CARRIED AWAY

by Donna Kauffman

  "How did you get up here?"

  Trevor turned and spied Vivian, or at least the woman he assumed was Vivian, walking up from the shoreline of the lake. But she wasn't talking to him. She hadn't seen him yet. Her question was addressed to Eric, who was striding toward her. Apparently he'd just gotten here himself.

  "Why didn't you come to the wedding?" Eric responded. "I can't believe you left Kate high and dry like that. It's not like you."

  Vivian stopped and folded her arms.

  Trevor winced. Not a good opener, my friend.

  "You don't have any idea whether it's like me or not," she said. "You only know the me you wanted me to be. Well, surprise, surprise." She spread her arms wide. "This is who I am. A woman who doesn't take kindly to other people messing with her life."

  Eric's steps faltered then, as if he'd never encountered this particular attitude before.

  Trevor silently applauded Vivian. And wished he'd never come up here. This was private, between the two of them. He thought about trying to silently retrace his steps, but just then Vivian spied him. He swore inwardly, but smiled and waved. "Hello, I'm Trevor McQuillen, a friend of Mike's."

  "Oh, great. So Kate's got him involved in this, too. That's just lovely. Were you the one who brought him up here?"

  This is going well, he thought ruefully. But what had he expected? "No. Actually, I was trying to prevent him from coming up here."

  "Well, bless Mike then. At least he has a brain in his head."

  Trevor cleared his throat. "Actually, you have Christy to thank for that."

  "Vivian—" Eric began.

  But Vivian ignored him. "Christy? What in the world does she have to do with this?"

  "I—it's a long story." He really didn't want to be here.

  Eric stepped in then. "I just want a chance to talk with you." He looked at Trevor. "Alone."

  Trevor would have liked nothing better than to give Eric what he wanted, but he looked to Vivian to decide. It was her property and her life being invaded.

  She looked between the two of them, then sighed. "Okay, talk. But he stays."

  Eric's eyes widened, but this time he wisely capitulated. "Fine, fine. But can we at least have some privacy?"

  Vivian looked uncertainly at Trevor and once again, he took command of a situation he should never have been involved in to begin with. He smiled and motioned to the lakeshore. "Why don't you two stay here and talk? If you don't mind, I'd like to change clothes."

  Vivian nodded, then stiffened her resolve and looked to Eric. "You have until he gets back out here, so start talking."

  "Vivian—"

  "Clock is ticking."

  Trevor hid his smile as he crossed back toward the car. He'd wondered at the wisdom of leaving the two of them so close to a body of water. But if anyone's life was in danger it was Eric's. He was going to have to take care of himself, although apparently that was what he excelled at anyway.

  And Trevor should know. He'd been taking care of himself for longer than he could remember.

  He gently popped the trunk and took out the duffel he'd carried off the plane. The rest of his stuff had been shipped ahead and was in storage. He didn't even have a place to stay yet. Mike had offered his place while they were out of town on their honeymoon, but Trevor had booked a suite in a residential hotel.

  He'd spent what little leave he'd had setting up his business, leasing the property and revamping the buildings that had been on it to suit his needs. He could always bunk there if he couldn't locate something right away. After all, he'd probably be spending most of his time there anyway.

  He checked in on Christy, guilt creeping in again as he saw how cramped and curled up she was in order to fit her not-so-petite frame on the back seat. He wondered if he could carry her into the house without waking her up.

  He looked back to the lake. Vivian was still holding herself at a distance from her ex, who was gesturing wildly as he paced back and forth. From the look of things, Trevor could have left Christy sleeping on the porch swing. He didn't think Eric's visit was going to last too long.

  Well, they were all up here now and the sun was setting. Likely they'd all end up here for the night. Unless Eric continued to make an ass out of himself. Trevor had stuck his nose in this far, he might as well stick it in the rest of the way. If Viv wasn't comfortable having Eric in her home, Trevor would see to it that he wasn't.

  He swung his duffel over his shoulder and headed for the screened-in porch, deciding to scope out the cabin before trying to bring Christy inside. Another glance at the lake had him smiling. Now it was Vivian gesturing and pacing. Well, at least they were both talking. He wondered if either of them were listening.

  None of your business, McQuillen. Besides, what he knew about marriage, successful or otherwise, could fit on the business end of a bullet.

  The inside of the cabin was spacious and comfortably furnished, with the decor on the homey side.

  There were green-and-yellow plaid curtains on the windows, matching the pale green-and-lemon-yellow covers on the two couches. There were numerous brightly colored chairs and throw pillows, all muted by the exposed log walls and fronted by a huge picture window with a view of the lake and pier. The other end of the room boasted a heavy stone mantle over a large fireplace.

  The air up here was decidedly less humid, and now that the sun was setting, decidedly cooler, too. Maybe they'd have a fire later. He could bring Christy in and let her nest on the couch that faced the fireplace.

  He smiled and shook his head. "You're not here to play house any more than you're here to play marriage counselor." He headed off in search of the bathroom, thinking the sooner he got off this mountain, out of these people's lives and back to business, the better.

  He emerged from the cabin ten minutes later to the rumbling sound of thunder. "Wonderful," he muttered, looking up through the towering pines that sheltered the cabin to the rapidly darkening sky. Unless Eric was booted out shortly, no one would be going anywhere once the skies opened up.

  "What have I done to deserve this? I eat my vegetables, pay my taxes on time and even help little old ladies across the street." Or he would have if there had been any in the parts of the world he'd inhabited of late.

  Maybe that was his problem. He'd been so busy trying to do his part to make the world a safer place that he'd totally lost track of what the world was really like.

  He looked over at Viv and Eric. Neither was gesturing or pacing at this point. In fact, they were sitting at opposite ends of a picnic table and talking. Really talking from the looks of things. He looked at his car, where Christy was still dead to the world in the back seat.

  Maybe this was the real world. Maybe there was no such thing as boring, routine lives. Maybe no matter where he went, life would be messy, complicated, unpredictable. Not so different really, from what he'd left behind.

  Except that it was his life now.

  A thumping noise dragged him from his thoughts.

  A swirl of blanket, a smashed pillow, followed by a nest of dark hair, rose from the back seat. A hand reached out blindly, clawing at the blanket and hair, finally revealing a face still puffy and wrinkled with sleep. She blinked several times, then yawned ferociously and stretched.

  Trevor's heart banged once against his chest.

  Hard. She did that to him. Even looking like the Creature from the Black Lagoon she did that to him.

  Made his heart bang.

  And rather than run screaming off the mountain, back to some other version of the real world that had to be out there somewhere, he was smiling, crossing to the car and actually looking forward to whatever sleepy, grumbling thing she had to say. Because it meant she was awake, and that he was still in her crazy world.

  "You locked me in here," she said through the glass. "First you lock me out of my house, then you lock me in your car. What kind of person are you anyway?"

  A person who has obviously lost his mind, he thought.

  H
e pressed the button on his key ring and popped the locks. "First of all, I didn't lock you out of your house. The back door was unlocked. And I didn't lock you in my car, I locked other people out. You can open the door with that button right there," he said, pointing to the black button marked Lock. He grinned at her when she scowled at him. "Have a nice rest?"

  She kicked at the blanket and blew her hair from her face. "Except for the seat belt permanently embedded into my lower back, oh yeah, felt like I was on a cloud." She scooted to the edge of the seat. "How long have we been here? Did you talk to Vivian? What's going on?"

  He tugged her duffel from the front seat, took the blanket from her and traded it for her bag. "Why don't you go inside and take a shower and change into your own clothes? You'll feel better."

  She smiled then, making the sleep lines on her face crinkle. "Are you saying I don't wake up gorgeous and perky?"

  He could have told her the truth, that sleep wrinkles, rat's nest hair and all, she still made his heart bang. But that would be a tactical error. And Lord knew he'd had already more of those in one day than he had in his entire career in special ops. Thank goodness the only life at stake today was his own.

  "I'm saying you'll probably feel better in your own clothes. Shower is, of course, optional."

  She considered him then and he realized he'd left himself wide open, but she apparently decided to withdraw her forces and leave the good fight for another time. He was almost disappointed.

  The thunder rolled again and she frowned. He didn't miss the light shiver, either. It was cooler here, but far from cold. "Not a fan of thunderstorms?"

  She didn't even try to pretend otherwise. "Very not a fan." This time a split of lightning lit the sky through the trees and she hustled to the front door with a good deal more energy than he'd have given her credit for being able to muster. She glanced down to the lake as she stepped into the porch and spied Viv and Eric. She paused, then another rumbler had her scooting inside and slapping the door shut. "Tell Viv I'll be out in a few minutes. I can't believe you didn't wake me up!"

  Then she was gone. Which was good, because then she wouldn't get mad at him for laughing. "Wake her up, she says." Sure, me and my brass marching band. Apparently thunder worked wonders, though. He wondered if they made an alarm clock that sounded like a storm brewing.

  Viv came striding up from the lake, Eric following behind at a slower, more thoughtful pace.

  "Was that Christy?"

  Trevor nodded.

  "Why didn't you tell me she was with you?"

  Trevor remained calm in the face of her irritation. She looked battle weary and with good reason. "She was asleep, and you were talking to Eric."

  "Well … fine," she said, blowing out a deep sigh and most of her frustration along with it. "I'm sorry. It's just…" She tried to smile. "Saying 'It's been a long day' doesn't seem to do this one justice."

  Trevor smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

  Vivian was a slight woman with spiky, strawberry hair, pale-blue eyes and freckles splashed across her cheeks. Her smile came easily enough, but the weariness in her eyes cast a shadow over it.

  "Looks like we're in for a boomer. It's coming in off the lake, which always means a loud one." She nodded to the door. "We should all get inside."

  "Christy made a beeline when she heard the first one," he said, holding the door open for her, looking back for Eric, but he was walking over to his car.

  "She's not a fan of storms," was all Viv said, but he sensed there was more to that story.

  "Is Eric going to try and leave with this storm coming up?" he asked.

  She opened the door and held it for him, looking past him at Eric and shook her head. He couldn't tell if she was unhappy about this … or merely resigned to what fate had dumped on her. Fate and a certain newly wedded best friend.

  "He's just getting his bag. None of us are going anywhere tonight. The road down the mountain will be one giant river five minutes after this storm busts open. If it blows through quickly, it will be muddy and boggy tomorrow, but passable as soon as the wind and sun have at it for a few hours." She closed the door behind him. "I guess now's as good a time as any for you to tell me who the hell you are and how you came to have Christy sleeping in your car." She perched on a stool at the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area and, smiling, propped her chin on her hands. "Apparently, I've got all night."

  Trevor liked her. She was a battler and she had spirit. He took the stool next to her. "Okay. But only if you tell me why your friend is afraid of storms."

  "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

  He grinned. "Because you probably won't hurt me."

  She grinned, her curiosity apparent. "You know Christy pretty well."

  "Not really. I only met her today." Trevor leaned on the counter. "But I want to get to know her better."

  Vivian raised her eyebrows, but her dark eyes danced. "Well, well. I'd warn you that you're competing against an entire hospital filled with people who need her." She folded her arms across her chest and studied him openly. "But somehow I don't think you're going to let that stand in your way."

  "No, ma'am," he said with a smile. But Trevor really had no idea what in the hell he was doing, much less what his plans were. He heard the shower start up, pictured Christy climbing out of that choir gown, and realized he'd never wanted a shower so badly in his life.

  So what exactly was he planning?

  The storm was building. Christy was naked not fifty feet away. Vivian was staring at him expectantly, and any second her ex-husband was going to come walking through the cabin door in God knows what kind of emotional state. And Trevor was going to be trapped in this cabin with all three of them. All night.

  Again he wondered how in the hell he'd ended up here.

  And why he wasn't all that upset about it.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  « ^ »

  Christy groaned with almost orgasmic pleasure as the water beat down on her back. She wanted to go back to sleep, but no way was that going to happen during the storm. She realized now what had woken her up. She shuddered under the pelting hot water, tempted to stay right where she was until the thunderstorm passed. If she kept the water running hard enough, she might not even hear it.

  As if the gods of thunder had heard her—and laughed—the walls shook with another rocking blast. Deciding there were smarter places to be other than standing in water during an electrical storm, she shut the water off and reluctantly got out.

  Of course, she now had to face the storm, and Trevor, Vivian and Eric. Maybe standing in water and wishing for a lightning bolt was the better alternative.

  Then she smelled the elixir of life and groaned, heavily undecided. Vivian's dad had his own special blend of coffee he claimed was mixed by the fairies of his homeland. Of course, it might have been the whiskey he added to it. She didn't care. Right now a shot of both would do her good. It was almost worth braving the storm or all three of the people on the other side of the door. But both together…

  "Well, maybe the storm inside the cabin will take my mind off the storm outside the cabin."

  She quickly dressed in baggy shorts and a sweatshirt, telling herself she didn't care what Trevor thought of how she looked. She hadn't exactly packed her bombshell clothes for a weekend at Viv's. Not that she even had bombshell clothes. She was fairly certain there was more to being a bombshell than a little black dress, anyway. "Or a fruit-salad sequin one for that matter." She groaned even as she laughed. He'd already seen her doing her bombshell routine. Boobshell was more like it, she thought. Of course, prior to that fiasco, he'd seen her in pretty much nothing at all.

  What did she care anyway, right? She was above all that, above worrying about appearances. It was all about the inner woman these days. And she was nothing if not a confident woman of the new millennium. Right?

  Then she made the mistake of looking in the mirror. Her cheeks were overly flushed, her hair stuck to he
r head and her eyelids were still puffy. "Oh, yeah, you're the new-millennium goddess."

  Well, Trevor had better embrace her inner woman, because the outer woman was enough to scare off Frankenstein. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. Wait, she didn't want Trevor embracing anything. Did she?

  He was too controlling, too overwhelming … too damn sexy. She sighed and leaned her forehead against the door. Okay, something was really wrong with her. Too damn sexy was supposed to be a good thing. With Lieutenant Commander Trevor McQuillen it was a downright hormone grabber. So what was her problem?

  Gorgeous men didn't usually have the hots for her, that's what. She was a bit too tall, a bit too broad of shoulder and hip. She snorted. And maybe a teensy bit opinionated and self-confident. So what?

  So she was more the starving-artist or boring office-manager type. Military men, gorgeous, commanding military men … nope. Never had attracted them.

  But Trevor had looked into her eyes, touched her face and told her he wanted to get to know her better. She sighed and traced a finger over her cheek. Of course, she thought, her boobs had been spilling out in his face at the time. He might have simply been in a hormonal, breast-induced fog. She'd run into men like that.

  And then there was that kiss. He'd kissed her on the forehead like a brother, or best friend. Yep, that would be her luck. He'd think of her like a sister. Or worse. A pal. She'd run into men like that, too. Too many of them. And most of them were still her friends. Big sister to the world, that was her.

  She gripped the doorknob again. She didn't want to be Trevor's big sister, or his pal. She wasn't sure what she did want to be, either, but one way or the other, he was going to sit up and take notice of her. Whatever happened, she'd be damned if he would end up thinking of her as simply "a good friend."

  She flipped her wet hair back, straightened her perfectly fine shoulders and flung open the door. Her grand entrance was totally ruined by the biggest bolt of lightning she'd ever witnessed. She jumped and squealed, drawing the immediate attention of everyone in the room.