A long silence ensued. “So what are you saying? Can he buy it from you?”
“He can have it.”
“Annabelle—you don’t give something like that away. Any computer-run company in the world—in cluding governmental agencies or NASA for example—would pay huge sums for such a system.”
“That’s true, but you don’t know something I know.”
“What’s that?”
“While I was undercover, I kind of ruined things between him and the woman he’d been seeing in Phoenix before he came here.”
“How could you do that?”
She heaved a deep sigh, then told him what had happened in Rand’s hotel room. “So you see, I owe him.”
“But he told you she showed up uninvited, and he assured you he was never in love with her, so you haven’t ruined anything.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What are you so scared of?”
Roman had just zeroed in on the problem. “Rand and I broke up in the first place because he doesn’t want a wife who works. I happen to love my work, so nothing has changed between us. It’s better if I don’t see him again. When we’re together—” She couldn’t finish what she was going to say.
Compassion shone from his eyes. “I get that same feeling around Brittany. It’s called ‘love.’ When I finally recognized it for what it was, I had to do something about it.”
“Well, you were lucky because she was in love with you, too. My situation is vastly different.”
“So you wouldn’t consider flying to Phoenix to help install this new security system for him?”
“No. I have everything on disks. Since he’s been in touch with you, I’ll package them up and give them to you to send to him. He’s brilliant. He’ll be able to install the system himself.”
“All right. Enough said about Rand. I’ve got a new case for you.”
Thank heaven. The mention of Rand was too painful a subject to even contemplate.
“Gladstone Realty has sold a house to a party from out of town. The painting and carpeting have been done along with the basic decorating. Apparently the purchaser wants the place rigged with security inside and out before they move in.”
“Why did they come to us?”
“They don’t trust a retail business operation. One of its employees might take advantage later on. If we install everything, it will be done by bonded experts without the neighbors being aware of it. You’re our electronic wizard. I thought this job sounded tailor-made for you.”
“What do they want included, exactly?”
“Everything. Bug detectors, telephone taps, surveillance equipment and audio cameras, alarms. They’d like the job finished three days from today. It ought to be a lot of fun.”
“Are they diamond merchants or something?”
Roman smiled. “Maybe they’re like a certain female PI I know, and just want to feel safe.” That comment brought a reciprocal smile to her lips. Her first in a month. “You’ll have to change all the locks. Price is no object.”
“You shouldn’t have told me that. I’ll probably get carried away.”
“Why do you think I picked you?” Roman winked. “When you’ve finished, I can guarantee the owner a fail-proof job. The only people who will ever touch foot on that property without anyone knowing about it will have to drop out of the sky. Even then, alarms will go off giving the invaders cardiac arrest before they ever land.”
“You think I’m that good?”
“According to Gerard, your place is better protected than Fort Knox.”
She couldn’t meet his eyes. “You heard about that?”
“Annabelle—You know there aren’t any secrets around here. I’ll alert Brittany that you’ll be over to the house sometime today to start loading up the equipment you’ll need.”
“That’s perfect. I can’t wait to see little Yuri. I have a present for him.”
His gray eyes gleamed. “To show you my appreciation, you can rummage around my basement as long as you want. Big Yuri sent us a shipment of new gadgets. You should have a field day. What disguise shall I tell her you’ll be using?”
“A Triple-A Bug Exterminator’s truck. I can rent it and a uniform whenever I want.”
“Here’s the envelope with the address and the keys. Everything’s labeled. Good luck.”
As she reached the door, he called to her. She turned around. He was holding up the vacation packet Rand had sent. “You’re sure you want this to go back to him?”
Her heart felt like it had been stabbed. “I’m positive.” She hadn’t seen Rand for a month. Maybe one day, if she lived long enough, she could wrench him from her consciousness.
“So be it.”
Within an hour Annabelle, dressed in a denim-blue uniform resembling a jumpsuit, drove the exterminator truck above the state capitol grounds to a wealthy residential area. The spectacular view overlooked the entire Salt Lake Valley.
If Annabelle had her choice, this spot which was a thousand feet above the desert floor, would be the place where she would build a house because she could see the Great Salt Lake to the west, Mount Nebo to the south, and the Wasatch mountains to the east.
To live here with Rand would be all she asked of life. You’re living in a fairy tale again, Annabelle.
She dashed the tears from her eyes and kept driving past one beautiful home after another. The houses at the top—partially hidden from the street by foliage—held the commanding view.
Annabelle searched for addresses painted on the curb until she found the one she’d been looking for. A soft gasp escaped when she lifted her gaze to the charming French country home landscaped around a stand of birch and ornamental topiary trees.
Like a mas lifted straight out of the lavender fields of Provence, it was a little jewel of architecture and could have been made for her. She couldn’t wait to see what the owners had done to the interior.
Her plan of action was to ascertain what she would need to make everything secure before she ran by Roman’s to pick up all the new electronic devices. But one step inside the house and she forgot her mission.
The four-bedroom home, partially furnished, was a dream of pale yellow, cream and white, her favorite colors. Dark wood beams on the walls and ceiling gave the authentic look of a small Mediterranean villa.
Beyond the adorable kitchen with its tiled fireplace and French doors lay a terrace all in tile with an herb garden. Grass ran to the edge of the rim. No trees encumbered the spectacular view. To Annabelle, the place was pure enchantment.
A new ache settled around the region of her heart as she imagined inhabiting this paradise with the man she loved above all else, filling it with happiness and love. Filling it with their children.
When she realized how far her thoughts had wandered, she gave herself a severe talking to, then got to work taking notes of all the things she would need. A half hour later she reluctantly let herself out again to drive to Roman’s.
What might have taken three days to accomplish ended up taking only two because Annabelle had fallen in love with the home and never wanted to be away from it. Horrified that she’d shortchanged herself a day of pure bliss, she couldn’t bring herself to report that the job was finished until the end of the third day.
Of course she would only charge for two days’ labor. If she were being truly honest, she ought to pay the owner for loitering on the premises the third day just to drink in its beauty.
Toward dinnertime, she started to feel guilty and decided it was time to leave. As she was gathering up her tools a high-pitched, reverberating siren went off, causing her to jump. Someone was approaching the house. She’d covered it from every angle.
The sirens could be shut off or turned on manually from a control panel she’d placed in the hall wall next to the walk-in pantry. If the owners went on vacation, they could switch everything to automatic which would alert the police who would reset the mechanisms.
Annabelle dashed to the hall t
o see which light had gone on and discovered that someone had come up the front walkway. She turned on the monitor to pick up the visual from the hidden camera. It revealed a man at the front door. But his dark head was turned as if he were looking at the street, so she couldn’t see his face. So far everything was working perfectly.
She’d been in contact with Gladstone Realty and assumed he was the Realtor they’d sent to inspect the job before they asked her to sign the job completion form. Confident that he wouldn’t be disappointed, she turned off the siren, then hurried through the house and unlocked the door.
Still halfway turned, the man with the black wavy hair looked increasingly familiar. The double-breasted gray tickweave suit and white shirt with a tie in a small geometric design couldn’t disguise his big, masculine physique. It was very much like... But it couldn’t be.
Then he turned his head.
“Rand!” she gasped out loud.
“Annabelle.”
Once again she felt the world spin.
He didn’t say anything, but those flame blue eyes studied her burnished curls and facial features minus any makeup for an overly long moment.
Slowly his intimate gaze swept down her body still encased in the ghastly uniform and she could have died of embarrassment.
“W-what are you doing here?” she demanded in a tone that sounded too sharp, even to her ears. But she couldn’t help it. How could he have done this to her?
There’d been no warning, no chance to make herself presentable. He, on the other hand, stood there with one hand in his pocket, looking sophisticated and indolently at ease. It wasn’t fair.
“I had to come to Salt Lake on business,” he said in a mild voice. “Roman said I would find you here.”
She could hardly swallow. “I thought you were the Realtor.”
His shuttered eyes gave him a vaguely brooding look. “Your latest conquest?”
“What?”
“When Roman told me you not only turned down the head of security position in the company I offered you, but you refused the bonus that was promised, I assumed it was because you had a male interest that prevented you from wanting to leave Salt Lake, even for two short weeks. Did you patch things up with Gerard? That was his name, wasn’t it?”
Gerard? How did he remember that?
“Don’t be absurd.”
His expression hardened. “I’ve been accused of many things, but no one ever attributed that particular word to me before.”
“I didn’t mean to sound rude,” she answered, trying desperately to maintain her poise when she was on the verge of hysteria. “Gerard is a colleague and friend, nothing more.”
“Good. Shall we start again? Why don’t you ask me how I am.”
She bit her lip. “It’s obvious you’re fine. How’s Caroline?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes which at the moment had a slightly glacial aspect. “The last thing I heard, she was in Europe. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Nervousness had forced her to rub her palms against her hips. “I can’t. The Realtor—Oh! There he is!”.
A station wagon with the words Gladstone Realty pulled into the driveway next to her truck. She noticed that Rand’s rental car had been parked against the curb.
The man, mid-forties, got out of his car and walked toward them with an oversize smile on his face. “Hi! I’m Bruce Varney. I came to see how your work is progressing. I thought you should know that the owner will be returning later this evening.”
“Hello, Mr. Varney,” Rand interjected before Annabelle could open her mouth to speak. He stepped forward and both men shook hands. “I’m Ray, Annabelle’s husband.”
Annabelle couldn’t believe Rand’s nerve, but she didn’t dare gainsay him in front of the Realtor.
“Pleased to meet you. Are you with the Lufka agency, too?”
“That’s right. We work together on most cases, don’t we, darling.”
“That’s true,” she grumbled under her breath. “Come in, Mr. Varney. Everything’s done. I’ll go through the house with you while you make your inspection. If you’re satisfied, then I’ll sign the paperwork.”
“Since you’re about through, I’ll go on home and meet you there, sweetheart,” Rand piped up congenially. “After you have a nice soak in the tub, we’ll enjoy dinner someplace special.”
Dinner?
Annabelle almost stumbled over her tool case. She didn’t know what game he was playing, yet under the circumstances it seemed easier to go along with him.
“Whatever you say, darling.”
“I promise this inspection won’t be a lengthy one,” Mr. Varney assured them.
With the other man looking on in avid interest, Rand pulled her close and brushed his lips against her cheek. “I can’t wait till we’re alone.”
Rand smelled so good and familiar wearing that woodsy-scented aftershave she loved.
Like setting a lighted match to dry tinder, the feel of his possessive mouth against her skin sent fire spiraling to every cell of her inflamed body. Over the past month she’d tried to suppress the yearning for his touch. Now her hunger for him had been stirred up all over again, leaving her with an ache that would never go away.
In a daze, she watched him leave before she turned her attention back to the Realtor. Ten minutes later he pronounced that she’d done a perfect job. Pleased, she signed the work order, said goodbye to him and drove to Triple-A Bug Exterminators to return the truck and equipment before going home.
Throughout the entire drive, her heart beat a fierce tattoo in anticipation of being with Rand later in the evening.
He said he’d come back to Salt Lake on business. Why had he sought her out? What did he want?
Even though the answers didn’t matter because in the long run she would never be that important to him, she still felt at a total disadvantage.
How could he do this to her? How could he just appear out of nowhere and start kissing her, touching her, when she knew it meant so little to him?
The best thing to do was wait until he arrived at the house, then tell him through the door that it had been nice to see him again but she wasn’t interested in catching up on old news and had other plans. That ought to put him off for good.
Right now she was fighting a battle of survival. Didn’t he know that he was her whole life, that she couldn’t handle seeing him every once in a while only to go through another devastating separation?
CHAPTER NINE
RAND reached her house before she did and parked his rental car around the corner so Annabelle wouldn’t know he was already ensconced. He’d purposely rigged the alarm so it would stay on even if she tried to deactivate it. That way he would know when she was coming up the back steps.
Having discarded his suit coat and rolled up his shirt sleeves, he went to work putting together the Italian dinner he’d been preparing since morning. All he had left to do was make the green salad. He’d already set the table in the dining room with fresh flowers and wine. Everything stood in readiness.
As he was adding the pesto sauce to the pasta, the siren sounded. That set his adrenaline surging. The next thing he knew, he heard a key in the lock and the back door opened. He pretended that he didn’t know she was standing there in shock while he finished adding some balsamic vinegar to the olive oil.
Finally the siren shut off. After the din, the silence seemed even more pronounced.
“Who gave you permission to enter my house uninvited?”
Carrying the salad to the dining room he said over his shoulder, “I didn’t think I needed it. Since you refused the vacation packet and turned down my job offer, I decided the only way to properly thank you for your invaluable help in tracking down Bryan Ludlow was to fix you dinner.”
He fought to repress a smile because she had followed him into the other room where more silence ensued.
“I know how tired you are after being on a case and thought you might like a nice quiet meal at home. Si
nce I forgot to return the spare key before I left for Phoenix, I thought this might be a nice way to give it back, along with my sincerest thanks for everything. I promise to do the dishes when we’re through eating,” he added.
Rand could feel her struggle and held his breath. She had every right to throw him out. It had taken a month to accomplish everything he had to do. In that time he hoped she’d gone crazy without him. Not seeing or talking to her for thirty days had been the worst deprivation of his life.
“I—I have to shower first.”
“Take your time,” he said softly, afraid to look at her for fear she would see the light in his eyes. The time away from her had proved to him that he couldn’t exist without her.
To get his mind off of her standing beneath the spray, all warm and vulnerable, he went into the living room to read the newspaper. But certain intimate pictures continued to haunt his consciousness until he eventually set down the paper in disgust and got up to pace.
That’s when she walked in the living room, her freshly washed curls bouncing. A subtle peach fragrance emanated from her while he stood there stunned by her appearance.
Instead of one of her disguises, or her usual T-shirt and jeans, she was wearing a tailored white silk blouse with French cuffs and palazzo pants in a tiny black on white print, revealing the breathtaking form of her voluptuous body beneath the filmy materıal.
Black Italian sandals with heels added several inches to her height. Gypsy-styled earrings glinted silver in the light with every heartbeat. Annabelle Forrester was a raving beauty. He had to use the greatest self-control not to crush her in his arms.
“You look lovely,” he whispered huskily.
“Thank you. I’m going to the ballet later tonight with Janet, so I thought it would be wise to get ready now.”
She was a wonderful liar. He happened to know Janet was finishing up final plans for him.
“While I was downtown earlier, I saw that Odile is playing at the opera house. Do you go often?”
“Whenever I can.”
“Since you have a big night ahead of you, then we don’t have much time to enjoy our dinner. Shall we eat?”
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