Prying himself from the tree trunk, JD stepped into her path, grabbed her elbow before the flash of joy in her eyes unnerved him, and practically dragged her toward the hotel.
He’d have that talk with Miss Nina Toon in private.
Chapter 27
Oh, God, he looked terrible. He looked glorious. He looked gloriously terrible.
Watching JD’s unshaven face as he hauled her through the casino, Nina’s heart thumped faster. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His hair could use a good scrubbing. The set of his mouth made his nose look even longer. He appeared savage enough to melt a path through the rows of slot machines.
And her crazy heart sang a song of joy. JD was alive! She’d done it! She’d found him all by herself.
She must have been out of her mind even to look. This wasn’t the gentle man who’d rocked her on the swing. This was the motorcycle hoodlum who looked capable of murder.
That’s what she got for doing and not thinking. Aunt Hattie had been right all along. Men were dangerous and couldn’t be trusted. Use extreme caution in their company.
That didn’t keep Nina from leading JD straight to her room. If he meant to murder her, she wanted it done quietly.
When JD slammed the door behind them and they were alone at last, Nina couldn’t stand it any longer. Wordlessly, she flung herself into his arms and covered his stubbly jaw with kisses.
He stiffened at first, but then a whoosh of air left him and he held her tight, hugging her so close she could scarcely breathe. She hadn’t been wrong then. He did feel something for her. She would just have to pray it was more than lust.
“Dammit, Nina, you’re gonna get us both killed. What the hell are you doing here?” JD demanded, dragging his hand through her hair and holding her still.
Her heart pounded in syncopation with his as they stood, clasped in each other’s arms. Nina dug her fingers into JD’s T-shirt and rested her head against his broad shoulder, letting the dangerous vibrations between them escalate a little further. She’d never felt anything like this in her life. She wouldn’t let it go readily. She’d discovered she had a really nasty stubborn streak.
“Do you have any idea how many people you’ve terrified by disappearing like that?” she whispered against his neck.
“You and Jimmy,” he scoffed. “And you wouldn’t have known if Jimmy had kept his mouth shut.”
“I knew.” Nina pushed gently away so she could see his face. She thought she saw sorrow and disbelief there, but she could never be sure with JD. “I just needed Jimmy’s call to push me in the right direction. I talked to Nancy a little while ago, and she’s worried frantic. Jackie’s done nothing but talk about you since he came home. She doesn’t want you disappearing from their lives again.”
JD looked tired as he released her and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t bring them into this, Nina. I’ve never been real good with people. Get out of here and let me handle this my way. I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m sure you do.” Nina stepped away and kicked off the heels. She hated shoes. “On the other hand, the police don’t. Know what you’re doing, I mean. You should have called Hoyt when you got here.”
“I’ll explain it all to the police later. Look, Nina, you have to get out of here.”
He didn’t move from the door as she methodically put her new purchases in their proper places, none of which was the suitcase he apparently had in mind. She could sense his irritation as he glared at the skimpy dress she pulled from the sack and hung in the closet.
“What the hell is that, anyway? Some kind of costume?”
“The taxi driver thought I looked like a dancer. I thought I’d fit in better if I dressed like one.” Nina smoothed the practically nonexistent fabric of the minidress. Maybe clothes did make the woman. She already felt like a new person.
“You don’t need to fit in here. You’re going home.” JD stood menacingly in the center of the room, fists clenched at his sides, muscles tensing for a fight.
“This is a free country. You can’t make me. I paid a lot of money to come out here, and I mean to see the sights. I’ve never been this far west before.”
Nina rather enjoyed getting under JD’s skin. She’d get even for those times he’d treated her like a convenient piece of furniture. She’d remind him that she had a mind of her own.
Of course, right now, he seemed more focused on her cleavage than her mind. Deliberately, she bent from the waist to pick up a hanger on the floor. Her new leggings pulled taut across her backside, and her short-sleeved top gaped wider. JD had a side view of both. When she stood up again, she thought he’d strangle.
He made a quick recovery. His black glare could have curdled milk. “Anyone could have seen that ridiculous ad. Do you think DiFrancesco’s goons haven’t discovered your name yet?”
“Oh! That reminds me.” Barefoot, Nina padded across the carpet and opened the desk drawer, pulling out a file folder. “I made these copies at the library this morning. Your DiFrancesco has a lot of interesting connections. Did you know he’s on the board of directors of Astrocomputer?”
JD swore under his breath as he grabbed the file folder. “Dillon should have known this. What do I pay the guy for?”
“You should have known it,” she pointed out in all practicality, “but you were too anxious for the money to look any further. Caution isn’t precisely your byword.”
JD flung the folder aside and glared. “Where did you get all this information?”
Nina gave him her best beatific smile. “I ask questions.”
Obviously intending intimidation, JD caught his hand in her hair again. With the heels off, she stood considerably shorter than earlier. Nina knew the second his gaze drifted downward. Throwing her shoulders back, she gave him a good look. She’d hidden behind bulky clothes all her life because they made her feel safe, invisible. She didn’t like teenage boys staring at her. But she wanted JD to stare. She wanted him to more than stare, she finally admitted. She gave him a good long look at what he was throwing away.
“Seen enough, or do you want more?” She couldn’t believe she’d asked that. She’d occasionally whipped her classroom into line with sarcasm. She’d never used it on a man in her life. She’d never done a damned lot of things. Now was as good a time as any to start, even if she was shaking in her... well, her bare feet.
Nina’s breath caught as JD suddenly slid his hand under her knit top and boldly fondled her breast.
“You’re not wearing a damned thing under here,” he murmured in surprise.
Nina couldn’t have answered had she wanted. Her knees jellied, and the pulse in her temple pounded so loud she thought she heard bells. JD caught her with one arm, but his other hand didn’t halt its sensual explorations.
“Nina, fight me,” he warned. “Quit looking at me like that and slap my face.”
Her lips quirked at this nonsensical command. She had never imagined any man looking at her the way JD did, as if he could swallow her whole. At the same time, he looked so miserable Nina wanted to stroke his face and tell him everything would be all right. Finally, things were beginning to make some kind of crazy sense. What she felt for JD was a hell of a lot more than friendship.
“Give me a minute,” she agreed, although she was none too sure of that estimate. Her heart pounded so rapidly she thought she might be having an attack of some sort. “You just have to make up your mind what you want to do with me.”
That startled him. Reluctantly, JD dragged his gaze upward, but his hand retained firm possession of her breast. Nina thought she might faint with the pleasure of it. She didn’t want him to move his hand—ever. As his thumb flicked over her nipple, she closed her eyes and bit back an embarrassing need to moan.
“Do with you?” He seemed genuinely puzzled, as if awakened from a deep sleep and not certain where he was. “If you don’t get on the next flight out of here, I think I might strangle you.”
“Not precisely the answer
I was aiming for.” Keeping her eyes closed, Nina memorized the sensations of JD’s muscular chest beneath her palms, the harsh brush of his jeans against her bare stomach, the strong fingers biting into her flesh. She might never feel this way again, so she needed the memory for her dreams.
“Let go, JD,” she warned quietly. “If you’re not going to finish what you’ve started, then have the decency to let me go.”
He crushed her a little tighter, but she kept her eyes closed so she couldn’t see his face. When he released her, she nearly fell at his feet.
“Leave, Nina,” JD said, walking toward the door. “I don’t need you.”
That struck a ten-penny nail smack through her heart. Nina clenched her fists and retaliated in the only manner available—with honesty. “Maybe not, but I need you, and I’ll not let anything happen to you if I can help it. I’m calling Jimmy as soon as you leave here.”
JD halted with his hand on the knob and his head bowed.
“Don’t, Nina. Don’t do this to yourself. Go back to your June Cleaver life and forget about me. I’m not worth worrying over.”
Nina bit back the harsh words burning her tongue. Maybe he really thought he wasn’t worth worrying over. From what little she’d learned about his prior life, he hadn’t exactly had a loving home. He’d practically raised himself. A man like that might have some mistaken illusion that he wasn’t worth much. A man like that might need her more than he knew.
Hope and anxiety warred in Nina’s breast at that revelation.
“I think that’s my decision, JD,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I can’t leave here without doing what I can to help. We can do it together, or we can do it apart. Which will it be?”
“Damn, stubborn female...” JD swung his head and glared at her over his shoulder. “You have no idea—”
A knock on the door startled them both.
Nina raised her eyebrows questioningly. JD shook his head. Crossing her arms under her breasts, she held all her tightly strung nerves together until the intruder went away. Instead, the knock sounded louder.
“Miss Toon? Nina?”
Jimmy. JD jerked the door open, snatched Jimmy by the necktie, and hauled him into the room, slamming the door behind him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” JD demanded harshly.
Jimmy straightened his necktie nervously, glancing at Nina over the obstacle of JD’s shoulder. She shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed, still holding herself together.
“Nina said she thought you were here, and I didn’t want her getting into any trouble.” Jimmy cleared his throat and gave JD’s furious expression a nervous glance. “Nancy’s out in the car. She wanted to help, too. Actually, she’s been practicing the lecture she intends to give you all the way up here in the car.”
JD shoved his hand through his hair and, defeated, turned toward Nina. “Now look what you’ve damned well done. Don’t you have any idea how dangerous these guys are?”
“Then there’s no reason for you to go against them alone. We’re your friends, JD. You understood that concept well enough when you called in all my neighbors and fought the phone company. Why can’t you accept it now?”
Pushing down all the emotions and physical reactions JD stirred in her, Nina strove for reason. She couldn’t help it if her voice still shook a little. Just looking at JD’s taut, angry stance returned all the sensations he’d evoked earlier. Maybe he really didn’t understand the concept of friends in relation to himself.
“I had a friend at the bank call Astrocomputer.” Jimmy jumped in before JD could present any further argument. “He talked to a salesman about the new program they’re pushing. They claim it’s in production and will be ready by September, but no one’s seen a working version yet.”
Steeling herself, Nina picked up the file JD had flung on the bed. “I don’t have the computer access you do, but I’ve dug around and found financial reports on Astro. Remember, I teach accounting courses, JD. I can read financial statements. They have a serious cash-flow problem. They’re way overextended. My guess is that someone’s calling due on their debts and Astro is trying to generate some cash to tide them over.”
“So maybe they don’t have the whole program, JD,” Jimmy suggested cautiously, taking the file from Nina’s hands and glancing through it. “Maybe they’ve got something and don’t know what to do with it and they’re just buying time while they figure it out.”
“They’re buying it over Harry’s body,” JD said through clenched teeth. “I want their heads. I want them locked up so long they’ll rot before they ever get out.”
An impatient rap at the door intruded. They exchanged glances, but Nina was the one who responded first. “Who is it?”
“Nancy. Is Jimmy still in there?”
JD grimaced, rolled his eyes, and stalked to the window, turning his back on the room and its occupants. Nina opened the door and let his ex-wife in.
“How’s Jackie?” Nina asked, not knowing what else to say as Nancy passed her.
“He’s fine. He’s with my father,” Nancy replied, her gaze traveling to the two men before returning politely to Nina.
“Jimmy shouldn’t have left you out there in the heat. Should I send for some drinks?” Uncertain how else to behave in the emotionally charged atmosphere, Nina reverted to her Southern upbringing.
“Fine, give DiFrancesco’s thugs an opportunity to come in here with an Uzi and mow us all down at once,” JD commented from the window.
“He watches Sly Stallone movies, right?” Nina asked of no one in particular.
JD swung around. “Nina, this is serious! Harry’s dead because of me. I don’t want any other murders on my hands. The lot of you can get out now. It’s me they want. I’m the only one who can crack the code on whatever part of the program they have, and they know it. They won’t shoot me, but they’ll do whatever is necessary to get through you and at me.”
“Fine, then we’ll get at them through you.” Not having any idea what she was talking about, Nina flopped down on the bed, crossed her legs, and let her mouth go where her mind dared not. “Jimmy, who had access to the program you brought back?”
Jimmy shrugged and shoved a chair toward Nancy. “JD hid it under a game program. I went in and transcribed it, but left it there. I made duplicate cartridges and put two in safety-deposit boxes at different banks. Then I took a copy and the transcription to our lawyer so he could start the legal processes. He keeps things like that in a safe. I’ve been playing with the copy on my drive so I could test it. My drive isn’t hooked to a modem, and I have it locked up with security devices. I don’t think anyone could get in.”
Nina glanced tentatively from Jimmy to JD. “Your lawyer?”
The two men exchanged glances, shrugged, and shook their heads. JD answered first. “Dillon’s a dumquat. He can’t even insert a disk into a drive. But he’s handled the legal process on all our other software. He’s experienced in that, if nothing else.”
“I don’t trust...” Nina and Nancy began in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.
“Lawyers.” Nina grinned. “Can’t you computer geniuses surf the net or something and find out more about your legal beagle? It seems to me there’s a darned sight more information out there than either of you have bothered checking on.”
“I can do that,” Nancy answered softly. “I worked in a law office for a while. Do you want to see if there’s some connection between this Dillon and anyone in particular?”
Nina thought JD looked properly bludgeoned into place. For a genius, he certainly had a lot to learn about people. With his hands in his jeans pockets, he paced up and down the the room, not looking at anyone. He wasn’t about to accept with grace the fact that he was no longer alone.
Jimmy took on the task of explaining the Astro/DiFrancesco connection to Nancy, and neither of them paid attention to JD and Nina now.
“The last I heard, the cell
phone company was making some kind of deal with TVA to put the tower between the lakes,” Nina murmured as JD lingered near the bed.
JD’s head shot up, and for a moment, she saw a glimmer of pride. Then he glared toward the window again. “And your mother?” he asked.
Nina crossed her arms tighter. “She’s listed the place for sale. She has wild dreams of making fortunes on lakefront property.”
“She can’t sell it until you have your day in court,” he reminded her.
Nina didn’t know if she could afford her day in court, but she didn’t remind JD of that. He had troubles enough of his own. “Only time will tell. I think you should call Sheriff Hoyt, JD. The Mercedes was back in town when I left. He may have found out more by now. The police are on our side, you know.”
That got his attention. Nina thought every muscle in JD’s body stiffened as he finally met her gaze.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“When? While you were kissing me? Yelling at me? Walking out the door? Those aren’t actions conducive to communication. Want to try talking now?”
“Dammit, Nina...”
Before he could elaborate, Jimmy interrupted. “Nancy and I are going to look for rooms. We’ll let you know where we are as soon as we find some.”
Before JD could protest, Jimmy pushed Nancy out the door and slammed it after them.
Defeated, he glared at Nina. “You won’t leave either, will you?”
Silently, she shook her head. She could see the worry creasing JD’s brow, but she couldn’t leave, not even if her life depended on it. She’d never forgive herself if anything happened to him. She wanted to see what would happen next, if there was any chance at all that something could come of whatever this was between them.
JD stared blankly over her head, then shrugged in resignation. This time, she saw the awakening heat in his eyes.
“All right. Go put on that skimpy little dress you had out earlier while I call Sheriff Hoyt.”
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