A Shiver At Twilight (7 page)

He gazed into her eyes and wished he knew what she was thinking. Did she feel it too, this pull between them?

“What’s going on behind those baby blues, Carly?” he asked.

Carly shook her head, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked up at him. Despite his best intentions, JD found himself staring at her mouth.

“Why are you here, JD?” she said at last. “I mean, really? What brought you out in this storm tonight? And don’t tell me you were just driving around looking for someone to rescue.”

“No,” he said. “I wasn’t. I told you, I was supposed to meet my brother at his office. Why?”

She looked down again, pretending a sudden interest in the hem of his sweatshirt. “I’m trying to put the pieces together. Figure out how it is we both ended up in this place.”

“I was wondering that too,” he said. “I can’t seem to get past how lucky it was that you stumbled on the exact spot your friend went off the road.”

She shifted, avoiding his eyes. He saw her wince as she tried to find a comfortable position. She’d had quite a fall, he reminded himself. Every bone in her body probably hurt. But she hadn’t complained once.

“I can see if that mattress has any air left in it and drag it down for you. It looked clean.”

“Like someone might be sleeping here?”

“Maybe. Maybe they just use it when the backseat gets old.”

She nodded, looking forlorn and JD wanted nothing more than to fix this mess. But he didn't have a clue how to do it.

“Leave it upstairs,” she said. “I’m fine where I am.”

“Why don’t you at least lie down?” he suggested, his voice gruff. “You look wiped out.”

He grabbed his jacket from the hearth and balled it into a pillow for her. Self-consciously, she leaned back and rested her head on it. He couldn’t help himself. He stretched out beside her, careful to keep his distance when every instinct urged him to pull her into his warmth and make her his….

She shifted, as if again, she knew what he thought. “I think I’ve got a bruise the size of a watermelon on my butt.”

“You’re lucky you didn't break something,” he said.

Lucky.

Once more, she caught her lip between her teeth and started worrying it. What the hell was she thinking?

“How did you know where your friend’s car would be, Carly?” he asked gently.

He touched her arm, drawing her gaze. He saw confusion and fear in that bottomless blue.

“Talk to me,” he said.

He thought she’d refuse, already he recognized the stubborn tilt of her chin. She was going to put a hole in her lip if she didn't stop biting it. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. She released it with a soundless sigh.

“Did you ever read The Shining?” she asked softly.

“I saw the movie.”

“Do you remember the little boy? How when he needed help, he thought real hard and could send a message?”

He had no idea where she was going with this, but he nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Jillian can do that.”

He didn't know whether to scoff or laugh outright. But Carly’s face was solemn, her eyes intent. She wasn’t joking.

“What’s that supposed to mean? She sent you some . . .”

“Signal. She sent me a signal.”

“And told you she’d been run off the road.”

“She showed me, JD. I saw it happen. She was driving, it was raining. She was just approaching the Canyon Veil exit sign and this big—I don’t know, a Cadillac or some gas guzzler car from back when gas was cheap—it hit her. It rammed her right off the road.”

“Bullshit.” He couldn’t have held it back even if he’d tried.

She sat up, anger making red flags of color on her cheeks. “It’s not bullshit. It’s the truth.”

“Why would anyone run her off the road, Carly?” he demanded.

“I don’t know. But I saw it. And my story is no more unbelievable than yours is, JD. You just happen to be driving by on your way to meet your brother? I don’t believe that. I saw the way you looked when I mentioned Jillian’s name and said she’s a student at NAU. I saw how guarded your eyes got when I told you about that article. You know who Jillian is, don’t you?”

Chapter Eleven

JD stared at her, too surprised to respond. Was she accusing him of something? Angry, he stood and she immediately jumped to her feet as well. The top of her head barely reached his chin, but she stared him down with a look that might well reduce him to ash.

“I was on my way to see my brother,” he said calmly, though his heart raced and his palms felt suddenly damp. He didn’t like where this conversation seemed to have veered. “He’s having an issue with one of his students.”

“An issue?”

“There’s a girl—”

“Is her name Jillian by any chance?”

“As a matter of fact, it is.”

Carly muttered something under her breath and covered her face with her hands.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Stop right there—whatever you’re thinking, stop. This girl at school, Bill said she’s got this, this thing for him. She’s been following him around. Calling his house. Waiting for him in his office. His job is on the line and so is his marriage. He asked me to come up to his office tonight so he could tell her to knock it off. He didn't want to be alone with her but he didn't want to meet her somewhere public either. He thought she might go nuts on him.”

“Jillian would never obsess over a man,” Carly spat at him.

“I never said she would. I’m saying this girl, who by coincidence is also named Jillian, has a screw loose and she’s after my brother.”

Carly glared at him. “Has it happened before?” she demanded.

JD knew exactly what she meant—had there been other girls? He thought of Marilee Rhodes who might well press charges and put an end to Bill’s personal and professional endeavors. Damn Carly for asking. “Yes.”

“How many times? How many times have students lost their heads over your brother?”

Too many to count. But he wasn’t going to say it.

She shook her head. “How many times has it happened to you, JD?”

She was back to accusing him, he guessed. Pissed, he looked her in the eye. “Never.”

“Doesn’t that strike you as strange? You have female students, right? I mean, granted I’ve never met your brother but he can’t be any better looking than you are and yet you manage to keep them from crossing the line, losing their heads. I mean . . .”

She paused, flustered, as if she’d just realized what she’d said. If he hadn’t been so mad, he might have smiled. He hadn’t imagined those long, hungry looks she’d cast him.

“I mean, if I was going to. . . .” She stopped again. “What I’m saying is, maybe it’s your brother and not the women in question.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“I do know my friend. She’s gorgeous. She’s smart. She’s rich. For as long as I’ve known her, she’s had a line of men just wishing she’d talk to them. Nothing you can say would convince me that she suddenly went nutso over your brother to the point that he’d need a witness to back her down.”

JD clenched his jaw, not wanting to see the truth that gleamed out of those blue eyes. But it was there. If they were talking about the same person. And she seemed pretty damn certain they were.

“There were two slips of paper attached to the article Jillian sent me. One looked like it had been written by a man—it said for her to meet him today at four. The other had a girl’s phone number and name on it. I can’t remember her name, though. Mary or Rhonda, Rhoda—”

“Marilee Rhodes?” he asked softly, wishing she’d say no, but of course, she didn’t.

“Yes,” she exclaimed. “Marilee Rhodes. How do you know that?”

He exhaled, shaking his head. “She’s going to file charges against Bill for sexual harassment. Right now, it’s her word against his, but if someone else were to come forward and corroborate her story, it wouldn’t be good.”

“Someone? Like Jillian?”

He didn't answer. He didn't have to. The truth of the matter was too starkly clear.

“All this confirms is that Bill needed to talk to your friend,” JD said. “And that he didn't want to do it alone. It doesn’t mean he ran her off the road.”

“You’re protecting him,” she said, her voice tinged with disappointment.

“Hell yes, I’m protecting him. He’s my big brother. Just because he can’t keep his dick in his pants, doesn’t mean he’s a monster.”

She hesitated, looking like she wanted to say more. In her expression he saw compassion. Understanding. But threaded through it was determination.

“Has he always been that way?”

“A slut?”

She nodded. “I mean, earlier, when I asked you if your brother could have been the father of Sissy’s unborn child? You said, ‘no,’ with absolute certainty.”

“Listen, Carly. I agree we’ve got some strange coincidences … but now you’re really reaching. I told you. He would have married her in a heartbeat if she’d have had him. He was torn up for weeks after he found out she’d been with someone else.”

“Why wouldn’t she have had him?” Carly asked. “If she was scared enough to lie about being raped, why didn’t she say yes to your brother?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t ask her because it wasn’t his kid.” He threw his hands in the air and shook his head. “This conversation is crazy, you know that? We’re talking about a girl who died twenty years ago, for christssakes. It’s ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry, JD. It’s just…I don’t think we’re here by chance. Don’t you see that? Can’t you feel it? I mean, me falling down the hill. Your stupid truck getting flattened in the front yard. Everything that’s happening? The doors. The woman? The picture upstairs that looks exactly like Jillian? God in heaven, there’s something going on here and we need to figure out what in the hell it is.”

She’d worked herself into tears. Giant drops that spilled over her lashes. She swiped them away with an angry hand. “I’m scared,” she said. “And I want to know what’s going on.”

His own anger faded as he watched her struggling to hold back the tide. She was frightened. Hell, he was too. The shadows just seemed to get longer and the air felt thick with anticipation. And as crazy as what she’d just said sounded, he knew in some way, she was right. Too much coincidence to ignore. But what did that mean, really? What did Bill and her friend have to do with the two of them being stranded in this house? Nothing? Everything?

He looked at Carly, furiously scrubbing the tears from her eyes and shook his head.

“Hey,” he said.

She lowered her face so he couldn’t see, but she couldn’t seem to stop the flow. Suddenly it didn't matter so much what had brought them to this place. All that mattered was that they were here, together. He gave into the desire he’d been fighting. He pulled her into his arms and held her—not in comfort, not as a stranger, but as a man.

She struggled half-heartedly and then she sagged against him, bunching his t-shirt in her fists, pressing her face to his chest. He didn't say anything, he just held her, rubbing her back and shoulders, aware all the while of every soft curve of her body. Despite all she’d been through, her scent was sweet, like some honeyed soap and perfume so light he could barely smell it. He wanted to press his face to the soft curve of her neck until her fragrance surrounded him.

She still had pine needles caught in her hair and he pulled a couple out then combed his fingers through it. It was long and tangled in a silky mess. He rubbed the tight muscles of her neck, the base of her scalp, her shoulders, until her tears slowed then dried completely.

She stayed in his arms, but he felt her tense, felt her awareness of him spread through her body.

She tilted her head back and looked up at him with those big blue eyes. He could tell himself no all night, but the fact of the matter was, he wanted to kiss her—he wanted more than that. He wanted to bury himself inside her and stay there for a long, long time.

His gaze moved from her beautiful eyes to her soft mouth. She had her bottom lip caught with her teeth again. Now she released it, running her tongue over the tortured flesh in an absent gesture that pushed him right over the edge.

With a muffled groan, he captured her sweet mouth with his.

Chapter Twelve

The moment JD’s mouth found hers, Carly was lost in the taste of him, the scent of him, the feel of him. She let the sensations roll over her as his fingers tunneled beneath her hair. He cupped her head between his hands, holding her still while he explored her mouth with lips and tongue. Carly’s arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer before her mind even thought–not that she would have listened even if it had. She wanted him. She’d wanted him since he’d walked through the door and the teasing kiss of earlier had only fanned her desire. The solid muscles of his chest felt hard against her breasts as she pressed every inch of her body against his. She rocked with the heat of him, frustrated by the clamor of emotions and needs fighting to control her. She wanted this, but not now. Not here in this terrifying place.