PALADIN'S WOMAN

by Beverly Barton

  "Nick isn't interested in Rusty's money the way your former husband was, that's true enough." Dina tugged on Addy's arm. "Why don't we sit down and I'll tell you some things you need to know about Nick so you'll understand my concern."

  Addy stared at Dina, trying to figure out what the woman's real motive was. Could she actually be concerned, or was she jealous? "I don't need to sit down. Just tell me what you think I need to know."

  "Very well." Dina's words escaped in an aggravated huff. "Nick sees you as a challenge, I'm quite certain of that. Women usually succumb to his good looks and charm quite readily, but since you haven't, he'll use whatever means necessary to seduce you. His rather substantial male ego is involved. Women don't say no to Nick."

  "What makes you think he hasn't already seduced me?" Addy didn't like the smug look on Dina's face.

  "He hasn't. I'd know if you and Nick were lovers. I've known Nick since he was fifteen. The two of us have no secrets."

  Pulling away from Dina, Addy said, "Nick told me that you and he play a game where you try to seduce him and he resists." Addy watched for any change of expression on Dina's face or in her eyes. She saw only the slight flickering of Dina's long, dark eyelashes. "Are you sure the real reason you want Nick replaced as my bodyguard is because you're worried about me?"

  "What other reason could there be?"

  "Perhaps you're afraid that I might mean more to Nick than a conquest, that his feelings run deep enough to consider making a commitment to me."

  The reaction Addy had been waiting for appeared on Dina's face. Her rosy cheeks flushed brightly and her blue eyes burned with indigo fire. She tightened her hold on Addy's arm, her nails biting into soft flesh. "Don't be an idiot. You aren't Nick's type. I'm Nick's type. Ever since we became lovers when he was seventeen, he's looked for me in every woman he meets. I have no doubt that when he's making love to those other blondes, he pretends he's making love to me."

  Salty, burning bile rose in Addy's throat. She had suspected that Nick and Dina had once been lovers, but hearing the woman admit it was almost more than Addy could bear. She tried to keep her reaction from showing, from being so blatantly obvious. Nothing would appease Dina's spiteful jealousy more than seeing Addy upset by her scandalous admission that Nick had bedded his brother's wife. Addy had never dreamed Nick would have betrayed his own brother. Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.

  "I couldn't care less about you and Nick," Addy lied. "But I think Daddy might care." Addy was pleased to note Dina's shocked expression.

  Dina's face paled noticeably. "I'd rather Rusty didn't know, but if telling him is the only way to get Nick out of your life and end Rusty's obsession with the idea of marrying you off to Nick, then perhaps you should tell him."

  Brett Windsor opened the door connecting the reception area to Ginger Kimbrew's office. "Addy, I'm glad you're still here." Brett glanced from Addy to Dina, then back to Addy. "Is there something wrong?"

  "No," both women replied simultaneously.

  "Well, Ginger has changed the reservations. All she had to do was mention Rusty McConnell's name. Amazing what wealth and power can do, isn't it?" Brett stepped between the two women, giving Dina a questioning glare before turning to Addy. "Has Dina said something to upset you?"

  "I'm afraid Addy wasn't prepared to hear the truth about Nick. It seems she's quite smitten with him. Such a shame to see a dear, sweet girl like Addy making a fool of herself over a man—"

  "I think you've said enough, Dina." Brett put his arm around Addy's quivering shoulders. "Addy has better sense than to fall for Nick Romero's rather obvious charms. Despite his smooth exterior, your brother-in-law is still as rough and uncivilized as he was when he was in the SEALs."

  "I'd rather not discuss Nick with either of you." Addy started to pull away from Brett, but hesitated when she saw Nick standing in the open doorway, his dark eyes glowering at her. She leaned into Brett's embrace, slipping her arm around his waist. "Why—why don't you come over for dinner some night soon?" The minute the words escaped her mouth, Addy regretted them. How could she act so childishly, trying to use Brett to make Nick jealous?

  Brett's smile dazzled Addy with its perfection. "I suppose Nick will have to be there, won't he?"

  "You've got that right, Windsor, but you and Addy can just pretend I'm not there." Nick glanced back into Ginger's office where her shapely behind was bent over her desk. "I could ask Ginger if she'd like to make it a foursome."

  "Good idea." Brett leaned down, planting a sweetly romantic kiss on Addy's lips.

  Shocked, Addy had no intention of responding until she heard Nick's feral growl from across the room. In her peripheral vision, she saw Nick take a tentative step in her direction. Without thinking of the consequences, she responded to Brett's kiss with a passion born of her own anger and jealousy. Damn Nick for making her care about him when he was probably still in love with Dina.

  Nick stopped dead still, then walking as fast as he could hampered by his bad leg, he fled past Addy and Brett and a cattily smiling Dina as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.

  Addy pulled away from Brett, staring at Nick's wide back as he exited the reception area. She swallowed hard, wondering why she suddenly felt afraid of the man in whom her father had entrusted her life.

  * * *

  Despite the cool flow of air from the overhead fan, Nick's body glistened with sweat. He'd been punishing himself with a series of sit-ups he had hoped would exhaust him enough to sleep. He'd been seething with anger all day, ever since he'd walked in on the sickeningly sweet sight of Addy returning Brett Windsor's caress.

  Clutching his fists at his sides, Nick beat the mattress, wishing it was Windsor's pretty-boy face. What the hell did Addy mean responding to Windsor with such passion? She didn't love the guy, and by her own admission, she didn't trust him. Just what had been going on?

  He suspected that Dina had something to do with it. That mocking smile on her face had given her away. He knew Dina and all her little tricks. She had done or said something to Addy that made her angry with him, had made her want to get back at him. And by God, she had, in the worst possible way. He hated these feelings of jealousy. The last time he'd been jealous, he'd thought he was in love with Miguel's wife. He'd been a fool! Damned if he would ever let another woman make a fool of him.

  The last thing he should be worrying about right now were his possessive feelings for Addy. Not when she was in real danger, when her very life could be at risk. He should be concentrating on keeping Addy safe, not succumbing to the powers of the green-eyed monster. Somewhere out there was a man or a woman primed and ready to kidnap Addy if Rusty McConnell allowed M.A.C.'s bid on the NASP project to stand. Nick knew that all his energy should be focused on making sure that didn't happen, regardless of what decision Rusty made about the contract bid.

  He and Rusty had discussed the situation with Ned Johnson, the FBI agent assigned to the case. The federal government didn't like any type of threats being made that involved one of their pet projects—and the NASP project was a number one priority for both NASA and the Air Force.

  Sam Dundee had assured Nick that he would run a check on all of M.A.C.'s competitors and have a complete report faxed to him by Monday morning at the latest. Nick knew he could count on Sam. They didn't make men any smarter, tougher or more trustworthy. Sam was one of the best friends Nick had ever had. They'd shared more than danger during their days with the DEA. They'd shared their pasts, their problems and occasionally their women.

  Somewhere in the back of Nick's mind a damned pesty little suspicion wouldn't go away. What if the NASP bid had nothing to do with the kidnap attempt? What if there actually was another motive? Did he dare risk Addy's life by not paying attention to his gut instincts? Often, in the SEALs and as a DEA agent, the only thing that had saved him was his instincts.

  He had pretty well ruled out Ginger Kimbrew as a suspect. The woman was too much in love with Rusty McConnell to be a
threat. If the NASP bid turned out to be the real motive, Gerald Carlton headed the list, but if there was another motive—money, for instance—then Ron Glover jumped to the number one spot, followed closely by Brett Windsor. And there was always the off chance that Janice Dixon could be helping her boyfriend or… Nick hated himself for suspecting Dina. She was spoiled, self-centered and money-hungry, but he honestly didn't think she was capable of kidnapping or murder.

  A loud tapping on his bedroom door drew Nick from his thoughts. Rising up on his elbows, he stared at the closed door. He made no response. The tapping began again, then he heard Addy's whispered voice.

  "Nick? Nick, may I come in?"

  He flipped the switch on the bedside lamp, positioned himself against the headboard and wiped the sweat off his face with the palm of his hand. "Yeah, come on in."

  The door opened slowly, Addy peering in before she stepped inside and took several steps toward Nick. Seeing him lying in bed, wearing nothing but a pair of nylon shorts, she halted, staring at him with questioning eyes. "I—I want to know what's wrong."

  "Why do you think something's wrong?" Damn, did she have any idea how she looked, standing there in the dim light, her titian hair tumbling down her back and onto her shoulders? She was wearing gold satin pajamas that hung loosely on her slender frame, but they didn't disguise the elegant line of her body or the pouting tips of her nipples. Just the sight of her aroused him.

  "You haven't spoken two words to me since before lunch today." With slow, deliberate steps she made her way to the side of the bed.

  Nick didn't move a muscle. At least not intentionally. One part of his body had a mind of its own. "I thought it best if I kept my mouth shut. Once something is said, you can't take it back."

  "You're angry with me, aren't you?" She held her hands, twined together, in front of her. She didn't look directly at Nick, but down at the chenille spread folded back at the foot of the bed.

  "You're too smart to try to use Windsor to make me jealous, so why did you?" He reached out, grabbing her wrist, tugging her down onto the bed beside him.

  She gasped, but didn't struggle. "What makes you think that's what I was doing?"

  He released her, then waited to see if she'd get up. She didn't. She sat, ramrod straight on the edge of the bed, close to but not touching him. "You don't care anything about Windsor, and you know he's only interested in Rusty's money, so what other reason could there be?"

  "I am not going to become just one more of your women." Her voice trembled with emotion.

  Nick ran his hand up her back, savoring the feel of her rich satin pajama top beneath his fingertips. He knew Addy's flesh would be twice as soft and smooth. She jerked, but didn't pull away. "What did Dina say to you?"

  "What makes you think Dina—"

  Wrapping his arm around her waist, he jerked her up the bed and to his side. She faced him then, glaring at him with both expectation and challenge in her glittering green eyes. "Let's stop playing twenty questions, Red. What did Dina say that made you so upset with me that you used Brett Windsor to hurt me?"

  "My kissing Brett hurt you?" There was genuine awe in her voice, as if she were dumbfounded that she held that much power over Nick's feelings.

  He grabbed her chin in his big hand, squeezing tightly but not painfully. "You know damned well that it ate me alive seeing you kiss him that way."

  "Dina told me that—that you and she had been lovers."

  Nick didn't respond. His hand on Addy's back stilled. He took a deep breath. "Yeah. A long time ago, when I was just a green kid whose raging hormones ruled his body." He felt her quiver.

  "You—you slept with your brother's wife?"

  "I slept with my brother's widow. Once."

  Addy released the breath she'd been holding, then reached out to cover Nick's hand that held her chin so firmly. "Did you love her?"

  "Look, Addy, what happened between Dina and me was so long ago that it has no bearing on the here and now. On the two of us." He didn't think Addy would understand if he admitted the truth. How could he explain to her that there was more than one kind of love, and that what he'd felt for Dina had been the absolutely worst kind—the most destructive kind?

  "She thinks you compare every woman to her, that she's still the woman you want."

  Nick flung off Addy's hand and released her chin. He jumped up off the bed, knocking Addy over in the process. She gazed up at him. "If I wanted Dina, I could have had her a thousand times over." The truth of his words rang in his ears like a dozen clanking bells. There hadn't been a time in the past twenty-odd years that he couldn't have bedded Dina. Between husbands or even during her marriages. She had no conception of the word "fidelity," and in other women, it didn't matter. But in the woman he loved, it was of paramount importance. He'd spent his entire life seeking a replacement for Dina, when in his heart he'd known she was his for the taking. He didn't want her. And he sure as hell didn't love her.

  Pushing herself up with her elbows, Addy sat in the middle of Nick's bed. "I want to trust you completely … in every way, but—but I'm not prepared to take that kind of risk unless I can be sure of you."

  "Sure of me how?" He glared at her, his big bronze body towering over her.

  Addy had never wanted to touch a man the way she wanted to touch Nick. He was so utterly masculine that the very sight of him took her breath away. "If you want me, you're going to have to earn the right to make love to me."

  "I'm going to what?"

  "I want to be sure that I'm important to you, that you really care about me, that your desire for me is real."

  Nick grabbed her hand, shoved it against his arousal and held it there. "That's real, Addy, as real as it gets."

  She felt the throbbing evidence of his desire, and the shocking realization that she had evoked such a strong response in him tempted her almost beyond reason. Almost, but not quite. "Gerald could get hard, and he could ram himself into me, but he didn't care anything about me. I didn't mean anything to him but a way to get Daddy's money. When I give myself to a man again I don't want to have any doubts that I'm all he wants, all he cares about, above and beyond anyone or anything else."

  Nick dropped his hand. Addy's hand slid down the front of Nick's shorts, her fingers caressing him. He groaned. "How the hell do I prove something like that to you?"

  Addy walked toward the open door. "I don't know, but I'm sure you'll find a way."

  With that said, she left. Nick stood, watching her as she disappeared into the hallway. Damned stubborn woman. She was asking too much of him. There was no way he could prove himself to her, was there? She was asking for the kind of love that didn't exist—not in his world.

  Hell, he'd never had to prove himself to a woman. If she thought that he'd ever come to her begging, then she'd better think again.

  Nick fell into the bed, his hot, aroused body pulsating painfully with a need that he knew only one woman on earth could appease. And that woman had just told him that if he ever wanted to find release between her long silky legs, he'd have to earn the right to make love to her.

  * * *

  Chapter 7

  « ^ »

  Hot June sunshine played hide-and-seek with gray, midmorning rain clouds, creating a hazy, overcast daylight. Standing at her kitchen window, Addy watched the warm breeze floating through the trees and shrubs in her backyard, swaying the tops of the red azaleas and teasing the clematis vine clinging to the wooden fence. Everything looked the same as it had for the past few years since she'd purchased the house in Twickenham, since she had begun a new life, totally on her own. She had grown to love the sameness, the routine pattern of peacefulness, and, above all else, she had learned to appreciate her independence.

  But things were not the same. An unknown person's threats had changed her life, throwing her cherished order into chaos, reverting her father back into the overprotective parent he'd once been, and utterly destroying her hard-won privacy and independence.

  Ad
dy placed the last lunch plate into the dishwasher, then wiped her hands and laid the towel on the counter. Glancing out onto the rock patio behind her house, Addy saw Nick Romero, his broad back facing her, as he sat drinking a tall glass of iced tea. As much as the menacing kidnapper, Nick had altered the course of Addy's life, his very presence a disturbing force she found difficult to handle. More than anything she wanted to believe that his interest in her was genuine, that he truly desired her as a woman and not as the heir to a fortune. If she allowed her romantic nature to override her common sense, she would give herself to Nick, heart and soul. Already, she fantasized about him, seeing him as her knight in shining armor, the man who would cherish her and protect her … forever. But Addy had learned to control the romantic girl within, giving her realistic self the upper hand. Trusting her life to Nick was easier than trusting her own heart.

  The portable phone sitting outside on the patio table rang, jarring Addy out of her thoughts. Opening the door, she stepped outside just as Nick answered.

  "Hold a minute, I'll get her," he said, then shoved the chair back and stood.

  Before he could turn around, Addy walked over to him. "Is that for me?"

  Nick gave her a long, hard look, then handed her the telephone. "It's Jim Hester."

  Addy returned Nick's scrutiny as she accepted the phone. "Hello, Jim." Addy walked around the patio, savoring the feel of the warm sun and the pleasant breeze.

  "I just wanted to check on you before I leave for Washington," Jim said. "I need to know that you're all right."

  "I'm fine. Honestly."

  "Addy?"

  She could tell by the unusual edge to his voice that something was bothering him. "What is it, Jim? What's wrong?"

  "Well, I—I thought you should hear it from me."

  "What?" She had never known Jim Hester to be so mysterious.

  "I'm taking Tiffany with me on this trip, and … I'm taking Carol Stilwell with me."