Secrets and Seduction: 5 Romance Novels (9 page)

He should have called to tell her he was coming over. But he felt nervous, like she’d say no. He just wanted to accompany her to the town meeting. What was wrong with that?

The front screen door was ajar a few inches. His city-bred security consciousness was appalled. But this was Watkins Glen where they had very little crime. He decided to go up to Marisa’s apartment instead of buzzing her from outside.

As he put his foot on the first riser, he heard a door close above him and light quick footsteps coming down the stairs. Marisa. His heart rate sped up. He couldn’t believe how eager he was to see her.

She rounded the landing into view, looking alive with vitality. She wore a blue-flowered dress that made her look very feminine. Her eyes widened when she saw him and she smiled. His breath caught and his heart took wing.

As she stepped down, he noticed something small and round on the stairs. All her concentration was on him. Before he could shout an alarm, Marisa’s foot hit it and she pitched forward.

With a surge of adrenalin, Nick sprang toward Marisa, desperate to catch her before she hit her head as she fell. He leaped the last three steps and grasped her out-flung arms, using her downward momentum to pull her body against his. She hit him with an oomph that propelled him backwards. His back hit the floor with a painful thud, and her body slammed against his front with an almost equal force.

He lay there winded, staring up at the high wood ceiling and trying to calm his speeding pulse. She was safe! He looked at her and managed words. “You could have broken your neck. Thank God I was here.”

She lifted her head and blew a lock of black hair out of her face. “Thanks for catching me.”

“You scared me.”

“You? My heart’s beating like a runaway train.”

He became aware that she was lying between his spread legs with her dress up around her thighs, her breasts pressed against his ribs, his cock against her stomach. He felt himself harden.

Marisa’s eyes widened and she scrambled off him, wincing as she moved.

Nick climbed to his feet, hiding his own wince. He reached for her as he rose. “Are you hurt? Is anything broken? Remember I’m a paramedic.”

She let him palpate her left forearm and bicep. “I don’t think anything’s broken. I must have hit the wall or banister when I fell.”

He sighed with relief and tried not to be affected by touching her soft skin. “No, nothing’s broken, but you’re going to have a couple of nasty bruises. You’re lucky. It could have been much worse.”

“I know. Thanks again.” Her voice was slightly breathy and the dark pools of her eyes held the same awareness of him that he felt. “How about you? Are you hurt? You took the brunt of our fall.” Her hands fluttered as though she wasn’t sure about touching him as he’d touched her.

Nick tried to control the wildfire raging inside of him. He wanted her to touch him, wanted to take Marisa in his arms and press her body all along the line of his once more. She’d been in danger and he wanted to use his hands to feel every inch of her body to confirm that she was all right. He imagined her doing the same to him and stifled a groan of need. He tried to remember that he was leaving in a week and Marisa was staying, and that she’d been engaged until recently.

He cleared his throat and stepped away from her. “You shouldn’t leave things on the stairs.”

“I didn’t. I came home less than two hours ago and those stairs were clear. What was it anyway?” She glanced around for the object.

Nick searched until he spotted it down the hall. He scooped up the red and blue ball and handed it to her. “It was hard to see against the dark wood.”

Marisa frowned. “No children live here. The nearest family lives two doors down.”

“The screen door was open when I got here. I bet this is a great place to play.”

“Not if the children are going to leave their toys for someone to trip on. I’ll have to speak to them tomorrow.” Her gaze tangled with his once more and she smiled. “What are you doing here?”

Nerves fluttered in his stomach. “Besides rescuing you, I was hoping you’d let me escort you to the town meeting. I’ve never been to one.”

“Some of it might not be pleasant. The townspeople are upset.”

“I live in New York City. People there can get pretty unpleasant.”

Marisa brushed herself off and tidied her hair. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He followed her out the door, making sure the screen latched behind him. When she let him seat her in his car, he felt he’d won. She directed him down the steep hill toward Franklin Street to the town hall offices. He parked the car and came around to open her door.

“Did you bring your camera?” she asked.

“Nope. I’m just observing tonight.” His hand itched to touch the small of her back, but he resisted.

Marisa licked her lips. His eyes followed the movement that his tongue wanted to trace. She saw where he was staring, and when she spoke next, her voice was nervous and fast.

“I’m going to be at the podium. You’re welcome to sit with me if you like.”

“In the spotlight?” He tried to lighten things. “No thanks.”

It worked. Marisa responded easily to his banter. “Chicken.”

“That’s me.” He saw a determined looking woman advancing with purpose toward them. Their time alone was about to come to an end. “I’ll drive you home afterwards.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” He needed to.

“All right.”

“Marisa,” the woman greeted her with enthusiasm. “Are you ready?” She was fifty-ish, blonde, and self-confident. Her sand-colored pantsuit and white pearls looked elegant on her.

“Yes, Your Honor, I am.” Marisa introduced them. “Mrs. Mayor, this is Nick Stark. Nick, Mayor Amanda Bolliton.”

“Your Honor.” Nick shook her proffered hand.

He could practically see her thinking. “You’re Deputy Nash’s friend.”

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re well informed.”

“I try to be. Marisa, the problem at the plant today makes this meeting critical. I have the report on the cause of the blockage and it wasn’t natural.”

“Sabotage?” Nick said.

“Yes.” Mrs. Bolliton nodded. “This is serious. I’ve told Sheriff Kehr to make it his top priority to find the culprit or culprits.”

That would work right into the sheriff’s plan to close the Wentworth case. Nick caught Marisa’s eye to see if she realized it.

She did. “What about Carolyn Wentworth’s case?”

The mayor frowned at Marisa. “Sheriff Kehr said it was a suicide.”

“It wasn’t.” Marisa words carried flat resolve.

“Oh dear. I’ll speak to the sheriff, but he has so little manpower.”

Nick thought of a solution. “Mrs. Mayor, if you’d tell the sheriff that it’s all right for Brian Nash to keep investigating Mrs. Wentworth’s death in his free time, I think that would satisfy Miss Avalos.”

Marisa gave him a quick look of gratitude, “Yes, Your Honor, I’d be grateful. I loved Carolyn like a sister. I don’t want her death to go unsolved.”

The mayor nodded her blonde head. “Consider it taken care of.”

When the mayor entered the building ahead of them, Marisa’s smile made Nick’s stomach do a funny flip. It was the first real smile he’d seen. It lit up her face and he saw how truly alive she was.

He felt like a star struck fan as he followed her into the town hall. Even as early as they were, the hall was filled with people sitting, standing, and talking.

Heads turned toward the mayor and then to Marisa. People moved to speak to her as she passed, Nick following in her wake like a boat in tow. She was amazing and so unlike the woman he’d seen that first day. She was full of vital energy and purpose. He’d seen glimpses of it in her defense of her friend. She greeted many people by name, shook hands with everyone who stopped her, and listened to what people had to say.

Marisa introduced him to a lot of people. He wondered what it would be like to be her other half. Nick saw only desirable qualities. What had her fiancé seen or not seen in her to make him throw her away? Nick felt like punching the other man for his stupidity and for hurting Marisa. Oddly enough, it was the latter that made him angrier.

At eight o’clock, the mayor took her place at the podium and brought silence to the assembly. Nick didn’t see an empty seat in the hall. He also didn’t see Scott Wentworth or Kevin Johansson. Nick nodded to Brian as his friend slid in the door. Brian saluted him with two fingers and then leaned against the wall.

“We all know what this meeting is about,” Mayor Bolliton began. “But let’s hear it firsthand from the woman who will save our town, Marisa Avalos.”

There was loud applause and then Marisa took over the podium.

“Most of you know me or have seen me. I was born here twenty-six years ago. My mom’s been here nearly thirty.” Marisa smiled to her left and Nick saw her mother wave.

“I’ve built my business here and so has my mom. We’re part of this town and we like it here. We don’t want it to change. You’ve all heard how Carolyn Wentworth died.” She choked, and her eyes filled. She cleared her throat and proceeded.

“Now Scott Wentworth owns everything and he intends to sell it. He doesn’t care to whom or how it gets sold as long as someone takes the plant off his hands quickly.”

There was a murmur of discontent from the crowd.

“A lot of you work there.”

“Yeah!” numerous voices responded.

“And I want you to keep your jobs … ”

The responses were louder this time.

“Local jobs for local people.”

“You got that right!” one man shouted.

“I need to hear your ideas of what we can do to keep those jobs right here in Watkins Glen. The mayor will entertain any idea, as long as it’s legal.”

Mayor Bolliton joined Marisa at the podium. Nick could picture Marisa becoming mayor when she was Amanda Bolliton’s age. They were two women connected intimately to this town.

One by one, the townspeople stood and offered ideas, including the workers buying out Scott Wentworth. Other people offered opinions or stories about the plant or Mr. Easterling.

A short barrage of Andrew Easterling anecdotes followed, and then one wrinkled man stood and shouted in a carrying voice, “Why don’t you dispute the will?”

“How?”

“How do you think?”

Marisa frowned. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“You’re the old man’s bastard. Just ask for what’s yours.”

Nick stiffened. Several responses of “Yeah, it’s yours” followed the first man’s, but the majority of people were silent. Marisa’s face reddened. Nick glanced at her mother to find she’d paled. How humiliating for her.

“I’m not Andrew Easterling’s child,” Marisa said.

“I helped Andrew Easterling move your ma from her tiny apartment to his estate. He was familiar with that apartment and with your ma. And it wasn’t seven months later that you were born.”

“He was not my father.”

“It’s easy enough to prove,” someone else shouted. “Get a DNA test.”

“Yeah,” several people agreed.

“We don’t have time to waste on useless things,” Marisa said. “Especially when I know the outcome won’t be positive.”

A young, well-dressed man stood. “The test could hold up the disposition of the will, especially since so many of us are sure the results will be positive.”

Marisa looked strained now. Her mother had her face in her hands. Nick felt like an ass for having asked Marisa if the rumors were true. Had she heard them all her life? Why were the townspeople so sure she was Easterling’s child? Did some of them know things they were too discreet to say?

All he was sure of was that he needed to rescue Marisa. He stepped away from the wall. “What about passing a law about who can own the plant? That you have to be a New York resident or something?”

“It’s possible,” Mayor Bolliton said. “What about it, Mr. Jantzen?”

The well-dressed man responded, “I’ll have to research it, Your Honor.”

“Then do so. Can I have your answer tomorrow?”

Jantzen smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

“Are there any other ideas?” the mayor asked.

A woman near Nick grumbled, “All she has to do is have the test.”

Other ideas were tossed out and debated.

Finally, the mayor raised her hand. “I think we have enough ideas. There’s one more issue we need to discuss — what happened at the plant today.” She silenced the murmurs again. “Someone intentionally blocked the intake pipe.”

People gasped. “What?”

“Who?” others asked.

“Did Wentworth do it? Is he trying to sabotage the plant?” one old woman asked.

“We don’t know who did it,” the mayor said. “But we’re going to find out. And security is going to be increased at the plant to prevent any other incidents.”

“Do you expect more sabotage?” someone shouted.

“Why don’t you just arrest Wentworth?” the old woman who thought he was the saboteur asked.

“If you have any information, please tell the sheriff.”

The meeting degenerated into a shouting match when someone mentioned starting a vigilante patrol. Nick noted the tense stances of Brian, the sheriff, and the other deputies, and decided he’d better get Marisa out of there.

He headed for the podium, but it seemed others had the same idea. From the corner of his eye he saw Marisa’s mother — still unmoving in a sea of flowing bodies — and he headed for her.

People touched her arm or shoulder as they passed, but it was as though everyone was afraid to speak to her after the accusations that had been made.

Nick placed his hand on her shoulder and gently spoke her name. “Anjelita.”

Her hands dropped from her face and she looked up. A wealth of emotions crossed her still-beautiful face. Her lips were framed to speak a name, but it wasn’t his, and the moment she recognized him it went unspoken.

Nick’s breath seized in his throat. He tried not to let the awareness of the name reach his face. There were enough rumors in this hall already.

“Anjelita, let me take you home.”

Her hand covered his on her shoulder. “Thank you, but I need to speak with my daughter. She can drive me home.”

“I drove her here.”