A Soldier's Return (13 page)

She rested her head on his shoulder and let herself fall under his spell. His nearness worked magic on her, and in a flash the stoic marine was transformed into a hot-blooded man. A man who set her own blood to the flash point.

She couldn’t hear the music anymore, but it didn’t matter. They continued to move to the beat inside their heads, their bodies now pressed tightly against each other, breast to chest, thigh to thigh. It was heaven, and she never wanted it to end.

But then Jim pulled back, and Carrie thought her world had come crashing down—until he lowered his head and captured her lips in a searing kiss.

Jim couldn’t believe how good Carrie felt in his arms. She was the softest thing he’d touched in years. Her lips were like pillows, and she tasted of chocolate. Why’d it take him so long to kiss her, when he’d been aching to do it since he’d first walked through their office doorway?

He deepened the kiss, and his tongue moved past the ridges on her teeth to meet hers. He—

Just then Carrie wrenched her mouth from his and tore out of his arms. Not even looking at him, she stammered, “I—I have to…” Then, wiping her mouth, she ran across the patio toward the house.

Jim stood there, dazed.

“Damn!” he muttered. He’d told himself to play it cool. And that kiss was anything
but
cool. He never should have kissed Carrie. They were co-workers. And apparently that was all they ever would be. Besides, hadn’t he proven to himself that he was a jinx to anyone he loved?

Cursing under his breath, he gathered together any excuses he could muster. Excuses that Carrie would be
lieve, which rather limited his choices. Finally, he settled on a modified version of the truth. It was a romantic moment and he’d kissed her on impulse. Then he’d add an apology.

He found her in the kitchen with Betty and Peter. “Is this a private affair?”

Peter and Betty immediately invited him to join them, but Carrie said an emphatic yes.

He licked his lips, trying to erase the pleasure her lips had given him. “Uh, Carrie, could I see you for a minute?”

“I’m busy,” she said, suddenly stacking dishes.

“It’s all right, child. I’ll do it,” Betty insisted, pushing Carrie away.

“You can come right back in and help Betty. I won’t take but a minute, I promise,” said Jim.

Carrie kept her head down and walked into the hallway in full sight of other guests.

“I owe you an apology. It was a romantic moment and I followed my instincts and I was wrong. It won’t happen again.”

Carrie muttered a thank-you, but she didn’t look at him. Instead, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

Jim stared at the door she’d entered, but he didn’t bother to open it. She’d made it clear she didn’t want to discuss their kiss at all.

All he could hope was that she would put it out of her mind. And he’d pray he could do so, too. Otherwise, being around Carrie, who always looked sexy to him, would be a misery he might not be able to bear.

Vanessa’s voice called him out of his thoughts. She was coming down the hall toward him.

She didn’t look herself. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said, but it didn’t sound like she meant it. “Trevor keeps following me around.”

“Want me to get rid of him for you?”

“Can you do that?” she asked, a look of pleasure dawning on her face.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Jim said. Then, looking over Vanessa’s shoulder, he said, “Here he is now.”

“Vanessa, you listen to me!” Trevor exclaimed, ignoring Jim. “You owe me!”

“I don’t owe you anything!” she exclaimed in return.

“Listen, you bitch, you led me on!”

Before he knew what was happening to him, Trevor found himself pressed up against the wall, an arm across his windpipe.

He struggled to protest, but Jim didn’t allow him any air.

“You don’t come into my sister’s house and call her ugly names. And she owes you nothing. Understand?”

When Trevor nodded, Jim released him. “Apologize to her.”

Instead, Trevor made the mistake of trying to smash Jim in the face. He found himself flat on the floor, not knowing what happened.

“Who did he come with?” Jim asked.

“Graham. I’ll get him,” Vanessa said, and hurried off to find him.

When Graham arrived, Jim released his hold on Trevor and helped him to his feet. “I think your friend is ready to go. And be sure you don’t bring him back here again. He won’t be welcome.”

Graham took one look at Jim’s glare and grabbed his protesting friend and dragged him out the door.

Vanessa looked at her brother, impressed with what he’d done. “My, I didn’t realize all the advantages of having a big brother.”

“I’m glad I was here. But you need to be careful who you associate with.”

“But I hadn’t heard anything bad about Trevor,” Vanessa said, her eyes wide.

“I know, but be sure you know more about someone before you go on a date with him.”

“Yes, Jim, and thanks again,” she said with a smile.

“You’re welcome, but don’t take any calls from that guy, either. It won’t take much encouragement before he thinks you owe him again. That kind of guy always blames you for whatever happens.”

“Okay,” Vanessa agreed, and hugged her brother.

Carrie came out of the kitchen to bump into them.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you,” she said, smiling at Vanessa.

“That’s all right. I was just thanking Jim for getting rid of Trevor,” Vanessa said.

“He became a problem?”

Vanessa recounted the action.

“Were there witnesses?” Carrie asked quickly.

“Witnesses?” Vanessa asked, puzzled by her question.

“The man has money. He’ll try to sue because it will make up for feeling that he’s been insulted.”

“But it was his fault!” Vanessa exclaimed.

“Doesn’t matter. Who was around?”

Vanessa named several people who were in the dining room or in the hallway. Carrie went to find them,
hoping to get them to write a brief summation of the event, so they would have witnesses lined up.

“Do you think she’s right?” Vanessa asked Jim.

“Yeah, unfortunately. After the party you’d better write things down before you forget, too.”

“I’ll do it right now,” Vanessa said, turning to go into the kitchen.

Jim stood there, his head down, for a minute, then he went up the stairs and knocked on Will and Vivian’s door. Will answered the door, a surprised look on his face.

“We had a bit of a problem downstairs, and I thought I should tell you about it,” Jim said, his voice lowered.

Will slipped out and closed the door behind him. “Sorry, but Vivian is sleeping. Can we go down to the library?”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

When the two men reached the library, Jim told Will what happened. Then he mentioned Carrie’s belief that they should get statements from any witnesses at once.

“Good thinking. That girl’s got a head on her shoulders.”

“Yeah. Uh, Will, Vanessa’s never taken a self-defense course. I think that would be a good idea.”

“She hasn’t? I never thought to ask. I know Carrie took one when she started to work for me. Then she went on and took some judo, too.”

“Glad to know that,” Jim said. “I had a feeling she could handle most anything.” In fact, the woman was quite impressive. The longer he was around her, he realized Carrie might not need protecting, after all.

He told Will, “I’ll go find Carrie and see if she needs any help.”

“And I’ll go check on Vanessa.”

When Jim found Carrie, she was talking to several young ladies. He stepped up to them, and she introduced him. Apparently he hadn’t met all the guests.

“Did they see what happened?”

“Yes, they had just left the dining room and turned around when they heard Trevor yelling. Ladies, can we go to the library and let you write a quick version of what you saw? Just in case Trevor decides to present a different version?”

“Sure, we’ll do that,” one woman said. “After all, it was all his fault.”

“Come with me,” Carrie said, ignoring Jim.

“Will may be in there. I—I asked him to come down.”

Carrie glared at him, but she only nodded.

Jim stood there, staring as Carrie walked away from him…again.

C
ARRIE WAS SO GLAD
the party was over.

The last guests had departed a few minutes ago. Except for Jim. She didn’t know why he was still here. Then she corrected herself. Of course he was still here. He was family.

Jim, Will and Vanessa were talking in the library. She could join them, but she saw no reason. She hadn’t seen the argument, only seen the results of it. She went upstairs to Vanessa’s room and changed out of her party dress. Then she packed the things she’d brought with her and came back down the stairs.

She was tempted to leave without saying goodbye, but she knew that would be rude. Rapping on the door of the library, she immediately opened the door and stuck her head in.

“Carrie, come on in,” Will said.

“No, I’m going home. I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving.”

Jim immediately stood. “I’ll go, too,” he said.

“There’s no need,” she retorted, and walked out.

She’d made it to the front door when Jim caught up with her.

“What’s your hurry?” he asked.

“I’m tired and ready to go home. What’s yours?”

“I thought I’d follow you home, make sure you got there all right.”

Carrie gave him an exasperated look. “I’ve managed to go home alone most of my life, Jim. Nothing’s changed in the past few weeks that would require your escort.”

“Maybe not,” he agreed with a smile, “but we’re going in the same direction, so why not?”

She glared at him and said, “Because you’re not my big brother.” She headed to her car, determined to ignore him.

On the ride home she was followed by Jim’s headlights, taunting her and egging on her anger.

When was he going to get through his thick skull that she didn’t need a keeper? She’d been on her own for a while and she’d done just fine, thank you very much, without Jim Barlow’s watchful eye. That was a by-product of being on your own, she thought. Self-reliance.

Ever since Jim came to Dallas, she’d been feeling stressed, tense. She needed to start jogging again. Tomorrow. Usually she jogged three or four times a week, but somehow, since Jim arrived, she’d been too distracted…or something. She needed to rev up her self-discipline.

Temptation seemed to be winning lately.

J
IM WAS UP
at his usual time, six-thirty. Ever since he’d moved into his apartment, he ran every morning. A residual of the physical fitness regimen from the military.

He put on his running clothes, an old T-shirt from the marines and a pair of khaki-green shorts, and laced up his athletic shoes. Then he picked up his keys and went out his door, locking it behind him.

Once he reached the parking lot, he stretched a few times and began a slow jog, heading for the nearby park where he usually ran. By the time he reached the park, he was moving quickly, thinking about the night before and the events that had caused some problems. Head of the list was his kiss. How could something so wrong have felt so right?

Suddenly, he noted another runner. He’d never encountered anyone on his morning jogs. The other jogger was far ahead of him and Jim sped up, interested in checking out the new person. When the sunshine caught on blond hair, and he was close enough to determine the runner was a female, his heart began to race faster.

Did Carrie jog?

But she’d been up late last night. They hadn’t gotten home until almost one. Why would she pick today to
start running? His gaze traveled up and down her body and he realized she was in good shape, whoever she was. This wasn’t the first time she’d run.

“Carrie?” he called as he got closer.

The sharp turn of her head confirmed his guess. He raced to catch up with her. She continued to run, not slowing down for him. He wasn’t surprised.

He managed to catch up with her. “I didn’t know you jogged.”

Sounding a little winded, she said, “I haven’t been lately, but I need to keep in shape.”

“We can jog together. I go every morning.”

She didn’t say anything.

“It will be safer for you if you jog with me,” he pointed out.

All he got was a glare.

“I didn’t mean you needed protection, Carrie. I just thought we could be company for each other.”

She didn’t respond, but she slowed down to a brisk walk. “I’m out of shape, Jim. I doubt that I can keep up with you.”

Jim settled in beside her. “Last night I talked to Vanessa about her taking a self-defense course. I won’t always be around to protect her.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Carrie said crisply, and started jogging again.

Jim said nothing else, but he adjusted his stride to run beside her, keeping pace with ease.

After two more rounds of the park, which was at least two miles, Carrie headed to the apartment at a walk. “I’ve had enough for the day. I’ll see you at work.”

Jim made another round of the park at a faster pace, but he scarcely noticed the distance. His mind was focused on Carrie.

She was an amazing young woman. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she jogged, but she looked so innocent, so quiet, so unassuming. But the longer he knew her, the more he understood what a…complete woman she was. Her beauty was obvious, though she didn’t play it up. Her brain was even more impressive.

Her physical skills finished the package. He’d met some impressive women in the marines, but never one like Carrie. Or maybe she just appealed to him more. She was a worthy partner in their work.

He didn’t see her even once for the rest of the weekend. It was almost as if she was trying to hide from him.

When he reached the office Monday morning, Carrie was at her desk, looking like she never broke a sweat.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.” She didn’t look up. She never did. Never flirted with him, never indicated she liked his company.

Basically she acted like he didn’t exist. Which should have pleased him. After all, he didn’t want her to cling to him just because he’d kissed her. But he really didn’t want her to act like the kiss hadn’t affected her. It sure as hell had affected him.

He looked at those soft lips now. Only when she turned and glared at him did he realize he’d been staring.

“Did you want something?” she asked in irritation.

“No, sorry. I was just thinking about one of my cases.”

Another few minutes passed in silence. Then Jim asked, “Have you heard from Will this morning?”

“Yes, he called. He said he’d be here a little late.”

“I guess it’s too early to think he might’ve heard from Trevor.”