Abigail opened her little mouth, and Ryan tasted the pleasure she’d been hiding from him for far too long. He delved deep inside the warmth that waited for him, taking from her whatever she would give him, wanting her as he had never wanted anything.
So soft, so smooth, Abigail’s lips tasted like honey and he indulged himself, enjoying this very small sampling of the bigger picture. Running his fingers through her soft hair, he kissed her neck and collarbone, painfully resisting the urge to let his mouth graze lower. Dying for more, knowing that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life, he tore his mouth from her skin.
Ignoring Abigail’s stunned expression, Ryan stepped back and opened the door a crack. The room was empty. He let out several breaths, forcing himself to open the door the rest of the way.
“The coast is clear. Come on,” he said, “let’s get the hell out of here.”
Abigail shut the door, making quite a bit more noise than he would have liked. “Um, hello. Aren’t we going to talk about what just happened?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“What? You just kissed me, Ryan!”
“Would you lower you voice for Christ’s sake!” Flipping frantically through the files, trying to figure out what the men might have taken, Ryan said, “Whatever I did in there, I did because I was trying to keep you quiet. Obviously I didn’t have much luck, did I?”
“Ryan, we need to talk about this,” Abigail said, trailing behind him as he shut the cabinet drawer. “Out of nowhere you decide to kiss me? I didn’t even think you liked me. You don’t—I know you don’t—which means that there has to be another reason why you did this.” Looking up as though she’d just had a revelation, she said, “You’re working with those men, aren’t you? That’s why you pulled me into the closet just now, so they wouldn’t see me.”
“Dammit, Abigail! If I was working with those men, why would I have hidden from them just now? I wouldn’t have. I would have faced them, and handed over our intruder.”
She shivered visibly. “You seem to know a lot about criminal activity.”
Ryan didn’t answer. For the life of him, he just couldn’t understand where Abigail had gotten the idea that he was involved with these crimes. He might seem a bit jumpy but he’d never done anything to make her think he could be a criminal, other than perhaps to rifle through the filing cabinet just now.
“All right.” He approached her. “If those ledgers are mine, why would I need to—as you just very loudly said—steal them?”
“How did you know there was something significant in that filing cabinet if you aren’t involved?” Abigail stared him down.
Ryan thought quickly. “That filing cabinet fell and almost killed you.”
“Yes, and the drawer broke and the ledger fell out of it. That may explain how you knew that the paperwork was there, but it doesn’t explain how you obviously know what it is.”
Ryan resisted the urge to kick the ground. Crossing his arms, he ignored Abigail’s eyes and stared blindly at the window behind her.
“You aren’t going to tell me, are you? Even now? Even after we”—emotion spilled into her voice—“you distrust me so much? Ryan”—she put a hand on his shoulder—“Ryan, please—”
Ryan ground his teeth. “Get back to work, Abigail.”
“Please—”
“Get back to work, Abigail.”
“Fine, I’m leaving.” She stepped past him, slamming the door behind her.
Ryan smacked his face with his hands. What in the world had just happened? All right, he’d needed to keep Abigail safe, keep those men from realizing that the two of them had been seconds away from stealing their handiwork. But not only hadn’t he kept Abigail from overhearing what they’d said, he had just given into his very worst temptation and kissed her.
Thinking about the way Abigail had felt, the way she’d tasted, he wanted to smack his head against the wall. Because no sooner did he envision himself carrying her up the stairs to one of the hotel rooms, then the memory of Brent Lombardi, telling him that he was fired from his job came into his mind. Life was over, he’d been told, as it would also be for anyone foolish enough to become involved with him thereafter. It had been the second most paralyzing moment of his existence.
Ryan had wanted to take Abigail right up against that closet wall. But knowing two people had already been killed, that she could very well be next, was enough to snap him back into reality.
This couldn’t ever happen again. For his sake, and for Abigail’s.
Chapter 13
A cool breeze blew through the morning air. It was a welcomed relief from the heat wave, and would have been the start to a potentially perfect day, were it not for the “closed” sign hanging in the café window.
“Damn,” Julia said as she approached the little brick building. She knew it was early—six thirty to be exact. But coffee shops were supposed to cater to the victims of nutcase employers whose “free” coffee tasted like chalk, and who were forced to come into work before the sun was up.
Figuring she ought to just head over to the hotel, she took her keys from her knapsack started back toward her Camry. She was about to climb inside when she saw someone coming down the street.
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You mean to tell me they make the almighty Shane Dempsey fetch his own coffee?”
“Shocking, isn’t it?”
“Very. You know, if I didn’t know any better, slick, I’d say you were stalking me.”
In a low voice, Shane said, “Do you want me to be stalking you, Julia?”
“Of course not.” Wherever had he gotten such a wacky idea? “Look, as fun as this has been I’ve gotta get going. Some of us peasants were summoned for this early morning gig. I can’t begin to imagine which genius manager came up with that one.”
“You’re cute when you’re feisty,” Shane said, getting between her and her car door. “As a matter of fact, you’re downright sexy.”
“Am I?” Julia bit back a smile. “Good for me.” She reached for her door handle.
Shane took her hand. Holding it, he stroked her fingers.
“What are ya doin’ there?”
He smiled. “You know, you don’t make it easy, Julia.”
“One of my finest qualities.”
“I know it. The thing is, I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.”
Julia eyed him skeptically. “And just what do you think you know? Besides what size you think my”—she reddened—“just what do you think you know?”
“Well, for one thing you’re definitely not a local.”
“What gave me away?”
“Am I right?” Shane asked her with a baiting smile.
“Surprisingly. I was born in San Diego, and then my dad and I lived briefly in New York City before we ended up in the land of the moosetracks.”
He nodded. “The big apple. I should’ve guessed. Suddenly a lot of things are making sense to me.”
Julia smiled proudly. “And what rock did you crawl out from under, slick? Cause I do believe I’m not the only one who wasn’t born and bred in North Conway.”
Shane’s gaze fixed on the mountains behind them. His answer was almost lost against the sound of the wind as he said, “Baton Rouge.”
“Louisiana? No kidding. I never would have guessed that one.”
“Probably not,” Shane agreed.
“Not exactly what I was expecting, but whatever. All righty then, Prince Charming. I really do think I should be getting back to my chores now, so…”
“Go out with me,” he said.
Julia laughed. She turned the key and opened the door of her car.
“What do you say?” Shane leaned against her doorframe as she slid into the driver’s seat.
Julia rolled down the window. “I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure I ought to be trusting a guy who’s so
mysterious.”
“Come on, Julia. Isn’t it more fun when there’s a little mystery?”
* * * *
“I’d like a triple grande cappuccino with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. Or chips…Do you guys have chocolate chips here? Oh, and a regular coffee for my friend,” Julia said as she turned away from the café window.
Abigail waved to her from the table she’d found. Main Street Coffee was packed. Apparently it had been closed earlier that morning, when Julia stopped by. But the lunch crowd was in full swing.
The surrounding noise would drown her thoughts, which was just as well. Abigail had so much on her mind she felt like she could explode. Two men, neither of whose voices she’d recognized, had broken into the Washington Valley Hotel. And clearly, they’d had one mission—taking the mysterious ledger from the filing cabinet.
Abigail had often been accused of having an overactive imagination. Making up mysteries where there were none to be found seemed to be her lot in life. And though it was highly possible that this was one of those times, it seemed an even greater possibility that it wasn’t. Whatever the reason that those men had been after the ledger, it was clearly important to them. And even though they’d come in the middle of the day, they definitely hadn’t wanted anyone to know that they were there. That was with the possible exception of Ryan, of course, whom she still wasn’t convinced wasn’t involved.
Thinking about that feel of Ryan’s warm lips against hers, Abigail breathed in deeply. Ryan wasn’t the first guy she’d kissed, but there was definitely no comparison between him and the others. As he’d caressed her mouth, the earth beneath them had moved. He’d pulled her against his hard body and she had fallen inside of a dream. Desire had literally consumed her. As Ryan kissed her neck and collarbone, he’d unleashed the essence of a deeply rooted fantasy, unlike anything she had ever imagined.
When he pulled away, he’d stared at her for a long moment and Abigail had thought he might start kissing her again. But much to her great disappointment, he hadn’t. And when they left the closet, Ryan had gone cold, worse than he had any of the other times. His kiss had promised so much excitement and passion. In an instant, he’d taken it all away.
Wanting very much to keep the topic of their conversation off of her, she said, “You’re looking awfully chipper this morning. Is there any particular reason?”
Grinning over the rim of her coffee cup, Julia said, “As a matter of fact, I have a date Saturday night.”
“Really?” Abigail felt a pang of jealousy. “Wow, Julia, that’s so exciting. I wasn’t entirely sure this guy was gonna come around, but I never doubted you for a minute. I’m really happy for you.”
“Yea, Shane.” Julia smiled dreamily. “I just knew he had a thing for me. Guess he finally decided to do something about it. He drives that fancy Jaguar, so at least you know I’ll be riding around in style. He’s so mysterious…but in a good way. And of course it doesn’t hurt that he’s drop-dead gorgeous. You have to come over tonight and help me pick out what I’m gonna wear, okay?”
Barely listening, it took Abigail a minute to realize that Julia was waiting for her to answer. Not entirely sure of what she’d just said, she looked up and replied, “Sorry, what? Guess I zoned out a bit during that last part.”
“Yea, no kidding. Is everything all right? ’Cause it isn’t every day that Brad Pitt asks me on a date. What’s going on?”
Abigail fiddled with her coffee stirrer. Maybe telling her friend a small portion of the story wouldn’t be so bad. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get through an entire work day without sharing something with someone. “Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, the day they were doing that construction work up by the main office?”
“Sure, I remember. I think those bulldozers must have been heard all over town.”
“They probably were. Well, one of them caused a vibration inside of the room where I was working. A filing cabinet fell and almost hit me.”
“Oh my God, Abigail! Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine. But when the cabinet fell, some of the files inside of it spilled onto the floor. There were these papers…and…” Abigail swallowed. “They were part of a ledger, an insanely complicated ledger.”
“And by complicated you mean…”
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, not entirely sure how far she wanted to go with this. “It must have been documenting debits and credits of some sort. But something in my gut told me it didn’t belong there. Like…”
“Like?”
“Like it had nothing to do with the hotel.”
Julia leaned in close. “Do you think it’s criminal? My God, Abs, do you think there’s some sort of connection between the ledgers and the murders?”
Abigail shrugged. “The thought did cross my mind.”
She also believed there was a connection between the ledgers and Ryan Newberry. But she didn’t want to make an accusation about him to her friend until she was sure.
“What are we waiting for?” Glancing over at where her car was parked on the street, Julia said, “Let’s get into work and go search that filing cabinet.”
Whatever had been left in that cabinet had undoubtedly been taken by those men while she and Ryan were hiding in the closet. But Abigail had no desire to get into that part. “Hello…we need a key to get into that cabinet! And when I went looking the next day, I didn’t even see the same papers again.” Tossing her empty cup in the trash, she said, “Honestly, Julia. It’s more than likely that none of this means anything at all. You know how I am with my hunches.”
“True…”
“Aren’t you the one who told me it was crazy to try and solve a murder mystery? Why the sudden interest?”
Julia didn’t respond right away, giving Abigail the very hopeful notion that for once in her life she had gotten through to her. But the look in her friend’s eyes told her that she had been very, very wrong.
“Abigail, you can’t throw me a bone and then expect me not to jump for it. Especially if it could mean the difference between my best friend and I keeping our jobs. No one will be there for another half hour, which is more than enough time for us to get our hands on that key. Now, let’s go.”
Abigail picked up her car keys. Asking herself how it was that she got herself into these things, she shook her head and followed her friend up the sidewalk.
* * * *
Ryan came past the fireplace as he crossed through the center of the lobby. It was after one o’clock, and with the exception of Sheldon sorting through the mail, the main building was relatively quiet. As he stepped into the back hall, he scanned the coat rack for Abigail’s jacket. He didn’t see it, which meant that either she hadn’t taken her jacket today, or else he’d beaten her to work. Considering it was significantly colder than it had been the last couple of days, he had to assume he’d gotten there first.
By some miracle, he’d managed to secure the missing piece of the ledger. But those men had still taken something from that cabinet. It was a long shot, but maybe he could go through the papers and try to figure out what else was missing. Or perhaps they’d left behind a stray page from their intended pillage.
He was very glad Abigail wouldn’t be buzzing around for the next couple of minutes. Honestly, he wasn’t ready to face her after what had occurred in the file room closet. Nothing more was going to happen between them. But Ryan wasn’t sure which one of them it was going to be harder to break that to.
Walking quickly down the hall, he reiterated to himself that he had lost his mind yesterday. It was true enough that temptation had been tossed into his face. But instead of resisting it, he’d jumped into the pool with both feet. Consequently he’d done something that was not only dangerous but insanely stupid. Because now that he’d allowed himself to act on his attraction to Abigail, he had no idea how he was going to get the memory of kissing her out of his head.
His need to protect women in distress seemed to be something he couldn�
�t shake no matter how hard he tried. Kim had been trying to get away from an abusive ex when he met her. And God knew he’d made the worst mistake of his life in trying to protect Rachel. Because ultimately, he hadn’t protected her at all.
Ryan was about to open the door to the file room, when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he offered a halfhearted smile. “Kimberly.”
Unable to avoid noticing how enticing her legs looked in the short dress she was wearing, his mouth became dry. This woman had been the root of so many of his problems. Relieved not to be feeling much more than a mild physical attraction to her, Ryan forced himself to focus his attention on her face.
“Good morning, boss. I’ve been doing some thinking.”
“Kim—”
“I really enjoyed our lunch the other day. And I just wanted to say”—she lowered her voice—“I understand that I don’t deserve to be forgiven for what I did to you. And I know that my kissing you that night at the bar only made things worse. The thing is, since we’re both going to be working here, I was really hoping that we could find a way to be friends.”
This woman had to be the most schizophrenic person he’d ever known. But at least she seemed to have given up on the idea of them getting back together. With everything else he was dealing with, that was quite a relief.
Being friends with Kimberly wasn’t a good idea. But if he told her so, it was going to sound like he wasn’t over her. Considering they were coworkers again, that could prove disastrous.
Voices sounded nearby. Thinking that they might be coming from inside the file room, Ryan inched toward the door. He strained his ears, unable to believe what he was hearing. The high-pitched voice belonged to Julia and the soft, pretty one was Abigail’s.
Had Abigail decided to go back for round two, get another look at the damned cabinet again? He swore under his breath that Abigail MacKenzie had to be the nerviest woman he’d ever met.
Urging Kimberly back, he said, “I don’t have an answer for you right now. But I promise I’ll think about what you said, all right?”
Dangerous Secret [The Pinnacles of Power Prequel] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 11
