Fatal Wild Child (9 page)

"You're good," she breathed.

"I'm interested," he confessed.

"Why?"

"It's your family." He gave a small laugh. "And I've really never met a family like them before. You're right, Gabrielle. They're something else."

She found herself laughing suddenly, as she recalled Madison's lifted brow when Seth confessed to liking Canadian rye and Sydney's blank expression when Seth had given her the opening to fire a return salvo back.

She put her hand on the top of the fat post on end of the traditional railing edging the small entrance to Seth's cabin and waved him forward. "Your cabin."

He stepped up onto the verandah and pulled out the keycard. "It's bigger than I thought."

"Dad doesn't do things by halves."

"So I'm learning." He turned to look at her. "Do you want to come in?"

She looked at the familiar cabin. There was a formal sitting room, two bedrooms, each with their own en suite, a small kitchenette and the famous back deck. Stepping in would mean nothing more than coming in from the cold. But she hesitated. Memories swamped her and they weren't good ones. On top of that was the sensation that her father had planned this from the outset. The coming snowstorm was a convenient excuse, but in this family of manipulators, he was a master. For some unstated reason, he wanted Seth to marry her and was willing to pay a million dollars to ensure the nuptials took place. Stepping inside would just adhere to her father's plans, wouldn't it? What about her own?

What were her own plans?

"Seth, can I be honest?" she said.

He shut the door again and put his hands in his pockets. "I'd give anything for honesty." His voice was low, a deep rumble and it made her shiver.

"Even if you don't like the answer?"

"Even then." His eyes glittered in the low light under the verandah roof. His gaze was watchful.

"Okay." She took a breath. "You have to know, Seth O'Connor, you're the only man that's ever walked away from me. No one's ever done that before."

"Ever?"

"No. It was quite a lesson for me."

"It wasn't supposed to be a lesson."

"It was anyway, Seth. I didn't like what it told me about myself. 'Selfish' was the least of it. 'Ego' was in there, too."

Seth held up his hand. "You don't have to do this, Gabrielle."

"Yes, I do," she said quickly. "I'm trying to tell you why I'm not going to go inside."

"You're not?"

She shook her head. "I can't, Seth. It's not just the memories. They're rotten, gut-churning things that make me ashamed. But they're just memories and when I'm with you, they're nothing. That's why I needed to explain all the rest. You make me feel...god, Seth, you make me feel young again. Do you know how precious that is?" She smiled. "And you make me feel like if I stepped inside with you and took off my coat, I wouldn't be able to stop at just my coat...or yours. I know it's probably wicked, Seth, but I can't keep what I saw of your body during the accident out of my mind. I keep replaying it over and over and I want to see you naked again. Properly naked. And I want to be free this time to run my hands over you."

Her voice was shaking, but she needed to get the rest of it out, so she took another deep breath and pushed on. "I want to do all that, but I don't even know you. I know your military record, but I don't even know if you like coffee or tea, or if you prefer the left or the right side of the bed, or your favorite music, or slow dancing or if we're totally and one hundred percent incompatible."

"Gabrielle—"

"No, let me finish!" she said quickly.

He nodded.

She could feel the buildup of hot, hard tears in the back of her eyes. This was harder than she thought, this truth-telling. "On top of all of this, there's my father's one million dollars," she said bitterly. "I know he hasn't retracted it, has he?"

There was a heartbeat of silence. "No," Seth said at last.

"And finally," Gabrielle finished, feeling the first of her tears flow, "There's the still-to-be-explained reason you came back." She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Damn, I didn't want to do that." Her voice was hoarse.

He gave a low curse and pulled her into his arms and just like that she was where she had fantasized about being only a few minutes ago, tucked inside his coat and cuddled up against his chest, his arms around her.

"You're an impossible woman," he said.

"I've heard worse."

"Gabrielle, if you had any idea..." He sighed. "You think you've got the ultimate dilemma?" He lifted her chin so that she was forced to look into his eyes. "I have a proposal," he said. "It's five-thirty, thereabouts. Have dinner with me in the main building—you and me in one of the restaurants."

"A date?"

"Yes."

"In public?"

"You're with me. You're perfectly safe, I guarantee it."

There was something in the way he said it that made the small hairs on the back of her neck try to stand up. "Seth...do you...are you armed?" she asked softly.

"Not that you'd notice just looking at me, but yes."

Her heart thudded. "It's against the law to carry arms in Canada," she said. Her gut clenched. "Seth, are you on active duty?"

He hesitated before he answered. "Yes." His voice was low.

Her breath came faster. She stepped back from him. "Since when?"

"Since three twenty-three a.m. last night," he said softly.

Last night...when he must have retrieved her camera and her laptop.

"What else did you find in my car, Seth?"

"We should discuss this inside."

"What else did you find in my car?"

"An explosive device designed to take out your brakes."

Someone had tried to kill her. Seth had come back because someone was trying to kill her.

Chapter Seven

Gabrielle reached for the verandah rail, weak and a little dizzy with the speed of bewildering thoughts and questions slamming into her brain. "Oh my lord..." she gasped.

Seth was holding her up, picking her up. "Up you come," he murmured.

"Why me?" she whispered.

"They're not going to get you," he said. "Not while I'm here."

"But what did I do? What made them want to kill me?" she asked Seth in an undertone, clutching at his shoulder as he hurried along the path. It was snowing much harder now. Flakes clung to his black hair.

"We'll figure that out," he assured her. "Try to hold it together, Gabrielle. You're in shock. I'm going to fix that in a minute. Breathe deeply."

She could feel the tremors rippling through her and her teeth chattering. She clung to Seth and rested her head against his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat as he walked. Her body shook as she tried to encompass the awful sensation that someone in the world wanted her dead.

The worst part of it was that she had no idea why.

She heard the squeak of a hinge and the slap of a door, then indoor warmth and light fanned her face. The familiar sounds of controlled hysteria surrounded her. She recognized them as the noises of a commercial kitchen and lifted her head a little. They were in a streamlined, narrow kitchen, surrounded by sous chefs and aides, all looking harried and surprised by Seth's arrival and his burden.

One chef lifted his hand. "Seth!" And he broke into a stream of French.

Seth answered in excellent French, but Gabrielle was too overwhelmed to even begin to translate. The chef grabbed Seth's arm and hurried them through the kitchen and out through an internal door, into a passageway that led, in turn, to a small office. The chef tipped a finger to his brow. "Take your time, Captain," he said, in a heavy French accent. "The manager, 'e will not be in tonight."

"
Merci
, Bastien," Seth said, and shouldered his way into the office. He lowered Gabrielle into the big executive chair, just as a kitchen helper appeared in the doorway, holding out a soda can.

"Thanks," Seth said and dropped a two dollar coin into the boy's hand. He shut the office door and locked it, then popped the lid. "Drink this, as quickly as you can," he told Gabrielle.

"It's loaded with sugar," she objected, wrapping her arms around her as chills seemed to sweep through her.

"Exactly. The sugar will offset the shock. It'll help. And in a few minutes, when you feel more human, we'll go and eat a huge meal. That will make you feel even more human. Drink. I promise this will work."

She recalled that Seth, of all people, probably knew more about getting the body through shock quickly than most other people. She took the can and drank, trying to drain the cold beverage quickly despite how cold she was feeling.

Seth perched on the edge of the desk, watching her.

By the time she had finished the can, she was feeling better. Marginally. The cold still seemed to grip her, though. She put the can on the desk with a grimace. "No wonder you insisted on telling me when we were inside."

Seth crossed his arms. "I was more worried about bugs and sightlines, but yes, this, too."

"You should insist on having your way, more, Seth. Then you wouldn't have to keep making me look so foolish."

He smiled. "You're a stubborn lady."

"Who's too used to having her own way." She sighed. "I need to start listening to you properly. I mean
really
listening. I should have put this together sooner. There's too many things you don't say that I should be hearing."

Something touched his face and was gone, so swiftly that she thought she may have imagined it.

"What?" she said.

"Dinner," he said firmly, and picked up her hand. He threw the can in the garbage bin, and led her from the office.

* * * * *

While the luxury chalets and cabin areas were foreign territory to Seth, he was quite familiar with the public areas and restaurants in the main building of the lodge. Once they were out in the public section of the main building, his senses went on alert, as all the subliminal feeds of information worked to keep him aware of any possible dangers or concerns, all focused on Gabrielle.

Thanks to the steadily thickening snow and heavy fall warnings, there were very few people using the public restaurants tonight. Jasper Park Lodge was outside the main town of Jasper and in heavy snows, it became a challenge to reach. Tourists tended to stay in the town itself for meals. That meant the only patrons would be residents.

Gabrielle's fame would be an issue. Seth murmured in the maitre d's ear. "A discrete table, please. Not somewhere where everyone passing will see her."

They were offered a corner table guarded by a big potted palm tree. The only way Gabrielle would be recognized was if someone walked right up to the table and leaned in to peer at her face. Gabrielle visibly relaxed when she saw the location and beamed her thanks at the maitre d', who swelled with pride at her reaction.

They ordered a small meal each, for they had just eaten a short while before. Seth ordered a bottle of wine. The waiter hurried away after the wine was opened.

"I don't usually drink, anymore," Gabrielle confessed, lifting the glass of ruby red liquid. "And I'm surprised you would, under the circumstances."

"A few mouthfuls—enough to keep up appearances," Seth told her. "If I'm eating, it's not a big deal. Don't drink if you don't want to. I thought you might like a glass to relax. You've had quite an afternoon and I just hit you with hard news."

She finally looked directly at him for the first time. There was pain in her marvelous brown eyes and his gut clenched. "Why is someone trying to kill me, Seth?" she whispered.

"I don't know. And for right now, it's not my job to find out. The only thing I have to do is stick with you and keep you alive."

"You don't care to know?" she asked. "It doesn't bother you that someone out there hates me that much?"

Seth winced. She had misunderstood, as most people did. "Other people are working on the reasons why, Gabrielle. If I run around trying to find out, I'll trip over their work and worse, I'll lose focus on my job. And as far as I'm concerned, my job is the most important work in the world right now."

She still looked miserable, so he relented a little. "They'll let me know as soon as they know anything," he said. "And I'll tell you anything I learn."

"You promise?" Gabrielle said. "None of this top secret, I'll-have-to-kill-you crap?"

Seth stared at her. It was her life the explosive had been set to take out, he reasoned. So he nodded. "I promise," he said and meant it.

She took a deep breath, her shoulders lifting. Then she settled back in her chair. And she smiled. It was the same full-wattage smile she had given the maitre d' and Seth felt just as rewarded. Abruptly, he realized that Gabrielle trusted him. Just like that. He'd promised, and she took him at his word.

Wow. Suddenly, he was the one who couldn't look her in the eye. He felt like an awkward school boy on his first date. He gripped the wine glass and fought hard not to drain the damn thing. He looked around the room, scanning it automatically, and saw a familiar face.