by Noelle Adams
“Right.”
Blake waited for recrimination, but it never came. Instead, he spoke with simple concern. “And how do they handle it when you bring them up here, only to blow them off?”
“Oh, I don’t ‘blow them’ anywhere,” she assured him, a cocky grin coming automatically to her face. “I know how to play it right. I mean, I show these fellas a good time when I take them out. They meet lots of pretty girls – girls who don’t have boyfriends who look like Rube, if you know what I mean. When I send them on their way, they’re usually pretty happy.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you happy?”
She turned back to the glittering panorama that was unfurled before them. She spread out her arms. “As long as I’m with Rube, all this – as much of it as I want – is mine. If that’s not happiness, then what is?”
He didn’t answer, but Blake could feel him standing behind her, waiting. The strong, silent type. Well, she’d wanted something new, something different, and he was definitely that. Not what she was used to, nothing at all like those eager boys tripping over themselves to get their hands under her skirt. For that type of guy, sex was about conquest. The fact that another person was involved, that someone’s feelings may actually be concerned, never seemed to occur to them. Such, she supposed, was the callousness of youth. Caleb was different – older, tougher, and yet more tender.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that she’d invited him to come out with her tonight.
Her voice spoke again. “Why did you come to L.A.?” And into my life?
He paused, as if the question surprised him. His voice floated over her shoulder as he answered, sounding as if he were far away and yet very, very close to her.
“I owed a friend a favor,” he said simply. Sensing there was more, she said nothing, and eventually he spoke again. “This is an old friend, the fellow I’m talking about. We grew up together. When we were in high school we had the misfortune of falling for the same girl. She was beautiful, and she knew it. She used it on us, played us off each other. She got some sort of kick out of making us hate one another.”
He paused, as if considering whether he ought to tell her this story. She didn’t push him, merely waited to see what his decision would be. When he had made it, he continued. “We knew what she was doing, my friend and I, but we were powerless to stop it. Hormones are crazy things, you know? And this girl held all the cards. One night I was driving her home from the movies. It was raining, and I was going much too fast. I told her I’d had enough, that she had to break it off with Steve and tell him she would never see him again.
“She refused, so I told her that I was dumping her. She laughed at that idea. She didn’t think that I would have the guts to do it. I was arguing with her while I should have been watching the road. We hit a slippery spot, and the car flipped over.”
Caleb’s voice wavered to a stop, and Blake turned to look at him. His face was calm, almost unmoved, but she saw the tears shimmering in his eyes, and she heard the quaking in his voice. She reached out and touched his arm lightly.
He took a breath and continued. “She was killed right away. I’d told her to put on her seatbelt but she didn’t listen. She never listened. I was dazed, lying there upside down, staring at the dead girl that I thought I’d loved. I could smell gas, but I couldn’t make myself get out of the car.” He shook his head and tried to smile. “You know how in the movies cars are always exploding when they roll over?”
Blake nodded.
“That’s all bull,” he said forcefully. “Cars these days are made so that you’d pretty much have to stick a firecracker in your gas tank and light it before you’d get it to blow up.” His eyes flickered. “But this happened a long time ago. I smelled the gas, I saw flames. I knew I was a goner. And then all of a sudden, there was Steve, crawling into the car. He’d been following us – like I said, we were both crazy for this girl. He got me out of the seatbelt and pulled me out of the wreck. He was going back for her when the car exploded.”
Caleb’s breath caught as he uttered the word. Blake stood silent, waiting as he gathered himself.
“Steve saved my life that night,” he said quietly. “And when someone like that asks you for a favor, you’re supposed to do it. That’s what I believe.”
“How old were you when it happened?”
“Seventeen.”
God, so young. She wasn’t sure how to respond. Such a horrific tragedy – the loss of the girl he’d loved, the rift with his friend, the guilt of surviving. She had the sickly feeling that she’d tricked him into revealing too much. “I’m sorry,” she said feebly, knowing it wasn’t enough.
He shook his head as if to clear it. “Guess you weren’t expecting a sad story like that, were you?” He attempted a smile.
She answered with a smile of her own. “Not entirely. But I hope you’re not sorry you told me.”
“No.”
There was a moment of silence, during which Blake felt tension gathering between them like steam in a tea kettle. When it blew, who knew what would happen? She was attracted to this man, more so than she wanted to admit. But she couldn’t exactly have a relationship with him, now could she? She changed the subject.
“So your family is still in Iowa?”
“Yes. My parents and my sisters live there, all within hollering distance of each other. What about you?”
Blake smiled faintly. “It’s just me and my parents, and I haven’t ‘hollered’ at them in a long time. We don’t talk.”
“Not at all?”
She shook her head.
“But why?” he asked.
“I quit school to become a model when I was sixteen. Have you ever heard the story about Lana Turner being discovered at a soda counter?”
“That happened to you?” Caleb looked impressed.
“Almost. It was at a Starbucks. A guy came up to me and asked if I’d ever considered modeling. He gave me his card and told me to call him. Most of the time when that happens, the guys are trolling for desperate girls who’ll pose nude. But this one happened to be legitimate.”
“Lucky you.”
“No kidding. Of course, my parents weren’t exactly crazy about the idea of me being a model – you know, with all the stories you hear about the hedonistic lifestyle – but as long as it didn’t interfere with school, they let me do it. Then I was offered a chance to do a photo shoot in Paris, and of course they refused to let me go. But I was sixteen by then, and at that age you really think you know it all. So I ran away.” She paused, with her lip trembling. When she gathered herself together, she continued. “It took them a long time to forgive me, and things have never been the same since then.”
“When was the last time you talked to them?”
“Let’s see… what year is this?” She gave tremulous laugh, her smile bright in spite of the tears that hovered in the corners of her eyes.
Unable to resist, Caleb reached out and pulled her into his arms. Her body felt warm and fragile, her mouth was supple and yielded freely to the soft, tender kiss that he placed upon her lips.
After a moment, her arms encircled his waist. Just as she was leaning into him, lifting her chin to give him a better angle, he pulled away.
The air felt cold against Blake’s lips, where Caleb had warmed her only a moment ago. Why had he stopped kissing her?
Looking into this eyes, she thought she knew the answer. He felt guilty for something. But what was it? Maybe he thought he was taking advantage of her. Or maybe –
Ugh! She was disgusted with both of them. Too many maybes, too much thinking! Here they were, all alone on top of a mountain, looking out over an ocean of city lights. This was the time for action. And she was going to take it.
Resolute, she stalked forward and wrapped her arms around him. She stood on her tiptoes, eyes wide open, and kissed him.
He resisted at first, but then his eyes closed and he pulled her
to him in an almost violent embrace. Her eyes fluttered closed as her mouth opened under his, allowing his tongue to stake its claim against hers. Chills ran through her as his teeth scraped her flesh, and when she bit his lower lip in answer, he moaned out loud.
His hands made their way across her back, down over her backside and rested there, pulling her close against his groin. She gasped into his mouth, feeling how much he wanted her.
Her own hands raced over his back, searching for purchase, for something to hold onto. But it was no use. The ground was dropping away beneath her, even as her body felt like it was going up in flames.
Seven
“You were just supposed to watch her,” Steve said. His lips were pressed tightly together and his eyes were like flints. “What the hell do you mean, you ‘made contact’?”
Caleb forced himself to maintain eye contact with his friend. He had been steeling himself for this conversation since he’d rolled out of bed this morning. In the cold light of day, the fact that he’d kissed Blake last night seemed to be the harshest kind of betrayal – against Steve, against Blake. To put it bluntly, the kisses were a mistake… albeit the kind of mistake he would make every day if he could.
He was glad, in a way, that nothing more than kissing had happened last night. He didn’t completely understand what was going on in Blake’s life right now, or what her relationship was to Rube. But Caleb was sure that whatever was going on, she didn’t need or deserve anyone taking advantage of her. And if they’d slept together, that’s exactly what he would have been doing.
Trying not to sound defensive, Caleb told Steve how he and Blake had met. “I was on the beach when I spotted her. I tripped and fell, practically at her feet. She came over and we started talking.”
Steve seemed unimpressed with the serendipity of the events. “You should have picked yourself up and gone on your merry way,” he said harshly.
Caleb nodded slowly. He’d thought of that, too. “Probably. But it might have seemed kind of strange. I mean, this woman isn’t exactly used to guys blowing her off. If I’d taken off, and then later she’d seen me watching her, she might’ve gotten suspicious.”
Steve was gracious enough to pause and consider that logic, thin though it was. “So then what happened?”
Being as straightforward as he could, Caleb sketched in the relevant facts. He managed to avoid mentioning the heated embrace that had ended their evening. When he got to the part about the Hadleys’ party, Steve’s hand flew up, stopping him from speaking.
“You took Blake to a party?”
Now Caleb did break eye contact. He ran his thumb intently down the seam of the leather chair in which he sat. “Yes, and then I took her home,” he said.
“Is that all?”
Guilt made him testy. “Who are you, my father?”
“No, I’m your friend, and in this particular instance, I’m also your boss.” Steve narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “And I want this question answered with a yes or no: are you having a sexual relationship with Blake Sera?”
“Of course not,” Caleb snapped. He was glad that Steve had used the word sexual, because it made it easy to say no. If Steve had said inappropriate, it would have made denial more tricky.
Steve leaned back in his chair. “But you are attracted to her, and you did make contact when you weren’t supposed to.”
“Well, which question do you want me to answer first?” Caleb heard the antagonistic note in his voice. Before Steve could respond, he held up a hand apologetically. “I’m sorry.” He took a breath. “You’re right, on both counts. I did make contact when I wasn’t supposed to. And yes, I’m attracted to her. It’s hard not to be.”
Steve shook his head with concern. “The girl’s bad news, man.”
“You don’t even know her.”
“I know the type.”
“She doesn’t fit a type,” Caleb said slowly. “That’s what’s so fascinating about her. She’s smart, and she’s funny – “
“And she’s involved with one of the most dangerous men in LA,” Steve finished. He redirected the conversation abruptly. “What has she told you anything about Rube?”
“Not much. Just that he’s out of town for a while. It was hard for me to ask her about him without raising her suspicions.”
Steve got up and walked around his desk. He leaned against the front edge, arms crossed, looking intently at Caleb. “Well then, let me tell you something about him. Rube Jeffries has dropped off the map,” he said. “No one can find him. Not one of my contacts in law enforcement knows where he might be. This is looking more and more dangerous.”
He stared into space for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind about something. “I’m shutting this thing down,” he said flatly.
Caleb jumped to his feet. “What?”
Steve held up a hand. “Now listen to me. I’m running is a security company, not a detective agency, not a law enforcement agency. And this job stinks to high heaven. We don’t know who we’re protecting – or from whom.”
“What about Blake? What about her security?”
“I don’t know a thing about that woman, and neither do you!”
I know that she’s the most alive person I’ve ever met, Caleb thought. I know that when I’m with her, I never know what she’s going to say or do. And I know that when she kissed me, I forgot that anyone existed in the world besides her.
“She needs our help,” Caleb said from between clenched teeth. “If we drop this thing now, she may suffer the consequences of your cowardice.”
Anger flashed between them like lightening.
“You’re too close to this,” Steve said hotly. “You’re losing your objectivity.”
“I’m not losing anything,” Caleb said angrily, knowing it wasn’t true.
He turned away while he still had a handle on his temper, stalked across the room to the window, and stared down at the city. Already it looked smaller than it had only yesterday.
He turned back to face Steve again. “We’re not going to leave this woman on her own, with no clue of the danger she might be in. We made an agreement, you and me. And we’re going to follow through on it – both of us. You’re going to keep this case open, and I’m going to stick close to Blake and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”
“And after it’s over, what do you think is going to happen? That the two of you are going to ride off into the sunset together?” Steve’s voice was acerbic, but there was sympathy there, too. “She doesn’t seem like that kind of girl, my friend.”
“You don’t know what kind of girl she is – neither of us do. But to answer your question, after this thing is over, all that’s going to happen is that I’m going to get out of this city as fast as my bike will carry me.”
Eight
It didn’t take very long for Blake to start feeling guilty about kissing Caleb. In the moment, of course, it had felt righter than anything she’d experienced in a long time. Their bodies had melded together in a perfect fusion of heat and desire. Afterwards they’d pried themselves apart, climbed onto the bike and cruised slowly back to the Entwistle Ridge house, feeling the wind on their cheeks and the steady, sure motion of the motorcycle beneath them. Blake had taken it for granted that Caleb would come in, have a drink, and end up spending the night. Which, she was sure, would have ended her dry spell quite satisfactorily.
But the moment they drove through those tall iron gates, she had remembered herself. She couldn’t do this. It was wrong. Aside from the fact that it seemed like she was being unfaithful to Rube – not that he would care, really – she was also putting Caleb in danger, just by being with him. After all, he didn’t have anything to do with this mess. He was an innocent in all this.
So she was relieved when he hadn’t objected to a quick kiss good night at the front door. In his eyes she had read uncertainty mingled with desire, and had felt a flash of sympathy for him. Caleb was a smart guy, a good guy, but he was probably a little naïve. He
didn’t know anything about Rube’s world.
Not that she did, either, come to think of it. Maybe Rube could explain it to her when he came home.
Blake yawned and stretched. She was being very bad. It was almost noon on the day after the Hadleys’ party, and she was still in bed, despite the fact that she had been awake for hours, watching the changing shape of the light as it played across the ceiling. She knew she should get up and start her day, but she felt trapped, wedged in by her isolation and the uncertainty of what was going on around her.
Staying late in bed always gave her the distressing but somehow self-satisfied feeling that she was committing an act of blatant rebellion. Her mother, Elaine, was a high school principal with a “get up and go” mentality who had never tolerated lie-a-beds. Blake remembered how Elaine would come into her bedroom at six o’clock every morning, softly shake her awake and brightly ask, “Good morning, Blake Sera. What are you going to do with today? How are you going to make the world a better place?”
Of course, that was Elaine’s credo, wasn’t it? Use every day to make the world a better place, and you’ll be better for it. It was an admirable philosophy in theory, but in practice, the application of it had sometimes come across as rather… harsh. But Elaine’s brisk manner and snapping intelligence concealed a warm and caring heart, although sometimes concealed it too well for Blake’s taste. Blake’s father, William, was a retired insurance salesman with a quiet, loveable nature who had long ago learned to sit back and let his wife take the helm in their lives. Together, Bill and Elaine had always formed an unscalable wall of parental care.
As Blake had told Caleb last night, she had struck off on her own at sixteen. But even then she hadn’t climbed that wall so much as she’d tunneled under it. She’d snuck off in the middle of the night and forged her mother’s signature on the parental consent forms. Then she’d managed to convince her agent that her parents were completely in favor of her going to Paris on her own and pursuing this chimerical career of modeling. Well, she was a good liar. She always had been.
The night she ran away she left a note for her parents on her pillow. The following week she called them on a rainy afternoon from a phone booth in front of the Eiffel Tower, allowing the sketchy long-distance connection to buffer her from their anger and disappointment.
