Dangerous Proposition (24 page)

She’d never thought of him as the jealous type. She’d never really believed he was even attracted to her, and had thought that he was saying the things he had simply to be a smart-ass. But the way he’d acted last night, it was as though he’d discovered buried treasure. Being with Colin had been a dream come true. And it was a dream she never wanted to return from.

With these sweet thoughts in her mind, Julia lay still a few moments longer. As she came awake, she sat up slowly. Fluttering her eyelashes, it took her several seconds to get her bearings.

As she looked down, her eyes came wide open. She sprang back, stifling a gasp.

She had spent the entire night in Colin’s arms—in his bed! Right there in the groove of his arm, as though she were his wife or girlfriend at the very least. Inching back, she snatched the bedsheet, drawing it to her chin.

How could she have let this happen, spent the whole night with Colin, slept against his side? They’d shared a bed at the Murdocks’, yes, and there had been that night when she was upset. But letting him hold her after they’d had sex was different. It made a statement. And it was a statement she hadn’t intended to make.

Colin groaned, making a humming sound with his lips. Rolling to his side, he slept on.

Julia emitted a sigh of relief. Maybe she really was going to get out of this thing unscathed. The last thing she needed was Colin realizing she’d spent the night pressed against his body like some needy teenage girl. She’d broken down. But she was back in the saddle, and she didn’t need him or anyone else holding her hand.

A buzz rang out, and she realized that Colin’s cell phone was vibrating against the nightstand. She lifted her head, straining to see the identity of the caller. Colin jolted beside her. With a grin he leaned in, cupping her breasts.

Moving his hands skillfully, he made her nipples grow pebble hard. He massaged her tender skin, rousing her body.

“Mmm,” Julia said, head falling back against her pillow. Her eyelids fell closed as Colin stroked her, sending a jolt of heat through her body.

“Mmm, indeed.” He brought his mouth against her skin.

Dear God, she thought, fighting to control the pleasant shivers. However was she going to resist him if he intended to touch her like this all the time, perhaps every morning and night during the duration of their time together? Now that he knew how far back her crush on him went, it was only a matter of time before he realized she had feelings for him, too.

Clearing her throat, she took his hands in hers. Mustering every ounce of resistance she could, she pushed them back. She looked into his sapphire eyes, even more dangerously sexy with a trace of five o’clock shadow on his cheeks, and said, “I think you have a phone call.”

“So I do.” Keeping hold of her right hand, Colin reached for his phone. He looked at the caller ID and rolled his eyes, setting the phone back down.

“Aren’t you going to call them back?” she asked.

He hesitated, seeming distracted. “Yeah. I should probably go take care of that.”

He kissed her lips, leaving behind a trace of warmth that spread rapidly through her body. She watched him as he took his pants from the floor, wondering who his mysterious caller might be. But the thought slipped from her mind as Colin walked to the bathroom and shut the door, giving her an extraordinary viewing of his rear and his bare, muscled backside.

She could certainly get used to this, waking up in Colin’s arms, reveling in the feel of his kisses. But she was just going to have to forget about it because whatever it was she was thinking about wasn’t even close to being in the realm of possibilities. Last night had been a fantasy. Nothing more.

People like Colin Westwood didn’t stick around for long. They did, perhaps for a little while, when things were new and interesting. But not forever, not when there was an entire world out there waiting to be devoured. Julia only wished she could have understood this sooner in life. If she had, she might have saved herself a lot of grief.

Wrapping the bedsheet around her body, she stood and walked to the dresser. She took a pair of jeans and a shirt. After putting them on, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror.

Fluffing her curls, she stared at her pale complexion. She certainly looked different from the way she had last night. But this was who she was, take it or leave it. She hadn’t worn that cocktail dress for any man. She’d done it to help her dad, which, hopefully, having seen the face of another one of those bastards who’d taken him, she had.

The bathroom door swung open, and Colin entered the room. He looked her over, a noticeable frown forming on his face. “That didn’t take long,” he said dryly.

“Just thought we ought to get an early start,” Julia said, avoiding his eyes as she shut the dresser drawer. Approaching the window, she said, “These guys tend to pull all-nighters, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be conducting our investigations during the day. I mean, if Mateo Esposito could figure out in just twenty-four hours that those men are…”

“Julia—”

“Who knows what we mind stumble upon if we get back over to that penthouse and…”

“Julia, I really think we need to—”

“The first place we ought to search is that hallway. I’m sure those scumbags are making an exuberant effort to cover their tracks, but it’s more than likely that they’ve left some sort of clue behind. I’ll check out the bedrooms, and you can stand outside the door and—”

“Julia! I know you’re anxious about finding your father. But don’t you think that we should talk about last night?”

“Last night?” She blinked. “Oh. Well, look. I realize it was a little over-the-top of me to go to that party without telling you. And I’m sorry I dragged you into that whole mess with Dylan Rossler. But I wasn’t about to sit home and knit while you went off to face those psychopaths alone. It’s not my style.”

Colin nodded. “I appreciate you looking out for me. But I wasn’t referring to what happened at the party. I was referring to what happened after the party. At the hotel.”

“Oh,” Julia replied, her voice sounding so quiet she doubted he had heard her.

Colin approached her, the sight of him in nothing but pants causing her insides to do somersaults. “I hope you know,” he began, “I mean, I hope you know that I never intended to—”

“Oh, come on,” Julia said, managing a dry laugh. “You don’t think I actually took our little romp in the sheets last night seriously, do you? I mean, you’re very cute in that whole Superman-thinks-he-can-save-Lois-Lane kind of way, but you and me? That’s like raw salmon and bowl of double-chocolate ice cream.”

“That’s quite an analogy.”

“And a very true one. ’Cause even on a good day, you and I are barely friends. I know that you’ve got a bit of a hero complex, and I also know that you were trying to comfort me last night. Any guy worth his nuts would have done the same thing. Right?”

She watched him carefully, looking for some sort of indication that she was wrong. An eyebrow twitch. A shift of his lips. But his face remained unchanged.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Colin said after a moment.

“So am I.” Biting back tears, Julia cleared her throat. She forced herself to plaster on the biggest smile she could manage. “Now that we’ve got that settled, I think it’s time we map out our battle plan.”

“I’ve already taken care of that,” Colin said with a secretive smile.

“You have?” She wasn’t entirely sure she liked the sound of that.

“Oh yes,” he said, reaching into the closet. Sliding into the shirt he’d selected, he said, “Everything’s all set. If things go the way I’m anticipating, we may even have Tucker back tonight.”

“Tonight?” Hope flooded her veins. “Oh, Colin, do you really think that’s possible? That we could have my dad back by tonight?”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up. But I believe that one of my associates may have tracked down John Rizzo. As I was telling Esposito, Rizzo was the one who tipped me off to that first party we attended. If we find him, there’s a very good chance we’ll find Tucker, too.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Julia snatched Colin’s car keys from the nightstand. As she approached the door, the sound of someone knocking on the other side stopped her in her tracks.

“That must be my little surprise,” Colin said, stepping past her.

He opened the door, and a streak of sunlight illuminated the entranceway. In its midst stood a man significantly shorter than the two of them, whose skin and hair were white. The man had deep lines around his mouth and a hump in his back that seemed to make it impossible for him to stand up straight.

Colin grinned, turning with a triumphant glimmer as the elderly gentleman took an unsteady step through the doorframe. “Julia, I’d like you to meet Frederick McGinley. Your new bodyguard.”

* * * *

Julia stood, unsure of what to say. She blinked several times as Frederick McGinley, a man who looked like a cross between Santa Claus and her great-great-grandfather, stepped into their hotel room.

The old man’s thinning hair glinted in the fluorescent light. His frail body shook as he handed Colin his coat. His hand felt leathery as she took it in hers.

Was this Colin’s idea of joke? The latest way of messing with her head? She could understand why he wanted her watched over—she was surprised he hadn’t pulled a stunt like this sooner. But why was he setting her up with a soldier whose only chance of defending them against an attacker might be to knock him or her unconscious with the soles of his orthopedic shoes?

“Julia,” Colin said as he hung the old man’s coat in the closet, “don’t you have something to say to Mr. McGinley?”

She might have. If this were the friendly meet-and-greet he was pretending, and not some low attempt at humiliating her. She forced a pleasant smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McGinley. It’s so nice of you to take time out of your busy schedule, what with bounty hunting or whatever it is you do for a living. Would you excuse us for a moment?” She snatched Colin’s arm, dragging him in the direction of the mini fridge.

“Of all the idiotic things—”

“Is something wrong?” He lowered his dark brows.

“Is something wrong? Yeah, I’d say something’s wrong. You’re trying to cut me out of my dad’s investigation again. You walk off into the sunset to conduct your search-and-rescue and probably fall into another death trap, while I get babysat by Father Time!”

He chuckled. “Come on. I know how much you enjoy riding in the fast lane without a helmet, legs, but it isn’t as bad as you think. Fredrick McGinley has a number of years of experience at being a bodyguard. Many, many years, as I’m sure you could imagine. So long as he’s here with you, I know you won’t be getting yourself into trouble. And I won’t have to worry about rescuing your pretty little neck, and I can concentrate on finding Tucker.”

Had he just said she was pretty? Julia shook her head furiously. “Assuming I thought you had a point, what makes you think I’d go along with your totally one-sided plan?”

“Because,” Colin said with a composed smile, “I’m the only one who knows where John Rizzo might be hiding. That’s right. My associate tipped me off this morning, and he gave me a very good idea of where to start looking. And the only way I’m going to check into that lead is if I know you’re here with your bodyguard. And you have no way of sneaking off and getting yourself killed.”

Julia tucked her arms behind her back. “What makes you think I’m capable of pulling off such a feat?”

“Let’s not go there. I want your word, Julia, that you’ll stay with McGinley and that you won’t attempt to leave the hotel until I get back.”

“Guess we’ll just have to break out a game of checkers.” She glanced at where the old man was wandering beside the bed. “Though I seriously doubt St. Nicholas over there will be able to keep up with me. Guess I’ll just have to go easy on the old geezer.”

“Please do,” Colin said, tailing her as she strode to the opposite side of the room. Maintaining an even pace, he allowed her to walk ahead of him, almost as though he didn’t entirely trust that she wouldn’t attempt to climb out the window otherwise.

He said a quick good-bye, offering her a swift peck on the cheek. She watched him wander down the hall, imagining pulling every strand of black hair from his head, the thought of her doing so giving her an exuberant amount of pleasure.

“What would you like to do today, Juliet?” Fred McGinley, who was pacing in excruciatingly slow circles, asked.

Oh, this is gonna be a piece of cake,
Julia thought, the wheels in her head spinning as she shut the door
.
Stage a fire, emergency “trip” to the vending machine—the ideas were flooding her mind like a torrent.

“Actually, it’s Julia.” Gesturing toward the couch, she picked up the TV remote. “How about a movie? I think Colin sprang for a few of the premium channels on this TV. HBO, Showtime. Whatever the hotel includes in that pricy, movie-lover’s package.”

“That sounds nice.” The old man sat down, a drawn-out process involving the bending of his knees that Julia found almost painful to watch.

Turning toward the television, she flipped quickly through the channels. She watched McGinley’s expression, attempting to figure out what he might be interested in watching. His gray eyes lit as she stopped on a cooking show where the chefs were preparing a chicken dish with tomatoes and red peppers. He stared at the duo’s platter intensely.

“Gosh, I’m hungry all of a sudden.” Walking toward the fridge, Julia said, “How about I fix us something to eat? I think that Colin picked up some groceries yesterday, sandwich meat and kaiser rolls, maybe a condiment or two.”

“That sounds nice,” the old man replied, his eyes fixed on the television the screen. “Thanks, Juliet.”

“No problem,” Julia replied. Holding her breath, she walked to the back door. She looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw that McGinley remained engrossed in the cooking special.

As quietly as she could manage, she drew back the curtain and turned the latch. She slid the glass door sideways. Stepping onto the balcony, she pulled it closed behind her.