by Dianna Love
Warm breath danced across her face, feathering her skin. “Of course, not. But I thought maybe you two had something to, uh, talk about.”
“No, we don’t.”
That sounded pretty final. She kept moving toward the VIP tables. “What does Ryder do?”
“He’s with the DEA. Assigned to the Miami task force.”
Ah. Guess that’s how Leanne put two and two together about Josh’s being gay. Trish would never have figured it out, because Ryder didn’t strike her as gay either. She’d been off the market so long she was rusty at reading male signals. Obviously they must be a couple.
With that last bit of doubt removed about Josh, Trish accepted that the best she could hope for with Josh was friendship, which should be all she wanted.
And would be if he kept his hands off her. Not that he wasn’t being a gentleman, but his fingers grazing along her back sent heat spiraling into places it shouldn’t.
When she reached the VIP table that had eight elegant place settings with name cards, four of which were her group, she smiled. She’d come pretty far to be here today.
Josh pulled out the chair in front of her name card. “What’s that smile about?”
She laughed. “Back home, we’d say this was walking through tall cotton.”
He studied her with a strange intensity then leaned close and murmured, “You should laugh more often. You’re stunning.”
How was it that Josh could make her feel like the only woman on earth? Why couldn’t she have met someone like him a long time ago?
You did. Brendan. Gay, remember? Shoot. It was easy to forget when Josh looked at her that way. Brendan had teased and flirted, but she’d never had this intense urge for something more with Brendan the way she was feeling around Josh.
When Josh slid into the chair on her left, she stole another quick sniff of his masculine scent. Would he smell that good all over?
If he does, you won’t be the one finding out.
She wasn’t sure she could be friends with him after all. But was this all in her mind or was he encouraging it by the things he said and the way he kept touching her?
Was her reaction accidental or was he intentionally trying to confuse her? She turned to him. “Are you flirting with me, for real flirting?”
“Yes.”
What?
He added, “Is it working?”
Answering that truthfully would make her a candidate for a Fool-Of-The-Day award. He had to be yanking her chain. “No, it’s not.”
Sharp blue eyes full of turbulence stared at her while something menacing swirled behind his gaze then calmed. “Liar.”
He’d said that one word with the force of a challenge.
Her lips parted in shock. Was he serious?
Or...could he be the stalker?
Her stomach quivered with the possibility, but she couldn’t come up with one logical reason for why he’d want to stalk her. They’d never met before today, and he worked with her brother.
Josh gave her another smile, but this one smacked of bad boy. Zane had told her in their text conversation that Josh was FBI, and was temporarily assigned to the DEA task force. Maybe Hot Guy FBI Agent just had a warped sense of humor and enjoyed watching women fall all over his hotness.
“Hey,” Heidi called out as she came up from the opposite side of the table.
Relieved to have backup, Trish glanced up at Heidi then smiled. Her friend had agreed to wear something sedate for the evening. Heidi’s version of sedate was a gold sweater, gold stiletto heels and black spandex pants swooping low enough to expose her glittering navel ring. Another Kellie outfit.
“Where’s Gunter? I thought he’d be here by now.”
“Had some last-minute something come up.” Heidi shrugged, walking around the table to Trish’s side. “Said he’d meet us at the table.”
Josh stood when Heidi reached the chair next to Trish. He offered his hand. “We weren’t introduced today. I’m Josh Robertson.”
Now I feel rude on top of confused for not making introductions. Sitting between where Heidi and Josh stood, Trish leaned her head back. “This is Heidi Hildegard. Heidi, you remember Mr. Robertson from today, right?”
“Sure. I remember Josh.” Heidi let go of his hand and glanced down at Trish with an evil look in her eyes.
Trish knew that glint and sent Heidi a glaring eye message of don’t encourage him.
Heidi made a laughing sound that Trish interpreted as loosen up and have fun, then she headed for her seat two places to the right of Trish.
Gunter made a frazzled entrance, dashing up to the table. “Sorry to be late. Good Lord, Patricia, you are a vision.”
He was the only man who could grumble a compliment. Standing behind his seat, Gunter turned to Heidi. “You look lovely too, Miss Heidi.”
Heidi lifted one eyebrow, curled a half-smile and raised her index finger–a Heidi hello.
Wheeling back to Trish, Gunter finally noticed Josh and gave him a hard appraisal.
Might as well get this introduction over, too. “Gunter, Zane couldn’t make it. This is Josh Robertson who works with Zane.” She told Josh, “And this is Gunter Weiss of Dynasty Treasures, a wonderful shop in our area that offers...classic antiques.” That sounded better than saying Gunter had been around since before electricity. He wasn’t keeping up with the times, but he was her friend and deserved respect.
Josh stood, accentuating the vast differences between the two men, from Gunter’s being six inches shorter to Josh’s being over-the-legal-limit handsome.
They shook hands, but Gunter’s cool, “Nice to meet you,” left little doubt of just how much he didn’t care for Josh.
The rest of the table guests began taking their seats for dinner, including Xavier Gomez, a slender brunette who was also competing to be a consultant. Xavier caught Trish’s eye and they shared a discrete wink and a wave. Even though they were competing against one another, they’d hit it off early on. Trish politely acknowledged Xavier’s three guests.
With introductions made all around, Xavier’s group settled into a conversation on their side of the table, but Trish noticed that her friend’s stunning, black-outlined green gaze strayed to Josh repeatedly.
When Josh looked away for a moment, distracted by the server filling water glasses, Xavier mouthed a silent “OH. MY. GOD!” across the table to Trish.
Trish gave her a conspiratorial grin, and shook her head a little, but Josh turned back around before she could clue her friend in that nothing was actually going on.
Xavier caught a pause in conversation on her side, and smiled over at Trish. “Where’s your brother? I’m surprised he would miss this. I’ve seen him at every one of these functions so far. So sweet.”
Trish smiled to cover the tiny, unintentional hit to her confidence. Sweet. Her friend would hate knowing she’d caused it. Just every now and then, Trish resented being the “sweet” one. “His wife is close to delivering their first baby and needed him tonight.”
Call it female vanity, but Trish had been compared to Xavier more than the other two competitors, who were male, and she always ended up being the “cute” one, in contrast to Xavier’s voluptuous beauty that was usually described as “sexy” or “hot”.
Josh had been flirting all night, throwing her off her game. Trish decided to turn the tables on him. She placed her hand on Josh’s arm and told Xavier, “When Zane had to bow out, Josh...volunteered.”
Trish prayed he wouldn’t pull away out of sheer surprise after she’d worked so hard to keep him from being here with her.
Obviously curious, Xavier shifted the power of her exotic green eyes to Josh. “Are you a collector or a dealer?”
“Neither. I’m new to the antiques world.”
“Trish is great,” she said. “Don’t tell Charlie, but I think she’s going to win.”
Trish grinned and shook her head. “You’re nuts.” They’d been playing the “you’re going to win...no you’re going to win
” game since the second round. Xavier’s specialty was seventeenth century, and she’d spent a year mentoring with Big Charlie, which put her chances pretty high in this competition. In fact, Xavier had quietly tipped Trish off to the reason Big Charlie was after ReSolution–for expansion on Las Olas.
If Trish wasn’t chosen for the female slot, and if nothing came of this TV show except a bit of exposure, Trish would always be glad for the effort she’d made because it had gained her Xavier as a friend.
Josh beamed a smile at Trish, then grinned at Xavier, and Trish saw her friend’s eyes widen.
Trish needed to find a private moment to tell Xavier that Trish had only been playing and not to read too much into Josh’s behavior one way or the other, that Josh wouldn’t be interested in sex with Trish or her. But when Trish considered it she had to admit that Xavier was at least Josh’s equal in the beauty department.
Not wanting to take the joke too far, Trish removed her hand from his arm and sat up straighter in her chair. She was just glad the competition was based on brains, not beauty. That meant she at least had a chance.
Josh hooked his arm over the back of Trish’s chair in the same proprietary way she’d taken when she’d touched him.
She held her breath. What was he was going to say to Xavier?
“I’m definitely interested in acquiring something of value, and Trish has agreed to tutor me privately. That’s an offer no man could pass up.”
The man was outrageous and pulled it off.
Warm tendrils squirmed in her heart at his last line.
Bless him. Too bad he worked with her brother and was not in the market for a woman. He sure could put on a great show.
She’d bet there wasn’t a woman at the table who didn’t believe he expected one-on-one time with Trish. She got hot just thinking about the possibility. Her body felt too tight in her skin.
That could be because Josh’s fingers were slowly massaging her shoulder.
Xavier cocked her eyebrow, gave Trish another “holy shit” wink then returned to talking with her guests.
Trish glanced at the stage, where the emcee stood with the producer and pointed to the upper back corner of the room, where a technician aimed and focused a follow spot. Trish just wanted this night to end. She was holding herself together, but walking up in front of so many people, being stared at, judged, talked about, gave her the jitters. So many strangers and...
A feeling of being watched hit her.
Trish froze. She glanced around left then right and across the room. Everyone appeared busy with conversation and food at their respective tables. She tried to shake off the creepy feeling, to convince herself it was nothing more than an over-imaginative mind fed by lack of sleep and a stalker’s intrusion into her life.
But Zane’s advice about always listening to her instincts shot to the forefront of her mind. He’d told her to trust the feeling and take measures to protect herself.
But she was sitting in the middle of a room with over five hundred people and would soon get called on stage. Anyone could be watching her.
Was her stalker here? Was he in the middle of all these people?
Was it even a man?
She hadn’t thought about it, just assumed it was a man. But the stalker could be a woman. Maybe someone she trusted? Like Xavier?
Trish wiped the idea from her mind. Why would Xavier stalk Trish when she already had a better chance at winning because of Charlie’s support? Xavier was her friend.
If Trish let paranoia get any more of a foothold, she’d be suspicious of everyone she knew, from friends to family.
Trish took a deep breath and ignored the sensation of something crawling up her neck. Get through tonight and focus on making a good impression.
Maybe the stalking was just someone’s elaborate sick joke. She prayed the stalker was not here to destroy this one chance to launch her business in an economy not favorable to luxury items.
But antiques were all she knew, all she’d ever wanted to do. If ReSolution didn’t make it...
She couldn’t think about that. Heidi said negative thoughts lead to negative actions. No negative thoughts.
Josh shook her out of the dark place she’d gone when he asked Gunter, “How long have you been in Ft. Lauderdale?”
A server removed dishes as Gunter went into an oration about how he’d come to Miami first then moved to Ft. Lauderdale after getting married. By the time he finished naming notable people who had shopped in his store he’d covered both decades.
Trish caught him taking a breath and grabbed at any change in subject. She’d never heard him mention a wife before. “Are you divorced?”
“The woman was a blood sucker,” Gunter stated flatly, as he picked at his dessert. “I make a habit of getting rid of anything that reminds me of her. You married, Robertson?”
“No. Don’t think that’s in the stars for me.”
“A case of too many women and too little time?” Heidi piped up, clearly testing him.
Trish shot her a warning glance that Heidi ignored.
“More like not husband material with the type of work I do.”
“What exactly do you do?” Gunter asked.
“At the moment, I’m working in computer forensics for law enforcement in Miami.” Josh shrugged. “But I tend to get shuffled around. Have no idea where I’ll be sent next. That’s the beauty of no ties. They can use me wherever needed.”
Heidi asked, “How long will you be here?”
“Not sure, but probably one or two more weeks.”
Trish only had to lift her eyes to look into Josh’s with him leaning so close to her. “Where’s your home?”
“Atlanta, but I’m rarely there.”
He’d leave Miami soon. She should feel relief, right? They wouldn’t see each other after tonight anyhow so no more fantasy attraction.
But she’d spent more time with him today and this evening than she had with any man in too long to think about, and now she had the strange feeling she’d miss him.
Heidi might be on to something about dating again if spending time with one man affected her this way.
Gunter stood. “I’ll be back in time to see you go up.” He tossed down his napkin and disappeared through the doors that lead to the restrooms.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the television spokesman said, drawing everyone’s attention to the stage. He launched into thanks for all who had attended, and for the money being raised for the scholarship program. Then he started thanking the investors.
He would call the contestants next.
Trish took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Her cell phone vibrated in her purse. She’d left it on vibrate in case Zane called. Angel was close enough to her due date that she could go into labor at any time. Opening the clasp, she hit the button to stop it from making more noise and peeked at the text:
Now would be a good time to visit ReSolution if you don’t want to lose it.
Your move.
Trish’s hand shook. What was the stalker going to do?
Chapter 12
Josh had heard the buzz of a cell phone and glanced over at Trish as she opened her purse.
What could be important enough for her to check her phone when the guy on stage would call her up in a few minutes? She couldn’t be any more visible, sitting up front at this VIP table under the scrutiny of hundreds of people.
Trish stared at the phone that was shielded inside her small bag.
Her face had lost all color.
He put his hand on her wrist.
She flinched and looked up, eyes wide with fear, but she recovered quickly and mumbled, “Sorry. Gotta go.”
Now?
Before Josh could ask what was going on, Trish leaned toward Heidi who put her hand on Gunter’s chair and turned toward Trish, mouth open and confused.
Trish whispered, “When they call my name, go up in my place. Tell them I had an emergency. It’s not Angel. I’ll explain lat
er.”
Heidi looked ready to argue until Trish said, “Please,” with so much emotion Josh would have thought someone was dying.
Her friend nodded, but said, “You need a car.”
Josh leaned over. “I’m driving her.” He didn’t know what was going on, but she wasn’t leaving without him.
Trish turned back to him, ready to argue.
He leaned close and whispered, “The longer you talk the more attention you’ll draw.”
That prompted her to look around where heads were turning her way. She paled even more.
He cursed softly and said, “Head straight for the door and don’t slow down, so you’ll cause as little distraction as possible.”
She was up and out of her seat like a shot with him right behind her. When they reached the lobby for the hotel hosting the event, Trish got several steps beyond the closed doors and swung around. “Thanks for coming out here, but I’ll have them call a cab so you can stay.”
Here we go again. He’d fished out his valet slip and handed it off with a hefty tip for the eager runner. “I’m not interested in staying if you aren’t here.”
“Then go home.” She said it the same way someone would shoo away some mutt bothering her.
He’d be ready to hunt down a bottle of prime scotch and call it a night if she weren’t acting so suspicious. He bit down on his irritation and told her, “The whole point of Zane’s wanting someone to accompany you tonight was so that you wouldn’t be alone. I heard your phone buzz with a text. What’s going on?”
What color had returned to her face in her dash out of the dinner faded away again. “Nothing.”
Did she really think he’d believe that? “Based on us standing out here right now and you walking away from something as important to you as this banquet, I’m not buying that. And since I get the impression that text was a crisis of some sort, you should probably get moving soon.”
Her eyes got even larger. “I’m sorry but I have to go. Do whatever you want.” She turned and raced over to the valet stand and started rambling about needing a cab, hands animated.