Mystery Lover

by Annette Broadrick

  The next thing she knew was that she was lying in bed, the covers tucked cozily around her.

  “Sunshine? Are you awake yet?”

  Drowsily her eyes opened. She was in a strange room. Rolling onto her back she saw that she was in a hotel room. The drapes were closed and there was very little light in the room. Bewildered, she sat up and the covers slipped to her waist. Only her scraps of underwear kept her from being totally unclothed.

  “Chad!”

  “Ah, so you are awake. Good, I—”

  “What did you do with my clothes!”

  “?”

  “And don’t play the innocent with me.”

  “If you will look on the chair in front of the window, you will find them neatly folded and waiting for you to put on.”

  She saw them just where he described.

  “Oh.”

  “Didyou bring any others with you?”

  “Yes, but they’re in the car.”

  “And the car is— ?”

  “Parked in the Lucky Lady’s parking lot. You had no right to take off my clothes, Chad.”

  “No right? Come on, Sunshine. You sound like some Victorian lady. You wouldn’t have rested in those jeans and you know it. Are you afraid I took advantage of you while you slept?”

  “Fat chance.”

  She could feel his amusement. “Would you like to meet me for brunch? Several of the casinos around town put on an excellent spread. ”

  Jennifer tried to see what time it was, but it was too dark.

  “Almost ten.”

  That late! And she had to get back to Los Angeles. After all, she had a job to do and—Her job! Suddenly she remembered all that she had learned the previous day.

  “Are you afraid I’ll fire you if you don’t get back to work in time?”

  She didn’t know what to think. Never had she been so confused. “I’m going to take a shower. I should be ready in about half an hour.”

  “Fine.”

  She hopped out of bed and went into the bathroom. Everything in the two rooms was clean and of the highest quality. The hotel had thoughtfully provided shampoo and deodorant as well as a shower cap if she didn’t want to take time to wash her hair.

  Jennifer had no choice. She felt grimy after the dusty ride on the back roads yesterday. The hot water felt wonderful beating down on her and she forced her mind to relax and enjoy it. She had time enough later to try to figure out what to do with all the new information she’d just received.

  Eventually she faced that she would have to leave the security of the shower. Wrapping her dripping hair in a towel she stepped out of the tub and started drying off.

  “Sunshine?”

  She kept drying. “Are my thirty minutes up?”

  “No, but I brought your suitcase in for you. Doyou need anything out of it?”

  Her suitcase—with her toothbrush, her hair dryer, her—“Where are you?”

  “In your room. Where else would I be?”

  Hastily she draped the large towel around her and jerked open the bathroom door. Peering around the corner she saw her suitcase on her rumpled bed and Chad sitting on the chair by the window.

  He had obviously spent a restful night. His hair appeared slightly damp from the shower, and his clothes looked fresh. Today he wore a pair of Levi’s that fit him embarrassingly well, and a white, long-sleeved shirt that once again had the sleeves turned up above the elbows. He was sitting stretched out in the chair, his legs extended and crossed at the ankle. Today he wore moccasins. His elbows rested on the high arms of the chair and his hands made a steeple under his chin.

  She had never seen C. W. Cameron dressed in anything but three-piece business suits that effectively concealed his well-developed body. Nothing Chad had on today hid much of anything. The top three buttons of his shirt were open and she could see the soft golden hair revealed there.

  When her gaze met his eyes she saw that he was amused at the long study she was giving him. He hadn’t been wasting his time, either, obviously enjoying the view as she stood there with a towel wrapped under her arms and hanging to mid-thigh.

  “How did you get in?”

  “I have a key, why?”

  “No reason, I guess. Thank you for getting my clothes for me.”

  “My pleasure.” The way he drawled the words and the look he had on his face as his eyes continued to wander from her towel-draped head to her bare toes made her grab her suitcase and hurry back to the bathroom.

  She could hear his laughter through the closed door.

  Jennifer did not find the present situation particularly amusing. To think that all this time she had been working for Chad and he had known.. .

  She saw her wide-eyed expression in the mirror and almost groaned out loud. How could he?

  That time two years ago when she had gotten so angry at Mr. Cameron, she had almost quit. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Chad insisting she simmer down before making any decisions.. .

  Of course he’d been right. No one should make decisions when they were angry. A person wasn’t really thinking when angry. But oh! How she had wanted to quit. He had been so arrogant, so rude.

  He’d also been putting in long, grueling hours, and he’d had several clients come in demanding immediate help. At the time she had not seen the situation from his side. All she knew was that he was demanding impossibly long hours from her. Yet he’d been there working right alongside her.

  What would have happened if Chad hadn’t calmed her down and she’d given notice? Would she have been any happier anywhere else?

  The answer was no, of course. She enjoyed her work. She found it challenging. Now that she recalled that particular incident, she remembered that she was surprised the next day when Mr. Cameron had asked her to go to lunch with him to discuss some business matters that he preferred not to have interrupted by the constant ringing of the phone.

  They had sat for two hours while he discussed the present crisis in the office. He had asked her advice on how to handle the sudden influx of business, and he had listened when she made a few suggestions. Before long, each of them was coming up with ideas built on the other’s suggestions. By the time they returned to the office Jennifer had totally forgotten that she had seriously considered resigning. He had stopped in front of her desk while she put her purse away. When she sat down he was still standing there.

  “Thank you for a very valuable lunch, Ms. Chisholm. I hope we can get some of these ideas working for us immediately. They should help the wear and tear on our nerves.”

  She smiled at him, aware of the strain in his face. “I hope so, too, Mr. Cameron.”

  No sooner had she gotten home that night and been greeted by Sam when Chad had gotten in touch with her.

  “Well, Sunshine? Did you resign today?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Why do you say, ‘of course not’? Didn’t you tell me last night that you no longer wanted to work for an arrogant, rude, bullying slave driver of a boss and that you weren ‘t sure you ’d even be able to stay for the two weeks necessary to work out your notice?”

  “I overreacted.”

  “You mean he isn’t any of those things?”

  “He’s tired, Chad. Really worn out. The poor man has been trying to do the work of three people. I think I convinced him today to hire at least one more investigator, possibly two, to help with the work load. He’s seriously considering it.”

  “What a difference a day makes. Yesterday he was arrogant and rude. Today he’s a poor man.”

  “You can make fun of me all you want. Once I calmed down, I realized that I only saw what was happening to me, what I was going through, how mistreated I was. Today, he gave me an opportunity to look at it from his point of view. He’s never asked more of me than he’s asked of himself. In fact, he generally puts in longer hours than I do, since he’s out in the field so much as well as in the office digging through the piles of paper alongside of me.”

  Now as
Jennifer put on the finishing touches of her makeup and made sure her slip didn’t show under the dress she had hastily packed, she realized how many times she and Chad had discussed her relationship with her boss.

  How embarrassing. No wonder he as her boss had no trouble understanding her. If only she’d been given the same opportunity. But she had, actually. As Chad he had explained his position as much as he could without revealing his identity. He had given her an opportunity to see inside of him, to share his thoughts and feelings.

  Jennifer placed her hand lightly on her breasts, where the tiny butterfly fluttering seemed to have started. She and Chad had been much more intimate over the years than other people. They had never shared a physical intimacy, but that seemed almost superfluous to what they already had.

  She knew he loved her and was there for her, just as he had known when he had contacted her that she would do anything to help him, no matter what it was. They had experienced a true union of their innermost spirits by the long familiar exchange of their thoughts and feelings.

  How could she say she didn’t know the man sitting out there waiting so patiently for her? She knew him as well as she knew herself.

  And she loved him with a depth of feeling that almost shook her with its intensity.

  Jennifer opened the door and stepped out into the room. Chad had his eyes closed and he opened them when he heard the door. She knew that the dress she wore was the same color as her eyes. It was a simple cotton sundress that she generally wore to the beach or to go shopping. Not wanting to take much time with her hair, she had combed it back from her face and let it wave to her shoulders.

  Chad never took his eyes off her as he slowly came to his feet and walked over to her. She could smell the light scent of his after shave, and she realized how familiar the smell had become to her over the years. Many times, before she looked up, she had known when he’d returned to the office by that special scent.

  Now she carefully explored his face with her intent gaze—his thick brows that almost met across his nose; his deep-set, hooded eyes, that seemed to glow with a secret fire of their own; his nose, that looked as though it had been broken more than once; his high cheekbones and square jaw. She saw the honesty and integrity stamped on his face, the experiences life had tossed his way, how little joy he had found so far, and how little he really expected to find.

  Jennifer went up on tiptoe and slid her arms around his neck. “Oh, Chad, I love you so much,” she whispered with trembling lips as she placed them on his firm, well-shaped mouth.*

  Chapter Six

  Contents - Prev / Next Chad put his arms around her as a drowning man would grab a life preserver. They clung to each other, his mouth parting hers and taking possession as though he had spent years of dreaming about the opportunity. No one had ever kissed Jennifer that way before. She had been used to gentle, friendly kisses.

  There was nothing gentle nor particularly friendly about what he was doing at the moment. Chad was making his claim to her clear. He lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the large stuffed chair he had recently vacated and sank down without ever losing contact with her mouth. His tongue searched and explored her mouth—lightly tracing the slightly uneven line of her teeth, coaxing her tongue to meet his in a playful duel. It was as though he had waited forever for the opportunity to get to know her as well physically as he knew her mentally and emotionally.

  His hand rested at her throat. When he began to explore the contour of her face with his lips, placing tiny kisses in a careful row, his hand slowly inched downward until it rested on her breast.

  Jennifer had never experienced so many intense emotions at once. She was shaking with reaction. Never in her wildest imaginings did she expect to feel so on fire. Everywhere he touched a combustive flame seemed to flare up between them. She shifted restlessly in his arms.

  He clamped his arm around her waist. “Be still,” he said sharply.

  Her eyes snapped open. That was the least loverlike command she’d ever heard.

  “I’m having all 1 can do to hang on to my self-control as it is, Sunshine,” he advised her with a rueful grin.

  Jennifer wanted to disappear in a puddle of embarrassment. Of course she knew all the clinical details regarding sex, but at the moment she hadn’t been thinking about those facts.

  Hastily getting to her feet, she straightened her dress and attempted to smooth her hair where his hand had ruffled it only a few moments before.

  “I suppose we should go get something to eat,” she managed to say while trying to steady her breathing.

  He grinned. “I suppose we should,” he mimicked softly. “Otherwise, we might not leave this room for the rest of the day.”

  She whirled away from him in an attempt to hide the expression on her face. How could she tell him that she wouldn’t mind at all spending the rest of the day in bed with him?

  “Why, Sunshine, I’m shocked to hear such lascivious thoughts coming from your pure and chaste mind.”

  Oh, no! She had forgotten how clearly he could read her mind. Turning to face him, knowing that her face must be a lovely shade of fiery red, she said, “Stop it, Chad. I can’t seem to block you out of my mind the way you do me. But don’t you dare tease me about my thoughts, do you understand?”

  He stood up and faced her .from across the room, his smile gone, his expression serious. “I’m sorry, Jennifer. I wasn’t making fun of you, please believe me. I was trying to lighten the volatile atmosphere, if possible. You see, this is why I knew a relationship between us would never work. Everyone needs their privacy, even from their closest loved one. I don’t want to destroy what we have in the hopes of having more.”

  Picking up her purse and pocketing the room key, Chad handed her the purse and opened the door. “I want to make love to you very much, but not at the expense of everything else we’ve always shared. I won’t ever sacrifice that, do you understand me?”

  He closed the door and politely guided her down the hall, his hand resting lightly at her waist.

  ‘ Jennifer realized that she seldom heard him call her Jennifer. She had always been Sunshine to him—or Ms. Chisholm. For a shocked moment she felt a loss so intense she could scarcely comprehend it. What would it be like never to be called Sunshine again? That had been a very special name between them that no one else had ever known.

  She understood what he was saying to her. Their physical response to each other was astonishing, like wildfire racing before the wind. But she wasn’t willing to give up their unique relationship in order to experience the full expression of their physical love for each other.

  When they reached the lobby of the hotel, Jennifer recognized that they were next door to Tony’s casino. A blast of hot air hit them when they stepped outside.

  “Do you mind if we take your car? Mine hasn’t been found yet,” Chad said, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them.

  Jennifer nodded, her thoughts still engrossed in all the discoveries she’d been making—about herself, her beliefs, and about Chad.

  They made idle conversation over brunch. Jennifer had never seen so much food at one time before.

  “Haven’t you ever been to Las Vegas before?” Chad asked later, sipping his coffee.

  “No. It isn’t the sort of place you’d visit alone.”

  “True. Maybe we should plan to stay another night and I’ll show you around.”

  She glanced down at her dress. “I’m afraid I didn’t bring anything dressy to wear.”

  “That’s no problem. We can always find something here, if you’d like.”

  Jennifer grinned. What better way to see Las Vegas than with your best friend? Add to that the fact that he was also your boss and was giving you permission not to be at work the next day and she could find nothing in his suggestion to complain about.

  “I would love it.” She stood up and held out her hand. “I can hardly wait to get started. Let’s go.”

  He laughed
at her enthusiasm, and for a moment Jennifer stared at him in astonishment. She had never seen C. W. Cameron laugh. Never. She had seen an occasional smile, but that was all. Now he looked happy and relaxed. She was amazed at the transformation.

  Hugging his arm as they went out the door, Jennifer decided to make that day the most special day of her life. She knew without consciously acknowledging it that they might not have many of them together.

  Chad must have made a similar resolution. Never had Jennifer seen C. W. Cameron so relaxed before. His smile came easily as she took him on a tour of the stores, modeling the most outrageous and the most demure outfits for him. She found that she enjoyed making him laugh or catching him by surprise.

  As a joke she tried on a flame-red dress that molded her curves, leaving a long length of leg showing. Hastily digging in her purse she found some hairpins and gathered her hair into a rather precarious topknot on top of her head. Casual curls fell in front of her ears and along the nape of her neck. Thankful that her heels were high enough to effectively show off the dress, Jennifer sauntered out of the dressing room to where Chad waited.

  Later she wished she’d had a camera trained on his face when he saw her. He did a perfect example of a double take. He was sitting in a chair and she ambled over to him and leaned down, knowing the top of her dress would fall open.

  “You look a trifle bored, cowboy. Care for a little action?” she said in a low voice.

  His gaze zeroed in on the front of her dress, then bounced up to meet hers. Jennifer thoroughly enjoyed watching the color wash over his cheeks, then recede.

  “I don’t think that’s quite, uh, you, Sunshine,” he said in a strangled voice.

  She straightened, running her hand from her waist down to her thigh. “Oh, I don’t know. Just feel this material. Isn’t it something?” Gently picking up his hand where it was clenched on the arm of the chair, she placed his hand on her thigh.

  Chad jerked his hand back as though the dress had been as hot as its color indicated.