Wilder Than the Rest: MacLarens of Fire Mountain (11 page)

“Henrietta and Lottie invited me to accompany them to several shops today, one being a fashionable millinery several blocks from your office. We were speaking with the shop owner, looking at hats, when Thomas Traxton appeared through a door in the back of the shop.”

“And?”

“There is nothing in the back of the shop except storage,” Mollie replied. She walked over to stand in front of him.

Pierce pushed away from the door and dropped his arms. “Why don’t you start from the beginning? Traxton being in the back of a hat shop without an office doesn’t tell me much.”

“You’re right.” Mollie began to pace, sorting out the details so she could describe her concerns to Pierce. “He walked out of the back room alone, except that there were two distinct male voices coming through the door. American, not Chinese. He quickly shut the door when he saw us and made up some excuse about being in the hat shop to buy a present for Virginia.” Mollie snorted at the man’s poor attempt to cover up what actually brought him to the shop. She paced back toward Pierce to see his brow lifted in question.

“And?” he prompted again.

“Traxton told us he was in the back to discuss shop business. He said Mei-Li is a customer of his company. The odd thing is, Mei-Li was with us in the front of the shop, not in back with Thomas. Her husband is not involved with the shop and, according to Henrietta, there is no other partner, meaning Traxton had to be lying about his presence. Mei-Li’s office is upstairs in her apartment, not on the shop level.” Mollie stopped and smiled, a look of triumph filling her face.

“Did Mei-Li provide any explanation for Traxton’s presence?”

“She wouldn’t say anything, only shook her head when I asked her if she’d met with him. She seemed shaken that we saw Thomas, as if she were afraid of something. I spoke with her for a few minutes, trying to get her to talk to me, without success.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that Traxton may be involved in something shady after seeing the way he acted toward you at the Benstead’s house. He believed you were married and it didn’t seem to matter at all to the man. I was close to walking over and punching the sanctimonious smile off his face.”

“Really?” Mollie felt her heart pound at the implication of what he’d said, a half-smile on her face as she waited for his explanation.

“Hell, yes. You’re my partner. I can’t let just anyone make a pass at you, and especially not a married man.” He could see Mollie’s smile falter and wished he could say what had actually crossed his mind that night.

“Of course.” She recovered quickly from the disappointment she felt. “Do you think what I saw has any significance to what we’re investigating.”

“I’m new at this, but I’d say it’s worth bringing up to Eva and Chaz.” In truth, Pierce thought Traxton’s presence at the small shop may have more significance than either of them realized. He’d never believed in coincidences, and found he was best served by following his gut reactions.

Pierce stood and stretched his arms above his head. “I need to clean up before Penelope calls us to supper. Care to join me in a hot bath?”

His eyes twinkled as a wicked smile replaced his impassive expression. Mollie found herself imagining him running soap over her water-slicked body, her skin heating at the thought. She closed her eyes and shook off the tempting vision.

“No, of course not.” Her words were clipped, although Pierce thought her voice sounded thick, husky, as if she was conjuring up the same images as him.

“If you’re sure you don’t want to give it a try, then I’ll excuse myself and see you at supper.”

It took several minutes after Pierce left for Mollie’s heart rate to slow. He’d surprised her with his comment, which she knew wasn’t serious, only meant to shock her, and it had. As ludicrous as it sounded, she’d wanted to say yes, join him in his bath, run her hands down his muscled arms and legs, and kiss away the dampness from his tanned skin. The image made her face burn and body tighten. She knew it would never happen, yet the vision of it made her knees weak.

Perhaps she did need a bath before supper—a cool one.

******

Mollie finished her hair, looked in the mirror, and deciding she looked better than average, made her way downstairs to the parlor. Pierce was already waiting when she walked through the door. He stood by a window, looking out on the darkening night, a glass of whiskey in one hand. He turned at her entry, and, as was becoming a habit, her breath hitched at the sight of him.

Pierce’s eyes followed Mollie as she made her way to the edge of the divan then stopped. He took his time letting his gaze wander from her thin-soled kid slippers, up her dress, over her womanly curves to her slim waist, the creamy skin of her neck, then upward to her face. The heat he saw in her eyes matched his own, and it took all his willpower to stay where he was and not stride forward to pull her into his arms. He’d thought of little else since their conversation that morning. He cleared his throat, walked with slow steps to her side, and offered his arm.

“May I escort you to supper?”

She didn’t reply, just slipped her arm through his.

The sight that greeted her in the dining room was a surprise. The room was lit with candles. The large table had been replaced with a smaller, round one, set for two with a stunning arrangement of roses in the center. Her eyes shifted over large vases of roses set on every available table, the candlelight highlighting the petal colors of red, yellow, and peach. The room was magnificent and, in Mollie’s mind, meant for seduction.

Her legs seemed anchored in place, incapable of moving the few steps to her chair. She felt Pierce’s hand on the small of her back, warm and possessive.

“Do you like it?” he asked as he encouraged her to move toward the table. He leaned down and breathed in her ear, “Happy birthday, Mollie.”

Her eyes shot to his then back to the table. She blinked, trying to stem the dampness pooling in her eyes. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. No special suppers, no birthday surprises, no presents, or acknowledgement that today was anything different from all the others. Nobody had ever made this day something to remember—no one except Pierce.

She swallowed, seeking the courage to speak. “This is, well, it’s simply…” she stumbled over her own tongue, afraid more than anything that she’d cry and ruin it all. “Thank you,” she finally whispered and watched as he pulled out her chair.

Pierce took his seat across from her as Penelope entered the room with an open bottle of champagne and poured some into each of their glasses. He lifted his and tilted it toward Mollie.

“Wishing you many more happy birthdays.”

She picked up her glass and touched his before taking a small sip. “How did you know?”

“About it being your birthday?”

She nodded.

“You told me. Back in Fire Mountain. I mentioned that our family was having a birthday party for Niall’s daughter, Beth, and you said her birthday and yours fell on the same date.” He took a sip of his champagne then set down the glass. “So does this compare with any of your previous birthdays?”

Mollie didn’t know how else to respond except with the truth. “I have nothing else to compare it to.” She looked up at him. “I can’t imagine another birthday ever being as perfect as this one.”

Pierce grimaced as her meaning sunk in. It hadn’t occurred to him that she’d never celebrated her birthday.

His mother had always made birthdays special for him, Connor, and Meggie. When his parents sent their three children to America for a better life, Connor made sure they kept the tradition, even though there was little money left for special occasions. Connor had told Pierce and Meggie that there would always be money for birthdays.

Their meal was excellent. Mollie ate until she thought she’d burst and laughed at the stories Pierce told about working on the MacLaren ranch.

“What was life like growing up on the ranch?” she asked as Penelope whisked away the empty supper plates.

“Connor, Meggie, and I didn’t grow up on the ranch. We landed in New York when we arrived on the ship from Scotland and found a place in Red Hook.”

“Is that where your father found work?”

Pierce finished the wine in his glass and set it down, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Our parents didn’t come with us to America. We were sent by ourselves in hopes of finding a better life.”

“But I thought…” Mollie’s voice faded as she absorbed his words.

“I know. Most people not from Fire Mountain assume we grew up there. The truth is we only found our cousins and Aunt Alicia during the last year. We tried to locate them when we first arrived, without success. That’s when Connor found work on the docks in Red Hook. I worked for a man who made tools and Meggie cleaned rooms in a boarding house.” He fell silent for a moment, remembering the small two-room apartment they’d shared until Meggie had been kidnapped. “One night, Meggie never came home. We looked for her everywhere, for months, before Connor decided it was best to move on—life in Red Hook no longer held any appeal. We did whatever we could to get by, always looking for Meggie. Eventually, we both found work that took us to different locations. He and I always stayed in touch. After years, he located Meggie and brought her to Fire Mountain, where I’d settled with our cousins.”

“I’m sorry, Pierce,” Mollie murmured.

“For what?”

“Believing that you could never imagine how hard life could be without parents or family. I thought all the MacLarens had grown up with … well, I guess with…” She looked down at her folded hands, feeling ashamed of the assumptions she’d made.

“With everything handed to us?” he prompted, his voice soft, barely above a whisper.

Mollie raised her head to focus on a man who’d become more important to her than she wanted to admit. “Yes, I suppose so.”

Penelope picked that moment to enter the room carrying a cake and place it in the center of the table. She stepped back to watch Mollie’s reaction.

“Oh, Penelope, this is beautiful,” Mollie exclaimed, staring at the dessert adorned with flowers and bows.

“Thank you, ma’am. May I bring in coffee or tea?”

“Coffee for both of us,” Pierce answered. “And thank you. The cake is perfect.”

He watched Mollie’s eyes as they took in the sweet confection, looking at each decoration as if trying to memorize it.

“You know, it might melt if we don’t try some.” He grinned at her surprised expression then laughed when she realized he was joking.

“You’re right.” She reached for a knife, sliced a good-sized piece, and set it on one of the small plates Penelope had provided before handing the serving to Pierce. She cut another slice and set it aside. When Penelope returned with their coffee, Mollie presented her with the portion of cake and asked for a third plate.

Penelope blushed, took the cake, and rushed into the kitchen for another plate.

Pierce and Mollie each had two slices, deciding it would never be as good as it was right now. When they were finished, Pierce pushed up and walked around the table to pull out Mollie’s chair.

“Come on. Let’s take a walk.” He strode to the entrance and came back with her coat before grabbing his own and slipping into it. He escorted her outside into the cool night air and stopped, tilting his head up for a view of the star-filled sky.

He remembered lying on the roof of the boarding house in Red Hook and staring at the same sky, wondering if his life would amount to much. Tonight, he felt it had.

Mollie walked up next to him and looked up. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Pierce looked down at her glowing face, wisps of golden blonde hair escaping from the loose chignon, her warm brown eyes sparkling in the moonlit night. “Very beautiful,” he answered then picked up her hand to wrap it around his arm before starting down the steps to the street.

“Where are we going?” Mollie felt almost giddy with an excitement she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I don’t know exactly. Perhaps around the block or further. Does it matter?”

“Not really,” she replied, and realized she’d spoken the truth. Being with this man, on her birthday, was more than she’d ever imagined.

******

Pierce opened the oversized entry door an hour later, followed Mollie inside, and escorted her upstairs. He pushed open the door to her room, and then turned her to him.

She looked up into his clear blue eyes, knowing he meant to kiss her, anticipating it as she felt her heart begin to thump in her chest. At least she thought that was his intention until he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead then gave a brief brush of his lips against hers before setting her firmly away.

“I want you, Mollie, more than I’ve ever wanted a woman, and much more than I should.” He stared into her warm brown eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear his head and explain himself in a way that would make sense. “We’re partners trying to focus on solving the puzzle Noah and Lee have dumped on us. Our job doesn’t include the two of us getting involved.”

Mollie’s face changed from expectant to emotionless as she stepped away from him, her anticipation turning to disappointment in the space of a heartbeat.

“You’re right.” Her voice was flat, devoid of the light tone that had captivated him most of the night. “It would be a major mistake for us to let anything happen.” She took another step backward, resting her hand the door frame, wanting nothing more than to disappear inside. “Thank you for the lovely supper, Pierce. It was the best birthday I’ve ever had.” She offered him a brilliant smile, one, he noticed, that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She closed the door, leaving him standing alone with a strange, hollow feeling in his gut.