Taken (17 page)

He moved away from her. She tried to grab his arm.

“Where are you going?”

Nick reached for his jeans on the chair, pulled out a condom.
Protection. Good, at least one of us is thinking.

He quickly rolled on the condom, returning to the bed, pushing her back against the pillows, sliding inside be-142

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fore she had a second thought. Her gaze met his and she saw nothing but desire, want, and need. It was enough, more than enough. He stole her breath away with another kiss. They moved as if they were one, each thrust deeper and harder than the last until she didn’t know where she ended and he began. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, loving the power of his embrace, the intensity, the passion, and when they came together, she cried out in release — blessed, mindless release.

For a few moments they held each other tight, and then Nick slid out of her and onto his side, draping his arm around her shoulders. With her head against his heart, she could hear the solid, pounding beat. Kayla closed her eyes, feeling as if she were in a warm, safe cocoon. Finally, she could sleep.

Nick awoke to the ringing of the telephone Sunday morning. It took him a moment to register the fact that he was in Kayla’s guest room, Kayla’s bed, but where was Kayla? The covers were tangled, evidence of their passion, but she was gone, her side of the bed already cold.

He got up and reached for his jacket on a nearby chair. He pulled out his cell phone. “Hello?” he barked.

“It’s Jen,” his sister said.

His mind sharpened at the tone in her voice. His heart began to pound. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was thinking about Evan and his family, his background — trying to remember something that might help, the way you asked me to,” she added defensively.

He drew in a breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Go on.”

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“Evan took me to the racetrack at Golden Gate Fields one day. He introduced me to a guy named Will. Evan told me that Will took him in when he was a kid and living on the street, and that Will was the only person who’d ever given a damn about him. He’d taught Evan everything he knew. Does that help at all?”

“Do you remember the guy’s last name? What he looked like?”

“He had tattoos on his arms. He was overweight, not dressed very well, looked like someone down on his luck, you know. He had a red face, like someone who drank a lot. That’s all I remember. He was nice, though. He gave Evan a big pat on the back, told me how great Evan was.

There seemed to be a friendship between them.”

“Name, Jen?” he prodded.

“I don’t remember his last name. But he had a nickname — Lucky Seven. Supposedly he always won the seventh race. Evan said he was a legend at the track.”

Nick wasn’t sure what he could do with the information. The facts were twelve years old. How was he going to find an old guy named Will at a racetrack? The odds were definitely against him. Then again, Will was a gambler with a nickname. Maybe someone would know him.

“So, was I right to call you?” Jen asked. “Or was this just a piece of worthless information?”

“Of course you were right to call. I appreciate it.”

“Have you learned anything else since yesterday?”

“J.T. McIntyre showed up. Remember him? Did you know he works for the FBI now?”

“Are you serious? J.T.? Mr. Rebel-without-a-cause?”

“That’s the one. Apparently, his cause is now Evan.

He’s been trying to catch him for a couple of years, but
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Evan keeps changing his aliases and his identities. By the way, J.T. asked about you.”

“Right. He probably wanted to know if I’d fallen sucker to Evan again, right?” she asked bitterly.

“You almost died because of him. Last night I dreamed about that moment when you stepped in front of the knife. Evan left you there bleeding.”

“He called nine-one-one.”

“I doubt that.”

“He did,” she said firmly. “I know. I asked him.”

“He probably lied. He was trying to get away, protect himself.”

“He knew you would take care of me, and you did,”

Jenny said. “But I don’t believe he meant for me to get hurt. I wasn’t supposed to be there that night. I was looking for you. And I had a feeling you were trying to prove something.”

Her words reminded him of how reckless he’d been. “I should have waited for the cops.”

“Probably. But it was over a long time ago.”

“That’s what I thought, but I was wrong.”

“I have to go to work. Let me know if you find out anything.” She paused. “Be careful, Nick. I may have once thought that Evan had a good side, but I’m older now, and . . . well, as much as I don’t think Evan would ever physically hurt me, I’m not so sure about you.”

“Don’t underestimate Evan where you’re concerned either, Jen. If he calls you, makes contact, let me know, all right?”

“Good-bye, Nick.”

Nick hung up the phone, feeling distinctly uneasy. It occurred to him that Jen hadn’t made the promise to call him if she heard from Evan. He hoped she didn’t make
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the mistake of thinking she could stop him on her own.

Letting out a sigh, he contemplated his next move. He needed to shower and get dressed. Then he needed to find Kayla. He had no idea what she was thinking about last night, but as he glanced back at the bed, his body tightened with pleasure. It had been damn good, but what the hell had he been thinking?

The problem was that he hadn’t been thinking. Neither had she.

Or was he wrong about that? It suddenly occurred to him that Kayla had first kissed him to get back at Evan, to prove something. Was that why she’d had sex with him? To show Evan? The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He had a feeling he’d just added one more complication to the chaos that was his life.

The car was too small, too quiet, and far too intimate.

Kayla was acutely aware of the man at her side, his musky scent, his minty breath, his incredible body — the same body she could still see naked and magnificent in her mind if she closed her eyes. Only she didn’t have to close her eyes, because he was sitting right next to her.

She wanted to focus on where they were going, what they were planning to do, but all she could think about was the night they’d spent together, the reckless, impulsive, passionate night. She couldn’t believe she’d made love to him. Not that it was love. It was sex. Right?

It had all seemed so simple and straightforward the night before, but now she was feeling more than a little confused, even a little frustrated. She had the urge to put her hand on his hard, muscled thigh, to slide her fingers toward his crotch, to lean into his body and steal a kiss.

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She clenched her hands into fists, her brain battling her body. She really had to start thinking logically, rationally, unemotionally. She let out a sigh. Unfortunately, the sound drew Nick’s attention to her. She quickly looked away from his sharp gaze, afraid of what she would see in his eyes — even more afraid of what he would see in hers.

“All right?” he asked.

“Fine.”

Nick tapped the steering wheel with impatient fingers as they came to a light. They’d taken her practical and not-so-sexy Honda CRV today, leaving the Porsche in Nick’s garage. She felt more comfortable in this car, and she suspected Nick did, too. The Porsche was definitely more of an Evan car. Since she didn’t care all that much about driving, she’d let Nick do the honors. She had enough on her mind without having to worry about traffic.

“You don’t have much to say,” he commented.

“I’m surprised that bothers you.”

“I’m surprised it does, too,” he admitted, casting a quick sideways glance in her direction. “And curious.”

“I don’t want to talk about last night.” She was afraid of what a conversation between them might reveal. In the cold light of day, she’d considered the fact that he might have made love to her to get back at Evan. She hated to think that was true, but maybe it was. And if it was, she really didn’t feel strong enough to hear it.

“All right,” he agreed. “We won’t talk about it.”

“Good, let’s talk about your sister.”

He frowned. “What can I say? Jenny is a mystery to me, especially where Evan is concerned. She can’t seem to accept the fact that he’s a bad person.”

“So, she’s not cynical like you?”

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He tipped his head. “No, she’s more of an optimist.

Women tend to be that way.”

“Well, that’s a sweeping generalization.”

“In my experience women have their head in the clouds where men are concerned. After my father walked out, my mother spent years thinking he’d come back.

Why she’d want to take his cheating ass back, I don’t know. Jenny mourned Evan for months, maybe years, after they split up.”

“What exactly happened after she got stabbed?”

“The police caught Evan. J.T. and I were the chief witnesses who testified against him. There were numerous charges. He was running a lot of scams. He was expelled and sent to jail for around two years. I think he got out about the same time we graduated.”

“That’s an interesting coincidence. He must have felt you cheated him out of that moment.”

Nick uttered a harsh laugh. “He didn’t deserve that moment. He’d conned his way into college on fraudulent transcripts. Nothing about him was real.”

“Why did he do that? I mean, why go to college at all, especially if he had no interest in actually learning anything?”

Nick didn’t answer right away. “I suspect he just wanted to have the experience. J.T. told me last night that the profile they have on Evan is that he’s always felt like an outsider, the kid looking through the window at the happy family inside. Sometimes he finds a family to put himself into.”

“Or situations like college and fraternities,” she said.

“It makes sense. Who’s this man that your sister remembered?”

“Some old guy who supposedly took an interest in
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Evan when he was a kid. He sounds like a loser, too, and it’s definitely a long shot that we can even find him.”

“At least we’re doing something. It’s the waiting that’s the worst. After Evan disappeared, I spent two weeks waiting for the phone to ring, or the door to open, or a letter to come in the mail. I was sure there had to be a good explanation.” She smiled to herself, realizing what she’d just said. “I guess I am like the women you know — far too optimistic when it comes to men.”

He shot her a quick, intimate gaze that took her right back to the night before, when they’d been naked and tangled up in each other. Did he think she was looking for something from him? She suspected he did. But she wasn’t. Was she? She shook that thought out of her head.

He glanced away, then a moment later said, “Why Evan? What made him right for you?”

“Everything. I realize now that whatever I said, he did.

I dropped clues, and he picked them up. I thought he was just being attentive, paying attention. He was playing me.

Giving me exactly what I wanted, so he could take what he wanted. I don’t know why I didn’t see it.”

“Because you weren’t looking. You can’t defend against an enemy you can’t see. I did the same thing, leaving my accounts vulnerable, because I didn’t anticipate anyone coming. And I should have. Evan swore that one day he’d get his revenge.”

“I’m sure you expected it a little earlier.”

“I got lax,” Nick agreed. “I forgot. That won’t happen again.”

She heard the ruthless resolve in his voice and knew he was determined to nail Evan, to exact his own revenge. She wondered how far he was willing to go to get it.

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“We’re here,” Nick said, turning off the freeway. He pulled into the parking lot behind Golden Gate Fields and turned off the engine. “So, are you feeling lucky?”

When Nick focused that high-watt smile on her, she definitely felt something, but it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with that other
L
word. And she wasn’t talking about
love.

9

The grandstand at Golden Gate Fields was huge and com-prised of several levels starting with standing room only, leading up to cheap seats in the sun, and finally the club-house and turf club sections that offered fancy dining and private betting rooms. Deciding that anyone with the nickname Lucky Seven was most likely to be found in the grandstand, they’d bought the cheap tickets and were now walking around the main betting area, where gamblers lined up at windows or placed their bets in casino-style machines.

As they moved outside, they saw the horses being saddled up in the paddock area in front of the grandstand.

A crowd of people lined the rails. Some were making notes in their programs. Others were holding their kids up to see the horses. Music played in the background. The scene was festive, filled with energy and excitement.

Kayla moved closer to the rail to get a better view. It was a beautiful spring day with a gusty breeze. Her hair blew against her face. She tried tucking it behind her ears, but strands kept escaping. She noticed Nick’s gaze on her and started to say long hair was a pain when the look of
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desire in his eyes stopped her. Her stomach did a little backflip. She wanted to glance away, but she couldn’t quite make herself do it.

He reached out and moved a lock of hair away from her face; then he leaned in and kissed her on the mouth.

It was barely a touch, a feathery caress that made her want to take another taste, but she knew she shouldn’t.

Look away,
she told herself firmly.
Think of something
else.
She forced herself to turn her attention back to the horses. She was thankful when Nick moved down the rail, putting some space between them as if he regretted that kiss, too.
Good.
She needed him to fight against their attraction as well. She couldn’t do it all by herself.