A Man Like Morgan Kane (7 page)

assignment as your bodyguard. I'd have thought I would be the last man on earth you'd put your trust in."

Bethanywalked away from him, down the winding brick path. "Are you coming with me?"

Catching up with her in several long strides, Morgan strolled along beside her. She didn't glance his way or make any reply to his comment. Somewhere close by, a variety of birds chirped in a mixed chorus.

The warm, humid breeze danced through the rows of iris, peonies and foxgloves that grew along each side of the Victorian wrought-iron gates.

Bethanypaused, pivoted slowly and glanced up at Morgan. She had a very good reason for wanting him to stay on inBirmingham, but it wasn't something she could tell him. Not now. Not until she had no other choice. If hiring him to be her bodyguard and to investigate Jimmy's death was the only way she could keep him here, close by, in case Anne Marie needed him, then she would agree to his moving in with them.

Bethanylooked at him with her big, gold-flecked, greenish-brown eyes, her full pink mouth parting as she took a deep breath, and sixteen years melted away. Morgan felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach.

For a second he couldn't breathe. He closed his eyes momentarily to block out the sight of her, then opened them again just in time to see her glaring at him.

"I think you should know, up front," she said, "that despite our … our past history, I neither want nor expect our association to be personal."Bethanytwisted the diamond and emerald ring on her finger back and forth as she held her hands together in front of her. "I trust you to do your job because you come highly recommended by the Dundee Agency. I'm putting my life in your hands, Morgan, not my heart."

The words
not ever again
hung heavily between them, like a thick curtain of regret that would forever keep them apart.

The twenty-year-old girl he'd left behind had been warm and sweet—and madly in love with him. But this woman seemed to be cool, almost aloof, and most certainly not in love with him. The plain, plump little duckling had definitely turned into a beautiful swan, one whose haughty stance reminded him far too much of his socialite mother and her type.

Bethanystepped off the brick walkway, through the open gates and onto the grass pathway designed to invite exploring. Morgan followed, staying at her side.

Bethanywas the very epitome of a successful and sophisticated woman in her lavender linen slacks and lavender-and-white-striped silk blouse. A gold watch and diamond tennis bracelet graced one slender wrist, while a heavy gold bangle bracelet draped the other. The plain, plump little debutante who had paled in the glow of her elegant mother's radiant beauty no longer existed. Even with her dark hair falling about her shoulders in loose disarray, her makeup faded and her clothes wrinkled,Bethanywas lovely.

And every masculine instinct Morgan possessed reacted to her undeniable feminine allure.

"Why did you allow Mother to fill your daughter's head with a bunch of those stupid Morgan stories?" he asked. "Surely you hate the idea that Anne Marie seems to idolize me."

Bethanyled him through a wisteria-covered arbor, the cross timbers decorated with classic corbels. "I allowed it for Claudia's sake. She so desperately needed to hold on to you in some way." And she needed to share her love for you with your daughter. "And Anne Marie needed a hero in her life. A male figure she could admire. Amery was killed when she wasn't much more than a baby. She doesn't even remember him. And although your father adored her, she was always aware that she wasn't the grandson
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he had hoped for."

"My parents didn't have any trouble accepting Amery as a substitute son and accepting his daughter as their grandchild, did they?"

"Amery did everything they wanted him to do, including marrying me,"Bethanysaid. "He went into the firm with your father. We bought a house only a block away. We gave them a grandchild. Yes, Amery was a dutiful son to your parents until the day he died."

She had often wondered if the reason Amery had been so distraught when she'd asked him for a divorce was that he'd been afraid of disappointing Henderson and Claudia. Amery might have wanted her because she had belonged to Morgan, but he had never loved her.

GraspingBethany's arm, Morgan halted her abruptly. She stared up at him. He wanted to ask her why she had married Amery so quickly after he'd left town? If she'd loved him so damn much, why hadn't she waited? Why had she let his parents force her into marrying his cousin? But instead he said, "My mother loves you and your daughter a great deal. She's shown Anne Marie more maternal affection today than she ever showed me."

"Anne Marie is very easy to love." And you were very easy to love, too, Morgan. I think I loved you from the moment you kissed me the first time.

Morgan released his hold onBethany's arm. "I can see that she'd be easy to love. She's a charming young girl. Not as quiet and shy as you used to be."

"No, she isn't."Bethanywanted to tell him that their daughter had inherited her charm from him, for she remembered a time when he had been charming. "While you're staying in our home, Anne Marie's adulation might wear a bit thin. If it does, please don't let her know. Don't disappoint her. When this is all over, I want her to still see you as a hero."

"When this is all over," Morgan repeated her words. "How the hell did you get yourself in this situation?

You're the last person on earth I'd ever figure to get arrested for murder."

"Even though the police believe otherwise, I didn't kill Jimmy. Yes, he was a total sleaze. A loud-mouthed, uncouth womanizer who made my mother's life a living hell. And I'm not the only person who despised him."

"Then we'll have to find out who despised him enough to kill him," Morgan said. "I'll need to set up a meeting with Maxine Carson, and I'll want to talk to the detective in charge of Farraday's murder investigation. Then maybe I can get some help from the FBI agents who investigated the mail bomb."

"How did you know that the FBI was involved?"

"Mail bombs are a federal crime."

"Oh, yes, of course."

"You and I will need to compile our own list of suspects. Everyone and anyone who had a reason to hate your stepfather and might have had a reason to want him dead." Slipping his hands in his pockets, Morgan relaxed and followedBethanyas she started walking again. "But first, I need to get moved in with you and Anne Marie and set up things there. Can you stick around long enough for me to pack my bag
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and say goodbye to Mother and Ida Mae?"

Bethanypaused beside the pond. Instead of looking at Morgan, she glanced out across the pool's surface at the water lilies. The sunlight reflected off the decorative glass balls floating on the pond. "Are you moving in with us today?"

"The sooner I'm on the job, the quicker we can begin our investigation. And the safer you'll be. I can't think of any reasonto delay, can you?" Morgan gripped her chin, lifting her face. "Unless there's someone who might object to your having one of your old lovers sleeping under your roof."

Bethany's mouth opened on a shocked gasp. "Is that how you see yourself? As
one
of my old lovers?"

She snorted, the sound a combination of chuckle and grunt. "Just who do you think might object to my having a bodyguard?"

"Who's this business partner that has spent the night at your house? The one Anne Marie thinks is old enough to be her grandfather?"

"Seth Renfrew. And despite what my daughter thinks, he isn't quite old enough to be her grandfather."

"I see," Morgan said. "Will Seth object to your having a live-in bodyguard?"

She could tell Morgan that Seth was one of her best friends and that the two of them loved each other dearly. She could also tell him that their relationship was strictly platonic. The only woman Seth had ever been in love with was Eileen Dow Farraday.

"Seth loves me and he wants what's best for me."Bethanydidn't care how Morgan interpreted her comment. Let him think what he would. She owed him no explanations about her personal life.

"And am I what's best for you?" Morgan lowered his head until his lips almost touched hers.

"Right now, your being in my life is what's best for both me and my daughter."

Before he could kiss her,Bethanypulled away from him and ran up the grass pathway. She could not—would not—allow Morgan Kane to seduce her.

* * *

When Morgan departed from his mother's home, he had Anne Marie in tow. She'd pleaded withBethany to let her ride with him. Following close behindBethany's white Mercedes, he soon realized that she lived farther than one block away.

"Y'all don't still live in the house your parents bought right after they got married?" he asked.

"Oh, no. After my father died, Mama sold their house in Redmont and we lived with Nana and Grandfather for a couple of years." Resting her head against the leather seat, Anne Marie looked up at the bright blue summer sky. "Then after Mama made a success of her first boutique, we bought a house of our own inForest Park."

He hadn't known that Bethany and her child had lived with his parents. But then, he didn't know anything aboutBethany's life these past sixteen years. "Who took care of you? Ida Mae?"

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"Sometimes, but most of the time I stayed at the boutique with Mama. By the time she opened her second shop, I was already in school."

Morgan stole a glimpse ofBethany's child as she sat beside him, her face turned to worship the sun, her shoulder-length, golden brown hair blowing in the warm wind. She was a pretty girl, with strong, sculptured features and a long, lean, well-proportioned body. Large for her age, but then, that was another Morgan trait. Maturing young. He marveled again at how much Anne Marie resembled his mother. Indeed, she appeared to be a combination of Bethany and Claudia.

"You must miss your father a great deal," Morgan said.

"Not really," Anne Marie admitted. "I was just a little thing when he died. I can't remember Amery at all, and Mama never talks about him. I don't think they were very happy."

"Haven't you ever asked your mother about him?"

"Sure. And she's always answered my questions. I know all the vital stuff. What his name was, what he did for a living, who his family was. Things like that. I just don't know anything about him personally. You know, what kind of man he was. What his favorite color was. Did he like rock music or country."

Turning in her seat, Anne Marie leaned toward Morgan as far as the confinement of her seat belt would allow. "You were Amery's cousin. What do you remember about him?"

"Why do you call your father Amery?"

"I don't know. I guess because Mama never referred to him as my daddy, just as Amery. And so did Nana and Grandfather. I don't remember calling him Daddy."

"Well, your father and I were cousins, but we weren't friends." He could hardly tell this wide-eyed innocent that he had despised her father, that Amery Wyndham had been a cold, calculating, highly ambitious man who did anything to succeed. And that Amery had, from the time they'd been children, envied Morgan, had wanted whatever Morgan had. "Amery was a few years older than I, and where I was a hell-raiser and always in trouble, your father was more serious-minded. He always did what other people expected of him."

"Sounds like he was pretty dull." Anne Marie sighed loudly. "I can't imagine why Mama married him instead of you. If I'd been her, I would have—"

"What do you know about your mother and me?"

"What's there to know?" When Morgan glanced at her, she grinned broadly and winked at him. "Nana told me that you were Mama's boyfriend before Amery."

"Your Nana—"

"Hey, here we are," Anne Marie said. "Turn right. See where Mama's turning in?"

Bethanydrove into a circular drive in front of a neat beige Colonial saltbox with a brown roof. A breezeway connected the house to a two-car garage. When the garage doors opened,Bethanydrove inside and parked. Morgan eased his Ferrari in beside her Mercedes.

"Let me show Morgan up to his room. Please." Anne Marie grabbed Morgan's arm just as he lifted his
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suitcase from the car. "You'll like our guest room," she told him. "It's right next to my room and straight across the hall from Mama's. It has two big windows, with plenty of sunshine and it has its own bath and—"

"Anne Marie! Enough. You're talking him to death,"Bethanyscolded teasingly. "Go ahead and show Morgan to the guest room, then leave him alone for a while so he can get settled in."

"Yeah. Okay. I guess you two have stuff you need to discuss, don't you?" Anne Marie frowned, then suddenly smiled again. "Hey, we could have dinner out by the pool, couldn't we, Mama? You'd like that, wouldn't you? It would make things seem more normal for all of us." She looked to her mother for approval.

"I think that's a marvelous idea,"Bethanysaid. "You're right, I'd like to make things as normal as possible for all of us."

Anne Marie walked beside Morgan. "We could grill steaks. Do you like grilled steaks? I like mine medium rare. How do you like yours?"

Glancing around her daughter,Bethanycaught Morgan's eye. She smiled, then shrugged, as if to say,

"What can I do with her? She never shuts up, especially when she's nervous. You understand, don't you?" When Morgan returned her smile, the bottom dropped out ofBethany's stomach. Dear God! How was she going to endure living in the same house with this man if every time he smiled at her, she went weak in the knees?

"We'll have dinner out by the pool,"Bethanysaid. "But first, show Morgan upstairs, while I take a bath and make a few phone calls. Find something to occupy yourself for a while, and then after Morgan and I finish with business, I'll turn him back over to you."