Hearts On Fire (11 page)

Chapter 20

    
“I’m fine, really.
I wouldn’t tell you otherwise if it weren’t true.” Lizzie sighed into her cell
phone. “I wouldn’t have told you anything at all if I didn’t think it would be
on the news in the morning.”

     “Nice, Lizzie,” Brian
growled.

     “I didn’t mean it like
that. I’m sorry.” She leaned back in the kitchen chair and stared at the
darkened window over the sink. “I’m a little testy right now.”

     “I can imagine.”

     “I just want to make sure
Sean is okay. He’ll hear about this, I’m sure.”

     “I’ll explain everything
to him. Just please tell me you’re not staying in that house all alone.”

     “I’m not staying there.”

     “Good. The White Swan
isn’t exactly five star, but it’s a reputable hotel. I assume Matt will be
providing you with some kind of protection.”

     Now came the fun part. “I
won’t be staying at the hotel.”

     “What?”

     “I’ll be staying at Josh
MacGreggor’s place.”

     “Josh?” He paused. “Oh.
Is that where our esteemed senator from Colorado is staying as well?”

     “I’m not staying here
because of him. I’m staying here because Josh asked me to and because it makes
sense for tonight. I’ll need to pick up some things from Katy’s tomorrow since
I had to leave in a hurry.”

     He chuckled. “You’re
over-explaining. Which means you’re hedging the truth.”

     “Okay. Fine. And because
it’s time I clear the air with JD once and for all. You were right. I have to
tell him. And soon. Once his mother finds out I’m here, on her land, she’ll
come unglued. She’ll think I’m after her baby boy’s hand in marriage so I can
get to the family fortune. She’ll make it her business to out me to him.” Which
had been why she’d almost run to the hotel. But the time for running was done.
Christ, she’d almost been killed tonight. And the thought of being killed, of
dying, before she had a chance to tell her son the truth about his father, was
unbearable. He deserved to hear it from her, not someone else. And, she
supposed, JD deserved to hear it from her own lips as well.

     “I’m glad you’ve decided
to come clean. Are you doing it tonight?”

     She was exhausted. Too
exhausted to do it tonight. A clear head would be needed and she was anything
but clear headed tonight. “Tomorrow,” she assured him. “I’m not sure I could
string together a cohesive sentence tonight much less fight with him.”

     “Okay. Call me after.
You’ll need a shoulder, I’m sure.”

     She smiled. “That’s what
I love about you. You’re always there for me. I will call you.” She wished she
could talk to Sean but knew tonight was out. He’d been in bed for hours now and
would only be frightened and confused if Brain woke him at this hour. Bowing
her head she rubbed at the tension at the back of her neck. What she needed was
sleep, if it would come to her. “Tell Sean I love him.”

     “Of course I will.”

     “And I love you too,
Brian.”

     He laughed. It was the
warm sound only a friend can give another friend. “Of course you do,” he
teased. “Back atcha. Now, get some rest. I have the feeling you’re going to
need it.”

     Without raising her head
she disconnected the call and set her cell down on the table. One deep breath
after another she tried to relax.

     “If you still love the
guy why aren’t you still married to him?”

     Jerking upright she faced
JD, who had a shoulder resting against the door frame, his gaze stormy. She had
the brief panic of wondering just how long he’d been standing there. How much
he’d heard. Not anything too damning, by the look on his face. What she saw
there was jealousy, not fury. “We’re friends. Not everyone who gets a divorce
hates the ex.”

     He thought of Darlene and
winced. There was no love lost between them. But then, he mused, there had been
no love between them to begin with. And, he supposed, a kid changed things too.
Getting along for their sake would be crucial. “So why aren’t you still married
to him?”

     “I don’t want to have
this conversation right now.” Standing, she took her empty coffee mug to the
sink and rinsed it out.

     “You married him right
after you left here that summer.”

     She whirled around, her
face flushed hot with anger. “So what? At least I wasn’t married before that!”

     His jaw hardened and he
nodded his head once. “I deserved that one. Josh tells me you’ve agreed to stay
here.”

     “For the night, senator.
Just for the night.”

     He would accept that. For
now. Tomorrow was another day. “I can show you up to your room.” He saw her
balk and nearly smiled. Standing there twisting her hands in front of her with
those big blue eyes she looked like a deer caught in a cornfield with a
flashlight. “Josh hit the hay. This is a working ranch so he has to be up with
the sun.”

     She didn’t want him
showing her to a bedroom. But it looked like there was little choice unless she
planned on wandering around until she hit pay dirt.

     “There’s a bathroom just
down the hall from your room. I expect you’ll want to take a hot shower.”

     She wanted nothing more
at this moment than a hot shower and a comfortable bed. But first, she wanted
one answer. “What were you doing out in the woods by Katy’s place in the middle
of the night on horseback?”

     He lifted a shoulder.
“Doesn’t matter. I was there, that’s all that counts.”

     “It matters to me. Why
were you there?”

     “You’re not gonna like my
answer,” he warned, his voice low, his gaze direct.

     “I’ve come across a
number of things I haven’t liked lately.”

     A corner of his mouth
lifted and he shifted on his feet. “I was watching you.”

     She’d known it. But to
hear him admit to it… “And what the hell do you think you were doing watching
me?”

     He gave her that insolent
shrug again.

     “You know, they have laws
against peeping at women.”

     “I wasn’t peeping,
Lizzie. You know that. I was just keeping a watch over you, that’s all. That
news you gave me about Grady spooked me. And when you wouldn’t listen to reason
and insisted on staying at Katy’s I figured I’d best keep an eye out.”

     “I don’t need a damn
keeper, senator.”

     He pushed away from the
wall and advanced on her, his own anger piqued. “Tonight you did,” he
countered, standing so close he caught the scent of her. Something gentle.
Lilacs, maybe.

     Because she couldn’t
argue the fact she clenched her teeth. Damn him for coming to her rescue again.
And damn him for making her want him all over again. She wanted to look away
from him, escape his hold over her, but she couldn’t. God, what had ever made
her think she could get him out of her system? It had always been like this
with him. “You’re right. I did. And I haven’t thanked you.”

     He’d never been able to
resist her and he couldn’t now. Gently he touched her face with his fingertips,
tracing her cheek, her jawline. He saw the mixture of fear and desire in her
eyes and felt the same things stir in himself. “You don’t need to thank me,
Lizzie,” he told her softly.

     “JD…” Her voice faltered.
“Don’t.”

     “Why not, Lizzie?” He
wanted to kiss her. God did he want to kiss her. Only the hint of fear in her
eyes kept him from doing it.

     “There’s too much… too
much between us.”

     “I know I screwed things
up. It won’t happen again.”

     He was right on that
much. Once he knew the truth he would never want her again. She needed to
distance herself from him now, before it was too late. “I’m tired. Please, I
just need to  sleep.”

     The need to protect was
still coursing through him. The need to hold her close was too. But for now he
knew he’d have to push that need aside. “All right, Lizzie.” He took one of her
hands in his and led her upstairs.

    
He slammed a fist
on the old window sill, rattling the thin pane of glass above. Outside the snow
was coming down again. The wind howled. In the boathouse a cold draft sifted
through. But his fury was enough to warm him. “What the fuck did you think you
were doing, Grady? Christ but you fucked this up!”

     Grady Summers shrank back
a little. He knew he’d screwed up. “How the hell was I supposed to know
MacGreggor would be stalking around out there in the woods?”

     “Not the point,” he said,
turning on Grady. “The point is you let her get the best of you. A
girl
kicked your ass.”

     Grady scowled. That girl
was a lot tougher than the one he remembered. “I never thought a doctor would
fight back. Especially
her
.”

     “Well, she did. And she
recognized you.”

     He lifted a brow and
shook his scraggly hair off his brow. “She never saw me.”

     “She heard you speak.”
Which he’d been planning on, actually. It would take some of the heat off
himself. Shift the focus.

     “Damnit, you told me
she’d know where the money is,” Grady complained.

     The truth was he hadn’t
been sure if Lizzie would know or not. One thing had been certain, he couldn’t
lean on her himself. He’d had to find someone else for the job. And as
distasteful as dealing with the likes of Grady Summers could be, losing the
money at this stage of the game was not an option. So he’d pay off Summers to
do the dirty work. He looked at the man now. Tall, skinny and shaking like a
leaf he wore grimy blue jeans and a winter coat that looked like rats had been
at it. Things weren’t going too good for Grady, that was evident. It would make
him more open to suggestion. “She knows where it is,” he lied. “She’s just
holding out on us.”

     “So what’re we gonna do
about it?” Grady huffed out a breath in the dimly lit boathouse. “That fuck
MacGreggor has her now. He ain’t gonna let her out of his sight for nothing.”

     He smiled slowly. “Oh, he
will. I can see to that. You just be ready when I call on you.”

Chapter 21

    
There would be no sleep
for him, he knew that. Not with her so near. Not with this irrational fear for
her he just could not shake. She was safe now. He kept telling himself that but
he just couldn’t get it through his own damn thick skull. He paced by her
closed door listening for the slightest sound of distress. When he heard it, a
soft cry from her, his heart nearly stopped in his chest.
She’s fine, you
ninny,
he told himself.
She’s having a bad dream. You’d have bad dreams
too if someone had held a knife to your throat. No one can get to her now. Not
here.
Not while he stalked the hall outside her room like a lion guarding
his mate.

     He shoved his fingers
through his jet black hair and let out a long breath. What would have happened
had he not taken up vigil outside Katy’s little house? He shuddered to think
about it. Would Grady have killed her when she wouldn’t have been able to lead
him to the money? “Probably,” he whispered.

     Another slight sound from
her, a whispered protest, had him at her door. Without a thought to how angry
it might make her he opened the door. She’d left the small bedside lamp on and
he could see her laying there, the blankets up to her chin, a fisted hand
tucked in under it. The sight of her lying there knocked the breath from him.
When she whimpered again he went to her and stroked the hair from her cheek
with his fingers. “Shhh, Lizzie. You’re okay.” He wondered what she dreamt, if
she was reliving tonight or something else. Her delicate fingers clenched and
unclenched. “Lizzie, honey, it’s okay.”

     Her eyes opened then. Blue
and disoriented, they fixed on him. “JD?” she asked a little hoarsely.

     “I was walking by and
heard you call out,” he lied. But it was just a little lie. She didn’t need to
know how he’d hovered out there. She’d think him obsessed. And she wouldn’t be
far off the mark.

     “It was… I was just
having a bad dream.” She shivered under the covers.

     “Not so surprising,” he
told her, touching her cheek one more time before backing away. “I just wanted
to make sure you were okay. I’ll let you get back to sleep now.” He wanted
nothing less than to leave her room. But the soft, sleepy look in her eyes made
him think things he had no business thinking. He turned to leave but her voice,
soft and fragile, stopped him.

     “JD, please, will you stay
with me?”

     Shocked by her request he
turned back to her, afraid he’d misheard. Or dreamt it all himself.

     “Just… just until I fall
asleep?”

     The need he saw in her
eyes and heard in her voice struck down any rational thought he might have had.
No way could he deny her. “Sure.” He felt her eyes on him as he rounded the end
of the bed and kicked his shoes off.

     “I don’t want to be alone
tonight.”

    
I don’t either,
he
thought. “You don’t have to be.” As she pushed the covers down for him he slid
in, his heart pounding behind his ribs, his gaze locked with hers.

     When he made no move to
touch her she smiled, blinking at him sheepishly. “Could you hold me?”

     Hold her without touching
her? Without loving her? It would be a test of his will, that was for certain. But
he knew sex was the furthest thing from her mind tonight. Tonight she wanted
comfort. And that, he knew, he could offer. Taking her in his arms he lay still
and in awe as she placed her head on his chest and moments later drifted off
into a peaceful slumber. Before he knew it, he followed her there.

    
Lizzie woke in stages,
slow and content in the cocoon of blankets. Strong arms were wrapped around her,
protecting her, a woman who’d thought she’d never accept a man’s protection
again. The warmth and scent of his body enveloped her senses, nearly making her
dizzy. There had been no more nightmares. But other dreams had come. Dreams of
JD coming to her bed. And this, she decided, must be a dream too, feeling him,
hearing his breathing, slow and steady. Her eyelashes fluttered open and she
found herself staring into dark blue eyes. He said nothing, just smiled softly
and squeezed her to him. She felt it then. Arousal. Desire. Both from him and
from herself. So this was what it was like to wake in JD MacGreggor’s arms.
This was the pleasure she’d always been denied. Reaching out she placed a palm
on his stubble darkened jaw. Staring into his eyes she moved toward him, until
her lips were but a breath away from his. She saw surprise register on his
features. Still saying nothing, she pressed her lips to his gently,
experimentally.

     “Lizzie…” His voice was
low, almost a groan.

     Was that a protest? She
stopped it with another kiss, this one more demanding. When he met her demand
with his own she smiled and drew back. “Love me, JD. Please just love me.” She
could not think of what would happen after. She could only think of now. And
now she wanted him. All of him. She wanted to feel him love her one more time.
Just one more before she made him hate her.

     “Lizzie, are you sure?”

     “I’ve never been more
sure of anything in my life, JD. It’s you I want. It’s you I’ve always wanted.
I just didn’t know it until I lost you.” The words, the admission, was a relief
to her body and soul. Never had she wanted a man like she wanted JD.

     Lowering his mouth to her
ear he breathed softly, “I do love you, Lizzie. I always have.”

     Predawn light painted the
window in shades of pinks and purples. Seeing this, Lizzie almost came to her
senses. Almost. But hands which were both familiar to her and new touched her.
How could she want this man this badly after all these years? And how could he
still want her so badly? What kind of love was this?

     He must have read the
flicker of doubt in her eyes for his hands stilled on the buttons of the borrowed
flannel top she wore and his gaze delved deeply in her soft blue eyes.
“Lizzie?”

     A wicked little smile
curved her lips and her eyes twinkled with delight. “Getting cold feet,
senator?” she teased.

     He chuckled and his own
eyes darkened. “Not on your life, woman.”

     “I want this. I want
you.” And damn the consequences, she thought. Damn them for now. Later would
come when it came. And whatever would be would be.

    
He determined he’d
never get enough
of looking at her. Never enough when she was asleep or
awake. Aware of his loving gaze or unaware. Bending down he brushed a kiss
across her temple and smiled to himself when she didn’t even stir.
This one,
he mused
, is a hard sleeper.
It was something he’d not known of her
before. And now that he knew such a little thing he wanted to know so much more.
But he’d seen the fear in her eyes. The doubt. Would she let him back in or
would she push him away again? Only time would tell.

     With one last look at her
he went to the door and silently let himself out. His cell phone had been
buzzing for the last hour but he’d not been able to make himself leave the
warmth of her bed. The only thing which did now was the fact he knew what the
calls were about. He’d missed a conference call of some importance this morning.
Now it was time to get to it, like it or not. But coffee and one of those
pastries he’d seen on the counter first.

     In the kitchen he poured
himself a large mug of coffee and put a raspberry filled pastry on a paper
plate. He was just licking icing off his fingers when he heard the door squeak
on its hinges behind him.

     “Well, well, well, look
what the cat dragged in.”

     JD turned and smiled to
his younger brother, taking a healthy swallow of his black coffee.

     Making a show of cocking
his wrist and looking at his watch, Josh shook his head a little sadly. “And at
the break of… nine-thirty five.”

     “It was a late night.” He
leaned back on the counter top and reaching behind himself snatched the pastry
off the plate. He was cornered and he knew it.

     Josh’s lip quirked. “You
were supposed to help me with the morning feed. Remember?”

     “I do now. Wasn’t
thinking of that before dawn this morning. Sorry.”

     “You don’t look very
sorry to me.” Josh looked his brother over carefully, then snorted. “No, in
fact you look pretty damned pleased with yourself this morning.”

     JD lifted a shoulder
casually and took a bite of pastry. It was as good as it had looked in the box.
“I’m well rested.”

     “You’re full of shit is
what you are. Funny thing is, when you didn’t meet me down here for coffee I
came up looking for you. Figured I’d toss some cold water on your sleepy ass.
But low and behold, your bed was empty!”

     JD laughed and took
another swallow of coffee.

     “So I gotta wonder. Where
did you get all this wonderful rest which has made you look so happy this
morning?” He saw JD open his mouth to answer and threw up a hand, palm out.
“You know what? Never mind. I think I can put it together myself just fine.”

     “I’m sure you can.”

     “I don’t suppose you’d
like to make it up to me by taking care of the north pasture fence? It’s busted
down. We got the cattle rounded up and got it stitched back together for
temporary.”

     JD’s smile was big. “I’d
love nothing more than that, little brother. Unfortunately you’re not the only
party I’ve wronged this morning. I have a couple calls to make and if I don’t
catch up on my email Lorraine will have my ass.” Lorraine had been his
assistant for the last two and a half years and she ran his office with an iron
fist. Two of the voice mails had been from her this morning demanding he
respond to some ‘urgent matters’.

     “Ah, the busy life of a
senator.” He waved a hand at JD and smirked. “You can have it, brother.”
Hitching a thumb over his shoulder he said, “The study is all yours.”