Hazard Play (5 page)

Bailey laughed. “You know my uncle. He’ll vouch for me.”

“Dan, I’d forgotten about him. Okay, I’ll try to come up with someone.”

“Great. I'll contact my clients and brief them on our plan.”

Our plan. When did it become “our” plan? “Our” means we’re a “we” and a “we” means—stop it, Tess.

Finishing off his coffee, Bailey said, “I’d better get out of your hair. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help, Contessa.” He stood and Tess rose to walk him out. He thanked her again and left.

She leaned against the closed front door and shut her eyes. She’d planned to stay in Greenview during her vacation to garden and relax but, Tahoe sounded exciting and she’d get paid to go. The problem, however, was a muscular hunk of gorgeous man sporting charm that could talk you out of your last dime. Or your clothes.
Damn it.

Tess pushed away from the door and sighed. Well, there was only one solution...avoidance. She finished her coffee and doughnut. After a brief tussle with her common sense, she wrapped up the apple fritter for another day. A sugar high wouldn’t help her make a decision to work for the sexiest man she’d ever known.

Besides, the only reason she’d do it would be to care for Lucius Monroe. No one would have to suffer from an asthma attack if she could help. Not even a criminal. It was part of her nurse’s job. It had absolutely nothing to do with S.D. Bailey. Really.

Tess felt like she was going through the motions as she dressed, fed Pyewacket, and cleaned up the remains of her early morning coffee klatch with Bailey. Her mind raced over all the reasons she’d be insane to even consider taking the job.

She didn’t like the fact that he was a bounty hunter or that he didn’t seem to feel any compassion for the man he was pursuing. His concern about Monroe's health was limited to the degree it might hinder the completion of his job. That seemed too cold-hearted for her, although she knew his kindness quotient shouldn’t be any of her business. 

Even the fact that the embezzler was a criminal didn’t make her feel any better about Bailey’s attitude.  How could she be attracted to such a brute? The chemistry that threatened to bubble up whenever she was near him made a chemical explosion seemed unavoidable. Never mind if there was an additional emotional blast. It was something she didn’t care to analyze too much.

The phone rang and it was the office receptionist.

“I was at lunch yesterday and I wanted to call to say good-bye. I’m so jealous of you, a whole month away from this place. Are you going anywhere exciting? I’ve always wanted to go on one of those Caribbean cruises where you eat all day and shop at every port.” 

“Afraid not. I’m going to garden, catch up on my reading, and relax around the house.”

“Oh.” The girl sounded disappointed. “But you have a whole month. I can’t believe you’d spend it doing nothing. It’d take me about two days before I was bored out of my gourd.”

“I’m not worried. I don’t want to have to do anything planned. I’ll be fine. See you in a month.”  Tess hung up the phone, a frown creasing her face.

Unfortunately, Tess halfway agreed with the girl. There was only so much reading you could do and she already had trouble sitting around and doing nothing on her days off. Earlier in the week, doing nothing had sounded like heaven. But, now that it loomed ahead of her, she dreaded waking up every day and staring at the walls. And she absolutely refused to get caught up in the soap opera and talk show habit.

She sighed. “Damn you, Bailey. I think I’m going to do it. And God help us both if I fall for you.” 

* * *

Bailey paced the floor of his hotel room. This waiting was messing with his nerves. His contact in Portland had called him with news of Monroe’s whereabouts in Tahoe. Bailey could be as subtle as the next guy, but he needed Tess now. To take care of the embezzler, of course. 

Having her with him to handle Lucius would make his job a hell of a lot easier. Would he overplay his hand if he called her? Better not. He’d given her his number this morning before he’d left. Remembering Tess from his morning visit to her house made him think of how she’d looked in that cute little Packer T-shirt. And her bare feet. He had a new appreciation for hot pink nail polish.

He’d known a lot of women in his day. His taste ran to tall, sultry women with dark hair and long legs all the way up to their assets. But Tess was soft and cuddly in all the right places with curves that fit right, at least that’s what his body told him. Just thinking about her stirred him. His cell rang.
Let it be Tess.

“Hello? It’s Tess.”

“Hey, glad you called. I checked with my clients and they agreed that I could hire a nurse to take care of this bozo until I can get him back to Portland. Did you find anyone?”
Play it cool
. He didn’t want to spook her by asking her outright if she’d take the job.

“That’s what I need to talk with you about.”

“Is it the money? My clients want old Lucius pretty badly and gave me carte blanche. I’m sure we can come to terms.”

“It’s not about the money. I need more details.” Tess sounded hesitant over the phone. Maybe she was on the verge of deciding to take the job. Well, he planned to push her enough to do what he wanted. “Have you had lunch? Let’s meet at the little café by the hotel.”

“All right. Thirty minutes. Bye.” 

She rang off before he could get another word in. Suited him. He was more persuasive in person. He was feeling lucky. He’d managed to have breakfast with her and now lunch.  His friends had told him he could be single-minded with a vengeance when he set his mind to something. That trait had served him well on numerous occasions and he hoped this was one of them. He needed Tess to go on this trip. Later, he’d explore why it seemed so important to him that it was because of her and not the job.

Lunch-goers were crowding Hobson’s Café by the time he got there. There were only two tables left and Bailey charmed the hostess into giving him the booth in the corner. He figured he’d need some privacy to overcome Tess’s last doubts. He didn’t want a bunch of neighbors interrupting them while he at his persuasive best. He didn’t have long to wait. 

She entered the little restaurant looking feisty and ready for battle. Good. He was beginning to understand that he liked nothing more than to go toe-to-toe with this woman. 

Hell, he didn’t even mind losing to her. Occasionally. It kept him sharp and his blood racing, although he wasn’t sure if that was because of his natural competitive streak or something more elemental. He stood up to get her attention.

“Hi.” He helped her off with her jacket, inhaling the delicate lilac scent that he’d come to associate with her. He liked lilacs.

“This is a great table. I always seem to get the one by the kitchen door.”

“Just lucky, I guess.” He settled into the seat across from her. “Do you want to start with coffee?”

“No, this morning satisfied my need for a coffee fix. Water’s fine.”

This might be harder than he thought. “So, you said something about needing more details. What can I tell you?”
Careful, don’t push too hard
. “Maybe I should talk to the person you’re thinking of for the job. That way, they wouldn’t be getting the information secondhand and could ask any other questions. Who is it?” 

Tess answered with a question, “You said two weeks?”

“I figure two weeks tops. Depending on this guy’s health, the nurse wouldn’t even have to accompany us all the way to Portland. I could learn enough about how to take care of him during the two weeks to take over.”

“Not necessarily. It’s not that easy to anticipate asthmatic episodes. It’s not like measles or mumps. It doesn’t just stop.”

Tess was getting worked up. He could tell by the faint flush on her cheeks.

He put up his hands. “No offense, Contessa. I’m trying to make it easier on the nurse if the time is too long.” Bailey kept his voice noncommittal. The longer he played dumb, the better chance he had that she would agree to come with him.

The waitress approached them and Bailey said, “Let’s order lunch. I don’t want to overstay my welcome. What’s good?”

Tess didn’t bother looking at the menu. “Get the French dip. It’s their specialty. And seasoned fries. They’re hand cut every day.”

Bailey ordered two of the sandwiches and one coffee. “Have you ever been to Tahoe?”

“No. Where do you plan to stay?” Her voice was soft and the pink color on her cheeks deepened. “What about the rooms?”

“I got word that Monroe is staying at Harrah’s. It’s one of the most expensive places in Tahoe so I guess he doesn’t have any problem spending other people’s money. I’ve already made reservations in adjoining rooms. If this guy is going to have an attack, I need to be able to get the nurse without pounding on the hall door. We don’t want the hotel staff in on this.” 

This was logical, although he could have gotten rooms beside each other that didn’t adjoin. He liked the thought that Tess would be only a door away from him...and it would help with Monroe.
Liar. You’re not thinking about him. Admit it to yourself, at least.

The waitress brought their lunches, refilled Bailey’s coffee and Tess’s water, and left.

Tess cut her French dip in half. “Adjoining rooms? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Well, run it by your friend. This is a business deal.” Bailey dipped a French fry into special sauce and tried it. “These
are
great. Good choice. Tess, I’ve got to be able to get the nurse at a minute’s notice. Aren’t nurses ever on twenty-four hour call?” 

Bailey watched Tess pleat her napkin. He remembered the feel of her hands on his face as she leaned over him the day of the accident. He had to admit he wanted to feel her hands on him again, but for a different reason
and
on a different part of this body. There was nothing illegal about wanting to kill two birds with one stone.

“The nurses I know aren’t available,” she said. She finished a bite of her sandwich. Licked her lips…and he zeroed in on the soft pink fullness of her mouth.

He took a sip of hot coffee to wrench his attention back to the case. “I can pay more if that’s the issue. Monroe is a white-collar crook. He’s not dangerous. It will be more like a vacation for the nurse. He might not even have an attack.”

Tess looked up and gave him a shot of her blue eyes; they were as warm and clear as a summer lake.  “A vacation, huh? Sounds nice.”

“The lake is beautiful.”
Like your eyes.

“
I’m
considering taking the job.” She poked her napkin with her fork.

“You? But, I thought you didn’t...agree with my line of work.” Damn it! Why the hell should he care what she thought? He didn’t want to talk her out of it by reminding her of that first night when they’d fought over bounty hunting.

“I still don’t like it, but I don’t want this poor man—”

“He’s not exactly poor, Contessa. He’s swiped two million dollars.”

“You know what I mean. I think I could keep him healthy. I have some time off and I’ve never been to Tahoe. I’d sightsee when I was off. But you mentioned twenty-four hour on-call. All the time?”

"We could work something out. Like I said, he might not get sick." She was going! Or, at least he knew she was whether she did yet or not. 

“How do you plan to become friends with him?" She sounded skeptical.

“We make up a cover story about who we are and why we’re there. It has to hold up. This guy’s no dummy or he wouldn’t have been able to embezzle all that money.” 

“Rule #1, we are not pretending to be married.” Her jaw set.
Damn, she was cute
.

“No problem. I don’t think many people would buy that a married couple had adjoining rooms, do you?”

“You’re right. About those rooms. Is it really necessary?” She was clearly doubtful.

“You’re the one who said those attacks could come on in minutes.” Bailey put all his sincerity into the words. “We could pose as brother and sister. How about that?”

“What sort of brother and sister go on vacations together and share a room?”

“It’s not sharing a room, more like a door. Believe me, nobody’s going to notice. They’re too busy spending...or losing money.” He couldn’t afford to scare her away now.

They finished lunch and left the café. Bailey figured it was time to fish or cut bait. “Look, Contessa, I’m not trying to rush you into anything you don’t want to do, but I’ve got to know so I can book the plane reservations and set up our cover story. You don’t create phony I.D.s overnight.” He looked at Tess as she walked beside him, her head barely topping his shoulder. As they headed down the sidewalk, her curls danced in the slight morning breeze.
I wonder if her hair feels as soft as it looks?

“Can I let you know later today? I promise I'll make a decision.” She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and put her hand on his arm.

There was no way he could say no when she was looking at him with that soft gaze. Funny how her eyes could be so warm that he wanted to dive into them one minute and the next, he could feel his veins freezing from the ice cold fury in them. He wasn’t freezing, now.

“Fine. Do you want me to come over?” Maybe he could get her to share that big chair with him again.
Knock it off. You’ve got to keep your mind on business until you get Lucius. Then...

“Hey, you’re a million miles away. I asked when you’d want to leave if I decide to take the job.” A few steps ahead, Tess had started walking again and he hadn’t even noticed.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about that. Could you be ready in two days? It will take me that long to get everything ready.” Damn, now he didn’t know if she’d said he could come to her house.

“I'll let you know.” She turned and left him still wondering whether he’d convinced her to go with him.

* * *

Tess spent much of the afternoon walking in the park across from the post office. The problem was not that she wanted to go to Tahoe. Rather, it was how much she wanted to go with
him
. The strength of her desire was startling, and not a little frightening. The smartest thing to do was to say no and run as fast as she could away from his devastating magnetism. 

However, she’d never felt this alive before, not even when she’d been in love with the high school sweetheart she’d married. That experience alone had taught her that chemistry wasn’t a guarantee to happiness. That relationship had ended after five years. They’d grown apart. She’d stayed away from commitment until the next man she’d fallen for broke her heart. Her track record did not look good on paper.