Dangerous Kisses

by Trish Milburn

  Something touched his hand, startling him out of the past. He looked down to see Sydney’s hand squeezing his. Against his better judgement, he met her eyes and saw concern there. He almost accepted it, but he refused to let her know how much she tempted him — not only her body but also the possibility that she might care, just a little.

  He stood so quickly, his chair almost toppled backward. Without a word, he fled the room and marched straight toward the men’s room. There he’d be safe from his mother’s sorrow and Sydney’s wide green eyes. Safe from his need to squeeze her hand in return and pull her more fully into his life.

  ****

  Her very soul told Sydney to follow Jake, but she remained in her chair. He’d made his disdain of her clear when he’d tossed off her hand like a pesky fly. She watched him as he disappeared from the ballroom, her heart aching for something she’d never had and never would. Something she’d never dared to want.

  "He’ll be back in a few minutes, dear," Lou Anne said.

  Sydney forced her face into a smile, though she’d rarely felt less like smiling, before turning back toward Jake’s mother. Lou Anne’s eyes still shone brightly with unshed tears. Sydney refocused her concern on the older woman, hoping she’d be willing to accept it.

  "I’m so sorry. I had no idea."

  "I’m not surprised. Jake never talks about his father."

  Though part of her whispered she shouldn’t wade into Jake’s life any farther, she asked, "Why not?"

  "He was extremely close to his father, being an only child and all. He took his death really hard, and he’s been trying to live up to his father’s reputation ever since."

  "I take it your husband was a decorated officer."

  "Oh, yes, Hank lived and breathed police work. To a boy, it was all so exciting. You should have seen the light in Jake’s eyes when he was little. He couldn’t wait for his father to get home so he could hear all about his day." Lou Anne paused and sighed. "I haven’t seen that light in his eyes in twenty-two years." Lou Anne looked up at Sydney and smiled. "Although I think I saw it earlier today when he looked at you."

  Sydney almost objected, nearly told Lou Anne that she’d been mistaken. But she didn’t have the heart to crush the older woman’s vain hope that something had rekindled her son’s spirit. Sydney glanced back toward the doorway through which Jake had retreated and tried not to wish Lou Anne’s words held a grain of truth.

  It was all for the best anyway. The last thing she needed in her life was a bossy man telling her what to do. She’d grown up with one goal above all others — to maintain complete control over her life. She’d had no control over the loss of her mother to violence or the loss of her father to heart disease, and she refused to ever feel that helpless again. Or to open herself up to the type of sorrow her father had endured after her mother’s murder.

  She swallowed against the increasing lump in her throat. It scared her to think how much control Jake already exerted over her feelings in such a short time. She should be thankful he’d walked out the door. His exit gave her the time she needed to rebuild her resolve before he strode back in looking like delectable sin itself.

  When Kevin O’Malley asked her to dance, she accepted. She couldn’t stay at the table alongside Lou Anne’s hopes and her own weakness any longer.

  Kevin led her through one dance and half of another before she noticed Jake had returned to the room. He stood near the back corner flanked by a couple of other guys and their dates. Yet, surrounded as he was, he stared straight at her. As Kevin spun her around, she lost sight of Jake for a moment. When she spotted him again, his attention had been diverted by something one of the other men was saying. She tried to ignore the strange sense of loss that pulled at her heart.

  Crazy. She was going absolutely crazy.

  "So, have you all found out anything new on the Field case?" she asked Kevin, trying to forget the intensity she’d seen burning in Jake’s eyes from across the room, a look she didn’t know how to read. Was he angry with her? If so, he could just eat his anger. All she’d done was try to show a little compassion at a moment when she’d thought he might need some.

  "I’m not at liberty to say." Kevin gave her a mischievous yet attractive smile.

  "Let me guess, on threat of death from Detective Radley?"

  "Nothing quite so dramatic."

  As the song continued, she forced herself not to turn her eyes in Jake’s direction. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he’d brought her simply because of his intense need to keep her safe. She wished that protectiveness didn’t touch such a strong cord within her.

  Against her best intentions, she looked up once to see Jake talking to his mother. The air tightened in her lungs. The man was simply beautiful to behold. Midnight hair, fathomless eyes, and a body that would tempt even the saintliest woman. When she’d turned in his boat cabin to see him in his black suit, she’d nearly melted. Black. The color suited him. Dark, mysterious, dangerous. Just like that kiss they’d shared in front of his mother’s house.

  "Is something wrong?" Kevin asked.

  "What? Oh, no. Why?"

  "You stiffened up all of a sudden."

  "Sorry. I guess I’m not used to these shoes."

  "Uh huh." Kevin didn’t buy for a moment her feeble excuse. Heck, she wouldn’t buy it either.

  Before she could offer a response, Jake’s deep voice sent a shiver down her spine. "Come on, O’Malley, why don’t you go bug one of the other ladies in the room."

  Kevin tried to suppress a smile that tugged at one edge of his mouth, but he didn’t succeed in hiding his amusement. When he moved away from the dance floor, Sydney tamped down the urge to follow him. The intensity emanating from Jake like waves of heat nearly scorched her. Yes, she was definitely losing her mind.

  He startled her by taking her hand and pulling her into his arms. The feel of his muscular body beneath his suit dried her mouth and made her knees wobble. She licked her lips and reached for the control she so desperately needed.

  "I didn’t take you for a dancer, Radley."

  "My mother seems to believe since I brought you I should dance with you."

  His words sliced through her heart. Hot, stupid tears burned her eyes, causing her to look over his shoulder to prevent him from seeing them. So, she didn’t affect him at all. The fierce attraction she felt for him only ran one way. She’d known him less than a week. Why did his words hurt so much?

  Because he’d kissed her like she’d never been kissed before. Because he’d stirred a need within her she hadn’t acknowledged in a long time — the need to open her heart to someone and have that person do the same.

  No. She blinked hard against the tears. She couldn’t care. It hurt too much when the person left. And Radley had said in his own words that he liked freedom more than commitment. She kept her gaze focused over his shoulder while trying to ignore the hard planes of his body as it moved against hers.

  As he spun her around, she noticed Kevin dancing with a smiling young woman. From the look on their faces, he was flirting with her and she was enjoying it. Kevin’s expression changed when his gaze connected with Sydney’s. His eyes reflected what she read as concern on her behalf. Could he see her distress and the reason behind it? And if he noticed it, was it written on her face for anyone in the room to see?

  "Excuse me." She pushed away from Jake and walked from the room with her head high and a false smile plastered on her lips. Not in a million years would she allow Jake Radley the satisfaction of knowing he’d upset her and shaken her world to its very foundation.

  ****

  Jake stood in the middle of the dance floor alone — just as he should be. He hated being such a jerk to Sydney, but he couldn’t let her develop any romantic ideas about him. He’d tried to convince himself that Sydney was just like Jackie Gardner, the reporter who’d betrayed him, but something about the way she talked about justice and the good guys winning made him doubt his assumption. And if she truly was
a good person, she didn’t deserve to be saddled with a cop married to his job, one who might go to work one day and never come back.

  He glanced over at his mother. Her face reflected the sadness and pride she’d carried like armor since his father’s death. She’d loved his father more than life and had nearly died herself when Hank was shot in the back as he ran toward safety with three little girls in his arms.

  Something about Sydney hinted that she too had known sadness before, and he didn’t want to bring any more upon her.

  For the next hour he moved around the room talking to colleagues and trying to forget about Sydney. Hard to do when every few seconds he looked toward the table where she and his mother sat talking. Several men asked her to dance, but she smiled as she refused them all. Despite his conviction to stay out of her personal life, the fact that she didn’t dance with anyone else pleased him.

  When a few couples started making for the door, Jake moved toward the table where Sydney and his mother sat laughing about something. Sydney must not be too upset by his actions if she could laugh. While that should have brought relief, he gritted his teeth in frustration instead. How selfish was it to want her to desire him while he wasn’t willing to pursue a relationship?

  "There you are. You’ve made yourself scarce this evening," his mother said when she saw him, a note of scolding behind her smile. "Luckily, Sydney has been a dear and kept me company."

  "Sorry, Mom. I had some business to discuss."

  "You work too much. You ought to take some time off."

  "Killers don’t." He regretted the words even before they left his lips.

  His mother’s smile faded. "I’m well aware of that."

  An awkward moment passed before he mustered the nerve to speak again. "Are you both ready to go?"

  "Yes. I’m suddenly very tired," his mother said.

  Jake mentally kicked himself all the way to the car and then to his mother’s house. He walked her to the door.

  "I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to upset you."

  She sighed. "I know you didn’t. But I meant what I said. You shouldn’t work so hard. You’re so like your father."

  "He was a great cop. I’m not nearly so good."

  "Jake, you listen to me. I know you’ve been trying to live up to your father’s image since you were fourteen, but you don’t have to. You are your own person with your own life." She looked back toward the car. "And you could have a happy one if you’d only let yourself."

  "Don’t get any ideas, Mom. Sydney is simply tied up in the case I’m working on. There’s nothing between us."

  "I may be getting older, but I know certain things when I see them. I think that young woman cares about you, and I’d wager you care about her, too, whether you want to admit it or not."

  "We barely know each other."

  "Stranger things have happened." She tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek. Then she placed her hand alongside his face. "I want to see you happy. I loved your father more than I can say, but he wasn’t perfect. Even though he loved you and me, his work held a power over him that we couldn’t compete with. That’s why he died, Jake. He wasn’t supposed to work that day, but he was driven to save those kids. He was a brave man, but I don’t want you to let your work take over everything and prevent you from knowing love."

  Even if Sydney was interested, there was no way she loved him. They’d known each other less than a week and spent much of that time at odds.

  He placed a kiss on his mother’s forehead, then headed back for the car. She was already at the door to her own car.

  "I can bring you over to get your car in the morning," he said.

  "That’s not necessary."

  He didn’t have a good reason to argue with her, so he didn’t. But he followed her home, wanting to see her safely inside her apartment.

  When they reached the apartment complex, she stopped at the wall of mailboxes alongside the main office.He pulled into a parking spot next to her and let his headlights illuminate her path. He looked away into the darkness when the natural sway of her hips sucked the air from his lungs. When the seconds stretched longer than he expected, he glanced back at her to find her staring into her open mailbox. Doubts forgotten, he nearly leapt from the car and strode to her side. As he moved close, he noticed her wide eyes and shaking shoulders.

  "What’s wrong?"

  "He’s been here," she whispered, the words laced with fear.

  Jake looked into the mailbox. Fury blazed to life in his gut. Atop Sydney’s bills and junk mail sat a single, unwrapped piece of chocolate.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jake looked back at Sydney to find her eyes wide and disbelieving. A shudder shook her shoulders as she took another step away. He scanned the area beyond the mailboxes but saw nothing in the dim light. But the exposed, helpless feeling pricked at him. Leaving the mailbox open, he stepped to Sydney’s side, wrapped an arm around her quaking shoulders and guided her toward his car, constantly searching the surrounding darkness as they moved.

  Once Sydney was seated inside the car, Jake pulled his Glock from the glove compartment. After scanning the perimeter again, he retrieved his cell phone from his jacket, then slipped the garment off. He leaned back into the car and wrapped the jacket around Sydney’s shoulders.

  When she looked at him, their eyes mere inches apart, he felt as if he’d never seen so deeply into a person. He shook the thought away.

  "Stay in here," he said, then hit the button to lock the doors.

  When he stood outside the car again, he dialed his department to request backup and an evidence collection team.

  "No, there’s no body, but our guy left a calling card."

  When he ended the call, he moved slowly toward the edge of the apartment office building adjacent to the mailboxes, careful not to disturb possible evidence. Another couple tried to stop for their mail, but he sent them on their way. They must have suspected he was other than he claimed for it wasn’t five minutes before a Metro patrolman pulled into the parking space next to his. Luckily, the guy recognized him and assumed gatekeeper duty, keeping everyone away from the mailbox area. A few minutes later, a still suited O’Malley and an evidence team arrived.

  "At least this one won’t require an autopsy." Kevin looked at Jake’s car where Sydney still sat. "I take it the mailbox is Sydney’s?"

  Jake nodded. "Bastard. Wish I could get my hands around the guy’s throat."

  "Think he doesn’t like what she’s writing about him?"

  "That or he’s picked his next target." Jake caught Kevin’s gaze. "The physical description – she matches it." He looked back at Sydney, her blond hair shining like a beacon in his partially lit car.

  A chill slithered down his back. This bastard would get near Sydney over his cold, dead corpse.

  After the evidence team combed the area around the mailboxes, the lead guy gave Jake the report. "We didn’t find much of anything, but we’ll take the chocolate and Miss Blackburn’s mail. We’ll compare it to what she received at work."

  Jake glanced down the line of mailboxes. Anyone could have gotten into them even though they were supposedly locked. As proof, half a dozen stood open.

  He turned to one of the patrolmen. "Did you check her apartment?"

  "Yes, sir. No sign of forced entry."

  "Post someone. No one goes in without my okay." He would search every inch of her apartment, but not now. Sydney was spooked, and she needed to be present and clear-headed during the sweep. She would know if something were not as it should be.

  The adrenaline that had started pumping through his veins at the sight of the chocolate in the mailbox ebbed, leaving Jake drained. He’d give a week’s pay to fall into bed and sleep for three days straight, but he still had work to do. He rounded the car then nearly collapsed into his seat. He glanced over at Sydney, who appeared even more exhausted than he felt.

  "Are you okay?"

  Unlike the Sydney he’d come to know in the past few days, she
only nodded, a weak and unconvincing nod at that.

  They both needed a good night’s rest. But the only way he’d get any rest was if he knew she was safe, and he couldn’t be certain of that unless she was with him. Until they could search her apartment, the only other place he’d feel confident protecting her was his boat.

  His muscles tightened and his pulse quickened at the thought. Spending the night with her in such close quarters would tempt his willpower to its limits, but keeping her safe was more important than his sexual discomfort. Nevertheless, his palms were sweating as he reached for the ignition.

  Jake started the car, then headed home. Even when he cut the engine in the marina parking lot, she didn’t argue against their destination. She remained silent as he once again lifted her over the side of his boat before following.

  Once inside the cabin, he flicked on a light, then rummaged in the sparsely stocked cabinets. In the back corner of one, he found some hot chocolate mix. All the while he boiled water and stirred the mix into a cup, Sydney sat on the edge of one of his chipped kitchen chairs, staring into space. She still clung to his jacket as if it would protect her from reality.

  His heart squeezed to see her like that, like her spirit had been broken. He silently cursed the man who’d driven away her spark and sass.

  He stepped in front of her with the steaming cup in hand. "You look chilled to the bone," he said as he held it out to her.

  It took her a second but she perked up a bit, enough to relinquish the jacket and accept the hot chocolate.

  "Thank you." Her voice was thin, as if from strangling her emotions.

  "You might want to wait on the thanks until you taste it. I have no idea how old it is."

  A faint smile tugged at her lips, a sight that alleviated some of his concern. She took a small sip. "Not bad."

  Even with the warm drink, he noticed an occasional shiver skitter through her, whether from reliving the past couple of hours or from an actual chill he didn’t know. He retrieved a blanket from the footlocker at the end of his bed, then wrapped it around her shoulders.