Dangerous Passion Read online

  Dangerous Passion

  Copyright © 2015 by Bonnie Dee

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  Chapter One

  Gina

  “Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I’ll give it back, darlin’.” The slow Southern drawl I’d tried to forget spoke from behind me in the queue at the pharmacy counter.

  I winced at the cheesy come-on while a low hum of anticipation started in body parts beyond my control. I hadn’t seen Micah Wyatt in the three months since our pseudo date in which we’d served as wingmen for his brother J.D. and my friend Leah. The date from hell, I joked about that night with Leah. Yet the annoying player had lodged in my brain and clung like a burr. Even the fact I’d nearly gotten trampled escaping the firetrap where Micah hosted illegal fights apparently hadn’t been enough to convince me once and for all he was no good. Although the man was a smart aleck, obviously shallow, and no one I’d consider going out with a second time, he attracted me on some primal level.

  I turned to face a broad chest, brought my gaze up to meet laughing eyes, and gave a weak smile. “Micah. What a surprise to see you again.”

  “A pleasure to see you again, sugar. Do your legs hurt? Because you’ve been running through my dreams every night since we met.” His wide mouth curved in a smile that invited me in on the joke of his silly pickup line.

  I cradled the few items, which had turned into several more than I could comfortably carry, in my arms and moved another step closer to the counter. “Does that crap actually work for you?”

  He cocked his head, and a reddish curl fell over his forehead above one arched brow. He studied me intently, and I was glad I clasped a bottle of antacid and a package of tampons over my breasts, because my nipples tightened at the sheer sexiness of his gaze.

  “Does it?” he asked. “You tell me if it’s working.”

  I couldn’t say if his lines were working, but the height and muscles and stunning blue eyes were going some way toward melting me.

  “You’re not as charming as you think you are,” I lied.

  “That’s what they always say, but then…” He shrugged and gave me a naughty-boy smile.

  I rolled my eyes, turned to put my stuff on the counter, and gave the pharmacist Mrs. Heidelberg’s name so I could pick up her prescription. I checked my watch, and my stomach dropped. Almost five minutes since I’d left the old woman in the van in order to run in and get the items I needed. Should’ve gone through the drive-thru for her prescription and come back for the other stuff later, except my period had started unexpectedly and I was out of supplies.

  “I had fun the other night,” Micah said as I swiped Mrs. Heidelberg’s insurance card. “You’re a good pool player. Whupped my ass and that rarely happens.”

  “Really? With your mouth, I would’ve guessed you get your ass handed to you on a regular basis.”

  “Hot and spicy, like my favorite barbecue sauce. I’d like to pour you all over—”

  “Anyway, it wasn’t the other night. That was a few months ago.” I grabbed my bag.

  “Ah, so you’ve been counting the hours too. I know I should’ve called, but it’s not too late. Why don’t you give me your number?”

  “No time. Gotta go.” I hurried away from the counter.

  “I’ll just get it from Leah,” he called after me. “No escaping this, sweetheart. This thing between us? It’s destiny.”

  His warm laughter rolled after me like a wave with an undertow drawing me back to him—not physically, since I was already halfway to the parking lot, but on a much deeper level. Despite the goofy come-ons, there was something about Micah that set all my lady parts quivering. I wondered about the real person hiding behind the jokes and the retro bowling shirts.

  I reached Mrs. Heidelberg’s van parked in a disabled spot and forgot all about any attraction to Micah as my stomach plummeted. The elderly woman no longer sat in the passenger seat.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” I swore under my breath. I raced to the vehicle and unlocked the door, checking inside in case she’d slumped down on the seat. The van was empty.

  How far could a nearly ninety-year-old woman get in a few minutes time? I tried to calm myself with the thought. The harsh glare of streetlights illuminated the dark parking lot in front of the pharmacy and…oh God, the busy street running past.

  I roamed the parking lot for a few moments, checking around the cars in case she’d tripped and fallen. Images of the frail woman injured in any number of horrifying scenarios flashed through my mind. I frantically called her name while I looked up and down the street. As far as I could see in either direction, there was no old woman shuffling along. It was more likely she’d be drawn to the bright lights of the store. I raced back toward the building, just as Micah Wyatt emerged.

  He grinned. “Couldn’t get enough of me, eh?” Then he caught my mood and his smile evaporated. “What’s wrong?”

  “I lost my client. I left her alone while I ran in to get a couple of things. She’s gone.” I felt like a mother who’d left her kid in a hot car. In my two-year career as a professional caregiver, I’d never done anything like this. Adrenaline sizzled in my veins and my body shook.

  “Okay, what’s she look like? I’ll help you find her.” Micah’s tone was calm and soothing.

  I got a grip on myself. “Her name’s Sonia Heidelberg. She’s in her late eighties and has dementia. Sometimes she behaves like an adult, but recently she’s reverted mostly to her childhood, so call her Sonia if you find her. Actually, don’t approach her at all. Just come get me.”

  Micah glanced at the store windows. “You think she went inside?”

  “I thought I’d start there before spreading out. I doubt she’d get far.” I said it confidently to convince myself, but I already had visions of having to call the police. How could I have been so careless? But Sonia had seemed content listening to her music, and more lucid than usual, and it was a huge deal to get her in and out of the vehicle. Easier for me to simply dash in for the pads and tampons I’d run out of.

  Micah led the way indoors and set off toward the aisles on the right while I went to the left. I rushed up and down them, calling, “Sonia! Mrs. Heidelberg.” People stared curiously as I hurried past. Several were white-haired ladies, but none of them was mine.

  When I reached the far wall, I started back to the front of the building. Time to alert the store manager or whoever was in charge tonight, and then I’d head out to the streets. By now, my pulse was pounding so hard it felt like a heart attack.

  Near the first checkout counter, I spotted Micah across the store with Sonia’s arm linked through his. She wore a big smile as he leaned close to talk to her. He picked up a small stuffed dog from a
nearby bin and offered it to her. The old woman’s gnarled hand clutched the brown-and-white toy, and she rubbed the plush against her cheek.

  Micah glanced up, saw me, and gave a nod. He escorted Sonia with gentlemanly courtesy, guiding her around displays and other customers.

  I trotted over to them and gave Mrs. Heidelberg a hug. She squirmed in my embrace and pulled away.

  “Ronnie’s here. He’s come to take me home,” she told me.

  “That’s good. I’m glad.” I mouthed a thank you at Micah. “But I can take you home, Sonia. We’ll see Ronnie another time.”

  “No! I want him to take me.” She refused to walk another step. Her face clouded, and I could see a tantrum coming. She wanted her long-dead brother and no one else.

  Micah gave her his billion-watt smile. “Honey, how about if you let Tina take you home, and I’ll follow right behind in my car. I’ll see you back at the house and help put you to bed. Would that be good, darlin’?”

  Apparently, even old women weren’t immune to his powerful charisma. Sonia nodded. “Don’t tell Mother and Father I went out, all right?”

  He shook his head. “Wouldn’t dream of it. That’s our secret.”

  I put an arm around Sonia and gently moved her forward. “How about we pay for your little dog and then go home and have a nice cup of hot chocolate?”

  Micah interrupted. “That’s okay. You get her out to the car. I’ll pay for the toy, and then I’ll follow you like I promised. See you home safe.” He wasn’t asking. He was telling in an authoritative tone completely unlike his usual amused drawl.

  I guided Mrs. Heidelberg past him and turned to whisper, “Thanks so much.”

  “No problem, darlin’.”

  “And by the way, my name is Gina, not Tina.”

  A grin wider than Kentucky spread across his face. “Sorry about that. I was so struck by your beauty, it knocked your name clean out of my head. To me, you’re just Angel.”

  And you’re an angel with a crooked halo, the hero of my night.

  I couldn’t help smiling back, and I knew from that moment I was falling into a heap of trouble.

  Chapter Two

  Micah

  Even though I’d got her name wrong, Gina had made a hell of an impression on me when we’d met on that date with J.D. and Leah. She was sassy and called me on all my bullshit. Hot, sexy, funny, smart, exactly my type with her long dark hair, tempting brown eyes and that solid curvy body. She’d be a spitfire in the bedroom, I bet. Yet I’d sabotaged my chances with her by spouting cheesy come-ons and making myself about as unlikeable as I could. Wasn’t sure why I did that, because I knew how to win over a woman if I wanted to.

  I didn’t call her later, though I could have gotten her number if I’d tried. But that would have required me admitting I was interested. Besides, J.D. and Leah were in a rocky place just then, so bugging them for her number wouldn’t have been easy. Point is, I didn’t try.

  When I ran into Gina purely by chance at the pharmacy, I took it as a sign I was meant to see her again. Then she scurried away like Cinderella without even leaving a shoe behind, let alone her number.

  I paid for my drugs and went out to the parking lot, half hoping but not really expecting her to be there. When she rushed out of the darkness, eyes wide and frightened, I thought she’d been attacked. My first impulse was to find whoever had scared her and beat the hell out of them—even though fighting is more my brothers’ thing than mine. A growling protective instinct roared through me like nothing I’d ever felt.

  It was a relief to find out she’d only lost the lady she was looking after. That was something I could help with. I found the poor old bat muttering to herself and loading her arms with cans of soup.

  “Sonia,” I greeted her. “How are you?”

  Her faded gray eyes peered at me from nests of wrinkles. “Ronnie? What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve come to take you home, sweetheart.” I played along with whoever she thought I was. “Let’s leave these things on the shelf. We don’t need them.”

  She stared at the cans she held with a puzzled frown. “I don’t need these,” she repeated.

  “No, you don’t. Here, I’ll help you put them back, then how about we get on home.”

  I put the cans on the shelf and placed a hand on her back, gently but firmly guiding her toward the front of the store. When she started to get agitated, I gave her a stuffed dog and put her at ease with chatter about how pretty her dress was and how nice she looked. That works with women of any age. By the time we met up with Gina, I had the old lady smiling.

  The relieved expression on Gina’s face when I produced her client like a rabbit from a hat made me feel like a hero. That’s right. I’m not just a good-looking asshole. I can deliver when the chips are down. You can rely on me.

  Well, maybe not rely. That was a pretty strong word and one rarely applied to me. But for a friend, I could come through in a pinch.

  I took advantage of the unexpected opportunity to get closer to sexy Gina by offering to pay for the stuffed animal and follow her back to the old lady’s house. She was so grateful to me for helping, she didn’t try to brush me off.

  That was how I found myself parking in a wealthy old Chicago neighborhood and walking up to a house that looked way too big for one crazy old lady to live in.

  “Let me help you, honey.” I offered Mrs. Heidelberg an arm while Gina juggled a couple of shopping bags and worked the lock on the front door under the portico.

  I rambled nonsense at the old lady as I helped her indoors and took a look around the foyer. A wide staircase swept up to the second floor. Lots of dark wood paneling and antique wallpaper gave a museum feel to the place. This was so far out of my regular scene, I could have been visiting another planet. I’d rarely been inside a house like this. The folks I knew back in my Kentucky hometown had cheap ranchers, dilapidated farmhouses, or trailers with tacked-on extra rooms. Here in Chicago, everyone I knew lived in ghetto apartments. The closest I’d ever come to a rich person’s house was breaking into one when I was younger.

  “Thanks for helping me.” Gina looked at me over her shoulder, long black curls framing her face, and I got an immediate boner. Damn, she was sexy.

  “If you want to take her to her room, I’ll catch up with you.”

  “Sure.” I guided that frail old body down the hall in the direction Gina pointed. “You tired, Sonia?”

  “I want to stay up. I don’t want to go to bed,” she whined, her voice high-pitched like a child’s. It was kind of eerie, not to mention depressing. Gina must be some kinda saint to deal with people like this. I guessed I could handle it for a few minutes without freaking out.

  “Well now, you don’t have to right away, but I think Gina’s going to dress you in your nightie so you’re more comfortable.”

  “Who’s Gina?”

  “Look what I got here.” I remembered the stuffed dog I’d bought for her and pulled the bag from my coat pocket.

  She fussed over the little toy until I got her to her room, and by that time, Gina had caught up with us.

  “Sorry. I had to take care of something.” She’d gathered her hair into a ponytail and it looked like she’d put on fresh lipstick, which was a positive sign for me. “Again, thanks for helping. If you want to wait in the parlor, it’s just down the hall on the left.”

  “Absolutely.” I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. I’d taken a rare night off from managing the bar. I’d worked so hard to get The Raptor’s Roost, I had a hard time leaving it in the care of one of the bartenders, even my brother J.D.

  As I took a long route on my way to the parlor, I couldn’t help assessing the valuables in the house. A lot of vintage stuff here, but I didn’t really know expensive antiques from outdated crap, so even if I could back in a van and bypass the alarm code Gina had typed in, I couldn’t say how worthwhile it would be. Not that I was casing the place or had any intention of coming back to rip off sweet Mrs. Heidelbe
rg. It was more a leftover impulse from my youth when I’d steal anything that wasn’t nailed down—for example, something like that funky glass sculpture on the table that was just small enough to fit in my pocket. My fingers twitched, but I passed it by.

  I took off my jacket and plunked down on a really hard sofa, propped my feet on a coffee table, and stared at the painting over the fireplace mantel. A family portrait. That curly-headed little girl in the old-fashioned dress must be young Sonia. A smiling family, but they probably hid secrets like most families. No one could just be happy like that.

  I stared at the painted mother with an arm around her son, smiling down at him like he was the Son of God. I stood up and walked over to look closer, searching for some clue about the truth underneath the illusion, and focused so hard on studying the portrait that I nearly jumped out of my skin when Gina spoke behind me.

  “I put her to bed, and I think she’ll stay there, but, if you don’t mind, could you come and say good night? She’s asking for Ronnie again.”

  Hair straggled down from her ponytail, and her cheeks were pink from the effort of getting her charge cleaned up, changed, and tucked in.

  “Sure. Ronnie must’ve been a helluva big brother for her to love him so much.”

  I walked with Gina back down the hall to the creepy old lady’s room. “This has gotta be a hard gig.”

  “Sometimes. It’s sure different from being an aide for Leah, or the old gentleman I had before her, who needed help but was sharp as a tack.”

  “I almost forgot you were Leah’s aide.” My brother’s girlfriend was blind, and Gina had been hired by Leah’s parents to help her adjust to living on her own. They’d become good friends.

  “Mm-hm. The agency brought us together, but I think we would’ve met some other way if that hadn’t happened. I believe we’re drawn to the people we’re meant to meet in each lifetime.”

  Hippie-chick talk. I hadn’t expected that from her, but I went with it. “So, you think you and me were destined to be together, darlin’? Written in the stars?”