Standing in the Shadows

by Shannon McKenna

  It was painful to hear the facts laid out in Tonia’s merciless style, but Erin nodded. “It was horrible.”

  “Watch out, Erin. This guy is violent, and wild, and dangerous. He’s got a grudge against your dad, and he’s way, way too interested in you. And you keep making excuses for him, like he’s got some weird power over you, or something!”

  “That’s not true.” She laid down the half-eaten sticky bun. Her appetite had faded away. “I don’t think he means me any harm.”

  “No? He’s insane if he tries to stop you from going on this trip. Anything that interferes with this client is harmful to you.”

  “I know.” Erin stared out the window at the soot streaks on the wall of the adjoining building with hot, brimming eyes.

  Tonia sighed. “I know it’s hard. The whole clinic nursing staff was gooey about your devotion. Every single day, there you were to read to him. Like Lassie Come Home, or something. It was adorable.”

  Tonia’s choice of metaphors was an uncomfortable one. “Tonia—”

  “It broke our hearts, it was so romantic,” Tonia barged on. “But it wasn’t meant to be. He’s just not good enough for you, Erin.”

  Erin shook her head. None of her friends or family knew that she’d visited Connor every day that he’d lain in a coma, but there had been no way to hide it from the nursing staff.

  Her friendship with Tonia had begun one day when Tonia had found Erin crying in the ladies’ room. Tonia had given her a tissue and a hug, and led her down to the café outside for coffee. For the first time ever, Erin had let it all pour out, and confessed her unrequited love, her longing and heartache. Her terror that Connor might never wake up.

  “Sore subject, isn’t it?” Tonia’s taunting tone dragged her back to the present. “Truth hurts, don’t it?”

  Erin breathed through the urge to snarl until it was controllable. “Let’s not talk about Connor anymore,” she said evenly. “I turned down his offer. I’m going on my trip. I told him to leave me alone. I did all the right things, so there’s no reason for you to scold me like this.”

  Tonia looked abashed. “You’re so right. I am such a bitch sometimes. Forgive me?” She fluttered her long lashes.

  Erin smiled reluctantly. “Of course.”

  “OK. Good. Let’s move on to your wardrobe. If you take a cab to the station instead of a city bus, you will buy yourself just enough time to come home and raid my wardrobe before you go. Consider it an investment. If you land this guy, you will spend the rest of your days in the lap of luxury, shopping with your good friend Tonia. I have got the perfect suit and blouse for you. Wine-red, short skirt, and a tantalizing hint of that kick-ass cleavage you never take advantage of.”

  Erin smiled. “Thanks, but the zillionaire will just have to cope with the real me. I’ve just got to be true to my inner dowdiness.”

  Tonia made a frustrated sound. “Well, then, I’ll be on my way. Help me get that cat of yours into the pet carrier, OK?”

  “Remember her ear drops,” Erin said anxiously. “It’s four drops of vitamins in the wet food, plus one pill crushed up and sprinkled over her dry food, twice a day. She’s already eaten this morning’s pill.”

  Tonia rolled her eyes. “Next time you pick up a pet from the pound, try to pick a healthy one, would you?”

  “But the healthy ones have a better chance of finding homes,” Erin protested. “The sickly ones are doomed. I’ve got a soft spot for the underdog. Or undercat, as the case may be. Come on, Edna, let’s go.”

  Edna hid under the bed, hissing and spitting. Erin finally managed to push her into the pet carrier and latch the door.

  Tonia made a face. “I’ve got you now, my pretty, and I’m taking you to my lair where I’ll make cat soup out of you.” She gave Erin a hug. “Don’t rule out what our mothers always told us, chica. It’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as an unemployed scumbag. ’Bye!”

  Erin closed the door with a sigh. Tonia was the only one who knew about her feelings for Connor, but sometimes it seemed like Tonia enjoyed exploiting that tender spot. As if it gave her special power, to be the only one who knew. She poked at it, just to make Erin jump.

  She reminded herself that Tonia was a good friend. It was she who had found her this apartment, it was she who had helped Erin move. Her other friends had drifted away when things got so grim, but Tonia had been right there, like a rock.

  In spite of her strange personality quirks.

  Connor eased the Cadillac into a parking space on the airport skyway level, and glanced at his watch. Erin’s plane wasn’t due to land for twenty minutes. It would take ten minutes or so for her to disembark and make her way to the luggage claim, where Mueller’s limo driver was supposed to meet her.

  Over his dead body.

  His eyes fell on the sheaf of info that Davy had gleaned on Claude Mueller, scattered across the passenger seat. He’d memorized every fact. He should be relieved that Erin’s mystery client checked out, but the ghost hand was squeezing his throat even harder. His instincts had never played him false before—but he’d never been in such a fucked-up state before, either. Even Sean and Davy thought he was going off the deep end. That made him feel so alone.

  But he couldn’t let it go. Not if Erin was at stake.

  The only plan he’d come up with so far was to spirit her away from the airport without making a scene. A neat trick, considering that the old you-are-in-mortal-danger-and-only-I-can-save-you line had fallen pretty flat last night. He’d never been that smooth with the ladies. That was Sean’s special talent, not his.

  Thinking about Sean made him glance self-consciously into the rearview mirror. He’d made an effort today, but it hadn’t done a whole lot of good. He’d put on the nicest shirt he could find, a rough-weave beige designer thing, a Christmas gift from the ever-hopeful Sean. The shirt still had creases from the packaging, and his chinos were crumpled from their sojourn at the bottom of the clean laundry basket, but that was too bad. There were some lengths to which he would not go, and ironing was one of them.

  But he’d shaved. He’d combed his unruly blond mane, forced it to lie as smoothly as possible in a thick ponytail. His hair had always had a mind of its own. He should probably just chop it all off. Problem with cutting your hair, though, was that then you had to keep on cutting it. All the time. Big pain in the ass.

  Oh, Christ, enough already. This wasn’t a goddamn beauty contest. If he’d come here sporting his usual Clan of the Cave Bear hairdo, the airport National Guardsmen would’ve hauled him away before he even got in the door. Even decently groomed, dragging a beautiful, protesting young woman through an international airport was a delicate undertaking. The trick would be in that fateful split second that Erin caught sight of him.

  He’d be lucky if she didn’t scream.

  He let his breath out slowly. He felt so damn nervous. He’d looked death in the face plenty of times and kept his cool, but one quiet, self-possessed girl scared him to death. Maybe he really was losing it. Interpol was dead sure that Novak was in Europe. Nick was convinced that Novak was no threat to Erin. Her mystery client checked out. There was no reason he could put his finger on to follow her around and hassle her. So why?

  Fuck it. He just had to. It was one of those bone-deep feelings that could not be reasoned with. He shoved the Mueller papers into the glove compartment and got out of the car.

  He could torture himself all day, and he would just keep limping along, following marching orders from an authority deep inside himself. His conscience, maybe. Davy and Sean called it his hero complex. He himself sometimes referred to it as dumber than shit, particularly when it almost got him killed.

  It didn’t really matter what it was called. Fact #1, he was doing a stupid, self-destructive thing that could prove to be dangerous, not to mention embarrassing. Fact #2, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop himself. Conclusion?

  Go for it.

  First he checked out the shuttle carouse
l in the luggage claim, to see who was waiting for Erin. Sure enough, a big, dark-haired, Spanish-looking guy in a uniform was holding a sign that read “Erin Riggs.” Connor scanned the rest of the crowd. His plan would only work if Erin hadn’t checked her luggage. Chances were good she just had a carry-on, but with women, you never knew.

  And she wouldn’t take kindly to being separated from her bag. Hell hath no fury like a woman deprived of her toiletries.

  He took the escalator back up. There was a quivery feeling in his belly. He glanced at his watch. Eight minutes. He sauntered over to the Coffee People booth in the mall, bought a cup, drank it down faster than he should. He fingered the bag of tobacco in his pocket. He should have had the presence of mind to have a quick smoke outside. Damn smoke-free environments.

  Three more minutes to wait. Coffee had been a big mistake. He studied the people around him. A woman with a baby and a four-year-old boy jumping up and down, waiting for his dad to come home. An elderly couple, their faces creased with smiles as they waited for their grandkids. Finally, the shuttle passengers started trickling out. One minute…two…and there she was, dressed in a deep green suit. Hair swept up, gleaming. Gold earrings dangled beneath her ears. She looked so gorgeous, he wanted to kick himself for not at least attempting to iron the shirt. It wouldn’t have killed him to try.

  Too late for regrets. She was wheeling a carry-on suitcase behind her, thank God. Time to put his half-assed plan into action.

  His heart slammed against his ribs like a jackhammer as she came through the gate. She still hadn’t caught sight of him. He chose a diagonal collision course that brought him right up behind her, and grabbed her arm. “Hey, sweetheart.”

  She spun around. He took full advantage of her shocked confusion and yanked her closer, staring down into wide, startled gold-brown eyes. Her mouth was moist with tinted lip gloss, hanging open in adorable confusion.

  “Good to see you again, babe.” He scooped her close and tight against his body, and kissed her.

  She stiffened, latching onto his upper arms for balance. She made a soft, frightened sound against his mouth.

  He deepened the kiss, sliding his arm to the deep flare of her hip, splaying his hand over her beautiful ass. He hadn’t planned on kissing her. The impulse had sneaked up on him, but it was perfect. Inspired. It all looked like lovers’ play, and that soft, luscious mouth of hers was too busy to complain.

  Then her scent rose up around him, like a hot pink cloud, and his mind went blank. It was spring-like and tangy and sweet. Intensely female. A secret weapon that he was unprepared for. He wanted to gasp in huge, gulping lungfuls of it, like a man who’d been trapped underwater and had finally reached air.

  Her scent blended with her taste, just as silky sweet, and a confusion of soft, unbelievable textures, the yielding tenderness of her lips, the satiny wisps of hair at the nape of her neck, her baby-smooth skin. His senses were overwhelmed.

  She vibrated in his arms, a delicate tremor like a trapped bird. He forgot about Novak, about the airport, about the National Guardsmen. He forgot everything but his own desperate, clawing need to coax her mouth to open, to taste more of her.

  She flung her head back, gasping for air. A stain of wild-rose pink was burned into her cheeks, startling against the delicate gold tone of her skin. Her pupils were black wells ringed with jewel-toned agate brown. Sunset, honey, and chocolate. Her dark, curling lashes fluttered with dazed confusion.

  She licked her lips. “Connor? What…what are you—”

  He shifted to keep her off balance and slanted his mouth across her lips again. He slid his hand down her graceful spine and pressed her against his lower body as he cupped the nape of her neck. He dove deep into one of those waves-crashing-on-the-beach kisses, sweet and devouring and desperate. When he finally released her, he was trembling harder than she was.

  She dragged in a deep, hitching breath. He leaned his hot forehead against hers, making a cage of privacy with his cupped hands around their faces. “Shhh,” he murmured. He grabbed the suitcase out of her hand. “Let’s go.”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her along with him. She had to scurry to keep up. “Go where?” Her voice was still soft and uncertain. Not yet an attention-getting bellow of outrage. “Connor, please. I—”

  This time he bent her over backwards so that she had to cling to his neck to stay on her feet. He moved his mouth across her lips, muffling her protests until finally she was just holding on, swaying. He pressed soft kisses over her face, her throat, and nuzzled the perfumed, tickling wisps at her neck.

  “Shhh,” he urged. “Trust me.”

  Into those big revolving doors, and he’d be home free.

  “Trust you?” Her voice shook as he swept her into movement once again. “About what? Connor, I’m supposed to meet someone at baggage claim! Slow down!”

  She was starting to splutter and struggle in his grasp, but they were out the revolving door, and he was hustling her across the skyway. No airport security. Just travelers going about their business, shooting them the occasional curious glance.

  Erin dug in her heels and dragged him to a halt. “Wait a goddamn minute, Connor McCloud, and—no! Don’t you dare kiss me again!” She shrank away. “That’s a dirty trick! That’s not fair!”

  “I never claimed to be fair.” He stared at her tender, reddened lips and realized that he was panting. Openmouthed, like an animal. He grabbed her hand and yanked her along. “Hurry.”

  “To what? For what? What the hell are you doing here?”

  They were in the parking garage elevator well, bells were pinging, doors were about to open, and she was gathering her breath to yell at him again. He wrapped his arms around her and slid his tongue into her mouth.

  A tiny squeak, and a speechless gasp, and she went limp.

  So far this had gone more smoothly than his wildest hopes. The only trick would be getting himself to stop kissing her. She was so sweet. He could get lost in the sensual world of her moist, yielding mouth. He could get sucked in. Forget his own name.

  He waited until the elevators emptied and the people had cleared out before he dared to release her. He cupped her face in his hands, stared into her eyes. Trying to communicate his urgency with all the force of his will. It actually seemed to work. He took her by the arm. She stumbled after him, unresisting.

  He popped open his trunk, flung in her stone-heavy suitcase, and slammed it shut. “Let’s go.”

  She wrenched herself out of his grasp. “Wait. I’m not going anywhere with you, Connor. Explain yourself to me. Right now.”

  Whatever spell the kiss had cast was short-lived. He backed her up against the Cadillac and boxed her in with his arms.

  “I’m driving you to the coast,” he said. “I’m booking us a room in a different hotel. Tomorrow I’ll accompany you to that meeting. Afterwards, I’ll drive you home. Any questions?”

  “Connor, I told you last night I didn’t want a bodyguard—”

  “Too bad.”

  She shoved against his chest. “I refuse to be pushed around. You have no right. You can’t—oh!”

  “Watch me.” He shoved her back against the car, bending her over backwards. She blinked up at him, her chest heaving.

  He knew it wasn’t fair to intimidate her with his size and his strength. It didn’t work in the long term anyway; it was just a quick and dirty temporary solution, but she was so warm, her tits straining against her blouse. He felt every tremor that rippled through her soft, pliant body. And her scent was a low-down, nasty trick. A drug that went straight to his head and made him stupid.

  Her thick eyelashes swept down, veiling her eyes. She wiggled against him, unintentionally sensual. “Connor,” she whispered. “Please. This isn’t right.”

  “I’m holding your suitcase hostage, Erin. I mean business.”

  “I am not your responsibility, Connor.” Her voice had a stern, lecturing tone that was strangely at odds with the vulnerab
le pose of her body. “You have no right. I can decide for myself—”

  “I have to do this,” he broke in. “You know why?”

  He waited to answer his own question until her eyes flicked up to his. “Because this is what your dad would’ve done,” he said flatly. “He had the right to shove you around, but he’s not here.”

  Her mouth opened. Nothing came out. He seized her chin and forced her to meet his eyes again. “You’ve got no clue, Erin. No clue what Novak is capable of. Do we understand each other?”

  She licked her lips, her throat bobbing. “But it’s so rude!”

  He was totally lost. “Rude? Who? Me?”

  Her mouth tightened. “Yes, you, now that you mention it, but I wasn’t referring to you. There’s a driver waiting for me. It’s rude to just not show up without even calling them!”

  He was so startled, he laughed out loud. “Is that all? Who cares if Mueller’s flunky waits at the airport? He won’t get his feelings hurt.”

  She frowned. “If I had wanted to change the travel arrangements, I should’ve notified them in advance! I can’t just—”

  “So call them when we get to the coast. Tell them you had a change of plans. You met someone, you brought someone. Tell them your boyfriend decided to come along at the last minute.”

  “Boyfriend?” She shrank back.

  “Why not?” He couldn’t keep his eyes from her breasts, which were straining the buttons of her blouse to their utmost. “Don’t you think they’d buy it? A woman like you, and a lowlife like me?”

  She shoved him away, clearing just enough space for her to stand up. “Stop acting like a lowlife, Connor McCloud, if you don’t want to be taken for one!”

  “You’re pissed at me because I kissed you?” His voice was dangerously unsteady. “I dared to touch the princess with my rude hands. Is that what’s bothering you?”

  She made a break for it, trying to duck out from under his arm. He blocked her. She straightened up, adjusted her jacket, tugged her skirt into place. She wasn’t up to a physical tussle with him. She couldn’t win it, and dignity was more important to her.