Someone To Watch Over Her

by Margaret Watson

  She took a deep breath. If she wanted to concentrate on their surroundings this evening, she had to move away from him.

  But she couldn’t do it. So instead, she took his hand and began talking. “We always come to the Blue Goose for dinner at least once when I’m home,” she said. “It’s not very fancy, but the food is good.”

  His hand tightened on hers. “What’s their specialty?”

  His voice was too deep, too husky, but he understood what she was doing. She took a breath to settle herself, and turned to smile at him. “Everything.”

  An hour and a half later she finished her dessert and leaned back in her chair. “What do you think?”

  “I think the food was wonderful, and the company was even better.”

  She grinned at him. “I know a line when I hear one.”

  “No flies on you, are there?” he said, his lips twitching.

  “Not a one,” she said, satisfied with the evening. They had managed to talk comfortably about everything and anything, even though Marcus’s gaze had smoldered whenever it rested on her. And when he glanced casually around the restaurant every few minutes, she knew he was imprinting all the details on his mind. The open-air design of the restaurant meant they were visible to anyone passing the building. She wondered where his partners were waiting.

  “Ready to go?” he said, his casual voice at odds with the fire in his eyes.

  “Have we been here long enough?” she asked in a low voice.

  “We’ve been here far too long.”

  His voice throbbed with intensity. She could hear the desire that pulsed just below the surface, and she felt an answering passion stir inside her. “Then let’s go.”

  He threw some money on the bill that sat on the table, then stood up. He took her elbow to guide her out the door, and she felt the waves of intensity that flowed from him.

  As they stood outside the restaurant, waiting for a taxi, she noticed that he used his body to shield hers. “Isn’t that defeating the purpose?” she whispered in his ear. “No one can see me.”

  “I don’t want anyone to see you out here,” he retorted. “There are too many shadows, too many places to hide. I don’t want to worry about a sniper in those trees.”

  A cold chill washed over her. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  His face softened as he looked at her. “I don’t think it’s very likely,” he said. “But since those two guys haven’t surfaced and we don’t know who they are or what they want with you, I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “Did you see anything while we were having dinner?”

  “Not much. But I didn’t expect to. We were on display tonight. It was up to my partners to watch for your kidnappers.”

  A taxi pulled up to the restaurant, and they climbed in. She saw Marcus look over his shoulder as they pulled away.

  “All clear?” she asked lightly.

  He took one more look around, then nodded. “I don’t see a thing. But I’m not supposed to. That’s my partners’ job.”

  “You trust them completely, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He gave a little shrug. “I have to. Because in my business, if you don’t trust the people you work with, you’re going to be dead before you know it.”

  His face darkened, and she wondered what he was thinking about. Had he worked with someone who had turned out to be dishonest? Is that how he injured his arm?

  “What happened to your arm? I know you told me you had an accident, but did it happen while you were working? Was it because someone was untrustworthy?”

  “You could say that.”

  His low voice burned in the darkness, and she felt his intensity quivering in the air. “What happened to him?”

  He found her hand in the darkness of the cab. “Nothing. Yet.”

  She shivered at the implacable hardness in his voice. Marcus Waters would make a dangerous enemy. “Does he know you’re looking for him?”

  He turned to look at her, but she couldn’t see his eyes in the dim light that filtered through the cab windows. “He knows.” She felt him hesitate, as if he wanted to say more, then he looked away.

  They rode in silence the rest of the way to the resort. When they finally reached their cabin, he drew her inside without a word.

  Chapter 12

  “Stay here and don’t turn on the lights,” he whispered. “I’m going to check a few things.”

  After searching the cottage for a few minutes, he slipped outside. She heard faint noises around the cottage, the whisper of the bushes that surrounded the small building, a tiny scratching sound against a window.

  Marcus reappeared like a ghost, silent and almost invisible. “Is everything okay?” she whispered.

  “Fine. I just wanted to make sure there were no signs that the cottage had been disturbed.”

  “And there weren’t?”

  “Not one. We should be okay tonight.”

  She understood what he was saying. They might be safe tonight, but he had no idea how long it would last. Every time they appeared in public, there was a greater chance they would be seen by the kidnappers. And a greater chance of the kidnappers finding their way to the cottage. Just because they were safe tonight was no guarantee they would be safe tomorrow.

  He moved silently through the cottage, his dark clothes blending with the shadows until she had to strain to see him. This was his life, she realized. This was what he did. He lived in the darkness, in the shadows of life.

  And he made it safer for the rest of them.

  Her heart moved in her chest. He took it for granted, but she knew she would have been lost without him. She didn’t want to think about what might have happened if Marcus hadn’t stumbled across her on that beach.

  “Is it all right to turn on the lights?” she asked. She wanted him to come out of the shadows, to stand in the light, at least for tonight.

  He took one last look out the window and turned to her. She could see his eyes gleaming without the lights. “Don’t bother. We’re not going to be in this room long enough to use them.”

  Her heart began to pound. “Why is that?”

  “I have other plans for the night. And they don’t include sitting in the living room and talking.”

  “What do your plans include?” She barely recognized the husky, seductive voice as her own.

  “Come over here and I’ll show you.”

  Without taking her gaze from his, she moved a step closer, then another. It felt like she was stepping into an electrical field. The air sizzled around her, and his heat rolled over her in waves, seeking out the places deep inside her.

  He stared at her for a moment, then reached out and touched her cheek. His fingers were tentative, almost hesitant. “I’ve been thinking about this all night,” he finally said. “About what I’d do when I got you alone.”

  “And what did you decide?”

  His blond hair gleamed in the light from a street lamp as he bent his head to trail kisses down her neck. “I’m going to start by finding out what’s beneath this dress.”

  She drew in a sharp breath as he moved lower, his mouth burning a trail of heat and need down her chest. “What do you think I would find here?”

  He played with the neckline of the dress, his fingers tugging at the stretchy material, trailing lightly inside to caress her skin. She felt her breasts swell and her nipples harden. “Why don’t you take a look?”

  “Not yet.” He looked at her, and his blue eyes looked black with desire. “I don’t think I want to hurry.”

  She wanted to beg him to hurry, to touch her. Every inch of her throbbed with need, pulsated with urgency. But he wouldn’t be rushed.

  His fingers toyed with the neckline of her dress, brushing over the slope of her breasts, skimming the sensitive skin, dipping into the valley between her breasts. She closed her eyes, wanting only to feel. Then he put his mouth on her breast through the material of her dress, and she moaned his name.

  Su
ddenly he picked her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Stripping off the dress, he looked at her, and his eyes darkened even more.

  “Do I take that to mean that you like what I’m wearing?”

  His hungry gaze devoured the scraps of black lace she’d found that morning. “It’s a good thing I didn’t know what you were wearing under that dress. We would never have made it out of the house.”

  She gave him a slow, sexy smile. “You’ll know next time I wear this dress.”

  His face tightened even more, and his hands shook as he peeled the lace away. Then he pulled off his clothes and lay beside her.

  He made love to her with an intensity, an emotion she’d never felt before. He worshiped every inch of her, kissing and tasting, touching and caressing as if he’d never seen her before.

  Or as if he were never going to see her again.

  As she clung to him, helpless in the throes of passion, she wrapped her arms more tightly around him as if she would never let him go. And she wondered what he was thinking. Was he afraid their time together was drawing to an end? Was he counting the days, the hours, until he left her?

  She wouldn’t let it happen, she vowed fiercely to herself. She wouldn’t let Marcus leave when her kidnappers had been caught.

  But as he pulled her close and she drifted to sleep, she wondered how she was going to stop him.

  Marcus woke slowly, reluctantly. Jessica was wrapped around him, her head burrowed against his chest, her hand resting on his thigh. It felt right to hold her like this, frighteningly so. And he knew it was more than time to bring this part of the job to an end.

  Gently he disentangled himself and forced himself to move away, to get out of the bed. Jessica had become far too important to him. She was all he could think about. He’d spent more time at the restaurant last night thinking about Jessica, listening to her talk about herself, than he’d spent watching for her kidnappers.

  That was dangerous. It was dangerous for her, and it was dangerous for him. Never before had his job come second, and the realization panicked him. It was time for him to get the hell out of Cascadilla.

  It was time to catch Simon, he corrected himself coldly. That was the point of everything he’d done since he’d been here. That was the point of trying to catch Jessica’s kidnappers. He was sure they would lead him to the traitor.

  Only if Marcus did his job would Jessica be safe. And his job involved dragging her around the island, using her as bait.

  It was a hell of a job, he thought savagely. He stormed into the kitchen to make coffee, his emotions in a knot and confusion blackening his mood. His need to protect her, to keep her cocooned in safety in this cottage warred with his need to catch Simon. And he lost, no matter which one he chose.

  “Good morning,” Jessica said behind him, her voice sleepy and content.

  He didn’t turn to face her. “I figured you’d sleep later than this.”

  “I woke up when you got out of bed. I couldn’t sleep without you next to me.”

  The flash of joy took him by surprise. He allowed it to swell inside him for a moment before he deliberately squashed it. He couldn’t afford that kind of hope. “Seems like you’ve done it for the past twenty-one years,” he said in what he hoped was a casual voice.

  She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning into her. “That’s before I knew what I was missing.”

  He bent and kissed her, savoring her taste. Then he eased himself away. “How about some breakfast?”

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw her grin. “I don’t know why, but I’m hungry all the time lately. I guess I’m just more active than I have been.”

  “I guess so.” Her gentle teasing stirred his blood, and he wanted to turn and take her in his arms, carry her back to bed. Instead he moved away. “I guess I better give you some food, then. No telling what you’ll do if I don’t feed you.”

  “I can see you don’t want to take any chances.”

  She leaned against the counter, her eyes laughing at him, and all he wanted was to bury himself in her, to lose himself in Jessica until nothing else mattered.

  But something else did matter. Simon mattered, he reminded himself grimly as he began to prepare breakfast. And he’d better not forget it.

  “What’s the plan for today?” she asked, her voice completely trusting.

  He couldn’t afford to respond to that trust. “I thought you might like to go snorkeling.”

  She jumped away from the counter, her face blazing with pleasure. “Really? You think it’s safe?”

  He shrugged. “As safe as anything else. We want to be seen around the island, and that’s as good a way as any.” He felt his heart soften as he looked at her and saw how excited she was. “And I knew it was something you’d enjoy.”

  “Thank you, Marcus.” Her eyes shone. “I can’t wait to show you our reefs.”

  “Are there places where we can stay fairly close to shore? I don’t want to get too far out in a boat. We’ll be far too vulnerable and isolated.”

  She nodded slowly. “We won’t be able to see the best reefs, but we can see enough.” She grinned at him, her eyes bright. “I can take you to the best reefs later, after we don’t have to worry about the kidnappers.”

  There would be no later for them. He would be gone as soon as Simon was caught, as far from Cascadilla as he could get. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that to her. He didn’t want to wipe that excitement out of her eyes, that happiness from her face.

  “Let’s eat, then.” His voice was too abrupt, but he didn’t think she noticed. She was too excited about snorkeling. “Then you can tell me where we’re going so I can let my partners know.”

  “I’ll make up a list.”

  She slid into one of the kitchen chairs and grabbed a piece of paper. After thinking for a moment, she began writing.

  While they were eating, she gave his questions only perfunctory answers. She was too absorbed in what she was doing. In spite of his warnings to himself to back away from Jessica, he was fascinated. He imagined this was how she would act when she was working.

  No wonder it had been so easy for those two men to grab her, he thought. She wouldn’t have heard a thing until they were on top of her. He suspected that a parade could have gone by outside the window and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  She was a lot like him that way.

  The thought shocked him, then made him uneasy. But he had to acknowledge the truth in it. While she was working, she was totally absorbed in what she was doing. Just like he was.

  No wonder she understood him so easily.

  The thought crept, unbidden, into his mind. He tried to banish it, but it stubbornly refused to leave. Other than Margarita, a fellow agent, he had never met anyone who understood his intensity about his job, understood his commitment to it. Even Heather, so many years ago, hadn’t understood. And he thought he had loved Heather.

  There was no comparison between Jessica and Heather, he thought, panic rising. They were as unlike as two people could be.

  Then why was he comparing Jessica to Heather? Why was he assuming that Jessica would have the same reaction to his job as Heather had?

  It wasn’t just his job. He and Jessica came from different worlds. And she was far too young for him.

  But the pat answers didn’t feel right anymore. They didn’t fall as glibly from his tongue. Jessica might be years younger than he was, but she was his equal in every way that counted.

  He was veering far too close to forbidden waters, he told himself, and he stood to clear the table. He would be doing Jessica a grave injustice if he tried to hold on to her. She belonged in her own world, a world that didn’t deal in death and fear and destruction. She deserved to live in a world without shadows, a world full of people like herself.

  And totally unlike him.

  “Ready to go?” He glanced at her and was rewarded with another blinding smile. />
  “Just about. How long do you want to be gone? And do you want to go to more than one beach?”

  “That would be best, I think.” He forced himself to concentrate on the problem of the kidnappers. Mooning about Jessica wasn’t going to get them caught.

  “Good.” She beamed at him. “That’s what I was hoping you would say. I’ve picked out four places to try.”

  “Sounds good.” He reached for her list. “Let me call my partners.”

  She handed him the piece of paper and leaned back in her chair. “They must be good at what they do. Other than the time I saw one of them step out of the alley, I haven’t seen them at all.”

  “You’re not supposed to see them. And neither are the kidnappers. With any luck, those two won’t see our men until we’ve slapped the handcuffs on them.”

  Some of the smile left her eyes. “Do you think that will be soon?”

  “I have no idea. So far, they’ve played this exactly right. They’ve stayed out of sight, they haven’t talked and they haven’t tried to snatch anyone else, at least as far as we know. But if they’re still around and still looking for you, we’ll get a hit sooner or later.”

  “Do you think they’re still around?”

  He hesitated for a fraction of a second. “We have to assume they are.” If Simon was involved, Marcus could almost guarantee it. The traitor had gone to too much trouble to give up so easily.

  Apparently she didn’t notice his hesitation, because she nodded. “All right, then, let’s give them some opportunities to find us.”

  He picked up the phone, called Devane and told him their plans for the day, then read the list of beaches where they could be found. Then he hung up and turned to Jessica.

  “Are these all beaches where you’ve snorkeled in the past? Are they places someone who knew you would look for you to go snorkeling?”

  She nodded. “I usually go to the reefs that surround the island, the ones you can only access by boat. They’re more suitable for my research. But if I’m going to snorkel from the shore, these are the ones I would choose.”