Harlequin Superromance January 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: Everywhere She Goes\A Promise for the Baby\That Summer at the Shore (7 page)

The council had their own chamber in the city hall wing off the historic courthouse, she had discovered her first day during the whirlwind tour Noah conducted. She'd seen the agenda for tonight and knew there were no very exciting decisions facing them, so she wasn't surprised to find the audience thin. Noah had a place at the raised semicircular table along with the nine council members. He wasn't sitting yet, although he stood behind the table talking to a balding, potbellied man and a woman who looked to be in her forties and wearing a fire-engine-red suit Cait admired.

Either he was keeping an eye on all arrivals or watching for her, because his gaze flicked to her the minute she walked in. He'd been in the middle of saying something but stopped midsentence, seeming momentarily paralyzed by the sight of her.

Feeling unwarranted satisfaction at the idea that she'd dazzled him, Cait gave herself a stern talking-to.
Repeat to self—I do not want a man, especially a man as overbearing as this one. Who so happens to be my
boss.

Without looking at him again, she strolled up to the curved table and held out a hand to the city councilman at the end.

“Hi, I'm Cait McAllister, new in the Office of Community Development.”

Two hours later, she was struggling to hold on to her expression of eager, or even polite, interest. She had been introduced at the beginning and received with reasonable cordiality. From that point on, much of the discussion concerned possible alterations to the noise ordinance. The citizens who did appear mostly wanted to hog the microphone as they vented about a neighbor's barking dog or teenagers who were apparently free to party until all hours almost nightly. Nobody showed up to say, “Screw the ordinance! I have a constitutional right to make all the racket I want!” A police captain named Brian Cooper droned on with statistics relating to noise violations and possible repercussions should the projected change be voted through. Cait couldn't decide if he was really that boring or whether he was trying to put everyone to sleep.
To prevent a vote?
she wondered, momentarily amused. She'd have to ask Colin about him.

Cait found herself surreptitiously watching Mayor Chandler. Patience was not one of his virtues, it appeared. Expressions flowed across his face—disbelief and exasperation alternated with the expected boredom. He eventually started either making notes or doodling. Cait leaned toward the doodling explanation.

Once he lifted his head unexpectedly, and his eyes met hers. They stared at each other for long enough to excite comment if anyone had been paying attention. There was an openness in his eyes and, she was afraid, in hers, as if they hadn't had time to shield themselves. Even so, she wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. She discovered, when he suddenly turned his head, that she must have quit breathing. She hoped the gasp wasn't obvious when she sucked in air.

She probably should have lingered when the meeting ended, but she couldn't make herself.

Oh, God. I shouldn't have taken this job,
she realized as she fled. She couldn't keep dodging Noah. She either had to get inured to him, or...she didn't know.

Joining a cluster of five people who got on the elevator together, she pushed the button for the parking garage and watched as someone else did for the lobby. There was no conversation; everyone stared politely straight ahead.

She stood aside when the doors opened at the lobby. To her dismay, everyone but her got off. As the doors shut, she weighed the possibility of going back up and hovering until the next group was ready to depart. Nothing but the city council meeting had been happening tonight. The lot would be deserted.

But the doors were already opening, and she saw that the space was well lit. With relatively few cars left, there weren't a lot of places for anyone to hide. Nonetheless, she reached in her purse for both her car keys and her pepper spray.

She walked confidently, heels striking on the cement floor. She had the passing thought that four-inch heels were
not
a good choice for a woman alone this late in the evening. Unless, of course, she took one off and used it as a weapon.

Picturing herself brandishing a pink high heel in self-defense almost made her smile.

No dark figures stepped out from between parked cars. She reached her Mazda unscathed and was dropping the pepper spray back into her purse when she saw the rear window. A lopsided heart speared by a huge arrow had been drawn on it in some kind of greasy red paint.

Shocked, she stopped, her gaze involuntarily surveying first her surroundings again, then the rest of her car. Dear God, what was that on the windshield? A crack? Or...?

She backed up, peeked around her car to be sure no one hid there, then took one slow step at a time until she could see what had happened to the windshield.

The same smeary red paint had been used to write in foot-tall letters:

MISS ME YET?

“Is something wrong?” a man asked from behind her.

CHAPTER FOUR

H
AVING
EXPECTED
C
AIT
to hang around to talk to council members, Noah was taken aback when he realized she was gone.
He
had nothing to say to anyone—what a waste of an evening this had been—so, nodding to Brian Cooper, he left the council chamber.

The elevator doors were just closing. Behind him, voices spilled out of the room. He shot a hunted look behind him. Damn it, if he waited for the next elevator, he'd get stuck making conversation, the last thing he had the patience for tonight. Reversing direction, he escaped into the stairwell in the nick of time.

Noah emerged into the parking garage to echoing silence. He could see only one person—a slim woman in a deep rose suit that revealed mile-long legs enhanced by heels that had to add four inches to her height. Cait McAllister wasn't a woman who worried about deferring to men, he figured, or she wouldn't wear shoes that made her taller than most of them.

He was halfway across the bare concrete space before he started wondering what she was doing, just standing there staring at her car. No—her head turned, almost surreptitiously, and then she ducked around to the passenger side. Hiding from someone he couldn't see? Damn it, from
him?

But she reemerged from the space between a concrete pillar and her little hatchback and kept staring at her car. Had she locked her keys in it or left the lights on and killed the battery?

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

She gasped and whirled, one shaking hand holding out some little gizmo. Mace, Noah realized belatedly, or pepper spray. He also took in the shock that dilated her eyes. And then his gaze went past her.

“What the hell...?” he murmured.

She seemed to sag. “It's...the windshield, too.”

He walked around her car and saw.

MISS ME YET? in enormous capital letters. The writing reminded him of the Just Married he'd sometimes seen in the back windows of cars also festooned with dangling cans or streamers.

“Never given a woman a valentine before,” he remarked, “so maybe I'm not an expert, but I can't say this one strikes me as very romantic.”

Cait's laugh sounded semi-hysterical. “No,” she agreed. “
Romantic
is the last word I'd use.”

He looked at her. “Do you know who did this?”

She closed her eyes. After a moment, she gave a stiff little nod.

She was not only shocked, but scared, Noah diagnosed. “No sign of him?” he asked.

“No, but I didn't exactly mount a search.”

“I'm glad to hear you had the sense not to poke around all by yourself in a deserted parking garage for the asshole who'd do this,” he said grimly. “Stay put.”

He didn't consider her a meek woman, but she nodded in acquiescence.

It didn't take him long to determine that they were alone down there. Had been alone. As he walked back toward her, the elevator disgorged five people, two of whom separated from the pack, going straight for their vehicles, while the other three stood talking.

“Oh, God.” Cait sounded frantic. “I don't want them to see this.”

“No.” He took an experimental swipe over the heart and discovered the color didn't come off on his finger. “You can't drive the car like this.”

“No. I'll call Colin.”

“Don't be ridiculous. I'll take you home.” He frowned. “I've got a tarp. I can toss it over your car.”

She thanked him.

He wasn't parked far away. It took him only a minute to unlock the rear of his Suburban and grab the heavy canvas tarp he'd been using to keep the cargo space clean when he hauled construction materials. Returning, he found her staring at that damn pierced heart as if she couldn't tear her eyes away. Noah pulled the tarp over her car, glad to hide it from her gaze.

“I thought you were new in town.”

Her mouth twisted as her eyes met his. “I am.”

Seeing how frail she suddenly looked, he shook his head. “Come on.”

He circled around in case she needed a hand getting in with those damn heels. Or maybe so he could catch a glimpse of an extra few inches of thigh as she hiked herself up.

Once in, he started the engine but didn't release the emergency brake. “All right, what's the deal?” he asked.

Her glance was swift. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah, I think it does. Was this meant to be fun? Some kind of prank? Or should we notify the police and have your car fingerprinted?”

Staring straight ahead, she chewed on her lower lip. Finally she let out a long breath. “I'll tell Colin and see what he thinks. I hoped...”

Noah waited.

She still didn't seem to want to look at him. “An ex-boyfriend has been stalking me. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to stay in Seattle to finish my dissertation.”

Anger balled in his gut. “Define
stalking.
”

“Mostly following me. Popping up everywhere I went. I changed health clubs. He'd show up at my new one. Trail me through the grocery store. That kind of thing.”

Mostly
following? The tension in her voice told him there was substantially more.

She turned her head, her eyes still dark with unhappiness. “I could tell he was getting mad. The last time I was coming out of my health club after an evening class and he was waiting at my car.”

“Tell me you hadn't gone out alone.” His voice sounded like the crunch of gravel.

“Well, I did,” she said with a spark of defiance. “Until then, he really was just a nuisance.”

He gripped the steering wheel hard. “Until then.”

Her eyes shied from his. “When I said no again, that I didn't love him and he needed to accept that, he, well, sort of threw a temper tantrum.” She paused. “
Did
throw a temper tantrum. He was wearing heavy boots, and he kicked my car, over and over. He did a lot of damage to the body.”

Goddamn.
The thought of those boots slamming into her little car had Noah's whole body rigid with the need to do battle. Useless, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He didn't have to be a psychologist to know the ex-boyfriend had wanted to hurt
her,
not the car.

“And while he was doing this?”

“I dialed 911, of course! What do you think, I'm stupid?”

“Was he arrested?”

“Some people were coming out of the health club, and he took off. The police did charge him later and he did some kind of plea deal. But, um, the last thing he said was that he'd never accept losing me.”

“And that's when you decided coming home to your cop brother was a good idea.”

“Well...yes.”

“Does Colin know about this creep?”

She visibly winced. “Um...no. I really did hope Blake wouldn't follow me. He has a job. I can't imagine what he's thinking!”

“How long had this been going on?”

“Like...six months?”

He swore under his breath and reached for the gearshift. Having backed out, he then punched in the code to open the iron grill of the gate, closed at night. Within moments, he was driving through downtown, which had gone pretty well dead except for a few places like Chandler's that stayed open until eleven on weeknights.

Cait was quiet for close to five minutes. Then, “Do you know where Colin lives?”

“Someone pointed his place out to me.”

Another couple of minutes passed. “Will you say something?” she burst out.

“Better if I don't.”

“Why not?”

“Because I'd give you hell for not taking precautions!” Despite his best intentions, his voice had risen. “What were you thinking, going down to your car all by yourself tonight?”

“I was thinking he was in Seattle!” she yelled back. “And...and I did look around the garage before I got out of the elevator.” That part came out more subdued. “I'm not stupid,” she said again but softly, as if she was trying to convince herself.

Feeling like he had grit in his chest that scraped when he breathed, Noah grasped her fine-boned hand in his. Cait gave a little jerk, as if he'd startled her, but after a very still moment, she squeezed back.
Holding on,
he thought.

“Your hand is cold,” he said quietly.

“My hands are always cold.” It was a poor excuse for a laugh, but Noah admired the effort. “My feet, too. Lousy circulation, I guess.”

He was betrayed into imagining himself sandwiching her cold feet between his shins at night, warming them.

No. Don't go there.

Neither of them said another word until he had to take his hand back to steer into the dark driveway leading through a tall stand of pines to her brother's house. He was glad to see that the front porch lights were on. A floodlight over the detached garage lit up, too, presumably motion-sensitive. He drove as close as he could get to the front steps and then braked.

“Thank you for the lift,” she said, already releasing her seat belt and reaching for her purse. “And for listening.”

“I'm coming in with you.”

Door halfway open, she swiveled back to look at him. “What?”

“You heard me.”

By the time he turned off the engine and walked around, her brother stood on the porch looking down at them. “Cait.” His eyes narrowed. “Chandler.”

“You really don't have to...” she tried.

Noah gripped her elbow and started her up the porch steps.

“Your car break down?” Colin asked.

At the top of the steps, she shook free of Noah's hold and glared at him. “No. I'm going to have to get someone to clean it in the morning. It suffered from...I guess you could call it graffiti.”

“Shall I tell him about it?” Noah asked.

She'd gotten over being scared and was mad. “This is none of your business!”

“It happened in the city hall parking garage. While you were attending a city council meeting.” He put some extra weight on the word
city.
“You work for me. That makes it my business.”

Her brother's narrow-eyed gaze moved back to his sister. “Cait?”

“Oh, fine.” She stomped past him into the house.

Colin glanced back. “You coming in?”

Surprised at the invitation, he said a firm, “Yes.” He was damned if he'd leave her alone to make light of the whole story to her brother.

Only a single lamp was on in the living room. A newspaper lay open on the hassock. He'd been waiting up for her, Noah guessed. Or for his wife?

“Is Nell home?” Cait asked.

“She's taking a shower and getting ready for bed.” Although she'd perched on the sofa, Colin still stood, arms crossed. “Quit procrastinating.”

Her mutinous expression amused Noah despite his dark mood.

She sniffed. “You remember Blake.”

“We already established that I did,” her brother said slowly.

“Well, he's been stalking me.” She told the story briskly, not minimizing but not revealing the fear Noah had seen. He didn't comment, however.

Colin, he suspected, wasn't deceived.

“And you didn't tell me about this.... Why?”

She had a pretty mouth, but Noah wouldn't have called it sultry until now, when her lower lip protruded. “I really didn't think Blake would follow me.”

“That son of a bitch. If he thinks he's going to terrorize you here in
my
town—”

“He's convinced that he can talk me into going back to him,” she tried to explain.

“Is there a chance in hell of that happening?” Colin asked, the timbre of his voice roughening.

She scowled at both men. “Of course not!”

“All right,” Colin said. “He's got to be staying somewhere local. We'll look for him in the morning. I want to see your car.”

Cait nodded unhappily. “You'll have to drive me to work anyway.”

“For now, it might be better if I drive you and pick you up every day.”

Noah approved.

“You're overreacting. He painted a heart on my back windshield. It wasn't a threat.”

“Yeah, it was.” Noah had been content to allow her brother to grill her until now, but her intransigence was beginning to annoy him. “He's letting you know he's in town and watching you. Given his history, that's a threat.”

“Do you have a restraining order?” Colin asked.

“I didn't think I needed one.”

Noah stared incredulously at her, and realized Colin was doing the same. Cait's expression grew mutinous.

“We'll get a restraining order first thing in the morning,” Colin said.

“Good,” Noah agreed.

Colin cast him a not-so-happy look. “Say good-night to Mayor Chandler,” he said. The momentary accord had apparently dissolved. “He's leaving now.”

She rose and thanked him politely again, talking to their backs as Noah found himself being hustled out by Colin. On the porch, Noah balked.

“Your sister is trying to play down any threat. Don't let her.”

The police captain's jaw tightened, but to his credit, he also nodded. “I noticed. I can't believe she didn't tell me.”

“It's ugly.” More urgency than Noah wanted to feel infused his voice. “The arrow is way bigger than the heart. It's not piercing it—it's stabbing. She's more frightened than she's letting on.”

Unblinking, shadowed gray eyes held his. “I notice everything about my sister.”

That almost sounded like a threat to Noah, who began to wonder if he'd get tossed off the porch if he stood his ground.
Let him try.
Immature,
he decided.

Nodding, he retrieved his keys from his pocket and started down the steps. He was circling his SUV when the quiet voice carried to him.

“Thank you.” It was grudging as hell but genuine.