He looked surprised at her question. For a second, she panicked. Damn, it had been so long since she had a conversation like this. She’d forgotten the rules. Then again, there were no rules on the streets.
He shrugged. “Sometimes at the shelter. Sometimes they’re full, so I go elsewhere. Where do you go? You said you didn’t stay at the shelter.”
“Here and there,” she said quickly. Too quickly, but she didn’t add anything else.
“Tell me about your photography. How long have you been doing it?”
It seemed so strange to be asked about herself, her hobby. With Maudine, she shared tidbits of her days. With Ulyssis, she was vague so he didn’t worry too much about her.
“Since I was a teenager.” Like Adrian, she had used it as an escape.
The woman brought plates of meat patties and red beans and rice to the table. The fried pastry and spicy beans smelled delicious, and she dug in. Aside from her occasional meals at the diner, the rest of her food she cooked on her portable burner.
“Did you grow up around here?” Adrian asked her.
“Yes.” She didn’t want to give him too much information
“You don’t talk much,” he said, diffusing the words with a smile.
“No.”
That only made him smile more. He picked at his food while she ate, more out of nervousness than hunger. She wondered if he had a gun hidden beneath his sweatshirt. Like the little Davis thirty-two caliber hidden in the pocket of her coat, the one Ulyssis insisted she take after she’d been robbed early on.
“Nikki, what’s wrong?”
She blinked, wondering what expression had been on her face. “Nothing.” Are you here to kill me? Did Devlin send you here? She wanted to occupy her attention with food, but it was all gone.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“Yes,” she answered honestly.
He leaned forward, only a foot away from her face. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” It was too complicated to explain, even to herself. She leaned back, uneasy with his closeness. You’re too close, too handsome, too dangerous. It scares me to feel this way.
He leaned back again, but his voice retained that intimate softness. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. Tell me what I’m doing, and I’ll stop.”
“I think I should go.” She stood, gathering her coat and slipping it over her arms. “Thank you for lunch.”
She walked out of the restaurant, hoping to gain time while he paid the bill. Unfortunately, the clever knot Adrian had tied to secure Crackers kept her standing there long enough for him to walk over.
“Wait a minute.” Instead of demanding to know why she’d walked out so suddenly, he knelt down and opened a package of crinkly white paper. “I promised the pup lunch, remember?”
She looked down at him, holding the meat patty for Crackers to take, which he did in two bites. How could a man who remembered promises to dogs be a hired killer? She felt a tug at her heart, watching him. He stood, wiping his hands on his pants. In half a second, he freed the belt and handed it to her. She felt warmth creeping up her cheeks at her rudeness. How long had it been since she’d had to apologize to someone? Probably two years. She smiled, as close as she could come to an apology, and turned away. Crackers still gave resistance, tugging back toward Adrian.
Exasperated, she said, “I’m going to leave you here if you don’t behave.” She yanked on the leash, and the belts came apart again.
Adrian put them together, then nodded toward the small general store one block up. “Why don’t we get him a real leash?”
“No, I can’t afford it. That’s why I’m using this…thing.”
“I’ll buy one. They can’t be that much.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You spend a lot of money for someone down here.”
That smile of his was disarming, and he knew it. “I’m not a drug runner, if that’s what you’re thinking. Actually, I had a bartending job last night. Made a few extra bucks because their regular guy was sick.”
Nikki wasn’t sure whether to buy that or not, but decided it didn’t matter. He probably wasn’t a hired killer, but it was silly to pursue a relationship with a stranger. Still, she found herself walking with him to the general store to buy a leash for a dog she wouldn’t have around much longer. How could two different creatures ingrain themselves in her very private life like this? Adrian with his smiles, and Crackers with his puppyish self. Except for Maudine and Ulyssis, Nikki had let no one near her.
“Be right back.” Adrian walked into the store.
She pretended not to watch him through the dusty panes of glass fitted with metal bars. He studied the different leashes on a far aisle, then walked to the register. He emerged with a purple leash and collar to match. She held tight to the belts, even as he knelt down and freed Crackers from the makeshift leash. When he stood, she was staring right at his chest. Despite her wish not to, she met those brown eyes of his. Her heart tightened, aching from some need she refused to acknowledge. A cool breeze ruffled his dark waves and caused a strand of her own hair to tickle her cheek.
He reached slowly out and brushed it away, his fingers lingering against her skin, then moving to beneath her chin. She knew she must move, turn away, and leave. If she could breathe or swallow. If her heart hadn’t stopped beating altogether.
“You are beautiful,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. “Too beautiful to be down here.”
The warmth from his fingers spread to her entire body, and his words caressed her soul. To be touched, to be beautiful again…to be held in those strong arms, against that strong chest, and be held, just held. She shivered, and his hands moved away. She wrapped her coat around her, looking everywhere but him.
“I must go.” Before I cry. Why do I want to cry? And if I did, would he hold me? “Goodbye.” Her voice trembled, and she cursed it. Crackers seemed to sense her distress, for he followed with only the slightest tug, as if he were only looking back.
“Goodbye, Nikki,” he said from a short distance.
So, he wasn’t following her. Thank God. She wanted to run, to get as far away from Adrian as she could. Crackers wouldn’t cooperate, and it wasn’t until she was several minutes away that she allowed herself to look back—only at the dog. The pup was hobbling more, favoring his broken leg. From her peripheral vision, she saw Adrian still standing outside the store, watching her.
“Crackers, just one more minute.”
Eyeing the end of the strip of stores, she sped up and took the corner with a sigh of relief. Leaning against the cracking paint, she caught her breath, wrapping her arms around herself. Not because she was cold; warmth surged through her. She took a deep breath, then knelt down and scooped Crackers up into her arms. After scanning the back of the building for lurkers, she circled around to the alley where her van was parked. Even struggling with the dog’s unwieldy weight in her arms, she felt a profound loneliness descend upon her.
Adrian watched Nikki walk away, Crackers glancing back every two seconds. He shrugged, as if to let the dog know he was as confused as Crackers was. Confused at his own action more than hers. His fingers still tingled where they’d touched her cheek. He was doing this all wrong. He didn’t want to scare her away; he only wanted to help her. When she looked up at him, the moment before he touched her cheek, all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and hold her, protect her from whatever she was hiding from.
He lit a cigarette with his red plastic lighter, took two deep drags and stomped it out. The light fragrance of her perfume still lingered in the air. He noticed it right away, that musky warm scent of Opium. As beautiful as she was, it seemed strangely out of place here. She was beautiful, though nothing like the woman he’d seen driving the Mercedes. Without any makeup, with her long hair hidden beneath her shawl and hood, her eyes still rivaled any model’s.
The camera reinforced the fact that Nikki definitely came from a lot of money. Hasse’s were the Rolls-Royce of camera
s, even for the pros. For an amateur to have the one she owned was almost unthinkable.
He went over what he told her about his own photography. She seemed overly interested, as if weighing every word. He was pretty sure he hadn’t given anything away. He couldn’t tell her the part about Uncle Carlo being so impressed with his work that he’d shooed him out of the door with an invitation to meet a photographer’s agent with whom he played poker. Stan had snapped him up instantly.
As Nikki disappeared from sight, he felt a deep urge to follow her, to do what he wanted to do—hold her and take her away from all this. Her green eyes said so much, and through the jumble of emotions he could read only one clearly: fear. Not fear of him, but fear of trusting him. He only hoped his impatience wouldn’t blow his cover.
Nikki was nearly out of breath when she approached her van. Crackers was struggling too, feeling her grip slipping beneath him. She finally set him down and let him hobble toward his temporary home.
She lifted him into the van and closed the door behind her. This was only a vehicle, a shell with those few personal items and luxuries from that other life, but it was her home. She dropped down on her tiny bed. The only sound she heard was Crackers lapping his water. She had never had pets; her mother despised animal hair in the house. Her father let her have a hamster once, but Sunny died four months later, and her mother said no more pets, claiming to have smelled the soiled cedar chips from the hallway.
A sharp pounding jerked her from her reverie. Nikki jumped up and peered out the window. Could Adrian have found her safe harbor? The sight of Maudine, her red hair gleaming in the sun, eased her heart from where it had lodged in her throat.
She slid the door open. “Are the police hassling you again?” Nikki asked.
Maudine looked sheepish. She reached out and touched Nikki’s cheek. “I saw him touch you. You like him. That’s the man you told me about, isn’t it? He’s beautiful. And so big. You do like him, don’t you? He won’t take you away from me, will he? Will he make you go with him?”
Her face had undergone several amazing transformations during her speech, ending with a pout. Nikki didn’t much care that Maudine had seen Adrian touch her cheek, but she did mind the blush that stole across her skin. She gestured for the redhead to come in.
Maudine touched the silk nightgown hanging on a hook by the makeshift bathroom. “Ooh, so soft. He doesn’t know where you live, does he?”
“Who, Adrian?”
Maudine smiled dreamily. “Yes, Adrian. He’s so beautiful.”
Nikki grinned at Maudine’s choice of words, the same words he’d just used for her. “Yes, he is beautiful. And big. No, he doesn’t know where I live, and no, he won’t take me away from here or you.”
Maudine settled on the floor with her arms wrapped around her bent knees. “Good. I’d miss you. But you like him, don’t you?”
Nikki shook her head. “I can’t like him. I can’t like anybody, except for you.”
“He likes you.” Maudine nodded with certainty. “I saw him watching you when you walked away. He just kept watching you.”
“Did he follow me?”
“No, he just kept watching. And he lit up a cigarette. Then you know what he did? You’ll never guess.” Her enthusiasm was like a child.
“What?”
“He took two drags and put it out. Dropped it and stepped on it. It was flatter than a squashed bottle cap. Couldn’t even light it.”
“You don’t smoke, Maudine.”
“I know, but I wanted to see if I could light it. Almost the whole cigarette, Nikki.” Her expression became serious, with her lower lip pouting out. “Be careful of him. You should follow him, to see where he goes. Want me to follow him? I will. I’m good at it.”
“I know you are.” One of Maudine’s three children lived in a nearby neighborhood, and she often spied on the girl. Luckily, the child looked happy and well taken care of. One of Nikki’s most poignant pictures was taken the time Maudine had asked her to go along. The raw emotion on her face as she spied on her daughter was heartrending. Nikki would never sell that picture; it was too personal. “No, you don’t need to watch Adrian. I’ll do it.” She nodded, knowing it was the answer to finding out who he was. “I’ll do it.”
The sun was beginning to set in the western sky. Without a cloud in sight, the horizon was the color of orange juice, fading to blue at the edges. The air was cooling fast, sneaking through the fibers of Adrian’s sweatshirt. After Nikki had walked away from him, he’d spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out where she spent her nights. Now he walked around the old Riviera building, which had been a theater a long time ago.
The deep alcove was littered with trash and newspapers, evidence of those who sought shelter there at night. The ticket windows were boarded up, the billboard frames empty. What about the inside? Was it empty as well, or did Nikki find solace behind the old theater curtains? He cased the building, testing the boards all around that covered up who knew what. All the doors were secured, and not even butting his shoulders against the boards would budge them. He stepped over an old, stained mattress lying out back, knowing somehow that Nikki would never sleep on something like that. Wherever she slept, and lived, she was safe and protected. She kept herself clean, and smelled nice.
It was when he walked around to the front that he felt as though he were being watched. Wearing his sunglasses, he could appear to be looking in one direction and study another. A cloaked figure peered around the side of a building across the street. He knew—could feel—it was Nikki. She ducked around the corner as he slowly moved his head in her direction. So, she didn’t want him to see her. He resisted the urge to confront her. Instead, he walked along the sidewalk in the direction of the parking lot where he kept this car.
Maybe she didn’t want him to see where she slept at night. He would keep going, she could go to the place she slept, and he would be able to pinpoint closer where that was. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he braced against the wind that had kicked up since the sunset and headed on. Every few minutes, he paused in front of a store window. In the reflection he could see her lurking in the background. He took off his sunglasses and tucked them in his pocket, realizing he’d look sinister if he kept them on any longer.
Three blocks later, and she still tailed him. The reason behind it perplexed him, but he didn’t give away the fact that he knew she was there. He stared into an empty store, as if wondering how to get inside where it was warm. The street lights kicked on, those that worked, and gave the dreary city a foreboding look.
A couple of young men stood on a street corner, probably looking for trouble. Adrian was more worried about Nikki’s safety than his own. He could take care of himself. When he thought of the way she looked earlier that day, he felt a surge of protectiveness. He had to remember that she’d been here for a while and had survived so far.
The light of day was long gone. He had two choices. One was to lose Nikki and get back to his car, but she might think he was doing just that. She’d distrust him even more than she already did.
The other choice was to prove to her that he was what he said he was. If he were really homeless, where would he sleep? A spotlight lit up the Lord’s Shelter sign one block ahead. He remembered Dave’s invitation, if there were enough beds. If he went there, Nikki would go home, wherever that was. At least she’d be off the streets.
Despite his determination, Adrian paused on the sidewalk in front of the shelter. No wine or steak or hot shower. He’d be taking a bed from someone else, while his large bed remained empty. He ran his fingers through his hair, hating the deception and what it was making him do.
CHAPTER 6
When Adrian woke, it was still dark. The only noise he heard was the cacophony of snoring around him. He sat up, rubbing his face, then walked over to the window and peered out. The street lights lit up the front of the shelter, but beyond that darkness lay in wait. He held his watch up to the light: five o’clock.
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It had been a long, uneasy night as he’d remained aware of the slightest sounds, especially any that might indicate someone was approaching him. Springs creaked as people shifted in their bed. He heard someone crying softly, muffled as the man gasped into his pillow. What made a man cry? Losing his job? His family? Everything?
He slipped out to the hallway, past the large room where he’d first found Nikki, and headed out into the crisp, clean air. He headed toward his car, grateful to have someplace to go at night besides a shelter. It wasn’t disgust that he felt for those men back there—it was pity. Their plight didn’t always come because of lack of ambition. Some of the men in the shelter had spoken about their jobs, but it wasn’t enough. Some had mental problems like Seamus. Some, like Charlie, had fallen on bad luck and never recovered.
Adrian touched the gold cross that lay against his chest, thanking God for his good fortune, praying it would never run out. He got into his rental car and headed for his cozy house near the beach.
Nikki was a different story than the rest of those poor souls. She didn’t belong down there any more than he did. Something had driven her there, and he had to find out what it was. If he could set things right, he could leave knowing she was safe and back in society. That’s all he wanted to do, make sure she was safe. He ignored Stella’s prediction that he could bring her risk. Nikki was already in danger.
Nikki smiled as the shots on the contact sheets came to life beneath a solution. Magic, that’s what it was. Even though Crackers in the baby stroller was blurred, she thought of Adrian standing behind her, speaking in that soft voice of his. She finished developing the rest and hung them up to dry. The ones of Crackers and Maudine came out great: a homeless woman sharing an ice cream cone with a puppy. She’d call it Simple pleasures.
Ulyssis was finishing up with a client when she emerged from the back room. She waited until the well-dressed woman left. Nikki noticed that one of her pictures was missing. Talk about simple pleasures. Because she still had money left from the last huge sale, she allowed herself to think of her photography as joyful and not only a necessity.
Touched by Lightning [Dreams of You] (Romantic Suspense) Page 7
