for all the Hawke detective agencies at the home office in Chicago, had complained that Eden’s purchase of a second cell phone was excessive. She had withdrawn her objection when Eden explained that she was forever either misplacing her cell or forgetting to keep its battery charged. And since a P.I. often had to rely on a cell phone, a backup was essential.
Grateful for her carelessness that had made an extra phone necessary, Eden withdrew the instrument and flipped it open. Now, if only she hadn’t gone and drained its power again… Ah, good, she had a strong signal and a full battery. She was in business.
With a worried glance at the closed door, she flushed the toilet and turned on the faucet at the sink, counting on the sound of the running water to muffle her voice. Then, extending the phone’s antenna, she started to punch in a rapid 911.
The nine was all she managed before the rest-room door burst open. Her heart sank at the sight of him. Covering the space between them in two swift strides, he snatched the cell phone out of her hand. His face was like a storm. A savage one.
“You were cold, huh?” he thundered. “The hell you were!”
He was talking about her coat. That was why he had charged into the rest room. It must have suddenly occurred to him out in the alcove that he had neglected to investigate her coat.
That he would have thought of the coat at all at this stage startled Eden. Just who was this man, anyway? No one ordinary, certainly. Not when he was so careful not to overlook any potential threat to him. That smacked of a dark history, maybe even a violent one. Just what was he involved in, and how serious was her own jeopardy because of it?
“What do you do?” he growled. “Collect the damn things?”
Switching off the instrument, he thrust it into his pocket where it joined the phone he had seized earlier from her purse. Then, tossing his jacket on the floor in order to free both his hands, he advanced on her slowly. The look on his face said he meant business.
Eden backed away from him until she had nowhere else to go. She was pinned against the sink. He towered over her, a daunting figure.
“You have any more surprises in that coat, Eden? Something I should be worried about?”
Before she could stop him, he was pressed up against her, his arms on either side of her, his big hands plunged into her pockets. She could feel the heat of his fingers probing the depths of both pockets. There should have been nothing personal in that search, but there was. Eden found it difficult to breathe.
“Guess not,” he said.
Swallowing, she managed a cool “If you’re through.”
But he was in no hurry to withdraw his hands. They remained in her pockets, making an intimate contact with her hips through the fabric. His eyes were on her face, a seductive gleam in them. He inhaled slowly, deeply.
“Lily of the Valley, huh?”
Her fragrance still intrigued him. And her lower lip.
“It’s quivering again, Eden,” he said, his voice husky.
He was leaning into her so closely she was aware of the stubble on his square jaw, the heat of his hard flesh. This time he did slide a hand out of her pocket, lifting it to the level of her face where the slightly rough pad of his thumb lightly stroked her bottom lip. Eden felt a slow flame coiling deep inside her.
“Take your hand away,” she commanded, her own voice turning hoarse.
“You wanted to play husband and wife. So, all right, we’re playing husband and wife.”
“Stop saying that!”
“Maybe you’d like my mouth here instead of my thumb. Would you, Eden?”
She’d had enough of his steamy games. Whether he was formidable or not, she refused to be intimidated any longer. “You’ve satisfied yourself there’s nothing else in my pockets. Now back off. And count yourself lucky I didn’t try to grab my pistol out of your waistband.” She had considered such an action, but as quick as his reflexes were, that could have resulted in a struggle in which one of them might have been shot.
Motivated by her threat to recover her gun, he stepped away from her. His eyes never left her face. “If you had the gun, would you use it on me?” She didn’t answer him. “Maybe you think I’m some kind of monster. I’m not. At least I don’t think I am.”
“Then what are you? Just an innocent victim?”
“It’s possible.”
“If you believe that, then why don’t you turn yourself in to the police? Tell them as much as you know and let them sort it out.”
“That’s a plan. Except if it turns out I’m a wanted man—” He shook his head. “Uh-uh, I’m not bringing the cops in on this. Not until I know what’s going on and why.”
“So, instead, you’re going to go on playing the tough fugitive who kidnaps women at gunpoint.”
“And makes their lips tremble in tempting ways.”
Eden angrily tightened her mouth. It was a defensive reaction, and he didn’t miss it. He smiled. A sardonic smile.
“You know,” he drawled, “if I wanted to, I think I could make that mouth of yours do a lot more than just tremble. And not by using my thumb, either.”
“You might have lost your memory, but you’re not suffering from a loss of ego, are you?” The awful thing was, she feared there was some truth in what he claimed and that she would have to guard herself against it.
“Could be you’re right,” he admitted. “Only we don’t have the time to test your theory.” Leaning down, he recovered his jacket from the floor. “We’ve still got that shopping to do. Come on, let’s go make that attendant out there think you and I are the happiest married couple in South Carolina.”
THE HOUSEBOAT WAS exactly what she had wanted when she’d bought it a little over a year ago. A quiet getaway far enough removed from the city to guarantee her absolute privacy whenever she needed a few days’ retreat between difficult cases.
But now, looking at the gray houseboat moored at the end of its short pier, Eden regretted the remoteness of the place. There were no neighbors within hailing distance, just the thick vegetation along the shore and the softly flowing river with its reedy shallows where the herons fished.
She was aware of the man who followed closely behind her along the narrow path from the car, bearing their sack of groceries. She was alone with him in this seclusion, not knowing what he intended to do with her. It was a situation that unnerved her on every level.
He, however, was satisfied by the isolation. She could see it in his face when they reached the door of the houseboat, and she turned to him as he spoke to her.
“You’ve got electricity, huh?” he said, noticing the wire stretched from the pole on shore to the side of the houseboat.
“Yes, all the comforts of home,” she said, unlocking the door and spreading it open.
He held out his hand. Knowing what he wanted, she
