Ready (23 page)

He heard her gasp and turned to face her. “That’s not going to do it.”

He went to the rear of the plane, lifted one of the seats on top of a storage compartment, and came back carrying a big black parka. He put it on her right over her own coat, pulled the hood up and hooked clasps that kept it snug to her face despite it being several sizes too big.

“Tuck your hands up into it. I’ll get the luggage.”

She didn’t argue, but followed him down the plane steps feeling like Nanook of the North.

They were standing on the tarmac, the only surface not covered in snow within sight, when she asked, “I presume there is a regular road to your home?”

There certainly wasn’t one anywhere around the landing strip that she could see.

“On the town side.”

“So, how do we get to your house now?”

They got there on the back of an oversized snowmobile, her clinging to him like a lifeline with her face buried against his back to avoid the cold sting of the wind and small snow flurries. Tucked inside the big parka, she was barely aware of the cold as the snowmobile carried them across the landscape.

About fifteen minutes later, he stopped the snowmobile, but did not turn it off.

She lifted her face from the security of his back and got her first look at Joshua’s home.

All natural wood and lots of windows, it reminded her of something straight out of
Architectural Digest.
It soared toward the sky like an eagle ready to take flight.

“Wow,” she breathed.

He didn’t answer. He probably hadn’t heard her over the high whine of the snowmobile.

She didn’t know what she had expected Joshua’s home to look like, but this incredible house on the side of a mountain was not it.

He guided the snowmobile into a large outbuilding she recognized as a garage when she saw an SUV and a black Jag, both parked inside the heated interior. It probably wasn’t much above forty, but compared to outside, it felt like a sauna.

Once the noisy vehicle had been switched off and her ears stopped ringing from the cold ride, she said, “Your house is beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Joshua grabbed her cases and his duffel bag off the back of the snowmobile. “Nitro designed it.”

“
Nitro?
” she asked, following Joshua around the back of the house to an entrance she hadn’t seen from the garage.

Joshua unlocked the door, but didn’t answer. He went inside and did a quick sequence on a keypad inside before turning to face her. “Yeah, you should see his house.”

“He’s got hidden depths.” Which was an understatement. With that man, pretty much everything was hidden.

“Don’t we all?”

She wasn’t touching that with asbestos gloves.

She shrugged off both the oversized parka and her own coat. “You live here alone?”

“As you pointed out, I like my privacy.” He hung the coats on hooks in the mudroom before leading her into the house proper.

“It’s awfully big for a single man.”

He shrugged. “It’s a fortress.”

She had a feeling he wasn’t kidding.

That feeling was justified when she got her first glimpse of his bedroom, which could have doubled for command central. Video screens, what looked like a map grid with LED displays, and other impressive hi-tech equipment took up one corner of the huge room.

However, there was no doubt that it was a bedroom. A king-size bed dominated the center of the space, its charcoal gray comforter sporting a painting of a realistic-looking lone wolf in the middle. The animal’s eyes were those of a predator used to traveling alone, like Joshua’s eyes when she’d met him the first time. She wondered who had painted the wolf.

He dropped her suitcase and computer case on a large black leather recliner beside a standing lamp.

Apparently he expected her to share his room and that big bed under the lone wolf comforter. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

He’d made no promises of love before making love to her in her own apartment and she had been okay with it. So, why did knowing he definitely
did not
love her make her feel odd about continuing their intimate relationship?

Hoping it wasn’t something she’d have to deal with right away, she took in the odd characteristics of the room besides the command center. There were no windows, but the room was filled with natural light and, looking up, she saw why. A skylight the size of a plate-glass window took up a large portion of the ceiling.

“Is it made of bulletproof glass?” she asked, nodding toward his window in the ceiling.

“You know me well. Yes.”

Skies as gray as any she’d experienced in Seattle made up the uninspiring view. She wondered how he kept the snow off the skylight, or the roof, for that matter. It hadn’t really struck her until now, but the roof of the house had been free of snow as well.

When she asked him about it, Joshua shook his head. “I’ve worked with independent agents who aren’t as aware of their surroundings as you are.” His smile was one of approval. “The roof is heated with water-radiant heat. We don’t get as much snow as some areas in the country, but we get enough that I built the house with that in mind.”

“It must cost a great deal to heat the water.”

He shook his head. “It’s fed by natural hot springs that run underground. A section of the lower level of the house is built over one of the exposed pools.”

“Is that how you keep the landing strip de-iced, too?”

“Yes. It prevents me from having to have domestic help to keep the walkways, landing strip, and roof free of snow.”

“Ah, the privacy issue again.”

He shrugged and she walked over to the bed, stopping to run her finger along the outline of the wolf. “How fitting.”

Looking up, she found Joshua watching her.

The expression in his eyes filled her with conflicting emotions, none of which she wanted to deal with right now.

“What’s with all the surveillance equipment?”

“I like to know what’s happening in my environment.”

“Your house is under video surveillance?”

“The entryways and passages between the rooms, yes.”

“What’s that thing?” She pointed to the grid map.

“No one comes up the road from town or within five hundred feet of my house without me knowing about it.”

He pointed to a small yellow light on the grid. “This lights up when a car crosses my motion sensor halfway down the mountain.” His finger moved to the red light next to it. “This one lights up when the car passes the turnoff for the forestry station. These others are indicators for weight sensors set in a random pattern in a circle around my house.”

“With a radius of five hundred feet?” It was unbelievable. The characters in her books were never that thorough.

“The entire approach up the drive is under video surveillance as well.”

“Remarkable.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“You’re safe here, Lise.”

She didn’t doubt it. No wonder he was so confident of setting the trap for Nemesis here.

“Thank you.”

Joshua came over to where she stood by the bed and cupped her nape. “I mean it. I won’t let Nemesis get to you.”

“I believe you.” She stepped back from his touch and ran into the bed. She had to grab his arm to steady herself, but then she scooted sideways, out of his reach. “I really appreciate all you’re doing for me, Joshua.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t need your thanks.”

“I know. The lone wolf who doesn’t need anybody, not even their honest gratitude.” She hadn’t meant to sound bitter, but the sound of her own voice echoing in her ears was enough to make her cringe in embarrassment.

Joshua didn’t look angry, though; he just looked concerned. “What’s the matter?”

Besides the fact that he didn’t love her, “Absolutely nothing.”

“Do you want to rest for a while? You’re probably drained from the flight,” he said, coming up with his own excuse for her inexplicable behavior. She usually stepped into his touch, not away from it. “CO poisoning takes time to wear off.”

“I napped on the plane.” Even as she said it, she realized he probably wanted a break from her.

Not only was she being unreasonably irritable, but they’d spent a lot of time together over the last few days. He was most likely going stir-crazy for some time alone.

“Why don’t you lie down and see?” he asked, confirming her suspicions.

“I’m not tired, but you don’t need to feel responsible for entertaining me. Really, you don’t. I’ll work on my book while you do whatever it is you normally do when you get home after a long absence.”

He had said he’d been out of the country before coming to her apartment in Seattle and he hadn’t left her side since. He probably had a lot of real life to catch up on and she was in the way.

“I’m not looking for an excuse to get rid of you. I probably should have left you in the hospital at least one more day, but I didn’t want to risk Nemesis doing something that could hurt you, or the people around you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

He let out an exasperated breath and frowned at her. “I would feel a lot better if you’d at least try to rest. You were still in pain on the flight over here.”

“Joshua, you’ve got the wrong build to be anyone’s mother, so stop trying to mollycoddle me, okay? If I say I’m up to writing, then that’s what I mean.” Cryin’ out loud, couldn’t she even
try
for diplomatic?

But then, the sublety of a Mack truck might be lost on this man.

“You’re damn stubborn.”

“I had a good teacher. Have you ever had an argument with Jake?”

“Yeah, over me staying with you. I won.”

“Well, you’re not going to win this one.” She opened the side pocket of her computer case and pulled out the small Dana. “I’ll just settle into your chair over there and write, okay?”

His eyes narrowed dangerously, reminding her he would always be more predator than patsy. “If you weren’t so fragile, I’d convince you to stay in that bed with no problem.”

She tucked the Dana under her arm and grabbed her notepad and pen out of another pocket in her bag. “If I weren’t recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning, you wouldn’t be trying to get me there in the first place.”

He took two giant steps, closing the distance between them and shrinking her awareness of the room to the three square feet they occupied. She could smell the crisp air from outside clinging to his hair and skin, but also the indefinable pheromone cocktail that told her body her lover was excited.

Her gaze dropped to the front of his black jeans and she sucked in air, almost choking herself in the process. He wasn’t just mildly excited; the tight denim of his pants tented away from his body from his straining erection.

Sliding his long, callused fingers around her neck, he cupped her nape.

His thumbs dipped underneath the crewnecks of both her t-shirt and sweatshirt to caress her collarbones, sending shivers of gooseflesh cascading over her breasts. “Are you sure about that?”

D
esire flooded her senses, adding to the volatile emotional cocktail traveling through her bloodstream.

Her only defense was in making it a joke, no matter how serious it felt. “Are you saying you
aren’t
going to employ unfair tactics because of my recent brush with death?”

The color receded from his skin, leaving his usual tan vitality looking sickly; his eyes burned into her with disturbing intensity. “I’m sorry about that, Lise. I’d give anything to change what happened yesterday.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’m supposed to be protecting you, and you could have died.”

“You saved me.”

“Because I didn’t protect you well enough to begin with.”

“There was nothing you could have done, Joshua.”

She shook her head when he didn’t reply and his expression remained stoically unmoved. “You told me the risks. I chose to take them.”

“I wasn’t expecting him to tamper with your exhaust. We checked your car for tampering with the brakes and other vital systems, but everything looked good.”

“It’s not your fault.” She reached up and grasped his wrists, squeezing them. “You told me I couldn’t blame myself for the problems Nemesis has caused for my family and you can’t take responsibility for his desire to hurt me, either.”

“Oh, baby.” His face nuzzled hers until his mouth settled against hers, kissing her with tender sweetness.

His body vibrated with sexual energy, but his lips were as gentle as anything she’d ever known. He might not love her, but he cared, more than he was willing to admit to, maybe even more than she dared hope.

She was the one who turned the kiss into something more than comfort, opening her lips, tasting him with her tongue, nipping him with her teeth. His big body shuddered and he pulled her against him, devouring her mouth with a voracious hunger that she knew only she could appease.

For now.

He broke away from her, turning his head, his breathing heavy and erratic. “We can’t, sweetheart.”

“Yes, we can.” She’d seen him pack the condoms in his duffel bag.

“You need to take it easy, to recuperate from yesterday.”

“I need to make love with you.” She emphasized her point by pressing herself against him and rubbing his hardness with her body.

He groaned like a man facing death. “No, Lise. We can’t.”

“Stop trying to tell me what’s best for me, Joshua. Like you told Jake. I’m well past the age of consent.”

“You’re also sick.”

“I am not.”

It was getting harder and harder to say no. He’d never found it so difficult to do what he knew was right, but then he’d never had to turn away from the sensual promise of Lise’s body when she was pleading with him to make love to her.

“We have all the time in the world to make love, but right now you need to focus on getting better.”

“I am better, and we don’t have all the time in the world. If things go according to your plan, you’ll have Nemesis caught in less than ten days. I don’t want to waste one of them playing sick when I’m not.”

Was she saying she expected their relationship to end with the catching of her stalker? He had known their affair was temporary; mercenaries made poor husbands, but he hadn’t expected her to be ready to boot him out of her life the minute she was free of Nemesis.