Bride On the Run

by Leann Harris

  The room was dim, filled with smoke, murmured conversations and couples locked in embraces, swaying on the dance floor to the romantic ballad being played.

  The men were sitting in a booth next to the dance floor. Luke stood and waved them over to the table.

  “You gave me a shock moving like that,” J.D. told them.

  “Afraid husband number two already had deserted you?” Allen asked.

  A deadly silence greeted Allen’s question.

  “If you want to keep that nose of yours pretty, apologize, Danford.” The deadly tone of Luke’s voice left no doubt that he meant every word.

  “Allen,” Bill said. “I’m surprised at you. I’ve never heard you be so rude to anyone.”

  That’s because he’s already squeezed this sucker dry, J.D. thought.

  “You’re right, Bill,” Allen graciously responded. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry, J.D.”

  Baloney, you don’t know what came over you, J.D. wanted to shout back. Instead, she nodded her acceptance because she knew her voice would betray her skepticism.

  “Would you like to dance, sweetheart?” Luke asked.

  She wanted to kiss him right there for his timely intervention. “I’d love to.”

  Luke led her onto the dance floor. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Luke pulled J.D. close.

  “What are you doing?” she said through clenched teeth.

  Luke grabbed her free hand and tucked it close to his chest. “Hush,” he softly commanded. “We have an audience and we better make this good.”

  He was right. With a heavy sigh, she slipped her free hand under his arm to rest on the broad muscles of his back.

  “What happened in the restroom that put such a mean look on Gail’s face?”

  From the tone of his voice, it was obvious that Luke thought she’d done something intentional to offend Gail. “I simply asked her how she met Allen.”

  His fingers tipped up her chin. “What was her answer?”

  “Through work.”

  His knowing eyes searched hers. She wanted to squirm under the intensity, but resolutely refused to crumble.

  “What else happened, J.D., that you’re not telling me?”

  “I asked why she was in Vegas.”

  Luke’s chin dropped to his chest and he moaned.

  “It’s not that bad,” she said in defense of her actions. He was acting like she’d blown the whole thing. Heaven knew not much else could go wrong in this episode.

  “Why didn’t you just tell her we were following her to see what illegal activity she was going to commit today?”

  “Do you want to hear what she said or not? Or would you rather trade barbs?”

  “Tell me.”

  “She said that we were interfering with her affair with the senator and to buzz off.”

  Luke jerked back and glanced down at her. “Is that verbatim?”

  She lifted one slim shoulder. “More or less.”

  Luke threw his head back and laughed. A warmth curled in her stomach at the rich sound. “You’re priceless, Counselor.” His arm contracted, pulling her close again.

  The heat of his body surrounded her, cushioning her, making her feel safe and relaxed.

  “What are we going to do now, Luke?”

  She wasn’t aware she’d called him by his first name, but he put his lips by her ear and said, “I like how my name sounds on your lips.”

  A bolt of sizzling electricity shot through her, making her knees weak. She glanced up and was captured by the dark promise in his eyes. Her heart pounded so hard, she was afraid she might have a heart attack right there on the dance floor. She licked her dry lips.

  “Do that again, Counselor, and we’ll give our friends over there the real thing, and there won’t be any pretending on my part.”

  The idea of Luke making love to her was a tempting thought. No, it was more than tempting. It was a want that could easily turn into a need. A need that, if she gave in to it, would drive her with merciless intensity. Hadn’t she seen her mother ruled by her emotions? When her father had turned to another woman, her mother, Mary, had turned to alcohol to blunt the pain of her broken heart.

  If she didn’t want to end up like her mother, she couldn’t give in to this burning need for Luke.

  “What do we do now?” Her voice was shaky, but at least she could speak.

  “I don’t know.”

  His answer shocked her. “You’re the trained investigator, not me. You should know what our next move should be.”

  The pianist moved into another slow song.

  “Well, I don’t. You got any bright ideas, seeing as it was your idea to follow Gail?”

  “How was I to know Allen would show up?”

  He gave her a see-I-told-you-you-would-get-into-trouble look.

  “All right, I’ll give you that things have gone a bit askew.”

  “Askew? Askew? Lady, things aren’t askew. We’ve stepped in it, big time.” His voice rose with each word.

  Anxiously, she glanced over at their audience. She laid her index finger across his lips, hoping to halt his tirade. “Shh, they’ll hear us.”

  Luke opened his mouth and lightly bit the end of her finger. Shock and pleasure burned a path up her arm straight to her heart. His teeth didn’t release her finger. Instead, his tongue laved the pad of skin. The heat in her chest burned brighter, hotter.

  Luke’s eyes were alive with flame, making coherent thought next to impossible.

  “Stop, Luke. We can’t afford this now.”

  His mouth released her finger, but before she could jerk free, his hand captured hers, holding it close to his mouth. He placed a kiss in the center of her palm. “You’re right.”

  The man was deadly. She was glad he wasn’t deliberately trying to seduce her, because he was darn good without trying. Thank goodness he stopped when she asked him. In that respect, he was a most unusual man.

  “Of course I’m right.” She tried to sound like her normal, confident self. “Now what are we going to do?” she asked, trying to put tartness in her voice.

  He took a deep breath. “Let me think. Since our audience thinks we’re on a honeymoon, our next move would be to try to secure a hotel room for the normal—”

  She glared at him, daring him to say it.

  The satisfaction in his grin told her he was enjoying this. “—after-the-wedding activities.”

  “If you think—”

  He cut her off. “Once we’re in the room, we’ll wait for a half hour, then leave the hotel as quietly as possible and take the next flight back to Dallas.”

  She had built up a good head of steam to tell Detective Lucas McGill he wasn’t entitled to any fringe benefits on this trip, but he deflated her anger with his line about sneaking out of the hotel.

  “Does that meet with your approval, Counselor?”

  “Sounds reasonable to me.”

  The pianist ended his performance and left the stage.

  “Good. Then smile pretty ‘cause we’re fixing to tell our friends goodbye.”

  Arm in arm they walked back to the table. Luke extended his hand to Bill. “Thank you for the dinner and drinks.”

  Bill jumped to his feet. “Why, you’re welcome, Luke. You two made my day.”

  “Well, we’re going to try to get a room now. It was nice meeting you all.”

  “You don’t have a room?” Bill asked.

  “‘Fraid not,” J.D. answered. “We were a little disoriented when we got here.”

  A frown crossed Bill’s forehead. “Gail, didn’t I see a sign in the lobby welcoming some sort of a medical conference?”

  The redhead looked smug. “I think you’re right.”

  “Let me go with you all and see if there are any spare rooms. If there aren’t, you can have my room.”

  Allen and Gail shot up straight in their seats.

  “What are you doing, Bill?” Gail demanded.

  “Now settle down, honey. Let
’s see if there’s going to be a problem.”

  At the front desk, the clerk confirmed that there were no available rooms.

  “As a wedding gift, I want you to use my room,” Bill said, his eyes twinkling with satisfaction.

  “Are you crazy?” Gail asked, her anger turning her face splotchy. Her strident tone stopped all activity around the front desk, causing people to stare at her.

  “What about me?” she continued, unaware of her gathering audience.

  “You, Gail?” Bill asked in an amazed tone.

  “Us,” she said in a syrupy voice, quickly correcting her tactical error. She hugged Bill’s arm. The redhead’s sudden change of heart was embarrassing. “What are we going to do?”

  “I’m sure the kind clerk will be happy to check around the other hotels and find us a room.”

  “But our things—”

  There was a curious note of desperation in Gail’s voice.

  “Have you unpacked?”

  She glanced nervously at Allen. “No.”

  Luke, J.D. could see, focused in on the exchange.

  “Then the solution is easy. We’ll just have a bellhop go up with our wedding couple and retrieve our luggage.”

  It didn’t seem right to J.D. to steal Bill Frank’s room. He’d been forthcoming with them—a pleasure when compared to Allen’s obnoxious behavior and Gail’s juvenile tantrum. “That’s very generous of you, Bill, but—”

  “We’ll be delighted to accept.” Luke’s arm was around her waist, his fingers digging into her side, sending a silent warning to shut up and not say another word. She didn’t know why Luke wanted Bill’s room, but once they were alone, he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

  “Good.” Bill crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll send up a bottle of champagne.” He winked at Luke. “Happy trails, partner.”

  Bill’s heart might be in the right place. Too bad his mind wasn’t, J.D. thought. Bill was a male chauvinist, deluxe.

  As they walked out of the lobby to the elevators, J.D. noticed the panicked look that passed from Gail to Allen.

  Something was going on. The question was, what?

  CHAPTER 10

  The instant the door closed behind the bellhop, Luke raised his finger to his lips, warning J.D. to keep silent.

  “Why don’t I turn on the radio and we can finish the dance we started downstairs.”

  J.D. opened her mouth, and Luke knew she was going to let him have it for his maneuvering downstairs. He had to stop her before she said anything. He leaped forward covering her lips with his hand.

  “Shh. The room is probably bugged,” he whispered fiercely, hoping she’d listen to him instead of throwing him onto the floor with some judo move.

  Her eyes wide, J.D. nodded her head. Slowly he moved his hand away. When he was sure she wouldn’t speak, he went to the nightstand and tuned in a soft music radio station. Once the strains of an old Barry Manilow song filled the room, he returned to her side.

  “Now what?” she softly asked him.

  “I need to check the room for bugs.”

  J.D. watched as Luke checked the lamps, behind pictures, under the edges of furniture. Feeling foolish standing like a mannequin in the center of the room, she sat down on the edge of the king-size bed. The mattress shifted in ripples, making J.D. grin at the thought of Bill and Gail tackling the waterbed.

  The room was decorated by the same tasteless individual who did the lobby. The carpet was red, the bedspread was metallic gold, the pictures were of matadors and flamenco dancers.

  As her gaze wandered over the room, J.D. noticed an odd reflection among the cushions in the overstuffed chair by the bed. Curious, she picked up one of the pillows. She swallowed hard as she looked down at the concealed camcorder.

  “Luke, darling.” She wanted her conversation to sound normal to anyone listening. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Luke pause in checking a painting. She crooked her finger.

  When he was by her side, she pointed to the video camera. Luke squatted by the chair. From the angle at which the camera was set up, it would capture any activity that occurred on the bed.

  J.D. stepped forward and carefully returned the pillow to its original place. “That’s how I found it.”

  A knock at the door caused her to jump.

  “Who is it?” Luke called out, his hand automatically going to his waist for his revolver.

  “Room service.”

  “The champagne,” J.D. said, breathing a sigh of relief. She took a step toward the door. Luke held up his hand.

  He peeked through the security peephole in the door. When he was satisfied that it really was room service, he holstered his gun and opened the door. After directing the man to place the bottle on the table, Luke reached for his wallet. He frowned at the two dollars staring back at him.

  Quietly, J.D. pulled a twenty from her purse and handed it to the bellman.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he said smiling. He pulled the door closed behind him.

  That she had money and he didn’t only pointed up to Luke how very different his and J.D.’s backgrounds were. He came from middle-class farmers. She came from a rich oil baron. “You’re a generous woman.”

  She threw her purse on the bed. “Everyone’s got to make a living.” She said it honestly, as if she had respect for anyone working for a living. She was an amazingly complex woman who fascinated him. And if he didn’t pull back, that fascination was going to be his downfall. But at the moment, all he wanted to do was lay her down on that bed and make slow and thorough love to her.

  His eyes locked with hers, and a charged current flowed between them.

  What the hell was he doing here in this room with her? He should be back in Dallas investigating something like a murder or an assault.

  Don’t try to figure it out now, old boy. Just keep on operating on instinct until you’re on that plane heading home. You can keep it together that long, he assured himself.

  He turned away from her and went into the bathroom. After checking for any listening devices, he pulled the drain closed on the tub and turned on the taps. Like a cat, curious about everything going on around her, J.D. appeared at the door. He motioned her inside, then closed the door.

  She didn’t flinch, object or question him, but the look in her eyes told him he better have a good reason for his actions.

  “We need to leave. I don’t think either Gail or Allen trusts us. And they’ll be worried sick that we’re going to find their nasty little surprise in this room. So the sooner we get on a plane to Dallas, the better.”

  “Do you think Bill had any idea that he was going to be the next star of Gail’s home movies?”

  “Hard to say. Bill’s pretty shrewd. Maybe he discovered what Gail was up to and saw a way out by giving us the room. We can sort it all out once we’re out of here.” He grasped her shoulders. “You ready?”

  She took a deep, fortifying breath. “Yes. Lead the way, Detective. I’ll be right behind you.”

  He turned off the water. “We don’t want the people on the floor below complaining about water dripping through the ceiling.”

  They made their way quietly down to the hall, but instead of heading to the elevators, Luke went the opposite way, toward the stairs. When he pushed open the door and motioned J.D. ahead of him, she gave him a blank look. He grabbed her wrist and jerked her onto the cement landing.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” J.D. asked.

  “Leaving.” He walked down several steps. J.D. didn’t move. Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder. “C’mon, Counselor. It’s a ways down to the first floor.”

  “Yeah, try seventeen floors, McGill. I’ve got on heels. I won’t be able to walk by the time I get to the bottom.”

  Resting his hands on his hips, he shook his head. Amazing. Ms. Determination was balking at racing down a measly seventeen flights of stairs. No matter that they were cold, steep and concrete. If it had suited her, J.D. would’ve thrown her shoes
away and run down the steps barefoot. “Well, then take them off.”

  “You’re going to insist on this, aren’t you?”

  There was a strange note in her voice that caught his attention. He turned and faced her. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, why would you think that?”

  “Because you’re stalling, Counselor. I’m not doing this simply to be disagreeable. We need to slip out of this place unnoticed. Who’d believe we would take the stairs down from the seventeenth floor?”

  “Yeah, who?”

  “Quit complaining, J.D. I’m not the one who insisted on coming to Vegas.”

  That put the starch in her backbone. She pulled off her shoes and threw them into her purse. “You’re going to keep harping on that, aren’t you, McGill,” she grumbled, walking by him. “How else would you have discovered Gail was blackmailing Bill? And how else would we have guessed that my ex-husband might be involved in this mess up to his eyebrows?”

  He trudged after her. “By simple, foot-pounding police work. The price wouldn’t have been as high.”

  She stopped dead on the steps. He plowed into her, knocking her down a step onto a landing. She stumbled but was able to keep her balance. As soon as she steadied herself, she turned on him.

  “Listen, McGill, today was no picnic for me. Not only did I find myself railroaded into marrying you, but the one person in the entire universe that I wouldn’t want within a hundred miles of me was there to witness it. In addition to that, I had to put up with Gail’s harping, your I-told-you-so attitude, and now I have to climb down this living tomb in bare feet. The first thing I’ll do tomorrow morning is file annulment papers. Happy?”

  She didn’t wait for an answer but whirled and hurried down the next flight of stairs.

  Well, she told you, didn’t she? And don’t you feel like a big man, dumping on her? In that moment, he felt he’d given Allen a run for his money to see who was the biggest jerk.

  By the time they reached the ground floor, Luke’s knees were aching. Never again would he stay in a room above the first floor.

  “Now what?” J.D. asked, not bothering to open the door to the hall, as they stood in the stairwell. He noted she carefully avoided looking at him.