Dangerous Secrets (4 page)

She clutched her purse against her side. “Thanks again for breakfast, Adam.”

The way she said his name made him wonder what it would sound like rolling off her tongue under different circumstances. With wide eyes, she looked at him expectantly, her summer dress fluttering with the light breeze. And he lost all common sense. If he’d ever had any.

He didn’t know how it happened. One second she was staring at him with those big doe eyes, and the next second he was kissing her. Rather, they were kissing each other.

She tasted like coffee and mint. He fisted his hands into the tangle of her dark curls, tugging her closer. Her scent, something exotic and tropical, enveloped him.

Their tongues clashed in a fervent need. He sucked on her bottom lip, earning a low moan from her. His cock was like a heat-seeking missile with a mind of its own. Involuntarily, his hips surged against hers.

When her hands slid up his chest and around his neck, he couldn’t help himself. He palmed one of her breasts through the dress. Her nipple was rock hard and straining against the thin material.

In small, slow circles, he rubbed his thumb over the peak.

Pulling her head back, she let out some sort of strangled noise. Primal satisfaction rolled through him. The woman was incredibly reactive.

With her neck bared, he zeroed in on the soft skin and lightly raked his teeth over her pulse point before feathering her with kisses.

She clutched his shoulders and lifted one leg so that it was wrapped around his back. All he’d have to do was shove up her dress and he could be inside her in seconds. His cock jerked at the thought.

He backed her up against the door with a thud and with one hand reached around until he cupped her ass. He bunched up the material until he felt skin. He grasped her tighter, needing to feel her against him. Then he froze.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“Are you wearing anything under this dress?” he managed to gasp out. At first he’d thought she had on a thong but as he traced his hand down her curves, there was no barrier.

She shook her head and smiled in what he could only describe as mischievous. “Nothing at all.”

His stomach muscles bunched in anticipation as his hips automatically rocked up against hers. Again. The woman was determined to drive him insane. “Do you always go commando?”

Her dark hair waved seductively around her shoulders as she shook her head again. “Nope.”

Shit, shit, shit. He was thirty-two and the woman was going to give him a heart attack. Though it took all the willpower he possessed, he dropped his hands and took a step back. “We’ve got to stop, Izzy.” Even to his own ears, his voice was ragged and unsteady.

God, he was ready to take her right up against the door. He’d been about to start slamming into her right outside for anyone to see. He had to get a grip on himself before he did something he couldn’t take back. And if he slept with Izzy, there wouldn’t be any going back. He knew once he had a taste of her it would never be enough and he’d be the one to get burned in the end.

“Why?” She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up and showing more than a hint of smooth skin. No doubt intentionally. A small, flirtatious smile played across her features when their gazes clashed.

He cleared his throat and tried to concentrate on a semi-decent answer. “We work together.”
Smooth.
He inwardly cursed at himself.

One of her dark eyebrows lifted in a perfect arch. “You’re leaving soon.”

“Yes.” That was all he could seem to get out.

“So what’s the problem? Not attracted to me?” Her eyes strayed downward toward his crotch before she looked at him with an amused, almost haughty expression.

Attraction obviously wasn’t the problem. His erection was damn painful. So how the hell could he get out of this? He was a red-blooded American male. What reason could he possibly give for not wanting to be with her?

“I’ll see you at work tonight.” Without waiting for a response and before he changed his mind, he turned and hurried back to his truck. Thankfully he didn’t run into anyone on his way. His erection strained painfully against his jeans, digging into the zipper. For once in his life, he knew his fist just wouldn’t cut it. Neither would another woman. Only Izzy could ease his ache.

Once inside his truck, he pounded his fist against the center console. What the hell had he been thinking, kissing her like that? Now that he’d had a taste of her, he wanted so much more. And if she found out the real reason he was in town, she’d never forgive him.

Izzy stepped inside her apartment and sagged against the door. One kiss shouldn’t affect her entire body this way. Her legs shook and though it was impossible, she felt as if her insides trembled, as well.

Adam had looked almost surprised that he’d kissed her. There was no doubt that the sexy man had been turned on. Oh yeah, he’d been turned on something fierce. Some things were simply impossible to deny. She couldn’t figure why he’d stopped though.

He hadn’t wanted to pull back. She was almost sure of it. Maybe he felt guilty because he knew he’d be leaving in a couple weeks. That had to be it. And if that was his only hang-up, she’d soon help him get over it.

Starting tonight.

He didn’t know it yet, but he was going to be hers for the next two weeks. And there was nothing he could do about it.

She walked the few steps down the short hall to her bedroom, dropped her purse onto her dresser, then opened the top drawer. She smiled to herself as she pulled out one of the La Perla sets she’d never worn. When she’d moved out on her own, she hadn’t left all luxuries behind. She might have wanted to be independent, but it was mainly about getting out from under her father’s thumb.

And now she was very grateful she’d brought sexy lingerie. The sheer black satin and silk bra and matching G-string were sure to do the trick. In reality, she knew that by the time they got to the part where their clothes came off, he wouldn’t care what she was wearing. The sexy getup made her feel better though. Since Adam made her a little nervous—in a good way, but nervous nonetheless—she needed to be somewhat in control.

It had been a couple years since she’d been with a man, and even longer since she’d actually trusted someone implicitly. With Adam, everything seemed different.
He
was different. He didn’t know who her family was and the desire she’d seen in his eyes—and felt against her abdomen—was all about her. Not money, not power, nothing other than her. That was a turn on in itself.

Her cell rang, pulling her back to reality. When she saw the number on the caller ID she tensed, but flipped open the phone anyway. It had been too long since she’d talked to her father, and stubborn and meddling as the man was, she missed him.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hi, Izzy. Tired of working in a bar yet?”

She groaned and fell onto her bed. All the air rushed from the thick duvet and all thoughts of Adam and sexy lingerie disappeared as she stretched out. Would this conversation never change? “Drop it, Dad. If that’s the only reason you called, then I don’t have anything to say to you.”

He sighed that familiar tired sound and she felt a twinge of guilt. “I just wanted to check on you. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

The last words were like a punch to her gut. He might drive her crazy, but they’d always been close. Until recently. Until he’d started trying to invade every aspect of her life and pushing that she take a job with his company and settle down. Then he’d started setting her up with horrid dates. That had been one of the many final straws. Was it really too much to accept that she simply wanted to figure out what she wanted in life on her own?

“I know Dad, and I’m sorry. I’ve been busy with work but that’s no excuse. How’s Edna? Finally decide to make an honest woman of her?”

“Izzy, for the last time, there’s nothing going on between us.” His words were practically a growl.

She bit her lip to hold back a laugh, knowing she’d gotten a rise out of him. She seriously doubted anything had ever happened between him and his assistant, but she loved teasing him about it. “Whatever you say.”

“I swear child, you didn’t get that imagination from my side of the family.” He chuckled and she could imagine him sitting by his pool with his legs kicked up on a table, sipping a scotch. It was Sunday afternoon and he was a man of habit.

“So how have you been? Taking your cholesterol medicine?”

He was silent for a beat too long. “Of course I am.”

“Do I need to call Edna?”

“Damn it Izzy, I’m a grown man. I don’t need you checking up on me.”

She smiled to herself. “See? It’s not fun when someone meddles in your life. Still, I’ll probably put in a call to her anyway because if I know you, you haven’t upped your vegetable intake either.” Though he’d never admit it, he needed someone to take care of him more than she did.

“What I’m doing is completely different. I just want you to be happy. If you call her—”

“There’s not a thing you can do. And I simply want you to keep your good health. Can’t have you keeling over before I have grandkids.” She said the last part mainly to hush him up.

He choked for a second, she guessed on his drink, before continuing. “Grandkids? Is there something I don’t know?”

Sighing, she sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. “No, there’s not. I’m trying to make a point. You’re still young enough and so am I. And I guess I don’t understand why you’ve been pushing me so hard to settle down lately.”

“I want you to be happy.”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“You moved to another city to get away from me.”

His words embedded deep in her chest. “You know
exactly
why I left, Dad. It’s because—”

“I’m getting another call. I’ll talk to you soon, sweetie.” His voice was gruff and hoarse.

“Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too.”

She knew he’d gotten off the phone because he hadn’t liked where the conversation was headed. It didn’t matter that she’d been justifiably angry at him when she’d left Savannah, she somehow still felt guilty when she talked to him.

She pushed up from the bed and shoved away her guilt. If she was going to seduce Adam tonight, she had to stop worrying about things she couldn’t do anything about. She quickly changed into a bathing suit and grabbed a towel from her linen closet. Work was a couple hours away and for the first time in a while, she didn’t have a thing to do.

After tossing a bottle of water and her MP3 player into her bag, she locked up and started the short trek toward the apartment complex’s pool. The small pool was nothing compared to her father’s Olympic-size monstrosity, but it provided a place to soak up some sun.

She slathered sunscreen on her fair skin and settled onto one of the lounge chairs. Except for two other women, the pool area was empty. It was warm enough to lay out, but the water was undoubtedly too cold. In a month or two the place would be teeming with kids and other residents.

Just as she got comfortable, the shrill ring of her phone shattered the quiet atmosphere. She didn’t recognize the number, but answered on the off chance it was Adam calling from another line.

“Hello?”

“You’re going to pay for your interference last night.” The voice of the caller was male, but one she didn’t recognize.

She shifted slightly in her seat. “Excuse me?” Maybe this was a wrong number.

“You heard me. You get to replace that whore from last night,
Isabelle.
” His voice was without inflection and the way he said her name gave her the creeps.

Izzy sat up and pushed her sunglasses on her head. “What did you say?”

“You looked like a slut at the museum today so I’m guessing you’re a whore too.”

A flash of hot then cold skittered over her skin. This guy had
seen
her? She glanced around, worried he might be watching her.

“Get ready, bitch. Your time is coming.”

The line went dead before she could find her voice.

An icy chill washed over her and grasped her chest in a tight, unforgiving hold. She tossed on her cover-up, picked up her towel and other belongings and hurried back to her place. That couldn’t have been the man from last night, could it? How had he gotten her phone number? And what did he mean “replace?” It couldn’t be what she thought, could it?

The implication of his words sent shivers snaking down her spine. Once she was back at her apartment and the deadbolt was in place, she allowed herself to breathe easier, but her pounding heart didn’t abate. Maybe this was a prank.

The phone was still grasped tightly in her hand. The thought of calling the police crossed her mind but she knew they couldn’t do anything about a phone call. They’d just file a report. And if she called her father he’d flip out and probably drive down to see her. Or worse he’d hire a bodyguard—or ten. She tried calling Adam twice but it went straight to voicemail. Next she tried Carolyn but she didn’t pick up either.

Even though she was safely locked behind a door, she couldn’t shake the nerves that had overtaken her body. She set her phone on the kitchen table and wiped sweaty palms on her legs. Growing up, her father had always worried about her safety. Over the years she’d taken multiple self-defense classes so she knew she could take care of herself. Still, to have someone call her personal cell and actually threaten her was damn terrifying. She tried Adam one more time. It rang this time but still went to voicemail. She started to leave a message but ended the call instead. After a quick shower she was going to head to work early. The call might be nothing but she’d rather be safe than sorry. Being surrounded by people was the only way she knew to stay safe.

Adam’s cell rang as he steered into the parking lot of Mad Dog’s. For the past few hours all he’d thought about was Izzy and that damn kiss. A five-mile run had done nothing to take the edge off. Neither had a cold shower. Now he had to endure the torture of working with Izzy for the rest of the night. She’d called him while he’d been out running but hadn’t left a message. Since then he’d tried to get hold of her but she hadn’t picked up.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and after a glance at the caller ID, all that edginess tripled. For a split second he considered ignoring the caller.

He suppressed a sigh as he flipped his cell open. “Hello, Mr. Ballantine.”

“Hello, Adam. And for the last time, call me Edward. How are things progressing?” he asked.

“Well sir, you know your daughter better than I do. This is tougher than I’d originally planned.” Talk about an understatement.

Ballantine chuckled. “Yes, I imagine it is. She’s a stubborn woman. Gets that from her mother.”

Stubborn, sexy and sweet. A deadly combination. He nodded even though the other man couldn’t possibly see him.

“Do you think you’ll have her convinced by the deadline?” Edward asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know, sir. She likes it here.”

“Keep me updated.”

The other man didn’t like to bullshit on the phone, something Adam appreciated, and he knew their conversation was almost over. He might be sabotaging himself, but if he didn’t speak up now, he didn’t know if he could live with himself. “She lives in a safe area, she’s working at a normal restaurant and she has good friends.” He paused for a moment as he thought about last night’s attack on the other woman. The guy hadn’t gone after Izzy and the truth was, no one was truly safe. Not all the time. Adam decided not to mention the incident to her father. Not yet. He veered the conversation in a different direction. “Sir, it’s becoming more difficult to keep my intentions from Izzy.

“How so?”

“We’re friends, we work together and…damn it, she’s a good person. I don’t like lying to her.” He couldn’t exactly tell the man he was intensely attracted to his daughter.

Edward was silent for a long moment. “Do you or do you not want the Forester contract?”

He gritted his teeth. After high school he’d enlisted in the Marines, and stayed in for eight years. After that he’d done two years of grueling security work in a war zone. He’d been shot at too many times to count, had been hit once and still had slivers of shrapnel embedded in his back from a roadside IED. Nothing he’d done—training stateside or covert operations overseas—had prepared him for this kind of “mission.” He’d rather be dropped behind enemy lines than continue with this façade. Lying to Izzy made him feel like the scum of the earth. Everything had seemed so simple before, but realizing Izzy was an actual person, not part of some deal, put everything in a different light. No matter what he’d done in life, he’d prided himself on his honesty. If it wasn’t for his brother, he’d seriously consider walking away from this deal right now.

“Well?” the other man persisted when Adam didn’t answer.

“You know I want the contract. I’m also fulfilling my part of the bargain. Five weeks protection detail. If she won’t move back, I can’t force her.”

“I know that. It would be a lot better for you if she did, though.”

Adam gritted his teeth. They’d signed a contract but something told him that even though he wasn’t technically required to convince Izzy to move home, Edward was expecting just that. A miracle. “I’ll contact you if anything changes.”

As he got out of his truck he noticed Izzy’s car sitting across the parking lot. He’d hoped to arrive earlier than her, but fate wasn’t on his side tonight. If it had been, he’d never have put himself in the position to kiss Izzy. In reality, he knew he couldn’t blame anyone but himself for that.

Once he stepped inside he expected to see her standing behind the bar, but Carolyn was there instead.

“I didn’t think you were bartending anymore.” He walked around the bar and clocked himself into the computer.

“I’m not. Toby asked me to cover for a few minutes. He’s talking to Izzy in his office,” Carolyn said.

Her tone set an alarm bell off in his head. “Is she okay?”

The petite blonde shrugged, but Adam didn’t miss the hint of worry that crept into her eyes. “I don’t know. She seemed a little shaken up when she came in, but she wanted to talk to Toby first.”

That’s all he needed to hear. If it involved Izzy, it involved him. He pushed open the kitchen doors and continued through the expansive room toward the back of the restaurant until he stood in front of the office door.

The door was shut. Something that rarely happened. As he raised his hand to knock, the door flew open and he found himself face-to-face with Izzy.

Surprise on her face, she took a step back. “Hey, Adam.”

“Hey. You okay?”

She nodded, then glanced at her feet. “I’ve got to relieve Carolyn. See ya in a bit.”

She brushed past him and had made it halfway through the kitchen before he could protest. A second later the door opened wider and Toby stepped out. “Got a second?”

“Yeah. What’s going on?” He followed his boss back inside the small office.

Toby motioned for him to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Then he perched on the edge of the desk. “Starting tonight, I want everyone keeping an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious, and I don’t want any of the servers walking to their cars alone after work. Male or female.”

“What the hell is going on?” Had something happened to Izzy?

Toby sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “It could be a prank, but Izzy received a strange call this afternoon. Some guy said she was going to pay for her interference last night and inferred that she was going to replace the woman from last night. Or at least that’s what she thinks he meant. I’ve already called the cops and let them know what’s going on.”

Shit, maybe that was why she’d called earlier. “Is she okay?”

“She’s physically fine, and she only seems a little shaken up. I think she wanted to alert me in case this turned out to be real.”

“Do you think this is a prank?”

Toby shook his head. “The guy knew her name. He had her phone number, and he knew about last night. Only a handful of people know what happened here so odds are this is real.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her tonight.”
And every second from this moment forward.

“Thanks man. I figured you would. I’ll alert the rest of the staff as they clock in.”

A minute later Adam found Izzy alone behind the bar. “Carolyn already gone?” he asked as he ducked under the hatch.

She nodded as she rearranged some of the beers in the cooler. The bottles didn’t need rearranging.

“Listen, Toby told me what happened. You sure you feel like working tonight?”

Finally, she looked at him and the fear in her dark eyes clawed at his insides. “I’m a little shaken up, but I’d rather be here than at my place. This is probably just a stupid prank anyway.”

He took a few steps toward her, closing the small gap between them. “I’m going to be here all night and I’m going to make sure you get home safe tonight too.” He also planned to stay the night, but he wasn’t sure how that would go over. He’d cross that bridge later. Hopefully by later tonight she’d be too tired to argue when he insisted. Not that it mattered. He
was
staying over.

Despite the fact that he wanted her as much as he wanted his next breath, this wasn’t about sex. He’d be sleeping on her couch with one eye open. If someone thought they could get to her, they’d have to go through him.

Wearing a ball cap pulled low, he sat in one of the booths at Mad Dog’s. From his position, he had a perfect view of the bar, but he was blocked by all the high top tables and throng of people milling around the place.

Loud rock music blared from the speakers, and slutty women swayed to the beat. Some stood, some sat, but almost everyone in the bar was buzzing and having a good time. For a Sunday, the place was packed. Tomorrow was the start of another work week and people were sucking everything out of the weekend they could.

He was taking a big risk, coming back to the restaurant right now, but he didn’t care. That stupid bitch, Isabelle, had seen him. And worse, she’d interrupted him. Andrea, the woman he’d handpicked, had slipped through his fingers. He’d been watching her for weeks and that tall bartender had messed everything up.

Getting her phone number and work schedule had been ridiculously easy. There was only one bartender during the day and the woman was lazy. When she’d taken a smoke break, he ducked behind the bar and grabbed a copy of the work schedule taped onto the computer. By a stroke of luck, a few phone numbers had been scratched onto it. And that bitch’s was one of them.

As he watched her move around behind the bar, he gripped his beer bottle tighter. She wasn’t even his type. She was too tall, lean and pale but he’d make an exception.

When the crowd started to thin, he threw a bill on the table and walked toward the entrance with a group of drunk men. He couldn’t help but notice the other male bartender eyeing her all night. That looming hulk, Adam something, might be a problem if they were involved. If so, he’d find a way to take care of him.

When he was through with her, she’d never stick her nose in anyone’s business again. If he let her live. She could be his first kill. His heart rate escalated as he thought about wrapping his hands around her slim neck and squeezing the life from her. His face would be the last thing she saw. The bruising on her pale neck would be that much more vivid, more beautiful. Maybe that bitch had done him a favor by helping Andrea. He smiled to himself as a new, better plan formed in his mind. He’d use his interruption to his advantage.

The night passed by at a snail’s pace, and Adam blamed it all on Izzy. He’d always noticed other men checking her out, but tonight the freaks and jackasses of the world were out in full force. And they were all hitting on her.

To give her credit, she let the lewd comments roll off her back, but he wasn’t having such an easy time of it. Maybe it was because he was coming to think of her as being his, or because a freak had gotten hold of her phone number and was harassing her. Or maybe he just wasn’t cut out for this bartending business. Either way, the hand on the clock seemed to tick backward at times. Purposely mocking him.

When the last customer had left and he’d locked the door, Izzy set a half-empty bottle of vodka down on the bar with more force than necessary. “Assholes,” she muttered.

“What?” he asked as he ducked under the bar hatch.

“Was it just me or was there an extra dose of testosterone in the bar tonight?”

“It’s not just you, trust me. Some of those boys are lucky they’re even walking.” He gritted his teeth as he walked back around the bar. If it hadn’t been for the extra security or Toby’s presence tonight, heads would have rolled. He wasn’t a violent man by nature, but his patience had been truly tested in the past few hours.

“I thought you were going to bust a few heads tonight,” she said as she slid the bottle into the well with the twenty others.

“Was I that obvious?”

A faint smile played across her pretty face. “Just a tad. You scowled at every guy who ordered a drink from me.”

“Not
every
one.” He grabbed one of the tip jars off the ledge and emptied it onto the bar.

She laughed and the silvery sound was like a caress over his entire body. “Just about.” Before he could respond, she continued. “Listen, I know you said you were going to follow me home, and—”

“It’s not up for discussion Izzy so forget any argument you’ve rehearsed.” Now he knew he had his work cut out for him. If she didn’t want him following her home, it was going to take some finesse to convince her to let him stay.

Her dark eyebrows rose slightly. “Oh, I was actually going to ask if you might stay at my place for a little while…just until I feel safe.”

Izzy wasn’t a very good liar, and he’d venture to guess she was a terrible poker player. She was up to something. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what it was though.

Or maybe he did.

Sighing, he joined her as they started the nightly ritual of closing down the bar. The kitchen staff silently worked in the back, shutting down the ovens, while the servers bussed and cleaned their tables. Normally it was relatively quiet after work, but tonight there wasn’t even a slight buzz. No one was bitching about cheap customers or planning their week. Other than the muted sounds of the dishwasher, tonight it was deathly quiet. Everyone knew there was a predator lurking around and the feeling of safety one got from living in a small town had vanished.

Izzy luxuriated under the powerful stream of her shower jets as they pulsed and cascaded over her naked body. Adam sat out in her living room, waiting for her. Of course, he didn’t know what she had planned or he might not have agreed to stay over.

He might want to protect her, but he was also going to pleasure her. And vice versa. For most of her life she’d played things safe. With the exception of going against her father’s wishes and moving down to Florida for a few months, she’d always done what was expected of her.

Not tonight. Nope, tonight, she was doing exactly what she wanted. Adam might try to deny it, but she could tell how much he wanted her. Every time she looked into his eyes, his lust mirrored her own.

If he was feeling guilty over leaving soon, she’d let him know he had nothing to feel bad about. Running the sudsy loofah over her breasts and stomach, she imagined what Adam’s hands and mouth would feel like on her body.

Her thoughts and the rough, netted texture aroused her so much she switched the water to cold. The icy rush cooled her body, but did little to quell her raging insides.

After slathering on lotion and blow drying the dampness out of her hair, she slipped on a matching pink-and-white camisole set. The bottoms were short, but not so short it was
completely
obvious what she intended. If he didn’t want her as much as she wanted him, she had to hold on to some of her pride.