With that stinging remark, she moved to the trunk and stuck her key in the lock. She had to give it a few sharp whacks with her fists before the lid creaked open, disturbing a layer of dust that had settled on the car.
Alex curbed his grin and went to help her, his hungry gaze skimming over her gut-punching figure outlined by her snug jeans and short, white tank top. Caught off guard, he grunted as she slammed a bag of groceries into his chest and flicked him a hot, angry glance.
He shifted the sack to one arm and lifted a questioning brow. Five seconds in her company and he was hard as a rock. “Something on your mind?”
“Yes.” Reaching inside for another sack, she turned around and caught him in the act of ogling her pert behind. Her eyes narrowed. “And I can see there’s something on your mind, too.”
Prudently, Alex pretended innocence. “Did you get Daisy’s file?” She rose and slammed another sack into his other arm before disappearing into the trunk again.
“Yes, I got Daisy’s file. I also found out the whole town is looking for you, and the supervisors are being interrogated one by one. Thanks to you, I’m practically a fugitive.”
She straightened and blew a strand of red-gold hair from her eyes. “There’s a reward offered for any information pertaining to your whereabouts. Isn’t it against the law to pretend to be kidnapped?” Before he could answer her growled question, she moved around him to the passenger seat and yanked open the door.
Alex got a full view of her bottom this time, as she bent over to retrieve something from under the seat. Strange. Denim had never made his mouth water before...
“Something else I think you should know,” she continued, backing out of the car and slamming the door. “If I help you, I’ll be doing it for the factory and for my friends, not for you or because of your pathetic blackmailing attempts.”
She piled a manila folder on top of the sacks he balanced in his arms. Alex held it in place with his chin, totally besotted with the fireball quivering in front of him. If he hadn’t had the bags, he would have pulled her into his arms and silenced her with a very long, pleasurable kiss.
Brooke Welch...woman extraordinaire.
“So this is the deal. You go into town and let the sheriff know you’re okay, and I’ll help you all that I can.” She wrinkled her nose as she turned away—empty-handed. “You need a shower. You smell like fish!”
For a long, enjoyable moment, he watched her hips swing as she walked. She had her foot on the bottom step when he said very distinctly, “No.”
Her back stiffened. He could almost feel her bristling as she hovered on the steps. Slowly she turned to look at him. She wasn’t surprised by his answer, he realized, admiring her bluff.
“They’re calling in the FBI,” she added as if he hadn’t spoken.
Alex believed her; she looked far too solemn to be lying. “That’s too bad—and not my problem.” It was going to be his secretary’s problem when he finally reached her, but that wasn’t something he wanted to share with Brooke at the moment. Or even in the next few days. The more he saw of her, the more certain he was of that.
“But—but—”
“Why don’t we get these groceries put away?” Alex advanced, and like a skittish colt, she scampered up the steps and into the cabin. He followed and set the sacks on the counter before turning to look at her. She was breathing hard, and for a regrettable instant, he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes. His voice softened. “Relax. As long as you play it cool, they won’t know that you have me.”
Her voice shook slightly—more from anger than fear, he suspected. “I don’t have you! You’re free to go anytime you want. You can even take my car!”
“I’m not going anywhere until I find out what’s going on at my factory, and I can’t do that if the entire town knows I’m here.”
“Then why don’t you stay somewhere else?” she cried, sounding frustrated. “Why here?”
“I told you before—I like it here. And I like your company.”
“But I don’t like you!”
“Don’t you?” Alex taunted softly. “If I didn’t smell like fish, I’d show you what a liar you are.” He folded his arms to keep them from reaching out for her. “You know what I think, Brooke? I think you’re scared.”
Her whisky-hot eyes flashed with scorn. “I’m not afraid of you. If you wanted to hurt me, you’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re afraid of us.”
“There is no ‘us’!”
Alex began to unfasten his shirt, watching as her gaze dipped down and her eyes widened in alarm. “There is, or will be. Sooner or later.” Hesitating long enough to let her imagination soar, he finished unbuttoning his shirt and turned, flinging over his shoulder, “I’m going to take a shower. There’s fish on the grill—do you mind checking on it for me?”
He left her standing in the kitchen, her face a comic mixture of confusion, panic, and disappointment.
It was the disappointment that put a spring into his step. Once in the bathroom, Alex forced himself to concentrate on what he should do about this new information. FBI, huh? Sounds like Gloria really went too far this time. He hoped when this was all over that she learned her lesson.
In the meantime, his first priority was to contact someone, let them know he was okay so they could call off the heat. To do that, he needed to get that charger for his phone from the hotel room so that he could make the call when Brooke wasn’t around. It wasn’t exactly chivalrous of him to keep fooling her, but he didn’t think she’d hang around just for the hell of it once the threat was gone. No, she was too frightened of what was happening between them.
Standing beneath the cold spray, Alex chuckled, imagining Brooke’s reaction when he told her what they had to do.
Chapter Fourteen
Brooke felt the feathery touch of fingers against her neck. She shivered and jerked away, adjusting the rearview mirror until she was could glare at Alex, who lay curled in the back seat. “Stop that! You want someone to see you?”
“I hardly think they could see my fingers in the dark from another vehicle,” he argued dryly.
The sight of his slow, sexy smile curled her toes. She ground her teeth and took a deep breath, wondering how much longer she would be able to resist his charms—and her raging hormones. Both were equally difficult to control, and getting more difficult by the hour. He reminded her of lava creeping down the sides of a volcano: sizzling hot and unstoppable.
“This was a bad idea, you know. If we get stopped while you’re in the car, then you’re busted.”
“So are you.”
Oh, he was quick. Brooke clenched her jaw. And lethal. Ruthless. Manipulative—with a rock for a heart. “You forget, this is my town and these are my friends. They’d believe me over you any day.” If she were a mean, spiteful person, she would add that most of the people in Quicksilver already disliked him.
“But the FBI would believe me.”
Why? Brooke asked herself. Why did she bother to bluff with Alex? It never worked. “I hate you.” The moment she said it, she winced. But pride kept her from retracting the rash, immature statement.
She should have known he’d find it amusing instead of painful. His husky chuckle fired her ears full of heat.
“You know what they say about love and hate...”
Brooke seethed silently and prayed for a flat tire or something. Anything that would delay their arrival in Quicksilver and the task ahead. She’d argued until she’d gotten a bad case of heartburn, but Alex had remained stubbornly insistent they retrieve his briefcase from his hotel room. Daisy’s file had been a disappointment; no letter of resignation, and no forwarding address.
Up ahead, the city lights of Quicksilver came into sight. Brooke unconsciously slowed the Pinto. Her reluctance didn’t go unnoticed.
“I’ve got all night if you’ve got all night,” Alex remarked from the back seat. His voice deepened as he added, “Alt
hough I can think of several things I’d rather be doing.”
She flicked him a look that should have cleaved him in two. Naturally he grinned. It had taken a while for it to dawn on her, but Brooke finally had realized: Alex Bradshaw enjoyed getting her riled. He seemed to revel in it.
It was baffling...and disturbing.
But then, everything about Alex disturbed her.
She jumped as his warm breath tickled her ear. She took her hand from the wheel and tried to wave him away. “Get down! Are you crazy?”
“I haven’t been down since I met you,” he whispered huskily. “And yes, I’m crazy. You make me crazy.”
Her mother would have called him a silver-tongued devil. And she would have been right, Brooke mused, straining to concentrate on the road and not on the hot tongue circling her ear. When his teeth captured her earlobe and tugged gently, Brooke sucked in a sharp gasp and stomped the gas pedal.
Alex flew backward onto the seat.
Brooke giggled at his startled expression, watching him in the rearview mirror. His eyes suddenly narrowed in warning.
“I can take a hint,” he said.
“Good.”
“But sooner or later we’ll be back at the cabin.”
Feeling reckless, Brooke arched a brow in the mirror. “So?”
“So...payback’s a bitch.”
Suppressing a shiver at the promise in his eyes, Brooke slowed the Pinto and made the turn leading into town. “You’d better get down out of sight. We’re here.”
A few moments later she pulled up in front of Room 205 at the Quicksilver Motel. The row of fifteen rooms faced the road; a sign announcing VACANCIES hung above the office located on the end. Alex had checked into Room 208, but they’d both decided it would be wise to scout the area in the off chance they had someone watching the room. Personally, Brooke doubted this was the case. Why would they watch his room? It wasn’t likely a kidnapper would return to Alex’s room to get his clothes and briefcase. Nobody could be that stupid.
She winced.
“How’s it look?” Alex asked, keeping his head down.
Brooke carefully scanned the area. Nothing but empty cars and a giggling couple embracing in the darkened doorway of Room 215. They could be undercover, she supposed, biting her lip as she watched them. She let out a sigh of relief when they finally opened the door and disappeared inside.
“Coast is clear,” she announced in an undertone. She reached through the window and opened the door from the outside, leaning forward so that Alex could squeeze between the seats.
Like a shadow, he hurried to his room and slipped inside. The moments seemed to drag by. Brooke kept watch, tapping her nails nervously against the steering wheel.
The thought slipped in as thoughts sometimes do when the mind is given time to think. Slowly, she stopped tapping her nails and grew utterly still.
If she left right now, Alex would have a hard time proving that she’d kidnapped him.
If she left right now, he might be angry enough at her desertion to fire her, but at least she wouldn’t go to jail.
But if she left right now, Alex would likely be discovered and his cover would be blown. Whoever was stealing from the company would probably either clear out or cover their tracks so they’d never be caught. Alex would be forced to bring in that auditor, and the factory would be closed for an indefinite period of time.
To add insult to injury, he’d probably be forced to replace all of the supervisors if the audit revealed nothing.
Immersed in her dilemma, Brooke was surprised by the sudden, blinding light in her face. She tried to shield her eyes with her hands and bumped her funny bone against the door panel. “Ouch!”
“Brooke? Little Brooke Welch? Is that you? What in the world are you doing out here?”
It was Sheriff Snider, Brooke realized, uncertain whether she should be relieved or alarmed. It could have been one of those agents Dixie mentioned, with a list of tricky questions she really didn’t want to answer. Brooke had read somewhere they were trained to detect a lie by watching someone’s facial expression.
She’d never been good at lying.
“Could you point that light elsewhere, Sheriff?”
“Oh, sorry.” Thankfully, he flipped the switch.
Brooke blinked. White spots still danced before her eyes. She hoped it cleared before she had to drive again.
“So, what are you doing here, Brooke? This seems an unlikely place for a girl like you. Lose your air-conditioning or something?” He followed his questions with his usual, friendly smile, but Brooke had this paranoid thing going and couldn’t seem to shake it.
She felt as if GUILT were written in big block letters on her forehead. Thinking quickly, she said, “Dee ran off, so I thought—”
“You didn’t know?” Sheriff Snider exclaimed, hitching up his pants and looking concerned. “She went to Vegas with that new boyfriend of hers. Heard they were getting married.”
Was there anyone who didn’t know? Brooke wondered ruefully. She gave the sheriff a wan—and hopefully worried—smile. “I knew she’d left with him, but I was hoping they hadn’t gone far.”
“Now, Brooke. You know DeeDee’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. It’s time you lived your own life, have some fun. Get yourself a fellow.” His brow lowered ominously as he added, “Someone more worthy than that Lotus character. He’s a womanizer.”
Didn’t she know it!
“Your daddy wouldn’t have liked that guy, I’m thinking.”
Brooke bit her lip. She didn’t think he would have, either.
“By the way, there’s a fellow in from Amarillo, wants to have a word with you. I think he’s talked to all the supervisors except you. You have heard about Alex Bradshaw, haven’t you?”
Nodding, Brooke said, “Duncan told me.”
“Seems the young Bradshaw’s been sick and they’re all worried about him.”
“Sick?” Alex was sick? He didn’t look sick! “Um, what’s wrong with him, do you know?”
“I’m thinkin’ it’s not anything serious, or they would have sent someone besides that private investigator.”
Private investigator. Not FBI . Brooke was so happy she could have kissed the sheriff. “Well, you tell him to come by and see me tomorrow, okay?” She wouldn’t be home, of course, but Sheriff Snider wouldn’t know that. Now that she knew the mystery man’s occupation, she also realized she didn’t have to talk to him.
It was most certainly best that she didn’t. She might be tempted to do something irrational like throw herself at his mercy before she did something regrettable like sleeping with the man who now waved cheerfully at her from the motel door—.
Brooke swallowed a shriek and quickly tore her gaze away from her reckless, crazy boss. Was he trying to get caught? Was he making the mistake a lot of foolish people made by thinking Sheriff Snider was another Barney Fife?
Just as she feared, her strange reaction didn’t go unnoticed. Sheriff Snider frowned and glanced sharply behind him. Brooke held her breath and followed his gaze, slumping against the seat when she saw that the doorway Alex had been standing in seconds before was now empty again.
Slowly she closed her eyes, vowing to kill him.
“Everything all right, Brooke?” Sheriff Snider asked gruffly. “You’re not in trouble or anything, are you? Because if you are, you know me and your daddy were good friends, and there ain’t nothing I wouldn’t do for you—”
“I’m fine, Sheriff Snider. I’m just fine. In fact, I need to get back home in case Dee calls.” She managed a grateful smile as she started the engine and curled her fingers around the gear shift. “Thanks, Sheriff.”
Holding her smile in the hopes that he was watching through the hotel window, Brooke waved at Sheriff Snider and backed out of the parking space. She hummed softly as she headed to the burger joint for a milkshake. A tall, thick milkshake that would take her a good fifteen or twenty minutes to consume.
Let Al
ex sweat, she thought with a wicked grin. Let him sit there and wonder if she was coming back for him or running out for good. After nearly giving her a heart attack, he deserved to sweat and worry.
At the drive-up window at the burger joint, Brooke ordered an extra-large chocolate malt. When it arrived she began to sip very slowly, watching people and wondering if Dee and Cliff were husband and wife yet, and whether Alex was sweating or cursing or both.
After twenty minutes, she set her empty cup on the tray beneath the speaker and drove slowly back to the hotel.
Not a cruiser in sight. The place looked deserted.
She pulled in front of room 208 and honked the horn. If Alex could be careless, then so could she, she decided with a smug smile. He’d be furious for a change, and she’d be amused.
Five minutes later Brooke’s smug smile faded and she began to worry. Why didn’t he come out? Had something happened to him? Was he truly sick, as Sheriff Snider had indicated? Although he appeared healthy—very healthy—he had mentioned something about occasional headaches...
She let another few minutes crawl by before she got out of the car and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she tried the knob.
It was unlocked.
Imagining the worst, she pushed open the door and rushed inside. “Alex? Alex, are you in here?”
The only thing that kept the room from total darkness was the light shining from a thin part in the curtains. It cast a silvery line across the double bed.
“Alex?”
She was grabbed from behind, one steely arm clamping around her waist and a big hand closing over her mouth. She was hauled against a hard, warm male body.
Brooke froze, her nose quivering as she inhaled the faint odor of fish. Alex, she thought instantly, relaxing against him. She felt the hard length of him pressed against her backside, hot and throbbing. The man was always hot and throbbing. But then, so was she when he was around...
His hand slowly tunneled beneath her shirt and closed over her breast.
She arched against him, her breath hissing between her tightly clenched teeth.
Against her ear, Alex whispered huskily, “I told you payback was a bitch, didn’t I?”
A Perfect Fit Page 11