Safety In Numbers

by Carla Cassidy

  Chase had no idea if Meredith would come to his room or not. He now sat on the edge of his bed clad only in a pair of boxers. It was almost eleven, and the rest of the occupants of the house had retired over an hour before.

  If she didn’t come to the room, then he had a feeling an ice-cold shower was in his very near future, for just thinking about making love to her had him painfully tense.

  He’d spent the evening with Dalton, eating dinner in the café then heading to the bar to shoot some pool and enjoy a few beers. As usual he’d kept his eyes and ears open in hopes of seeing or hearing something that might point a finger of blame to the guilty party.

  Agents Wallace and Tompkins had come in just as Dalton and Chase were getting ready to leave. The two men looked tired and nodded curtly to both Dalton and Chase before settling at a table and ordering drinks.

  “I don’t envy them their jobs,” Dalton had said as they’d left the bar. Once again guilt had gnawed at Chase as he thought of how he’d deceived his friend.

  He’d been concerned when he’d told Meredith the truth about himself. He hadn’t known how she might react. He’d been pleased that she didn’t intend to tell the rest of her family members that he was a viper among them. And he wasn’t surprised by her easy belief in the integrity of her family members.

  Stretching out on the bed, he thought about the Wests. In the times he’d seen them all together, the warmth and strength of the connection between them all had been undeniable.

  Family. There had been a time in his distant past when he’d been hungry for family, for a loving connection to somebody, anybody besides the father who had twisted him inside and out.

  Over the years he’d stuffed that need deep inside where it couldn’t be trampled by false expectations or disappointments. Work had taken the place of family, work had filled the needs he might have once allowed himself. But being around the Wests stirred that old hunger to belong, to be loved.

  He froze as a soft knock fell on his bedroom door. All thought of family fell away as he opened the door to see Meredith standing there. He pulled her into his room and closed the door, electrified by her very presence.

  Instead of jeans and a shirt, she wore a navy-blue knee-length nightshirt. She smelled of night-blooming jasmine, and her eyes shone with both excitement and a hesitant self-consciousness.

  He didn’t say a word, but instead pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers, taking up where they had left off that afternoon in the shed.

  The skin-to-skin contact of their bare legs, and the feel of her braless breasts against his chest sizzled desire through his veins. He couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman as much as he wanted her. He wanted her naked and gasping beneath him, wanted her mewling with pleasure as she cried out his name.

  He reached down and grabbed the bottom of her nightshirt and broke the kiss only long enough to pull the material up and over her head. He threw it to the floor as his gaze hungrily took in the sight of her, clad only in a pair of tiny navy panties.

  She was beautiful, her body sleek and toned and her eyes holding the same hunger that burned inside him. She stepped out of her panties, and he tore off his boxers, then they tumbled to the bed as their mouths met again.

  His hands cupped her breasts, thumbs playing over the hardened nipples. It was only when he replaced his thumbs with his mouth that she uttered her first sound, a low, deep moan that seemed to come from the very depths of her.

  As he laved her breasts with his mouth, her hands danced up and down his back, kneading and softly scratching until he was half-mindless with pleasure.

  He skimmed his hands down the flat of her abdomen, her skin silky and soft. As his hands moved farther down she tensed against him, as if anticipating the intimacy to come.

  But he wanted her to have complete pleasure before he took his own. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing as stimulating as giving his partner her release.

  He found the soft folds of her center. She was already moist and ready for him. As he caressed, she thrust her hips upward.

  Her eyelids were half-mast and her eyes glittered as she wrapped her fingers around the length of him. He almost lost it then, almost gave in to his need to take her fast and hard. But he closed his eyes and fought for control.

  The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing, but as she stiffened against his fingers, she buried her face in his chest, shuddered and released a long, deep moan.

  Before her shudders had completely passed, he rolled over, grabbed the foil package off the nightstand and opened it with trembling hands. Within seconds he had positioned himself between her thighs and slid into her.

  She surrounded him, with her evocative scent, with her tight heat. He knew no matter how much he wanted to make this last, it wouldn’t. It couldn’t. She felt too good for him to maintain any kind of control.

  He stroked into her fast…faster, and she met him thrust for thrust until he knew she was once again on the verge of release, until she cried out his name. It was only then that he allowed himself his own release.

  Afterward he rolled over to the side of her, his heartbeat still crashing with speed. She lay on her back, her hair in wild disarray, her own chest rising and falling at an abnormal rate. He got up and quietly left the room to go to the bathroom in the hallway.

  When he returned to his room she hadn’t moved but she looked at him, her gaze slightly challenging. “I’m not a slut. I don’t fall into bed with every man who comes into town.”

  “The thought didn’t even enter my mind,” he replied as he got back into bed.

  “It’s been over a year since I’ve been with any man,” she said.

  “It’s been almost that long since I’ve been with a woman,” he replied. For several moments they lay side by side, not speaking.

  When his heartbeat had slowed and drowsy contentment swept over him, he reached for her and pulled her into his arms. She relaxed against him, her head on his chest and one leg sprawled over his.

  He breathed in the scent of her as he swept a hand through her thick, dark hair. “I love the way you smell,” he said softly.

  “I love the way you feel,” she said, her voice almost a purr. Her hand moved up his chest, stopping as it encountered one of his scars. “How did you get this?” She raised her head and looked at him.

  “I had a broken bottle thrown at me.”

  “Were you involved in a barroom brawl?”

  He fought the emotion that crawled up the back of his throat. “No barroom, just our kitchen. I’d forgotten to take out the trash and my father lost his temper.”

  Her fingers were soft as silk against his skin. “Your father did this to you?” Her gaze held a slight touch of horror.

  Chase refused to let the baggage of his past destroy the fragile happiness he felt at this moment. “I told you my old man wasn’t exactly Father of the Year.” He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. “And the last thing I want to talk about right now is him. He’s dead and the past is gone.”

  “Except the scars,” she replied.

  “And they don’t even hurt.”

  She laid her head back on his chest, and once again his fingers danced through her hair. She’d been a good lover. For some reason he hadn’t expected her to be so giving and so incredibly passionate.

  It was nice that they were both on the same page, that he could enjoy this, enjoy her without worrying about what she might expect from him. No emotional entanglements, that was his creed, his motto for living.

  Once again she raised her head and looked at him, her green eyes giving nothing away, not allowing him anywhere inside her head. “How long are you planning on being here?”

  “I’m not sure. If it were up to me I’d say it’s time to pack our bags. I don’t believe any of your family members are involved in the crimes we’re investigating.”

  “Why? Because we’re all so charming?”

  “There is that,” he said with a
smile. “But there’s also the fact that we’ve run background checks on all of you and investigated your personal finances, your family business and everything else that might point to criminal activities.”

  “I should be outraged,” she replied. “But right now I don’t have the energy.”

  “Look at it this way, the suspect pool is considerably smaller if we remove all the Wests from the list.”

  She laughed, a low sexy sound. “I have a feeling that you could talk your way out of any difficult situation.”

  He grinned at her. “Why aren’t you married?” he asked. “You’re gorgeous and bright. Even if you aren’t particularly interested in being married, why don’t you have a boyfriend? Why has it been a year since you’ve been with anyone?”

  The sparkle in her eyes dimmed. “I did have a man I was seeing for a while, although not here in town. I was in Florida on assignment and met Todd. We dated for almost three months, then my assignment ended, and that ended our relationship.”

  He had a feeling there was more to the story than what she’d told him. But he didn’t want to know about her heartaches. He didn’t want that kind of emotional intimacy with anyone.

  “What about you? Any near misses when it comes to matrimony?” she asked.

  “Not even close,” he replied. “I make sure the women I date understand that I’m not interested in marriage or long-term commitments of any kind.” He recognized that his words were not only the truth, but also meant as a reminder to her.

  “Not the marrying kind, huh. Neither am I,” she said. She stifled a yawn. “And now it’s time for me to sneak back to my own room.”

  For just a brief moment he wanted to tighten his arms around her and keep her from leaving. It might have been nice to wake up to the morning dawn with Meredith in his arms.

  The quicksilver desire for that irritated him, and he immediately released her. “Good night,” he said before she’d even placed her feet on the floor.

  He watched as she got up, her sleek body tempting him for another go round. Thankfully it took her only a minute to pull the nightshirt over her head and step into the bikini panties.

  “Good night, Chase,” she said softly, then disappeared out of the room.

  He immediately turned off the bedside lamp and shoved away that momentary whim of holding her through the night. He’d just closed his eyes when she screamed.

  Chapter 7

  The scream clawed up her throat and released itself, piercing the silence of the night as she saw the face pressed against her bedroom window. The face was there only a moment, then gone.

  Chase burst into her room, a gun in his hand and his eyes narrowed with dangerous intent. “What’s wrong?” Urgency deepened his voice.

  Meredith pointed at her window. “Somebody was there…looking in. There was a face.” She shuddered, fear whipping through her like a bitter winter wind.

  At that moment Kathy and Smokey both appeared, Smokey holding a shotgun and Kathy clutching a small revolver. “What’s going on?” Kathy asked. With her free hand she clutched her robe more tightly around her.

  “For God’s sake put that pea shooter away before you hurt somebody,” Smokey exclaimed to Kathy, obviously surprised that she had a gun. He turned his attention to Meredith. “What’s wrong?”

  Once again Meredith explained that she’d seen somebody at the window. “I’ll go check it out,” Smokey said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Chase said.

  As the two men left the room, Kathy placed an arm around Meredith. “Come on, honey, let’s go wait in the kitchen.”

  Kathy dropped the revolver into the deep pocket of her robe as she and Meredith left the bedroom and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

  It was just a Peeping Tom, Meredith told herself. There was no reason to feel such fear. She was overreacting and yet no amount of rationalization seemed to be able to banish the fear that chilled her to the bone and twisted her stomach into knots.

  Kathy pointed her toward a kitchen chair, then set about making them each a cup of tea. Meredith sank down at the table, grateful for the solid chair beneath her as her legs trembled uncontrollably.

  “Did you recognize the person?” Kathy asked as she placed tea bags into the two cups.

  Meredith shook her head. “It all happened so fast. I couldn’t tell you whether it was a familiar face or not, whether it was blue eyes or brown that I saw peering in.” She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to get warm. “I should have paid more attention, but I was so shocked, then I screamed and the face disappeared.”

  How long had the person been there? Had he watched her change from her clothes into her nightshirt? Had he watched her rub the scented cream on her body in preparation of going to Chase’s room? The very thought made her ill. Her skin wanted to crawl right off her body.

  Kathy added boiling water from the microwave to the cups, then set one of them in front of Meredith. “Drink up. There’s nothing better than hot tea to take the chill out of you.”

  Meredith dunked her tea bag several times, then placed it on the saucer and added a spoonful of sugar to the cup. She wrapped her hands around it, welcoming the warmth. “I know I’m overreacting, but I feel so creeped out.”

  “That’s not overreaction. That’s normal,” Kathy replied. “Somebody violated your personal space. Chase insisted a couple years ago that I get a gun and learn how to use it. There are too many creeps in the world these days.”

  Meredith took a sip of the hot tea, the liquid effectively warming the cold knot in her stomach. “I wish I hadn’t screamed. I should have pretended I didn’t see him then left the room and run outside to confront him.”

  Kathy reached out and patted one of Meredith’s hands. “Don’t beat yourself up. You reacted on instinct. Maybe it’s your secret admirer.”

  “If you’re trying to make me feel better it isn’t working,” Meredith said dryly.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel better. It just makes sense that maybe the person who sent you the roses was the person who peeked in your window.”

  “What kind of a man does things like that?” Meredith asked. It was a rhetorical question.

  At that moment Chase and Smokey came into the kitchen. “Whoever it was, is gone now,” Chase said. He’d managed to pull on a pair of jeans but was bare-chested. In the light of the kitchen the scars on his chest stood out.

  “We checked all around the house and the immediate area surrounding it,” Smokey said. “Who knows in what direction he ran when you screamed. It was probably just some kid looking for a cheap thrill.”

  Meredith knew he said these words to reassure her and she smiled at him. “Go back to bed, Smokey. I’m sorry for getting you up.”

  “From now on pull your shades at night,” he said. “No sense in giving anyone a free peep show.” With these words he ambled out of the kitchen.

  Kathy got up from her chair. “I’m heading back to bed, too. When you get to be my age, you need all the beauty sleep you can get.” She paused at the doorway. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Meredith nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks, Kathy.”

  Chase remained standing next to the counter after Kathy left. “Are you really okay?” he asked. “Do you want to call Sheriff Ramsey and make a report?”

  “No, there’s not much he can do about it. Besides, these days he’s got more important crimes to worry about than some pervert looking into my window. And yes, I’m really okay.” She took another sip of her tea. The chill that had gripped her had finally passed. “Go to bed, Chase. I’m fine. I’m just going to finish my tea, then I’m going to bed.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive,” she replied. Despite the fact that she’d just had a scare, she felt the need to be alone, to try to process everything the night had brought.

  “You know where I am if you need me,” he said, then left the kitchen.

  The idea of going back to his bed and curling up
in his arms for the remainder of the night was appealing. Too appealing.

  She’d already been shaken up when she’d left his bedroom in the first place. Making love to Chase had been more wonderful than she’d expected. It hadn’t just been the passion and intensity coming from him that had shocked her, but it had also been his unexpected tenderness.

  That tenderness had found its way into a part of Meredith’s heart that had never been touched before. It had frightened her almost as much as the face at the window.

  She couldn’t allow herself to get involved with Chase on an emotional level. She knew that could only lead to heartbreak. He’d made it very clear that he wasn’t looking for any kind of real relationship.

  She was nothing more than an appealing convenience, a break in his routine, and that was fine with her. She told herself she had no desire for anything long-term, either. She’d hoped for something like that once, with Todd, and that had ended with nothing but heartache. She didn’t hope anymore.

  Aware of the kitchen windows being open to anyone’s gaze, she quickly finished her tea, carried the cup to the sink, then shut off the light and returned to her bedroom.

  Once there the first thing she did was pull the shades on all the windows, making it impossible for anyone to peek in. She tried to visualize that face in her mind, to make sense of it, identify it. But all she got was a blur.

  As she got into bed, she realized she hadn’t told anyone about the notes she’d received. She wasn’t sure what could be served by telling somebody about the notes now. There was certainly no way to discern who might have penned them simply by looking at the block letters.

  She had little doubt that whoever had written the love notes had also sent the flowers and peeped into her window. Maybe what she needed to do was hang out more in town and see if she got any creepy vibes from anybody.

  Creepy vibes. That’s what she’d been feeling for the last month. Until she’d gotten the first note, she’d thought she was just imagining somebody watching her. Now she knew there was a reason for those vibes. Somebody was watching her…wanting her. All she had to do was figure out who and why he didn’t just come forward and just ask her for a date.