“I’m telling you, you’re wrong. Ask me anything! Really— anything!” She spread her arms wide. “My life is an open book.”
It might have been her gesture that was his undoing. Her breasts rose high with the sweeping motion, the fabric of her white T-shirt strained across the ripe plumpness of her breasts, highlighting her taut nipples. Then again, it might have been her appearance of artlessness that overrode his scruples. What if she was for real? “Let me think about it,” he said.
“I don’t have a whole lot of time.” A faint urgency underlay her words. “Joe said Willerby’s men are probably phoning him for more instructions even now.”
He hesitated, his capacity for trust badly compromised.
“I don’t think I can handle those men alone. If I could, I wouldn’t press you. And if you didn’t strike me as a man I could trust—I wouldn’t ask.” It was as though she suddenly knew with certainty that he was ubercompetent. “Maybe it’s Karma that we’re both in a pickle.” She smiled. “What do you think?”
He thought describing his position in Harry’s crosshairs as being in a pickle was the understatement of the century. He also understood that he was attracted to her on some level that could very well be Karma, because it sure as hell wasn’t business as usual. “Look,” he said, ignoring the little voice inside his head screaming, Don’t be stupid! “I can at least offer you a short-term solution. We can go over to your place, pack up what you need, and bring it over here. Then, I’ll check with some of my contacts before deciding for sure what I’m going to do. In the meantime, you’ll be safe. I can guarantee you that.”
“Because of your alarm,” she said, waving toward the woods where she’d tripped the wire.
Because he was ready to shoot anyone who came too close.
But rather than frighten her, he said, “Yeah. I’m pretty well protected. It’s a long story. I won’t bore you with the details.”
She smiled, feeling comforted and strangely content considering both the circumstances and their brief acquaintance. “If you let me go up north with you, you could tell me the details then. We’d have plenty of time.”
Now there was temptation. Her alone with him at his outpost camp.
Steady. Keep cool. This was about survival, not sex.
“Why don’t we get your stuff first. We’ll see about the next step later.” Coming to his feet, he held out his hand.
“Thanks,” she said, placing her hand in his. “I feel safer already.”
As his hand closed around hers and he pulled her to her feet, he felt something else entirely. Something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Maybe that’s when he suspected he’d be taking her with him whether it was prudent or not.
And if she was Harry’s girl, he might not get much sleep, but he’d have a helluva good time while he was discovering the truth.
Nine
Nick stood sentry outside while Zoe packed. He checked the lakeshore, the driveway, surveyed the woods separating their places, then went through the drill again. He was on his third patrol of the Skubic property when she came back out, loaded down with two large duffle bags and a backpack.
“These are sort of heavy,” she said, as he met her and took the duffle bags from her. “Most of it’s research notes I need.”
He did a quick bicep curl with both duffle bags. “Hefty notes.” Or maybe lots of ammo, his less trusting psyche reflected. She’d changed into slacks, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and moccasins, like she was going somewhere.
“My manuscript is in there, too,” she explained, keeping up with him as he started walking. “I also packed some boots just in case.”
In case of what? Funny how the phrase combat boots suddenly leaped into his mind. Maybe having her in his house wasn’t going to be such a good idea after all.
“I really can’t thank you enough. Your letting me stay with you is a real relief,” she said. “And if I’ve brought too much stuff, just let me know. I could probably get rid of some of my clothes. I do need my research notes though.”
His libido instantly picked up on that getting-rid-of-her clothes line. Not a big surprise. “Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of room,” he replied, when a sensible man would have said something about her finding someone else for security detail.
“Oh, good, because I really tried to pack only the bare minimum.” She smiled. “After all those years in the Amazon, living an unadorned life isn’t a problem.”
Jeez. One suggestive phrase after another—bare minimum, unadorned life—it really got him thinking. Which meant he’d better get a grip on his libido or he was gonna be suckered in by the oldest trick in the book. Maybe he’d better tell whatever her name was—Christ, he didn’t even know her name, which just went to show how some really fine T&A could fuck with your head. Anyway, he should tell her this wasn’t going to work out, that she’d be better off hiring a bodyguard in the Cities.
Just as he was opting for abstinence in the face of some serious carnal temptation, she took a couple little happy-as-a-lark skipping steps, her boobs bounced in what could only be characterized as a highly erotic fashion, and his libido shoved risk factors clear out of the picture. So what’s the big deal if she stays the night, his fast-talking libido whispered. You can give her the bad news in the morning.
“I feel ever so good now,” she said flashing him a dazzling smile. “And considering Joe’s alarmist warnings, that’s no small feat. I’m really in your debt.”
“No problem.” And she looked way better than good—like a thousand times better. Which probably meant he’d gone without sex too long. Realistically, what guy wouldn’t be thinking about fucking her with those luscious boobs bouncing along only inches away?
“You know what seems amazing? All my apprehension is gone. Like the creeps Willerby sent out don’t matter—or at least not very much.” She shot him a look. “That must be why people have bodyguards.”
“I’m no bodyguard.”
But he was smiling, so she wasn’t afraid to say, “I feel safe with you, so whatever—it’s working.”
“You were just out of your element when those two stooges accosted you. It was natural for you to be apprehensive.”
The casualness of his answer gave her the impression he was not out of his element when it came to danger. For an indecisive moment Zoe questioned her naivete in putting herself in his care. A second later, she recalled how Janie had called Nick Mirovic normal and nice, and consoled by that description, she said, “I suppose you’re right. Although, I never thought something like this could ever happen to me.”
He gave her a brows-lifted glance. “You mess with big-time crooks, you’re bound to run into trouble.”
“So I discovered.”
Christ, if she’s that simple, maybe Harry didn’t sent her. “Surely you at least must have considered the Willerbys might take issue with your exposé.”
“Reporters write exposés every day. I’m just investigating another illicit scheme. It’s nothing personal.”
“In my experience, powerful people feel that laws were made for somebody else. And believe me, when they’re crossed, it’s always personal.”
His voice had taken on such a sharp edge, she felt another moment of doubt. Maybe she’d misread Willerby’s lawyers. Maybe she didn’t really need a bodyguard after all. “Joe might be wrong,” she said, knowing even as she spoke that she was grasping at straws. “Willerby’s errand boys might be traveling back to New York even now.”
“Could be.” And world peace could be just around the corner. “Look,” Nick gently said, “there’s no sense doing shoulda, coulda, woulda. We’ll take a breather tonight, and come up with some plan of action in the morning. Okay?” He felt like he was talking to some kid who wanted to know there really was a Santa Claus.
Zoe blew out a breath and smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” Then, running her fingers down his arm, she whispered, “Thanks.”
Her light, grazing touch flipped on all his sexual recepto
rs, images of kids and Santa Claus instantly dispelled and in their place an explicit vision of a naked, long-legged blonde lying in his bed. “Watch where you put your feet when we get to those birches ahead,” he quickly declared, struggling to keep his mind on more pertinent issues. “Follow in my tracks to be safe.”
Probably neither one of them was safe there unless he could keep his libido in check.
Ten
After they entered his house, Nick set down the duffle bags in the entry hall. “Don’t freak,” he said, “but I have to check out your gear.”
“Not a problem.”
He waved her to a bench set against a wall. It had several pairs of boots neatly lined up beneath and had once been painted blue—the much worn surface offering only hints of the original color.
Nick’s distrust helped ease her reservations about him; they were both a little jumpy, she decided. Sitting down, she leaned back against one of the numerous jackets hanging from hooks on the wall above her. “You obviously hunt.” She glanced up at the antlers lining the walls of the pine-paneled entry.
“Sometimes,” he said, kneeling down and unzipping a bag. “My grandpa hunted. They’re mostly his.” He began lifting out items one after another, stacking them in neat piles— papers, books, clothes. Thankfully, not a round of ammo in sight.
Jeez he was gorgeous to look at—all male, honed to the inch, his powerful shoulders, arms, leg muscles flexing with the smooth fluidity of a finely tuned machine. Seriously tempted to reach out and touch those steel-hard muscles, Zoe suppressed the impulse and slid her hands under her legs instead. This was not the time to be thinking of turn-ons. Her luggage was currently being searched for God knows what, Willerby was possibly after her skin, and Nick Mirovic, no matter how movie star handsome, was not just another a pretty face.
“I need your backpack, too.”
Startled by the sound of his voice, she looked up to meet his dark, enigmatic gaze. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time he’d asked for her backpack. “Sorry, I zoned out.” Long enough for him to have gone through her second duffle bag, she noted with surprise. Which meant either he was seriously God’s gift to women or she had gone without sex too long.
He crooked his finger. “Now, babe.”
The gruff ambiguity of his demand set off a lustful ripple that shimmered through her body without so much as a nod to good judgment. And rather than tamp down the wholly inappropriate response, with equal injudiciousness, she offered him a teasing smile. “What if I said no?”
His dark lashes lowered faintly and he didn’t smile. “Don’t fuck with me.”
The man was definitely all business. Or had that been a fleeting flash of amusement in his gaze? Whatever it might have been, his look was deliberately no-nonsense and hurry-the-fuck-up right now. “You really are serious about this,” she said, handing over her backpack.
“Gotta be,” he said, taking out her laptop. He looked it over carefully—front and back—weighed it for a second in his hands, then slid off the battery cover. Lifting out the batteries, he put each of them up to his nose and took a good whiff.
“All the batteries are strictly from Best Buy,” Zoe offered. “What are you looking for?”
Handing her the laptop, he kept his eyes on her face and said, “Turn it on.”
“It won’t blow up.”
“Lucky for us. Run through your directory for me.”
“This must be what the Inquisition felt like,” she sardonically murmured, booting up her laptop.
“I don’t have a dungeon.”
She glanced up. “I hope that was a joke.”
This time he actually smiled. “More or less.”
If Janie hadn’t vetted Nick Mirovic, she might have been seriously thinking of bolting for the door. He was definitely not the standard hunk next door. “These people after you,” she queried. “Are they more dangerous than Willerby’s hired help?”
“Hard to say. I don’t know how badly Willerby wants you out of the way.”
“Please—if you don’t mind . . . no out-of-the-way insinuations. I want to sleep tonight.” She still couldn’t quite get her head completely around the fact that someone would actually harm her. Although, she wouldn’t be here now if she had discounted it entirely. “Okay, here’s what I have,” she said, having pulled up her directory. “Take a look. Everything’s pretty much related to my book.”
A lengthy interval later, after having opened all her files and looked them over, Nick said, “Okay, we’re good.”
As she shut down her laptop, she gave him an appraising glance.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
He glanced up and offered her a bland smile. “Let’s just say I’m not a hundred percent there yet.” Returning to the task at hand, he pulled her toiletries out of her backpack—shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, perfume—held them up to the light, uncapped them, sniffed, capped them again, and put them away. He hesitated for a moment when he lifted out her pink razor, and then her purple vibrator, but a second later, he returned them, zipped up the pocket, and sitting back on his heels, said, “You are traveling light.”
There was something in his tone, or maybe it was in his dark gaze. “Are you implying for a woman or is it something else?”
He was seriously thinking about frisking her.
She stared back at him. “What?”
“I was thinking I’d better do a quick body search. I’m not hittin’ on you. I just don’t like to take chances.”
“Janie said you were in some military hospital. Did you learn this stuff in the military?”
She’d come to her feet, so she wasn’t going to take offense. Good, he thought, rising and moving toward her. “I wasn’t in the military, but I was mixed up with them for a while. And I’m still dealing with the blowback.” He slid his palms down her arms.
“Like how?” She should be more nervous about this strange man checking her out for weapons.
“Depends.”
She was about to question him further. That was a nonanswer if she’d ever heard one. But he bent over just then, slid his hands down the outside of her legs, then quickly up the inside, brushing lightly over her crotch with businesslike efficiency and she instantly reacted in a decidedly unbusinesslike way. Her breath caught in her throat, a warm rush of pleasure zipped through her body from that brief point of contact and settled with lightning speed in her highly receptive pussy.
She almost said Wow, but stopped herself just in time.
And a good thing she did, because Nick straightened up and said, temperate and cool, like he was some eunuch, “Thanks for your patience. I’ll show you your room.”
Picking up her duffle bags, he walked into a living room dominated by a lake view and a large fieldstone fireplace. He moved down a hallway illuminated by a window at the far end and, stopping before a door, shoved it open with his foot. “This bedroom has a nice view of the lake.”
Indeed it did. Floor to ceiling windows faced the lake, the casements open to a light breeze coming in off the water. The windows were obviously a recent addition to the original log cabin, as was the small bathroom.
“It’s lovely,” Zoe said, surveying the room. It was cozy and cabiny: a handmade bed covered in Hudson Bay blankets; a desk and chairs constructed from sturdy pine logs; a hooked rug with a pale background and pinecone motif covered the varnished floor—the floor’s age evident in its deep golden patina. “Janie said this was your grandfather’s home. Did he build it?”
“Uh-uh. My great-grandfather did. It was built in the 1930s. It’s still solid.” Not to be discounted when considering possible firepower directed at it. “I’m in the room next door,” he added, dropping her bags on the floor. “Would you like a drink or iced tea or coffee while I find us something for lunch?”
“I’ll take you out for lunch.”
He shook his head. “I’d rather not leave the house. And I’m an okay cook,” he added with a quick smile. “Don’t worry.�
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As his footsteps receded down the hallway, Zoe moved her duffle bags from the middle of the floor. She thought about unpacking, but decided against it since Nick had said they’d make plans in the morning. Instead, she pulled a chair up to the window and, calculating the time in Trieste, decided Joe would still be up.
The phone rang and rang and rang. She was just about to hang up, when Joe breathlessly answered. “Sorry, I was in the shower. Are you staying in Ely or not?”
She heard a woman’s voice in the background. He obviously had company. She’d make her conversation brief. “I’m staying—at least tonight. I’ll let you know if my plans change tomorrow. That’s it. End of report.”
“I met someone from the museum here and some interesting facts have come to light,” Joe said, apparently willing to chat. “She knows two or three of the site diggers and some intriguing details.”
“Great—score for our side,” Zoe replied. “Does that mean we have pertinent facts to cover our asses in case of legal problems?” A decided possibility since the visit of Willerby’s two ambassadors of ill will.
“We have shipping receipts. Detailed ones—times, dates, descriptions, destination names, and addresses. And site photos. How’s that?”
She could hear the buoyant cheer in Joe’s voice. “I’d say we’ve got them in a corner.”
“You’d better believe it. All you have to do now is stay safe and finish that manuscript.”
“I’m doing what I can, but nothing’s certain yet up here.”
“Stay in touch, babe. Wait a minute . . . wait—hey—don’t do that,” he whispered. “Gotta go,” he crisply said.
And the phone went dead.
Having heard the sound of Zoe’s voice as he’d walked away, Nick had quietly retraced his steps and, stopping just short of her doorway, eavesdropped. Already suspicious of her sudden appearance in his life, what he heard of her conversation made him even more dubious. Her words, end of report, had an ominous ring, as did talk of covering their asses, and having someone in a corner. Her last comment about nothing being certain yet up here really got his attention.
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