Freaky by Nature (3 page)

it was to ev er accept Brett’s interest in her. Or hers in him .
Not

possible
.

As she continued to stare at him , the swirl of pink, orange, red

and gray colors that sm oked his aura concerned her. She took a

deep breath and rifled through the pages of her m em ory . Pink

m eant she could trust him . That didn’t surprise her, she’d trust

Brett with her life. Orange and red, anger. But gray represented

fear. Why was he afraid? And why did her headache dissipate

when he touched her? Norm ally they lasted for hours and beat her

into a deep sleep.

Her questions were pushed to the side when he opened the door

to the pool and gestured for her to enter. She hesitated for a brief

m om ent to m ake sure her m ental walls were strong and then

stepped through the doorway . Relief washed ov er her when she

didn’t see the earlier black fog.

A pink haze followed Max as he entered the room but quickly

blended into an eerie dark brown-y ellow ring as soon as he looked

into the bloody pool.

Holly scolded herself when she recognized the colors as stress

and fatigue. “I’m sorry I called y ou so early . I probably should

hav e waited a couple of hours.”

Brett pulled a clear tube from his pocket and dipped it into the

pool water. “Why
did
y ou call m e?”

His tone stabbed her. “That wasn’t y our apology . I didn’t call

y ou, I called Max.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Max interrupted. “Cam eron’s appetite

had m e awake m ost of the night any way .”

Holly pursed her lips as she watched the y ellow fog around

Max swirl and then pulse fire engine red. Ev en while he grum bled

about Cam eron, he couldn’t hide his deep lov e for her. Holly

casually shifted her ey es back to Brett. The orange cloud around

his aura persisted.

“Whoev er did this is one sick bastard.” He pocketed the water

sam ple.

Holly backed away from the pool. “Do y ou think it’s actually

blood?”

“No. Not hum an any way ,” Max said. “I’d guess paint.”

Holly paced the length of the pool, cleared her m ind, and

concentrated on the color. After a few silent seconds, she gav e up

and m entally cursed both the situation and Brett Steele. She

couldn’t concentrate. The negativ e ions that charged the air

around him pelted her skin like raindrops and m ade her doubly

nerv ous. She snuck a glance at him beneath her ey elashes. Was he

angry or aroused? Som ehow the pinpricks m anaged to stim ulate

her.

Holly finally lifted her gaze from the water and looked at him .

“When can I drain the water? I need to clean out the basin.”

Brett didn’t ev en look at her as he answered. “Not until the

police finish their inv estigation.”

O…kay … He wanted to keep it business between the two of

them . Good. He’d finally gotten the m essage. Som ething close to

disappointm ent fluttered in her stom ach.

“They ’re on their way .” Max folded his arm s across his chest.

“It shouldn’t take them long. I’m not sure there’s any thing here

they can use except the water. And that m ay not be v ery helpful.”

Brett stood and scrubbed a hand ov er the fiv e o’clock shadow

now apparent on the sides of his face. Holly swallowed hard. What

a delightful rash that would leav e on her skin.

As if he felt her perusal, Brett gav e her a quick glance and

then turned back to Max. “Fingerprints?”

Max shook his head. “Not likely .”

“Security cam eras?”

“Yes,” Holly answered.

Brett focused on her and his ey es seem ed to penetrate her haze

of lust. “I need the tape.”

“What about m y business?”

Brett shrugged. “Close for a day or two.”

“I’ll be front page news,” she groaned.

“May be,” Max agreed, “but at least the perp will know we’re on

to him .”

Brett tilted his head to one side. “What did y ou do to deserv e

this?”

Holly stiffened at his question and her m ind reached for his.

An iron fist m et her intrusion, abruptly warning her to back

away .

She cleared her throat and gav e him a piercing look. “I

honestly hav e no idea.”

“You hav en’t fired any one hell bent on rev enge, hav e y ou?”

“No. All m y em ploy ees hav e been here since I opened.”

“What about m em bers? Any one upset about m oney ?”

She shook her head. “Most pay by the y ear.”

“Business partners?”

She shook her head again. “The gy m is m ine.”

“Pissed off lov ers?”

Tension blanketed the air as she regarded him silently . The

exact second those words left his m outh, a dark green haze

env eloped him . Her heart skipped a beat.
Jealousy
. She glanced at

Max, who peered ov er the top of his tinted lenses, obv iously

reading som ething into Brett’s question as well.

Just to spite him , she gav e Brett what she m eant to be a cheesy

sm ile. “May be.”

His piercing blue ey es m et hers head on and he arched an

ey ebrow. Uneasiness flowed ov er her as she watched the green fade

to y ellow; she hadn’t discouraged him as she’d intended. His cocky

grin insinuated he was m ore than ready for her to elaborate.

Not quite sure where the conv ersation was headed, Holly was

reliev ed when red and blue patterns flashed through the open

door. “The police are here.”

Brett kept a distinct distance and m entally attem pted to

com plete the pieces of the puzzle while Holly answered questions.

Other than scaring her and tainting the pool, the culprit hadn’t

m ade m uch effort to com m it a crim e. A burglar would hav e

ransacked the place. Whoev er did this had som ething else in m ind.

Holly ’s v oice rem ained im pressiv ely controlled as she prov ided

inform ation and receiv ed instructions on how the inv estigation

would proceed.

As soon as the forensics technicians finished, Brett felt a tiny

spark of disappointm ent. Now he didn’t hav e an excuse to stick

around. Unless …

“Need som e help with the pool?”

“No, thanks. It won’t take long.”

“You can’t stay here alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

He hesitated, ready to use bodily force to get her to com ply .

Then he watched her square her shoulders and take a slow, deep

breath. He recognized the courage she sum m oned to do this on her

own, and gav e in. “I’ll lock the back door on m y way out.”

Holly regarded him silently and for a brief m om ent, Brett felt

a rare acknowledgm ent of trust pass between them . The fire in her

ey es dim m ed and a soft glow took its place.

“Thank y ou, Brett.”

“Call if y ou hav e any m ore trouble.”

“Com e on Steele,” Max barked, interrupting Brett’s stall tactic.

Holly gav e Brett one last nod of assurance. Without another

word, he bent under the y ellow tape and strolled out the back door.

“There’s a uniform posted at the front door.” Sterling’s dry

tone jabbed Brett as he got into the truck.

“Screw y ou, Sterling. Besides, Cam eron would chew y ou up

and spit y ou out if any thing happened to Holly .”

Sterling tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Brett

grinned and relaxed against the seat, satisfied he’d put Sterling in

his place.

“Strange crim e scene,” Sterling said.

Questions inv aded Brett’s brain. “Sabotage?”

“May be.”

“I’ll check out her com petition.” Brett glanced out the window

and noticed Sterling pull into a nearby fast food joint. “Sterling,

what are y ou doing?”

“Driv ing through. No way in hell am I going hom e em pty

handed.”

CHAPTER THREE

Holly sat cross-legged at the edge of the pool, hy pnotized by the

swirl of the tinted water as the hungry drain sucked it down. She

sm oothed her brow with both hands. As soon as Brett left, the

persistent ache from the ev il lingering in the atm osphere

resum ed. Visions of shadowy figures with shielded faces walked

through her torm ented m ind and took great care to cov er their

footprints. She took a deep breath and forced herself to assem ble

her fractured thoughts. Yet, the harder she focused, the fuzzier

they appeared.

Frustrated, she stood to reliev e the ache in her slum ped

shoulders when com m otion at the front door startled her. Angry

m uffled v oices floated on the air. Mom entarily alarm ed, she

rem em bered Brett had locked the door and a policem an stood

guard. Holly walked to the doorway , reliev ed to see the officer with

a m an in handcuffs.

“Holly ! Holly , are y ou here?”

Evan Bannister
. She wished she could deny she knew him .

Em ploy ed as her attorney for the last few y ears, Ev an boasted

special priv ileges at the gy m . And with her. She cringed when he

burst through the door, chased by the uniform ed policem an and

env eloped in a m ulti-colored haze.

Holly ey ed Ev an suspiciously , not surprised by the dark pink

and green patterns of deceit and jealously that circled him , but the

second, unusual ring of ebony and bright lem on y ellow bothered

her. Ev il and hate oozed from him in wav es. Pain throbbed in her

head. Com m on sense dictated he didn’t hate her, not the way he

alway s cam e on to her.

“There y ou are! Why are y ou closed?” Ev an planted a kiss on

her cheek. “Tell him to uncuff m e.”

The officer raised an ey ebrow and glanced at her. “Are y ou

sure?”

“Of course she’s sure!” Ev an spat.

“It’s okay .” Holly nodded and fought the urge to gag from

Ev an’s touch.

The snap of the latch echoed in the quiet room as Ev an was

released. “One obnoxious word from y ou,” the officer warned, “and

I’ll lock y ou back up.” Holly gav e him a thankful sm ile and he

returned to the front of the building.

Ev an rubbed his wrists as he stared into the basin. “What the

hell happened here?”

“Som eone filled the pool with blood,” she stated m atter-of-

factly .

“Hum an?” He inched away from the pool as though he m ight

be contam inated.

“I’m not sure y et. There wasn’t a body , but the police took a

water sam ple. Meanwhile, I hav e to drain it and bleach it. It’ll

probably be sev eral day s before it can be used again.”

His ey es flashed. “They left a guard at the door?”

“Max did that,” she grum bled.

“Max?”

“Sterling. Cam eron’s husband.”

Dism issing her explanation, he sm iled easily . “Hire a cleaning

serv ice and then I’ll take y ou to breakfast.”

“No,” she said quickly , “thanks any way , Ev an.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about y our obsession with independence.”

He checked his watch. “I’v e got an early m eeting any way . I’ll call

y ou later.”

Reliev ed to see him leav e, Holly slum ped into a chair and

cradled her head in her trem bling hands. “The day just keeps

getting better and better,” she m um bled.

She rubbed her tem ples in sm all circles and tried to figure out

who did this. And why ? To sav e her own sanity , she m ade a

concerted effort to distance herself from people. In fact, v ery few

people knew her and absolutely no one knew
about
her.

Her life had changed so dram atically in the last y ear, it would

be alm ost im possible for any one to discov er too m uch. There was

no reason to hav e enem ies; she didn’t allow herself enough hum an

interaction to m ake enem ies or friends. Business was strictly

business at the gy m , and she’d been honest when she told Brett no

one seem ed to be upset. Thanks to Cam eron’s ov erbearing y et

lov ing personality , Holly counted both her and Rachel Hawke close

friends. But ev en they didn’t know any thing about her. And she

preferred it that way .

Holly unfolded herself from the chair and walked back around

the edge of the pool. A subtle scent of m usk floated through the air

as she reached to retriev e the rope that div ided the shallow water

from the deep. The scent of wild, carefree, testosterone-driv en

m a l e .
Brett
. Her body began to tingle.
Forget it
. He wasn’t

interested any m ore. She’d turned him down so m any tim es, he

finally gav e up. Just as she planned.

She sat down and dangled her feet into the nearly -em pty tub.

That didn’t m ean
she
wasn’t interested. Secretly , she watched him

during his daily workouts as he sculpted his already toned, steel-

plated m uscles. He was a fine-tuned m achine as he worked. The

sweat glistened on his bronzed skin and prov ided the ultim ate

lubricant for his sm ooth, exact m ov em ents. And the m y sterious,

beautifully -inked tattoo wrapped around his left biceps, across his

left shoulder and between his shoulder blades drov e her crazy .

A long, thick snake with sinister ey es and a forked tongue, its

body flexed with each m uscle twitch, alm ost hissing an inv itation

to touch. She’d analy zed the colors until she knew them by heart.

Red, y ellow, black. Anger, passion, ev il. Com bined, the colors told

her all she needed to know. Brett Steele was an extrem ely