Intimate Stranger

by Jan Springer

  She needed to concentrate on Skip, her fiancé. A safe, reliable man who didn’t shoot her insides into a tangled blossom of lust. All she had to do was keep Chance at a comfortable distance, and she could do that by supplying him with loads of work. It would keep them both busy and her mind off her attraction to him. That was all it was, a mere attraction. Just like it had been with her husband Steve.

  Then why had his death left her nursing a broken heart? There was no way she’d ever let another man control her emotions like Steve McCullen had. Never in a million years. And that’s why she would marry Skip Cole. At least if something happened to him, she wouldn’t have her heart broken again.

  * * * * *

  Chance steered the boat through the thin wisps of white mist toward the dark silhouette of Shipwreck Island. Giant, frothing ocean waves crashed against the sides of Sweet Lies and he braced his feet farther apart as the boat swayed under the onslaught.

  Far up ahead in the north sky white blades of lightning forked through the air. There was a storm out on the ocean. That would account for the swollen waves tonight. But that didn’t account for the stormy anger brewing inside him.

  His jaw clenched painfully and a bad kind of black rage slammed through him as he thought about Skip kissing Emily back at the fair. Out of all the men in the world why did she have to pick him? She’d never had any romantic feelings for him in the past. Then again, he had been gone for years. Plenty of time for Skip to get something going with his wife.

  So why wasn’t she happy about the upcoming nuptials like when they’d planned their own wedding? Their apartment had been littered with Vegas brochures on chapels, hotels and restaurants as well as bridal magazines, florist shop brochures, catering menus, samples of bouquets, anything that had to do with a wedding.

  He’d seen no evidence of an upcoming wedding back at the lighthouse. He’d seen no love brewing between Emily and Skip. Heck, they didn’t even kiss like lovers. Mere pecks on the cheek sure wouldn’t make their marriage last or bring on the kids.

  Unless… Chance inhaled at an exhilarating thought. Unless she wasn’t in love with Skip?

  When his ex-best friend had intruded into their dance, Chance sensed her disappointment at the intrusion and she’d even stiffened in his arms. Why? Why would she react that way to the man she was about to marry? Okay, so at first he’d stepped on her toes, but when he remembered how to dance, she’d melted against him. Did she suspect who he was?

  No. If she did, she would ask him point-blank.

  He was so deep in thought he didn’t hear her climb the bridge ladder to the wheelhouse where he stood at the helm until her sexy scent wafted through the cool, salty breeze and a wave of heated desire swept through him. He remembered almost kissing her on the dance floor. Knew her lips would be warm and welcoming. Felt his cock hardening and the blood racing through him in heated anticipation. Just as he was doing now.

  “Why do you dislike Skip?” she asked.

  Curiosity laced her voice and Chance’s grip tightened around the steering wheel. Keeping his eyes glued to the looming silhouette of the lighthouse, he tried to appear nonchalant.

  “What gives you that idea?”

  “The way you tense up whenever he’s around. The way you tensed just now when I mentioned his name.”

  “I’ve got nothing against your fiancé,” he lied.

  She didn’t say anything.

  “What does he think about you letting me stay out here at your place?” he found himself asking. He wondered how Skip would react with his fiancée inviting him to live at the lighthouse. If Emily were his fiancée he’d never allow it.

  There was a long silence and then she sighed. “I didn’t tell him.”

  Chance laughed. “Why not?”

  “He didn’t ask and I didn’t tell. No harm done. Besides he’s gone.”

  He grinned inwardly. Skip Cole had deserted his fiancée. What a jerk.

  “Sore loser.”

  “He had business to attend to.”

  “He’s engaged to the most beautiful woman in the country and he’d rather do business?”

  He heard her draw in a sharp breath at his comment. It was a sensual sound he remembered well and suddenly he wanted her. Ached to have her sweet lips on his mouth. Craved to have her legs clasp around his hips while he made love to her. He wanted to feel like a man again and he wanted to hear her sexy little gasps when he brought her to climax.

  Her sudden frightened cry ripped him back to reality. He saw the tension on her face as she pointed to the silhouette of her lighthouse set on the high dark cliffs.

  “Someone’s in the lighthouse tower!”

  Dread shot through Chance as he scanned the rocky shoreline ahead. He barely made out the black silhouette of the buildings partially hidden behind the white swirls of fog. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Look up in the lamp room,” Emily hissed.

  No sooner had she said the words than he spotted the tiny flicker of light flash in the glass windows.

  Lightning? No, it looked more like a flashlight beam bouncing off the windows inside. She was right. Someone was in the lighthouse.

  Fuck!

  “We have to hurry,” she urged.

  Chance didn’t hesitate. Shoving the throttle forward into a faster speed, his heart cracked against his chest like a jackhammer as he kept his gaze glued to the lighthouse. Obviously Skip recognized him and that’s why he’d left the dance early and come here for the same thing Chance had come for. Hell, he shouldn’t have waited so long. Should have sent one of his brothers to the lighthouse the minute he remembered the laptop possibly still being up there in its hiding place.

  Shit! He should have gone straight up there last night and checked to see if it was there, taken it and gotten the hell out of here. Now his selfish need to be with her had put her into danger. Within minutes he maneuvered Sweet Lies to the dock and cursed when she hopped out of the boat and raced into the misty glow.

  * * * * *

  Emily stood just inside the open doorway of the lighthouse tower and stared up the gloomy interior to the dim light shining at the top. Obviously the intruder had left the door open up there. Too bad for him. All she had to do was close this bottom door and slide the bolt into place then call the cops. She was just about to do that when she heard Chance’s rushed footsteps cross the wood deck behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. However her relief was short-lived when she saw the anger splashing across his face.

  “Don’t ever pull a stupid stunt like that again.” He spoke in a harsh whisper, but the undertone of admonishment and anger came through loud and clear.

  “Don’t move from here,” he commanded in quite the authoritative voice she didn’t care for. Brushing past her, he stepped into the open doorway and disappeared up the curling stairs, the darkness swallowing him.

  His brisk remark pushed aside her fear and shot a jolt of hot fury into her veins. She wasn’t about to let some man tell her what to do or fight her battles for her!

  Ignoring his order to stay here, she followed behind him. Darkness closed in around her as she entered the octagonal structure. Using the walls to keep her balance, she practically ran up the narrow curling stairs to catch up to Chance. When he realized she was following him, he emitted a gentle curse, grabbed her hand and began pulling her along behind him. He moved at a very fast pace and she had a hard time keeping up to his long stride. By the time they reached the top step, Emily was huffing and puffing, her lungs frantic for air.

  The instant they stepped into the watchtower, the dim light flicked off and a shadowy figure crashed into Chance, knocking him off his feet. Emily screamed as the intruder brushed past her and disappeared through the doorway they had just entered. Footsteps echoed down the narrow staircase as the person escaped.

  “Chance?” Emily called out as she gazed into the darkness, her heart pounding with fear for him. She tried to find the light swi
tch but couldn’t. A moment later when she heard his heavy breathing from somewhere nearby, she sighed her relief. Then his voice floated out of the darkness.

  “I’m here. Just had the wind knocked out of me. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  At her confirmation, Chance’s shadowy figure rose up in front of her a few feet away, his silhouette tall and menacing against the dark blue night sky behind the glass windows. From somewhere down below the sound of an engine captured their attention.

  “He’s docked a boat on the north shore,” Chance said. “C’mon!” Grabbing her hand, he pushed open the nearby door. Crisp, cool salty air blew against her face as he led her onto the observation deck of her lighthouse.

  “Down there!” He pointed down to the ocean where a lone figure sat hunched low in a speedboat that left mist-streaked white waves in its wake as it quickly disappeared around the point.

  “You recognize the boat?” Chance asked.

  “No,” Emily whispered hoarsely. Her legs were shaking and she suddenly felt like crying. Who would come here to her island and invade her lighthouse?

  “I’d better go downstairs and see if he stole anything.”

  Heading toward the stairs, she cried out when her foot cracked painfully into something lying on the floor.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Hit something.”

  She made her way to the nearby wall, tried to orient herself in the darkness, thankfully found the light switch and turned it on.

  When she spotted the black lump on the wooden floor, she gasped in shock. For a moment she thought she was dreaming. Slowly the disbelief made way to joy.

  “It’s my husband’s old laptop computer. I haven’t seen it in years. After he died, I looked for it and couldn’t find it. Why would someone bring back his laptop? And leave it here?”

  The bittersweet happiness felt when finding a wrapped Christmas present in a closet after someone had died swept through her.

  “Is it damaged?” Chance’s voice sounded strangled as he came up behind her.

  Swooping, she picked up the computer and rapped her knuckles on the lid. “It’s as solid as concrete. They don’t make them like this anymore. And it sure is heavy.”

  “I’ll carry it down for you.”

  He made a move to take the laptop, but she didn’t want to let go of it.

  “No, I’ll take it. Let’s go downstairs.”

  * * * * *

  Half an hour later, Chance had retrieved both Emily’s furry red lobster he’d won for her at the fair and the seaweed pie from the boat.

  She brewed some coffee and they sat in silence as he dug into his second helping of the deliciously sweet seaweed-apple-blueberry pie. She watched him eat. Her eyes were bright with excitement over finding the laptop, her cheeks were flushed and her hair was all mussed from the wind they’d encountered on the way home. Despite her strong outer appearance, he knew by the way her eyes darted about at every little noise that she was still jittery about the break-in.

  He was uneasy too. Whoever the hell had been up in the lighthouse had found his laptop this time around. Yet the person hadn’t tried to harm him or Emily. They’d been too much in a hurry to get out of here. Not what he would have expected from someone associate with the violence he’d incurred over the years. Despite that fact, he should put in a call to his brothers and let them know what happened. He would do that later. Would get them to come here and pick up the laptop and analyze the contents. That was the only way to keep Emily safe. At least he hoped so. He couldn’t help but cast quick glances at the laptop computer as it sat sentry between them on the tiny kitchen table for two.

  It was his laptop. Loaded with the information that had gotten him tossed into jail, his death faked, forced to use a false name and a life of living hell on death row in a Texas prison. His gaze dropped to the disc slot and he breathed a sigh of relief. The disc was still stuffed in there. He wondered if Emily had noticed it yet. Even if she did, he’d password protected the disc. So if she tried it on her other computer, it wouldn’t work unless she inputted the correct password.

  “Did my brother-in-law tell you what happened to my husband?”

  Her soft question pleased Chance. She was testing him. The information she gathered from him would show her exactly how much Daniel trusted him and in turn how much trust she should place in him.

  He thought for a moment before answering. “He said Steve had just quit his job in New York and caught a flight out to Charlottetown. A friend of yours picked him up and drove him to where he had Sweet Lies docked near the North Cape. After he boarded the boat, he was arrested because a substantial amount of heroin was found onboard. Within hours of his arrest he apparently committed suicide in jail.”

  “That’s a lie!”

  Her angry outburst startled him. For the first time he caught a glimpse of the hell he’d put her through all these years. Correction, the hell they’d both endured because of Skip. Skip, who Steve had trusted with a copy of the information that sat in that disc in his laptop.

  “I said apparently,” he soothed, yet her eyes continued to blaze with unbelievable fierceness.

  “Did he tell you we all had doubts?” she asked.

  Chance nodded. “Especially when you demanded to see your husband’s body and were given his ashes instead.”

  “Convenient wasn’t it? A mix-up in paperwork they said. Did Daniel tell you what a stupid thing I did after I got my husband’s ashes?”

  “You scattered them in the ocean. He also told me you were very distraught at the time. It’s understandable, Emily.”

  “My mourning screwed everything up. Throwing his remains in the ocean prevented any sophisticated forensic tests to be done.”

  “Don’t you think it was his ashes?” He held his breath and anxiously waited for her answer. Did she think he was still alive?

  “It’s not that. My main concern is they probably cremated Steve to prevent us from finding out he was murdered.”

  “They?”

  “If I knew that answer, I’d have put them behind bars a long time ago.” She gazed down at the laptop. “Why would someone bring Steve’s laptop back after all these years?”

  A shiver of dread shot through Chance. He might as well tell her the truth. At least some of it.

  “It wasn’t brought back,” he admitted.

  Emily frowned at his words.

  “I saw a wall tile missing near the doorway that led up to the lamp room. I think Steve hid the laptop in the wall.”

  Which was the truth. He had hidden the laptop that morning.

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Maybe he used to go up there and write his articles? It’s a great view for inspiration, and instead of lugging it up and down he just put it up there.”

  Liar. He put it up there because he was expecting trouble. Stupid idiot that he was, he thought he could handle it himself. He’d been sorely mistaken and paid dearly for being a fool.

  Chance forced himself to jab at another piece of the seaweed pie.

  “Is this the first time you’ve had a break-in since Steve died?” he asked, thinking it was highly unlikely someone wouldn’t come here and look for the original disc after all this time. Besides, Daniel had mentioned there had been break-ins.

  “I had a couple shortly after he died.”

  “Anything stolen?”

  “They ripped everything apart as if they were looking for something. They took our computer, printer, fax, other office items and that was it. No jewelry or other expensive items. The second break-in came a few days later. Things were moved around but nothing stolen. Someone was looking for something in the drawers, behind picture frames even the carpets had been lifted. Steve’s two brothers made me go into hiding until they could figure out who killed Steve. Then after a couple of years, Daniel took me down to Mexico with him. He was depressed about something but never told me what. I figured it had to do with Steve. W
e lived with my father-in-law. He was such a nice man but I was really homesick and picked up one day and just had to come back home. Despite their protests. They were so overprotective.”

  Steve was glad his dad and brother had taken such good care of Emily. If she’d stayed here and been in the line of fire, they would have used her against him in some way. He was surprised they hadn’t kidnapped her when they’d kidnapped him and done just that.

  “Better safe than sorry,” he muttered.

  At his comment, she looked at him and smiled, and he couldn’t help but inhale as her dimples caved in her cheeks. She looked fantastic in dimples.

  “You’ve got a piece of pie on your lip,” she whispered.

  To his surprise, she reached over and dabbed her warm finger against his upper lip. Her touch was soft and tender. A direct contrast to how his life had been over the past few years. Suddenly he wanted to take her hand and kiss her delicate fingers, one by one, and that was just for starters. After that he’d take her fingers into his mouth. One at a time. Seducing each perfect digit until lust flared in her eyes.

  As if sensing what he must be thinking, her gentle caress slowed and she drew her finger away. Her gaze quickly followed, dropping from his face back to his laptop, an uneasy smile curling her pink lips.

  God, she was so cute when she became nervous. He wished he could lean over and kiss her pretty mouth. Ached to have her lips wrapped around his cock. Taking him deep inside her right down her throat.

  Stop it! he chastised himself. If you try anything she’ll think you’re a sex maniac.

  Clearing his throat, he looked down at his half-eaten second helping of pie, trying to pretend he didn’t notice her anxiety.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why on earth did you pay one thousand dollars for a date with me?” she asked.

  “It wasn’t you I was after,” he replied, trying to keep his voice causal.

  Disappointment swept across her face. It was good to know she was interested in him. Very good to know. Despite that though, nothing could come of it. He needed to remember that.

  “It was your pie I wanted,” he lied.