Stars, Love And Pirouettes (Dance 'n' Luv Series) (6 page)

“That’s only half of it. Get this. That film coming out based on my book? Well, Sean Risk has one of the a lead roles in it.”

“I’m guessing the lady doesn’t know you’re K. Z. Knight.”

“Course not. Nobody does. And that’s how I like it.”

“Hey, I understand. You wanted to disappear from the face of the earth when you lost Wendy. But the time will come, bro, when you’ll have to come out of hiding.”

Chapter Eight

Aiden stood outside his porch door on the second floor deck of his room at Richardson’s Bed and Breakfast. His mobile read 7:40 p.m. The sky had that wet inky darkness of early January. He nipped a taste of brandy from his glass as he spoke to his rep, Michael Nubell, from the Golan, Mazar Literary Agency. Michael called to break the news about the sudden passing of one of the longtime associates on their team.

“Keeled over. Flat on his back,” a somber Michael said. “While he was speaking at a pro-literacy conference at the Grand Hyatt.”

“I am so sorry,” said Aiden. “I knew Jim had a bad heart.”

“Hey, we all knew that. I used to beg him to lose weight. Even Jennifer in publicity offered to buy him a membership to a health club for his birthday. But he just laughed it off.”

Aiden’s concentration was briefly disrupted when he heard the sound of a nearby window sliding open. It had to be Jenna. The idea of her being just on the other side of his bedroom wall excited him. He took another sip of brandy then shifted his attention back to the call. “Yeah, I’ll really miss him. When Jim and I worked together I always knew he had my back. Now he’s gone. At least he died while doing what he believed in.” Aiden sighed. “He was one helluva dedicated agent.”

**

Jenna had given a less than stellar performance on the set today. Now back in her room at the B&B she began reading over her lines for the next shoot but couldn’t concentrate. So she practiced pirouettes. The challenge of maintaining perfect balance and form while turning never failed to resurrect her confidence when under pressure.

After working up a sweat, she went to open her window, and as she did, she heard a voice coming from Aiden’s side of the deck. Sounded like he was talking on his phone.

Naturally she listened in.

“Yeah, I’ll really miss him. When Jim and I worked together I always knew he had my back. Now he’s gone. At least he died while doing what he believed in.” She could hear the emotion in his voice. “He was one helluva dedicated agent.”

Ohmigod. Another agent
?
A colleague no doubt. Killed in the line of duty
?

Jenna held still and paid attention, hoping to hear more. Unfortunately, it sounded like he was signing off.

Knowing sweet and sexy Aiden slept right on the other side of her bedroom wall already titillated Jenna. But to think he was a secret CIA or FBI agent, a man who lived a life of danger…

When she was certain the call had ended she stepped out on the deck, first flicking on an outside light to warn him in case he was doing something top secret. Too late she realized he might want to be alone to mourn his fellow agent.

“Jenna.” Was it her imagination, or was he looking at her differently tonight?

She took mental stock of her appearance. Not her favorite sweatshirt. Her jeans were okay, but her long straight hair was falling out of the ponytail she’d put it in a few hours ago, and her makeup had washed off in the shower she’d taken after returning from her day on the
Sunrise Lane
set.

“Hello, Aiden. I missed you out here for the past three nights.”
Geez
. She couldn’t believe that came out of her mouth. How embarrassing. Had she forgotten the coy and careful way she measured her words around Sean?

Except it produced a smile from Aiden that made her heart race. “Good to see you,” he said. “Things going all right with the show?”

“Really well, actually.” She almost said that she was sorry about his friend, but stopped her idiot mouth just in time.

He caught her reaction. “You all right? Feeling panicky again?”

She twisted her fingers together, trying to think. But she’d always been better at dancing than talking. “I know who you are.” Her hand flew to her mouth.

Aiden’s brows knit. “How’d you find out?”

What could she say? She could never fess up about her snooping into his computer. Unless of course she was in the mood to face a firing squad. “I just guessed. But I promise you my lips are sealed.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“I can’t tell you how much I respect what you do. Just tell me one thing: is my mother safe? I mean, are there people who might come here looking for you?”

“Trust me, no one knows I’m here. And I doubt anyone is looking right now. They have bigger fish to fry than me.”

“That’s a relief,” she said.

“Now can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.”

“We don’t ever bring up this subject again.”

“Deal.” She bit down on her lip and paused. “One last question?”

“Go on.”

“Do you ever get scared?”

“All the time.”

“The pressure must be intense.”

“That plus working with some characters can be a real problem.”

“I’ll bet. How do you handle it?”

“I told you already. Peanut butter brownies.”

Jenna laughed. What did she expect him to say? He wasn’t going to start talking to her about carrying a gun or anything. Did he carry a gun?

Aiden walked closer. She could hardly believe the way her body reacted to him. Although he was tall, he wasn’t a brawny man. But he had a runner’s grace and a lean muscularity that had her fantasizing about getting naked with him. Then there was his Prince Aragorn face and…

“On that final note,” he said with a polite but distinctly no-nonsense resolve, “we’re done talking about it.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, almost wanting to salute. Then quickly added a jittery, “What I mean is, absolutely.”

His eyes instantly warmed. “So what are you up to tonight?”

“Nothing.” She’d turned down Sean’s invitation to a party in Manhattan. The fact that he didn’t try to talk her into going disturbed her a little. But how could she fault Sean for that when she’d chosen to stay home in case Aiden came back?

“Want to go look at some stars?” he asked. “From a different location.”

“Sure.”

He pointed to her pink fuzzy slippers. “Get some shoes on and we’ll head out”

“Meet you on the stairs in ten.”

Back in her room Jenna quickly slipped into her sneakers. Then she neatened her ponytail, swished on some eyeliner and lipstick, changed into a black sweater and tossed on her pea coat. Aiden stood waiting outside her door, his tall frame in a sultry pose leaning against the wall, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

“Custer Observatory is open to the public tonight. Ever been there?” he asked.

Jenna nodded. “We went there on a class trip when I was in tenth grade. But to be honest, I wasn’t all that, um…”

“You were too busy flirting with Josh or Eric or whatever his name was.”

“How do you know?” She giggled and gave him a poke on the arm.

“Ouch.”

Sitting next to Aiden in the confines of his car, Jenna could tell the tidbits of conversation he made about the North Fork being a great place for stargazing were a cover-up for his nervousness. Ironically, it relaxed her a bit knowing he was also feeling awkward, maybe also wondering if this was a date or not.

He was a total stranger, yet the other night on the balcony she’d revealed more to him about herself than she showed to most people. Something about Aiden made her feel at home but at the same time disturbed her in delicious ways. There was no denying he had a raw sexual energy that attracted her.

He wheeled his Chevy Volt across the Fork with the know-how of a native east ender, taking Middle Road to Ackerly Pond Lane before cutting over to Main Bayview. The Custer Institute sat in a peaceful residential neighborhood and could easily be missed as just another house along the way. A plain nondescript red brick building with a silver-domed observatory and two smaller observatories in the back yard nestled amid the trees and brush.

The place was a fixture on the North Fork, having been there since the 1920s, and Jenna knew the Saturday night open houses usually drew astronomy buffs from around Long Island. A tiny part of her was disappointed to be going here. She’d pictured Aiden setting up his telescope on a bluff where the two of them would be alone.

Maybe he only wanted to be friends.

Jenna caught herself. Had her curiosity turned into something more? What about Sean?

“Here we are,” Aiden said. They strolled into the yard where some people were setting up there own telescopes. “I brought my heavy duty binoculars, but it’s the Newtonian Obsession we want to use.”

Jenna nodded. “That’s a telescope? Sounds more like a perfume.”

Between the easy camaraderie of the other people there and the spectacular views of the night sky, she found herself lost in the magic and wonder of it all.

So like what drew her to dance. Aside from the strenuous athletic discipline, which fed her compulsive perfectionistic streak, Jenna loved the pure and simple beauty of it.

While standing close to Aiden in the burnished red light inside the top floor of the observatory, the huge telescope pointing at the starry sky through a rectangular window that opened in the domed roof, a wave of sadness and confusion came over her.

True to form, Aiden sensed it. “What’s wrong?” he said. But before she could answer, he put his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the observatory.

His touch felt so good she couldn’t help leaning into him. He walked her to his car, but before they got in he turned to her, his arm still holding her. “Do you want to talk?”

“I’m sorry. I’m going though some weird stuff lately, realizing that I don’t know who I am or what I really want.” She let out a short laugh. “I guess that must sound indulgent coming from me. I mean, how many people ever get a chance to play a role on a hit TV show or dance for a company like ABT? But I’m numb. Like I’m on autopilot. Like I’m missing something really important. And for some reason when I was looking into those galaxies so far away…”

“The stars’ll do that to you.” His hand reached out to pull up the collar of her coat against the cold and his thumb brushed her cheek. The accidental touch made him pause. Their eyes met, and Jenna could swear he wanted to kiss her.

And then he did. Gently at first, bending forward and brushing his lips across hers. But when Jenna reached her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, Aiden responded with a hunger that left her breathless.

Chapter Nine

Aiden tore himself away from Jenna. He didn’t like the raw need that took over his will at her touch. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

“I knew it. You’re married,” she said, an edge of sarcasm in her tone.

“No, but I was.”

“An unhappy divorce?”

He groaned inside. Women always wanted to know these things. And to talk about them. Well, he did not.

Since Wendy’s death he’d been good at avoiding women who might try to get to know him, sequestering his sexual affairs into anonymous flings during his travels where he could use whatever name he wished and be gone in a day or so.

But that wasn’t how he wanted it to go with Jenna. “I’m a widower.”

Her enormous eyes fixed on him with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. How long has it been?”

“Five years.”

“Guess you never get over something like that. You must have really loved her.”

 He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t get into dredging up his past. Was this what it would take to start over? Aiden gave her a slight, stiff nod and quickly changed the subject. “Let’s go get a bite to eat.”

Thankfully, Jenna didn’t press him. She slid into the passenger seat and Aiden drove off.

“Ever eaten at the Scrimshaw?” she asked.

“Nope. Show me the way.”

Jenna gave him directions and then began singing a childlike jingle about a scrimshaw in a goofy cartoon voice that made Aiden want to laugh and kiss her at the same time.

“We’re you the clown of the family?” he asked.

“Yeah. My brother still sometimes calls me Monkey because I used to do circus tricks and silly dances trying to make everybody smile.” Her tone sobered. “Guess some part of me believed I could make all the bad stuff go away.”

Aiden wasn’t sure he should probe after he’d just dodged hers. Except she seemed to be waiting for that. “What was going on?”

Her finger went to her mouth. He’d noticed she bit her nails. “My father was dying of cancer. My mom didn’t handle it too well and started drinking again.”

Again? “The big C took my wife, too. How old were you?”

“Seven. Too young to fully comprehend why my family was falling to pieces. Or to believe my father was really going to die. But I was lucky enough to have an older brother and sister who coddled me.” She faced him. “Have you met Parker or Casey?”

“No.”

“Best brother and sister anyone could ask for. They were only teens, but Parker quit high school and took over my dad’s gardening business to keep food on our table. Casey got an afterschool job as well as becoming a second mom to me.”

“So unlike my family where it was every man for himself.” He hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but the words just came out. Aiden smirked, hoping she’d assume he was calling his childhood a comedy instead of the miserable drama it had been.

“Big family?”

“Six kids.”

“Your accent, it’s Boston, right?”

“Right.”

“What part?”

“Dorchester.”

“Like in the movie,
The Departed
?”

Aiden nodded, keeping his focus on the road ahead.

“I take it you’re a Red Sox fan?”

“You better believe it.”

“We may have a problem.”

“Yankees?”

“Derek Jeter all the way.”

“Yeah, we got a problem.”

He pulled his Chevy into a parking lot, and they walked over the large planks of the wharf. At one point their hands brushed and he was tempted to snatch her graceful fingers in his. But after that kiss, Aiden knew once he started touching Jenna he would only want more and more of her, as if she were some kind of divine elixir that could take away all his pain.