Lana was aware of Riley’s tension growing with each minute that passed, with each person who joined the chaos in the room. She tried to focus on setting up her booth, on the pleasure of seeing her pieces displayed against the deep-purple velvet she used as a backdrop, but it was hard to stay focused with Riley hovering around her.
She was not only aware of the growing tension in him but also the heady scent of clean male and slightly spicy cologne that clung to him and the welcome heat of his body whenever he was near.
By the time the doors opened to admit the general public, Lana was as much on edge as Riley appeared to be, but her anxiety was less about the fact that somebody might be after her and more about the fact that within mere hours she would be sharing a hotel room with Riley.
She felt fairly safe in the gathering crowd, thinking that Greg and his partner wouldn’t be foolish enough to try anything here where there were so many potential witnesses.
She felt distinctly unsafe about sleeping in the same room with Riley, perhaps because she’d acknowledged to herself that maybe a simple hook-up with him wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
As people began to fill the room, Riley moved behind her front table to stand next to her. She glanced at him and frowned as she saw his narrowed eyes, the lines of his face taut and pulled into a forbidding frown.
“If you don’t relax a little bit you’re going to scare any potential buyers away from my booth,” she said. “You look like you could snap at any moment.”
“Sorry,” he replied and smiled. “I’ll try to look more inviting.”
She averted her gaze from him. Jeez, if he looked any more inviting she’d be tempted to jump his bones right now. What was wrong with her? Why was she thinking about getting Riley into bed, about making love to him, when she knew there was no future with him?
She’d read somewhere that often when in danger or believing they were facing death people wanted to have sex as a way of reaffirming life.
Maybe her feelings for Riley were really nothing more than the fear that she might die before she was held in a man’s arms again, before she experienced the pleasure of lovemaking once more.
As a couple walked up to her booth she shoved those thoughts out of her head and focused on what she’d come here for—selling jewelry.
Riley felt like he might shatter at any moment. No job he’d ever done felt as nerve-racking as protecting Lana.
With each minute that passed the room became more and more crowded with people coming far too close to her for his comfort. As he kept her in his personal space, another kind of tension built with every minute that passed.
Desire.
It slammed into him with the fruity scent of her shampoo, the crisp, clean fragrance of her perfume and the smile that lit her features each time somebody approached her booth.
When he’d first met her he’d believed she wasn’t his type of woman, that her fresh-faced beauty wasn’t the kind that moved him in any way, but he’d been wrong. So very wrong.
He found her shiny blond hair enticing and the sparkle in her eyes enchanting. And he didn’t even want to think about how the swell of her breasts against her blouse and the shapeliness of her legs beneath her skirt affected him.
But his desire for her stemmed from more than her physical appeal. Over their time together he’d come to know her better than any woman he’d known in his life. He respected her inner strength and the way she mothered Haley.
When he was around her he felt a kind of peace he’d never known before. She was as comfortable as an old shirt and yet as exciting as a new exotic sports car. When she laughed he felt as if finally everything was right in the world.
All of these feelings combined with his need to keep her safe, to make sure that he got her out of this mess not only alive but okay both mentally and physically.
“The necklace not only has earrings to match, but also a bracelet,” Lana said as she showed a well-dressed woman the set. “As you can see, the pattern is a takeoff of autumn leaves.”
She was a good salesman, not pushy but displaying her own love of her items, and that seemed to be the best selling point of all.
She not only shared with the potential customers what her inspiration had been while designing a particular piece but also the meaning of the stones and gems she used to create it.
Business was brisk and Riley remained on guard, making sure nobody came too close to her. He wanted to believe that the fact that they were in the middle of a crowd would keep her safe, but he knew better. In the crush and chaos of a crowd a perpetrator could kill and easily disappear among a sea of faces.
There were other agents in the area also keeping an eye on the crowd and on Lana, but Riley had no idea where they were or how close they might be if trouble arrived. He’d caught a glimpse of Frank Morrel earlier, but at the moment the agent was nowhere in Riley’s sight.
At seven-thirty she called her friend’s house to bid Haley good night. As she spoke to her daughter her features radiated with love, and Riley felt a swell in his heart as he thought of little Haley with her bright smile and happy laugh.
He’d never thought about having kids before, but if he ever had a daughter he hoped she would be as sweet and loving as Haley.
By eight o’clock the crowd had begun to thin and Riley felt some of the tension in his muscles begin to ease. With fewer people coming to the booth he had less to worry about. He sat on the folding chair next to hers and breathed a deep sigh.
“You okay?” she asked. Her eyes shone with a brilliance that nearly stole his breath away, and her cheeks were flushed with a charming color. The sales had been brisk, and it was obvious she was happy.
“I’ll be fine when it’s just the two of us in the hotel room, safe and sound,” he replied.
“Maybe we can order in a late supper. We didn’t stop to eat anything, and I’m hungry.”
So was he, but unless the menu offered Lana à la carte he doubted he would find anything on it to satisfy his hunger.
She got up as a gentleman approached the front display table and Riley followed her, far too close to be a mere shadow.
By the time nine o’clock had arrived Riley felt as if he’d been on bodyguard duty for days. Every muscle in his body ached with the tension that had kept him hyperalert for the past several hours. He couldn’t believe they were going to do this all over again tomorrow. And it would be a longer day. He stifled a groan at the thought.
“I just need to pack all this up in my jewelry case so we can take it all with us to the hotel room,” she said as she began picking up the items and placing them in the rolling carrier.
“I can help. I promise I’ll be careful.”
She turned and smiled at him, the smile sending a shockwave of heat through him. “I’m trusting you with my body. I think I can trust you with my jewelry,” she said.
When she smiled at him like that he was the last man she should be trusting with her body.
They began clearing the front display table first.
“It looked like you had a good evening,” he said as he picked up a heavy, attractive bronze necklace. “It seemed like everyone who came to the booth bought something.”
She laughed and reached across him for another necklace. “Not everyone, but it was a pretty good day.”
She had no idea that her smile, the sound of her laughter only increased the tension inside him. The fact that she was so unaware of her own desirability only increased his desire for her.
When they’d finished clearing off the front table he turned to the one on the side and froze. Nestled between a hand-painted chunky bracelet and a matching necklace was a sprig of baby’s breath.
Instantly his hand went to the butt of his gun and his gaze shot around the area, but there was nobody nearby for him to fear.
“Riley?”
Lana’s voice came from somewhere behind him. “Is everything all right?”
He whirled around to face her, his heart pump
ing with a new burst of adrenaline. “No, everything isn’t all right. Let’s get these things together and get out of here.”
She stepped up next to him. “What’s wrong?”
Her gaze fell on the baby’s breath and she gasped, the color in her cheeks fading away as she clutched Riley’s arm. “When did that happen?”
“I don’t know, but we’re packing up and getting out of here. I knew this was a bad idea.” Dammit, he hadn’t seen anyone in particular in the sea of faces that had passed through. Whoever had placed the flower there must have done it when there was a crowd around the table.
“Calm down,” she said softly as the color began to return to her cheeks. “I am definitely not leaving.
We’re going to finish packing up my things and we’re going to go to the hotel room and then tomorrow morning I’ll be right back here. He doesn’t get to win. Do you hear me, Riley? This was just a stupid attempt to scare me and I refuse to let him win.” Her voice rang with anger as she clutched his arm.
He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly, allowing himself to do as she asked, to calm down.
She dropped her hand and took a step back from him. “For all we know he paid some kid to put that there. His goal was to frighten me, and he’s probably sitting at home now gleefully waiting for us to pull back in the driveway.” She shook her head and began to finish packing the last of the jewelry items.
“Nobody is going to take this weekend away from me. Not you, not the FBI and definitely not Greg Cary,” she exclaimed. “We don’t even know for sure if he’s responsible for all this.”
He watched her work for a moment. What he’d like to do was whisk her off to some foreign land where Greg or whoever couldn’t touch her, but she wouldn’t agree to that any more than she intended to agree with him about heading back to the house tonight.
And what if they all were wrong? What if it wasn’t Greg after all? Then he had no idea whom to keep away from her, who might be responsible.
He had worked hard all his life to make sure he never cared about anyone. But somehow this slender blonde with her freckles and smile had dug deep under his defenses.
It scared him, the fact that he cared about her. It scared him almost as much as the idea of Greg somehow getting to her.
He certainly had no illusions of a happy ending where they were concerned. She’d already made it clear to him that she was still grieving for the husband she’d lost. The right woman at the wrong time.
It was just his luck.
By nine-thirty everything was packed, and together they left and headed across the street to their hotel.
Riley didn’t relax again until he’d unlocked their hotel-room door and ushered her inside. He instantly claimed the bed closest to the door by throwing his duffel bag on top and then motioned her to the one on the other side of the nightstand.
“The first thing I’m doing is calling for room service,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed closest to the phone. “I’m getting a burger. Would you like something?”
Something? Oh yes. With just that simple question she’d set him on fire. Maybe it was the fact that they were in a room where the focal point was the two beds. The lighting was low, the mood was intense, and all he wanted was to stretch her out across one of the beds and make love to her until dawn.
“Riley?” Her cheeks flamed, and he realized he’d been staring at her.
“A burger sounds fine.”
He walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside to stare out on the darkened streets below as she placed the order.
“I’m going to go take a quick shower,” she said as she hung up the phone.
“Okay,” he replied, but didn’t turn from the window. He didn’t want to think about her standing naked beneath a hot spray of water. He didn’t want to fantasize about the slide of the soap against her skin.
What he needed to do was call Larry Carson and tell him that despite the fact there were agents in the room, in spite of Riley’s vigilance, somebody had placed baby’s breath on the table.
How had they missed it? Even as the question filled his head he knew the answer. There had been dozens of people surrounding Lana’s tables at times, so it would have been easy for somebody to surreptitiously drop the flowers on the table.
It had been a promise, an acknowledgment that although she’d managed to escape the first time, she was still their intended target. And that meant she was still marked for death.
Chapter Nine
Lana stood beneath the shower and tried to fight the feeling of impending doom. The sight of that flower had shaken her up more than she’d admitted to Riley.
It was a reminder that they hadn’t forgotten about her, that they were still watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to get to her.
Still, the one thing she didn’t want to do was play their game. Logically she knew it had been an attempt to terrify her. They wanted her to run home with her tail tucked between her legs, and she refused to do that.
She turned off the water and grabbed the towel awaiting her on the edge of the sink. As she dried off she thought about Greg and the man who might be his partner. What kind of dynamics brought two men together to kill?
For that matter, what kind of dynamics brought two people together in love?
As she dried off she thought about her late husband. She knew all the qualities that had drawn her to Joe. He was bigger than life, with a sexy grin that made a woman feel as if she were the most important woman in the world. He’d been a charmer, a shame less flirt who had been a favorite at every party, in every social gathering.
In so many ways Riley reminded her of him. He had the same sexy, larger-than-life quality, his eyes sparkled with the same flirtatiousness, and when he smiled at her she felt as if she were the only woman on the face of the earth.
Wrapping the towel around her she grabbed her hairbrush and faced the mirror. As she worked the tangles from the wet strands, she tried to shove all thoughts of Greg and murder out of her mind.
She was pleased by her sales this evening and anticipated selling four times as much the next day.
The money she earned should be enough to last until the Christmas holiday sales began in November.
Finished with her hair, she pulled a tube of scented lotion from her overnight bag and began to apply it to her bare skin.
She suddenly realized what she was doing—she was stalling. She told herself it was silly to be nervous to leave the bathroom. She’d already shared a bed with Riley when her sister had been in town.
Besides, there were two beds in the next room, so it wasn’t like she was going to be trapped in the same bed with him.
There was one problem. A part of her wanted to be trapped in bed with him. She knew it was a stupid thing to want, that he could never be the right man for her, but she wanted to be wrong for one night and throw caution to the wind.
She jerked as a soft knock sounded at the door.
“Burgers are here,” Riley called out.
“I’ll be right out.” She quickly pulled on the demure nightgown and robe she’d brought with her. Her intention was to eat and then go straight to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day, and it was in her best interest to get a good night’s rest.
She belted her robe tightly around her and then left the bathroom. Riley was seated at the small table in the corner of the room. He’d unloaded their food and pushed the room-service cart against the door.
“Hmm, smells wonderful,” she said as she slid into the chair opposite him.
She’d hoped he would relax once they got into the room, but he seemed even more tense now than he had earlier.
“I talked to Agent Morell, and none of the agents in the area noticed anyone placing that baby’s breath on your table,” he said.
“That doesn’t surprise me. There were several times that the booth was crowded enough that nobody could really have seen what was going on.” She picked up one of her fries and
popped it into her mouth.
“But it’s their job to see what’s going on,” he said with a touch of irritation. “I’ve made sure that tomorrow the agents on duty stay closer to us than they did tonight. I also want you to tell me if anyone makes you feel the least uncomfortable, if for any reason you feel the slightest bit uneasy. You know that creepy-crawly feeling you sometimes get when you think somebody is watching you? That can be a genuine body response to potential danger. Don’t dismiss it.”
“I did,” she said. “That morning that Haley and I went grocery shopping I had the feeling that somebody was watching me, but I kept dismissing it as my imagination. When I think back now I think maybe I saw Trent in the store with me.” She fought against a shiver at the idea that he’d been so close to not just her, but to her baby.
“Are you sure?”
She hesitated a moment and then shook her head. “Not a hundred percent sure.”
“You should have told me about it,” he admonished her.
“I would have but I thought it was just my imagination working overtime.”
“Don’t ignore it again,” Riley said.
“I promise I won’t,” she replied. “And now we’d better eat before this all gets cold.”
For the next few minutes they ate in silence. Lana couldn’t begin to guess what thoughts were going through his mind. He seemed closed off in a way she’d never seen. His green eyes were like the murky waters of a mossy pond, impenetrable and mysterious.
Maybe he was angrier than she’d realized that she’d insisted they come here. Certainly his job as a bodyguard was more stressful here than it would be if she’d just stayed home.
She didn’t say anything until they’d finished eating and he’d pushed the room-service cart with all their dirty dishes out into the hallway. Then she moved from the chair to the edge of her bed and gazed at him.
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