Dancing with Deception (14 page)

Gideon tensed visibly. “What’d he say?”

Colin shrugged. “Don’t know. Dad figured we ought to wait for you two to get back but I figured you’d want to know.” He moved to the helm and gunned the engine. “Meet you back at the house,” he shouted over the noise.

They were quiet until the sound of the motor died down. Then Rebecca turned to Gideon. He was looking at her again but with none of the hunger or desire he had showed before. “You okay?”

“Of course.” She didn’t know if he was asking because of the thorough assault he had just laid to her senses or because they were moving forward with her dilemma. Either way she was fine, she told herself. Just fine.

“All right.” He tossed his can into the trash and started the boat.

Gideon docked and helped Rebecca out of the boat. He kept her hand in his as they walked to the house. He liked the feel and fit of her small, delicate hand in his large one. He definitely liked the feel of them rubbing over his skin.

Heat punched him in the gut when he thought of what they’d done. He’d been seconds away from ripping her pants off and having at her when his idiot brother interrupted them. Oh, he’d been furious. At least he’d chosen then to show up and not when he’d been inside her. He doubted he could have stopped for anything then.

He saw her smoothing her hair out of the corner of his eye and smiled. She’d be embarrassed, no doubt if anyone else suspected anything. She’d turned scarlet when Colin had shown up and her color had barely returned to normal. Hell, just looking at her was a dead giveaway to what they’d been up to.

He’d be up to it later if he had anything to say about it.

He opened the door for her and smothered a grin when she gave him a curious look. She walked through the door without comment and he followed.

His family was all sitting at the kitchen table. If anyone noticed Rebecca’s flushed face, they didn’t comment. They just smiled and Colin pulled out a chair for her. Gideon remained standing and crossed his arms over his chest.

“So?”

Charles tapped a stack of papers on the table. “Six men in Ohio by that name. None of them have the means to have ordered a boat like this guy had requested.”

“So it was a setup.” Gideon wasn’t surprised in the least. “Why haven’t they made a move if they know where we are?”

Charles shrugged. “They’re either waiting for us to leave Rebecca without protection or they lost their tail on you when they followed you back.”

Gideon nodded at his father. “I think it’s the latter. There’s no way they can keep watch on the island. We’re too far away from Pelee and the mainland to keep watch.”

“If they got your cell phone number, what’s stopping them from getting your address?”

Gideon looked at Rebecca. No hint of the blush from earlier remained on her face. She was pale and afraid now. Her fingers were bloodless as she twisted them on the table in front of her.

“I’m not listed at this address. The business and island are listed under Colin’s name. The house is under my parents. It’ll take them a while to figure it out.”

“You’re on the license for the boatyard,” Colin reminded him.

“Yeah, but your name will show up first.” A small detail played over in his mind. “There were two of them on the boat when they came to look for her on
Avery
.” Gideon looked at Rebecca. “The one you kicked.”

“So?”

“So, I went in the cabin with the short one. My phone was left up on deck. They didn’t find out anything. The bastard called his phone with mine to get my number.”

“That makes sense,” Charles smiled. “Go get your phone and check your call log to be sure.”

“So what’s next?” Colin asked.

“They know everything about Rebecca. How is that?” Gideon hadn’t thought of it before. They’d been following her, watching her routine. Then, when they hadn’t been able to find out where the painting was, they’d grabbed her. How did they know her father would take it to her?

He fixed his eyes on hers and saw her squirm. He had a bad feeling about it, but he asked again. “How did they know who you were? Your father didn’t come around. Why would they think to look you up?”

“My father’s a con-artist.” No one spoke or seemed to move. Gideon calmly waited for her to explain. “H-he went to jail and met others like him. They helped him so that when he got out, he could move on to bigger cons. Big money…”

“Your father stole the painting?” And she’d been hiding it for him?

“No. Not exactly.” She looked up at him, her expression begging him for something. “You see, it’s my painting. I painted it when I was younger.”

“You helped him.”

“No, I didn’t even remember painting it. I must have been young. I only realized a little while ago. He covered my name in the corner and must have fooled someone into believing its valuable.”

“And that someone’s pissed off.” He shouldn’t feel hurt that she hadn’t told him her father had purposely put her in danger. She had led him to believe he was just stupid. Fury turned his blood hot. He thought of all the things he would do to Austin Channing when he met him. And he would meet him, he promised. He intended to see this thing through to the end.

“So why would they come after the painting if they knew it was worthless?” Jess wanted to know. “Wouldn’t they go after your father instead?”

“They probably still think the painting is worth something. Judging him, he probably showed them the painting and forged documents stating it’s supposed worth then gave them time to transfer the money. If they had the painting, they could easily test it and find out its crap. But if he hid it, they’d look for it and not him.”

His mother’s breath caught in her throat. Gideon knew it was out of pity for Rebecca and the total disregard her father showed her. Hell, he felt for her too.

“When did you realize the painting was yours?”

She looked up at him and he saw her vivid blue eyes wide and anxious. “On the way here… to the island.”

“And why the hell didn’t you decide to mention it until now?”

Her chin tilted which aggravated him more. “Would it have made a difference?”

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

“Just what is the point, Gideon?” Charles picked the file up and put it in a drawer.

“Hell if I know,” Gideon muttered. Furious at her and himself, he strode to the door. “I’m going to go finish working. See you guys later.” 

He couldn’t say exactly why he was so angry. Rebecca was completely right. It didn’t make any difference whether the painting was worth a fortune or worth only what it cost to buy the damn finger paint. He guessed he thought they had something to barter with before. Now, there was a very good chance that what they were risking their lives for was worthless.

It was the lack of trust that bothered him the most. He understood why she would have been wary of telling him at first. She probably thought he would accuse her of being a part of the scam.

But when things had started changing between them, he expected her to be more open with him. Hell, he thought raking a hand through his hair. Maybe it had only changed for him. Maybe she wasn’t as affected as he thought she was. He sure was. Every time he thought about having his mouth on hers his pants became too tight.

He flipped on the light in the office and dug out the plans for the boat he had been designing. It wouldn’t be
Avery
, he knew. But it would be almost as good. 
Avery
had been the first boat he and his family had sweated and strained over. She was top of the line with features that put a yacht to shame. Gideon had claimed her since he was the face of the boatyard. Clients envied her and often tried to duplicate her but one thing Boats by Avery claimed originality. No boat would ever be duplicated. Not even a basic sail boat.

Gideon pulled out a stubby pencil from his desk drawer and picked up on his sketch for his new boat. She would be a lot like
Avery
, he thought as he penciled in a storage compartment. But he would add in the mini-fridge he had thought about only after they had designed and built her. Sketching kept his mind off Rebecca; until he penciled in the bench seat. He frowned remembering their earlier encounter and widened the seat a few inches.

He set the pencil down and sighed. He wouldn’t stop thinking about her until he had more than just a taste of her. He’d thought of nothing but Rebecca since their kiss on the bathroom floor and the kiss only an hour ago didn’t come close to whetting his appetite.

He was thoroughly disgusted with himself for wanting her even though he was angry with her. She’d kept things from him even after they started to like each other. They’d basically lived together for six days and he knew more about her than he did any of his past girlfriends. That had to mean something, he mused. Maybe the added danger heightened the interest.

Whatever the cause, the outcome remained the same. He would have her.

Jess popped her head in sometime later. Without a word, she sat down in a low-back chair and crossed her legs underneath her. The long glare she gave him rendered him reluctant to begin a conversation so he only nodded and continued shading in his sketch.

“You’re an asshole.”

Gideon sighed. “What do you want, Jess?”

“You hurt her feelings.”

He put his sketch away because he knew his sister wouldn’t give him any more peace until he gave into whatever she wanted him to do. “Her, meaning Rebecca?”

“Who else? You know you hurt her feelings. You’re such a jerk, Gideon.” She crossed her slender arms over her chest and lifted her chin at him. He would have laughed if he knew she wouldn’t pick up a paperweight and beam him with it. He knew better, however.

“Maybe I am, but she kept things from me.”

“With good reason,” she snarled. “And like she said, what difference would it have made if she told you it was hers?”

“None. It’s the fact that she didn’t tell me after we—” He cut himself off knowing his sister would just love to hear about his attraction for Rebecca.

“After you started liking each other?” She smirked. “Yes, I know. I’m not blind. But it doesn’t matter. With good reason, she probably thought you would stop being nice to her if she told you. And I was going to look at the painting first.”

“Have you?”

“Yes.” Now Jess lowered her eyes. “It’s definitely the work of a little kid.”

Like she said, it didn’t make any difference. Whoever wanted it either wanted it because they didn’t know it was worthless, or because they wanted to get to Rebecca to get to her father. They may have even thought Rebecca helped her father scam them. None of those possibilities worked for him.

“I can’t believe her father would do that to her. I just don’t understand how.” Jess’s eyes filled with tears but they didn’t fall. “I feel so bad for her. She was really upset before she went to bed.”

“Bed?” What time was it?

“Yeah, after we looked at the painting, she said she was feeling tired. Mom tried to get her to eat something but she wouldn’t. I heard her after she went into her room. She got sick.”

“Shit.”

“I knocked, but she didn’t answer.” Jess uncurled her legs out from under her and leaned forward. “Fix it, Gideon. You always fix things.”

“I will.” He didn’t know how, but he would fix it. And after? Well, he and Rebecca obviously had something going on. He wanted to see what that was and what they could get out of it. He had a feeling being with her would be like dynamite.

And now she was sick and probably scared out of her mind. He wanted to soothe her and reassure her. He wanted to hold her while she told him all her worries and fears. There was so much he didn’t know about her. His life was basically an open book for her. She’d met his family
—
lived with them—and knew basically everything there was to know about him. Yet, she hadn’t opened up to him.

Jess walked around the desk and leaned down to hug Gideon. “Rebecca’s been a really good friend to me.”

Knowing how much that meant to his baby sister, Gideon swallowed against the lump of emotion in his throat. Besides Critter, Jess hadn’t met or seen anyone outside of her family in four years. Her fears ran so deep that no amount of begging and soothing would ease them. Jess had simply refused to leave the island and no one had ever forced the issue again.

Gideon gave Jess a last squeeze before releasing her. “I will fix it,” he promised.

Jess gave him a wobbly smile before letting him know dinner was just about ready then exited the office. Gideon leaned back in his chair and heaved a sigh borne of frustration. He would leave Rebecca alone tonight. He honestly didn’t have the words to soothe her. He would take her into town tomorrow to get some things from her house and they would talk then. One way or another, they would come to an understanding.

He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight until the danger had passed. She was just going to have to accept his need to protect her. He would do it for anyone, he told himself as he locked up the desk. He shut off the lights and locked the door behind him.

The bar annoyed him. Usually Austin didn’t mind the noise, but the crowd tonight just irritated him. He tossed back another scotch and tried to make out the beat coming from the juke box in the corner. Sounded like a bunch of kids banging on pots and pans to him. Today’s music had no rhythm. He should have hit up the jazz club further down the street.