by Lori Foster
“Yes, thank you.” She did not want to expose herself to Jude.
“So.” While fixing her a cup of coffee, he glanced her way. “You going to drop that poncho or not?”
“Not.” She retreated another step.
“You’ve done a lot of that this morning. Backing away, clamming up instead of being your normal chatty self.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, so you keep saying.” He turned his wrist to check the time on his watch. “Plan to tell me why anytime soon?”
“My brother is in some trouble.”
“Shit.” He put a spoon in her cup and stirred. “I should have known this had something to do with Tim.”
Carrying the cup of coffee, he came to stand in front of May. After a long look, he set the cup on the table and held out a hand, palm up. “Let me have it, May.”
She had no doubt what he meant; and seeing no hope for it, she gave up her grip on the poncho.
Jude tossed it and her tote on an empty seat, then looked her over, surveying everything from below her chin to above her ankles. Voice low and a little rough, he said, “Interesting shirt.”
She wanted to cover her breasts with her hands, but that’d just make her look more ridiculous. She stood stiff, her arms at her sides, back straight, shoulders rigid.
“Those jeans can’t be comfortable.”
“They’re too tight.”
“Wanna take them off, too?” He glanced at her eyes and smirked. “From your horrified expression, I guess I can assume you’re not here to get cozy with me. Oh, that’s right. You want nothing to do with me. You turn down all my invitations. You’re only here because your idiot brother needs some kind of help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Enough with the apologies.” Casual as you please, he went back to his chair and settled in to drink his coffee. “So am I supposed to drag it out of you? Or do I even need to? History’s taught me that when people come to me for help, that usually means they want money.”
Oh God, of course, they did. People probably hit him up for money all the time—and now he expected the same from her. In a way, she did need money from him, but not for the reasons he’d think.
No, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be just one more person who…
His voice gentled, even if his expression didn’t. “You came all this way. Might as well see it through.”
Adrenaline rushed into her veins. She had to warn him about the threat. Before she could chicken out, she stormed toward him. “Last night, someone grabbed Tim, pulled him into a dark car, and beat him half to death.”
Jude took a small sip of his coffee. “Half to death, huh?”
“Don’t you dare be callous, Jude. When Tim fell through my doorway—and I do mean fell—he was so bloody I barely recognized him. One of his eyes swelled completely shut, and the other is so bloodshot it hurts to look at him. His lips are cracked. He has bruises everywhere.”
“Apparently, he pissed someone off.”
“He pisses everyone off! You of all people should know that.”
In the blink of an eye, Jude’s expression went cold and hard. “I’ll be a son of a bitch.” His coffee cup clattered as he set it on the desk. Pure rage brought him out of his chair, sending May to scuttle back. “You think I did it.”
Her eyes widened at that barely-there whisper. She started to retreat further, but his hands clamped onto her arms, keeping her immobile.
“You came here, all righteous and pathetically brave to face off with me, the evil outsider, because you think I jumped your poor excuse for a brother.”
Words lodged in her throat. How had he gotten everything so wrong? “I didn’t—”
“Jesus, I’m an idiot.” He worked his jaw before thrusting himself away from her in disgust. “Look at you. You’re shaking in your sneakers. You think I’m going to hurt you.”
That didn’t make any sense. “I’m trying to explain—”
His harsh laugh cut her off. “Your brother provoked me, so naturally I’d want to pound on him a little, right? I mean, what the hell, if I’d hurt a woman, why would I draw the line over a weak-ass like Tim?”
He didn’t give May a chance to dispute that.
“And you know what? I would’ve loved to give Tim one good punch in the mouth because the bastard deserved it. But when I fight a man, it’s face to face. I’m not a coward who jumps a man from behind.”
“I know.”
“I fight fair, and a fight with Tim wouldn’t be that. It’d be like fighting a kid, for Christ’s sake.”
Or hurting a woman? May’s heart broke for him. He sounded so wounded that she wondered how many times those accusations had been thrown in his face. For an honorable man like Jude, being blamed for something he wouldn’t do had to be unbearable.
“Here.” He picked up the phone and tossed it toward her. She didn’t move, and it landed on the floor in front of her.
“Call the cops, why don’t you? Share your damn theories. Tell them whatever the hell you want. I don’t care.” He started to turn away.
“Yes, you do.”
“The hell I do!” In a heartbeat, he was back, nose to nose with her. “Just because I wanted in your pants doesn’t mean you can—”
Nervousness fled in the face of raw anger. “Will you shut the hell up?”
He did a double take, his tirade suspended.
Shocked at her own loss of temper, May groaned. She’d lost her control more in the last twenty-four hours than she ever had in her life. She had to get it together. Crossing her arms tight, she tried to contain herself.
But she flared anew when Jude’s gaze dipped down to her chest. “Oh no you don’t! Don’t you dare start eyeing my boobs, damn you.”
Jude blinked at her. “I—”
“In all the time I’ve known you, never, not once, have I accused you of anything.” She hadn’t slept yet, she was tired down to her bones, and now her head wanted to explode off her shoulders. “But from the moment I walked in here, you’ve done everything you could to make this more uncomfortable for me, when let me tell you, bud, it’s plenty uncomfortable already.”
Jude regained his aplomb with a vengeance. “If you didn’t voice the accusation, you’ve sure as hell thought it.”
“You have no idea what I think.”
“It’s obvious.”
“Apparently not.”
He took several deep breaths, and in a more moderate tone, asked, “If you don’t think I’m dangerous, then why keep denying me?”
Oh, shoot. Her loss of temper had her heaving and left her brain blank. He was dangerous all right—to her peace of mind, her heart, and her blood pressure. “Ummm…”
Jude again closed the gap between them. “Why, May? If you’re not afraid of me, why refuse to have dinner with me? If you don’t believe all the rumors, then why dodge me?”
Somehow, they’d gotten way off course. She tried to inch away, and he growled with frustration.
“Why shy away from me all the damn time?”
May pressed her hands to her temples. “Stop yelling at me!” They stared at each other. “I can only deal with one thing at a time, and for right now I have a whopper of a problem with my brother.” And with keeping you safe.
Jude struggled with himself.
“I mean it, Jude. You’ve bullied me enough. I don’t take it well on a good day, and today is not going to be good. So tell me right now, will you be reasonable, or should I just leave and figure things out on my own?”
“Could you?”
Through her teeth, she said, “I’ve managed so far.” Though how she’d manage this one, she had no idea.
For only a moment, he looked admiring. “Fine. You have a reprieve. For now.” He put space between them, slouched into his chair, and gestured at her. “You have the mike, Miss Price. But I’m tired of playing twenty questions. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
“All right.” He had her just ann
oyed enough that she didn’t bother to measure her words. “Tim owes fifty thousand dollars, and if he doesn’t pay it, there’s going to be some nasty consequences.”
To her surprise, the bald statement didn’t affect Jude at all. “Tim is an ass.”
“I had to leave him at my place. Ashley is taking care of him. Tim claims the men who beat him up said they’d be watching him, and if he tried to go to the police, they’d kill him.”
“And you believed that?”
Only because the threat implicated Jude—and Tim’s beating made it all too real. She’d get it all said now, while they were both being reasonable, calm adults. “The man he owes… he told Tim that they’d be even, that he wouldn’t have to pay it back, if he…”
Jude closed his eyes and sighed. “If he what?”
He looked bored again—but it wouldn’t last long. She sank down to sit on the edge of the chair facing him. “If he killed you.”
That got his eyes opened. He stared at her, his expression blank before breaking into humor. “You’re kidding.”
“No.” She bit her lip, sick at heart. “Sorry, I’m not.”
He started laughing. “Damn, I didn’t see that one coming.” The amusement quickly waned. “So tell me, how the hell did I get into this?”
“I don’t know.” May wished she had the nerve to crawl into his lap and put her arms around him. It couldn’t be a good feeling, for someone to want you dead. “All I know is that Tim is pulverized, and whoever did it to him said he’d be watched around the clock to make certain he doesn’t go to the cops. He’s to pay—either with cash or by…” She gulped. “Doing you in, or else he’ll be killed.”
“Who does he owe?”
It bothered May that Jude seemed to take it all so well. “He’s not sure. He borrowed at the boats without getting a name. Tim said he thought it was a friendly exchange…”
“Tim never thinks. It’s one of his biggest problems.” Jude tapped his fingertips together, thinking. “By the way, if I had jumped him, he sure as hell wouldn’t be able to come crying to you.”
“I know.” The urge to defend her family burned inside her, but unfortunately, Tim had no defense. “You have to give him the money, Jude.”
Incredulous, he shot forward in his seat. “I don’t have to do a goddamned thing!”
This time, May did reach out to him, putting her hand on his forearm. Muscles bunched. Their eyes met. “Don’t you see? It’s the only way. Tim said they want the money soon, but I don’t have that much. I’ll have to sell… things to get it.”
His jaw locked. “It’s not your debt. It’s Tim’s.”
“At this point, does it matter whose debt it is?”
“He’s an adult. A man. Let him grow up.”
If only it were that simple. “A life is at stake here.”
“Should I break out my violin?”
He didn’t believe her, didn’t understand that the threat really did exist. “Tim probably should be in a hospital, but he’s afraid to go. Whoever did this to him means business. I realize eventually we’ll have to notify the police, but in the meantime, if you’d only give him the money, then he won’t have to—”
“Kill me?” There was no amusement in Jude’s grin. “I have another solution.”
“You do?”
“Damn right.” He caught her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Eyes bright and direct, he said, “I could kill Tim instead.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
Maybe he could take death threats in stride, but she couldn’t. “Of course you were. You could no more kill than Tim could.”
Jude’s attention stayed glued to her face. “Where have you been? Don’t you watch the news? I’m the scourge of the earth. I murdered a woman. In comparison, offing a creep like Tim would be a piece of cake.”
She was in no mood for his sarcasm. “We have to get serious here. Paying them off is the only option. But we need to move soon. Who knows what they might do next?”
Jude tugged on her hand, forcing her to lean toward him. “You don’t think I’m capable of murder?”
Distracted once again, May stared at his mouth. “For the last time, Jude. No, I’m not afraid of you, and no, I don’t believe you’re a murderer.”
He released her so suddenly that she almost fell back in her seat. “So now your reprieve is over.”
“No way.” She rushed to her feet and moved behind the chair. “We haven’t figured out what to do about Tim’s attackers yet.”
Smirking, Jude stood, too. “Look at you, cowering behind the damn chair.” And in a taunt, “I thought you weren’t afraid of me.”
“I do not cower.”
He took a step toward her, and she scrambled to the side. “Looks like cowering to me. You trust me enough to have in your gallery, to keep me as your best—maybe your only—customer.”
“I have customers! “Just not enough to keep her in business.
“But you don’t trust me enough to date.”
Why did he have to turn insistent now? “It’s not a matter of trust.”
He stalked her. “Bullshit. You want me to choke up fifty grand to save your brother’s sorry ass, but God forbid you have dinner with me.”
Anger stirred inside her again; her brother’s ass wasn’t the only one on the line. “You’ve got it all wrong, Jude.”
“You’re no better than Tim.”
The insult cut deep, making her rigid. “Take that back.”
“He uses you, and you want to use me. My money’s good enough—as long as you don’t have to touch me to get it.”
Infuriated, May launched herself across the chair. Jude stumbled back, but not fast enough. She was on him in an instant.
Poking him hard in the chest, May shouted, “I have always wanted you. Always. I don’t accept your offer of dates because I know exactly how we’d end up.”
Jude grabbed for her pointed finger but missed. She advanced, and he backed up. “Yeah? And how’s that?”
Sounding demonic, she growled, “In your bed.”
Disbelief replaced surprise. “Oh, really?”
“Or my bed. Or on the damn street corner.” The look on his face gave her pause, but anger ruled. “Around you anything is possible, because the second you’re close, I start thinking insane things that can’t be. Around you I’m a jellyfish.” She punctuated that with another hard poke that made him jump. He butted up against the desk and came to a halt. “And in case you’re still confused, that means I have no backbone. You look at me and I melt.”
“Melt, huh?”
May had the awful suspicion he might laugh. “Yes, damn you.” She thrust her chin up close to his. “You shake my control and I can’t stand it.”
“Then why not just give in?”
“Argh!” She knotted her hands in her hair, amazed that he could be so dense. “It would never work, that’s why.”
“I see.” Furthering her suspicions that he found her loss of control amusing, he rubbed his mouth. “Funny how you never told me this before, no matter how many times I asked you out. But suddenly you need my money for your brother, and just like that”—he snapped his fingers right in her face— “you confess all.”
“What are you talking about?” He couldn’t have meant that the way it sounded.
“Planning a little trade-off, honey? I get a fuck, and your brother gets bailed out of trouble?”
If she’d had time to think about it, if the insinuation hadn’t been so ugly, and if she hadn’t been running on lost reserves, she might not have swung at him. But before she knew it, her fist flew through the air and connected with his chin.
He grunted as his head snapped back. “Son of a…”
May’s mouth fell open. “Ohmigod.” What had she done? “Ohmigod, I’m sorry.” She shook her hand, but it continued to sting—so how must his face feel? “I’m so sorry!”
Rubbing at his chin, he gave her a cross look.
“Just calm down, May.”
“Ohmigod.” Mortified at her own awful behavior, she rushed away from him, snatched up the poncho, and tried to jerk it on.
He reached for her. “May—”
Frantic, she screeched, “Don’t touch me!” Stupid poncho, it was all twisted inside out, fighting her. Dear God, not only had she screamed at him that she wanted him, but she’d struck him, too. While fumbling with the poncho, she turned to look at him. “I am really, really sorry.”
With a long sigh, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out of here. Away. I should never have come here.”
“You didn’t hurt me, honey.”
Her eyes flared. “I punched you.”
Mouth twitching, he said, “Yeah, I know. But it’s just a little swat. I’ll live.”
She covered her face. “Not if Tim kills you.” Her knees almost buckled at the thought.
“He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Trust me on that.”
“But whoever wants you dead could.” And just saying it aloud made her want to be ill. How could he accuse her of using him when the main reason she’d come to him wasn’t even for her brother.
No, she’d come because she knew Jude could be in real trouble.
“Tim’s probably either lying or exaggerating, so just calm down and take a deep breath.”
She’d borrow against her gallery. Between that and her savings and whatever Tim had put away…
“May, listen to me.”
Giving up, she threw the poncho aside. She had no time to waste now that she knew she couldn’t take money from Jude. He’d never believe her motives, not after he’d been hurt so badly by the trial and all the negative press that had followed.
Anxious to go, she grabbed up the straps to the tote.
Jude snatched it away from her. “You’re not leaving.”
“Yes, I am.” She reached for the bag, and Jude held it over his head.
“No, you’re not.”
“Fine, keep it.” She’d call a cab from the kitchen. Denny would help her. When she got home, she’d call the cops, and together, they’d make Jude accept the reality of the situation.
But when she tried to rush past Jude, he caught her wrist. May kept going, Jude didn’t let go, and the momentum turned her full circle until she ended up wrapped in his arms, her back to his chest.
