by Jen Talty
She dug into her purse and handed them to him. The gentle splashing of the lake against the shoreline calmed her nerves. She looked out over the dark waters lit up by the moon and stars. Even in the dead of night, she could see the majestic structure of the main house, thanks to the fresh coat of white paint setting off the traditional black shutters.
The rattling of the door brought her attention back to her home. The carriage house may have been an eighth of the size, but the mini replica had the same sense of hominess.
“For now, I want to make sure all your windows are locked, and this door is secure.” Jared stepped into the kitchen, then flicked on the light. “I don’t think you should take any chances.”
“I can’t imagine anyone else wanting to frighten me like this.” She pulled out her cell. Only one missed call. The blocked call. And no message.
True to his cop form, he scoped out the room before letting her in. “What about the dipshit you went out with last night?”
“Tom? Why would he do something like that?”
“I have no idea. But he wasn’t too thrilled when you agreed to talk to me instead of having him in for a nightcap.” He ducked into her bedroom, then the bathroom, checking the windows. “Besides, I don’t trust him.”
“You don’t even know the guy.” She planted her hands on her hips. “You don’t trust anyone.”
“Not true.” He lifted a brow. “Besides, that dipshit last night didn’t want to take no for an answer, if you remember correctly.”
“I remember all right, and I was handling Tom just fine all by my little self.” She brushed her hair from her face. Tom was persistent, but that was all. “Stop acting like a crazed older brother or something. Drives me nuts.”
“I’m not your brother.” He pursed his lips and let out a whistle. “And in that outfit…” His eyes roamed over her body in a very un-brotherly fashion. “You’d attract a monk.”
“You don’t like my outfit?” She smiled and leaned against the sink.
Running his hand across his head, he took in a breath. “I like it. A lot. You’re a beautiful woman, but you’re too nice. Naïve.”
“I am not.”
“Yeah, actually you are, and some guys might try to take advantage of that.”
“Right. But since I’m not naïve, as you put it, there is no way I can be taken advantage of. I’m not twelve, if you hadn’t noticed.” She flashed him her best sarcastic grin.
“Oh, hell. I’ve noticed,” he said. “Why can’t you just be that dorky kid with pigtails and freckles?”
“I still have freckles.” She laughed. “On my ass.”
“I didn’t need to know that.” His eyes darted around the small kitchen. “Listen, about tonight.”
“What about it?” Her pulse increased sending intense messages to other parts of her body.
He stepped toward her. “Sorry I was late for your birthday.”
Her breath caught. She raised her hand to her throat and tried to swallow. Her gaze locked with his in a magical moment. The beating of her heart pounded wildly against her chest.
He approached her, putting his hands on the counter by her waist. He dipped his head, smiled, and said, “I’m going to install a new lock on that door tonight.”
“That’s not necessary.” She barely managed.
“Yes. It is.” He stood tall and reached in his pocket. “And so is this.” He held a small package in his hands. “Happy birthday, Ryan.”
Her eyes glanced between the small box and Jared. “You didn’t have to do this,” she whispered.
“Open it.”
With shaky hands, she took the present and fumbled with the wrapper. Sometimes there was no arguing with him. But this gift just didn’t seem like Jared. In the past he’d given her practical things: a cell phone, a laptop during her college years, and a membership to Triple A after she’d landed the job at the Lakeside Hotel.
She blinked, and then lifted the top of the box. A sparkling emerald attached to a silver chain graced her teary eyes. “Oh, my. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s your birthstone.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his. He smiled like a big kid who’d just done something amazing, then scowled. “You’re crying?”
“You shouldn’t have done this.” She placed her trembling hand on his chest. “It’s too much.”
“Don’t you like it?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and retreated as if wounded.
“I love it, but…” She saw the disappointment in his eyes. Jared never did anything unless he wanted to, this she knew for certain. “Thank you.” She pulled the necklace out of the box. “Would you help me put it on?”
His smile returned. “I know it’s not my usual, but everything is different now.”
She turned and closed her eyes as she lifted her hair. Water welled in her eyes. Different. He was right. Things were different and everything was about to change.
“There.” He patted her shoulder, then backed away.
She turned and did her best to smile as if all was perfect. He stared at her for a long moment. It wasn’t a sexual glance, or even a friendly gaze. He just stared. It was as if he was meeting her for the first time.
“Well, I’d better fix this door. I’ve got to get back to the station and do some paperwork.”
“Tonight?” Her stupid tears must have frightened him away. She really needed to learn how to behave like a grown woman, or she’d never get the kind of goodbye she really wanted.
“I want to make sure that this dead rose thing doesn’t fall through the cracks.” He raised his thumb to her chin. “Sometimes threats like this get put on the bottom of the pile.” He pressed his mouth against hers, but pulled away before the kiss even began. “I’ll stop by in the morning and we can talk then.” He turned and headed toward the door. “I’ve got one of those latches hotels use in the shed. I’ll go get it, and my tools.”
She swallowed her frustration. She knew him well enough to know tonight wouldn’t be the night. “I think you’re overreacting. If it’s George, he can’t do anything from behind bars.”
“Did the dead rose scare you? Be honest.”
“Of course it scared me.”
“Then I’m not overreacting. But I’m more concerned that some sicko has decided to stalk you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Jared had that “I’m a cop, so you’d better listen” look on his face. The one where he didn’t blink, he just stared at you with raised brow and tilted chin.
“You’ll find out who sent that rose, right?” Fear prickled up and down her spine. Even if George was behind it, someone else had done it and that alone gave her the heebie-jeebies.
“That would be the plan.” He ran a hand across his head. “Hopefully before I move.” He turned and closed the door behind him.
She reached for the refrigerator, then a beer. After twisting the top off, she chugged half of it. Jared could be overbearing. Honestly, he was downright controlling, especially when it came to his job. Under the circumstances, that could only be seen as a good thing. She’d seen enough stories in the paper about how stalker cases were often swept under the rug. She wiped the beer that dribbled down her chin. The only problem was that Jared would most likely demand to be at her side all the time. He’d tell her what to do, how to do it, even when to do it. She smiled. His being so close all the time would give her the opportunity to seduce him.
Her smile faded knowing someone planned on “getting her.” She shivered as she remembered her stepfather’s dirty hands on her body. “Bastard,” she whispered. It had to be George. Who else would want to do such a thing to her?
Chapter Two
Jared slammed the phone into the cradle. The neatly stacked files he’d set on his desk crashed to the floor. Papers scattered at his feet. “Shit.” He bent to collect them, aimlessly shoving them in a folder. He didn’t need an open case on his desk, especially one involving Ryan. She’d been like family. So why did he all of a sudden ha
ve the hots for her?
“What are you doing in at this hour?” Sergeant Harmon asked. The rookie stood at attention just one step into Jared’s office.
“Would you relax?” Jared said, rolling his own shoulders as if that would relieve the newly formed tension.
“Sorry, sir.”
Jared blinked. This kid was going to drive him nuts. “Do me a favor and run a background check on Thomas C. Grady.”
“Am I looking for something specific?”
“Just a general check.” Jared snagged a sheet from the top of the crumpled papers. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department had filed their report, but nothing would come of it unless Ryan was somehow injured. A thought that sent his heartburn into overdrive.
His friend in Auburn, New York, had spoken with George, but George claimed he didn’t know anything. The warden assured Jared that they’d keep a close eye on George. So the question remained: who sent the rose? And could Jared find the culprit before he left for Rochester?
“I’ll get right on it,” Harmon said. “Will you be sticking around?”
Jared stood. Normally he preferred the comfort of his bland office to the big empty house on the lake. “Just call my cell if you find anything.”
Two weeks and he’d be on his way to a more challenging and demanding post. He slipped his arms into his coat when a vision popped into his mind of Ryan lounging in some silky black number waiting for him with a glass of wine. He shook his head, then slammed the station house door and headed toward his pickup. He tried to remember when Ryan had turned into a woman.
Not many cars were out this Saturday morning. Jared weaved his way through the twisted roads in record time.
He pulled into his driveway and parked in his spot, right next to Ryan’s shiny, white SUV. He stared at it for a moment before stepping from his truck. She’d always been such an independent kid. What choice did she have? Her childhood had sucked, but somehow she’d managed to make the best of it.
She’d always been strong and stubborn, and deep down he’d known she would make it. Determination should’ve been her middle name. A trait that scared the crap out of him. When she wanted something, she went for it, both barrels loaded.
He pounded on her door, then turned his back and waited. But no one answered. “Ryan?” He banged one last time before taking out his key. It was early for a Saturday morning, but he’d never known her to sleep past eight.
The key didn’t slip in easily, but when he turned it, the lock clicked. He pushed back the door, but something stopped it. He chuckled. At least she’d used the chain. “Ryan,” he said into the small crack. “It’s me, Jared.”
“Damn you.” She scurried from the hallway in her robe, with a towel on her head. “You scared me.”
She almost shut the door in his face when she released the chain, then pulled back the door. “I had started dialing 911 when I heard your voice.”
“Sorry, but I wanted to let you know what George had to say.”
She tightened the red terrycloth that covered her damp, creamy flesh. When her eyes locked with his, blood rushed throughout his body.
“And?” She lifted the towel from her head, releasing her hair. She ran her hands through the wet, light brown strands, letting it fall past her shoulders, before she tossed the towel on a kitchen chair. “Are you going to stand there and stare at me, or tell me what George had to say?”
“Sorry,” he said, forcing his gaze to her face. “George claims he didn’t even know it was your birthday.”
“Yeah, right. You want some coffee?” she offered with a forced smile. The slight tremble in her voice hadn’t gone unnoticed.
For months after George had attacked her, she’d been withdrawn, and Jared feared she’d be forever tainted. “I’d love some.” He pulled a chair out, spun it around, and straddled it. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “I know.” Briefly, her eyes caught his. “I won’t let him get to me.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“You hungry?” Her sparkling blue eyes couldn’t hide the internal scars her stepfather had left behind. She might have the drive and determination of a pit bull, but he knew her better than anyone, and she still hurt. He understood that pain, more than he cared to admit. He also understood how important it was for her to be seen as a strong, independent woman. Well, no denying the woman part anymore.
“Nope.” She’d turned her back to him, and his eyes automatically darted to her toned legs. “Damn,” he whispered.
“Damn, what?”
“Damn legs,” he admitted, unable to look at anything else.
“Excuse me?” She twisted and turned, looking down at her legs. The robe barely reached the middle of her thighs and when she moved, so did the robe.
“You realize you’re serving me coffee practically naked.” He tried to line his voice with a hint of sarcasm, but it didn’t work.
“You realize you’re an ass.” She adjusted the robe high around her neck before lifting two mugs, setting one down in front of him.
“Just trying to make you laugh.” He sipped the strong black liquid.
“Thanks.” She graced him with a broad grin, then laughed.
“When do you want to go the cemetery?” Visiting her mother’s grave every year had become a ritual. One he would miss after he moved.
“I need about half an hour. Does that work for you?”
“Sure.” He glanced at her, annoyed that he couldn’t keep his mind from wondering what she looked like under that damn robe. “You do have nice legs.” He scowled. This certainly wasn’t the time or place.
“Thanks.” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Just thought you should know.” Forgetting the world around him, he rose and strode over to her. “I think you’re beautiful.”
“I’m fine, really.” She leaned back, tilting her head and looked at him with a puzzled expression. “You don’t have to keep trying to distract me.”
Only he was the one who was distracted. He lifted her hand and kissed the hollow of her palm, then placed it on his shoulder. “You sure opened an interesting can of worms the other night.” She smelled like a combination of soap and exotic fruit. The room spun and he couldn’t see past her.
“I did?” she questioned with wide eyes. Her breath sounded raspy and he felt her wild pulse beat against his chest. Her pink tongue peeked out and smoothed over her full lips. He moistened his own, while her radiant sky-blue eyes rolled closed in anticipation. Then the phone rang, and she jumped, knocking him in the nose with her forehead.
He stumbled backward, his eyes watering. “Damn. That hurt.”
“Sorry.” She winced and reached for the phone. “Hello?”
He stepped away, rubbing his nose and giving himself a mental lecture. Since when didn’t he know how to charm the pants off a woman? Since when did he want to with this woman?
“Hello?” she repeated loudly. “Who is this?”
He glanced up from her sexy, bare legs and frowned. “What’s the matter?”
She stared at the phone and shook her head. “I hate hang-ups. This is about the tenth one this week. Even if you dial the wrong number, you should apologize before you hang up.” She slapped the phone on the wall cradle, and it rattled. “People can be so rude.”
“Don’t you have caller ID?”
“Blocked number.” Once again, she adjusted her robe, and then inched toward him.
The closer she got, the stronger the smell of peaches affected his already tense body.
“Sorry about your nose.”
“Sorry I scared you,” he said.
“You don’t scare me.”
“Don’t tease a man when you’re wearing nothing but a robe,” he whispered. The cold countertop pressed into his back.
She lifted herself up on tiptoes, leaning into him. “You started it, and who says I’m teasing?”
His gaze dipped below her luscious mouth, to the red mater
ial puckering open across her chest. She didn’t have cleavage, just a sexy space between two perfectly rounded breasts. “You’re playing with fire, babe.” He toyed with the belt holding her robe closed, easing her closer, their mouths a half-inch apart.
Her feminine curves pressed against his body in all the right places. A single spark ignited the moment his lips brushed against hers, shocking him in an erotic dance he couldn’t resist. He darted his tongue into her mouth and let the purest form of passion take over.
She tasted of coffee and sugar, and she smelled like heaven. He ached to find out how her skin felt beneath his fingers. When he cupped her face, her hair tangled in his hand. Releasing a few strands, he glided his fingers down her neck and rested his palm above her breast. Abruptly, he pushed her back. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“Do what?” She narrowed her eyes. “Thought you said I was beautiful?”
“Your beauty has nothing to do with it. You’re much younger than I.”
She glared at him with hurt in her eyes. “I’m not a kid. If you don’t want me, that’s fine. But don’t play games with me. I hate that.” She stepped from his clutches.
“I think you’re the one playing games.” He stumbled toward the door, raking a hand across his head. “I’ll meet you by my truck in a half hour.” With a hand on the door handle, he said, “And I want to know if you get any more hang-ups. Could be the same guy who sent you that rose.”
Once safely outside, he marched toward the lake. He stood at the end of his dock and focused on the waves crashing against the shoreline across the bay. The swirling wind did nothing to cool him off. There was no mistaking how much he wanted her, but having her would be insane. Stupid. He felt responsible for her because he was the one who’d arrested her stepfather. He knew exactly what George had intended to do to her. Jared shook out his hands.
He’d taken on the role of protector. Always making sure she had everything she needed, and then some. Even when her brother came back to take care of her, Jared couldn’t back away. She’d been just a kid and didn’t deserve what had happened.
She sure as hell didn’t deserve to be used and dumped. And that’s what would happen if he got involved with her. No matter what she said she wanted. A goodbye thing? What the hell was that? Nope, the only thing he planned to do was pack up and get the hell out of town before Ryan unglued him completely. But not before he figured out who’d sent that damn dead rose.
