Sudden Attraction

by Rebecca York

  Rachael Gregory and Jake Harper.

  They were holding hands with Gabriella as they focused on the doctor and his armed guard.

  Luke saw the concentration on Gabriella’s face. Seconds later, bolts of energy shot toward the doctor and the guard.

  They screamed. Both of them tried to scramble up, but their legs shot out from under them and they fell in a heap in the doorway.

  Teeth gritted, Solomon swung around, the gun still in his hand. When he tried to raise the weapon, he screamed and dropped it as though it had suddenly become red hot.

  Luke had leaped to join his rescuers, reaching for Gabriella’s hand. Instinctively, he added his power to the joint force of the attack. He felt energy surge through the other couple, himself and Gabriella.

  As Solomon lay on the floor, he frantically scrabbled in his pocket.

  Moments later, he and the guard went still.

  “It’s over,” Jake Harper said, relieved.

  “Thank God,” Gabriella breathed.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Rachel said. “Hurry,” she added, a note of alarm creeping into her voice.

  They were just heading toward the closet when Luke felt the whole building shudder, and he flashed back to the moment when the doctor had reached into his pocket.

  “Solomon triggered something,” Luke shouted.

  As the building shook violently, Gabriella screamed, and Luke tried to pull her into his arms, knowing in that instant that they were all going to die. But she kept her hold on Rachel’s hand.

  Time seemed to slow down so that each second stretched to the breaking point, making the agony of waiting for the end so much worse.

  He was bracing for oblivion when he caught a glimmer of hope. Rachel was projecting an image to them of an enormous shimmering soap bubble. No, something far more substantial than a bubble. More like a plastic dome enclosing the four of them, shielding them from the explosion.

  A force field, for want of a better name. They crowded together, hands clasped, shoulders pressed.

  Hope leaped inside Luke.

  Maybe they had a chance after all.

  Then he saw that the bubble wasn’t entirely stable. When the surface wavered, he knew that it might not hold, and if it disintegrated, they had only postponed death for a few moments.

  Help me, Rachel shouted as she fought to firm the field.

  His heart was pounding as he struggled to hook into her mind and add his own power to the joint effort.

  The surface stabilized just before the building disintegrated in a loud clap of thunder. The whole world shook as enormous pieces of building material flew into the air.

  Some landed far from where they were standing, but much of the debris rained down on the curved surface surrounding them, striking the transparent skin and bouncing or sliding off.

  Luke watched thick clouds of choking dust swirling outside the protective shell. Gradually the particles began to settle and he saw that the whole building had disappeared. He stared at the house where the doctor had drugged them. It had also taken a hit and most of the upper story and the back wall were gone.

  “Did we slow down time?” Gabriella gasped out.

  “I think so,” Jake answered.

  “What about the guards and Violet?” Gabriella asked.

  “If they were in here, they’re dead,” Jake Harper answered. “I guess they didn’t realize that the doctor had a suicide plan in case things didn’t go his way.”

  “Yeah,” Luke answered. “But we always knew he was warped, and now we’d better get the hell out of here before the authorities come to investigate.”

  As they staggered away, Luke was hardly able to believe what he was seeing, but he knew he and Gabriella had come through a nightmare. He’d wondered if they would survive. Now they stood together in the middle of terrible destruction.

  Her thoughts were the same as his. She dropped Rachel’s hand and held out her arms. He reached for her and they came together, clinging. When she lifted her face, he lowered his head and their lips met in a fierce kiss that might have gone on forever except that Jake made a throat-clearing sound.

  “You’re forgetting we’ve got to get out of here.”

  Luke struggled to pull himself back to reality. “Right.”

  “Where’s your car?” Jake asked.

  Still trying to orient himself, Luke looked around and found what must be the parking lot. Several vehicles had been squashed and dented by debris, including his.

  “Wait.” Luke walked over and pulled the electrical tape off the license plates.

  When he had pocketed the tape, Jake led the way across a field, into the bayou.

  As they disappeared under the shade of the trees, he could hear sirens.

  They came to a gravel road through the bayou and followed it around a bend, where a beat-up SUV sat.

  “By the way, we weren’t really introduced. We’re Jake Harper and Rachel Gregory.”

  “Luke Buckley and Gabriella Boudreaux.”

  “When did you meet?” Gabriella asked as they kept walking toward the car.

  “A month ago,” Rachel answered. “We’ve been hiding out most of the time since then.”

  “Luke and I have been together for less than a week. Also on the run,” Gabriella told them.

  “And the moment you touched, you started reading each other’s thoughts?” Jake asked.

  “Yes,” Luke answered. “I assume we’re all children from the Solomon clinic.”

  “Must be,” Rachel said.

  “Sorry we can’t offer you better transportation,” Jake apologized, when they reached their battered SUV. “But we’ve been hiding out and we got this secondhand—cheap.”

  Rachel laughed. “A real hardship for him. You ought to see his fleet of vehicles in the city.”

  They all climbed into the car. In the backseat, Luke held Gabriella’s hand tightly as Jake started the engine and they headed away from the doctor’s lab.

  Gabriella leaned into Luke, her eyes closed.

  “Is it really over?” she said.

  “Let’s hope so,” Rachel answered from the front seat.

  When they were about twenty miles from Houma, Jake turned in at another narrow drive that led to a small but comfortable-looking house tucked among tall cypress trees.

  “We’ve been here for a couple of weeks,” he said, “hoping we could figure out some way to disable the Badger. We didn’t even know Solomon was alive.”

  “Not anymore. I mean, neither of them,” Luke answered.

  They all climbed out, crossed to the house and entered a cozy living room.

  “How did you find this place?” Luke asked.

  Jake laughed. “Vacation rental. Paid cash.”

  There were comfortable chairs and couches in the living room. Jake gestured toward the couch, and Luke and Gabriella sat, still unwilling to move away from each other, still marveling that they had escaped from Dr. Solomon’s clutches.

  Jake and Rachel went to the kitchen area and began getting out food.

  “You’re probably starving,” Rachel said as she set down sour cream dip, chips, raw vegetables and shrimp rémoulade.

  Luke blinked. After what they’d been through, he could hardly believe the domestic scene. It was like they were two couples who were getting together for a social evening. Only it was a lot more than that.

  “What can I get you to drink?” Jake asked.

  “Strong coffee,” Luke answered. “I could use the jolt.”

  “How about a cappuccino?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “You can’t expect a restaurateur to subsist on ordinary standard brew.” He’d bought a restaurant-quality machine, and he busied himself grinding beans, then foaming milk. “The same for you?” he asked Gabriella.

  “Yes, thanks.”

  Jake turned out four perfect cups, and they all sipped and ate the goodies Rachel had put out.

  Gradually Luke felt himself unwi
nding, but he couldn’t entirely relax.

  “What’s next?” he finally asked.

  “For starters, we’ve got choices again,” Jake said.

  Gabriella sat forward, looking from Jake to Rachel and back again, bursting with the idea that had been rattling around in her head for days.

  “Would you like to invest in a restaurant in Lafayette? With a top chef running the kitchen?” Gabriella asked.

  “Sounds interesting. Give me a few more details,” Jake said.

  She told him about the plantation house, the cottages on the property and her own culinary background.

  Luke saw him looking at Rachel and knew he was asking silent questions.

  She was the one who spoke. “I was wondering if the four of us should stick together for a while. Maybe see what kind of joint talents we could develop.” She cleared her throat. “Your plantation might be the perfect spot. But I’d want to spend a few days in New Orleans each week, doing my tarot card readings.”

  “Of course,” Gabriella agreed.

  “And to add to our to-do list, perhaps we want to look for some of the other children from the clinic?” Luke asked.

  “Cautiously,” Jake answered. “Remember that Mickey and Tanya attacked us.”

  “They almost killed Jake,” Rachel added

  Luke whistled through his teeth. “That must have made it hard for you to contact us—and help us escape.”

  “Yes, but we had to take the chance when we realized you were in trouble,” Rachel said. “And as soon as we got close to you, we knew you’re good people. Sensing things about customers has always helped me in my tarot card readings.”

  Luke nodded, thinking he had the same feelings about Jake and Rachel. He trusted them. Which didn’t make it any easier to say, “There’s one other problem I need to disclose. Hanging around me could be dangerous.”

  Gabriella tightened her hold on his hand as he said, “I’m writing a book about New Jersey mobsters. They were after me, too.”

  “Those were the two other men Solomon shot with the tranq gun?” Jake asked.

  “You saw that?”

  “Well, Rachel viewed the scene remotely.” He paused for a second and said, “They’re dead. We saw that, too. Which was why we knew how ruthless Dr. Solomon was.”

  Luke dragged in a breath and let it out. “More wiseguys could come looking for me.”

  Jake listened to the story of their escape from the apartment in New Orleans, then said, “I think there’s an easy solution. Maybe it was already in the back of your mind when you pulled the tape off your plates. Don’t you think it’s a pretty safe assumption that you got blown up in that explosion? The cops are going to find your car and trace it back to you. We can reinforce the news of your death with some mental misinformation.”

  “And if anybody asks, you and I separated and I escaped,” Gabriella added.

  “Then you can come back from the dead when the book’s published and the damage is done,” Jake said with a laugh.

  Luke hoped it would work. For now, it was a good enough solution.

  He looked up to see the other couple exchanging silent information.

  Rachel stood. “And now that we don’t have to hide out from the Badger, I’d like to do some shopping without having to look over my shoulder.”

  “And I need to contact my restaurant manager,” Jake added, “and let him know I’m alive and well.”

  “You probably want to unwind. Let me show you the guest bedroom,” Rachel said. She got up and walked down a short hall. “Make this your home. We’ll be gone for a couple of hours.”

  Before Luke or Gabriella could respond, their new friends had left.

  “I guess they knew we wanted to be alone,” Gabriella murmured.

  Yeah. She said she was intuitive. He laughed. “Or she was reading our expressions.”

  Oh, Luke. She reached for him, and he came into her arms. They held each other tightly.

  Did you ever in your wildest dreams think things would work out this way? she asked.

  No. But I hoped.

  They clung together, and when she raised her face to his, he brought his mouth down for a passionate kiss. A leisurely kiss. As he lifted his head, he said, “Now maybe I can ask you to marry me.”

  “Maybe?”

  He gave her a serious look. “I knew I had to hide out from the mob. And I wasn’t going to put you in danger.”

  “And I wasn’t going to let you ditch me.”

  “Ditch you? I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “Let’s not waste time arguing about it. Are you going to ask me?”

  His expression turned serious. “Gabriella Boudreaux, will you marry me?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  She sealed the answer with another kiss as they swayed together in the middle of the room.

  “Do you think Jake will go in with me on the restaurant idea?” she asked.

  “When he reads your reviews, he’ll jump at the chance to back you. And he’s got the expertise to make it work.”

  “I feel so blessed. And not just about my career. I never thought I’d get close to anyone, I mean really close.”

  “I know.”

  “Now I have you. And we have them, too. People who understand where we came from—and how precious our life is now.”

  As he said it, he felt overwhelmed by happiness and the way they had conquered their problems.

  There will always be problems, Gabriella said. Like, will our children inherit our special talents?

  You’re already thinking about children?

  I can’t help it.

  He gathered her to him. But we’ll wait awhile, right?

  Yes. Until we have a better idea of how our lives will work out. But we don’t have to worry about the future now. We just have to celebrate what we’ve earned.

  He linked his hand with hers and led her to the bedroom, intent on showing her how much she meant to him.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459220980

  Copyright © 2012 by Ruth Glick

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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  Table of Contents

  Back Cover Text

  Introduction

  About the Author

  Cast of Characters

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Copyright

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  Rebecca York, Sudden Attraction