Jake's Bride (24 page)

Chapter One

Nathan didn't want to be caught dead, let alone alive, inside a beauty salon.  As he pulled open the glass door and stepped inside, feminine chatter, strange smells, and the glimpse of a woman with her hair rolled in blue and purple curlers was enough to make him decide he'd rather face ten irate CEO's whose firewalls had been breached in one day than to plow into this women's domain.  But he'd do anything to find his daughters. 

Anything.

Nathan's determination had pulled him out of the poverty of his childhood, earned him a scholarship to college, and pushed him to start his own company specializing in computer security after only a year with another firm.  He'd wanted to be his own boss, bill his own hours, set his own standards. His determination couldn't save his marriage, but by God, it would lead him to his daughters.  After six months of dead ends, he'd decided money and rational strategies weren't enough.  That's why he was here.  That's why he had to speak to Gillian Moore.

At his private investigator's insistence, Nathan had agreed to go this route--the only route left as far as Nathan was concerned or he wouldn't pursue it.  He wouldn't debate about methods, not even weird ones at this point.  He'd used every skill he'd possessed to find his daughters.  So had his P.I.  Now he had to put his logic and wariness aside if he hoped to find his children before he lost more time with them.

The woman at the desk inside the door smiled as her gaze traveled from his dark brown hair, down his charcoal pinstripe suit and striped silk tie, to his black winged-tip shoes.  She tilted her head and her lips curved up a bit more.  "Can I help you?"

Suddenly Nathan felt as if he were the center of attention.  Two customers on chairs in the room beyond had craned their necks to avidly assess him along with the receptionist.  His shirt collar felt tighter, and he resisted the urge to tug down his tie.  "I'm looking for Gillian Moore."

"You want a manicure?" the redheaded, perfectly coiffed and made-up receptionist asked with a mischievous smile.

"No.  My name is Nathan Bradley.  I need to speak with her as soon as possible," he said in his best authoritarian tone.  "Is she here?"

"Hold on a sec," the redhead answered, her smile flagging.  Disappearing into the room beyond, she reappeared a few moments later.  "She's with a client.  She says she'll talk to you in five minutes."

Five minutes.  What the heck was he supposed to do for five minutes?  He spied several magazines in a basket in the corner beside two director's chairs.  "Fine.  I'll wait."

Waiting wasn't something Nathan did well.  He hadn't become a successful CEO with company locations across the country by waiting.  As he flipped one glossy page after the other, he was vaguely aware this publication didn't advertise fast cars or designer clothes.  Tuning in to the sound of feminine voices in the next room, he tried to pick out the one belonging to a woman who had helped police departments solve missing person cases.  As he had many times in the past few days, he imagined what she might look like.  Probably fuzzy, wild hair with a red scarf tied around her head.

He could feel the receptionist watching him as she pretended to study the schedule book.  Finally, a customer with bright crimson nails emerged from the room beyond and gingerly opened her purse at the desk.

"Gillian can see you now," the desk-keeper informed him.

Gillian Moore's lack of response to his phone calls had irritated and frustrated Nathan.  He was accustomed to being in charge.  But his reason for being here brushed all that aside.

Striding into the busy room, he took it in with one glance--the chairs, mirrors, blow dryers, three hairdressers chatting to their customers.  But then his gaze fell on the small white wrought-iron desk in the far corner and the woman sitting behind it.  Her face turned away from him, she slid a pack of acrylic nails to the side of the glass top and straightened her manicure paraphernalia.  At his approach, her gaze met his, and he almost stopped short.

She didn't look like a psychic.

Her long, light brown hair was laced with sunny blond highlights.  A few tendrils wisped along her cheek. Her bangs wafted across her honey brows.  But it was her huge brown eyes that almost immobilized him.  They didn't appraise him physically…they looked into his soul.  He didn't like the invasion.

Gillian had wished her client a good day and unnecessarily  organized her work table, hoping Nathan Bradley had decided not to wait.  When she turned her head and saw a tall man with resolve shouting from his furrowed dark brows, the set of his mouth, and his slightly squared jaw, she realized it would take more than a few unanswered phone messages to deter this man.

Taking a slow breath and maintaining eye contact, she slid her hands into the pockets of her white apron.  Nathan Bradley wanted something from her, all right, and she couldn't give it.  Not right now.

"Ms. Moore."

It was more statement than question.  She nodded.

"Could we talk for a few minutes?"

She gestured to her desk.  "I'm working, Mr. Bradley.  I really don't have time--"

"You don't have a client at the moment," he countered, his blue eyes steady, his voice firm.

This man could be intimidating.  But she was used to dealing with hard-nosed cops, jaded private investigators, and a disbelieving public who wanted her help anyway.  "No, I don't.  But I am working.  Now, if you'd like a manicure..."  She almost had to smile at his expression of distaste, but then his next words made her heart beat faster.

"I want a few minutes with you.  You're the last option I have."

"For what?" she asked, though she sensed what he needed.

"My two daughters.  I need you to help me find them."

As she stood, Gillian glanced around the shop to make sure no one was listening.  "Where did you get my name?"

"Does it matter?"  As he asked, he slipped a photo from the inside pocket of his jacket.

His movement was quick, but Gillian caught a view of a narrow waist, slim hips, and a physique probably as taut as his demeanor and voice.  When he offered her the photograph, her attention returned to the situation at hand and she took a step back.

The two young girls in the snapshot had their father's blue eyes and brown hair.  She could tell that he loved them from the way the camera had caught Nathan Bradley' expression as he crouched down between them, one arm around each daughter.  The pain in his eyes now attested to the fact.

He tried to hand Gillian the photo, but she wouldn't take it.  She knew what might happen if she did.  She might see images and feel emotions she didn't want right now.  Folding her hands in front of her, she said, "I'm no longer doing that type of work."

But it was difficult for her to tear her gaze from the picture.  When she did, the sadness in Nathan Bradley's eyes was almost as difficult to ignore.

"Why?"

For some reason, she couldn't hedge or lie to this man.  Checking again to be sure no one eavesdropped, Gillian lowered  her voice anyway.  "Since I was sixteen, Mr. Bradley, my life hasn't been my own.  I came to L.A. to escape the type of work you want me to do and to make decisions about my future."  She stopped and tears pricked her eyes as she thought about the last few months before leaving Indiana.

Regaining her composure, she swallowed and went on, "For almost ten years, I've helped others when they've asked.  Now I need time and breathing room before I decide if and how I want to use my gift again."

As she spoke, she could tell he listened.  There was a spark of empathy in his eyes, but, of course, his need was more important.  "Take this one case," he insisted.  "I'll protect your privacy if that's what you're concerned about.  Your help doesn't have to be public knowledge.  I'm an internet security specialist.  I know what safeguards we can take.  No one else has to know you're here."

She steeled herself against the man's masculine appeal and turned away from the wonderful smiles of the children in the photo as well as the hurt still lingering in her heart.  That hurt sprang up every time she remembered Brian Reston and the search for his son, the months she'd dreamed about a future for the three of them.

Despite the time that had passed, despite the miles between L.A. and Deep River, Indiana, she knew she wasn't ready for Nathan Bradley and his search...for any of it.  The general public thought psychics could "know" anything they wanted, that they could answer any question, even their own personal ones.  That just wasn't true.  Gillian had realized early on that she couldn't use her "gift" for her own benefit or to predict events.  All she could do was tune into impressions and use them along with her intuition.  Words, pictures, and sounds sometimes popped into her head, but she never knew when that was going to happen.  It hadn't happened since she'd left Indiana.

With the need for self-preservation being her overriding concern, she said, "If you found me, others will be able to.  And I'm not only concerned about privacy.  You make my help seem simple, as if all I have to do is close my eyes and give you the answers you want.  The process is much more complicated than that.  Try a private investigator, Mr. Bradley.  It will be best for both of us."

"A private investigator gave me your name."

She sighed and shook her head.  "Then he can find someone else who does my kind of work."

"It's difficult to find a reputable psychic," Nathan almost growled as his frustration became evident.

Worry stabbed Gillian.  "Sh..."  All she needed was her co-workers knowing. 

Nathan lifted his hands in exasperation and in a loud whisper asked, "Why is it so all-fired important for no one to know what you do?"

Anger bubbled up inside her because this man knew nothing about the hundreds of letters she received each year, the sleepless nights, the burden of parents and brothers and sisters and children depending on her to find someone they loved, or someone who was missing.  What irritated her the most were those who wanted a plan for the future without formulating it themselves.  "If they knew what I was able to do, most women in this salon would want a reading.  They'd line up for hours waiting with bated breath for me to tell them their future.  And if I couldn't tell them anything, they'd say I'm a fraud.  My gift creates a three-ring circus, Mr. Bradley.  No, thank you."

Harriet came in from the front desk.  "A walk-in for nails is waiting, Gillian.  How's your schedule?"

Gillian accepted fate's offer of a neat, non-confrontational way to end this encounter.  "Tell her to come in.  I don't have another appointment until four.  If it's all right with you, I'll take my supper break at five."

"No problem."  Harriet's interest in Nathan was obvious as she gave him a wink and returned to the front room.

He faced Gillian.  "I'd like to continue our discussion."

"There's nothing more to say.  I have to get back to work and I'm sure you do, too.  Call your P.I.  He'll find someone else."

The look the man gave Gillian was not resigned.  If anything, it was more determined than ever.  But he didn't argue.  "I'll call my P.I.  But I'll be talking to you again.  Soon."

With a lift of his brow and a wave of his hand, he was gone.

Gillian first felt relief, then a strange sense of loss.  But she was used to feelings and images not clicking.  Eventually they became part of a bigger picture, and then she'd understand. But there was no bigger picture where Nathan Bradley was concerned.  There was no picture at all.

#

The instant Gillian stepped outside of the Hair Happening, she saw him.  He stood beside a gray Mercedes in the parking lot. She should have realized this man wouldn't give up so easily.  Ducking back into the salon was an option.  So was ignoring him as she walked to the enchilada and chili stand across the parking lot of the strip shopping center.  But she had the feeling when she returned, he'd still be waiting, and not quite so patiently.

A group of teenagers on roller-blades skated by, one of them holding a miniature schnauzer on a leash.  She smiled at the sight, something she'd probably never see in Deep River.  But her smile slipped as she spotted the handsome, very sexy man walking toward her, and an excited little shiver zipped up her spine.  At least six-two, lean and fit, with long legs that quickly covered the distance between them, he was the type of man who could attract a roomful of women without trying.  It wasn't only his looks but his confidence, his dominating male presence.

When he stood before her, he asked, "Can I buy you supper?"

"If I hadn't mentioned my break, you would have waited till I quit for the day.  Right?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Bradley..."

"Nathan.  You have to eat supper. I have to eat supper.  Is  there any reason we shouldn't talk while we do?"

"You have an ulterior motive.  This won't be much of a break for me."

"It's not an ulterior motive because you know what I want."

"Obviously, I need to watch what I say with you," she murmured.

The corners of his mouth twitched up.  "Is that a yes or no?"

"If I say no, you'll be back.  Let's get this over with."

The curve of his lips turned into a frown, indicating he was uncomfortable with her frankness.  Gillian's gaze wanted to linger on those lips.  They were full enough to be sensual, narrow enough to enhance the handsome aesthetics of his face.  She could imagine one of his kisses--dominating, forceful, passion-filled.