Freaky by Nature (6 page)

back into her sandals and shouldered her bag.

“This tim e,” she told him .

Without a word, he led her out the front door and to her car.

“You hav e a security sy stem at hom e, don’t y ou?”

She rolled her ey es. “Yes.”

“Be sure y ou set it when y ou get hom e.” He held out his palm .

“Giv e m e y our car key .”

She handed the key to him and he unlocked the door then

tipped his head.

“Inside, and lock the door.”

She huffed as she sat in the driv er’s seat. “Are y ou alway s so

bossy ?”

One side of his m outh lifted and he reached to y ank her

pony tail. “If y ou weren’t so opposed to spending tim e with m e,

y ou’d know the answer to that question.”

Her pulse skittered as she fought her ov erwhelm ing desire to

inv ite him hom e.
No
.

She cleared her throat and ended their discussion. “Good

night, Brett.”

She waited for his persistence to surface and prepared to turn

him down again. Instead, goose bum ps danced across her skin as he

laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Good night, Holly ,” he said before closing the car door.

From the heated interior of her car, Holly watched him turn

and head down the block. Six feet two inches of unforgiv ing

m uscle. She balled her fists and resisted the urge to throw open the

door and run after him .

As Brett am bled further from her sight, he began to cast a

reddish-orange glow. She squinted, willing the colors to show her

som ething substantial about his m ood. Anger? Frustration?

Suddenly her v ision cleared and she fell back against her seat. She

sm acked the heel of her hand against her forehead. Arousal. Of

course. No doubt he was frustrated. He wasn’t the only one.

The heat that em anated from his body alm ost scalded her, and

the hot sum m er ev ening had nothing to do with it. She started the

car and flipped the air conditioner switch to frigid before she

glanced at herself in the rearv iew m irror. Other than usually rosy

cheeks, no color caught her attention.

She leaned back in the seat and huffed as the cool air m ov ed

her bangs across her forehead. She should be just as red and orange

as Brett. Her fingernails tapped against the steering wheel as

question m arks danced across her m ind. Why hadn’t she seen color

while they painted? In fact, she hadn’t seen any color the whole

tim e they were together. And, how in the world did she know he

had a crim inal justice degree? Ev en if he hadn’t confirm ed it, she

knew.

Holly shifted her car into driv e and pulled away from the

curb. A little guidance would be helpful right about now, but there

wasn’t any hope of that in the near future. She’d learned early on

not to let outsiders in on her secret.

Dam n Brett for sneaking up on her. People rarely surprised

her; color norm ally gav e her a hint, ev en if she didn’t know

exactly what it m eant. Yet, he’d m anaged to av oid detection.

True, at certain tim es she could read him , but not alway s. She

tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and faced an ev en

bigger fear: it was quite possible he was able to see pieces of her just

as easily as she could him .

CHAPTER FIVE

Brett parked his truck in front of SEALS, Inc. and exhaled a

heav y breath. Dam n, he was tired. Last night, thoughts of Holly

caused him to toss and turn for hours.

He lay alone in bed, naked and sweaty , while v iv id im ages of

Madam e without her m ask captured his m ind and held it hostage

until he knew he would burst from sexual frustration. On the

silv er screen of his m ind, Holly took center stage. A sexy , seductiv e

sm ile gleam ed on her lips while she m ov ed the palm s of her hands

ov er her breasts. As if hy pnotized, he watched in silent agony as

she circled her erect nipples with her fingertips and then m ov ed

her hands down the front of her body , ov er the taut skin of her

abdom en until they reached the m ound between her legs. With

her ey elids hooded, she tossed her head back, swung her hips to the

beat of his heart, and then tangled her fingers in the strings of her

skim py costum e bottom s.

Off, for the love of God, take them off
.

Pushed to his absolute lim it, he found him self sorely tem pted

to take m atters into his own hands. The only problem , it was only

tem porary .

Jerking off would hav e kept the lust at bay for a few hours, but

he still wouldn’t hav e slept.
Hell
. The m ere thought of Holly

stim ulated him . So, he stared into the darkness for hours, hard as

a rock and pissed off to no end.

As soon as he finally relented and closed his ey es, Holly ’s spirit

inv aded his dream s and m ade sleep im possible. It was as if she

walked the recesses of his m ind and play ed his nerv e endings like a

harp.

He slam m ed the truck door and stalked toward the office.

What was wrong with him ? Only one other wom an walked the

shadows of his m ind, and only because he allowed it. He paused at

that thought. May be she and Holly had som ething in com m on.

Brett shook his head in disgust. The m adness had to stop.

He glanced at Sterling, who stood just inside the door, peering

at him ov er his tradem ark tinted lenses.

“You com ing in?”

Not am used, Brett brushed past him and headed to Sterling’s

office.

As he entered, the sm ell of fresh paint with a slight m ix of

cotton candy lingered in the air. No doubt Cam eron had been here.

Sterling swore the soft, sugary scent of her perfum e caused his

sweet tooth. Brett looked around, com forted that he wasn’t the

only one who had his balls squeezed in a wom an’s v ise.

A new, sleek, black leather sofa cov ered with plush black and

tan leather pillows replaced the once-broken-down couch of

Sterling’s bachelor day s. Life-sized photographs of Sterling’s ride of

choice, Fat Bob Harley Dav idson m otorcy cles, all with chrom e

pipes, hung on each wall. Cam eron had scripted the Harley

Dav idson m otto for the bikes ov er the doorway :
Come on out and

ride with the big boys
.

Brett grabbed a chair in front of the large oak desk, turned it

around and straddled the seat. “Cam eron’s greatly im prov ed y our

sense of sty le.”

Sterling gav e him a sly look, tossed his shades to the desk, and

positioned his burly body in an ov ersized, leather executiv e chair.

Brett swallowed the lum p in his throat. “Mine’s next, huh?”

“You guessed it. She left paint sam ples on y our desk.”

Brett snickered and drum m ed his fingertips on the top of the

chair. “Any news on Holly ’s pool?”

“Paint.”

Brett nodded a couple tim es. “We knew that.” He drum m ed a

faster beat on the chair.

Sterling leaned back in his chair and folded his arm s behind

his head. “You gonna let m e in on what y ou found?”

Brett quieted his fingers. “Holly teaches sensual dance at the

gy m .”

“What the hell is sensual dance?”

Ev en in his current state of m ind, Brett couldn’t resist a jab at

Sterling. “Bet Cam eron knows.”

A m uscle flicked at the base of Sterling’s jaw, but he rem ained

m otionless. Brett recognized the look as one of im pending danger.

“A politically correct term for stripping.”

That caused Sterling to react. He dropped his hands and

scooted the chair closer to the desk. “Are y ou serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

Sterling frowned. “And y ou tell m e this because …”

Brett filled in the blanks about the v andalism in the gy m and

then ran a hand through his hair. “Did y ou find any thing else?”

Sterling slid a file across the desk. “Holly ’s background check.

It’s just a basic search and it certainly didn’t rev eal y our Intel.”

Brett scanned the front page. “We already know all this.” As

he flipped the paper and read the second page, his ey es skidded to a

stop on her personal history . “She’s been m arried.” He glanced at

Sterling for clarification.

Sterling nodded. “To a m an thirty y ears older.”

“Thirty y ears?”

“That’s what it say s.”

Brett lowered his head and read further. The next paragraph

m ade his brain squirm . “He was m urdered.” Brett shov ed the file

back at Sterling. “Why ?”

“You need to ask Holly .”

“Me?”

Sterling sm irked. “Isn’t that what y ou wanted m e to say ?”

Tension kneaded the m uscles in Brett’s neck. Sterling handed

him the perfect opportunity to try again with Holly . How m any

m ore strikes could his ego take?

“She doesn’t like m e, Sterling.”

“So, turn on that ole Steele charm . Take her out, m ake her

com fortable with y ou, buy her a few drinks. She’ll tell y ou

ev ery thing and then som e.” Sterling shrugged. “It shouldn’t be

that hard.”

“Are y ou willing to face y our wife when Holly tells her I got

her blasted and took adv antage of her?”

Sterling pinched his forehead between his fingers. “Dam n,

Steele! That’s not what I m eant. What’s the problem , any way ? I’m

surprised y ou don’t already hav e her in the palm of y our hand.”

Brett winced. “It’s not like I hav en’t tried. I ask her out and she

turns m e down.”

“Need Cam eron’s help?”

“No! I’ll try again.”

The telephone on the edge of the desk sprang to life, sav ing

him from explaining to Sterling why he’d failed so m iserably with

Holly . He was especially reliev ed since he didn’t know why .

“What’s wrong, Angel?” he heard Sterling say into the phone.

Angel? Speak of the devil
. Obv iously , Cam eron was on the other

end.

“I’ll send Steele.”

Brett’s good hum or dissipated.

Sterling hung up the phone. “Cam eron can’t find Holly .”

Brett lifted his ey ebrows. “She’s probably at the gy m .”

“She’s called three tim es. No answer.”

“I’ll check it out.” Brett steepled his fingers and braced them

against his chin. Holly probably didn’t want to be found. He didn’t

know her all that well, but he did know she was an expert at fading

into the background.

“Now’s a good tim e, Steele,” Sterling drawled.

Brett stood and walked to the door, unconv inced he could thaw

the Ice Princess. “I’ll go, but I won’t m ake any prom ises. If she

doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be glad to see m e.”

“Go!” Sterling barked.

“Som ebody needs a nap,” Brett m um bled on his way out.

***

The last few ray s of blazing sunshine faded as Holly wav ed her

last em ploy ee out the door and twisted the lock. Eight o’clock.

Norm ally , tim e for her to m eet Jack’s girls.

She sighed and reached to turn off the stereo sy stem . A lot

changed since the v andalism to her pool. Not only did she relocate

sensual dance class, she now closed the gy m an hour early and

cleaned up behind a locked door. Brett insisted, and she either

followed orders or suffered an arm ed guard planted at the front

entrance. Although his take-charge attitude irritated her, it

wouldn’t do any good to refuse. His persistence was nev er ending.

And, as m uch as she hated to adm it it, his caution was justified.

Holly walked through each room , rely ing on the colors that

lingered in the air to guide her. Pastels dom inated this ev ening.

Mint green.
Comfort. Good health
. Duckling y ellow.
Energy
. She

breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing sinister so far.

Making one last sweep through the m en’s locker room , Holly

bent to scoop up a way ward towel. As soon as the terry cloth

rubbed her skin, lightening hot heat burnt her fingertips. She

gasped and threw the towel back to the floor. She backed against a

wall for support when bolts of bright y ellow light and segm ented,

m ulti-colored m osaic pictures attacked her brain.

Holly m uddled through the pain and struggled to m erge the

colorful pieces into a recognizable im age. Polka dots danced in her

v ision, her skin crawled, and the v eins in her forehead threatened

to pop as she concentrated. Still, the pictures refused to clear.

Please. Just this once
.

She closed her ey es, took sev eral deep breaths and forced her

brain to focus. When she opened them , she zeroed in on the color

first. Bright, blinding-sunlight y ellow.
Power. Control
. Jagged

pieces of m urky pink, orange-red and m uddy gray .
Dishonesty.

Confidence. Fear
. She watched the colors swirl until dizziness

churned her stom ach.

Frustrated but not ready to giv e up, she returned her

attention to the m osaics. Much like working a jigsaw puzzle, Holly

attem pted to assem ble the fragm ented pieces into som e sort of

order. This tim e, she caught a m om entary glim pse of sev eral

im ages. A red heart. A black arrow. Orange flam es. Holly

whim pered. What did they m ean? She cleared her m ind and

concentrated again. After sev eral seconds, shards of pain

ov erwhelm ed her and she knew her attem pts were fruitless. There