Freaky by Nature (7 page)

was sim ply no way to join them when they so quickly faded into

the atm osphere.

With no other choice, Holly relinquished control of her m ind.

Her knees buckled and her head ham m ered as she slid down the

wall and collapsed on the floor. Desperate for relief from the

unrelenting pain, she welcom ed the cool tile against her warm

cheek.

Energy seeped from her body and left her lim p. She floated.

Her m ind becam e a blank slate. No color. No pictures. No pain. She

slept, free of the earlier m ental hold. Content.

And then, a sudden peacefulness surged through her v eins and

caused blue splotches to dance behind her ey elids. A sm ile pulled

the corners of her lips.

“Holly .”

Holly balked at the deep v oice at the other end of the dense fog

in her brain.
Leave me alone
.

A warm hand lifted her shoulder. “Holly , wake up.”

She stirred and opened her ey es to see Brett squatted beside

her.

“What happened?”

She raised her hand to shield her ey es from his bluish-green

ray s and forced her m ind back to her research.
Pure compassion
.

Thankful the colors were present, she sighed and sat up. “Nothing.

I had a headache so I sat to rest for a m inute.”

He paused for a brief m om ent, as if he processed her

explanation. God, she hoped she could conv ince him to believ e her

half-baked excuse. She attem pted to enter his m ind, hoping his

curiosity distracted him . No such luck. The doors were locked and

a do not disturb sign hung in plain sight.

He raised an ey ebrow. “Must’v e been a hell of a headache.”

She m anaged a half sm ile in response and waited for his

dem and that she elaborate. Instead, his ey es softened and reflected

his concern.

“Do y ou feel better?”

She regarded him for a m om ent and watched his blue and

green com bination fade to a lighter shade of solitary blue.
Calm.

Acceptance
. Reliev ed by his change of m ood, she searched for the

pain she felt earlier. Not a trace.
Odd
.

She sent him a full genuine sm ile. “Much.”

He extended a hand and nodded at the sign on the door. “Do

y ou alway s hang out in the m en’s locker room ?”

Holly rolled her ey es. “I wanted to m ake one last check before I

closed.” She slipped her hand in his and he pulled her from the

floor to stand. She allowed herself to wallow in the heat of his touch

for a m om ent before releasing his hold. “I guess ev ery one’s out.

Why did y ou com e?”

“Cam eron insisted. Sterling sent m e.”

“How did y ou get inside?”

“I picked the lock.”

A surge of satisfaction quickened her pulse. “My drill sergeant

insists I close at eight.”

She watched in am usem ent as sev eral em otions play ed on his

face. Surprise. Contentm ent. Arousal. Holly frowned. Why did she

see them now? And why , all of a sudden, did he allow her to

observ e his m ood?

Lost in thought, she jum ped when Brett finally broke the

silence. “Are y ou sure y ou’re okay ?”

Still baffled, she pushed her curiosity aside. “Yes, thanks.”

“Are y ou ready to call it a night?”

Her heart warm ed at the soft, pink blob that form ed a circle

around him . “Yes.” She turned toward the doorway and glanced at

the towel on the floor. “Could y ou do m e a fav or?”

“Sure.”

“Grab that towel and toss it in the laundry chute.”

Brett balled the towel in one hand, threw it into the air, and

m ade a perfect two-point basket. “Hav e y ou eaten?”

Extrem ely reliev ed the towel didn’t float back out of the chute

or throw lightning bolts at either of them , Holly exhaled a long

breath. She was being ridiculous. “No.”

Brett offered his hand again. “C’m on, I know a place.”

She lifted her hand to accept and then paused. She glanced at

his offering and then back into his ey es. “Wait, is this a date?”

“Do y ou want it to be?”

Did she? Truth be told, she wanted it to be m ore than a date.

Her wet panties prov ed it. But that would allow him m ore tim e to

question her. To attem pt to get closer. “No.”

Another disarm ing sm ile. “Then it’s not.”

Holly waited to see if a darker shade of pink, alm ost m agenta,

m ight surround him . Not that she thought him deceitful, just

m ischiev ous. And, he m ade no secret of his interest in her. One

m ore m illisecond passed and the pink escaped him . Worry left her

m ind when instead, soft baby blue beam s radiated from his body .

Honesty. Truth
.

She stepped close to him and grasped his hand. “I’m starv ed.”

CHAPTER SIX

Spicy , bitter scents of cum in and chili powder assaulted his

senses as Brett held open the door of
Guardia de Serpiente
for Holly .

She tipped her head toward the pink neon sign in the window.

“The Serpent’s Den. Your regular stom ping ground?”

He chuckled. “No. In fact, I don’t com e here often.” Often? He

av oided it like the plague.

Brett winked at the y oung, caram el-skinned hostess who stood

just inside the door. “Two, Bianca.”

With a bat of her ey elashes, Bianca led them through the

restaurant toward a secluded table in the back. Confidence

ov ertook Brett as they walked through the dining area; Sterling’s

suggestion m ight hav e m erit after all. Encouraged, he m anaged to

relax until they passed a large tank nestled against the far wall.

The hair stood on the back of his neck when he saw the contents.

Oh. Hell
.

Inside, coiled in sev eral lay ers of black rubbery skin, a boa

constrictor peered out through red, glowing ey es. Brett took

sev eral steps back as the creature’s long, forked tongue shot from

its m outh to taste the caged air. Brett snuck a glance at Holly .

Unlike m ost wom en, she appeared to be intrigued by the anim al.

“This is Beau.” Bianca gestured at the tank. “We’v e had him

since he was just a foot long.”

Holly continued to stare. “How long is he now?”

“Six feet.”

“He’s beautiful,” Holly m urm ured.

Brett shifted, desperate to escape the area without being

obv ious.
Beautiful
did not fit his description of the beast.

Holly flattened her palm against the front of the creature’s

habitat. “Does he ev er leav e the tank?”

Much like a heat-seeking m issile, the snake slithered closer and

tapped the glass with its snout.

“Oh y es.” Bianca gav e a sm all giggle. “Once in a while, Mr.

Roberto, the owner, drapes Beau around his neck and allows him to

v isit the guests. Beau is v ery partial to our fem ale custom ers.”

Holly laughed. “A lady killer, huh?”

Brett bit his tongue. Killer, any way .

Bianca nodded. “Com e. I’ll show y ou to y our table now.”

Once seated safely away from Beau, Brett released a long

breath and forced him self to relax.

“You hav e quite a fascination with snakes,” he said while

glancing at the m enu.

Holly sm iled. “Not really . They just intrigue m e.”

“How so?”

She shrugged. “They ’re secretiv e. I can’t help but think they

can tune in to feelings just by sensing the heat in the atm osphere.”

Stunned by her answer, Brett closed his m enu and pushed it to

the edge of the table, careful not to rev eal his surprise.
Secretive
.

Interesting.

“Most wom en would run scream ing out of here,” he said

casually .

She twisted her lips and stacked her m enu on top of his. “He
is

behind glass.”

Interrupted by a waiter, Brett turned his attention to ordering

dinner. After Holly gav e her order, there was another fam iliar lull

in the conv ersation. Brett glanced at Holly , who stared at the

snake again. Determ ined to crack her arm or, he attem pted to

continue easy conv ersation.

“Are y ou m aking sure he’s still in there?”

She turned and gav e a soft laugh. “I was just thinking how

confined he is in that tank, closed off from the rest of the world.”

“Was that som e kind of psy chological analy sis?”

Som ething close to panic glittered in her ey es before she

blinked it away and answered. “Probably .”

“How’s business at the gy m ?”

“Good. No one seem ed to be bothered by the incident.”

“Most people probably wrote it off as v andalism .”

“Thank goodness. I didn’t want to alarm any one.”

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea for y ou to be alone.”

“Usually , I’m not. I just happened to be the last one out

tonight.”

“You should really hav e an escort until Sterling and I get to

the bottom of this.”

Her face paled. “You really think I’m in that m uch danger?”

Guilt persuaded him to back off. “Just as a precaution.”

The arriv al of sizzling fajita m eat with fragrant green peppers

and onions gav e her a m om entary tim e-out. He gav e her tim e to

fill a tortilla with the com bination before he resum ed his attack.

“There’s a lot I don’t know about y ou.”

She speared a pepper with her fork. “There’s not m uch to

know.”

“Tell m e about Albert.”

She didn’t answer im m ediately , and he wondered if she would.

“Albert?”

He nodded. “Albert London, y our ex-husband.”

She lifted her chin. “Why ?”

He shrugged. “Curiosity .”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Determ ined to break her cool reserv e, he went straight for the

jugular. “He was m urdered.”

Her fork fell from her grasp and banged the side of her plate.

Mission accom plished.

“You’v e done y our hom ework.” Holly laid the fork back on the

edge of her plate.

Brett leaned back in his chair and waited patiently for her to

elaborate. Instead, she fidgeted with her napkin.

“What happened?” he prom pted.

Her ey es flashed and he braced him self for her barbed tongue.

“Does it m atter?”

“Yes.”

“Why ?”

He hesitated, choosing his words v ery carefully . His gut told

him she had inform ation. May be about Albert, m ay be not. Seconds

ticked by and still she said nothing. Whatev er her secret, he

wouldn’t figure it out if he pushed her. He had a plan and he’d

stick to it.

“Your v andalism m ay be related to his death.”

“I don’t think any one was m urdered in m y pool.”

Brett swallowed another wav e of surprise. The wom an was too

observ ant for her own good.

“ Th e
blood
in y our pool wasn’t blood. Som eone dum ped paint

in the water.”

“That explains the lack of a body ,” she m urm ured.

“So, who m urdered Albert?”

“How are y ou so sure I didn’t?”

His response rolled off his tongue before he could stop it. “So

sure, I’d bet y ou a roll in the sack.”

The color left her face and he felt another pinch of guilt for

teasing her. “You’re sitting across the table from m e,” he

explained. “Most m urderers go to prison.”

“I could be cov ering it up.”

Surely she could do better than that. “You’re not.”

Holly m et his persistence with a determ ined glare. “No one’s

ev er been charged.”

“Do y ou think there’s any connection between Albert’s m urder

and y our secret adm irer?”

“Som e secret adm irer,” she m um bled. “No.”

“Why not? What m akes y ou think whoev er wanted him dead

doesn’t want the sam e for y ou?”

Her hands trem bled as she lifted them and pushed her hair off

her forehead. “Your technique sucks.”

Despite him self, he grinned. “I’m not alway s this charm ing.”

She lifted an ey ebrow. “I’d hate to see y ou on an off day .”

He ran a hand across his jaw. He
was
being an ass. And as

m uch as he hated to adm it it, sexual frustration had a chokehold

on him .

“Look, Holly , before I can help y ou, we’v e got to clear the air

between us.”

She sighed and folded her hands in front of her. “I wondered

when y ou’d get around to that.”

“What hav e I done to m ake y ou dislike m e so m uch?”

“I don’t dislike y ou, Brett.”

“Coulda fooled m e.”

“I don’t.”

Searching the depths of her ey es, he felt her honesty seep into

his soul. The m y sterious clear pools brim m ed with intelligence.

Her independence beckoned him and pleaded for friendship.

Despite her closed expression, he sensed her v ulnerability .
You’re

just scared
. He could fix that.

Brett slid a hand across the table. “Truce?”

Holly glanced from his hand into his face and a tim id sm ile

softened her lips. She slipped her hand inside his and her shoulders

dropped as if she were reassured by his touch. “Truce.”

“Did Albert hav e any enem ies?”

“I wouldn’t say enem ies. Com petitors, m ay be.”

“For what?”

Holly gav e his hand one last slight squeeze before she pulled

hers back across the table. “Albert dev eloped a m iracle weight loss

supplem ent. Perm aSlim cornered the m arket and m ade him a

billionaire.”

Although disappointed at the loss of phy sical contact, Brett

forced him self to keep his attention focused on the inv estigation.