Slow Hands (4 page)

Keira's gaze drifted to the dance floor. A slow song played, and Scarlet was plastered against Alec's chest, whispering in his ear. As luck would have it, Keira's eyes met his. He winked. She quickly looked away, peeved he'd caught her staring.

Now that she'd gotten over the initial shock of seeing him, she was more than a little curious as to why he'd shown up early.

Not for a second would Keira entertain the thought it had anything to do with her. She and Alec were ancient history. A bad end. Period.

Which meant it had to be something related to the case.

She chewed her lip. Was there a new twist to the nightmare? Had Griggs made yet another threat? She thought of her grandfather, had an urge to go call him. Except it was late. Willis would be asleep already.

Several classmates drifted over, and for a while she was lost in the numbing jumble of small talk. Photos of kids were exchanged and bragged over. E-mail addresses swapped. Careers discussed, husbands trumped.

Finally, Franny tugged her toward the bathroom. "Damn, how much of that punch have I had?"

"Are you seeing double yet?"

"No."

Keira held up three fingers. "Darryl's been keeping us primed. I've got a nice buzz going." Not to mention the fact she hadn't eaten since noon. And had had a margarita or two at Franny's shop.

Four women were leaving the ladies' room, all dressed in identical poodle skirts and saddle shoes. Cissy was with them, all smiles.

"God, I'm glad we didn't wear ours." Franny smoothed her own red-sequined mini. "You know how I hate looking like everyone else."

Keira ducked into the closest stall.
Alec loves Scarlet
was scribbled on the wall in black marker outlined with a lopsided heart. She touched the ink, found it still wet enough to smear.

"Cissy strikes again." Keira sighed. Obviously, she wasn't the only one who had noticed Alec and Scarlet on the dance floor.

"That little witch," Franny called from the next stall. "I bet she wrote this on every door. No wonder she smiled when we came in."

"And she's probably dying to see the look on my face when we come out."

"Then we'll stay in extra long. Make her wonder what we're planning to get even."

A few minutes later, Franny primped in the mirror. "Here." She handed Keira a tube of lipstick. 'Try this one."

Keira swiveled the tube, frowned at the deep cinnamon color before looking at the label. "Passion Igniter? Wasted on me."

Franny spritzed cologne first on herself, then on Keira. "You know, I've been thinking about that. You haven't dated anyone seriously since Steve Perry left town last year. It's time to find you a new man. What about that hunky blond you hired?" She whipped out her cell phone. "We could call him right now. Invite him to the dance."

Keira dabbed on lipstick. "Reggie? We're just friends."

"You go rock climbing with the man every weekend. There has to be something there."

"Nothing romantic. He's teaching me some advanced techniques in exchange for the chance to tackle some uncharted territory on Fire Mountain."

Reggie was a rock jock and had done a lot of climbing out west on the sheer verticals in Yosemite. While the Ozark climbs couldn't begin to compare, some of the cliffs in Culverleaf Park had proved more challenging than he'd initially believed.

And recently they started tackling the virgin back side of Fire Mountain. The tallest peak in the area, Fire Mountain had been owned by Keira's ancestors for over two hundred years. Her grandfather lived on the mountain, and few outsiders had ever set foot on it.

"I bet he could teach you some other
advanced
techniques."

Keira shook her head. "I don't date employees."

"Date-schmate.
We'll call it something else. Isn't he also helping you build your cabin? That sounds a little cozy to me."

"Sounds like
hired help,
to me. I pay him for that, too."

"Yeah, but he's not really an employee."

"He's from a temp agency. Same thing."

"Nah. Even if it was, I'd make an exception for him," Franny scolded. "Guy's got a hot bod and a nice bulge under the button fly."

"I'm not interested in dating Reggie. And sex isn't a magic cure-all," Keira huffed, annoyed at her friend's line of thinking.

"How would you know?" Franny started fluffing Keira's hair with a comb. If Franny liked you, she groomed you like a mama chimpanzee fussing over her furry little baby. "What about Alec then? He's been staring at you all night."

"Uh-uh. Don't go there." Keira dropped her voice. "You know why he's here."

"So? Hold still." Franny tugged Keira's neckline lower, then stepped back, admiring her handiwork. "There."

"I know what you're up to." Keira readjusted her dress. "And it won't work. Neither one of us cares."

"Neither one of you wants to admit it, you mean. I saw the look on his face when you walked in. Pure longing."

"There's a difference between lust and true caring."

"Yep. Lust is infinitely more fun." Checking her own cleavage one last time, Franny rifled through her purse, pulled out a compact disc case. "Come on. We're gonna liven up this party."

The DJ had his stand set up a short distance from the ladies' room. Franny slid him the CD case and a twenty, then bent low, whispering in his ear. The man nodded, ogling Franny's chest.

Keira stood idly by, avoided looking at the dance floor. Another slow, moony tune was playing. No matter how much she didn't care, she still didn't want to see Alec cheek to cheek with Scarlet. Maybe it was time to leave.

Franny returned, all happy, and tugged Keira toward the dance floor just as the slow song ended and Aero-smith screamed from the speakers. Applause rippled through the room as people poured onto the dance floor.

"Let's show them how you do it in high heels," Franny shouted, shaking her hips.

Keira had no choice but to oblige since she and Franny were sandwiched in the middle of the now-crowded dance floor. Besides, she loved Aerosmith.

After three songs, the DJ announced another slow one. Keira started weaving toward her chair as Darryl sidled up and took Franny in his embrace.

Two hands snaked around Keira's waist before she got off the floor. She turned and found herself in Alec's arms.

"Dance with me." His voice was a caress. "I've been trying to catch your attention all night. You were ignoring me."

"I'd have to see you to ignore you."

"Smart mouth." He tugged her close as more people crowded onto the floor.

She resisted, but Alec prevailed, pulling her into a sweep that matched the soft, mellow beat.

He was wearing dress khakis and a white oxford button-down. His tie had disappeared, his shirt open at the neck exposing a smooth vee of tanned skin and a tantalizing hint of dark chest hair. His arms were solid, his thighs firm as they brushed against hers.

She shivered against an unwelcome memory of how he'd looked ten years ago.
Naked.
All muscle. Sinew. And well-hung testosterone. Alec had always been in peak physical shape. He could peel off his shirt at a construction site and make her want him on the spot.

She caught an intriguing scent of aftershave, felt the rasp of his chin as he brushed his lips close to her ear. Her carefully cultivated alcohol buzz suddenly turned tricky, like going from a rambling river to class-five rapids without warning.

Keira struggled to regain some distance. She had told herself she was fine with Alec returning—had even practiced a speech, planned her first words. They had been bitingly clever. But damn if she could remember what they were now.

She battled to shore up her crumbling defenses. Alec was a dangerous temptation. With each touch, each heartbeat, came memory after memory of bliss. And sorrow. The man had wrought both.

And just then it was difficult to remember which had been sharper. The pain? Or the pleasure?

"Do you feel it?" he whispered.

The hushed, sexy timbre of his voice caught her off guard. Keira mis-stepped. She lowered her voice to cover her distress. "Do I feel what? Your erection? Since you had it when we started, I assume it's a leftover from Scarlet."

He chuckled. The lady was as bold as ever. That had been just one of the things he'd loved about her. Her sharp wit and tongue. "I was talking about the electricity, babe. Between us."

"There's nothing between us, Alec. If you're feeling something funny, it's the punch." Leaning away, she glared up at him, silently daring him to contradict her.

Instead, he changed the subject. "Meant to ask you earlier how your grandfather's doing. He still on Fire Mountain?"

"He'll die up there. After outliving all of us."

"I figured Willis would be retired now, but I hear he's partners with Lacy Hicks in that new mining attraction outside of town."

Keira shrugged. "Gives him something to do."

She almost said,
"Gives him something to do since he's not doing so much moonshine, "
but she didn't.

Not that Alec didn't know that about her grandfather. Back in high school, before ATF and the state squeezed the flow of illegal whiskey down to a trickle, Alec and his friends used to run moonshine. Now . . . well, in spite of the fact he was born here, Alec was an outsider. And there were strict rules about outsiders and moonshiners.

But his questions about Willis reminded her of why Alec had returned. And the fact he'd arrived unannounced.

"I was told you weren't coming here until next week," she blurted in a worried whisper. "Has something else gone wrong?"

Alec saw the tiny furrow between her brow, knew exactly what prompted her question. She was concerned about Griggs's threat to harm her.

"There's nothing new wrong," he said, hoping that soothed her. "I came early because I figured we needed to talk. Plan a strategy."

For the first time since accepting the job, he actually felt like he could do it. He'd get the money, protect Keira from Griggs. Then he'd get the hell out of town, leave before Freedom got to him.

And this time, he'd leave without hurting someone. Be free of the past once and for all. "I also wanted to make certain you were okay with this."

She shrugged. "It's a means to an end. The hard part will be figuring out what we'll tell my grandfather so he doesn't become suspicious. You know Willis. He'll want to settle things with a load of buckshot."

Alec straightened. He'd known from the beginning that returning to Freedom meant facing Keira
and
her grandfather. If Willis wanted to deck Alec for jilting Keira, he'd take his licks. He deserved them. Guns were another matter.

"Maybe I should meet with Willis alone."

"No. I don't think it's wise to let him know Ian threatened him, Alec."

Her words caught Alec broadside. Keira believed Ian had threatened
her grandfather!
"I don't—"

She cut him off. "I knew you'd disagree. But you've got to trust me on this. Willis will be a lot less trouble if we keep him in the dark."

"What exactly did Ostman tell you?" Alec asked, cautious.

"That Ian has sworn to harm my grandfather in retaliation for his brothers dying. An eye for eye. Or so, Agent Ostman quoted." Keira looked up. "Quite frankly, that's the only reason I agreed to this. You know what Willis means to me."

Alec knew exactly. After all, he'd once been considered a part of their family.

Grim, Alec thought back to his meeting with the two FBI agents.
"You get Keira to agree to those terms ..."

He'd been had.

So had Keira, but she didn't know it. Ostman had no doubt twisted the truth to force her cooperation. Told her Griggs threatened Willis Morgan, not her.