A Killing Kind of Love: A Dark, Standalone Romantic Suspense (17 page)

“No.” She started down the stairs.

He laughed easily, then followed her.

When they were out of sight of the house, she rounded on him. “What are you doing here?”

He leaned against the garage, one knee cocked so his foot was flat against the old boards. “Being friendly,” he said. “You remember you and I being friendly, don’t you, Camryn?” He ran his liquid gaze over her, toe to head, his eyes warm and appreciative. The kind of look that made a woman feel ten years younger, ten pounds lighter, and ten minutes away from the best orgasm of her life. “You look good. Better than good. Spectacular.”

“And you’re not answering my question.” When it looked as if he were going to touch her cheek, she took a step back, stumbled.

“You do remember, don’t you?” he said, dropping his hand to his side. “The night on the lake, you and I making out on the picnic table.” His gaze deepened. “I know I haven’t forgotten. What man could?”

He hadn’t moved, but the intimacy in his gaze made it seem as if he had. And damn it, his words brought it back—all of it. The hot sex. The love she’d had for him, or thought she had. And the ugliness of it. Like the moment she’d walked in on him and Holly in the aptly named Cozy Inn motel room. Thank God, Gina had told her where they were, encouraged her to see Adam for who he was. “I remember you were a faithless bastard who slept with anything that wore a skirt—or tight jeans.”

His smile was easy, confident. “I was much more discriminating than that.” He eyed her with amusement. “Although you got the ‘tight’ part right. Definitely a prerequisite.”

She ignored his last words and his sexy smile. “As much fun as it might be for you to review your conquests, can we stick to the matter at hand? What are you doing here?”

“Checking out the latest crop of virgins?”

“Very funny.” She folded her arms.

“I thought so,” he said, then shrugged easily. “I heard about the Solaris, the shooting. I thought I’d drop in, see how Gina was doing, pay my respects.”

She snorted, loud and ingloriously. “You don’t know what the word ‘respect’ means. Try again.”

His seductive mouth curved into a boyish grin, and he touched his chest over his heart. “You hurt me, baby, you really do.”

“I’m not your ‘baby,’ and you know as much about ‘hurt’ as you do ‘respect.’ I
know
you, Adam. You don’t ‘drop in’ unless you want something.”

He shoved away from the garage wall, and his expression turned . . . serious. At least it seemed so. You never could be sure with Adam. He ran his fingers through his tangle of sleek chestnut hair, then looked away from her. “I was in Boston when Holly was killed, you know. I couldn’t go to the funeral”—he glanced back at her—“for the obvious reason.”

His tragic pose didn’t move her. “And what reason would that be? Grantman? Because he’d kill you on sight? Or Dan Lambert? Who’d do the same.” —and here she watched him carefully— “because you were having an affair with his wife.”

“You know.” He was unperturbed.

“I do now.” Camryn’s stomach clenched, filled up with the ugly truth she could no longer deny.
Oh, Holly, you fool. You complete and utter fool.

“Holly was never his, Camryn. You know that. What was between Holly and me, it was pure chemistry. She knew it. I knew it. We never really lost touch. Like the song says, Holly was mine from hello—” He stopped, his face tinged with melancholy. “Hell, maybe I was always hers. Who the hell knows?”

“You left her fast enough when she got pregnant with your child.” Camryn didn’t try to hide her contempt.

“Ah, the magic words. My child.” He rested his amazing eyes on her. “You wanted to know why I was here? There’s your answer.”

Camryn couldn’t get her breath. She couldn’t have heard right. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’ve come for what’s mine. Kylie.” He took a few steps away, then turned back. “She’s my daughter. I have a right.”

Camryn’s world went gray, then black, then blazing red. “Right? You have no rights. You gave them up when Kylie was born. Holly made sure of it.”

“Under duress. Under extreme duress. Undue pressure.”

He looked smooth. Sly. As if he were already in the witness stand, playing the deprived and misused father. As if he were already being coached. She didn’t like it, didn’t like to think where the coaching might have come from. “Duress you were well paid for, as I recall.”

“The money? The legal stuff? All Paul’s idea. Holly would never have done it on her own.”

“Really? Then why do you suppose she went to Paul— something she hated doing—for his help to get rid of you?” His arrogance overwhelmed her. That, and his utter incomprehension of what he had done. “You walked out on Holly two months before Kylie was born, for God’s sake. And you didn’t walk alone.” She huffed out a breath. “There was a woman, as I remember, but, then, with you, there’s always a woman.”

He shrugged, untroubled. “I made a mistake.”

“You married your ‘mistake,’ Adam, a week after Kylie was born. Holly was barely home from the hospital.”

“Another mistake. Which doesn’t mean I don’t love my daughter.”

“You love—” She stared at him, speechless, all the breath leaving her lungs in one stunning exhalation. Damned if he didn’t look as if he believed himself. When she could inhale again, her chest came alive with anger. “You don’t love anyone but yourself, Adam. You never have. If you’ve come back for Kylie, it isn’t out of love. But whatever the reason, you’ll fail. You can count on it.” She dropped her arms to her sides, faced him openly, and spoke very, very clearly. “Kylie is mine now. Holly wanted me to care for her, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I admit I was surprised Holly hadn’t changed guardianship. I thought for sure I’d be taking on rich old Grandpa. Jesus, Grantman must have shit himself.” He looked amused. “Turns out it’s just as well. From what I’ve learned, it’s pretty doubtful that guardianship thing will stand if a biological parent comes forward—full of remorse for his past mistakes and brimming with love for his lost child.” He paused. “Like I said. I want what’s mine.”

Camryn wouldn’t let him see her fear, wouldn’t let him see her sweat. “It’s never going to happen, Adam.”
And I’ll take Kylie and run before I let you have her.
“Holly did what she thought was best for Kylie. If you were any kind of man, you’d do the same. Which means going back to whoever’s bed you crawled out of, and leaving things as they are.” Too late, she realized that bed she was referring to might be Gina’s.

“That’s one plan.” His smile deepened as if at some private amusement. “Or you could marry me, and we’ll raise the kid together. That’d sure as hell set Paul’s teeth on edge.” Before she could stop him, he touched her hair, his eyes narrowing. “Hell of an idea, actually. That way I could crawl into your bed—get the honeymoon started.”

She blinked at the sudden turn in the conversation. “You really are crazy.”

“You going to give me the ‘if you were the last man on earth’ speech, Cammie?” He bent his head, met her eyes. “Because you and I both know that’s not true. You know how happy I can make you when I set my mind—and hands—to it.”

Her stomach rolled into a hard, tight snarl. “Get the hell—”

The crunch of gravel made them both look up. Camryn looked around the corner of the garage toward the front of the house. There was enough view for her see a black Navigator pulled up close to her front stairs.

Adam followed her gaze. “Who is it?”

“Dan Lambert.” She looked back at Adam, gave him a blank gaze. “Care for an introduction?”

The sound of her awful door buzzer poured out the open kitchen window.

“I’ll take a pass on that,” he said.

“I figured you would.” She stepped up to him, put her face inches from his, and met his eyes. “Go away, Adam.” She lowered her voice to a quiet and urgent tone. “If you’ve got a decent bone in your body, you’ll leave Kylie alone, and you’ll leave Gina alone. She’s fragile right now. She can’t handle . . . you. You have nothing to offer either Kylie or Gina.”

“You might want to check with Gina on that ‘nothing to offer’ idea of yours,” he said, and before she could stop him, he took her face between his hands and kissed her hard, moving his mouth over hers as if it belonged there. Then, holding her, their faces so close she could smell his clean, mint-scented breath, see the heat in his eyes, he whispered, “You still taste good, Cammie—exactly like I remember.”

Breathless, she jerked from his grasp. “Get the hell out of here. And don’t come back.”

He touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “I’ll be in touch—or rather my lawyer will.” He paused, and his expression darkened. “I’m going to claim my daughter, and it’ll take a lot more than a paltry hundred grand to change that.” With that he stepped behind the other side of the garage and disappeared into the trees and tangled brush on the vacant property next door.

Camryn put her fingers to her mouth, then the back of her hand, determined to rub the sense of him from her lips, the scent of him from her nose.

Dear God, he’s come back to claim Kylie.

And he was at Gina’s . . . And Gina, who’d sworn she’d never see or speak to Adam Dunn again, was helping him.

Under her disappointment, her fear of what might happen now that Adam was back, she felt betrayed, and stupid that she’d been so incredibly naive in underestimating his attraction.

Camryn turned to face the calm waters of the lake. Her mind and her heart in turmoil, she tried to sort things through.
But, God. First Holly, having an affair with him, and now Gina.

It didn’t make sense.

Gina, whom Adam had humiliated in high school, used in college, and walked out on without a word. Adam was always Holly’s bad-boy lover—the boy/man she’d used as a freedom ticket to get away from Paul’s control, but when it came to dealing with him, she always gave as good as she got. In many ways they were a matched set, both rash, both self-centered. When Adam walked out on her and Kylie, Holly made certain to protect Kylie’s interests. Holly was a fool for love, a thrill-seeker, and she’d chosen to play too close to Adam’s flame, but she knew how to take care of herself.

Not so Gina. For her, Adam was a sexual toxin. When Gina first got involved with him, she’d given new meaning to the word doormat. She’d said so herself, when she came to her senses—right after Adam slept with Delores. Camryn shuddered. As low points went, the Gina-Delores episode was Adam’s personal best. That was during their third year of college, and to Camryn’s knowledge, Gina hadn’t seen him since.

She couldn’t imagine Gina taking him in, but, then, she couldn’t imagine Holly having an affair with him, either. Delores was right: Camryn had been living under a damn cabbage.

But cabbage or not, she knew this was the worst possible time for Adam to come back into Gina’s life.

How could she protect her friend—from herself? From Adam? All Camryn had were words and warnings, while Adam had . . . whatever it was he had that made bubbling oatmeal of women’s brains.

“Did I interrupt? A kissing cousin, perhaps?”

She looked up to see Dan Lambert standing on her lakeside porch. Obviously, he’d been there a while, watching her. “No. Nothing. No one.” She tried to switch her head from concern about Gina, to what, if anything, to tell him about Adam. She was also trying to figure out why she was glad he’d shown up when he did—and what those wings fluttering in her stomach meant. She headed toward him.

You like him, Camryn. It’s that simple—and that complex.

Casually dressed in gray slacks and a black shirt, he was leaning against the post at the top of the stairs. His arms were crossed, and while he looked strong and resourceful, she felt limp and ineffectual, still shell-shocked by Adam’s reentry into Gina’s life—and hers. Looking at Dan Lambert, the strength and honesty of him, she was baffled all over again at why Holly would risk a man like this for Adam.

“That was Dunn, wasn’t it?” he said, when she’d taken the three stairs that brought her to his side.

Her reaction to his words was to step away, get some think time, but he stopped her. Wrapping a hand around her upper arm and fixing his gaze on her lips, he smoothed the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “You need a touch-up.”

“Let me go.”

He didn’t. “When you answer my question.” His grip was unyielding.

“Yes. It was Adam Dunn.” She couldn’t think of one good reason not to tell him. He was going to find out soon enough. She might as well share her misery—her fear. When he released his grip, she pulled a tissue from her jacket pocket and wiped off what was left of her lipstick.

“Would I be off-base if I said you were pretty damn cozy with a guy who quite possibly murdered my wife—your best friend?”

“Adam didn’t kill anyone.”

“And you know that on the basis of one lip lock?” He shook his head, his disgust obvious.

She wouldn’t dignify that remark with an answer, nor did she feel compelled to defend herself. Let him think whatever he wanted to think. “But, you’re right—he’s staying at Gina’s.”

“Really? It seems our friend Dunn gets around.” His tone was dry.

Camryn couldn’t deny that. “He’s no one’s friend.” She turned, leaned her backside against the rail, and looked at him. “And he wants Kylie.”
And I think he’s working on Gina to help him.
She kept the last to herself, would until she knew for sure.

He cocked his head and looked down at her, looking puzzled. “Kylie? What’s he got to do with Kylie?”

Oh my God. He doesn’t know.

Camryn’s nerves jumped, her throat closed, and then anger flared. For the briefest of moments she thought that if Holly were alive, she’d kill her herself. What she’d done to Dan and Kylie, with her lies, secrets, and infidelity made Camryn’s stomach turn. It was as if she’d never truly known her friend, as if Adam’s souring presence in their lives had made them strangers. She remembered Adam’s words, “never really lost touch.” Camryn hadn’t seen, or had refused to see, the extent of Holly’s obsession with Adam; she never had let go of him. Like addicts everywhere, she’d simply taken her obsession into the shadows.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell that bastard has to do with Kylie, or do I go over to your friend’s house and find out for myself?” Lambert glared down at her.