Stormy Passion (14 page)

“
Don't tempt me, Lopez.”
Dani smiled. “Somebody has to pay the bills.” Now she remembered
why she had a routine--to pay the bills. “Gotta get back to the
real world. Have a good day.”

“
You break my heart again,”
Lopez called after her, placing his hand over his chest as though
he’d been wounded.

Dani laughed. The flirting wordplay had been
enough to brighten her spirits. She hurried down along the shopping
area and past the brick convention center to where her office was
located.

In front of the glass door marked Coffee
Advertising, she took a deep breath before tugging the door
open.

It was time to see Steven
.

Kim, the receptionist, looked up and smiled.
“We were beginning to worry about you.”

“
Thanks,” Dani said,
forcing a smile. “As you can see, I'm fine.” She picked up her mail
off the counter and started to sort through it as she headed for
her office.

“
What happened to your
head?” Kim called after her.

“
I was in a hurricane,”
Dani said in a half-laugh. “I had a run-in with a sheet of
plywood.”

“
Yeah, right, Dani.” Kim
gave her an I-don't-believe-you-frown then turned back to her
computer.

Danielle chuckled, feeling much better now
that she was actually at work. She had no doubt that no one would
believe the story of her brush with death. And for the first time,
she realized how truly lucky she and Adrian had been.

She closed her office door, and let out the
breath she'd been holding. Maybe the day wouldn't turn out so bad.
After all, she really did like her job. In fact, she loved
advertising and hoped one day to have her own agency. There was no
question that she had talent, for she'd been instrumental in
bringing several new accounts into the agency.

When she had her own agency, she would
finally be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her brother and
sister. Maybe then they wouldn't laugh at her and tell her how
naive she was. Growing up, they had teased her so much that, to
this day, she felt stupid when around them.

She vowed that someday they'd look at her
differently.

She'd been working half the morning finishing
up some designs for her newest customer, The Susie Q. It was a
high-end designer clothing store, and Dani had enjoyed seeing all
the new fall clothes she was working into their ad. Many of her
clients had become good friends and, thanks to word of mouth, her
client list was growing.

Now all she needed was a big account to ice
the cake. If she could find out who was building the new
amphitheater in town, she'd have it made.

“
I'm glad to see you could
make it today.” John Coffee stood in the doorway, gazing at her
with a disapproving look. But then, when didn't he have that smirk
on his face? She wondered if Steven would be like him when he grew
up.

“
I couldn't call.” She laid
her pen on the desktop and leaned back in her chair. “There were no
phones.”

“
So where were
you?”

“
You know perfectly well
that I was supposed to meet Steven on Sea Horse Island for the
weekend. I told you that before I left.”

“
Really?” He crossed his
arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “So why did my son show up
yesterday and you didn't?”

She wasn't going to sit here and take the
man's condescending tone when none of what happened had been her
fault. “Why don't you ask your son? He was the one who stood me
up.”

“
Ask me what?” Steven poked
his head in the door.

Dani turned to stone. The object of her
affection had finally made an appearance. Once upon a time, she'd
dreamed of running to Steven and throwing her arms around his neck,
but now that he stood before her, she couldn't move.

He hadn't changed much except his tan was a
little deeper and the sun had bleached the front of his brown
hair.

He pushed past his father and sauntered
around her desk. “Is this any way to greet me?” He reached down and
pulled her up, trying to enfold her within his arms.

She stiffened and pulled away to really look
at him. Completely disoriented, she felt as if she were moving
through a fog; her body was here but she stood somewhere else. Her
office door clicked as Mr. Coffee left. At least they were now
alone.

Steven was one of those men that women
spotted across the room. His green eyes sparkled, and everything on
him was neat as a pin as if he'd just stepped out of GQ Magazine.
Maybe that's why she had felt so lucky to be Steven's girlfriend.
It was like he was the Madison Avenue version of a real man. But,
after last weekend, that didn't mean as much as it once had. She
didn't want a trophy. She wanted a man.

A real man.

Like Adrian.

Where Steven was preppie, Adrian was rugged
and strong. Steven’s college boy looks paled in comparison to
Adrian’s no-nonsense demeanor. And, Dani was just now realizing she
felt completely different when she was with the two men. With a
mixture of dread and anticipation, she met Steven's steady gaze. He
took it as an invitation to kiss her and leaned in. “I'd forgotten
how beautiful you are, Dani.”

His embrace tightened while his warm mouth
moved over hers. The kiss was passionate, soft, but she wasn’t
interested. She tried to relax and enjoy the moment and revisit her
original longing, her attraction for him, but she couldn't.

She felt absolutely empty. She couldn't
believe that after all those years of wanting Steven . . .there was
nothing. Was she one of those sick people who wanted something so
badly that once they had it, they lost interest?

Pulling back, Steven smiled, evidently not
noticing any difference in her. “I've missed you.”

She needed to put some distance between them,
so she took a step back. He had said all the right words, and now
he grinned at her in that boyish way of his. But it wasn’t
working.

“
So much so that you didn't
bother to show up at the beach house?” Dani challenged. She
wondered what excuse he'd give her this time.

“
Didn't you get my
note?”

“
Yes, I got it after I was
already there. Just exactly what was the something that came
up?”

Steven looked at his watch then caressed her
chin in a playful gesture. He did not look her in the eyes.
“Listen, I've got to help Dad. We'll talk about this tonight at
dinner.”

Smooth
, she thought, just like always,
and it was obvious that he was hiding something. “We're going
out?”

“
I thought we would. I
don't have any other plans.”

She felt the color rise in her cheeks. “How
nice of you to fit me into your schedule,” she replied coldly.
“Perhaps I had plans of my own.”

“
What's the matter with
you?” He hugged her to him, but she stood stiffly in his embrace.
“This isn't like you, Dani.”

It is now,
she wanted to say.

She didn't bother to lift her arms. “Like you
said ... we'll talk about it at dinner.”

After the door shut, she sank down in her
chair. Steven was right. This wasn't the way she normally
acted.

What was wrong with her?

And what did she want?

Since she didn't have an answer, Dani went
back to work on her final proofs of the layout, but her mind kept
going to Steven. In the past, she had always hung on every word he
said, and made excuses for his thoughtlessness. This time instead
of being the understanding girlfriend, she found herself irritated
at being stood up. After all, didn't she have some rights too?

She wanted answers. And that darling smile
wasn't going to help him this time. She wasn't sure exactly what
had happened this past weekend, but she was glad it had.

She just knew that somehow she was
different.

Adrian walked briskly through the San Antonio
Airport, cringing inwardly as the gentleman walking toward him
raised a brow and smirked. A woman following him quickly covered
her mouth to keep from laughing.

Adrian couldn't blame the couple. He probably
looked pretty stupid carrying a purse under his right arm.

For the hundredth time, he'd asked himself
why he hadn't just mailed the damn thing, but the answer always
came back the same. He felt responsible for Dani. After all, he'd
saved her life, and the old Chinese saying said her life now
belonged to him, so he had to make sure she was doing well.

Since he left his luggage on his private jet,
he went straight to the curb outside the baggage claim area. The
place was a hive of activity with passengers loading and unloading
their cars, impatient horns honking, and the hum of people
talking.

Forgetting Dani's purse for the moment, he
threw up his hand to hail a cab and had to make a lunging catch as
the purse dropped toward the ground.

“
Shit!” He'd be damned glad
to get rid of this thing. He roughly shoved the bag back under his
arm.

A dull yellow cab whipped in beside the curb
and stopped. The driver got out, a loud red and yellow floral shirt
whipping in the breeze. Adrian met the driver just as he stepped up
on the sidewalk.

“
Any other bags besides
your purse, Mac?”

“
I'd watch what you say if
you're planning on getting a tip.”

The driver smiled and nodded. “Where to?”

Adrian gave the name of the first hotel that
came to mind. “Holiday Inn on the River Walk.”

He had first thought to go to Danielle's
apartment, give her the bag, then hop on a plane for home. “What's
the time?”

“
Rush hour. Five
o'clock.”

It was really too late to fly back to New
York today. Besides, he wanted a good hot shower and a change of
clothes. And not something out of the beach store.

Glancing down at his jeans, Adrian realized
he'd worn them for a couple of days. He would stop at the nearest
department store and purchase a few things. He definitely needed to
do something before he checked in to a hotel.

The taxi whipped into the drive of the plush
hotel. Adrian gripped the door handle and shoved it open. “Wait
here. I need to check in, and then I want you to take me to the
nearest department store.”

The driver grinned. “If you're going
shopping, you'll be needin' your purse.” Adrian chuckled at the
wisecracking cab driver. He could almost fit into the New York
crowd, honking horns, swearing.

In no time, Adrian had taken a top-floor
suite overlooking the river. He moved out onto the balcony and
appraised the view. He glanced around the room, deposited the
handbag, and headed back to the cab.

“
Where's the nearest
mall?”

“
Rivercenter
Mall.”

“
Get me there in short
order, and there's an extra fifty in your tip.”

The cabby squealed his tires as he pulled out
of the parking lot then merged into the traffic. Adrian could see
the driver's eyes watching him in the mirror.

“
What are you looking at?”
Adrian challenged sourly.

The driver cleared his throat. “Just
wondering about the bag. You don't really look the type.”

Adrian laughed at that comment. “Did you hear
about hurricane Felix?”

Yeah, who didn’t? It was a real
humdinger.”

“
Well, I had the misfortune
of being in the middle of the thing and the purse was one of the
few items that survived. I've come here to return it to its
owner.”

“
That makes
sense.”

“
Was that the Alamo we just
passed?” Adrian turned to look back at the bleached white
building.

“
Sure was. This must be
your first time to San Antonio. Old Davey Crockett, himself, went
down there,” the cabby said just as he slammed on brakes and
brought the cab to a screeching halt. Here we are. You want me to
wait?”

Adrian forked out the cab fare, then held up
a hundred-dollar bill. “Give me forty-five minutes then pick me up
right here.”

“
You got it, Mac. I'm
beginning to like you.”

Dani wasn't sure she'd accomplished anything
at work other than shuffling a big stack of papers. When she shut
her eyes, a handsome suntanned face popped into her view. And it
wasn’t Steven. She remembered all too well the way Adrian looked
when she'd left him, and her heart twisted. She just couldn’t keep
her mind on the work at hand. Finally the day was over. It had been
long and drawn out, and she was glad when quitting time finally
rolled around.

She hurried home to get dressed for her
dinner date.

“
What to wear?” Wasn't that
every woman's question? She decided on a hot-pink jacket over a
navy blue silk dress. The dress would be feminine and the jacket a
bit more serious since she couldn't decide what mood she was in.
Why she was dressing for Steven, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was
because she needed the security of looking her best when she told
him it was over.

The doorbell rang. Dani jumped, dropping her
hairbrush. It clattered to the tile floor. She hadn't realized how
nervous she was, but evidently the state of her life bothered her
more than a little. She had to get a grip.

She went to answer the door and sure enough,
a smiling Steven stood on the other side.

“
Hello gorgeous.” From any
other man, it would have been flattering, but coming from Steven it
sounded like a line. He pulled her into his arms. “I'd forgotten
how the sight of you excites me,” he said, his voice husky, before
he captured her mouth in a kiss.