Intimate Stranger

by Jan Springer

  “I’ll talk to him later. I don’t want to put you or your men through all the yelling when we come to blows.”

  “Or the making-up part?” Amusement etched his voice.

  She didn’t reply. As far as she was concerned, there would be no making up if Steve decided to go through with this.

  A moment later she heard Skip’s footsteps echo down the steps to the deck. Squinting against the white glare of sunshine reflecting off the surrounding ocean waves, she returned her attention to the looming silhouette of Prince Edward Island behind her.

  There would be no making up after this fight. Not if Steve went ahead with his plans to go after Helena tomorrow.

  Because if he did, she’d leave him.

  * * * * *

  After catching a charter plane from Prince Edward Island to New York, Skip secured two motel rooms for the three of them and Steve had left Emily in the other room with a couple of Skip’s men standing guard outside the door.

  Skip was as good as his word. He’d gotten the drug charges dropped and sent a fax to that effect to Daniel’s place. In turn, Daniel had checked it over and called Steve, saying he was in the clear.

  Emily had been quiet on the trip over to the States and Steve figured she was tired and scared and probably still very confused. She had a lot to digest in a very short time and he was amazed at how well she’d adjusted. She’d taken the news he was alive better than he could ever hope for. Had been devastated by Helena’s part in all this, yet she’d accepted it easily enough and hadn’t fought him on his decision to go after Helena.

  He ached to go back to their hotel room to reassure her everything would work out, yet at the moment getting Helena was top priority.

  Skip grilled Steve until his nerves were frayed and then Skip grilled him some more. When Skip was finished, he nodded approval, leaned back against the chair on the opposite side of the small hotel table they were using, and with a severe frown on his face, proceeded to thoughtfully rub his thumb up and down the moist film on the tequila bottle he’d retrieved from the small fridge in their room.

  Instinctively Steve knew Skip wanted to say something he wouldn’t like and was figuring out a delicate way of saying it.

  “Just come out with it, Skip. What’s up?”

  “Are you sure about tomorrow?”

  “What do you mean? Am I sure? Of course I’m sure. Unless…you changed your mind and chickened out?” Steve toyed. He doubted Skip was chicken. But something was bugging him.

  “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m in. All the way.”

  “What about Emily?” Skip asked quietly.

  “What about Emily?”

  “Do you still love her?”

  Shock at his friend’s questions made Steve frown. Did Skip have more feelings about his wife than he was letting on? If that was the case, he needed to tell Skip the flat-out truth and dissolve any feelings his friend might harbor for his wife.

  “I can’t go five feet away from her without missing her. Does that answer your question?”

  “Have you asked her what she thinks about you going up against Helena tomorrow?”

  “She understands.”

  Skip quirked an eyebrow at him.

  “Does she?”

  “What do you mean? Of course she understands.”

  “She’s pretty upset about this whole thing,” Skip said softly.

  “She told you this?”

  “On the boat.”

  She was confiding in Skip and not him? What the hell was going on?

  “How come she didn’t tell me?”

  “Probably because you didn’t ask her how she felt.”

  “I figured she understood my need to get Helena for what she’s done to us.”

  “Maybe she just needs your reassurance you’ll be around for her in the future, buddy.”

  “We both know there aren’t any guarantees.” Even as he said it he suddenly realized why Emily had been so quiet on the trip over. Man, he was a bloody idiot. With his need for revenge he’d totally ignored her feelings. Shit, he needed to make things right between them.

  “Which brings me back to my question. Are you sure you want to do this? If not, then tell me now. I’ll go in myself and try it.”

  “This is my fight, Skip. Besides, Helena might get suspicious if you show up and carry out the plan. You might blow your cover. You’re going to need it if something happens to me.”

  “It’s your call.”

  Skip leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table and clasped his bottle with both hands. His eyes narrowed into serious slits.

  “Before I forget. The man you mentioned you suspect as being crooked in the Canadian Coast Guard was found dead in his car outside his home last night.”

  Shit.

  “Make sure the same doesn’t happen to you, Steve.”

  “I’ll try my best.”

  “You do better than your best. Is there anything else we need to go over?”

  “Not unless you want to. I just want to get some sleep.”

  Skip smiled. “Go on. Get out of here. Besides, I saw a cute redhead checking in when we registered. She looked as if she might be up for some fun. I saw her heading into the motel bar when I brought in the suitcases earlier. If I’m lucky she might still be there.”

  “Haven’t changed, have you?” Steve chuckled as he pushed out his chair.

  “I’m still a sucker for redheads,” he admitted.

  “I’d better let you get on with your business then.”

  “Not business, my dear boy. Pleasure. Pure. Sweet. Pleasure.”

  “My mistake. I’ll let you get on with your…pleasure. Good night.”

  “Nighty-night. See you in the a.m.”

  As he let himself out of Skip’s room, he couldn’t help but notice a redhead coming up the hall. A couple of quick raps on the door and Skip answered. When he saw the woman, he threw Steve a quick wink of thanks and headed on down the hallway after her.

  As Steve headed down the hallway, he glanced over his shoulder and watched his friend in action. The redhead was a curvy one and quite pretty. And she didn’t appear to have a problem laughing at something Skip said. A moment later she was nodding her head and Skip was heading back to Steve.

  “She agreed to meet me at the bar for drinks in a few minutes,” Skip replied, seemingly happier than a pig in shit.

  “Haven’t lost your touch, buddy,” Steve laughed. Skip had always managed to easily woo a woman into his bed with his sense of humor and gentlemanly manners.

  Chapter Twenty

  Steve quietly swiped the electronic key into the lock, opened the door and slipped inside the hotel room. It was dark. And quiet. Thank God. He was way too tired to argue with Emily tonight.

  Checking first to make sure the door was locked, he turned around and froze. Through the semidarkness of the room he spotted movement on the queen-sized bed and immediately smelled her sexy scent. A light flicked on and he saw her sitting on their bed, blankets nestled around her waist and her arms folded around the stuffed red lobster he’d won for her at the fair.

  How in the heck had she smuggled that into their suitcases, he mused. He almost smiled at how cute she looked, but then his heart began to pound in his ears at the grim determined frown plastered on her face.

  Yep, now that Skip had mentioned it, he realized she’d been pissed off the whole way over and he’d been too high on a rush of their plans in getting Helena he hadn’t paid the attention he’d needed to pay to her.

  “Thought you’d be asleep by now,” he said as he dropped the card onto the drawers beside the television set.

  “So you could avoid a fight with me? Not a chance,” she said tightly as her eyes flashed with anger.

  “I don’t want to fight with you, Emily,” he reassured, and started undressing. All he wanted to do was climb into bed and just sleep.

  “Then we won’t fight. You tell me you won’
t go through with your plans to get Helena tomorrow and we won’t fight. Let Skip do it. Let him bring down Helena and her empire. It’s his job.”

  Irritation slammed through him.

  “You know I can’t do that, Emmie. She’s the one who fucked us over. I want my revenge. She deserves to get her ass nailed to the wall.”

  Emily’s angry frown cracked and he caught a glimpse of the devastating fear she’d been hiding. For the first time he knew exactly how frightened she was for his safety. The truth left him reeling, and he ached to comfort her.

  In a couple of quick strides, he was on the bed beside her, wanting to draw her into his arms and comfort her, but she threw the lobster at his head and jumped away from him like a hyper jack-in-the-box. The lobster bounced off his left temple and dropped to the ground.

  “If you run off tomorrow chasing after another one of your adrenaline rushes like you did in the old days, you can forget about me being here if you come back.”

  He inhaled a steadying breath. She was dead serious.

  “I didn’t know you felt this strongly.”

  “If you’d bothered to ask, maybe you would have saved us a lot of anguish.”

  “If I don’t go tomorrow, we won’t be able to live at the lighthouse. We’ll have to go into Witness Protection and that’s not the life I want for us.”

  “I don’t care. I just want you safe.”

  “I want you safe too, sweetheart.”

  “You sure have a strange way of showing it. Especially if you don’t come back.”

  At the tinge of a tremble in her otherwise tough voice, he felt his resolve slip away. No matter how strongly he felt about getting Helena, he didn’t want to hurt Emily by going against her wishes.

  “Okay, you win. If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose you.”

  At his reassurance, relief sparkled in her eyes and her shoulders slumped. However, seeing her relieved did nothing to dispel the disappointment slithering through him. Disappointment that he’d been so close to finally getting a chance to put some sort of closure to this whole thing. To be able to lead a somewhat normal life with the woman he loved.

  “I’ll go and tell Skip. I’ll tell him everything’s off. I’ll be right back.”

  He stood, and on somewhat shaky legs, turned and headed for the door. He’d been so close. So damn close and to not even have a chance at trying to get Helena…

  He exhaled wearily. Emily was right. He might not make it back to her and their future would go up in smoke. Again.

  He’d been crazy to put his life on the line. To put their love on the line just so he could exact some sort of vengeance. He was about to slip out the door when her hand curled over his right shoulder and she pulled him back inside the room.

  When he turned to face her, he blinked in surprise as her strong façade crumbled. Her lower lip trembled and tears bubbled up in her eyes. Thick lashes lowered as she lifted his hand and placed it directly upon her warm nightgown, directly over her heart. Judging by the way her heart pounded against his palm she was terrified. She threw him a wobbly smile he figured was meant to cheer him up. It didn’t.

  “What kind of a woman am I? Instead of supporting my husband when he needs me the most, I’m thinking only about myself. I know you’re scared too. I can see it in your eyes.”

  He inhaled sharply at her tender touch as she then placed her other hand over his heart.

  “I can feel it here too. We’re both scared. Terrified. I have to tell you that every minute that goes by I feel as if I’m going to wake up and you’ll just have been a beautiful dream.”

  At her admission a hard knot formed in his throat.

  “I’m letting my fears control me, control us,” she continued, and her voice lowered to a soft whisper.

  “You do what you need to do tomorrow. Just make sure you come back because I’ll be waiting.”

  Emotions, thick and raw, welled inside him. He couldn’t believe she was going to support him with his decision to go after Helena. Drawing her into his arms, and before she could say anything else, he lowered his head and kissed her.

  Her warm lips trembled against his and then suddenly that familiar obsession swooped over him. The same uneasiness he’d felt that afternoon on the beach years ago when she told him not to go to New York that day because she’d had a bad feeling. But he’d ignored both their feelings and their world had fallen apart.

  Was this feeling a premonition?

  Suddenly he realized he tasted chocolate on her lips and his thoughts drew back to Emily.

  He chuckled. She always nibbled on chocolate or drank hot chocolate when she was nervous.

  Abruptly she broke the kiss. “Why are you laughing?”

  “You taste good.”

  She smiled and brushed her passion-swelled lips urgently against his.

  “This makes you happy?”

  “Extremely. You smell good too. Clean and fresh.”

  “Took a long, hot shower while you were out.”

  “Sounds heavenly.”

  Her eyes twinkled with mischief and her smile turned secretive. The sensual sight sent his heart to pounding and heated blood raced straight south.

  “Okay, you’re up to something. What is it?”

  “You’ll find out.”

  Fresh urgency zipped along every nerve ending as she took his hand in hers and led him into the bathroom. Warm mist greeted him.

  “I want you to make love to me in the shower,” she breathed.

  “You’re going to turn into a prune,” he joked, and curled his arms around her waist.

  To his surprise she grabbed him by his biceps and tenderly pushed him away.

  “Before we start, let me take care of something first.”

  He inhaled sharply as her hot hands slipped beneath his sweater and T-shirt. Her fingers skimmed along his naked waist around to his back.

  “We won’t need this,” she whispered.

  In one quick move she slid his gun from its resting place against the small of his back and lowered it to the restroom seat. Her sultry gaze showed both love and bits of fear as she stared into his eyes.

  “Or needing this.”

  Her hands popped the brass button on his jeans and he heard the zipper lowering. His heart thundered in his ears as she yanked both his jeans and underwear past his hips and below, allowing his full arousal to spring free and he knew he was in for one hell of a good night.

  * * * * *

  The light knock at the door came very early the next morning when Steve was in the shower and Emily paced a path into the hotel carpet as she worriedly nibbled on her knuckles. At the intruding sound adrenaline seared like a bolt of lightning through her veins. She didn’t make a move to answer it. She could only stare at the door and wish Skip would just go away. Maybe he would leave if he thought they weren’t here? Maybe her husband would change his mind if he thought Skip had left without him?

  “Maybe you should get that?” Steve’s strangled whisper erupted from the open doorway of the bathroom. Mist flowed out and he wore nothing but a skimpy towel slung low over his hips.

  God, he looked so good. She wanted him to stay so bad. Wanted them to just forget everything and just love each other.

  “I can’t.”

  “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”

  Emily could see the disappointment flicker in his eyes again just like it had last night when she demanded he not go after Helena. She felt the devastation of surrender roll through like a giant punch. Despite her fear, she realized he needed to do this. For himself and for them. She knew it would tear him up inside if he didn’t at least get a chance.

  God help her, but she was going to crack up permanently this time if he died.

  “Go, get ready. I’ll let him in,” she found herself saying.

  “Are you sure?”

  Another round of taps echoed through the room. Steve didn’t
move. His eyes were stormy and her heart thundered against her ribs as she debated whether to beg him not to go. For a moment he looked as if he might not go and then the confidence spilled back into his face.

  Her tummy dropped like a stone as he nodded slowly and then disappeared into the bathroom.

  As she slowly headed toward the door, she became very aware that her legs were about to give out, but she forced herself to keep moving. A moment later she peeked through the security hole and then answered the door.

  Skip stood in the hallway, his hand poised to knock again. He seemed startled to see her.

  “Thought you might have changed your minds,” he said softly.

  “Come on in. He’ll be right out.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll stay out here and wait. Give you two time to say a proper goodbye.”

  “There won’t be any goodbyes,” Steve said from behind her as he struggled into his T-shirt. “Because I’m coming back.”

  Her heart fluttered at the intense confidence in his voice and the sharp sting of tears spiraled into her eyes. She turned to face Skip, who suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

  “Skip, you have to take care of him. Please. Make sure he comes back to me.”

  “I’ll make sure he stays safe,” he said, and threw her a wobbly smile that made her feel worse.

  Behind her, she heard a sharp click as Steve checked the clip in his gun.

  “I got a hold of your brothers. We’ll meet them there. Jo and Sara should be here any minute. I’d wait here a bit longer until they do, but we need to get going. I’m taking my men and Emily will be alone for about five minutes. Ten, tops, before they show.”

  “I don’t want her here alone,” Steve said coolly.

  “I’ll be fine. I need a few minutes anyway,” she admitted as she tried to digest this newest bit of news. Sara and Jo were coming, just in case.

  For her sake…in case she needed them. In case something happened to Steve. Oh God, help her. Please keep him safe.

  When Steve’s warm hands curled over her shoulder, she just about jumped out of her skin. He turned her around to face him. His hair was still wet but he’d combed it straight back off his forehead. He looked good this way. Real good. And he smelled real good too. A delicious scent of strawberries curled around her and she realized he’d used the shampoo she’d brought from home. Perhaps it was a way to keep her with him? She started to shake at the thought that he might not be coming back and this might be their final goodbye.