by Sara Orwig
She thought about the map that Sebastian had given them of all the offices on this floor. She knew the ninth floor held the accounting offices, but it was Dorian’s office and computer that she was interested in. She had spent an hour late in the afternoon with Jason, both of them studying the Wescott Oil building map while she had been more aware of him than of the map.
Merry slid behind the desk and sat down, at home instantly when she was facing a computer. She switched on the CPU, watched the screen ask for a password and began to type.
She was unaware of Jason watching her or of him slipping out of the office and leaving her alone. The only light was from the screen, a bright glow that reflected on her hands as they moved on the keyboard.
Merry knew she had only a few tries to get this right.
It took her five minutes, but then the screen asking for a password disappeared and she was in. She scanned the menu and pulled up a file.
Merry lost track of time, but her pulse raced as she discovered that Dorian kept an electronic journal. She scanned it swiftly, her gaze skimming over words, searching for anything that might incriminate Dorian until the words: “…you don’t want them to know…” jumped out at her.
The door opened and she looked around to see Jason. “Your twenty minutes are up.”
“I’m in. Leave me alone.”
She went back to what she was doing, unaware that he had closed the door and left. Slowing so her hands wouldn’t shake, she inserted a floppy into the CPU and copied the file, skimming more lines while her pulse raced.
The moment she finished that file, she copied another one.
The door swung open and Jason thrust his head inside. “Someone’s coming. Shut down!”
“One more—”
“You promised,” he snapped, looking over his shoulder.
She clicked on another file from Eric Chambers to Dorian, hit Save and watched, standing while her pulse raced.
“Merry!”
She yanked out the disk and hit the close button.
“Stop what you’re doing. I hear footsteps. Come on!” Jason urged, motioning to her. She dashed across the office.
“It isn’t shut down.”
“Don’t care. Run!” Jason grabbed her hand and raced down the hall, still keeping sound to a minimum until they yanked open the door to the stairs and stepped inside. Jason closed the door silently behind him, and gasped, “We’ve got to get out of here.”
While she clutched the floppy disk, they raced down the stairs. By the fourth floor the alarm had gone off, a high, ear-splitting shriek that turned her blood to ice.
“They know someone’s in the building,” Jason said. His hand tightened on hers and they moved even faster until Merry felt as though her feet weren’t touching anything solid. The stairs seemed interminable, but finally they reached ground level. Releasing her hand, he sprinted ahead. They raced through the building, bursting through a back door. Now Jason wasn’t making any effort to keep quiet. Alarms were blaring, all the lights on the grounds were on and she could hear sirens approaching.
“Suppose they shoot? We’ll be easy targets.”
He caught her hand. “If it’s the Royal police, they’ll fire a warning shot first. Then you stop running. Let’s go.”
She ran, aware that Jason was behind her. Was he trying to shield her in case anyone did open fire? she wondered.
They raced across the open parking lot, expecting at any moment to hear the guard charging after them, but they reached the gate without incident.
Gasping for breath, she yanked off the lock and rushed through to the truck, looking back to see Jason grab the padlock.
He stretched out his long legs, running to the truck to slide behind the wheel and they were off, spinning around a corner. In minutes they moved into traffic along Main Street. Jason had slowed to a sedate speed and her pounding heart was beginning to return to normal.
“We got away,” he said at last. “Was it worth the risk?”
“I think it was,” she said, holding up the disk. “There are things on here that I think incriminate him, but I’m not certain. I looked at everything so fast, it was almost a blur. I’m not certain I got the computer turned off. If I didn’t, when Dorian comes to work later today, he’ll know someone was in his office and into his computer.”
“He’ll know now. He was the one who came in.”
“How on earth do you know that?”
“I heard him talking to the security guard as they were coming down the hall.”
“Now Dorian will know someone was trying to get into his computer files,” she said, chilled by the realization. “I backed out of his files. I just didn’t get the computer off. He won’t know for certain that someone got into them.”
“He’ll guess it was you.”
“I suppose he will,” she agreed.
“Don’t try to get away from me now,” Jason warned. “You may be in a lot of danger.”
She shivered and locked her fingers together. “Now I’m glad Holly didn’t marry him. When I can, I want to tell her all I’ve learned about him.”
“Don’t tell her yet because we don’t know for certain. He knows you’re at my ranch, but as long as I’m there with you, I don’t think you’re in danger.”
“I could go back to Dallas.”
“You stay right where you are,” he said in a no-nonsense tone. He had been calm and in control through the entire episode while she was still shaking from their close call with security and with Dorian Brady. She took a few deep breaths and looked at the houses they were passing. She realized the foray was over. They had gotten into Wescott Oil, she had looked at Dorian’s files, and she and Jason had escaped unscathed.
Fear changed to relief that was touched with jubilation. They had succeeded!
Impulsively, she turned and flung her arms around Jason and gave him a hug. “We did it! We got in and got out in one piece and I think I have something you can use.”
“Hey!” he yelped, startled and glad they were on a deserted block at the edge of town and not speeding along the highway. He pulled the truck to the side of the street, turned to wrap his arms around her and hug her. Her face was inches away, and even in the dim lights on the dashboard, he could see the sparkle in her eyes. He wanted her and leaned forward to kiss her hungrily.
For one startled moment she was still and then her arms tightened around him and she kissed him back, long slow kisses that made him forget they needed to get out of town, needed to avoid drawing attention to themselves, needed to resist touching and kissing and stirring up one iota more of the sparks between them.
She was fiery, wild and passionate and he wanted her with a need that shocked him. He wanted to shove her down on the car seat and take her right here, but for a dozen reasons he knew that was impossible.
As her tongue stroked his, Jason’s senses were stormed. His pulse roared and he was hard, eager, ready. He wanted all of her and he was losing arguments with himself about holding himself in check. His hands slipped over her, following soft curves, resenting the jeans and shirt that were in his way. When he tugged her shirttail out of her jeans, she straightened, pushing against his chest.
Her breathing was as ragged as his. “We’re in town and we should get out of here.”
Jason couldn’t answer. Fighting his urge to reach for her again took all his concentration. Yet he knew she was right, so he tried to get a grip on reason. He turned his attention to the road, glanced in the rearview mirror to see if they were being followed or if anyone had noticed them. Houses were dark, lawns undisturbed, the street deserted at this early-morning hour.
He put the car in gear and drove in silence, not trusting himself to speak, trying to get his thoughts away from Merry to something neutral, something that would take Merry Silver right out of his mind.
Chattering to him about the disk, she bubbled with excitement, yet he didn’t hear a word of what she was saying. He wanted her desperately, and it took
all his willpower to keep his attention on the road and head for home.
As they drove through the dark night Jason finally began to follow what she was saying and realized she thought she had something that could tie Dorian to the murder.
The moment they reached the ranch, she would want to look at the disk, he knew. That wasn’t the urgent matter on his mind, but he was certain she was intent on discovering what she had copied from Dorian’s files.
Jason turned onto his ranch road, and then he lowered the window and tossed out the padlock that he had removed from the back gate at Wescott Oil. It sailed high in the air and then dropped into a heavily wooded area with a tangle of underbrush. He had large uncleared areas on his ranch and few people ever bothered to explore them. He didn’t want the police to speculate on why the padlock had been unfastened. Seb had enough problems to deal with.
The moment they entered the kitchen at the ranch, Merry waved the disk at him. “Can we look at this right now?”
“I kind of thought you’d want to,” he drawled and they went to his office where she switched on the computer while he pulled a chair up beside her.
Jason watched her fingers fly over the keyboard and suspected she had already forgotten his presence. He openly studied her, knowing her attention was wholly elsewhere. He was curious about the files, but they were secondary to Merry herself. Since she had wrapped herself around him in the car, all he could think about was wanting her.
He ached to pull her into his arms, but he knew he should resist. Besides, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to get her attention away from the computer right now. The damp night air had made her thick mane of hair curl more than usual and he touched her curls slightly. Just as he had expected, she didn’t notice.
Leave her alone, he argued with himself. This was a woman who had told him she wanted commitment. He had no intention of having a long-term relationship with Merry or anyone else. Resist the lady, he reminded himself, yet still fingering locks of her hair in his hand and not wanting to break the physical contact with her.
He wanted Merry as he had wanted few women in his life and the thought scared him. He didn’t want a broken heart—something he hadn’t suffered for a long, long time. He didn’t want to get hurt that way ever again.
“Look!” she whispered, and he tried to pull his attention from her to the screen.
He forced himself to read what she had on the screen, and then his attention focused on a daily journal by Dorian.
“I can’t believe he kept records like this at the office,” Jason said, looking at hints that Dorian was pleased with the way things were going and that he was getting money from Eric Chambers to keep something covered up. There were references to moving money and Jason whistled.
“There’s not enough here to go to the police with, but it sounds to me as if Dorian was blackmailing Eric Chambers.”
“I agree. Why would he keep this in his computer files?”
“He might not have had a chance at work to get them off his computer. With his alibi and the evidence pointing to Seb, there wasn’t a reason for anyone to suspect him. And for a while after the murder, he might not have wanted to go to the office late at night to work because he might have been afraid of drawing attention to himself. He could have gone there tonight to get rid of his files,” Jason said, knowing men often tripped themselves up, and Dorian was arrogant enough to think he could outsmart everyone.
“You can tell the two men knew about company money that was being shifted around, but there’s no absolute proof that proves what was going on.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, reading another file that she opened. In emphatic words, Dorian had told Eric to stop sending him messages with attachments, to get anything off his computer that they wouldn’t want others to see.
“But there’s enough here to point more suspicion at Dorian. A whole lot more suspicion,” Jason said, too aware of the scent of her perfume as he moved closer to read the screen.
She tilted her head, studying Jason. “You said you used to work for the government. You were at home with what we did tonight. What branch of the government were you with—Secret Service, Special Forces, CIA—what?”
“CIA.”
She closed her eyes as if she had received a blow, and he wondered if, in her eyes, that was another mark against him. Smokey eyes studied him again. “Why did you quit?”
“I took a bullet in my side and spent some time in the hospital. It gave me time to think about what was important in my life. I took some time off and spent a few days in a little town on the coast of Spain. If the shot had been a few inches to my left, I wouldn’t be here. I decided life is pretty good, and being a cowboy was a damned fine life.”
“Why did you want to be in the CIA in the first place?” she asked, as if she couldn’t imagine a single good reason.
“I got into the CIA because I wanted to do all I could for my country and I wanted the excitement. For a few years I had all that. Then home and ranch life and being a cowboy looked good again. Leave the wild stuff for the younger guys.”
“You’re so old,” she teased.
“I’m twenty-eight now. There are younger guys who are eager and good at their jobs.”
“I suppose your father was glad to see you come home.”
“He didn’t live long enough to know,” Jason replied, gazing past her as if lost in his own thoughts. “My dad had a coronary occlusion and died suddenly while I was deciding whether to get out or not. He left the ranch to all three of us. I’m buying out my brothers’ interests because they don’t care about ranching.”
Merry realized there were depths to Jason she hadn’t guessed. His CIA background was sobering.
“Make about four copies of those files, will you?” As soon as she finished, Jason took two disks. “I want to get one of these to Rob tomorrow and one to Sheriff Escobar. Now, enough about Dorian Brady. Let’s get a drink,” he said gruffly.
They went to the kitchen where a low light burned over the sink. With deliberation Jason set the disks down on the counter. With every move his gaze was on her, and his eyes had darkened with desire. She was lost in his gaze, drowning in the longing in his expression, so intense it was doing things to her heart and other, more intimate parts of her.
He reached for her, his fingers closing on her slender arm. The moment he touched her, her heart thudded.
“Come here, Merry. I’ve waited all evening for this.”
Six
His words echoed the silent message in his eyes and added to the heat and desire building in her. How could he do this to her with just words and a look? But he was. He was turning her inside out without so much as the brush of his fingers.
Merry knew he wanted to kiss her. She wanted him to, wanted to kiss him, wanted more of him than she could possibly have.
As he leaned down, he pulled her close against him. She tilted her face up, standing on tiptoe, closing her eyes. Heat flashed through her. Desire was scalding her skin while she tangled her fingers in his shaggy hair and kissed him. Instantly, his arms tightened around her, pulling her hard against his lean body. The taste of him, his touch, all his lean hardness was a wonder that shook her.
He picked her up in his strong arms, carrying her to the sofa and cradling her in his arms when he sat down. Why did she feel she had waited a lifetime for this moment? He held her in the crook of his arm while his other hand slipped beneath her T-shirt. When he touched her breast, she gasped with pleasure, lost in sensations so intense that the world vanished. Lights burst behind her eyelids and the roar of her pulse shut out all sounds.
She was barely aware when he released her to tug off his T-shirt, but then her hands were on his muscled, bare chest. She ran her fingers over scar tissue, realizing how close the wound had been to his heart.
“Jason,” she whispered, knowing there was a chasm between this wild man who took risks and her very ordinary life. Yet differences couldn’t stop her aching desire. He w
as hard against her softness. His body was warm, fascinating to her. She ran her fingers across his chest and heard him groan while he kissed her.
Jason swept her T-shirt over her head and tossed it away, his gaze searing as he unclasped her bra and pushed it aside to cup her breasts in his large hands. His warm hands were big, rough, tantalizing, his fingers driving her wild.
His callused thumbs stroked her nipples. Merry shook, wanting so much with him. She knew there had to be a stopping point, but not yet, ah, not yet. For a few delicious, stolen minutes, she was going to touch him and kiss him.
Then he leaned down to take her nipple in his mouth. His tongue stroked the taut peak, a velvety wetness that sent her into another dizzying spiral and she moaned softly, her fingers winding in his hair while her other hand played over his chest.
He was giving her pleasure, giving her memories, creating longings she hadn’t expected.
In minutes he shifted her so she was lying on the sofa as he moved between her legs to unfasten her jeans and pull them off. Now the look in his eyes was filled with the same heat that was melting her. The temperature had soared and every inch of her body was sparking with ultra-sensitive awareness of his touch.
Watching her, holding her immobile with his heart-stopping gaze, he caressed her legs and gently spread her thighs, moving between her legs.
Aware how deeply she wanted him, Merry tried to summon caution, knowing in seconds they would both be beyond stopping. With stormy reluctance, she pushed against his chest. With all her being she desired this incredible, appealing man, yet wisdom urged caution. When she pushed lightly, he paused to look at her.
“I want you,” he whispered hoarsely. His jeans bulged with evidence of his physical needs, but the hoarse note in his voice was filled with emotion.
Her heart thudded when she met his dark gaze. “I want you, Jason, but there are other things I want, too, and I can’t have them. We have to stop now while we both can.”
“I want you, Merry,” he repeated.
Trying to get her breath, she pushed hair out of her eyes as she sat up. “This isn’t what either one of us wants.” She wriggled away from him, yanking up her T-shirt to hold it in front of her.
