Kat Attalla Special Edition (4 page)

He knew the answer, although he refused to give in to the strange attraction he felt for her. Despite her transgression with Becker’s gang, she possessed an air of vulnerability that made her downright irresistible.

Erik shook off the warm feelings. He rubbed his hand along the scar at his side, a souvenir of another seemingly safe woman who’d nearly cost him his life. Never again would he be taken in by the helpless-female-needing-a-big-strong-man routine. It didn’t take a set of balls or any physical strength to pull the trigger of a .22.

He plugged in the wet vac and began the slow and boring task of removing the water from the floor. Not exactly the kind of work he envisioned when he joined the NSB, but he’d learned a few interesting trades in the course of his undercover assignments.

Fifteen minutes later,
Victoria
’s soft voice called from the top of the stairs. “Mr. Sanders?”

“I’ll be right there,” he shouted over the drone of the vacuum. He switched off the machine and slogged through the remaining water to the stairs. On the bottom step, he removed his work boots before going up.

Fine bone china and silver flatware rested on top of
Victoria
’s teak dining table. The last time he’d dined with such formality … shit, he’d never dined with such formality. Why the hell did she want to impress him? Did she consider this a date?

“Where should I sit?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” she called out from the kitchen.

He chose the seat at the far side of the table, rather than at the head, just in case she took a tumble with a hot pan on her way in. He could see the headlines now:
National Security Agent Taken Out With a Lasagna
.

She delivered the food without mishap and joined him. With a shrug of embarrassment, she offered him a boxed juice. “It’s the only thing I have in the house. I have to go food shopping.”

Erik pulled a straight face. “Don’t worry. Very Berry Fruit Punch is my favorite.”

“I keep it around for my nieces and nephews,” she explained.

“Hey, beggars can’t be choosers.” Damn, she was so serious. Her huge brown eyes reflected a deep sadness. Or maybe loneliness. Why else would Dr. Jansen, physics professor, want to have lunch with the plumber?

“Go ahead and eat.”

He tipped his head. “Ladies first, ma’am.” “
Victoria
,” she muttered. She used the spatula to place a small serving of lasagna on her plate.

“
Victoria
,” he repeated. “Do people call you Vikki or Tori?”

“Neither.” She paused and then smiled sadly. “Well, except for my brother. He used to call me Tori.”

“Used to?”

She shrugged and looked away. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” he said. He wanted to keep her talking, but he got the impression
Victoria
shied away from talking about herself. However, he’d learned over the years how to get a woman to open up to him. And he’d had plenty of experience in his work. His assignments usually centered on cases where the principal suspect was of the female persuasion. Hence the codename, Romeo. “So what’s up with your brother?”

She slid the aluminum pan towards him and waited until he filled his plate before answering. “It’s really not that interesting. Steven’s the oldest, I’m the youngest, and after our parents passed away, he sort of took on the role of parent. Suffice it to say, he’s more overprotective than necessary.”

“He’s probably worried about his baby sister.” Especially if he knew what his baby sister had gotten herself involved in. He made a mental note to run a check on Steven Jansen.

Her full red lips formed a frown. “If he stopped thinking of me as his baby sister we’d get along better.”

Erik couldn’t imagine anyone treating a nuclear physicist like a child, but that could explain why she chose to get involved in corporate spying. She might feel the need to prove something to her brother.

“I told you it wasn’t interesting,” she said.

“You don’t have any other siblings for him to worry about?”

“Two sisters, but they’re both married to wonderful men, so they’re someone else’s worry.”

He laughed. “You could do worse in life than having a caring family.”

Not that he would know. The NSB preferred to recruit field agents who didn’t have family obligations. The less emotional baggage he carried, the more focused he stayed on a case. Every now and then he would like to find someone waiting for him at the end of a case. Christ, was he really sitting here thinking about home and hearth? What had the beguiling professor put in his fruit punch? He needed to wrap up the case and get out of this Norman Rockwell nightmare before the quaint
New England
air killed his few remaining brain cells.

* * * *

Victoria
tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a bite of her food. She barely tasted anything. In social situations, she never knew the right things to say to hold a man’s attention. But boring him to death with family stories would guarantee to send him running. “What about your family?”

Erik shrugged. “I have no one to drive me crazy.”

“That’s too bad.” Although she resented her brother’s actions in the past, particularly while she worked for the research lab, she needed her family. For most of her life, she’d felt like an outcast, being so much younger than her high school and college peers. Friendships didn’t come easy for her, even to this day. Without her sisters and brother she would have gone mad. But in spite of their efforts to include her in their lives, they never really understood her. Her mind would take off on a runaway train of thought, and to any onlooker, she would seem lost in a trance.

“Tori?”

She lifted her gaze.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Victoria
shook her head. She was doing it again. “Were you saying something?”

“Where did you get that beautiful tan?”

A warm flush crept up her cheeks. “
Cancun
.”

“Business or pleasure?”

“Vacation.”

“How was it?”

“Relaxing.” She’d never mastered stimulating conversation, but she must be able to do better than one-word answers. In an academic setting, she could hold her own with colleagues twice her age. However, she doubted Erik wanted inside information on the Quantum Particle theory.

“Are you married?” she blurted out and then groaned. Much better. That was certainly sophisticated. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”

“No, I’m not married,” he answered with a chuckle. “What about you?”

“No.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want a jealous husband walking though the door.”

Victoria
laughed at the thought. She’d never inspired passion or jealousy in men. Still, it warmed her that he thought she could. “You’re safe.”

As long as he didn’t get within ten feet of her when she held a blunt instrument. Amazingly, lunch went off without a hitch. If she waited for him to return to work before cleaning up, she would break her streak of bad luck.

“What time do you have to go out?” he asked when he finished.

“After I’ve cleaned up.”

He started to stack the dishes.

“I’ll do that,” she said.

“Well, then, if it’s all right with you, I’ll just check the pipes in the bathroom and then go work on a house down the street until you’ve returned.”

“Okay.” They rose at the same time.

“Thanks for lunch.”

“You’re welcome.” She watched while he made his way down the hall. His thick hair lifted off his shoulders with each long stride. How she would love to run her fingers through the shining brown waves. A tremor of excitement ran through her and settled in her chest. Thoughts like that would keep her awake tonight.

She couldn’t think of one logical reason for her physical reaction to this man. If he’d touched her, she could rationalize that her body responded to the effects of outside stimuli. Perhaps he gave off powerful pheromones that overloaded her central nervous system. Or maybe she was just plain susceptible to gorgeous blue eyes like other normal women. Whatever the reason, he gave her no cause to think he would lose sleep over her tonight.

With a sigh, she carried the dishes to the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher. She shook the half full container of juice. Apparently, Very Berry Punch wasn’t his favorite.

“Tori?”

She turned at the sound of the deep voice.

Erik stood directly in front of her. A spark of amusement danced in his eyes. He raised his hand, hesitated, and then ran it across the tip of her nose. “Tomato sauce.”

The gentle touch took her by surprise. Her fingers tightened around the juice box, sending a stream of red liquid out the straw and across the wide expanse of his chest. She stared, completely mortified.

“I wanted to finish that, but I planned to get it in my mouth.”

“I’m so … sorry.” she stammered out. She tossed the box in the sink, grabbed a paper towel from the rack and wiped it over the stain. Powerful muscles rippled beneath her fingertips. Her heart raced, half from embarrassment, but half from excitement. “I’ll wash it for you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, it’s my fault.”

“Believe me, this isn’t the worst thing that will get on me today. In fact, it smells better than some of the stuff I crawled though this morning.”

Despite the fact that he seemed more amused than annoyed, she felt like an idiot. She couldn’t do anything right in his presence. She continued to rub the cloth over his chest. He caught her wrist in a firm grip.

“Keep that up, lady, and things could get really messy.” His words echoed with raw sexuality.

Her eyes widened, and heat surged through her from head to toe. “I’m sorry,” she blabbered again, unable to find more adequate words.

“I’m not.” He cleared his throat. “But I’d better get back to work. Give me a holler when you’re leaving.”

She nodded rather than blurting out something foolish. So, he was aware of her too. Not as a scientist, or a teacher, but as a woman. In spite of her embarrassment, she couldn’t hold back a smile.

Once he went back to the basement, she finished the kitchen and got ready to run her errands. If she timed things right, he would return just before dinner. She needed a plan and the afternoon to execute it. This time she would be prepared.

Chapter Three

An hour later,
Victoria
folded her dry cleaning over her arm and left the store. Her breath rose in clouds in front of her. The cold air smelled of snow. She checked her list and headed down the street towards the market. As she passed in front of the beauty shop, she paused to look at the pictures in the window. Absently, she ran a hand through her hair. The sexy models seemed to be laughing at her plain blunt cut. She’d worn the same style since college.

She wanted a change in her life. A new haircut. A new attitude. Maybe even a new man? Her heart fluttered. Life wasn’t going to drop opportunities into her lap. She had to go after the things she wanted. Before she could talk herself out of a makeover, she walked inside the shop. The smell of ammonia and peroxide assaulted her. She passed the shelves of shampoos and conditioners guaranteed to repair and give life to something already dead when it emerged from the scalp. The salon products shared the same chemical makeup as the supermarket brands, but she knew the girls would talk her into purchasing the designer products anyway.

“Hey, Dr. Jansen.” The receptionist, Candy, grinned brightly. “What can we do for you?”

“You probably don’t have any appointments left today, right?”

The young woman snapped her gum as she checked the book. “We can fit you in. Just a trim?”

She took a deep breath. “No. I want something different. Something like that,”
Victoria
said, pointing to a picture on the wall.

“Whoa. Big date tonight with one of the professors?”

“Of course not,” she muttered.

“Oh, good,” Candy said with exaggerated relief. “There isn’t one teacher on the faculty worth cutting a toenail for, let alone your hair. You can have a seat in Marlene’s chair.”

Several local women, sitting under a row of dryers, popped their heads out. “Hello, Dr. Jansen,” they said in unison.

She smiled but suddenly felt very old. Didn’t any of them know her first name? For the last few years she’d worked closely with the local school board coordinating the science program for the high school. She frequented their businesses, bought cookies at their bake sales, and attended their football games. Yet despite all that, she was a stranger in her own town. Everybody knew of her, but nobody knew her.

Since she left the research lab, she’d spun a cocoon around herself. She protected herself from external elements, but she couldn’t test her wings. Time to emerge.