry, sorry," he muttered, pulling her hair free with impatient hands.

  "You'll have to kiss it better."

  "I intend to," he said, his gaze burning into hers. "I intend to taste every inch of you."

  "Oh." Her chest tightened at the promise in his eyes, in his voice.

  He pressed her back against the wall, one hand in her hair, the other playing with the light blue lace trim on her bra. He ran his finger back and forth along the edge, his eyes following the path until she wanted to scream. She caught his hand with hers.

  "Wait," she said.

  "Second thoughts?"

  She didn't answer. She simply flipped open the front clasp on her bra. The edges clung to her breasts. She wondered if she had the nerve to peel them away. He didn't give her the chance as he pushed the bra all the way off. His hands covered her breasts as his mouth returned to hers. She didn't know how they got the rest of their clothes off, but somewhere between the living room and the bedroom, they managed to strip themselves naked. By the time they reached the bed, there was nothing but skin and heat.

  Love, lust, sex—whatever it was—had never been so hot, so impatient, so demanding. And not just on Alex's part, but on hers, too. Julia found herself making impulsive, bold moves she'd never made before. There were no rules with this man, no boundaries, nothing to hold her back. Every touch, every taste was a risk, but for once she met the risk head-on. She didn't know where they would be tomorrow, but tonight Alex was in her arms, and she was in his, and when their bodies came together, everything was right with the world.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Julia woke up to the sun streaming through her bedroom window and Alex shifting restlessly beneath her. She lifted her head from his chest and saw that his eyes were wide open and he was watching her. She self-consciously patted down her hair, sure it must be flying in a hundred different directions. They'd had quite a workout the night before. She felt tired but wonderfully loved.

  "Good morning," she said, feeling a little shy now that it was daylight. She pulled the sheet up over her shoulders.

  He smiled at her, pushing the sheet back down. "You look beautiful in the morning."

  "Oh, please, that can't be true."

  "It's your eyes. They're so clear, so blue. They're like a window into your heart. You show all your emotions."

  She wondered what emotions she was showing right now and was tempted to look away, but there had been nothing except honesty between them until now, and she didn't want to change that. "Your eyes hide everything. I'm never completely sure what you're thinking."

  "I like it that way."

  "I'm sure you do." She traced his jaw with her finger and saw his eyes darken and his lips part. They'd made love twice already and it still wasn't enough. "We should get up," she said.

  "I'm already there," he replied with a grin.

  She laughed. "I can see that. Actually, I can feel that." She pressed her thigh into his groin and his arms came around her back. "What are we going to do about it?"

  "I have a few ideas."

  "Really? You haven't used them all up?"

  "I haven't even come close." He rolled her onto her back, pinning her beneath him. His hands cupped her face, and the smile faded from his lips as his expression turned serious.

  She wondered what he was thinking. She was afraid to ask.

  "Julia," he said, then stopped.

  She waited for him to finish. He didn't.

  "What?" she asked.

  He shook his head, then kissed her, long, slow, and tender, like he was never going to let her go. She ran her hands up and down his back, loving the weight of him in her arms, the way he moved and touched her, the way he made her feel wanted and loved. Not that they'd spoken of love. Maybe for Alex it was just desire, chemistry, physical attraction, but she liked him. She liked him a lot. Probably too much. He'd never promised to stay or to love her. And one day he would go, and she'd probably find herself with a broken heart.

  But he wasn't leaving today, and if today was all she was going to have, she'd take it.

  * * *

  Hours later, Julia was dressed and back in the car, this time with Alex behind the wheel. She'd thought it would take a huge argument to convince him to go back to St. Helena to see his father, but he'd brought it up himself. He said he knew they had unfinished business.

  Despite his resolute determination to get to the bottom of things, she could feel his tension as they drove north on the freeway. The closeness they'd shared the night before evaporated with each passing mile. She knew Alex wasn't thinking about her, but about his father and what he would say next.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  "I'm fine," he said briefly.

  "Are we back to fine again?"

  "All right. I'm not looking forward to this meeting. In fact, I keep thinking about taking the next exit and making a U-turn."

  "If you want to, you can."

  He shook his head. "No, I don't run away. I never run away."

  She didn't remind him that just yesterday he'd done exactly that.

  "Okay, maybe I retreat," he amended, giving her a sideways glance. "Then I go back and do what needs to be done."

  "You're not doing it alone."

  He patted her thigh. "I know, and I appreciate that fact."

  She smiled at him. "I'm really glad you didn't leave, Alex. It means a lot to me that you came back last night." She saw his face stiffen and realized she was treading into dangerous territory regarding their personal relationship. "Don't worry. I'm not asking you for anything," she said quickly.

  "Dammit," he swore.

  "What? Jeez, don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

  "There's someone following us." He tipped his head toward the rearview mirror. "Since we left the city, a black Explorer has been on our tail. I'm going to change lanes. Take a look through the side mirror and tell me what you see."

  Julia saw the car immediately and her pulse quickened. "I see two men. I don't recognize them." The Explorer moved behind them, staying three cars back.

  "Let's see if they're serious," Alex said.

  She didn't like the sound of that, but she didn't have a chance to voice her concern.

  Ale
x waited until the last second to take the next exit, veering across four lanes to do so. The black Explorer attempted to move over but was cut off by a truck and a loud booming horn. Once off the freeway, Alex drove under the overpass, making several twists and turns until they were a few miles from the freeway in some part of Napa that Julia had never seen before. Alex pulled the car into the parking lot of a supermarket, ducking in between a minivan and a truck, then turned off the engine.

  They had a good view of the only entrance into the parking lot, and they sat for several minutes without speaking, waiting to see if the Explorer had managed to catch up with them.

  "You must have lost them." Julia finally released the breath she'd been holding. "Who do you think they were?"

  "I have no idea, but they were definitely following us."

  "One of them could have been the guy you chased down Union Street. Although I didn't see a baseball cap on anyone's head. What do we do now?"

  Alex thought for a moment, then reached behind him to grab the map. "Let's see if we can find a back way to St. Helena that doesn't take us on the freeway."

  After reviewing the map, Alex drove back roads to their destination. It was slower going, but they arrived at Caribbean Court without any sign of the black Explorer.

  "I wonder if anyone followed us here yesterday," Julia mused.

  "I was just thinking the same thing."

  "I hope we didn't put your father in any danger."

  Alex pulled up in front of his father's house. He threw the car into park so fast, Julia almost hit the windshield. She put out a hand to brace herself. "What's wrong?"

  "Look," he said.

  She wasn't sure she wanted to look. Slowly, she turned her head, licking her lips, praying she wasn't going to see the men they'd just tried to outrun, or something even more horrible.

  It was a sign that had caught Alex's attention. The For Rent sign planted on the front lawn hadn't been there yesterday. Her gaze darted to the driveway. The beat-up Chevy was gone. The garage door was closed; the only sign that a car had ever been there was a puddle of black oil on the driveway. She glanced back at the house. The curtains and windows were closed up as if someone had left and was never coming back.

  She swallowed hard. What had happened here after they'd left yesterday? Had someone gone after Charles?

  "God, Alex," she murmured. "What if they...?" She couldn't say it. She didn't even want to think it. She reminded herself that their apartments had been broken into when they weren't home. No one had been hurt—yet.

  "Let's go," Alex said decisively.

  She shot him a quick look, but he was already moving out of the car. She caught up to him on the front porch. The screen door was slightly ajar and crooked. Had it been like that yesterday? Or was it evidence of violence? She wasn't sure she wanted to go with him, but Alex was already ringing the bell, pounding on the door, shouting his father's name.

  No one answered. She could feel Alex's tension, his fear. She grabbed his arm when he reached for the doorknob.

  "Wait," she said. "Maybe we don't want to go in there."

  "Believe me, I don't want to go in there," he replied, "but we have to try."

  It was too easy. The knob turned in his hand.

  Alex entered the room first. Julia clung to his back, peering around him as he stopped in the living room. She'd expected to see chaos, destruction. Instead, she saw nothing. Everything was gone. There wasn't one stick of furniture left in the room, no evidence of the vase Alex had broken, no sign of the television or the couch. A fine layer of dust covered the hardwood floor, dust that appeared to be untouched, as if no one had ever been in the house. But Charles Manning had stood in this room only yesterday. His belongings, his life, his dog, for God's sake, had all been real. Hadn't they? She blinked, wondering if she was somehow dreaming.

  Alex stepped away from her.

  "Where are you going?" she asked quickly, reluctant to be alone.

  "To check the bedroom. Wait here." He returned a moment later, his expression grim. "He's gone, not a trace of him left. He disappeared into thin air just like he did before."

  "How? How does someone leave that fast? It was yesterday afternoon, barely twenty-four hours ago." She felt incredibly disappointed and also unnerved. There was something about the empty house, the fact that someone had gone to a lot of trouble to wipe Charles Manning off the face of the earth again, that was frightening. She hoped nothing had happened to him.

  "My father must have had help. Damn him."

  "Do you think he did this?"

  "He disappeared once before."

  She heard the bitterness in his voice and knew he was hurting again. He'd taken a huge personal risk to come here and face his father, and he'd been deserted again. The sound of a car drew her toward the window. She pulled the curtain aside to see a silver Honda Civic park in front of Alex's car.

  "Who do we have here?" Alex muttered, as he peered over her shoulder.

  Daniel Brady got out of the car. It wasn't the same car he'd driven to the beach. She idly wondered how many he had. Brady looked around him before making his way up to the front of the house. He wore a navy blue suit today with a white shirt and a conservative tie. He looked like a corporate businessman more than a government agent—or whatever he was. Alex's friend in the State Department had never called back with that information. Julia still wasn't sure exactly what Brady's job entailed. Maybe it was time to find out.

  Brady opened the front door without bothering to knock. He didn't appear surprised to see them standing in the living room.

  "Where is he?" Alex asked.

  "I'm sorry. That's classified," Daniel said smoothly.

  "Then why are you here?"

  "He thought you'd come back. He wanted you to know he's all right, but that your visit yesterday compromised his safety and yours. He had to leave."

  "How did our visit compromise anyone's safety?" Julia asked. "Were we followed?"

  "It's possible."

  "So nothing specific happened," Alex said. "This was just a preemptive strike."

  "Exactly. I told you to drop it, Alex. You don't know who you're dealing with."

  "Because you won't tell us," Julia snapped. "If you don't, Alex and I may keep stumbling into trouble. Maybe you should explain what's going on."

  Brady withdrew an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. "We're providing you with a background, Miss DeMarco."

  "Excuse me?"

  "Everything you need is in here. Addresses where you lived with your mother before she married your stepfather. We've also listed a job where your mother worked and character references who can testify to her presence in Berkeley during the time in question. We have photographs of you as a toddler playing in the park in Berkeley, long before that picture in Russia was ever taken."

  Julia stared at him in amazement. "How can you do that? How can you have pictures of me when I don't have pictures of me?'

  "Technology is amazing."

  "So it's all fake, and you expect me to use it? Why would I do that?"

  "Because you're in danger. And not just you, but your family, your sister, your stepfather, and everyone attached to you. The break-in at your apartment was only the first step."

  "How do you know about the break-in?" she asked.

  "We have contacts in the police department."

  "Do you know what they were looking for?"

  "I assume something that you acquired in Russia."

  "What do you mean, the first step?" Alex interrupted. "What do you foresee happening next?"

  "A direct confrontation. Julia has something they want."

  Brady's voice was so deadly serious, it sent chills down her spine. "But I don't know what that something is. You have to give me more information," she pleaded.

  "Believe me, I'd like to help you, but I can't. My hands are tied. I'm sorry."

  "You're not sorry," Alex cut in. "If you were, you'd help us."

  "This is above my
level. And I am sorry, because your father was a good friend of mine."

  "Don't you mean is a good friend?" Alex asked.

  "The last time we spoke, you neglected to mention that my father was alive. How could you make me think I was responsible for his death?"

  Daniel tipped his head in apology. "I wanted you to realize this was serious business. It was a miscalculation."

  Julia couldn't believe the coolness of his tone or his words. "A miscalculation? Don't you have any feelings at all?"

  "In my business, feelings get you killed."

  "Apparently it's not all that difficult to be reborn again," Alex said sarcastically. "My father did it. Sarah did it. Did you set up her death, too? Were you the one who called her parents and told them she'd died in a fire?"

  "I had nothing to do with Sarah."

  Brady sounded sincere, but Julia wasn't sure she could believe him. He obviously made a living with his lies and his secrets.

  "Take the envelope," Brady said, holding it out to Julia. "Take yourself out of the line of fire."

  Julia thought about doing exactly what he asked. Wouldn't it be easier to end it now before someone else got hurt, maybe someone she loved? Then again, she'd lived her whole life looking the other way and not asking questions. She didn't want to spend the rest of her days doing the same thing. "I can't," she said.

  "You're making a mistake."

  "At least it will be mine to make. Everyone else has had their turn."

  Brady turned to Alex. "Can't you talk some sense into her?"

  "I think she's making perfect sense."

  Brady held up his hands in surrender. "All right. But if you change your mind, you'll have this. Take it."

  He pushed the envelope into her hand, and she thought about what it contained. She glanced at Alex, having second thoughts. "Do you think I'm putting my family in danger?"

  He met her gaze with clear, honest eyes. "You might be, but it's your call."

  "I guess I should think about it."