Secrets and Seduction: 5 Romance Novels (8 page)

“Marisa?”

She’d been staring at the castle, remembering. She jerked herself free of the past and turned to Nick. The lines of strain in his face had doubled.

“I have something to tell you. I was waiting for the right time, but now it seems a poor reward for bringing me here.”

Marisa’s chest tightened. What else could go wrong? She braced herself for whatever it was.

“I know a lot of medical people in New York City. This morning I called a friend who called a friend — Carolyn’s psychiatrist.”

Marisa sucked in her breath. Her body tensed with dread.

“The psychiatrist could talk to my friend only because Carolyn is dead. She did come to him for depression after a miscarriage … ”

“Oh God!” Marisa’s hand flew to her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes. His words were like stakes pounded into her heart.

“ … But it was five months ago. He’d released her from his care.”

Five months ago. What was the significance of that timeframe? Five months ago, it had been May. May, and Kevin had graduated and come home. Marisa had thought her life could begin at last. She could settle down with a husband to become two distinguished pillars of the community. They could finally begin their own dynasty. She remembered babbling her happy news to Carolyn on the phone.

Tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks. The scenery in front of her blurred into a kaleidoscope of colors. “It’s my fault.” Scott Wentworth had been right, damn him!

“What’s your fault?” Nick’s words were sharp.

“That she had no one to talk to. She couldn’t talk to me — her best friend — because Kevin had just come home after eight years at college. I talked nonstop about getting married and how happy I was.” Marisa turned to Nick and sobbed. “She didn’t want to rain on my parade. She was hurting and she couldn’t even tell me. Scott told me yesterday, but I didn’t believe him.”

Nick captured one of her tight fists. “Your friend sought a professional, which was the right thing to do. Didn’t you hear me? He helped her. He’d released her.”

But Marisa shook her head and pulled her hand away from his much warmer one, turning to face the lake. “What did being here and seeing me do to her? Did it remind her of what she’d lost?” Guilt made her stomach cramp and burn.

Nick stroked her back with a gentle circling motion. “I thought you said she wasn’t the type to kill herself?”

She should refuse his touch. She didn’t deserve his gentleness. “Nothing is what it seemed. Once there wasn’t a secret Carolyn and I didn’t share.”

“You grew up and became adults.” His voice soothed.

“And then she moved away and left me behind.” Bitterness welled up, at herself, at Carolyn. “She got married, became a member of New York society.”

“You envied her.” Nick kept his voice gentle. “That’s very human.”

“She was my best friend! How sick was it to be jealous of her happiness? I had a boyfriend.” The anger inside her spilled out.

“Who was away at college. A husband is different than a boyfriend.”

“We got engaged after Carolyn got married.” Oh God, the timing slapped her in the face. It was a pity engagement. Kevin had tried to make her feel better because her best friend had gotten married. Marisa felt sick. She hadn’t been able to let go of the people she loved. Scott had said Carolyn hadn’t made new friends in New York City because Marisa had held on. And Kevin had learned to love city life, but Marisa wouldn’t let him go. Now Caro was dead and Kevin was moving away.

Nick took hold of her forearms so she had to face him. His jaw looked hard as granite. “What happened to your friend wasn’t your fault. It more than likely wasn’t her fault. Didn’t you hear what I said? Scott Wentworth lied about when his wife saw a shrink. The psychiatrist hadn’t prescribed Carolyn antidepressants in months, but Wentworth said she was taking them. Why did he lie?”

Marisa sniffed back her sobs. “Could there be another psychiatrist?”

“I asked my friend to ask around. No one had a patient named Carolyn Wentworth.”

“What are you saying? If she didn’t jump in front of the train … ” Marisa sucked in her breath, unable to continue.

“Either she stumbled, or Scott Wentworth pushed her.”

“Scott Wentworth pushed Carolyn in front of the train?” Marisa repeated. It was too horrible, too inconceivable that even Scott could do that. “Why?”

“Money, for one,” Nick said. “He inherited a business and valuable real estate, didn’t he?”

“I can’t believe it.” Yet hadn’t Scott begrudged her the few items Carolyn had willed her?

“You’ve been adamant that Carolyn didn’t kill herself. That only leaves two choices. You’ve got to admit the possibility that Scott might have wanted his wife out of the way.”

“Did you tell Deputy Nash what the psychiatrist said?”

“I felt you should know first. Besides, the sheriff doesn’t want Scott Wentworth ‘bothered.’ The sheriff told Brian to close the case with a verdict of suicide.”

Marisa sucked in her breath. “Which would allow a killer to go free, if Scott killed her.” No. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

Nick nodded. “If he did it. She could have fallen trying to reach whatever she’d dropped, like the one eyewitness said.”

“If she did drop something, it’s long gone. The town prides itself on a clean promenade.”

“There’s no harm in looking.”

“Then we should start back now.” Marisa turned toward the car.

Nick halted her with a hand on her arm. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I ruined our day. This was a beautiful place and I appreciate you sharing it with me.”

Marisa stared into the depths of his chocolate brown eyes and felt herself drowning. Her lips parted, drawing his gaze. She moistened them and watched desire heat his eyes. Her body thrummed with a corresponding need. She wanted him to peel off her clothes and lick everything he found underneath until she lay boneless and sated beneath him.

God, what was she thinking! She tore her gaze from his. Only last week she’d shared her fiancé’s bed for one of their lukewarm sexual encounters. Even the actual act with Kevin didn’t compare to the heat of a daydream about Nick. What was wrong with her?

She hurried to the car and knew Nick followed. But as she opened the door and turned, she was abruptly plastered against his body. He grabbed her arms to prevent her from stumbling. An electric shock went through her body and centered in her lower belly. She felt desperate to be intimately filled with him. Her panties dampened and her nipples peaked.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” Nick breathed into her ear. His erection pressed against her stomach.

Oh yes she did. She wanted him to mount her right here on the lawn of Belhurst and ride her hard and fast. She wanted to cry “Harder!” — something she’d never done with Kevin, the man she supposedly loved.

“Please.” Her voice sounded breathy. She wasn’t even sure now what she was begging him for. She pressed her thighs against his.

“You’re safe with me. I won’t hurt you.” He cupped her face and raised it to his.

Marisa saw brown eyes instead of blue, dark hair instead of fair, intensity instead of placidness. Distance. She needed distance. “You live in New York City.”

The passion cooled in his eyes, slowly replaced by the deadness she’d seen in them that first day. She hadn’t meant to do that.

Nick peeled his body from hers. Hers clung; so did his. She felt chilled when he no longer blanketed her.

“I’m sorry.” His voice sounded flat and emotionless. “It wasn’t my intention to bring you here to seduce you. My father taught me how to treat women with respect.”

Although she’d wanted distance, she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. “It’s all right. Let’s go back to town so we can look for whatever Carolyn dropped.”

“Sure.” Nick looked like he wanted to say more, but he closed his mouth and climbed into the car.

As Marisa navigated Route 14 back to Watkins Glen, she pondered what she’d learned while pressed against Nick’s firm body. She was attracted to the flame, and Nick was an inferno. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get burned.

• • •

Nick glanced again and again at Marisa’s strained profile. He’d done that, stressed her by pressing the mutual attraction they shared. Even now it was uncomfortable to sit in the car with a killer hard-on. He wanted her like he’d never wanted another woman. He could have ravished her right there at Belhurst in broad daylight.

She was everything a man could want in a partner: intelligent, caring, community-minded, a loyal friend, a loving daughter, beautiful, sexy, and full of life. He hungered to possess her vitality. She made him feel alive again, and he didn’t want to go back to the dark deadness that had been his life for so many months.

Yet she was right. His life wasn’t here and hers was. He couldn’t ruin what she had in Watkins Glen by sating both their sexual needs. She was hurting and in need of comfort. She didn’t need a fiery sexual liaison.

Yes she did. And so did he. But he couldn’t do that to her. That would hurt her.

She drove into the parking lot of the restaurant where they’d witnessed her friend’s death. Together they crisscrossed the area surrounding the promenade for twenty minutes before accepting that Marisa was right — there was no trash of any kind on or near the railroad crossing. If Carolyn had dropped something, the town of Watkins Glen was too thorough in cleaning the scene.

“Do you really think Carolyn dropping something?” Marisa asked.

Nick ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Eyewitness accounts are known to contradict one another.”

“Then it’s a dead end.” She winced when she said it and looked out over the lake. Then she frowned. “I wonder what’s going on out there.”

There seemed to be a lot of activity in the harbor. A number of boats were heading out. Nick knew a situation response when he saw one. He spotted Brian directing.

“C’mon. We’ll find out.”

They reached his buddy just as another boat sped away from the dock.

“What’s happening?” Nick asked.

Brian looked up from his clipboard. “The salt plant’s intake pipe is blocked. Production’s been halted. I’m sending out every licensed diver. Do you dive, Nick?” He looked hopeful.

Nick shook his head. “Nope.”

“Too bad. I need every able-bodied hand.”

“Deputy, don’t you think the timing’s a bit coincidental?” Marisa asked. “There are two meetings concerning the plant today.”

Brian glanced from her to Nick. Nick wasn’t sure if he saw a question in his friend’s eyes before the deputy answered Marisa.

“You think someone purposely stopped production?”

“I don’t know. Have you checked Scott Wentworth’s whereabouts?”

“Miss Avalos, Scott Wentworth owns the plant. He wants to sell it. He’s not going to sabotage it. And it’s probably not a good idea for you to make unfounded accusations against him.”

Marisa raised her stubborn chin. “I’m not afraid of Scott Wentworth. Do I have a reason to be?”

Again Brian glanced at Nick. Nick shrugged. “Tell her why she should fear her best friend’s husband.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Nick, tell him about the psychiatrist,” Marisa said.

Nick told his friend what he’d learned and the conclusions he and Marisa had drawn. When he finished, Brian wore a fierce frown.

“Why didn’t you bring this to me first?”

“Because you’re afraid of Scott and I’m not. It’s a motive,” Nick said.

“It deserves to be investigated,” Marisa said. “I’ll do it if you don’t.”

“All right.” Brian sounded harried. He lowered his voice. “But I won’t tell the sheriff. He knows who holds the money power in this town. I’ll make some calls. But you’d better keep quiet about your suspicions. You don’t want Wentworth to run.”

Marisa straightened and lifted her chin. “I’m going up against him twice today. If I have to use what I know about him to fight him, I will.”

“But you have no proof he actually pushed his wife,” Brian said. “Just that he lied. She could have tripped. You can’t make false accusations against him.”

“Fine. I’ll heed your warning. For now.” Marisa turned to Nick. “I enjoyed our time together. We’ll go out again tomorrow.”

For a charged moment everything buzzed between them — the possibilities and the problems. His desire for her was a living, breathing thing. His offer of himself, his body, was there, unspoken.

All that existed was Marisa and her fire. He wanted to warm himself in it. He wanted the flames to consume him.

Marisa took a step back, breaking the tableau. Then she walked back to her car.

“Whew!” Brian exclaimed. “What’s going on between the two of you?”

“Nothing.” Everything. Nick had found life again, but when he left at the end of this week, he’d leave it behind.

“She’s vulnerable.”

Nick rubbed his forehead. “I know.”

“So are you.”

Nick’s gaze jerked to his friend’s. “What are you talking about?”

“Nick, this is the most like yourself you’ve been since you got here. I barely knew you when you arrived. There was no joy in you at all, no life. Now I can almost see the man I went to college with. And it’s due to her. Marisa Avalos is passionate and alive. You’re vulnerable to that right now.”

“I won’t give up spending time with her, if that’s what you’re asking.” It was a solemn oath.

“I’m just saying be careful, for both your sakes.”

• • •

When Marisa walked through her office door, her mother nearly bounced with excitement. “Grace at the plant called to say the stockholder’s meeting is postponed until tomorrow due to trouble at the plant. I heard the intake pipe is blocked.”

“Thank God. I’ve just come from the docks where Deputy Nash is sending out divers.”

Anjelita hugged herself. “Our prayers are answered. The town meeting will be held first and we will find a way to stop Scott.”

“I hope so.” Marisa debated telling her mother what she’d learned today, but decided her mother should enjoy her moment of happiness.

Nick climbed the front steps of the huge Victorian that housed Marisa’s apartment. The street of old houses this high up on the hillside commanded an excellent view of the harbor. He wondered if this big house reminded her of the Easterling estate where she’d grown up.