Mirror, Mirror

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  “Former clients. Sabrina had an ex-boyfriend who refused to admit their relationship was over. She needed some protection for a while. Then he hooked up with a stripper, and Sabrina had her life back again,” he said.

  Dana looked around at the bustling energy surrounding her. “I’d like to have my life back again,” she murmured wistfully.

  “It’ll happen,” he told her. “I can’t promise it will be like it was before, but you’ll have your life back and that’s what counts.”

  Dana wanted to say she wished she could believe him. It seemed as if this nightmare had gone on forever, although she’d only hired Mac a couple of weeks ago.

  They didn’t speak for some time as they continued walking. The headache she’d suffered from in his office was nothing more than a faint memory now. When she looked off into the distance she could see the curve of the ascending moon, and lights on the nearby pier starting to twinkle on.

  They walked down the boardwalk, their bodies occasionally brushing.

  Dana felt hypersensitive with each touch of Mac’s arm against hers. As if all her senses had been stripped and left exposed to the air. The roar of the ocean only steps away sounded loud in her ears. She knew if she stuck her tongue out, she would taste the salt in the air.

  She chanced an upward glance at Mac. The harsh curve of his jaw told her he picked up on her tension. And echoed it.

  “Let’s get something to eat,” he said abruptly, turning her toward an open-air restaurant. Without asking her, he chose one of the tables under the awning that provided shade during sunny days. This evening, a candle shone brightly from each table.

  “And no trying to order just a salad,” he ordered. “I want to see you eating real food.”

  “You seem to think I don’t eat without you ordering me to.” She studied the menu. “Not even the Chinese chicken salad?”

  “I don’t care if it’s loaded with chicken. It’s still a salad. Try again.”

  Dana knew whatever she ordered, it would taste like cardboard. Remembering the headache that had cropped up earlier, she opted for herbal iced tea.

  She laced her fingers together and rested them on the tabletop. Her gaze was steady as she looked at Mac.

  And waited.

  What was he going to do?

  Mac was doing his damnedest not to get involved with Dana, but it wasn’t easy.

  Hard evidence had her guilty. Pure and simple. But it was what he felt inside that told him she hadn’t orchestrated all that’d gone on. Now he just had to figure out the puzzle of who was doing this to her.

  There she sat, looking fragile and cool as a cucumber. Delicate shadows darkened the skin under her eyes, and she looked slightly haunted. A woman any sane man would know enough to stay away from.

  He couldn’t seem to listen to his common sense.

  She was quiet as she dipped her chicken strips in ranch sauce and daintily nibbled on them. She appeared fascinated with the various people walking along the boardwalk. She looked everywhere but at him. Even with the fading light, there was no lack of people for her to watch.

  He wondered if Sabrina knew who was trying to ruin Dana’s life. It would be worth the twenty bucks to find out what she’d read in a crystal ball or her treasured tarot cards.

  He was beginning to think bringing Dana down here was a mistake. He thought she’d needed to find a way to work off the frustration that had been haunting her. He’d always found the shooting gallery a good way, and cheaper than using live ammo.

  He shouldn’t have touched her. He could have instructed her without touching her, without putting his arms around her and then feeling her slight frame press back against him. That was when he’d felt himself get hard. For a guy who believed in not getting involved with a client, he sure screwed up here.

  Now, a shore breeze drifted through the air, the saltiness tempered by the faint fragrance of her perfume.

  “You always seem to know what I need.” Her soft voice cut through his musings.

  He wasn’t touching that comment with a ten-foot pole.

  She turned back to him. “It’s as if a person can come out here and forget everything else.”

  “Maybe you just need to get out more,” Mac said.

  She looked out toward the beach. If he wasn’t mistaken, he’d swear her expression was wistful.

  “I guess I do,” Dana murmured, turning back to her food. She picked up one of her seasoned French fries, then put it back down again. “All of this is new to me.” She turned back to him. “Do you miss being a policeman?”

  Her innocent question brought a faint pang of regret to his heart. Yeah, he missed being with the department. Comes from being an idiot who believed he could change the world, he thought cynically. Once it was finally pounded into his head that he couldn’t, he realized he might have a chance to do some good as a PI. If nothing else, he’d tracked down plenty of deadbeat dads who now realized it was a good idea to pay child support if they wanted Mac out of their face.

  “Yeah, I miss it,” he said finally, ignoring the slight catch in his voice. “But I doubt it misses me.”

  “But you feel you’re doing more good now.”

  With her quiet statement, he realized that there were quite a few facets that made up the woman known as Dana Madison. He was anxious to learn them all.

  It took him five minutes to realize she hadn’t taken another bite. He dug into his back pocket for his wallet, pulled out some bills and tossed them on the table.

  “Come on,” he ordered in a rough voice, standing up and taking her hand.

  She didn’t protest as he pulled her out of the restaurant. Nor did she ask what he was doing when he headed for the sand. He released her long enough so she could pull off her shoes and trouser hose, then grabbed her hand again before continuing his walk down to the water’s edge.

  Dana jumped and yelped when the cold water rushed over her bare toes.

  Despite the tension simmering between them, Mac couldn’t help grinning. “I thought you were used to the beach.”

  “The water in the Bahamas is a lot warmer,” she muttered, swiftly moving around to his other side.

  Mac recaptured her hand, and they walked aimlessly up the beach with nothing but silence between them.

  As the minutes ticked by, he was relieved to see Dana had allowed herself to relax some. After a while, he pulled her along toward an area set up with picnic tables. He hoisted himself up on the tabletop, then sat her down on the bench, positioning her between his legs.

  “You look out there and you can’t imagine there’s ever anything wrong with the world,” he said in a low voice.

  “Now you’re a philosopher?” she asked.

  He found himself playing with strands of her hair that floated in the breeze. It felt as silky as it looked.

  That obnoxious Eleventh Commandment was becoming more difficult to abide by all the time.

  He never was any good at listening.

  As if he’d spoken her name, Dana turned her head to look up at him. The moonlight turned her eyes to silver and threw faint shadows across her face.

  Mac ignored his common sense screaming in his ear as he grasped her chin and tipped it upward. She didn’t look away as his head lowered toward hers. She deliberately kept her eyes open as his mouth covered hers in a searing kiss.

  Dana had thought she’d been kissed before. Now she knew nothing she’d experienced before had prepared her for Mac. His skin was rough as if he hadn’t had time to shave that morning. She was used to a man’s skin so clean shaven it was like a baby’s bottom. He didn’t wear expensive cologne. His clothes were untidy, and he just plain didn’t give a damn about anything.

  But he did know how to kiss a woman.

  He was all wrong for her. Yet her blood heated to a boil as his mouth shaped itself against hers. She melted against him, and, reaching up to slip her arms around his neck, opened her mouth to him.

  She moaned softly as his hand cupped her bre
ast, his thumb unerringly finding her sensitive nipple.

  “You’re trouble with a capital T,” he said huskily, dragging his mouth across her cheek to find her ear. He tugged gently on her earlobe.

  Finally able to bring herself to her senses, she pulled away, almost falling backward. Mac grabbed her arms, halting her fall just in time. She tried to regain her breathing but it still sounded rough to her ears. She unconsciously lifted her hand to her hair. It was disheveled and curved against her cheek. She hadn’t even realized he’d tunneled his hands through it. What else wasn’t she aware of? She tentatively checked the buttons marching down the front of her blouse. They were still in their proper place. She didn’t look at him as she thrust trembling fingers through her mussed hair. “I’d like to go back now,” she said in a low voice. She licked her lips, then wished she hadn’t. She could still taste him.

  She rose to her feet and waited for him to do the same.

  Dana’s thoughts ran wild as they walked back to Mac’s truck. She hadn’t expected one kiss to turn her inside out.

  She thought of Mac as trouble and now she knew she was right. He was trouble. He was everything she’d never dealt with before. He also had her thinking there was nothing more important in life than kissing him.

  He didn’t say another word until he helped her out of the vehicle and walked with her to her car. He stood by while she disarmed the alarm and opened the door.

  “Dana.”

  She looked over her shoulder.

  He stepped closer and brought his hands up to cup her elbows. The kiss he brushed across her lips was featherlight and just as potent as the soul-stealing one he’d given her earlier.

  “I won’t apologize,” he whispered.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to,” she whispered back. “Not when I wanted it as much as you did.”

  Mac’s obvious surprise over her candid reply gave her the opportunity to slide inside her car and pull the door shut.

  As she drove away, she again ran her tongue over her lips.

  The memory of his taste was already not enough.

  Chapter 6

  Mac’s kiss haunted Dana just as her nemesis haunted her. While the latter left her with a feeling of darkness and dread, however, Mac’s kiss carried a more powerful sensation that cut her off at the knees.

  For the next week, she threw herself into her work. She thought it would bring her the sense of completion she used to feel, but that feeling eluded her.

  One afternoon, her assistant cornered her and demanded to know what was going on. “Honey, you need to slow down a little,” she scolded. “Take some time with that gorgeous guy of yours. I don’t think he’d complain if you did.”

  “He has a busy schedule, too,” Dana responded. Damn, she’d managed to forget Mac for all of five minutes and now Marti brought him back.

  It hadn’t been easy for her to keep him from filling her thoughts. By the time she’d gotten home the night of their kiss, she felt as if she’d been tossed onto a Tilt-A-Whirl. Since then, sleep had eluded her. And she’d learned that concealer could only do so much to hide the damage.

  “I’ll leave tonight as soon as I finish going over this correspondence,” she promised.

  Marti gave her a look of disbelief. “I’ve heard that one before. It would be good for you if you actually did it.”

  Once her assistant left, Dana promptly forgot her promise. There was too much to do.

  By the time she finished, her eyes were gritty from staring at the computer monitor. She grabbed her briefcase and left the office, making sure the front door was locked behind her. Anticipation of a long hot bath quickened her steps toward the elevator.

  For the first time in the past few days she even felt a hint of appetite. Stopping by her favorite Chinese restaurant for some takeout seemed like a good idea.

  Once in the parking garage, Dana walked toward her vehicle, her keys out and a finger on the button to disarm her car alarm.

  “Dana, baby.”

  At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, she spun around. “Who’s there?” she demanded.

  “It’s me, baby.” A man stepped away from the shadows. “Ready and waiting.”

  She backed away. “Stay away from me,” she warned, holding out her hand. “George! George!” she shouted for the security guard who patrolled the garage during the evening hours.

  While the man walking toward her was dressed presentably in suit and tie, the stark desire on his face frightened her. He looked at her as if he knew her intimately.

  “I don’t know you.” She spared a quick glance over her shoulder. She didn’t want to find herself trapped against a car without a way to escape. “Stay away from me.”

  The man looked puzzled. “What’s wrong with you? You called me, remember? You told me to meet you here.” He continued walking toward her.

  Fear raced through her body. “I told you to stay away from me! Mac!” She screamed the name of the person she unconsciously trusted more than anyone. “Mac!” She spun around and started running toward the exit. She stumbled once on her high heels, but managed to regain her balance and keep on running.

  A squeal of tires greeted her as the now familiar Explorer sped toward her. The vehicle had barely braked to a stop when Mac was out the door. Duffy leaped out behind him and ambled over to Dana. The dog took one look at the stranger approaching them and issued a warning growl.

  “Back off, Carter.” Mac was doing some growling of his own.

  The man looked puzzled, then angry. “She called me,” he insisted.

  “How could I call him? I don’t even know who he is,” she whispered, clinging to Mac.

  He put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn’t going to take his eyes off the man.

  “Someone’s playing you for the fool you are, Carter,” Mac said in a harsh voice. “Do us all a favor and get lost. Ms. Madison is a pawn in this game just as you are.”

  “Bull. You’re the one who’s the fool. Fine, take her,” he sneered, speaking to Mac even as he stared at Dana. “I only stuck around as long as I did because she’s a hot number in bed.”

  Mac’s hold on Dana tightened. “Get out of here before I decide to beat the crap out of you.”

  Carter didn’t need to look at Mac’s face to know he spoke the truth. He turned away and fled. A few moments later, a Cadillac raced past Mac and Dana.

  “That was Gary Carter?” Dana whispered, struggling to tamp down her fear. “Why did he say I called him? I didn’t.”

  If Mac doubted her, he didn’t show it. “Come on, let’s get your car and I’ll follow you home,” he said in a rough voice, propelling her toward his truck.

  She looked up at him. Her eyes were liquid blue pools shimmering with tears. “I’m not sure I can drive,” she confessed.

  Mac took her face in his hands and studied it carefully. Her fear washed over him like a flood. A few low words of profanity fell from his lips as he pushed her into the passenger seat. No time was wasted as he deftly secured her seat belt and walked around to the driver’s side. Duffy was urged into the back seat before Mac climbed in behind the wheel.

  “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

  “I don’t think I could eat anything,” she confessed.

  “You’d feel better if you did.”

  “Food doesn’t cure everything,” she muttered, as he drove for the exit.

  “No, but it will take care of the shakes you’ve got.”

  “I thought whiskey was for that.”

  “Alcohol is only an escape, not a remedy. Trust me on this.” He made a stop at the guard shack at the exit. “Silver Cadillac probably going too fast. Crazy driver,” he told the guard. “You see him leave?”

  The man nodded. “Sure did, after he gave me some mouth about the parking rates. Since he didn’t want to ruin that fancy paint job by crashing through the gate, he paid.”

  “If you see him again, would you let me know?” Mac handed him his business card.

&n
bsp; The man took the card, glanced at Dana, obviously recognized her and nodded. “I’ll let the others know, too. We’ll keep an eye out for him.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  “After what just happened, you can’t think he’d come back,” Dana said, as Mac gunned the engine, moving smoothly through traffic.

  “He probably won’t, but you can’t take a chance by assuming.” Mac looked over his shoulder before changing lanes. He fiddled with the controls. Warm air swirled around Dana.

  She looked out the window. She pressed her fingertips against the glass. The cool sensation felt strangely comforting.

  “It’s starting up again, isn’t it,” she murmured.

  “If I take you home after we eat, you won’t be able to go out tonight unless you call a cab.”

  A low woof sounded in her ear as Duffy hung his head over the back of her seat.

  “Hey, stay in the back,” Mac ordered.

  “It’s all right.” She twisted around and curled her fingers in the dog’s thick fur. Duffy licked the side of her face.

  “You say that now, but there comes a time when he turns into a major nuisance. St. Bernards are notorious for drooling, and unfortunately, that was one of the traits he inherited from his mom. His engaging black Lab personality came from his dad. With a pedigree like that, I made sure he had his little operation as soon as he was old enough,” he said wryly. “If I could help it, no poodle in the neighborhood was going to claim Duffy had sullied her reputation.”

  Dana tentatively patted the dog’s head. Duffy whined in appreciation and batted her hand with his head in a plea for more. She grew braver, dug her fingers into the thick fur and scratched his head.

  “Now you’ve really got a friend for life.” Mac pulled into a parking lot and stopped. “Hope you don’t mind the casual atmosphere. There aren’t many places that accept the Duff here. You put a tie on him, he tends to start chewing on it.” He climbed out and walked around to the passenger door. After he’d helped Dana out, he whistled to the dog, who happily clambered out of the rear seat and followed them to the entrance of the fast-food restaurant. Mac tied his leash to a cement block next to a patio table.