He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
She leaned back, still grinning. “That was so cool!”
“You’re a natural.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks, Nick. I really had fun, and you’re a good teacher. I’m ready to go in, though. I want to work for a while.”
He grabbed the board. “All right.” They made their way to the shore and their cabana. While Lexie settled in, Nick went to the room and collected both their laptops. He could get a little work done too.
They both booted up their machines and focused on their projects.
A few minutes later, Nick was reading an e-mail from his lawyer about the partnership papers with Mac when Lexie said, “Nick, I copied my book, if, you know, you still want to read it. Here.”
He looked up to see her holding out a flash drive.
“I mean, if you don’t want to read it, fine. I just thought…”
Her brown eyes had such hope and fear it made him forget to breathe. He reached out and took the flash drive. “I can read it? I know I didn’t ask the first time, but I’m asking now.”
She shrugged. “If you want to. Or not. Doesn’t matter to me.”
It mattered. He could see it in the lines of her tense arms, raised shoulder, and strained neck. “I want to.” He shifted his laptop and got up, then he leaned over and kissed her. “Thank you. I know how much this book means to you.”
She stared at him with wide eyes, grateful excitement and something else—a sweet caring—gleaming in the brown depths. “I’m not being that brave. By next week, I’ll never see you again. Even if you hate it, what do I have to lose?”
He kissed her again to shut her up. The thought of her being gone from his life lingered. And he didn’t like it, not one damned bit.
But he’d get used to it. He always did. Nick loaded the flash drive and started reading.
It was past lunchtime when Lexie stood. “I’m going to cool off in the water.” He waved her away, then watched her walk down the sand toward the waves. Her black bikini cupped her ass in a way that made his hands curl with the need to feel her butt in his palms. He dragged his gaze from her and back to reading.
Until Mac’s voice intruded. “What’s the word, Vardolous?”
“Scram.” He didn’t look up, too involved in the story to tolerate interruptions from his long-time friend.
“Who’s that man Lexie is talking to?”
Nick looked up.
Mac laughed. “You’re so predictable.”
He glared at the other man. “Why haven’t I killed you?”
Mac’s gaze grew serious. “Because I’m your business partner.”
Nick rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He and Mac had already leased a building for the karate studio. Nick wasn’t backing out, but he liked screwing with Mac’s abundant confidence. “I haven’t signed the papers yet.”
“You will. You’re tired of the nomad life and you know it.”
Uncomfortable at how easily Mac read him, he shifted the subject. “I know you and Shelly were goading Lexie into driving me crazy.”
“Good times, huh?”
Leaning his head back, he stared out at the waves where Lexie stood waist deep in the water. “You went too far with the job offer. You’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” It would be hard enough when he left Lexie in Santa Barbara. But having her in San Diego? Close by? How would he stay away from her?
“I know this will come as a shock to your enormous ego, but the job offer isn’t about you. It’s about Lexie. Shelly and I like her.”
Nick narrowed his gaze. “You never chummed up with the other women I slept with.”
“You didn’t bring them around.”
He hadn’t wanted to bring them around. They were nice women, but he hadn’t been interested in introducing them to his friends or family. Lexie had met his mom and sister, and his friends. He was losing control of this situation. “I didn’t bring them around because you obviously fancy yourself a matchmaker.”
“Nah. Don’t have time since I’m going into partnership with you. And I plan to kick your ass regularly. In front of students.”
Nick considered that. “Yeah? How about I kick your ass right now in front of all the people at the beach?”
Mac snorted. “It’s not snowing in hell, so it’s not happening.”
Nick had taken down vicious animals masquerading as men many times as a bounty hunter, but Mac was formidable as a sparring opponent. He had a fourth-degree black belt in karate, and that was only one of his disciplines. There was no one he’d rather have at his back. Mac was fast.
Nick was power. And a sixth-degree black belt.
Mac stood. “Just checking in. Want to have dinner with us tonight? Maybe take the girls dancing?”
His gut twisted. “Girls? I’m not dating Lexie, we’re just having sex. She’s not my girl.” It sounded like high school, for Christ’s sake, not a mature decision to slake their lust.
“Well, I am a girl. Sheesh. Hi, Mac.” Lexie lifted up her laptop and dropped into the chair.
Christ, his timing sucked. “Sorry, I just meant—”
She waved her hand at him. “Guy talk, I know. Go with Mac and Shelly tonight. Have fun.” Lexie shoved her wet hair out of her face and opened her computer like he wasn’t even there.
What the hell? He sat up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Uh, I have to go…work or something.” Mac turned and strolled off, whistling.
Nick ignored him to stare at Lexie.
She met his gaze. “Mac’s just messing with you. I know that. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Back from where?” What the hell was wrong with her? She was acting irrational.
She widened her eyes. “Dinner, dancing, whatever you’re doing. I thought that’s what Mac said.”
Her guileless expression shafted him with a streak of guilt. He ran his hand over the back of his neck, feeling the bulge of his tense muscles. It wasn’t her acting like an ass, it was him. And that bastard Mac kept setting him up to say stupid things in front of Lexie. “Look, if you want to go dancing, we’ll go.”
Her brown eyes dropped to her laptop. “Don’t be ridiculous. I never said I wanted to go dancing with you.”
That stung and pushed him right back into pissed off again. “You were happy enough to dance with all those men last night. Now you don’t want to dance with me? What’s wrong with me?”
“Maybe you’ve been out in the sun too long?”
He leaned back in his chair and looked down at the laptop. “I’m not the one who’s being unreasonable.” He started reading and ignored her. He didn’t want to think about this…anger, frustration and okay, yeah, regret churning inside him. He couldn’t concentrate because he kept seeing the days ahead without Lexie. And he didn’t like the view. Staring at the words, he said, “It’s just that we aren’t in a relationship. We only have a couple days.”
She resumed typing on her book. “Sun, sand, and sex. I know. Not a problem.”
Good. He read a sentence, but it didn’t make any sense. This was her fault. Did she have to be so damned cheerful about it? Didn’t the sex mean anything? How many men made her come like he did?
He didn’t want to know.
He needed a beer. An ice-cold beer. Standing up, he said, “Want anything from the bar?”
“Iced tea or anything cold. Thanks.”
He stood there staring down at her, watching her gnaw at her lower lip as she thought about something while staring at the computer. Her hair was drying into a stringy mess, her face was free of all makeup, and yet, she looked pretty. Real.
She looked up, then flushed. “Oh, sorry. I know I have my room key here somewhere to pay for the drink.”
Caught staring at her like a love struck puppy—which he wasn’t—he jerked his gaze away and snatched up his room key. “I’ll buy the damned drinks.” He stalked off, got the
drinks and returned to the cabana. Setting the drinks on the table, he picked up the computer and settled in to read the book.
“Thanks. I’ll buy the next round.”
He refused to let her bait him. No woman had ever turned him into a stark raving butthead before. Not even Ellen. Ellen had made him feel needed, powerful and strong. Lexie made him crazy. The kind of crazy that drove him to act like a Neanderthal, just as Shelly had accused him of being. He wanted to claim her as his and kill anyone else who looked at her.
Sunstroke was a distinct possibility.
The best thing to do was just shut the hell up. He probably shouldn’t look at her again either since he seemed to have a little staring problem too. Best to let her think anything she liked, even believe that he was a total jerk. But he was not taking money from her. No way would he leech off her like her family. He’d buy her damned drinks. Hell, he’d buy her dinner, take her dancing, and if he stayed near her too much longer, he might buy her a car and house.
It had to be sunstroke. Or heat stroke. Something was definitely wrong with him. He turned his full attention back to the book.
After reading the same sentence six more times, it finally dawned on him why it wasn’t making sense. It didn’t fit. And it was in bold print, standing out from the rest of the words on the page. His heart sped up, and he sat forward to read.
You have a secret life writing your book. I have a secret life, a life THEY will never control. We’re meant to be together, in spite of THEM. Together in our secret love.
Wait for me, I’ll fulfill your craving for adventure.
Nick went back over what Lexie had told him in his head. She thought the stalker had left her laptop on. Jesus Christ. “Lexie.”
“Hmm.” She kept typing.
“Do you reread your work? Or do you just keep going forward?”
“Depends, why?” Frowning, she looked up at him. Her eyes were shadowed, but he saw her shoulders tense. “I told you it was rough. Typos and—”
He softened. “This isn’t about typos. Please, Lex, just answer me. Have you gone back and read through your book?”
“No. Not since about the halfway point. I want to get to the end, then rewrite. Why? What’s the problem?”
He looked around and could have kicked his own ass. It was midafternoon and there were tons of people milling around. “I don’t want you to get upset, but I found something that doesn’t seem to belong in your book.”
She stared at him. “Like an unnecessary scene?”
“No.” He got up and walked around to her with his computer.
She pushed her computer down her thighs to make room for his machine.
Nick set it down and pointed with his finger to the passage he’d found buried in her work.
Lexie quietly read it, then said, “Oh God. Nick, I didn’t write that.”
He hunkered down by her chair and put his hand on her shoulder. “No, I didn’t think so.” He felt a tremor go through her. Rubbing her shoulder, he looked into her eyes. “Let’s pack up and go to the room. We’ll talk there.”
* *
Lexie found a second note embedded in the manuscript, in bold print.
Danger is an aphrodisiac. You feel it, Lexie, the danger of never knowing when I’ll show up. What will I do to you? Maybe you’ll be in the shower…maybe you’ll be in your bed…just make sure you’re alone. You belong to me, only me.
A dirty, greasy feeling roiled in her stomach. She’d poured her heart into the book, into a thriller with a heroine who had to rise to incredible challenges, and yeah, there was sex, but… “Oh God, he’s making it disgusting, he’s…”
“A twisted prick.” Nick put his arm around her shoulders. “There’s nothing wrong with your book. It’s him twisting things in his perverted head.”
She copied and pasted the passage for the file they were going to send to her PI, Tate. Nick had talked to him on the phone, so he was waiting.
She kept searching. It looked like the stalker had put his comments in bold so she could find them. The ring of the room phone interrupted her. “Maybe it’s Tate.” She got up, walking over the cold tile to circle the bed and grab the phone. “Hello.”
Silence, then, “So Larry was right. While your mother is working herself into another heart attack, you’re on vacation.”
“Dad?” She began to shake, needing her father. Staring at the textured green walls of her room, she struggled to get control of herself. “Is Mom okay? Did she have another heart attack?”
“You’ve had your fun. Get back here and help your mother. Larry and Amber are making her nuts, she’s screaming at everyone. You know she’s sick. Stop acting like a child.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and the green walls blurred. “Dad—”
Nick startled her by grabbing the phone from her hand. “Mr. Rollins—”
Lexie experienced a wave of sheer relief, a second where she could just breathe. Then she got a hold of herself. This was her father. She reached over and snatched the phone back, determined to take control. “Dad—”
“You’re with a man? While your mother—”
“Stop it!” It felt surprisingly good to fight back. “Stop trying to guilt me into fixing everything. Mom is fine, the doctor assured us of that. If you want Amber and Larry to back off, tell them yourself. You and Mom allowed them to leech off you, so you can put an end to it.” She wouldn’t cry anymore, damn it. She refused to look at Nick, although she could feel him staring at her. Instead, she kept her gaze on the green mosaic tile.
Her dad said, “Of all the selfish—”
Nick put his arm around her and pulled her into his side, but he didn’t try to take the phone from her again. He just stood next to her like an anchor. It gave Lexie strength. Calmly, she said, “No, I’m not being selfish. I’m scared, Dad. More scared than I’ve ever been. I needed you, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Is this that stalker thing again? Look, Larry admitted that he was in your apartment with a girl. He knows it was wrong. You have no business sending that private investigator to talk to him. What if his wife had found out?”
She leaned against Nick. “Good to know where your priorities are, Dad.” She bent over and set the phone down. Emotion welled up and tightened her throat, but she wasn’t going to fall apart. She was a woman, not a child. She would take care of herself and be fine.
The phone rang.
She ignored it and went to the computer. “Don’t answer it. I have nothing else to say to him.”
“Your decision.” Nick sat next to her. “Want to talk about that shit with your brother?”
She assumed he had been able to hear her dad on the phone. “He screwed his girlfriend in my apartment. In the beginning I assumed the stuff I found was Larry’s doing. We had a huge fight. He had stolen the key to my apartment from my mom. I made him give it back. It was ugly. He told my parents that he made a mistake and was trying to fix his marriage. He also claimed that I was trying to ruin his marriage because I was jealous.” She paged down the manuscript, looking for the next note from the stalker.
Nick said, “Your brother is an asshole.”
“I know. But he’s the son my dad always wanted. Whatever.” She paged down to the next section in her book and froze.
Each time I check and see that you’ve been working on your book, I know you’re staying home at night. Being a good girl and waiting for me. When I’m here in your apartment, I am too hard to wait. Have to take the edge off. You have such pretty underwear… Today I left the bed unmade for you. Lie there and know I was there…And I’ll be back.
She was going to throw up. She’d slept in her bed after…
Nick shoved his chair back and turned Lexie so she was facing the bed. He reached up behind her and forced her head down toward her knees. “Breathe. In and out.”
She did what he told her, fighting to force the refrigerated air in and out of her lungs. The black spots dancing in front of her eyes starte
d to fade and her nausea eased up. Finally she said, “I’m okay.”
He took his hand off the back of her neck.
Sitting up, she studied Nick. His face was pulled tight to reveal his prominent cheekbones and blazing eyes.
He said, “There might be more.”
She shook her head. “There’s not.”
“Lexie…”
“There’s not. I came home from work one day and saw my laptop opened on my unmade bed. From then on, I took it with me to work.” She forced herself to breathe and fight not to let the nausea rise. “I thought it was Larry. Bringing his girlfriend to my apartment, then checking his e-mail. Or that they were reading my book and making fun of me.” She hadn’t been able to believe some unknown person was getting into her apartment. It hadn’t seemed real or possible.
Nick took her hand. “Okay, let’s send all this to Tate. Maybe he can get a lead. But first I need to ask one thing.”
She knew what he was going to ask. “I don’t know who it is, Nick. Nothing rings a bell. I haven’t dated in months. I just don’t know.” Damn it, she wouldn’t cry. She had to think. What should she do next? “Do we go back now?”
“Hell no. Tate’s an ex-cop, and he and I know some of the same cops in Santa Barbara. We’ll ask Tate to file a report with them and get the process started. But we don’t know who the stalker is, Lexie. All the police will do is open a file. We need some kind of break to point the police in the right direction.”
She fought hard to stay in control. She didn’t ever want to go back to Santa Barbara. She wanted to stay here in the room with Nick. Forever. But that wasn’t reality. She had to go back, face the charges against her and deal with the stalker.
Nick had his own life to get back to.
Chapter 8
“Do you think it could be your brother behind this?” Tate asked over the speakerphone.
Lexie felt both Nick and Mac look at her. They were using Mac’s office. Mac sat behind his desk across from them, while Nick sat on her right. She had her laptop on the desk in case Tate needed anything else off it. She wasn’t sure how to answer.
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