She couldn’t see his face, but the drop of his chin told her he was staring at her. All of her. The exposed skin just above the scooped neckline prickled hotly under his intense scrutiny.
“Who are you? What are you doing in here?” She refused to give into the impulse to cross her arms, instead forced them to remain at her side. “Where’s Lily?”
“If you’re looking for the girl dressed like a go-go dancer, she disappeared into the ladies’ room. I’m looking for Miss Van Winter, Cassandra Van Winter.”
Cassandra gripped the massive folds of the skirt as she unwillingly took a step back.
The stranger straightened and crossed the threshold. He stopped a few feet from her in a pool of light, his hands spread wide, his voice low and even. “Miss Van Winter, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“How do you know I’m her?”
His grin revealed a line of strong white teeth and deep dimples. “You just told me.”
Cassandra realized she’d done just that. A light sheen of sweat popped out on her skin. Alarm stabbed at her heart causing it to hammer in her chest.
Up close, he was taller, with close-cropped hair and a nearly perfect posture, almost soldierly. A black tee shirt peeked out from his matching open leather jacket, emphasizing the wide expanse of his shoulders and chest. Threadbare jeans showed off a set of muscular thighs to perfection.
Her eyes locked onto a pair of well-worn leather boots. The covers of the romance novels Lily was always leaving around the shop filled her mind.
Cowboy boots.
Hadn’t she just been trying to picture Willard in the same attire as the man in front of her? Trade his leather jacket for a Stetson and she’d have her cowboy.
“Cass, there’s a real hottie out front demanding—” Lily came back into the room. “Hey, I let you in because you insisted, but I told you to stay put out front.”
The stranger quickly sized up her assistant. “Then you shouldn’t have stopped for a potty break. You Lily James?” he asked.
As Lily recovered from her initial shock, a sexy smile crept over her pixyish face. A tilt of her head caused her shoulder-length blonde hair to swing against her cheek. “If that’s who you want me to be. If not, I’ll gladly change it.”
“Lillian Downing Roberto Louis James?”
The smile vanished as Lily advanced. “Are you here because of one of those losers I used to call a husband? Listen, I agreed at each divorce to no alimony, not that any of those scum could afford it, and they agreed to crawl back under—”
“I’m not here for you,” he said to Lily before turning back to Cassandra. “Your mother did mention your red hair, but I still didn’t recognize you right away. That dress is a little distracting.”
The ease with which he dismissed Lily’s flirting and focused on her had that earlier warmth creeping up a notch, and the satin bodice of the dress clung to her damp skin. “You know my mother?”
“We’ve spoken on the phone.”
A customer. Cassandra masked her surprise. He didn’t look like the usual clientele her mother frequently sent her way, but she’d learned long ago people weren’t always what they appeared to be on the outside. “I’m pleased my mother recommended my shop, but customers aren’t allowed back here.”
His gaze drifted from her face to her neck and one dark eyebrow rose into a high arch.
Damn! The necklace!
Lily was right, she needed to get this thing into the safe. Cassandra’s chin dropped and she reached for the clasp, aware that the movement caused her breasts to strain against the gown’s plunging neckline. “If you’ll wait out in the main store, I’ll be right with you.”
“I’m not a customer, Miss Van Winter. I’m here for you.”
Cassandra’s head jerked up. “Excuse me?”
He took another step toward her. “The name’s Reilly Murdock. Your mother hired me—”
“My mother did what?”
“She hired me. For you.”
His words, low and deep, carried a hint of Southern twang. It glided through the air until it slowly wrapped itself around her body. Cassandra’s fingers stilled, her mind racing back to a few nights ago when she’d gone to her mother’s for dinner. The evening had ended with a standard lecture about how there was more to life than work and that her daughter needed to spend more time with the opposite sex.
Oh, good Lord, what did that woman do? Contact an escort service?
Cassandra admitted the man in front of her was one fine specimen of the male species, vastly different from anyone she’d ever dated. She preferred men more like, well, like Willard. Then again, this was her mother’s doing.
Giving up on the necklace for a moment, Cassandra dropped her hands. “Mr. Murdock, I’m afraid there’s been a mix-up. My mother’s a wonderful woman and I appreciate her concern, but I don’t need you.”
Three steps and he closed the distance between them with Lily right behind him. “She seems to think otherwise.”
He loomed over her. Cassandra found herself staring into eyes the steely color of the sky on an overcast day. One more step and he would be dangerously close to invading her personal space. The half grin rising into one impossibly deep dimple told her he knew it.
She took a deep breath, hoping it would strengthen her resolve to deal with this situation calmly. Instead, she drew in a mix of scents foreign to the city. Clean, fresh air of wide-open spaces, the warmth of the sun and musky leather radiated from the man.
“I’m my mother’s only child.” Cassandra forced herself to remember what she and this handsome stranger were talking about. At the same time, she refused to concede to the way her stomach flip-flopped over that one dimple capturing her attention. “And she’s recently become interested in my love—well, in me being sing—let’s just say she’s concerned about my well being.”
“I think she has every right to be.”
“You do?” Cassandra crossed her arms. “What are you? Some kind of professional?”
“Let’s just say I know what needs to be done.”
Cassandra choked back a gasp. “Ah, as interesting as that sounds, I can assure you, while I have spent the last few months working long hours, Mr. Murdock—”
“Call me Reilly,” he interrupted.
“While I’ve been working very hard, Mr. Murdock, I haven’t crawled into a hole. I don’t know how much my mother’s paying you, but I don’t want her wasting her money.”
Reilly’s eyebrows drew together in a tight knit. “I’m sure you think you can take care of yourself, but a situation like this sometimes calls for outside assistance.”
In shocked outrage, Cassandra looked past him to Lily, hoping for an ally, but her assistant’s bobbing head and cheeky grin told her she was alone in this battle.
“Mr. Murdock—Reilly,” she quickly amended when she saw he was about to interrupt her again. “Let me be honest. I’m just not interested in going out with you.”
His eyes narrowed. “You think I’m here to take you on a date?”
“You’re not?”
Reilly crossed his arms over his chest and Cassandra could’ve sworn he grew another inch. “Miss Van Winter, pardon me for saying this, but what in the hell are you talking about?”
“Didn’t my mother hire you to take me out? Because I refuse to believe she would stoop so low as to fix me up for sex.”
He released a mocking rasp of laughter. “Well, appealing as that sounds, I’m not here for sex. I’m here for protection.”
“Whose protection?”
“Yours.”
“From what?”
He pressed his lips together and shot a glance at Lily. “Wouldn’t you rather discuss this alone?”
“No, I wouldn’t. Please explain yourself.”
“Okay. One, whoever is making those late night phone calls. Two, the time you and your assistant ended up locked in this airtight room.” He extended lean fingers as he counted off a list. “Three, a near miss with a ta
xi and four, the fact you thought someone had followed you home a few nights last week.”
“What?” Lily exclaimed. “You never told me that!”
Why was it when this man rattled off the strange events it made them more sinister? Cassandra dropped her arms, clenched her hands together and turned her attention to Lily. “Th-there’s nothing to tell.”
“Some creep following you home?” Lily shuddered. “That’s scary.”
“They’re coincidences!” Cassandra cried. Biting her lip at the surprised look on Lily’s face, she pulled in a deep breath through her nose. “Look, I only spoke with the police because my mother went to them first. They aren’t too concerned and neither am I. My mother is getting worked up over nothing.”
“Nothing?” he repeated.
“Yes, nothing.”
“Your mom’s concerned about you,” Lily butted in.
“My mom’s been watching too many reruns of The X Files.”
“Cass, I think you should take this more seriously. Oh no—” Lily looked up, “—there’s that awful screeching noise again. What is that?”
Reilly’s eyes quickly scanned the ceiling. “Being followed, nearly suffocating in an air-tight room and almost being hit by a car is nothing?”
Up until this moment, yes. Damn him for making her second guess herself. “Yes, nothing, just like the creaking noises these old buildings always make. If I may change the subject, where are you from, Mr. Murdock?”
A guarded look entered his eyes and his chin upped a notch. “Texas.”
Texas. Where else but Texas? “Well, obviously you’re a newcomer to our fair city. Almost being run down by a New York cabbie is a common occurrence. And there are over eight million people living here. The chance someone might be walking the same direction as you, for a number of blocks, isn’t unusual either.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Irked, Cassandra planted her hands on her hips. “What exactly is it you do, Mr. Murdock? For a living, I mean? Is ‘bodyguard’ your official title?”
“I served in the Marine Corps, Force Recon. At the moment, I hire out my services—”
“Just what I need, an over-aged Boy Scout.”
His gaze drilled into her and he took another step toward her. “Listen, lady—”
“No, Mr. Murdock, you listen.” Breaking free from those mesmerizing pools of darkness, Cassandra dropped her head and started to massage away the beginnings of a headache. “I’m not in need of a bodyguard, baby sitter or your protective services. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get out of this dress now. You found your way back here, I’m sure you can find your way out again.”
“I’ll show him,” Lily offered, backing out of the doorway.
He didn’t move. “This isn’t over yet.”
Cassandra’s head snapped up as she again went to work on the necklace’s fastener. The last thing she needed was to enter a broken antique in the auction. “Yes, it is. Lily, would you get me that jeweler’s box over on that antique dresser?”
“Boy, you’re a lady of contradictions, Miss Van Winter. When you thought I was here to seduce you, you stumbled over your words. You’ve gone from nervous to pissed off—”
“Damn right I’m piss—” Cassandra bit back her words. The clasp continued to refuse to cooperate. “Before you ask, my anger isn’t directed at you, but at my mother. What a waste—”
“Waste? Of what? Time? Money?”
Cassandra bit hard on her bottom lip. She couldn’t believe her mother wanted to spend their hard-earned money, her hard-earned money, on this so-called bodyguard. “You’re not needed or wanted here. Please leave.”
“I’ve never walked away from a job before it’s finished.”
The clasp gave way. Ah, success. She quickly inspected it, relief flooding her chest when she saw it was all right, before placing it in the box Lily handed her. “You aren’t walking away, Mr. Murdock, you’re being fired.”
“Your mother assured me, although you might not be too crazy about the idea, you would be willing to talk to me.”
“Well, that proves you don’t know as much about me as you think.” Cassandra turned her back to him to face the mirror, clutching the box to her chest. “What’s the famous motto of the Marines? Be prepared?”
Husky laughter rolled over her. “That is the Boy Scouts. We say Semper fidelis. Always faithful.”
A loud splintering sound resounded from the ceiling.
Cassandra looked up as a solid wall of muscle crashed into her. Lily’s screams filled the air. A sharp cry of pain escaped as she collided with an antique settee, overturning it and landing on the other side enveloped in a cloud of satin and black leather. Swirling fragments of dust and dirt clogged her throat. She struggled to breathe, a hacking cough forcing air from her lungs. She raised her head, blinking rapidly as she tried to grasp what had happened.
Pressure on her waist gave way and a hand sank deep in her hair. “Are you okay?”
Understanding filled her. She lay sprawled across the man she’d just ordered out of her store, while his words vibrated the length of her body, turning her blood to fire.
“Miss Van Win—Cassandra?”
“Wow! That was close,” Lily called out. “Are you guys okay? That cast iron fixture came crashing out of nowhere.”
“We’re fine, Miss James,” Reilly affirmed. “I suggest you leave the room for your own safety. We’ll be right out.”
Cassandra braced one hand on the floor and pushed against his shoulder with the other. Powerful muscles constricted under the soft cotton of his tee shirt. She yanked her hand away and swept back her hair, hoping to brush off the tingling sensation.
Reilly Murdock watched her intently, concern filling the dark depths of his eyes. “Are you okay?” he repeated, his fingers closing into a fist around her curls.
“What happened?”
“A light fixture fell.” His voice hardened. “Now, answer me.”
Cassandra coughed again. “Lily? Is she—”
“She’s fine. I ordered her out of the room and we better do the same, but I need to know if you’re okay first.”
“Yes, yes I think so.” Cassandra turned away, coughed again and pushed herself up a fraction more. “Are you?”
He lifted his head slightly, and a groan shuddered deep in his chest. “Me?” His head dropped back to the floor. “Yeah, I’m just great.”
Cassandra looked down. The jeweler’s box, still sandwiched between their bodies, pushed her almost bared breasts to the neckline of the antique dress. “Oh Lord!”
“My thought exactly.”
Embarrassment raced through her veins. Cassandra struggled to get up, but the long skirt kept her firmly trapped between his powerful, jean-clad thighs.
“Stop wiggling.”
“I’m not wiggling! I’m trying to stand up!”
Reilly released his hold on her hair and again bracketed his wide palms on either side of her waist. “Just don’t move, okay?”
“Why?” Cassandra stilled. “Are you hurting somewhere?”
“Not yet,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
“Hey.” Lily’s voice carried across the room. “You sure you two are okay?”
He easily rolled to his side and Cassandra found herself flat on her back. He lowered his head until his face was only inches from hers. His scrutiny dropped to her lips and the urge to wet them with a flick of her tongue filled her.
So she did.
Reilly’s gaze slammed back into hers. An emotion she couldn’t read flickered for a moment before it disappeared, then he spoke. “I’m sure it’s just another, everyday, not-so-unusual coincidence in the life of Miss Cassandra Margaret Van Winter.”
Chapter Two
“The last thing I need in my life right now is an ex-Marine!”
Cassandra’s words caused Reilly’s posture to stiffen. Hell, the moment they entered her mother’s home, having come directly from
the shop located in the same Upper East Side neighborhood, created such a powerful rush of memories in him, he found himself tucking his chin in tight and squaring his shoulders.
It’s all so familiar.
The casual wealth. The air of elitism. It was as much a dominant presence in the formal living room as the crystal chandelier, its twin dangling in the equally formal dining room. Yeah, he could easily picture Cassandra growing up here surrounded by priceless artwork and antique furniture. Seeing her greet the petite Spanish housekeeper with a hug had been a bit of a surprise.
Cassandra had insisted they come here to talk about this “situation” with her mother. After they’d walked into the living room, he’d refused a seat. Moving made it easier to ignore the stabbing pain in his leg. Landing flat on his back cushioning Cassandra had taken a toll on what remained of the mangled cartilage in his knee.
It had also had quite an effect on a spot a little higher on his anatomy. A spot still in perfect working order if the pressure against his fly meant anything.
A powerful hunger had consumed Reilly the minute he’d seen her, and he’d found himself leaning against the doorframe of her storeroom for support. She was tall, slim and her hair, a mass of red curls, gave a hint to what he figured was a fiery personality. He wasn’t wrong. It’d been such a long time since he’d desired a woman, he almost hadn’t recognized it.
Almost.
When he’d gotten close enough to look into her deep green eyes, he’d been surprised to feel an unfamiliar ache in his chest where his heart was rumored to be. But that was impossible. Another couple of ladies had already demolished that part of his body.
Refusing to revisit those memories, Reilly forced his attention back to Cassandra. She now wore a dark blue suit, the slit in the short skirt high enough to show off a fine pair of shapely legs. Legs that paced while she tried to convince her mother his services weren’t needed. He didn’t agree with her, but he admired her tenacity.
“Cassandra darling, why don’t you have a seat?” Margaret Van Winter waved a graceful hand toward a low sofa. “And there’s no such thing as an ex-Marine.”
Reilly's Promise Page 2
