Surrender to Love (17 page)

He laughed. “It sure looks great,” Carson praised her. “First I think we need a little bubbly to get the meal going.” He retrieved the bottle of champagne. “I hope it’s chilled enough.
I slammed it in the freezer the moment I got your invitation on the answering machine.” He popped the cork and a thin mist swirled from the top.

He studied her awhile before filling her glass, then asked the question that was prominent in his mind. “Are you as nervous as I am?”

Her gaze flew to his and he watched the tension drain from her face. “More than you’ll ever know.” She accepted her glass.

“What makes you so nervous?” he ventured to ask, hoping to focus on anything but his own awkwardness.

Her gaze lowered slightly. “I think it’s the not knowing of it all.”

He lifted his brows, intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Julia bit her bottom lip as she thought for a moment. “It’s the not knowing whether I’m going to make a fool of myself. The not knowing whether this will turn out to be another mistake in a long line of mistakes.”

She laughed subtly, as if she’d made a joke, but Carson read the truth written on her unguarded expression. “Did your husband hurt you?”

She bit her lower lip, mentally weighing how to best answer the question. “My ex-husbands have taught me lessons I don’t care to repeat.”

“Husbands?”

At his astonished expression, she laughed. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for love.”

He regarded her with growing interest. “There are worse vices.”

“I think that’s debatable,” she countered. “If a person has a drinking problem, there’s Alcoholics Anonymous. Chain smokers have their pick of nicotine patches and gum. Hopeless romantics, on the other hand, all too often only have the comfort of a nice fluffy pillow to dry their tears.”

Carson leaned back in his chair while a low rumble of laughter filled his chest. “An interesting analogy.”

“Just the voice of experience.”

“Well.” He brightened. “At least I can stop feeling guilty for pining after a married woman.”

She relaxed again and laughed.

He sliced a piece of the meat loaf and sank his teeth into it. “Mmm,” he moaned with his eyes drifting closed as he continued to chew.

Julia’s heart took flight at his obvious pleasure, but a person would’ve thought it was the last morsel on his plate, the way he carried on so dramatically.

“You lied,” he said, finally opening his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You are as good a cook as my mother and sister.”

Her face twisted into a frown. “Yeah, right. But thanks for attempting to lie with a straight face.”

He took another bite and went through the same dramatics. “I’m telling you, this is wonderful. Don’t be so quick to sell yourself short.”

“The fact that you like it is enough for me.”

“Then know that I love it.”

During the rest of dinner, Julia weaved and bobbed through questions about herself and, at times, noticed his frustration over the matter.

“How about your childhood? Were you a happy kid?”

“Not really. Up until I was eleven years old, I was pretty much in and out of foster care.”

He frowned. “Did you ever know your parents?”

She shook her head, while her smile fluttered weakly. “No.”

A long thread of silence stretched between them, and Julia felt that she needed to fill it.

“It wasn’t so bad. I don’t have one of those horror stories
about bad foster parents or anything. When I turned eleven I was adopted by the best people in the world. They loved me as though I were their flesh and blood. I only regret they’d passed before Robin was born.”

Carson covered her hand with his, still seeming not to know what to say.

“Please don’t feel sorry for me. There’s no need.”

“Feel sorry for you?” He looked incredulously at her. “I’ve finally found the source of your strength, the reason you’re reluctant to accept help from anyone. And perhaps the real reason you’re what you called a ‘sucker for love.’”

“I thought about that,” she admitted honestly. “Despite putting myself through college and medical school, I can’t deny that I still have this desire to truly be a part of a real family. But look at me. I’m a thirty-four-year old, twice-divorced single mother.”

Carson shrugged. “Maybe you should concentrate on what you do have. You have a smart and loving daughter. You’re a doctor, of what I still don’t know. And you’re about to become a permanent resident of the best town in Georgia.”

She laughed.

“I don’t know about you,” he said, lifting his champagne glass, “but those sound like reasons to celebrate.”

Julia lifted her glass as well. “You know, I think you’re right.”

There was a flash of light that filled the room, then seconds later a clash of thunder.

“Sounds like we’re in for a storm tonight. Sort of like the one we had on the first night we met. Kind of romantic, don’t you think?”

“I don’t remember anything being remotely romantic about the night we met.”

“Speak for yourself. Even soaking wet you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. That night it was as if you’d stepped
out of a dream.” He clinked her glass with his. “I’m willing to go as far as to suggest that our meeting was predestined.”

“I thought you said you were nervous.”

“That was over an hour ago. I’m well past that now. I’m a man on a mission.”

“Oh, really? And what mission is that?”

“To make you fall in love with me. What else?”

S
heri sat through yet another interrogation by the FBI. Why had anyone bothered taking notes when they continued to ask the same questions?

To her own chagrin, the tight-lipped agents made sure they didn’t so much as hint as to why they were interested in Dr. Julia Kelley. She knew only what she’d heard on the news.

With the absence of information, Sheri couldn’t stop her imagination from running wild as to what Dr. Kelley had done.

Just when she thought her long evening at the Bureau had finally ended, another agent entered the room.

“Good evening, Miss Higginbotham. I’m Assistant Agent in Charge Paul Regis. I want to thank you for being so patient with us. Is there anything I can get you—coffee, tea, or some water?”

Sheri sighed wearily and shook her head. “Can you tell me how much longer this is going to take?” she chanced asking, since the last agent had pretended that she hadn’t heard the question.

She could tell by the subtle lines etched along his pale face that his exhaustion exceeded her own.

“I can’t promise you anything. But I’m sure that it won’t be too much longer now.”

She nodded, knowing she had no choice but to be satisfied with that for an answer.

“Now,” he said, clapping his hands together and taking the chair in front of her, “in your earlier statements you said that you believe that Dr. Kelley is in Moreland under her own volition. May I ask whether, in your opinion, her behavior suggests that she’s running scared? Has she hinted that her life may be in danger in any way?”

This was a new question, and a rather interesting one, Sheri thought. “Is she in danger?” she asked.

“Miss Higginbotham, if you could just answer the questions, this interview would go a lost faster.”

She smiled with disdain. “Like I told Special Agent Iaanelli, Julia and her daughter pretty much keep to themselves. She doesn’t answer too many questions about where she’s from or even what her last name is. She’s told me that she was separated from her husband, and that is all I know about the woman.”
Other than the fact that she stole my man.

The agent held her gaze during an uncomfortable silence. Then, abruptly, he stood from his chair. “Thank you for your time, Miss Higginbotham.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Well, since she’s not in any imminent danger, I guess our case is pretty much closed.”

Sheri stood while her hopes plunged to the center of her stomach. “You mean you’re not going to come and arrest her?”

He chuckled under his breath. “What for? She’s done nothing wrong. Her husband was the public offender, not her. We’re only looking for her because we wanted to protect her
from whatever danger caused her husband to meet his untimely death.”

Sheri sank back into her chair. Why had she even bothered to come here then?

“Miss Higginbotham?”

She heard the concern in his voice and chose to ignore it. She needed to think. She needed to figure out a way to get Julia out of Moreland. “What if she is in danger?” she asked, finally looking back up at him.

“Then it’s my job to protect her.”

“Like take her into protective custody?” An idea slowly formed in her head.

“If it comes to that.” His eyes narrowed. “Is there something you’re not telling us, Miss Higginbotham?” He returned to his seat.

She should feel ashamed of what she was about to do, but something in her grabbed with both hands at the opportunity to get rid of the competition for Carson’s heart.

“Yes,” she said with an uplifted chin.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I believe that Julia and her daughter’s lives are in danger.”

Frankie clutched the phone against her ear. With the news he’d just received, his luck had just improved. “Are you sure she’s in Moreland?”

“Affirmative. We have a woman in the office right now who’s given a positive ID on Dr. Kelley. How soon can you get down there?”

“We’re leaving now.” He snapped his fingers at Nicholas and signaled for him to bring him over the map that was located near the desk. “What else do you have for me?”

“Only that she’s staying in a place called the Georgia Inn.”

“Talk about having the goods being served on a silver platter.”

“Yeah, well, you just make sure you get down there before the Bureau does. They don’t believe for a minute that Dr. Kelley killed her husband. Using Rachel was a complete waste of time. They suspect the Montellos one hundred percent, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that if Vinny hasn’t gotten what he was looking for then the doctor will be his next target.”

Frankie said nothing to this, but his mind was quickly churning. When he’d seen David sprawled across the bathroom floor, he’d thought the doctor was responsible for the job. If what his contact told him was correct, then who’d made the hit?

His gaze quickly shot to Nicholas. Had Vinny sent him to take over his assignment? But why?

“We’ll get right on it,” Frankie said, then hung up the phone.

Nicholas’s easy smile unnerved Frankie.

“So do we have a make on the girl or what?” Nicolas asked.

Frankie nodded and unfolded the map. “Looks that way.” Now that the illusion of being in charge had been stripped from him, Frankie needed to be on guard. For the life of him, he didn’t understand the game Vinny was playing. If the Montellos no longer trusted him, then why bother bringing him back into the organization?

“How far?” Nicholas asked, already tossing his belongings into a duffel bag.

“Believe it or not, she’s no more than a two-hour drive from here.”

“The news just keeps getting better, eh?”

Frankie folded his map. “Appears that way,” he replied dryly.

There was an ominous glimmer in Nicholas’s eyes, and Frankie’s uneasiness increased tenfold. Something was definitely about to go down in Moreland, and it was more than just searching for Julia Kelley.

Tony waited behind the two-way mirror for Regis to come out. During his partner’s interview, Tony had watched every nuance of Miss Higginbotham’s face. When he’d interviewed her she came across as earnest and forthright; now she appeared to have a hidden agenda.

Paul exited the room and joined Tony behind the glass. “Well, what do you think?”

“I think I trust her about as far as I can throw her,” Tony answered honestly.

“We’re in agreement on that much.” He turned and looked back at the woman, who still sat straight as an arrow in the interrogation room. “I just can’t figure out what her angle would be.”

“However, I do believe her statement about Dr. Kelley being in Moreland.”

“Me, too. I also suspect that the lady wants the doctor out of Moreland—for whatever reason.”

“Do we have enough to convince the agent in charge to send us down there?”

“I don’t know. As far as he’s concerned, Dr. Kelley is nothing more than a missing person with a low level of foul play.”

“She may be a witness to her husband’s murder. We also have on tape that Miss Higginbotham, here, suspects that the doctor’s life is in danger.”

“I’m almost willing to bet that she made that part up.”

“That or she just doesn’t know how close to the truth she really is.”

Carson was right about his prediction of a storm. Actually it resembled more of a monsoon, but neither he nor Julia was too concerned about it. They used the time to get to know more about each other. They had, however, moved
away from the table and over to the living room, where they had a wonderful view of the light show going on outside.

Both lay on their sides, still dressed, to Julia’s relief, and facing each other while they talked. In between the bright flashes and the rolling thunder was the melodious rhythm of the hard-driving rain.

Julia shared more about her life. What was the harm in sharing her brief life with Kevin? It felt good.

“For a long time after Kevin left, I thought that everyone I’d ever come to care about would leave me. Sometimes I still do,” she concluded.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” Carson comforted her.

“Don’t be. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

“Are you stronger?”

In Julia’s mind, she flashed back to all that she’d lived through in the past couple of months, thought about how, when the chips were down, she had had the guts to do what was necessary to survive.

“Definitely.”

When their eyes met again, she no longer heard the raging storm outside. All that existed in the world was Carson and his penetrating gaze.

Her mouth went dry and her skin tingled wantonly for his touch. Secretly she worried that if he touched her, she’d lose control.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, caressing the side of her face. “Both inside and out. That must be what draws me to you.”

Her breathing thinned beneath his intense gaze. She should say something, she thought belatedly. But what? Everything that managed to surface from her muddled mind seemed
clichéd or weak. She doubted that words could describe the myriad of emotions assaulting her senses.

“I’m glad you invited me here today,” Carson went on, as if he hadn’t noticed she’d been struck dumb. “I might never have gotten another chance to do this.”

Julia watched his head descend seemingly in slow motion, and within that time her hopes of his being everything she’d ever wanted teetered. Perhaps she shouldn’t hold such high expectations—maybe then it wouldn’t hurt so much when she was let down.

His lips met hers gently, questioningly, then hungrily.

Julia held back, but discovered that she was fighting a losing battle. His passion was more intoxicating than his wine-flavored lips. His touch ignited a fire she feared would never be extinguished.

Their lips tore apart, leaving them both short of breath.

Julia settled her head within the curve of his neck. She watched the outline of his small Adam’s apple bob while he continued to struggle for control.

She closed her eyes against the caress of his gentle hand against her cheek. That was when her body began its torturous rebellion against her brain’s logic, which preached that it was too soon, and that her heart couldn’t take another disappointment.

When Carson’s lips claimed hers again, she blocked out her inner voice’s sermon and reveled in the sweet magic of Carson’s lips and hands.

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” Carson said in a passion-filled voice.

Stop? She would die if he stopped now. In response, she pressed against him and felt her body instantly surge to life.

Julia was vaguely aware of Carson removing her blouse and even her bra, for that matter, but when his lips deserted
hers and descended slowly to the column of her neck, she couldn’t remember how to get air into her lungs.

She moaned wantonly when his tongue brushed against her painfully taut nipple. Her back arched, inviting him to take all of her. She wanted more than anything to lose herself in the folds of his sinewy arms and breathtaking lovemaking.

Carson playfully sucked and licked her breast while removing her skirt and then her panties.

This is you chance to stop him
. The singular thought managed to surface from the haze of her mind. Julia shook her head, hoping to bury any suggestion of ending this moment.

When Carson’s hands and mouth had abandoned hers, she opened her eyes almost in fear that he’d changed his mind about what they were about to do. She saw instead that he’d removed his clothes. She couldn’t have dreamed of a better physique on a man if she’d tried. Everything before her was rock-hard: the broad span of his shoulders, his chiseled abdominal muscles, and his throbbing manhood.

His mouth returned to hers, drugging her with his hunger. Her legs opened at the gentle nudging of his knee, but he didn’t enter her just yet. Instead his mouth left hers.

Julia gasped in surprise when his tongue slid expertly into her. Her legs instantly tried to close, but he had been prepared for that and held them firmly in place.

Her moans grew louder and she shamelessly bucked against his probing mouth, only to draw his tongue in deeper. The room tilted on its axis while she could do nothing more than thrash uncontrollably in the aftermath of an orgasmic explosion.

Carson entered the dewy walls of her womanhood in one firm thrust. The length and thickness of him surprised her, as did the feel of latex. She clawed at his back in an attempt to hold on to something during the rocking of their bodies.

He murmured her name repeatedly against the shell of her ear, and filled her with a strange sense of power.

Heat swelled in the center of her being while her moans bounced off every room in the house.

Carson’s strong hands gripped her hips as he drove into her in long, fluid strokes. Their climactic cries reverberated throughout the house as the lovers’ sweaty bodies slumped wearily together.

For the next few minutes they tried to gain control of their labored breathing, then Carson turned to her and said, “Wow.”

Julia laughed. “You took the word right out of my mouth.”

He flashed one of his infectious grins. “You want to go for round two?”

She flattened herself against him. “I thought you’d never ask.”