Texas…Now and Forever (13 page)

Limp and totally sated, she nestled her head on Luke's shoulder and let her sleepy gaze roam his bedroom. As the rest of the house, it was furnished with an eye to masculine comfort blended with family antiques and Texas treasures. Stressed leather covered three walls above the waist-high paneling. Bookshelves took up the fourth, with a Remington bronze occupying the place of honor in
a specially lighted central niche. An iron bootjack sat beside an oversize arm chair and served a necessary purpose.

It was a man's room, she thought, yet one a woman could feel cherished in. All it needed was a few feminine touches. Sweet-scented potpourri instead of cigars in the humidor on the bedside table, maybe. Her clothes hanging opposite Luke's in that cavernous walk-in closet.

With a frown she brought her thoughts to a jerky halt. She was getting ahead of herself here. Way ahead of herself. She shut down that treacherous line of thought, only to discover Luke was doing some thinking of his own.

“Haley?”

“Mmm?”

“All those years in London you never found anyone to hold you and keep you safe?”

“I wasn't looking.”

“Why not?”

“At first I was too nervous. I kept pretty much to myself until I got comfortable in my new identity. Even then I allowed myself only a small circle of friends.”

“There wasn't anyone special?”

Only you.

Not ready to admit how often Luke Callaghan had figured in her private dreams all those years,
Haley merely shrugged. He wasn't ready to let the matter drop, though. Stroking her hair, he continued his probe.

“Why did you go with me that night at the Saddlebag?”

“Seeing my mother so bruised and battered shook me, Luke. Badly. I'd never felt more alone than I did that night. Or more lonely.”

“So you went with me out of loneliness?”

“Yes. Partly.”

“Only partly?”

Slipping out from under his hand, she raised up on one elbow. “What do you want me to say? That I needed a man?”

“Well, I was hoping for something more specific. Like maybe you needed me.”

“Okay, maybe I did. Does that make a difference?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm beginning to think the feeling was mutual. It's hard to put into words, but after you drowned— After you left,” he amended hastily, “I kept a part of myself hidden, too.”

“From what I read in the tabloids,” Haley said dryly, “you didn't exactly lack for companionship.”

“I didn't. But I never felt the need I felt that night at the Saddlebag.”

“Are you saying you were lonely, too? That's what brought you over to my table that night?”

“Partly,” he said, echoing her earlier reply.

She struggled to adjust her mental image of the man Luke Callaghan had been with one who'd lived with as many secrets as Haley had herself. She wasn't quite there when his mouth curved in a wicked grin.

“The other part,” he confessed, dragging her down for a kiss, “was pure lust.”

T
he next morning Haley lingered in the guest bathroom long after she'd showered and blow-dried her hair. Luke had given her first crack at the master bath, but she'd opted for the one down the hall she'd already more or less claimed as her own. She needed some space—and some privacy—to sort through her confusion.

Funny what a difference a few hours could make.

Last night she'd tumbled into Luke's arms without a thought for the complications or the consequences that might follow. Just as she'd done two years ago. This morning she was having second, third, and fourth doubts. Just as she'd done two years ago.

“Talk about your slow learners,” she muttered, plucking a few blond strands from her comb and tossing them in the wicker wastebasket.

How could she make such a fool of herself twice with the same man? Thank goodness she'd stopped short of telling him the real reason she'd gone with
him that night at the Saddlebag. She could just imagine his reaction if she'd admitted that she'd loved him for as long as she could remember.

He, on the other hand, had been right up front with her. He'd been feeling a touch of loneliness two years ago. And a whole lot of lust. Love hadn't figured into things that night. Nor did it come into play now.

On his side of the equation, anyway.

Time Haley accepted that basic fact and hauled her butt downstairs. She had more pressing concerns to worry about, chief among them her daughter. Plunking the comb down on the marble vanity, she followed the scent of fresh-brewed coffee to the kitchen.

Luke stood at the center island, a coffee mug in hand. Glancing up, he zeroed in on her with such pinpoint accuracy that Haley forgot he couldn't actually see her. Self-consciously, she tugged at the hem of the pale blue shirt she'd borrowed from him. Even with the sleeves rolled up, she swam in the cloud-soft cotton.

“I should make a run to my apartment,” she said by way of greeting. “If Frank doesn't call soon with instructions on when and where to deliver the ransom, I'll deplete your entire wardrobe.”

“It's safer for you here. Make a list of the items
you need and I'll have someone pick them up for you.”

The clipped response lifted Haley's brows. From the sound of it, she wasn't the only one experiencing a few morning-after doubts.

“All right. Have you had breakfast?”

“Just coffee. I'm not hungry. Help yourself to whatever you want.”

“Just coffee will do for me, too.”

She joined him at the island, filled another mug and took a cautious sip.

“We need to talk about last night, Haley.”

The sip turned into a gulp. Hastily she downed the too hot brew. “Yes, I guess we do.”

“I don't usually make that kind of mistake.”

His words burned worse than the scalding coffee. Carefully she placed her mug on the granite counter. “You consider last night a mistake?”

“Hell, yes. Don't you?”

“I'm beginning to.”

Grimacing at her strained reply, he shook his head. “You can't blame me any more than I blame myself. If I'd acted as irresponsibly in the field as I did last night, I would have come home in a box.”

He slid his hand along the counter and found hers. His grip was warm and, she supposed, intended to be reassuring.

“I'm sorry, Haley. I know worry over Lena has kept you on a constant roller coaster ride. I felt your burst of relief after seeing her picture last night and knowing she was happy and well cared for.” The disgust came back into his face. “I can't believe I took advantage of your emotional vulnerability that way.”

“You think that's why I fell all over you? Out of relief?”

“Didn't you?”

“Okay, maybe some. But there were other emotions involved. Like that lust we talked about. I wanted you, Luke.”

“I wanted you, too. So bad, I hurt with it.” He squeezed her hand. “But this is one of those intense situations where things get distorted easily.”

“I seem to be a little slow this morning. What exactly have we distorted?”

“Nothing, yet. I'm just saying the potential is there. Look, Haley, you know I'll do whatever it takes to get Lena back safely. Once that's accomplished, I don't want you to feel obligated in any way or think you're tied to a…” His mouth twisted down at one side. “How did Del Brio put it? To a blind, useless cripple.”

The irony took Haley's breath away. Here she'd been writhing inside, worrying Luke had sensed
that her feelings for him went far deeper than want, thinking he was warning her off.

Evidently he was, but for an entirely different reason than the one she'd postulated. She hadn't considered, hadn't remotely imagined, that his impaired vision might be a factor.

“Is that what this is all about?” she asked incredulously. “Your sight, or lack of it?”

“It has to be considered.”

“You idiot! Of course it does. But not in any discussion about last night or how we might or might not feel after we get our baby back.”

His black brows slashed down. The look on his face wavered between surprise and a scowl. Obviously, Luke Callaghan wasn't used to being contradicted. Too wound up to soothe his ruffled feelings, Haley tugged her hand free of his.

“You're right about one thing, though. In a situation like this, things can easily become distorted. Why don't we drop the whole topic of last night? For now, anyway.”

After his little noble speech he could hardly refuse. His scowl lingered, however, as they downed the rest of their coffee.

 

It was still there, feathering around the edges of his mouth, when Mrs. Chavez bustled into the kitchen just before eight, followed in short order
by Spence Harrison, Flynt Carson, Tyler Murdoch and their wives. In the space of mere minutes, the atmosphere in the kitchen went from intense to chaotic.

“Sorry, buddy.” Ruefully, Flynt explained the sudden invasion. “When I got home last night, Josie guessed something was up. I told her about the call from Del Brio. She told Ellen, who in turn relayed the news to Marisa.”

“Yes,” the statuesque Marisa Rodriguez Murdoch said with a toss of her glorious, blue-black hair, “and we are not happy, Josie and Ellen and I, that our men are such fools they did not tell us sooner so we could come and help.”

Wisely, the three fools in question kept their mouths shut and let Luke take full blame.

“Sorry. That was my doing. I asked them to keep this operation as close-hold as possible.”

“If you think we women couldn't assist,” the fiery Spanish interpreter snapped, “then you, too, are a fool.”

“Funny,” Luke drawled. “That seems to be the general consensus this morning.”

Brushing past her husband, slender, vivacious Josie Lavender Carson crossed the kitchen. She'd met Haley only in her cover as a waitress at the Lone Star Country Club and was still obviously astounded at her real identity.

“I couldn't believe it when Flynt told me you're Ricky Mercado's sister. And Lena's mother.”

Haley stiffened, expecting reproach from the nanny Flynt had hired to care for the baby he and the others had found on the golf course, but Josie's emerald-green eyes held only sympathy.

“It must have killed you all those months to see me holding and cuddling your child.”

“It did,” Haley confessed. “The only thing that kept me from snatching her out of your arms was knowing she was loved and well cared for.”

“Now that I have a baby of my own,” the new mother said gently, “I appreciate the courage it took for you to do what you did.”

Ellen Wagner Harrison seconded Josie's opinion. She'd lost a husband to cancer and raised a son on her own. Until Spence turned up, dazed and bleeding from a car accident, she'd been fighting her own battle with loneliness and near desperation over finances. Her one joy—her only joy—during those dark years was her son. The thought of giving him up, even for his own safekeeping, left her aching for this woman she'd met only once or twice in the past year.

With the quiet competence that characterized her, she deposited an overnight bag on the granite counter. “Spence said you've been holed up here with Luke for going on two days now. I thought
you might need a few things. I remembered that we're about the same size.”

“Bless you! As you can see, I've been raiding Luke's closet. I just told him a few minutes ago that I'd have to retrieve some things from my apartment if something doesn't happen soon.”

“Del Brio hasn't made contact?” Tyler asked sharply. “Hell, I was sure he would have delivered proof that Lena's okay by now.”

“He did. He e-mailed a photo of her last night, right after you left.”

“Where is it?”

“In my office.”

“Hang loose, I'll get it.”

Tyler was back a few moments later, carrying not just the printed photo but the innocuous-looking device he'd strapped onto Luke's wrist yesterday.

“I found the picture. I also found this on the floor, under your desk.”

“And ‘this' is?”

“Sorry. The radar transmitter I brought back yesterday from Fort Hood. Did the strap come loose?”

“No,” Luke replied with a carefully neutral expression. “I took it off.”

Haley's face flamed. She remembered exactly when he'd unstrapped the small watchlike device.
Right after its stem had left a sizable scratch on the inside of her right thigh. She'd gathered up the clothes they'd scattered all over the office floor, but had obviously missed the scanner.

Her cheeks hot, she caught Spence's speculative glance. Thankfully the color photo of Lena diverted the keen-eyed former prosecutor's attention. The picture was passed from hand to hand, with the women expressing excitement and relief. The men were more restrained. Flynt and Tyler left it to the lawyer to voice their collective doubts.

“The courts don't accept computer-generated images as evidence for a reason,” Spence reminded Luke. “Are you satisfied this one's for real?”

“I e-mailed the photo to some folks in McLean. They say it's genuine.”

An almost palpable sense of relief spread through the kitchen.

“All right,” Tyler said briskly. “We've cleared the first major hurdle. Now we can concentrate on ransom delivery scenarios. We're pretty well agreed Del Brio's going to insist Haley deliver it in person,” he told the women. “We also suspect he wants her as much or more than he wants the cash. Luke as much as told Del Brio he won't get his hands on either his money or his woman.”

Incredulous, Marisa swung to the man at her
side. “And you thought this would make matters easier, Luke?”

“I wasn't trying to make things easier. I was trying to throw Del Brio off balance.”

“Which you did,” Flynt said dryly. “You surely did.”

“We'll make sure you knock him more off balance when he comes to collect the money,” Tyler put in gleefully. “Ladies, if you want to help, one of you could put on a pot of coffee while—”

“Careful, my dear husband,” Marisa cooed. “If you plan to sleep in our bed tonight, you'll consider carefully what you were about to say.”

Blinking, the leather-tough mercenary made a quick recovery. “What I was about to say, my dear wife, is that one of you ladies could put on a fresh pot while I get more mugs down from the cupboard.”

Making no effort to hide her grin, Ellen volunteered for coffee duty. Soon the scent of rich Colombian blend percolated through the kitchen, and all four couples gathered at the weathered cypress table to strategize possible ransom delivery scenarios.

Three couples, Haley corrected silently as she swept a quick glance around the assembled group. Taciturn Flynt and vivacious Josie so obviously belonged together. As did Spence and his quiet, com
petent Ellen. Tyler and Marisa struck so many sparks off each other they generated a heat all their own.

She and Luke were the odd ones out. Their tangled pasts had brought everyone else to this place and this time, yet theirs was also the most nebulous relationship. It consisted of one part passion, two parts worry for their daughter, with a large dash of uncertainty thrown in to spice things up even more. Frank wasn't the only one Luke had thrown off balance.

 

Haley might have decided to put all discussion about last night on ice, but Luke soon discovered his buddies were less reticent. Spence waited only until the four men had walked down to the lake for more practice with the wrist-radar to fall into his prosecuting-attorney mode.

“So what's with you and Haley?”

“Besides a mutual concern for our child? Nothing you need to know about.”

“Bull! There was so much electricity between the two of you when we arrived, the air had turned blue. Then there's the matter of that little toy strapped to your wrist. Haley colored up like a Christmas tree when Tyler asked how it got under your desk.”

“Come on, Luke,” Tyler put in. “Give. How did it get under there?”

“None of your damned business.”

Flynt spoke up for the first time. “That's where you're wrong, buddy. It is our business. We're in this all the way with you. And we need to know you won't do something stupid when and if Del Brio makes a grab for Haley.”

“Such as?”

“Such as offering yourself as a target in order to get a clean shot at him.”

“I'll do whatever it takes to bring him down,” Luke said softly, savagely. “Neither Haley nor Lena will be safe until he's out of the picture. Now one of you walk out fifty yards or so and let me get a read on you.”

Yesterday afternoon's practice session had provided Luke a general feel for the variations in vibrations the radar returned when it encountered an object. This time he kept all three friends outside in the blazing sun until he was satisfied he could differentiate between their individual radar signatures. As Tyler had reported, the radar was so precise and the vibrations so fine-tuned, Luke should be able to track Del Brio with no difficulty…once he got him away from Lena and Haley.