A film of darkness rose in her eyes, and she put a hand out to steady herself against the bureau. She took a deep breath. She couldn’t pass out now. Who knew how long she’d been out anyway? Attempting to pull herself together, she marshalled her emotions and thoughts, trying to decide if she should call the police.
A discreet cough in the corridor told her the man still waited for her. She straightened her shoulders, deciding she wanted very badly to find out what the hell was going on.
* * *
Nick watched the woman go back into her room to look for her key, his curiosity piqued. She exhibited no memory of her flight here, no memory of the man who brought her here. A man who was not her husband. As desperately curious as he was, her obvious fright and confusion deterred him from pressing her for answers. Yet Nick was determined to help her if he could. Though attracted by her beauty, he also found her hauntingly familiar, and he wanted to know why.
When she came out of the room moments later, she held up a key card. “It was on the bureau. Thank you for your kindness.”
She turned to close the door behind her, looking far more controlled, though he could see tension in the set of her shoulders.
Facing each other again, she stared at him, and he didn’t know what to say. He was much more comfortable flying his plane than dealing with people, let alone a beautiful, mysterious woman. He cleared his throat.
“I, ah, was just going down to have coffee in the lounge.” Nick paused while she continued to stare at him, her eyes narrowing slightly with suspicion. He felt his face go hot as he remembered this wasn’t exactly an accidental encounter. He wasn’t anywhere near his own room and wasn’t sure how to explain his motivation for being outside hers. “I guess...I’ll be going now.”
Nick beat a hasty retreat from those big brown eyes trying to strip him to his soul.
Safely seated a few minutes later in T.K.’s, sipping a fresh cup of coffee, Nick stared once more at his tablet, swiping absently through the digital pages of his bookkeeper’s month-end reports. The numbers held no meaning for him at the moment; he could see only the woman’s shining hair, her enormous brown eyes, and narrow shoulders tense with fear. He wanted to massage that tension away, learn all her secrets so he could banish her fear. He remembered the feel of her in his arms and hungered to touch her again.
A little voice in his head berated him to get out more often, socialize more. Then he wouldn’t become so enthralled by the first pretty woman to cross his path. But, he argued with himself, she wasn’t just pretty, she was...captivating.
Chapter Three
Cassie stood in the doorway of the hotel’s restaurant, very hungry but very aware of her missing purse. She had no cash, no credit cards, no ID. She knew only one person in the hotel—in the whole state—and she was pretty sure she couldn’t trust him.
She reviewed her options. It didn’t take long; there weren’t many to review. The clerk at the desk had been no help. He told her she was booked for three nights, and her “friend” had gone out. She could actually hear the quotation marks in his voice. When she asked what her “friend” looked like, the clerk just laughed.
A phone call to the police should have been the next logical step, but Cassie hadn’t been able to make herself call. Something about the old man made her think of someone powerful enough to have the police in his pocket. She knew nothing about the state’s politics except that Alaskans tended to bill themselves as “mavericks.” To Cassie that was often the same as “corrupt.”
At the moment the man in the lounge was her best bet for finding out what was going on. Maybe, if she played her cards right, she would get some answers.
Approaching the man with the wavy brunette hair sitting at a table in the middle of the otherwise deserted room, Cassie waited for him to look up. Engrossed in the file he was reading on his tablet, he apparently hadn’t heard her walk up.
Cassie took note of the intent set of his chiseled jaw, and watched the way his long fingers tapped with precision on the tablet for a moment. Then she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, smiling when he finally looked up, startled.
“Hello,” she said. “Mind if I sit?”
Surprised, he opened his mouth, exposing straight white teeth that gleamed in contrast to his tan face, and closed it, then answered. “Hello.”
For the first time, Cassie realized how handsome he was, but she pushed the observation aside as inappropriate for the moment.
“I’m sorry I was so rude to you upstairs, but things have been strange, and....”
“You don’t need to explain to me,” he broke in. “It’s not any of my business. Sometimes my nose is too long.”
Cassie smiled again, thinking that his nose fit his face perfectly, even with the slight angle that suggested a long-ago fracture. The man possessed charm, but she was still wary. She held out her hand. “I’m Cassie.”
He looked at her hand for a moment as though he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Then he gripped it carefully, as though she would break if he squeezed too hard. She felt the calluses of a man used to manual labor. “Hello, Cassie, I’m Nick.”
“Pleased to meet you, Nick.” Cassie gently withdrew her hand from his. The contact had sent tingling ribbons of sensation up her arm and down her spine, rattling her hard-won composure. She remembered his strong arms around her and, of all things, the faint scent of cologne clinging to his shirt when she crashed into him upstairs. She pointed to the tablet on the table, anything to break eye contact with him. “What’s that?”
“Numbers,” he said, and grimaced. “I have a bookkeeper, but I always double check the work. It’s too easy to get screwed over these days. Oh, pardon my language.” Nick blushed for the second time in her company.
Cassie tactfully ignored the mild indiscretion. She heard far worse in the break room at work. “Your business, I take it?”
He nodded, taking another sip of coffee and a moment to study her over the rim of his cup. His direct green-eyed gaze disconcerted her, and Cassie found herself looking down at the tablet, though her sense of propriety scolded her for invading his privacy.
“Fly by Knight,” he said. “That’s Knight with a K, like in shining armor.” His right eyelid fluttered in what might have been a wink from a more audacious man. “Pilot Nicolas Knight, CEO,” he said with a slight inflection to his first name, “at your service.”
Cassie laughed as he sketched a mock salute. “You’re a commercial pilot? Do you fly the commuter flights around here?” Maybe he would be able to find out who had brought her here. She forced herself to keep smiling as the thought occurred to her that maybe he had brought her here.
“Heavens no,” he said with a mock shudder. “Some flight-seeing for the cruise ships, but mostly Alaskan adventure packages. I take diehards into the wild interior. Fishermen, hunters, hikers, skiers—you name ’em, I’ll fly ’em in.”
“Oh, how exciting. I....” Cassie paused as her stomach growled audibly. She felt herself blush and looked at Nick, who eyed her curiously.
“I think it’s been a while since I’ve eaten,” she explained, embarrassed.
“You think?” he echoed, lifting an eyebrow slightly. She didn’t answer and he didn’t press. “So order up,” he said at last, slapping the table lightly in encouragement. “Carlos back there can rustle up some nachos, I’m sure.” He gestured toward the bartender, a Hispanic man about forty years old. “Too bad the restaurant is closed; the food here is great.”
“I can’t,” she said, feeling her face go hot as she looked down at the table.
Glancing up, Cassie saw many questions in his eyes but was grateful when he settled for just one. “Why not?”
Cassie felt her face flush even hotter, sure her cheeks were a painful crimson, but she remained silent.
“Order up,” Nick said gently. “It’s on me.”
She looked up at him, then quickly away. “I really couldn’t.”
“You can, and you wil
l.” Nick raised a hand to get the bartender’s attention. “If you don’t order, I’ll do it for you.”
After Cassie found out that Carlos could fix her a tuna salad sandwich, Nick added an order of nachos.
“So what do you do for a living?” he asked after the nachos arrived.
“I’m a financial advisor for Hoyt & Henderson, Attorneys at Law.”
Nick sat back. “Hoyt & Henderson. I think I’ve heard of them. They’re handling that big cruise line embezzlement case down in Seattle, aren’t they? I’ve been seeing that on the news.”
Cassie nodded, her mouth full of nachos and dip. She swallowed hastily as she thought of the news cameras outside her office building a week or so ago. That might explain how people up in Alaska had found her. The thought almost slipped out aloud, but instead she ate another chip.
“So, are you here on business?” he asked.
“What made you become a pilot?” she countered.
Nick laughed. “Okay, I guess I’ve asked enough questions, eh?”
Cassie didn’t know what to say to this man. He was very kind, but she wasn’t ready to answer any more questions about herself. She wanted to find out more about him.
“Why Alaskan adventures?” she pressed, reaching for more nachos.
The smile never left Nick’s face. “I’ve always craved action and adventure, and spent a good portion of my youth hunting and fishing. I ran wild for a while, then tried to settle down and be a grown up, but by the time I turned twenty-three I’d had it with city life and the parties Pop was always throwing. I was never comfortable with the out—of—state businessmen he was always entertaining, and I always felt like the shiftless rich kid with no direction in my life. So I went to flight school and got my license. The first time I flew with the controls in my hands, I was totally hooked. Pop wasn’t too keen about my choice of occupation at first, and he wouldn’t help me with the finances like he had with every other fixation of mine—the ones he approved of, anyway. So I got a job at the Juneau Seaplane Base to support flight school and my new habit, determined to do it on my own. And I did.” He flashed a proud grin. “On my 25th birthday, Pop bought me a seaplane. I guess he finally realized I was serious.”
Nick appeared very serious, but animated with an unbridled joy while speaking of the activity he loved. His passion for flying wrought a profound change in his demeanor. No longer the semi-shy, concerned gentleman Cassie had first met, Nick metamorphosed into a half-wild entrepreneur with the wide open sky in his eyes. His enthusiasm conveyed a fierce love of life, and Cassie found herself envious of that quality in him. He obviously was not masquerading as something he wasn’t in order to lull her into false security. Cassie knew such energy was not easy to come by, and she didn’t believe anyone could fake such a joie de vivre.
Cassie felt inclined to follow her instinct to trust this man, at least about her predicament. He might even be able to help her. But for the moment she listened as he continued his narrative.
“I took the initiative from there and got my commercial certification so I could start chartering scenic flights, as well as a few flights into the interior. Mostly Pop’s friends at first, but word got around. I’m not the most aggressive salesman—not too good with people, really—but I got a good rep with the cruise lines, and business has climbed through the stratosphere. I hired a couple guides and another pilot, bought another plane and things picked up even further. Right now I own three planes and have two pilots, six part-time guides, a bookkeeper, and a secretary working for me.”
“That’s impressive in this economy,” said Cassie, reaching for another nacho only to find the plate empty. “Oh, dear. I’ve kept you talking and eaten all of your nachos.”
“Nonsense,” he said, still glowing with an air of pride and contentment. “They were for you.”
Cassie sat silently as the bartender placed her sandwich plate in front of her. She watched Nick slowly fade back into the reserved gentleman. Carlos left and still she watched Nick until he fidgeted under her gaze.
“Pop’s proud of me,” he said at last, as if trying to catch back the cool self-assurance that apparently just flew out the door. “He would never let me live it down if I wasn’t a success on my own. He’s Ukrainian, a self-made man, you know. Quite rich, and....”
“Shhh,” said Cassie, reaching out to touch the back of his hand. “You don’t seem like the type to boast.” He shook his head, denying that he was boasting, but she ignored his denial. “I’m already quite impressed. Knight isn’t a Ukrainian name, is it?”
“No. Pop changed it when he came north from Portland in the 70’s, says he wanted to have an American name. He’s never told me what it was before, or what it took to get out of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. My mother was Québécoise. Go figure, a Cold War ‘Russian’ and a Canadian falling in love back then.” He shook his head with a small smile.
“That’s where Nicolas came from then? From your mother?” She mimicked the slight French pronunciation she had heard when he told her his full name.
“And my green eyes.” Nick really winked at her this time.
Cassie smiled. “Your mother’s eyes certainly look gorgeous on you.” She paused for a moment as though to let the flirtatious comment sink in, but she was really thinking about someone else who might have eyes like her own. “Do you know someone by the name of Felicity Santiago?”
* * *
The question dropped from Cassie’s mouth and fell like a stone onto the table between them. The name was familiar to Nick, like the stunning woman sitting across the table.
Nick nodded at last.
“The, ah, exotic dancer? One of my pilots introduced me to her once.”
Cassie stared at him, open-mouthed. “A stripper?”
“Yeah, I guess you could call her that.” Nick felt his face go hot, realizing she hadn’t known Felicity was a dancer. “That was a long time ago; maybe she’s changed. How do you know her?”
“I don’t.”
Nick felt his blush deepen. “I hope you don’t get the wrong impression about me. I mean, I don’t....”
Cassie laughed without much humor. “I can tell by your face that she is someone you are embarrassed to know.”
Her tone was light, but Nick could see the troubled look returning to her brown eyes. He watched as she bent to eat her sandwich, her slender fingers holding the sandwich delicately. Her head tipped to the side to keep her hair from getting in her way as she took tiny bites. Every move she made radiated poise and grace, but not the same kind of overt sensuality he remembered from Felicity.
He had all but forgotten about the dancer, but he knew now that Felicity was the memory Cassie’s appearance had triggered, and he was dying to ask where she had heard the name Felicity Santiago. Frowning, he wondered if anyone else had made the connection. Being mistaken for a stripper would be unpleasant for a woman like Cassie, but it would explain her knowing the dancer’s name.
Nick shook his head slightly and went back to studying his tablet. He scratched math equations on the paper beside him, old-school style, testing his numbers against those of his bookkeeper. He ran into a discrepancy and stopped, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. He looked up to find Cassie watching him, her dinner finished.
“I’m sorry,” he said, setting down his pencil. “I’m not a very good dinner companion, I guess.”
“No. I mean, it’s okay. You’ve been very kind. Thank you so much for dinner.” She yawned behind her delicate fingers, and Nick could see the weariness in her eyes. “I’m feeling tired. I think I’ll go back to my room now.”
“It was awfully nice to talk with you,” Nick said, standing up with her. “Can I...? I mean, I’d like to see you again?” Nick felt himself blush again, feeling like a high school boy on his first date.
Cassie smiled and took his hand again. “I’d like that.”
“Uh, great. I’ll call your room tomorrow?”
“Okay.” She stepped away f
rom him, and his skin felt cold where the warmth of her fingers had rested. “Twoish?”
“I promise, no accounting.” Nick hoped he wasn’t showing too much enthusiasm. After all, he’d only just met her.
As she walked out the door, Nick grabbed the flower from the vase on the next table. Just a carnation, and almost past its useful life as table décor, it still gleamed a lustrous pink.
“Hey,” he called after her. Cassie stopped, turning to look at him. “You dropped this.” He kept his gait to a stroll, holding out the flower.
Cassie smiled warmly at him. “How sweet.” She took the flower and spun the stem between her fingers briefly. After a moment’s hesitation, she stood on tiptoe to press a quick kiss onto his cheek.
With the heat of her lips branded on his cheek, he responded, “I know.” Not the smoothest reply, Nick thought, groaning inwardly. Totally cornball, in fact.
She left with laughter ringing out behind her and he sat down, still staring after her. Eventually he looked at his watch with a sigh. Midnight. With reluctance he went back to work, thinking it might finally be time to invest in a proper accounting program.
* * *
Cassie walked to the elevator, smiling in spite of herself. What a sweetheart.
A grown man, especially one who tried as hard as Nick, would probably be appalled to hear himself described as sweet. But his clumsy style in asking her out was refreshing to someone who had heard too many “Hey, baby” lines. She actually looked forward to seeing him again.
If he was one of the bad guys, his cover was very convincing.
She liked the two very different sides of his personality. His unexpected intensity and those green eyes framed by such dark hair were compelling. He was a fine-looking man, though if she had been at home, she doubted she would have given him more than a glance before writing him off as a married man.
He probably was. Cassie’s smile faltered.
Knight Before Dawn Page 2