Mac's Angels: The Last Dance: A Loveswept Classic Romance (8 page)

“Stuff it, Conner,” Mac growled. “Besides, I had help. Sterling came up with the quilting business.”

Conner laughed. “Very creative, our Sterling.” He grew serious. “Just one final question?”

Mac sighed. “What?”

“Is your new baby really going to be a girl?”

The sound of Mac hanging up the phone bounced off the walls of his office like a stray bullet.

After he’d sat awhile, Mac allowed himself a smile. New baby? He was older now, calmer. Still, the idea of a new baby was absurd, even if it was imaginary. He’d promised himself a long time ago that he’d never allow himself to care about another woman again, because he couldn’t trust himself to protect her or that love. Even though he’d tried, look what he’d done to Jessie.

Time to get back to work. Time to find out who Vince Dawson really was and, more important, what his next move would be.

Sterling pushed open the door at the end of the hall and gasped. She’d never in her life seen anything like Jessie’s swimming hole. She felt like she’d journeyed straight into a rain forest.

The indoor pool was fed by a natural waterfall that cascaded down into a deep rock-lined pool below. Mac’s special illumination created the illusion of real sunlight, making the trees and flowering plants around the room look like the natural beauties of a tropical paradise.

Colorful birds, chirping a language of their own, sat perched in the branches. And the flowers; orchids, lilies, hibiscus, and gardenias grew in profusion, their perfumes sweetly scenting the air. It would have been too potent if not for the fresh gentle breeze that ruffled the branches and kept the odors from overwhelming the senses.

Sterling parked her chair at the end of the pool
and watched the water disappear into the rocks. What a peaceful place to unwind. She could see little tendrils of heat rising from the water. A hot springs here in the middle of a mountain. A place where an injured body could soak up sun, be rejuvenated, and feel safe at the same time.

Was all this for Jessie? Why? A girl as beautiful as she was ought to be on a real beach—with moonlight and a handsome lover lying beside her, not enclosed here in an artificial world. Something was wrong.

“I see you found the pool,” Mac said.

With the chirping of the birds and the musical sound of the water, she hadn’t heard him come in. She still didn’t see him, but her senses told her he was standing just behind her chair.

“Yes. I don’t know how you did it, but it’s very beautiful. I can’t believe we’re inside a mountain.”

“Believe it. The men who hauled in all the rock thought I was nuts. But they weren’t as skeptical as the engineer who had to build a generator large enough to heat and light the entire complex.”

“How long did it take you?”

“Oh, I’m still working on it. This wing was built first. It’s been here for almost fifteen years. The other wings and floors evolved from there. I keep a full-time construction and maintenance staff on hand.”

“They must not have families.”

Mac suddenly moved to where she could see
him. He sat down on one of the rocks near her. “But they do. What makes you think they wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know. I guess I see Shangri-la as something like a space station, isolated … restricted. A place where you’d spend six months on duty and six months on R and R.”

Mac looked surprised. “All the people who work here have the option of bringing their families. There is a grocery store, a small department store, restaurants, a movie house, and a recreation center. If we don’t have it, it can be ordered in.”

“But they’re living underground.”

“Do you feel like you’re living underground here?”

Sterling glanced around. “No, I don’t.”

“You just want to be able to go outside. Is that it?”

She nodded.

“I’m told that back in Virginia you have an office on the beach. How often do you go outside, Sterling?”

She paused.

“Almost never, but I can see the outside world.”

“So can the residents. The rooms that don’t have, windows, and that’s most of them—for safety reasons—have holographic images on at least one wall. Your room has the same ability as the others. If you want to be on the beach, you just program your computer. Didn’t Elizabeth show you?”

“No. I mean she probably would have, but I felt
uncomfortable having her there. I asked her to leave.”

“Are you always so independent?” Mac challenged.

“I am. Are you always so controlling?”

He laughed. “Are we about to have our first fight?”

“I don’t fight.”

“All right. I have something to show you.”

“Something more spectacular than this?”

“You may think so. Will you allow me to push your chair?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Tsk, tsk, Moneypenney. What would 007 do with a testy secretary?”

“He’d probably have some kind of secret weapon that he’d use to convince her to take orders.”

“Oh?” He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You think he’d charm her into obedience?”

Sterling couldn’t quite field a comeback to that. As they threaded their way down a path between the trees, she tried desperately to recall the Bond movies she’d seen. All she could remember was Pierce Brosnan brushing up on his Danish in bed with a buxom blonde.

“I don’t speak Danish,” she said suddenly, rather proud of herself for coming up with a line that caused Mac to falter in his pushing.

After a moment he replied seriously, “I’ll teach you.”

They reached an archway in which opaque sliding doors silently opened.

“No ‘shazam’?” she asked.

“Picture ID,” he explained.

“What about me?”

“Your picture has already been fed into the computer identification system.”

Walking through the hallway, Sterling noticed that the decor changed dramatically. No more champagne wallpaper. Only utilitarian walls and tiled floors filled this space.

“Where are we going?” Sterling finally asked, beginning to feel uneasy.

“We’re going to my office.”

“Why?”

They approached a steel door, which automatically slid open. Once more they walked into another world. Silent, luxurious, but somehow Spartan at the same time. A wheat-colored couch hugged one wall. Along another lay a bank of computer screens and electronic equipment. A ratty-looking desk chair seemed to crouch between the computers and a large mahogany desk. But the most amazing feature of the room was a jagged outcropping of rock surrounding a shiny panel of wallpaper.

“Now watch this, Moneypenny.”

He keyed a code into a panel on the wall. The panel slid open. A blue sky full of sunshine filled the opening.

“Holograph?” she whispered. “Amazing.”

“No, this view is real.” He rolled the chair forward.
“There are times when I have to see the outside world.”

“But you do it from a distance, don’t you, Mac?”

“Yes. I find it’s safer that way.”

“And Jessie? Tell me about her, Mac.”

He cut a sharp gaze toward her. “You met Jessie?”

“She was coming from the pool. I nearly scared her to death. Don’t you ever have company?”

“Did she … what did she do?”

“She seemed surprised that I was there. I believe she thought I’d strayed from wherever your outside guests are housed.” Questions about Jessie whirled through her mind. Sterling had to remind herself that she, too, was a quest. “Do you really think keeping her isolated is good for her?”

Mac walked past her and stood at the window looking out. This morning he was dressed as informally as she. He wore scruffy running shoes and sweats, as though he’d just come from a workout. A towel was draped around his neck, and his hair was still wet.

“I don’t keep her here against her will. I’ve done everything I can to get her out, but she simply refuses to go. She doesn’t want to leave ever.”

“Mac, she’s too young to know what she wants. I think she’s probably very lonely here.”

He swung around, clasping the ends of his towel. “You’re right. She
is
lonely. And she ought to have outside friends.”

“She must love you very much, Mac. That’s why she stays.”

“Yes, she loves me. In spite of the fact that I’m responsible for the death of her mother, she loves me.”

Sterling felt as if a large object had just fallen out of the sky and landed on her. Had she misinterpreted something? “You killed her mother?”

“In a manner of speaking. I was gone when Jessie was born and most of the time when she was growing up. Still playing the rich man’s son when I should have been at home. I knew she was fragile, that she fought a losing battle with depression but I refused to change my life. I hold myself responsible for what happened to my wife and to my daughter, Jessie.”

“Jessie is your daughter?”

“Of course. Did Jessie tell you?”

“No. I think I scared her to death. She was on the verge of complete panic.”

“Yes. She panics easily. Emotionally, Jessie is still a child. Her doctors have told me that maybe I’ve been too ready to go along with her fear of outsiders.”

Sterling must have managed to nod enough to convince Mac she was listening but all she could think about was that he’d said he was taking her home to meet the woman he loved and that woman was Jessie. His beautiful daughter.

Last night at dinner, Mac had been playful and teasing. Afterward, when he’d undressed her, she’d
felt such an unexpected awareness of him as a man. Guilt had assaulted her afterward. Guilt because she’d been attracted to a man who was committed to someone else. Even more upsetting was that she’d sensed that he’d been attracted to her too.

“Mac, before I met the real Jessie, I thought she was your lover.”

“And you were jealous?” He lifted his chin and closed his eyes, then grinned as he moved close to her. “Give me your hand, Sterling.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m asking you to.”

She wasn’t ready for her response, for her traitorous body to cause her to lift: her hand independent of her command and rest it in his.

“Now stand.”

“I’d rather not. Yesterday was pretty exhausting. I try not to overexert myself.” What she couldn’t say was that she wasn’t certain her legs would hold her up. He was too close. With the sunlight behind him, his dark eyes were shaded and veiled.

“Stand up, Sterling,” he repeated, then added, “please?”

He wasn’t going to allow her to refuse his—request.

“I have to put up the footrests,” she said, her voice tight, trying not to show the nervousness coursing through her body.

“Let me.” He knelt, twisted the metal plates to the side, and placed her feet on the floor. “Now.” He held out his hand again.

“No, I stand alone,” she said. Taking a deep breath, she slipped toward the front of the chair, placed both hands on the armrests, and pushed herself up.

As she stood, her breasts grazed his body. He hadn’t stepped back as she’d expected. Now they were touching, just enough to send an unwelcome ripple of response down her spine, which sometimes refused to register sensation at all.

She looked up at him. “Now what?”

“Now? This.” He kissed her, a low groan accompanying the pressure of his lips. She resisted for a second, then felt her own lips part. The kiss changed, his mouth nipped at hers lightly, then recaptured hers with restrained desire. There was no mistaking his control, until she moved against him and felt his body throbbing as she swayed.

His body was firm. His arms as tight as steel bands. No escape was possible, and for just a moment she allowed herself to give in and be the desirable woman she had once been.

She knew he hadn’t brought her to his office to ravish her. Why would he? Conner called her a “dish,” but Conner always teased her. Sure, some of the men with whom he’d had business had sent out feelers, but she’d turned them all away. She’d been in love once, truly in love. And when her fiancé rejected her, she knew there was no such thing as forever. And she had no intention of taking any chances with her hard-earned peace of mind.

Jerking away, she pushed Mac back and dropped
into her chair. “Why did you do that?” she asked, cursing her breathlessness.

He frowned slightly as if he were considering his answer. “Surely you know. I wanted to kiss you last night, but I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

This time she was the one confused. “But why didn’t you kiss me last night?”

“Because I’m supposed to be protecting you, and right now you’re vulnerable. Besides, I couldn’t let you know that you scare the hell out of me.”

She could only look at him in amazement. “I scare you?”

“Oh, lady. You do. And if you don’t want me to kiss you again, we’d better get out of here and into your office.”

“My office?” Like some kind of echo, she kept repeating his words. “You’re taking me home?”

“For the time being, you
are
home. Conner and I talked. We decided that you’d be happier if you were busy, so we connected your computer at Paradox, Inc. with a computer at Angel Central. All your calls will be relayed here and nobody will be the wiser.”

“I didn’t know you could do something like that.”

“And we’re banking on nobody else knowing that we can.”

“Surely you don’t plan to keep me here forever, Mac. I have a life of my own.”

“Sure you do. Just like me and Jessie even though it is one closed up in a building. There’s just
one difference. So far as I know, nobody is trying to kill us.”

“I’ve set up your office close to me,” Mac said, indicating a small room adjacent to his own office. He rolled her inside. From the dents in the linoleum it was obvious that some kind of heavy equipment had recently been removed. Now there was only a desk, computer, printer, and telephone, placed in front of a rock-framed window similar to the one in Mac’s office.

“I have the wall open so you can enjoy the view,” he explained, trying deliberately to smooth the transition between the fire of their kiss and the more routine mood of an office. “A touch of the button on your desk closes the wall, if need be.”

“Why would I need to close it?”

“You probably never will, but the designer felt that for security purposes, the special panes might not be completely shatterproof.”