“But time is of the utmost importance, Carolyn. I hate to pressure you, but…”
“I never make decisions under pressure. Whatever you have to say, Mr. Lawrence, will have to wait.” She used her professional tone, masking the racing of her heart.
An heiress. A mansion. Horizon.
She gave them both a mechanical smile and hurriedly left the office. Maybe all this was on the up-and-up, but her emotions were in such a tangle at the moment she couldn’t be sure. Could it really be that her grandfather had found her? She wanted to believe the unbelievable, but her intuition was quivering like an antenna trying to catch warning vibes. The handsome Adam Lawrence, obviously, wanted a commitment of some kind from her. What was his real agenda? Why had the lawyer included him in the meeting? There’d been moments she’d instinctively responded to his smile and the touch of his hand, but now she wondered if he’d been deliberately manipulating her emotions.
With her thoughts whirling like an off-center helicopter, she crossed the lot to her car, parked at the back of the small brick building. Her hands trembled as she unlocked the door of her old car. After sliding into the worn front seat, she sat there for a long minute. She needed to go home, go over all the legal papers again, get on the Internet and see what information she could pull up on Horizon Pharmaceuticals. As her analytical approach to problems settled her emotions, she turned the key in the ignition.
The engine refused to turn over. After repeated tries she slapped the steering wheel in exasperation. She’d been having trouble with it for more than a month, but had been trying to put off the expense of car repair as long as possible.
She silently swore and then tried again, but no luck. The irony of the situation hit her when she looked out the window and saw Adam Lawrence walking across the parking lot, heading for her car. It was obvious from his expression that he’d heard the starter grinding.
She had little choice but to roll down the window and nod at his friendly “Won’t start, huh?”
His grin only made her feel more testy. Brilliant deduction. Were all FDA agents so perceptive?
“Would you like me to try?” he offered.
“Thanks, but don’t bother.” She didn’t want to prolong the embarrassment. It didn’t take a mechanic to know that the old car was heading for the junkyard. What to do now? Leave it? Take a bus home and see if her AAA insurance was still in force? “I think I’ll just let it sit for a while.”
“How about I run you home and you can call someone to look at it?”
“No need to put you to that trouble,” she answered quickly.
“It’s no trouble. Just tell me how to get there. I’m still trying to find my way around Seattle.”
As she hesitated, he saw a flicker of indecision in her eyes. He could tell that she was tempted to accept his offer. The stalled car could be a blessing in disguise. Her sudden departure from the meeting had left him wondering how to initiate further contact with her. It was imperative to move quickly to enlist her help. He was relieved when she nodded.
As they walked to his car, he made an idle comment about the gathering rain clouds. “There’s more rain here in a week than we have in a whole season back home.”
“The natives call it liquid sunshine,” she informed him with a faint smile.
“I grew up in New Mexico. Ever been there?” he asked, hoping to make the situation seem casual and friendly.
“No, but I don’t think I’d like it,” she said frankly. “I’d miss the water.”
He could tell from her pensive expression that her thoughts were beyond any casual chitchat. Not that he could blame her. She’d been given a double whammy. Learning the identity of her grandfather would have been shock enough, but the inheritance on top of that would knock anyone for a loop. He knew from her case history that she possessed a dogged will that had obviously shaped her life. The vulnerable innocence about her was utterly deceptive. She wouldn’t be easily persuaded to fall in line with his plans.
As she sat in the seat beside him, he was aware of her appealing femininity, the lines and curves of her body. Her summer blouse molded the fullness of her breasts, and its open collar revealed the smooth lines of her neck. A faint floral scent teased his nostrils, and he realized that he’d been without feminine company far too long.
She told him the address of her apartment and gave him directions. He related a couple of humorous experiences he’d had trying to find his way in foreign countries and was rewarded with a slight smile.
“Have you traveled abroad quite a bit?” she asked.
“Not really. South America, mostly. I lived in Brazil for a couple of years. I served as the judicial attaché at the United States Embassy and coordinated evidence of drug-related activities.”
“I see. And when you came back to the States, you became an FDA agent?”
“Yes.”
As he fell silent, Carolyn was aware of the change in him. A shadow passed over his eyes, and she sensed that for some reason the subject was painful for him. What had happened in his career, she wondered, to put that kind of pain in his expression? She remembered how very intense he’d been in the lawyer’s office. Obviously Bancroft had asked him to be there, and she had cut him off when he tried to explain his interest in her sudden legacy.
“Is this the place?” he asked as he pulled up in front of the large house owned by an elderly widow from whom she rented an upstairs apartment.
“Yes, this is…home.” She hesitated slightly over the word as she reached for the door handle. She was still feeling overwhelmed, but a blessed detachment had begun to ease her bewilderment.
“Carolyn, could we talk a minute? I know your head must be swimming with all this, but I really need to share some things with you. Would you just hear me out? It’s important. There are some decisions that have to be made.”
“I’m not ready to make decisions of any kind,” she answered firmly. “I’ve read about people who suddenly come into money and how they’re hounded by the public, pulled this way and that. Everyone with his hands out and—”
“This isn’t about money,” he said curtly. “It’s about the welfare of a lot of people. Your decision to become a doctor had something to do with your dedication to the public interest, I assume.”
“I don’t think my dedication is the issue here,” she said evenly. “Don’t you understand? I’m too stunned to even comprehend what all this means. I need time, information and the insight to make some decisions. I really don’t know what you expect from me.”
“You will, if you’ll give me a chance to explain. Please, Carolyn. Just hear me out. Then I’ll give you the time you need to come to terms with what I’m asking.”
His gray eyes were like grappling hooks locking her gaze with his. An undefined warning stirred deep within her. She wanted to turn away, but couldn’t. Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to deal with this.
She moistened her lips. “All right. But not here in the car. We can talk better inside.”
He nodded,
