One-Click Buy: June 2009 Harlequin Blaze

by Tori Carrington

  In the second bag, she found a summer-weight blazer in the same creamy white. And instead of a matching skirt, she found a pair of slacks.

  Slacks.

  Hugging them to her, she sank down on one of the sofas. Jase had remembered her saying that she felt more comfortable in them. Maddie felt her heart take a little tumble. She’d grown up around men, and her impression of them was that while they were well-meaning, they weren’t the most attentive of creatures.

  But Jase was different. With a little sigh, she rose and laid the slacks carefully over the back of the couch.

  When she peeked in the third bag, she found lace panties, a bra and a silky black nightgown. Definitely more seduction-wear than sleepwear. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that if Jase had ordered the slacks to please her, he’d ordered the frothy black nightgown to please himself. She made a mental note to wear it that night.

  That night.

  After the hours they’d just spent together, she was actually thinking of making love to Jase Campbell again. Something must have happened to her brain. Perhaps the pollution in the Manhattan air had affected her synapses. She’d never before developed an intimate relationship with a man she barely knew.

  Correction. She hadn’t known Jase at all when they’d first made love. That had been a mistake made by two strangers because she’d accidentally crawled into the wrong bed.

  Maddie sighed again. But making love to Jase Campbell never felt like a mistake. It always felt so right.

  Jase was different for her. In so many ways. And because of him, she was becoming different too. She’d never known she could be this way—happy, sexy, desperate, crazy. Every time he touched her she felt something new.

  It wasn’t just the sex. Not when she looked at him or thought of him and something inside her tilted. That was emotion.

  Maddie thought of the strategy she’d developed to handle Jase when she’d been in the shower this morning. Logic and reason. Hah! Being logical and reasonable just wasn’t part of the equation where Jase was concerned. She wanted him and he wanted her. It was just that simple. Just that elemental.

  She also recalled telling him that she only had three weeks to accomplish her agenda in New York, and that making love again with him would only complicate things.

  Maddie turned and walked toward the bedroom. Like it or not, making love again with Jase Campbell had become an important part of her new agenda in New York.

  And she was certain that she was going to like it. A lot.

  12

  JASE STARED at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent this much time in the bathroom. He’d showered and shaved. He’d even considered using the hotel hair dryer to do something with his hair.

  Pitiful.

  But Maddie needed some sleep. And he hadn’t trusted himself to stay in the same room with her and not make love with her again.

  Even when she’d finally fallen asleep, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from watching her. Finally, he’d moved to the bed and stroked her hair. He couldn’t seem to prevent himself from touching her.

  That’s when it had happened. It was while he’d stroked her hair that he’d felt something move through him, something that had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted very much to make love with her again.

  Trying to figure it out, he’d studied her sprawled across the bed. She slept with the same intensity that she did everything else. And she was a lot tougher than she looked. He’d experienced the strength and passion that she brought to their lovemaking. But right then as he’d looked down at her, what he’d wanted more than anything was to protect her. To cherish her.

  The fact was that he was coming to have feelings for her other than those of a casual lover. Feelings that went far beyond making sure that she wasn’t killed.

  He thought of what she’d said to him that morning in the kitchen—that if they made love again, it would complicate things. Well, she sure as hell had been right about that. But he hadn’t brought her here to the Donatello just to make love to her. And though it had been a long day, they still had a call to make. After what Dino had told him on the phone, he very much wanted to see what Eva Ware had written in her appointment book.

  He ran his hands through his hair and started toward the door to the bedroom just as it opened and Maddie entered the bathroom. Both of them stopped in mid stride.

  MADDIE’S THROAT went dry, and the air in the room was suddenly thick. Jase’s shoulders still glistened with droplets of water from his shower. The towel was tucked low over his hips.

  The silence stretched between them.

  Maddie finally broke it. “I want you again.”

  “Ditto. But we need to get to your mother’s apartment.”

  “I know. The clothes you ordered came. I need to shower.” But hadn’t she known what she really wanted when she’d stepped into the bathroom?

  “Right.” On his way to her, he dropped the towel and then he shoved the bathrobe down her arms. Finally, he scooped her up into his arms.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We might as well try the age-old solution.” He twisted the faucets. “A cold shower.”

  Maddie screamed as the icy water sluiced over them. “Turn it off! I’m freezing!”

  “That’s the idea.” He set her down but used his body to block her in.

  Through the wet hair plastered to her face, she glared at him. “I don’t like this idea.”

  “It does have its drawbacks.” There was laughter in his voice. “But I thought you were tougher than you look.”

  She raised both hands and gave him a hard shove. She might have had more luck with the boulder in Central Park. Sputtering, she made a blind grab for the faucets.

  He grabbed her wrists. “No cheating.”

  “I’m sure I’m turning blue.”

  “That is one of the drawbacks.”

  He backed her farther into the shower, and a fresh spray of icy needles pelted her.

  “I’m going to get even for this.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. But for now, since you don’t like a cold shower, I thought we’d shift to plan B.”

  “No, you—”

  He cut off her protest by covering her mouth with his. With one arm holding her close, he slathered soapy lather all over her body.

  Incredibly, her skin began to heat. When his fingers slipped between her thighs, found her, pierced her, she began to burn. Wrapping her arms around him, she drew him even closer. The fire he’d ignited built rapidly then. With his hand alone he took her on a desperate ride, driving her up and up until the climax shot through her with a violence that left her trembling.

  That was enough to drive him to the edge. When she whispered his name, he lifted her and wrapped her legs around him.

  “Maddie, open your eyes.”

  She did as he asked, and he looked into those blue-violet depths. When he drove himself into her, he knew she thought only of him.

  When she murmured his name, he thought only of her.

  He pulled out, thrust in again, over and over. She shuddered again and again. When he could no longer help himself, he drove them both into the madness.

  MADDIE WAS just slipping into her new shoes in front of a full-length mirror when Jase’s cell phone rang.

  He tucked it under his chin and listened silently while he shrugged into the new blue shirt, then buttoned it. He left it hanging loose and tucked his gun into the back waistband of his jeans.

  The man was definitely efficient. As a security agent, as a lover, as a friend. And he seemed to be able to shift between his various roles effortlessly. Since they’d left the bathroom, he’d been all business again and she was learning to follow his lead.

  But something had happened while they’d been in the shower. It was as if some question between them had been asked and answered. Maddie just had to figure out what it was.

  Jase shut his cell phone, then tucked a strand of hair behi
nd her ear. “D.C.’s plane is boarding. He’ll be in Santa Fe tonight. Between him and Cash, Jordan will be all right.”

  She’d already told herself that, but it helped to hear Jase say it.

  “Ready to hit the road?” he asked.

  “Yes.” They’d decided while they were dressing that they were going to go to her mother’s apartment and get the appointment calendar. But it wasn’t finding the calendar that had nerves knotting in her stomach. It was the idea of seeing the place where her mother had lived.

  “There’s a strong possibility that whoever it is we’re dealing with will have Eva’s apartment staked out. In their place, that’s what I’d do. They have to know by now that the hit failed, and they may have a back-up plan.”

  “What are you saying?” Maddie asked.

  “We have to take precautions. I already asked Dino to post one of our men near the entrance. His job is to see if anyone else is watching. But we’re going to have to be fast. We can ditch the taxi a few blocks away, and I’ll pay the driver to wait for us across the street from the apartment so we can make a quick getaway. You’re going to wear the scarf and the sunglasses I had sent up.” Plucking them out of the bag, he tossed them to her. “It’s standard celeb wear.”

  His eyes when they met hers were sober. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could talk you into waiting here and letting me get the appointment book?”

  Maddie shook her head firmly. “No way at all.”

  “Figured.” He took her arm and they were halfway to the door when his cell rang again.

  He checked the caller ID, then said, “Yeah?”

  For a few minutes, Jase said nothing. He merely listened. When he finally repocketed the phone, he opened the door of the suite.

  “That was Dino checking in again. While you were sleeping, he called to tell me what he’d found out about Michelle Tan.”

  “Michelle?”

  “About a month ago, three days after the robbery, in fact, a bank check for one hundred thousand dollars was deposited into Michelle’s bank account. The money was withdrawn in cash two days later.”

  She shot him a look. “Can Dino hack into a bank’s computers?”

  Jase grinned at her. “Sure. He’s getting better at the technical stuff. But it was a bank check, so he doesn’t know yet who it came from.”

  “I see.”

  “Even more intriguing, it turns out that Michelle’s the granddaughter of Cho Li.”

  “GOOD JOB,” Jase murmured as they rode up the seven flights to Eva Ware’s apartment.

  “Thanks. It seemed the easiest way.”

  And it had been. She’d gotten them past the doorman by lowering her scarf and pretending to be Jordan. It had also saved them some time. And Jase wasn’t sure how much time they had. Whoever was behind this was smart and prepared. In his experience, people who were prepared always had a back-up plan.

  He glanced sideways at Maddie. She’d been very quiet during the short cab ride to Eva’s place. Because she was trying to absorb the news about Michelle and Cho? He could understand that. He was trying to figure it out too. The two least likely suspects for robbing Eva’s store had risen like cream to the top of the group.

  He was positive Jordan hadn’t known about the relationship between the two. She’d certainly never mentioned it to him, nor had she put it in the notes she’d given Maddie. Had Eva known? Or perhaps suspected? The appointment calendar just might tell them something.

  But Jase had a hunch that what was bothering Maddie now went a little deeper.

  “Have you ever been in Eva’s apartment?” she asked as they left the elevator.

  “No.”

  “After we find the appointment calendar, I’d like to take a little time to look around.”

  When he didn’t immediately reply, she continued, “I know you’d prefer to get in and out, but I won’t take long. I’d just like to get…an idea of how she lived.”

  Jase thought of the doorman, a fit enough looking man. But he was in his fifties and a pro could take him out in seconds. He reminded himself that Dino had stationed a man across the street who was a pro also. “Sure.”

  She unlocked the door with the key Jordan had given her and hesitated a moment before stepping into the foyer. Then she simply looked around. Jase had noted before that she was good at standing still and absorbing her surroundings. Perhaps every artist had to have that quality.

  The foyer opened into a short hallway with high ceilings. The apartment itself was located in one of Manhattan’s oldest buildings, but the wainscoting and the chair railings had been artfully restored. Beneath the rich hues of an oriental carpet lay gleaming dark hardwood floors.

  Jase tried to put himself in Maddie’s shoes. She’d been to her mother’s workplace and seen the professional side of Eva Ware. But this was personal. Intimate.

  First things first. He opened the double doors of the closet and found the cardboard box on the floor just as Jordan had described.

  “So far, so good.” He quickly pushed aside the clothes that Eva had been wearing the night of her accident and found a tote. Inside was a leather-bound appointment calendar. Like Maddie’s, it was stuffed with folded notes and newspaper clippings. Handing it to her, he thought, like mother, like daughter.

  She ran her fingers over the cover and then tucked it into her own tote. Linking his fingers with hers, they started down the hallway together. At the end of it, Jase could see the kitchen. The reddish hues of the setting sun poured through louver-covered windows, glinting off stainless-steel appliances and black granite counter tops. An archway to their right opened into a formal dining room, but Maddie drew him through the archway to their left.

  Here the light was dimmer, but Jase could make out on the wall facing them a brick fireplace flanked by two bookcases with leaded-glass doors. And there was a desk to their immediate right, its surface stacked high with sketch books. One was open, a pencil lying on its surface.

  Maddie was already moving toward the desk as he felt along the wall for a switch. When he flicked it on, his attention was drawn immediately to the oil portrait over the mantel.

  His eyes went first to Eva, seated in a delicately carved armchair wearing pale gray slacks, a matching jacket and a pink sweater. Her long blond hair had been twisted into a braid that fell over one shoulder. Next to her a much younger Jordan stood in a pink dress trimmed in ruffles at the neck, sleeves and hem. Her hair had been fastened back from her face with bows and fell in curls to her shoulders.

  It was a family portrait, Jase supposed. Mother and daughter. He shifted his gaze to Maddie and saw that she was studying it also. Was she imagining what the portrait might have looked like if she’d been in it too, standing on the other side of Eva?

  The surge of anger took him by surprise and had him striding toward her and taking her hand. Why in hell had two sane people who’d obviously loved both their daughters each cut one out of their lives?

  “You should be in that portrait. They were stupid to split the two of you up,” he said.

  “I’d like to think that they loved us so much that they couldn’t bear to part with both of us.”

  Jase turned to study her. “Is that why you think your father kept you?”

  “It’s what I’d like to believe.” She moved closer to the portrait, drawing him with her. “It’s odd.”

  “What?”

  “My father never had a formal portrait done. But on my eleventh birthday, he had a photographer come to the ranch. Dad insisted that the man take the picture outside near the stables. I’d been riding Brutus, the horse he’d just gotten me for my birthday. We didn’t dress up or anything. Dad posed the picture with me on the horse and him standing beside it. Later, he framed the photo and kept it on the dresser in his bedroom. Jordan will see it the moment she walks into the room.”

  “Your sister looks to be about eleven in the painting.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. It’s an odd coincidence that they
’d both decide to have a formal picture taken when we were about the same age.”

  Jase turned to her. “Do you think your parents kept in touch over the years?”

  With a sigh, she shrugged. “Maybe that’s just what I’d like to believe. There has to be some explanation for what they did. Why they did it.”

  Jase traced a finger along her jawline—so strong, so stubborn. “If there is, you’ll find it.” Whatever else he might have said was interrupted by a sound—metal scraping against metal.

  “What’s that?” Maddie whispered.

  “We’re going to have company,” he whispered back. Motioning her to one side of the archway, he flipped off the light, then flattened himself to the wall on the opposite side of the arch. From his position, he had a partial view of the door to the apartment as it swung open. In the dim light, he saw a shadowy figure move into the hall. He or she turned immediately to the closet door, opened it and pulled out the same box that he had searched earlier. By that time, his eyes had adjusted to the dimmer light and he recognized who it was.

  Flipping the light on, he stepped into the hall and said, “Can we help you, Michelle?”

  MADDIE FOLLOWED Jase into the hallway in time to see Michelle Tan drop Eva’s tote bag. The contents—wallet, a matchbook and a small sketchpad—clattered out onto the floor.

  “I—” Michelle placed a hand to her heart and took a deep breath.

  Maddie wasn’t sure who was more surprised—Michelle or herself, but she managed to ask, “What are you doing here?”

  Without answering, Michelle dropped to her knees and began to stuff things back into the tote.

  “Yes, what are you doing here?” Jase repeated.