What's in a Name? (24 page)

Slow down. They were having lunch.
Forget that Blake was drop-dead gorgeous. Like hell she could
forget. Not even if they ate in total darkness. But somehow,
somewhere in the last week, he’d rearranged something inside her.
It was as if he’d locked Robert away so deep that she could look at
Blake the way a woman looks at a man, without all the terrifying
memories.

Unable to sit and wait, she paced the
apartment, her Emily shoes clicking on the tiles, then going silent
on the carpeting. Annoyed at herself for being so nervous, she
tried to resume her internet and database searches. That turned
into an exercise in futility. Maybe she should download Snoods onto
Blake’s computer. He might enjoy blasting them, too.

When the door opened, she felt that
rush of anticipation. Then Blake stepped inside and he took her
breath away. Literally. She’d seen his closet full of designer
clothes, but there was no comparison with the way they looked on
his body instead of on hangers. Dressed all in black, he stood just
inside the doorway. He reached behind his head and his hair tumbled
free. She stood, reminding herself to breathe. Moving would have to
wait. So would speaking. Breathless. Speechless. Rooted to the
spot. Any more clichés?

“
Wow,” was all she
could say.

“
Cab’s waiting,” he
said. He dropped his briefcase inside the door.

“
Yeah. Right.” Her
brain finally figured out how to make her feet move and she stepped
toward him, tugging on the blazer to hide her stiffened
nipples.

He took her hand. “Or, we could cancel
it?”

She shook her head. “I think I want to
see you dressed like that for a while.”

With a finger crooked under her chin,
he lifted her face so their eyes met. “You’re pretty wow
yourself.”

While they strolled to the elevator,
she said, “So, Hollingsworth’s not out to kill us?”

“
I don’t think
so.”

“
Don’t think so? You
mean you’re not sure?”

“
Let’s talk over
lunch. You have any preference?”

“
Anything but pizza’s
fine.” She fell into step beside him as they walked to the waiting
cab. Blake opened the door for her, then walked around and got in
on the other side. Even across the distance between them, there was
an almost tangible connection.

“
Middle Eastern?”
Blake asked.

“
Sounds
good.”

“
Phoenician Garden,”
Blake said to the cabbie. He put his hand, palm up, on the seat
between them. She dovetailed her fingers with his and they rode the
rest of the way in self-conscious silence.

When Blake opened the restaurant door,
the aroma of exotic spices dominated. There was a sizeable lunch
crowd, their voices a low rumble underneath the drum, bouzouki, and
cymbal rhythms resonating from overhead speakers. They waited
inside the entry. A hostess dressed in a flowing silk dress
approached with a wide smile. A little wider than an ordinary
customer might expect, Kelli thought.

“
Mr. Windsor. So good
to see you again. It has been a long time.” She took his hands and
Blake planted a kiss on her cheek. “The two of you?” She gazed at
Kelli with curiosity. “I have a booth in the back, if you’d
like.”

“
That’ll be perfect,”
Blake said.

The hostess picked up two menus and
swiveled, weaving her way through the maze of tables to the rear of
the restaurant. She moved with a fluid grace and Kelli suddenly
felt dumpy and awkward. She imagined herself and the hostess
standing in line at the grocery store. There was no doubt in her
mind which of them Blake would approach—assuming he even knew what
a grocery store was.

Glad for the reality check, she
followed the hostess and slid across the banquette. After they were
seated, the hostess flashed Blake another bright smile and swayed
her hips to the front of the restaurant.

Kelli picked up the menu, staring at
the choices without comprehension. And a lot less appetite than
she’d had a few minutes ago. A dark-haired waiter appeared with a
small platter of carrots, celery and assorted olives and a basket
of fragrant, hot pita. “You would like hummus?” he said.

“
Please,” Blake said.
“And some baba ganoush.” He winged his eyebrows at her. “That okay
with you? Not too much garlic?” He grinned.

“
Don’t see a problem
if we’re sharing.”

The waiter came back with plates of
their spreads. “Would you like the house lunch special? Portions of
tabbouleh, grape leaves, falafel and lamb korma?”

“
That sounds like a
lot,” she said.

Blake grinned again. “That’s the idea.
Leftovers for tomorrow.”

“
Fine.”

Blake offered the pita basket to her.
She broke off a piece and dipped it in the hummus. Blake followed
suit.

“
Good, isn’t it?” he
said. “It’s got a nutty flavor.”

“
That’s the tahini,”
she said. “Middle Eastern peanut butter to you—made with sesame
seeds instead of peanuts.”

“
Guess that’s why I
like it, then.” He cocked his head. “Is something
wrong?”

“
No, of course not.”
Carrying on with gorgeous women was his lifestyle. She shoved her
feelings back where they belonged and asked what he’d
discovered.

“
I’d say Hollingsworth
was surprised to see me, but not because he thought I was dead. I
believe he was truly worried something had happened. I told him you
weren’t Casey and he accepted it, no questions asked. I got a hint
there was something more, but nothing like guilt that he’d sent
someone to kill us.”

“
Did he say why he
thought I was Casey?”

“
Nope. He said it was
an old man’s dream and sent me back to work. You sure he doesn’t
have some other reason to want to find you? Long-lost
relative?”

She’d been running through every
possibility for days. “No. I can’t imagine anyone wanting me,
except about Robert. He didn’t mention him, did he?”

“
Not at all. He went
right to his meeting with Vance Griffith, his campaign
manager.”

“
That’s a good sign, I
guess. So he’s moving forward on the political front. But it
doesn’t answer the Scumbag question, does it?”

“
I guess not. But he’s
in jail, so that should be the end of it.”

She sipped her water. “Maybe. But like
the detective said, he has expensive lawyers. He could get out on
bail.” The thought of that sent a shudder through her.

“
Hey, even if he is,
he’s not stupid enough to come after us again.”

“
What if they send
someone else?”

“
I think by now they
know someone’s investigating and they’re going to lie low. Three
attacks in three cities would ring a lot of alarm
bells.”

“
I hope you’re
right.”

Blake lifted a finger in a gesture of
silence when the waiter brought their lunch. When he’d left, and
they’d filled their plates with portions of the assorted dishes, he
continued. “What did you find out? I gather it wasn’t difficult to
get into Hollingsworth Industries’ system.”

“
Piece of cake, since
you log on from home. Once I was in, I poked around a
little.”

“
Find anything
interesting?”

“
Hollingsworth is
doing very well. In my previous life, I’d have pitched my
services—he could use a lot more security in his computer system,
but that’s fine with me right now.”

“
You’ve been using my
computer to poke around. Am I going to get in trouble?”

“
Are you insinuating I
don’t know how to cover my tracks?”

Blake’s eyes widened and he gave her a
warning glance.

“
What?” Her heart
thumped. A man, older than Blake, approached their
table.

“
Blake Windsor? I
thought I saw you. Small world, isn’t it?” The man extended a hand
and Blake half stood to shake it. The man then turned to her. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I ran into Blake at Dwight
Hollingsworth’s office this morning and was surprised to see him
again so soon. But that’s how life works sometimes, isn’t it? I’m
Vance Griffith.”

“
Emily Cranford,”
Kelli said.

“
Do you work with
Blake?” He stared at her, from her face to chest to her left hand,
long enough to make her uncomfortable.

“
No, we’re cousins,”
she said. “I’m in town for a few days and I thought we’d catch
up.”

“
Right. Well, I won’t
keep you.” He turned to Blake. “But I’d like to talk with you about
working on the campaign with us. From what I’ve heard, your powers
of persuasion would be an asset to the Hollingsworth team.” He
smiled at her. “And he’s got the looks, doesn’t he, Ms. Cranford?
Can’t hurt for the candidate to be surrounded by beautiful
people.”

Griffith pulled out a business card and
handed it to Blake. “Give me a call. We’ll talk.” He gave them each
one more white-toothed smile and went to a table near the front of
the restaurant.

“
Is he gone?” Kelli
asked, not turning around.

“
He’s not gone, but
he’s sitting with two other men. Suits. They’re looking at papers
he’s passing around. My guess is he’s fund-raising, or vote
collecting, or doing something to help Dwight.”

“
So, you going to join
in?”

“
Sweetheart, I met the
man for thirty seconds this morning. I’m not about to ditch my job
on a whim—his whim, at that.”

“
Do you think it’s
strange he showed up here now?” she asked.

He shrugged. “The food is good and the
prices are reasonable.” He glanced at the card in his hand. “And
his office isn’t far from here.”

“
I didn’t like the way
he looked at me.”

“
For that matter,
neither did I. But I can understand it.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“You look very good.”

“
Sheesh, Windsor.” But
she felt a warm glow building inside. It had been a long time since
she’d thought of herself as a woman.

Blake swallowed some tabbouleh. “Back
to where we left off. Did you find anything interesting?”

She looked up and felt the pull of his
gaze. “I looked for Robert.”

“
You did?” he said.
“Did you find him?”

“
No. I didn’t know
much about him. I mean, I took whatever he told me at face value.
No reason not to.”

“
You think he was
using a fake name?”

Stunned, her mouth dropped open. “You’d
think it would have occurred to me, wouldn’t you? I told you, I
blocked everything after … But why would he do that?”

Blake’s eyebrows lifted. “There’s the
usual reason.”

Slowly, gears meshed in her head. “You
think he was married?”

“
It’s a common enough
occurrence.” He shrugged.

She replayed those happier times with
Robert. “No. I don’t think so. He never seemed to mind when I
called him. No woman ever answered. And he’d show up at random
times—not like only Tuesday nights when a wife would be at a
meeting or something like that.”

But she started running the possibility
through her mind. She’d only had his cell phone number. He’d show
up at her place, never invited her to his. Had she simply ignored
the evidence because she wanted to believe he was as good as the
image he projected? Knew what movies she liked, was always
surprising her with little gifts, or spontaneous trips to the zoo,
or long walks on the beach.

“
Hey, only an idea,”
Blake said.

“
And a reasonable one,
but you might be right about him using another name. And if he was,
I can’t see any way to trace him after all these years. Not without
knowing more about him.”

He wiped his mouth and hands on his
napkin, then reached across the table for her hand. A tingle that
was becoming too familiar shot through her. His voice dropped to a
whisper. “I’m glad you got over the fear, even if you didn’t find
what you were looking for.”

She felt the warmth of his touch shoot
through to her face. “You helped.”

“
Me?”

She spoke to her plate. “I wore one of
your shirts.”

Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?
It was as if his eyes had the power over her tongue. If he laughed
at her, she’d die.

When their eyes met, she saw no
laughter in his. He waved to the hostess. “Melina, can you have
someone box this please? And bring the check?” His voice was
husky.

“
Of course.” She left
in another swirl of silk.

The tension was palpable as they waited
for the check.

Their waiter returned with a white
paper bag, which he set on the table. He set the bill in front of
Blake. “You can pay up front if you’re in a hurry, sir.”

Kelli stood beside Blake while Melina
processed his credit card. She noticed Vance Griffith sat alone at
his table, gathering papers and stuffing them into his briefcase.
He caught her eye and she gave him a polite nod.

He snapped his briefcase shut and
approached the front counter. “Nice meeting you, Emily. And Blake.
I’m sure our paths will cross again.” He extended a hand. “Give me
a call.”

Blake’s nod was only slightly more
polite than hers had been, but he accepted the handshake. He signed
the receipt and turned, his hand on the small of her back. Guidance
or possession? she wondered.