Barbara Dunlop - A Secret Life

She pawed at Samuel’s hand, but she was no match for his strength. “I have to go, Jeffrey.”

“Go where?”

If he knew. If he only knew.

“Bye,” she whooshed, and quickly hung up. Then she rounded on Samuel. “That was outrageous!” she sputtered.

He grinned unrepentantly. “That was fun.”

“You can’t…just…when I’m…”

His palm smoothed over her aching nipple. “You going to tell me you didn’t like that?”

She breathed deeply, trying not to get distracted from her anger. “That’s not the point.”

“It’s exactly the point. Whoa.” His hand left her breast, and he quickly lifted the camera to his eye.

Heather swung her gaze toward the window. “You see something?”

“Hang on.”

She pulled back. “Should I move?”

“You’re fine.”

She focused on the tiny figure moving through Samuel’s backyard. The shutter clicked in her ear as Samuel took pictures of the person making his way toward the porch.

“Should we go grab him?” she whispered.

“I don’t want any more shooting,” said Samuel. He clicked the shutter a few more times.

“Are the pictures any good?”

“Not yet. I’m just getting the back of his head.”

“Where’s he-” The man kept on going right past the porch.

Samuel lowered the camera from his eye. “Maybe it’s not him.”

“Then what’s he doing in your yard?”

“I don’t know.”

The man disappeared into a copse of trees. “Where’d he go?”

“The tool shed’s down that trail. There.”

The figure reappeared, jiggling the catch on the wooden door.

“He won’t find anything in there,” said Samuel. “Nobody’s been in it for years.”

While they watched, the man gave up on the door and walked down the side of the shed. At the back corner, he look furtively around and then dropped to his knees.

“What on earth?” Heather breathed.

Samuel put the telephoto lens back up to his eye. “He’s digging.”

“For what?”

“Now, that’s gotta be the long shot of the century.”

“Buried treasure?” asked Heather.

“Is he going to check every square inch of my yard?”

They watched for a few more minutes.

“Should we call Alain?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Samuel tossed her the phone again.

“Maybe he’s crazy?” she offered as she glanced down at the lighted number pad.

“I’d say that was a safe-” Samuel froze.

“What?”

“He’s… Son of a bitch!” Samuel all but shoved her off his lap. He jumped to his feet and bailed down the long staircase.

JOAN STUFFED her clothes into the suitcase that was open on the high, four-poster bed in the opulent hotel suite provided by the network. Too bad she wasn’t going to be able to stick around and enjoy the amenities. It had been years since she’d lounged in a whirlpool bath, sipping champagne and gazing out at the lights of a beautiful city.

But right now, it was more important to get out of L.A. and back to Indigo. She was holding herself together by a thread around Anthony, second-guessing her decision, inches away from begging him to take her back. She needed to cut the cord and get completely away from him.

He was a publicity maniac, she told herself. Their approaches to her career were in complete opposition to each other. The fact that he was funny and smart and sexy, and that she had an unfilled sexual ache for his body had no bearing whatsoever on her professional decision.

He muddled her thinking, and she needed to get away from him as soon as humanly possible.

She slammed the suitcase shut and pushed the catches closed.

“Joan?” Anthony’s voice sounded from the entry hall, and her heart sank.

She’d told him she was going straight to the airport in the hopes he’d waste time scouring LAX. Her plan had been to make a quick stop at the hotel and then take a cab to Ontario Airport. She could get a flight to New Orleans from there.

“Joan?” he called again, his voice getting closer as he made his way down the hall.

There was a slim chance she could cut through the bathroom and evade him.

“Joan?”

So much for that.

He strode through the bedroom doorway. “You tried to have me arrested?”

She didn’t look up. “I was trying to get you to back off.” Why, oh, why couldn’t he take a hint?

He was quiet for a strained moment and the muted sounds of traffic wafted through the windows.

“So, this is really it?” he asked.

Of course it was it. She thought she’d made that pretty plain. She finally looked up. “What were you expecting?” Her hand tightened on the suitcase handle, and she heaved the bag off the bed.

He leaned forward and tried to take it from her.

She shook her head, pulling back. “I’m fine.”

“It looks pretty heavy.”

“I’ve been carrying my own suitcase most of my life.” Why couldn’t he just go away?

He waited patiently until she finally met his eyes.

His blue ones burned into hers, and it was impossible to miss the hurt and confusion in their depths.

She felt terrible hurting him. He was her friend. He’d stood by her side for ten years. Sure, his ideals were different from hers. But until Charlie Long Live, he’d never deliberately undermined her. Maybe she hadn’t given him enough time to explain. Maybe…

While she argued with herself, something shifted in his expression. His eyes swirled to cobalt, and her hormones answered. Her pulse spiked in reaction, causing sweat to gather on her palms and form between her breasts.

“I can’t believe you’re going to let it end like this,” he whispered, shifting forward, his husky voice adding to the confusion in her body.

“It’s already over,” she rasped.

“Can we at least say goodbye like civilized adults?”

She swallowed, her pulse rate erratic beneath her tingling skin. “Goodbye, Anthony.”

He took two final steps, and he was right in front of her, forcing her to look up at him.

“Goodbye, Joan.” He smiled sadly. “You have been…” As his voice faded, he leaned ever so slightly toward her.

His scent surrounded her, and her wild pulse pounded in her ears. Her suitcase handle grew slick against her palm.

His voice dropped even further, “…the greatest experience of my life.”

The suitcase slipped from her fingers to topple on the rug.

“Anthony,” she sighed, abandoning her iron control, fixating on his lips, remembering every second of every kiss they’d ever shared.

He bent toward her. “I’ll miss you, Joan Bateman.”

She felt tears burn the backs of her eyes. “I’ll miss you-”

But then his lips touched hers. So soft, so sweet, so hot.

Their mouths fused, opening in unison, so their tongues tangled together. His hands cradled her face, and her arms wound around his neck.

It might have been meant as a goodbye kiss, but it instantly turned into something else altogether.

He stepped into the embrace, his hard body coming flush against hers. She moved against him, fisting her hands and digging them into the back of his neck. She pressed closer, closer, closer still.

She couldn’t let him go. This one moment in time had to last forever, because when it was over, he was walking out of her life for good. He was fired, and she was alone.

“So sweet,” he muttered against her lips. His hands smoothed down her sides, then rounded to the small of her back. “So beautiful. You are the sexiest woman alive.”

She wanted him.

She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life, more than saving Indigo, more than publishing a book, more than appeasing her family. She wanted Anthony here and now, naked and inside her, even if she regretted it every second of every day for the rest of her life.

Something vibrated against her shoulder.

She jumped back. “What on-”

“My phone,” he mumbled, recapturing her lips and kissing her again.

It vibrated a second time, tickling her.

“Damn.” He ripped it out of his pocket and threw it on the bed.

“You should answer it,” she said around his next kiss. Real life was still out there, whether she wanted it to be or not.

“Screw it.” He kissed her neck.

The sixth muffled buzz sounded from the bed.

“Anthony.”

He sucked in a harsh breath and reached down to grab the phone. He flipped it open, his voice a bark. “Yeah?”

He was silent for a moment.

Then he blinked and gave his head a little shake. “I don’t-”

More silence.

Joan felt a chill. The regret she’d fully expected was upon her-even sooner than she’d feared. She started for her suitcase, but his hand shot out, grabbing her arm to stop her.

“I agree,” he said into the phone, giving her a look that clearly ordered her to stay put. Not that she could break the grip on her arm. Not that she wanted to. She should want to, she knew. But she didn’t. And there it was.

“Okay,” said Anthony. “Maybe Dallas for a few days.”

Business. He had already moved on. Something inside her died a whimpering death.

“Talk to you then,” he said and flipped the phone shut.

He stared down at her for a heartbeat, the earlier passion completely erased from his eyes. “We have a problem.”

She squared her shoulders. If he could move on, so could she. “What kind of a problem?”

His grip had loosened on her arm, so she reached for her suitcase.

“That was Samuel,” he said.

Joan stopped, her fear turning to Heather. “What’s wrong?”

“He thinks…” Anthony tucked the phone back into his pocket. “He saw someone dig up a baseball bat in his backyard.”

Joan squinted at Anthony. “So what?”

“The police thought his mother was hit with a baseball bat before she was shot. But they never found it.”

Joan nodded. “Okay. Yeah. I read that in the transcript.”

“If this is the baseball bat…”

A shiver of true fear ran through Joan. If this was the same baseball bat, there was only one person who would know where it was. “Then there really is a murderer out there.”

“And your book has made him nervous.”

She shook her head, taking an involuntary step back. “It’s not possible. I made it all up.”

“We can’t take that chance.”

“What do we do?”

“We go to Dallas for a few days. If Samuel’s right, you can’t be in Indigo right now.”

“But what about Samuel? What about Heather?”

“You’re the one the person’s scared of.”

“But I don’t know anything.” The whole situation took on a brand-new feeling of unreality.

“Samuel’s talking to Alain. Let’s give the police department a few days. We can stay with my parents until then.”

Stay with Anthony’s parents? With Anthony? With all that was going on between them? Bad idea. Really, really bad idea.

“I can go to Boston,” she said, even though she dreaded facing her own parents.

He stared down at her, looking all protective and Anthony again. She tried hard not to treasure that look.

“You honestly think there’s a chance in hell I’m going to let you out of my sight?”

“I fired you.” Her voice cracked over the words.

“We’re in this together, Joan. Together.”

JOAN AND ANTHONY headed straight for the airport after Samuel’s call. They managed to catch a red-eye to Houston, then they hopped an afternoon flight to Dallas and rented a car. By the time they pulled into his parents’ driveway, Joan was exhausted and a nervous wreck.

She fluffed her hair, checking the visor mirror to make sure her makeup wasn’t too badly smeared.

“You sure this is going to be okay?” she asked for the hundredth time.

“They’re thrilled,” he reassured her. “I haven’t been home in nearly a year.”

“I know they’re happy to see you. It’s me that might be the problem.”

He slanted her a look of frustration as he shut off the key. “They’re friendly people, Joan.”

“But I’m an uninvited guest.”

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

He opened the driver’s door. “Let’s go.”

Joan took a deep breath. If Anthony’s family seemed at all uncomfortable, she’d go to a hotel. In fact, she’d suggested that to Anthony already. But he’d said his mother would be offended and might never speak to him again if they dared even suggest hotel rooms.

She stepped gingerly onto the concrete driveway and glanced around.

They were in an older, but very well-maintained family neighborhood. The lawns were lush, the hedges trimmed, and the driveways wound through generous sized lots to multi-story houses of brick and stone.

The Verduns’ house had a wide, front porch, with square pillars supporting the roof and double front doors, bracketed with sidelight windows. A rustic, willow furniture grouping on the porch looked like an inviting spot to spend a cool, fall evening.