by Meryl Sawyer
Hayley huddled in her chair without responding. Something clicked in Meg’s brain. Hayley wasn’t here to discuss the business. She needed money to keep Surf’s Up afloat. Well, I’ll be, Meg thought. She’s afraid to ask me for the money.
Last month, Meg might have refused even though it would have been difficult to turn Hayley down. But a lot had happened since then. Meg had believed she’d lost the only person left on earth that she truly loved.
What was money for? This loan would be only a blip in her funds. Everything would belong to Hayley at some point anyway. It was a fact that Meg hadn’t been able to face. Death was her shadow.
Knowing this made her wish to see Hayley happily married. Settled on a career path she loved. She’d believed Hayley was anxious to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a designer, but she’d been wrong. Or had she? Hayley had claimed going to Costa Rica secretly had been a career move, but now she sounded as if Surf’s Up was her passion. Did she know her own mind?
“What about your career as an artist?” Meg asked Hayley, who was staring out at the ocean.
Hayley faced her. “It will have to wait until I get Surf’s Up over this hump. I can’t desert Trent. He has no one to help except Courtney, and she isn’t interested in the business.”
As far as Meg was concerned, the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead. Courtney had never been the same since she started taking pills for her back injury. She needed to go into rehab, but Meg wasn’t the one to suggest an intervention.
“Why don’t I lend you the money?” Meg said as casually as she could manage. She didn’t want her niece to have to ask for the money. And she did want to save her sister’s legacy. She wasn’t sure this would be successful, but she had to try.
A cry of relief broke from Hayley’s lips. “Really? You’d do that for us?” she asked, her voice thick, unsteady.
“For you. I’m doing it for you. I love you dearly.” Meg wasn’t comfortable saying this; she never had been one for displays of emotion. When Alison had died in the plane crash, Meg realized she’d never told her sister how much she loved her. Meg believed Alison knew. Hadn’t she been the big sister who raised Alison after their parents died? Still, it would have been nice to have said the words.
“I love you, too,” Hayley whispered, tears trembling on her dusky lashes. “You’ve always been like a mother to me.” Hayley left her chair to hug Meg, saying, “Sometimes I felt you loved me more than my mother did.”
Meg hugged her back. “We both loved you,” she assured her niece, although she had her doubts. Hayley had never been told but she had been an accident. Her parents had come close to getting rid of her. Alison and Russell had been so much in love that there really hadn’t been enough room for another child, when Russ already had two. At the last minute, Alison decided she wanted the baby and Russ went along to please her.
Hayley sat down again and swiped at her teary eyes with the back of her hand. “You won’t regret lending the money. I swear.”
Meg hated to lecture but now was the time to make this point clear. She should have discussed her financial situation right after Alison died. “You must never trust anyone except yourself with finances. Even now, when I can’t go in every day to oversee my business, I check the books. Having managers is fine, but never allow them total control.”
“That’s what happened with Trent,” Hayley admitted. “My mother always kept her eye on the finances. When I went away to design school, she insisted I take several business courses.”
“I know,” Meg responded. She let her niece believe it had been her mother’s idea, but Meg had persuaded Alison to convince Hayley that she needed to take business courses.
After the Fordhams had been killed, Meg had assumed Hayley was checking on things. Trent took after his father; he was a bit of a loose cannon. Was he also a killer? Meg couldn’t help but wonder.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“ANDY’S JUST EXCITED. That’s all,” Hayley assured Ryan as her golden retriever raced around Ryan’s father’s house, tail wagging.
“He’s calming down,” Ryan said, although it was hard to tell. The dog had stayed with Hayley’s friends. He’d been so excited to see Hayley again that he’d almost knocked her over when she came to get him. On the drive back to the house, Andy had hung over the backseat and tried to lick Hayley all the way.
“He’s housebroken and everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “We have bigger problems. Andy will calm down. He just needs to become adjusted to a new home and having you again.”
She plopped onto the sofa and released an exhausted sigh. He took a seat beside her, but avoided getting too close. After last night, he didn’t know what to think. Obviously she was as confused about her feelings as he was. Where they went from here, he didn’t know, but he was right about one thing. They had bigger problems.
“Having second thoughts about asking your aunt for the money?”
Hayley had told him how difficult it had been to request a loan to save Surf’s Up. It wasn’t just the money. Putting her career on hold bothered her as well.
Ryan was more concerned about someone killing her. He didn’t trust any of the Fordhams but he could understand Hayley’s thinking—up to a point. Playing dead and hiding out wouldn’t work for him either, if he’d been in the same position. Still, he hated exposing her to unnecessary risks.
Hayley looked at her watch. “It’s nearly ten o’clock. Do you think John’s guy will have checked the bug on Trent’s phone?”
John Holmes owned the corporate security firm Ryan planned to join. They specialized in corporate security and had the capacity to monitor the bugs he’d given Hayley to place in Trent’s office.
Ryan pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll see.” He touched the app to bring up the e-mail transcripts of the two bugs in Trent’s office. He moved closer to Hayley. “Here it is. The info from the office. Nothing from his home yet.”
“How is it working?” Hayley wanted to know.
“State-of-the-art devices like the two you hid can be transmitted a considerable distance—unlike the cheapies sold on the Internet. With the depressed real estate market, we got lucky. There’s a nearly empty office building across the street from Surf’s Up. Conversations are recorded there and sent by e-mail to John’s operative who’s working this case. Now he’s e-mailed me a transcript.”
Together they scrolled through the transcript. Within five minutes of Hayley leaving Surf’s Up, Trent had called his sister and asked her to meet him at Café Panini.
“Do they lunch often?” he asked.
Hayley pulled away from him. “I really don’t know. I wish I could have bugged his cell phone, but it was impossible.”
“Could be helpful, but I know how difficult it is.” He pocketed his own phone. “It’s hard to find an excuse to use someone’s cell long enough to take it apart and insert the chip. John sent technicians to Trent’s house, posing as cable television men there to upgrade the system. His home phones are now bugged. Just wish there was some way to plant one in his cell.”
“It probably doesn’t matter. Like I told you, I don’t think Trent had anything to do with the car bombing.”
Her hair piled up under a baseball cap, Hayley had slipped out of Surf’s Up by going through the hidden door into Peet’s Coffee next door, then walking into the parking lot where he was waiting. The media had been too busy staking out the entrance and exit to the shop to notice anyone in Peet’s busy patio area behind them.
Hayley had astounded Ryan when she told him that she felt Trent was innocent. He’d argued with her, but she’d been adamant. She’d been there; she’d seen Trent’s reaction. She insisted Trent was not involved.
Ryan wished he could have been with her. He had a sixth sense. He’d felt Trent hadn’t been completely honest when he’d interviewed him. But he might have been concealing something other than his part in the car bombing as Ryan had then suspected.<
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Still, he had doubts. This transcript made him wonder even more. Why call his sister so quickly? Both of them stood to gain from Hayley’s death. Both could be plotting another attempt.
He didn’t like it one damn bit. At least they didn’t know where Hayley was staying. If they tried to kill her again, it would have to be out in the open. He intended to be her bodyguard and see if he could catch the killer.
Andy finally wound down and settled at Hayley’s feet. Ryan couldn’t help inwardly smiling. The reddish-colored retriever reminded him of Buddy. Dogs were great companions and right now Hayley didn’t need to feel any more isolated than she already did.
He rested his head against the back of the leather sofa and watched Hayley stroke Andy’s back, then fondle his ears. Ryan had tried all last night—barely sleeping—to figure out how he felt about Hayley. It was more than sex; he knew that for sure.
He was back among the living.
Somehow Hayley had breached his carefully built defenses. Life had been hell since Jessica’s death, but oddly enough, it was a predictable place. His heart ached and he knew why. Jessica was gone forever. His private misery was a comfortable place where he could tend his wounds.
And wouldn’t be hurt again.
That’s what he’d been trying to escape. He didn’t want to take a chance he would fall for someone, only to suffer. Hayley made him shove those encumbering feelings aside and take another chance.
Jessica’s memory hovered in his mind. He knew she’d tell him to go on with his life. Hadn’t she said that a dozen times when she’d been dying? Ryan hadn’t thought he could resume his life again—until he’d seen Hayley’s picture.
But how did Hayley feel about him? Physically, she wanted him, but something kept holding her back. Could it be Chad Bennett? Or someone else? Hell if he knew. Women had always been a mystery to him. With them, his sixth sense failed to work.
Hayley tilted her head to one side and her hair fell alluringly across her shoulder. She gave him a sensual smile that tilted the corners of her mouth provocatively. It sent a surge of heated longing through his body. “Ryan, do you think…”
“Think what?”
“Think that we could be friends?”
Friends? Not on her life. Friends—the kiss of death; the last thing on his mind. Okay, sex had commandeered his brain, but, hey, he was only a guy. And he had more than sex in mind with Hayley. Much more.
Obviously she didn’t feel the same way. Great! Now what? The way she’d kissed him last night, rubbing her sexy body against his, hadn’t been “friendly.” It had been a total come-on. Then she’d bailed. What was she thinking?
Ryan didn’t think Hayley was playing a game. He decided she was genuinely confused about her feelings. Maybe she didn’t trust herself. An experience like Chad’s betrayal could produce lasting insecurity. The way Ryan had broken off their first kiss certainly hadn’t helped. How could he make her understand that he truly cared about her?
“Ryan, why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you want to be friends?”
“No.” The word came out like a shot before he could think. “That’s total bullshit after what went on last night.”
“My mistake,” she whispered. “It didn’t mean anything.”
“Prove it.” He grabbed her so quickly that her hands were crushed against his chest. “Let’s see. Show me how little this means.”
Before she could utter a word, his firm mouth covered hers and the force of his body pushed her into the sofa’s cushions. Blood thundered in his brain, blocking out the sound of Andy’s tail wagging and slapping against the coffee table in front of them.
Ryan’s tongue slid into her mouth and mated with hers. A surge of liquid heat pooled in his groin. Without breaking the kiss, he wove his fingers through her silky hair. The floral scent she was wearing filled his lungs. She pressed against him—unable to get enough. A total turn-on.
He couldn’t get enough of the way she tasted, the softness of her skin beneath his hands, the little moan from low in her throat.
His lips left hers to explore her neck, her throat, with a trail of hot moist kisses. He edged his hand between them to cradle her warm breast. Another sweet moan of delight escaped her lips.
Damn! He’d been right; she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Maybe more, he decided, recalling that she’d kissed him first during their walk on the beach.
Abruptly, he broke the kiss. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
“D-don’t stop,” she cried in a low voice.
He gazed at her and saw her green eyes were smoldering with desire. “Friends, huh? I don’t think so.”
Her sharp intake of breath was followed by a sigh of surrender as he again kissed her. His throbbing loins tightened as she thrust her breasts upward and wiggled enticingly. Through the sheer fabric of her blouse he felt her tight nipples pressed against his chest.
Sexy as hell.
“Know what?” he said. “You’re really something.” He rose, keeping her in his arms; her arms circled his shoulders and she snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. Her bedroom was the closest, he decided and headed to the back of the house, Andy trotting along behind them.
He found the bedroom and shouldered his way through the half-open door without turning on the lamp. The shade was up and pale moonlight revealed a double bed covered with a floral comforter. He laid her down on the bed as gently as his jackhammering pulse would allow, then stretched out beside her.
“Hayley.” His voice was suddenly raw with emotion. “We’re more than friends, right?”
“Right,” she murmured, pressing closer to him, molding her soft curves against the taut length of his body. She made no attempt to hide how turned on she’d become—so quickly.
Her fingers traced his jaw, the lobe of his ear and ended twined through his thick hair. His scalp tingled. Hell, more than that tingled. His erection was pressing painfully against his fly, begging to be released.
He somehow managed to remove her clothes. Damn, she was gorgeous, he thought as the faint light of the moon played across the soft curves of her body. His eyes roamed over her and he couldn’t keep from appreciatively smiling. Her golden tan against fair skin made it appear that she was wearing a bikini. An X-rated bikini.
“You can change your mind,” he joked, his breathing ragged.
“No way.” She kissed him, flicking her tongue against the seam of his lips and arching her back with a little shimmy that jiggled her breasts provocatively. His hand found one peaked nipple and rolled it between his fingers, squeezing just slightly.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered again as he drew back for a second. “Don’t even think about it.”
He almost chuckled, but she was kissing him again, more urgently this time. His hand swept down the smooth curve of her waist to the fullness of her hips. Man, oh, man. She was perfect.
Still kissing her, Ryan skimmed across her flat tummy to the juncture of her thighs. His fingers caressed a cluster of moist curls.
“OH, GOD,” HAYLEY CRIED, panting. Had she ever been this aroused? The exquisite pleasure elicited by him touching her there brought tears to her eyes. He wasn’t even undressed yet, and she was ready to burst. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing—to have an orgasm before he’d really gotten started?
Andy barked from beside the bed.
“H-he thinks it’s a game,” Hayley muttered.
“Hasn’t he ever watched?” Ryan’s voice sounded hoarse.
“No,” she told him, thinking that Chad hadn’t liked dogs. Andy had spent most of his time in the yard when Chad had been around.
Ryan stood up. “Okay, boy. Watch closely. This is a new trick.”
Heat seared through Hayley even though his body was gone and the cool air of the room wafted over her. She should have felt totally exposed, she thought, with him gazing down at her as he unbuttoned his shirt, but she was too turned on to care.
She heard herself cry, “Get on with
it!”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted, his shirt hanging open to reveal dark crisp hair fanning across his broad chest, sheltering flat brown nipples. He shrugged out of his shirt and flung it into the corner of the room. Andy bounded after it, tail wagging.
Hayley watched Ryan as he toed off his loafers and shucked his socks. His belt clinked as he removed it. The zipper purred softly, then he used his thumbs to peel off his pants and briefs in one swift motion. Andy was back at his side, tail wagging, offering Ryan the shirt he held in his teeth.
“Good boy,” Ryan said and gave the dog a quick pat.
Hayley couldn’t take her eyes off Ryan. She tried not to look at the puckered white scar on his shoulder. The skein of dark chest hair tapered to a thin strip at his slim waist then arrowed down, becoming denser around a rigid erection that jutted out from between powerful thighs. He was so virile, so effortlessly masculine that she sucked in her breath.
“Andy, pay close attention,” he teased the dog.
Andy stood, the shirt still in his mouth, watching while Ryan climbed in beside her. The bed gave under his weight and she raised her hand touch his shoulder.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked.
“A little, but don’t worry about it.”
He settled over her. The iron heat of his sex pressed into her stomach, hotter and harder than the rest of his body. He kissed her gently and slowly, as if for the very first time. Her lips parted and her tongue sought his with a rush of heated longing that filled her whole being. She arched her back to bring her soft mound flush against his erection.
Her hips wiggled, showing him she wanted more—now. For a few seconds he just went on kissing her, then his tongue plunged deep into her mouth and his body provocatively rocked against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed with more intensity than she’d ever kissed any man. She’d never made love like this.
Woof!
“Quiet!” Ryan commanded. “Sit. Watch.” Chuckling, he smothered his laughter against her breasts.