Sexy/Dangerous by Beverly Jenkins
Adam said, “I’m going to bed. If you’re staying, I snore. Just so you’ll know.”
He didn’t want the dog in the room while he was sleeping, but didn’t seem to have much choice in that, either, so he stretched out on the couch, pulled the blanket over him, and doused the lamp on the table near his head. Once he was comfortable, sleep refused to come. His concern that his parents might be in danger kept him wide awake. He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, then finally his eyes closed and he went to sleep.
Jan Kruger was in the Copenhagen airport waiting for his noon flight back to the States, where the time was approximately six A.M. He wondered if Dr. Gary had enjoyed the e-mail. Thinking about it made him smile. Truthfully, he hoped the message had scared the scientist to death, because he planned to use any means necessary to accomplish his goal, even if it involved dangling Lauren Gary’s life as bait.
Eventually, Jan know that he and the good doctor would meet face-to-face, but that time had not come; there were other details to attend to first, such as finding out what the security protocol surrounding Gary’s residence entailed. Was it large, small? Was Gary still living at the address? None of the moles had been able to glean the answers, so the only option left to him and his associates was to send someone to Michigan to take a look around.
After a long and sometimes heated debate, and over his objections, Vlad Oskar had been chosen. Jan didn’t trust him, mainly because the mousy Oskar was not Afrikaner and had no real ties to their cause other than the money he’d been paid. Granted, Oskar’s contacts had been the ones to appropriate Lauren Gary’s screen name so that the threatening e-mail could be sent, and with his background in fuel cell research he’d be the person heading up the analysis of the prototype once Jan’s group finally took possession. However, under pressure, Oskar sweated profusely. He called it a genetic disorder, but Jan thought it stemmed from fear.
However, the others had insisted on using Oskar as their eyes for this mission. No one else in their inner circle had the technical expertise necessary to evaluate the security, and now that their plans were under way, they didn’t want to waste the time or the money bringing in another electronics expert, so the job was Oskar’s. Jan hoped the choice didn’t blow up in their faces. Too much was at stake.
In other developments, his meeting with the arms dealer had been successful. Orders had been placed and money deposited. Between the e-mail to Gary and the fruitful negotiations with the dealer, Jan was feeling rather good. Oskar was a fly in his pudding, but he set that worry aside for now. A few minutes later he was boarding his plane.
Max awakened disoriented and sore. For a moment neither sensation made sense until her brain shook off the last vestiges of sleep and the memories of last night rose up to make everything clear. She gave her spine a short, careful move and was pleased that it felt no worse than it had before she fell asleep. It hurt still, but not with such agony. She wondered if Dr. Gary was still mad about her taking over his bed. She felt guilty about it and promised to make her apologies as soon as she ran into him.
Turning her head on the pillow, Max saw Ruby lying on the floor looking up at her, and she gave the dog a small smile. “Morning, girl. Where’s your brother?”
Ossie wasn’t in the room, but Max was sure he was in the house because if he weren’t Ruby would have let her know the moment he disappeared. Max just hoped that he wasn’t somewhere scaring the hell out of their host. After learning of Adam’s terrible mauling, she planned to be more considerate of the doc’s feelings. But having seen him pick up the 115-pound Ossie during the storm like he weighed no more than a package of Oreos let her know the brother doctor was a lot stronger than the average nerd, and that maybe he wasn’t as afraid of the dogs as he believed.
Max sat up gingerly and slowly swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Her back protested in a way that let her know more pain meds would be needed just as soon as she found some food. Thinking a hot shower might help with the stiffness, she stood. Ruby stood, too, and looked up expectantly.
Max sighed. “You probably need to go out, don’t you?”
Ruby waited.
“Okay. Go on downstairs. I’ll follow fast as I can.”
Max looked at the clock on his nightstand. Six A.M. In three hours the workmen would be knocking on the front door and she needed to get it together.
Adam was in the middle of his morning run. He supposed he should have left Max a note explaining his whereabouts, but he’d needed to get out of the house. The sun was just coming up, the air was clear, and the only sounds were the circling gulls, the water lapping against the shore, and his measured footfalls. The daily two-mile jog along the beach kept him in top physical shape and usually helped clear his mind as well, so he could focus. The solitude often made him feel like he was the only person in the world, and he did some of his best thinking on these runs, but this morning his mother was on his mind, and he had company. Running alongside him was Ossie the rottweiler. The dog seemed to be trying to turn him into a friend, but Adam wasn’t about to add a rottweiler to his buddy list. His hope was that Max would know how to stop this attempt at dog bonding. Yes, he had carried the dog in from the storm last night, but that didn’t mean he wanted to get married.
Max let Ruby out through the patio door and then followed her outside. She still had no idea where Ossie had gotten to, and she assumed Adam was in his lab. Ruby began to bark, and Max looked down the beach. The surprising sight of Dr. Adam Gary jogging alongside Ossie made her walk to the edge of the patio to get a closer look. Sure enough, there they were. Ossie was running easily and the doc was, too. Adam had the stride of a trained athlete; smooth, easy, and he looked real good in his shorts and sleeveless sweatshirt. On a more serious note, she wondered if he’d heard anything from Myk concerning his mother. Max prayed the woman wasn’t in danger. If she were, this baby-sitting operation would take on a more deadly tone. Down on the beach, he was hitting the stairs and Ossie was loping up the face of the dune.
Max’s back reminded her that she hadn’t taken the pain meds she’d promised it when she got up, but she wanted to check out the Ossie and Adam connection first. When he reached the patio, he bent over to catch his breath, then checked his watch. After a few moments he straightened, wiped his face on the towel hanging on the wrought-iron railing, then looked her way.
Max found it hard to ignore the hard lean muscles of his brown legs, but said easily, “Morning.”
Still winded a bit, he nodded. “Morning. How’s your back?”
“It’s been better, but I’m okay. Did Myk call?”
“No.”
She sensed the tight response was rooted in his concern, and she wasn’t mad at him for it. She noticed that Ossie was standing right next to him. “Ossie seems to have taken a liking to you.”
“Yeah.”
Max studied Adam’s face. He didn’t look real happy. “It’s probably because you rescued him from the storm. I told you they were loyal.”
“He slept in the office with me last night, too. Can you make it stop?”
Max felt bad. “Sorry.” She called Ossie, “Come here, boy.”
He trotted to her side. Max got down to his level, aching back and all, and said quietly, “The doc doesn’t like you hanging around. You make him uncomfortable. No more playing shadow with him, okay?”
Max looked up at Adam’s tight face, then back to the rottweiler. Ossie sat and gave a soft whimper. Max stroked his back. “I’m sorry.”
“He acts like he’s disappointed.”
A terse Max didn’t respond. How can a brother who’s supposed to be so brainy be so clueless? Instead, she struggled to stand straight again. Trying to hide her wincing, she told him, “I have to get something to eat. Did my dinner get put away last night, I hope I hope?”
Adam could see how much pain she was in and it concerned him. “It’s in the fridge in my lab. There’s a microwave down there. I can heat it up if you want.”
“Be right back.”
After his departure, Max slowly made her way inside, too, and wondered if he was genuinely trying to be nice or just attempting to atone for hurting Ossie’s feelings. Deciding that an answer wasn’t necessary, she eased herself down the living room wall until she reached the floor, then sat and waited for her own personal Einstein to bring her breakfast.
When Adam returned, he was carrying a plate holding her warmed-up food in one hand and a carafe of coffee in the other. Seeing her seated on the floor made him embarrassed that he had no furniture for her to sit on. She was the type of lady a brother wanted to be on his best for, and show his best to, and all he could offer was a spot on the old wood floor.
He was handing her the plate when his phone vibrated against his waist. “Excuse me.” He took the call. It was Mykal Chandler and he had good news.
Adam placed his hand over the phone for a moment and said to Max, “They found her. She’s in Senegal.”
Max saluted him with a forkful of yams. “Yay!”
He grinned and returned to Myk’s voice. The two men talked for a while longer, then a visibly relieved Adam closed the phone.
Max asked, “Feel better?”
“Much. Myk said she’s on her way back to the States today. He’s going to have someone watching her as soon as she touches down.”
“Good. What about your stepdad?”
“Toronto. Myk’s made contact with the police there and they’ve promised to keep an eye on him until he comes back to the States. Myk’s people will take over then.”
“Sounds like all the bases are covered.”
“Yes it does. He’s going to send some FBI agents around to see them when they get back, to tell them the government’s got me on lockdown until the prototype is finished and that I’ll call them when I’m done. Since they’re used to me being out of touch when I’m working, they won’t worry.”
“Now if we can find out who sent the e-mail, maybe we can all relax.”
Adam nodded. Relax and go back to debating with himself why being mesmerized by a green-eyed sister named Max was a bad thing. He watched her eating her ribs. Her fingers were stained with the sauce, and the sight of her elegantly sucking them clean made him hard as a length of pipe. “I’ll get us some coffee cups.”
His abrupt exit made Max look up quizzically and wonder if she’d missed something, but because she had no way of knowing, she went back to her breakfast.
When her plate was clean and her stomach stuffed and happy, Max gulped down the meds with some water, and was one contented cookie. Adam was seated on the floor nearby drinking his coffee and enjoying his morning with her. Over his coffee cup he said, “Breakfast with ribs and yams has to be different.”
“Different is a breakfast of roasted Peruvian lizards,” she countered.
Adam stared.
“They tasted like stringy pieces of burnt chicken. We cooked them on sticks over a pit.”
Adam made a face and drank down some coffee. “Have to admit—never had the pleasure.”
“There was no pleasure involved, believe me,” she tossed back with amusement in her voice. “Just necessity.”
Adam smiled. He decided she had to be one of the most intriguing people he’d ever met. Roasted lizards. He wouldn’t eat lizards if someone offered him a million dollars. “Do you like your life?”
Max nodded. “I do. Not many people have seen sunsets all over the world.”
“Or eaten lizards in Peru.”
Their smiles met and they studied each other in the silence that rose between them. Max said, “Underneath all that science, you’re not such a bad guy, Doc.”
“You’re not too bad yourself.” Adam wondered what it might be like to watch sunsets with her.
Kaitlin walked in then. Neither of them seemed glad to see her but she was so caught up being herself she didn’t notice. “Why are you two sitting on the floor?”
Max said, “We’re having a picnic.”
Kaitlin rolled her eyes. “Adam, I’m going for breakfast. Want me to bring you something?”
“Yeah. The usual.”
“Okay,” she said, then added, “I really wasn’t doing anything in your room yesterday.”
Adam said wearily, “Just get breakfast, okay?”
Today’s attire was blue. Blue shoes, skirt, blouse, and pearls. “Okay. Back shortly.” She shot Max a frosty look then departed.
When she was gone, Max cracked, “Maybe she’ll get lost and not come back.”
“We should be so lucky.”
They both grinned.
Max said, “I need to get up and get this day started.” She glanced at her watch. “The workers will be here in one hour. Is there anything in your lab or in your room that needs to be added to their to do list?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“What about Ms. Thang’s room? And where is it, by the way?”
“Which room did you take?”
She told him.
“Then she’s down the hall and around the corner. Can’t miss it. There’s a monogrammed K on the door.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need any work done. It’s pretty pimped out as it is.”
“Pimped out?”
He grinned. “When you see it, you won’t believe it. Trust me.”
Max shook her head. “So what are you going to do today now that you don’t have to worry about your mom?”
“Shower so I can be out of the way when all the hammering begins, then head to the lab.”
Max’s meds were finally kicking in, but getting to her feet was still a pain-filled struggle.
Adam could see the discomfort on her face. “You ought to be in bed.”
“I don’t have one.” Finally on her feet, she took a few seconds to catch her breath.
“Then use mine. You didn’t have a problem taking it last night.”
Max’s guilt returned. “Sorry about that, but I really needed to lie down.”
“Evidently,” he said softly.
She looked up into his eyes. “Thanks for helping with my bra.”
“Now how is a man supposed to answer something like that?”
Max had no idea but she enjoyed seeing him flummoxed. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” Tossing him a smile, she made her way to the stairs and disappeared.
The amazed Adam drained the last of his coffee. He’d planned on insisting that she spend the day in bed, but she’d somehow managed to make him forget all about it with her outrageous self. Burying fantasies of helping her out of more than just her brassiere, he supposed the only thing he had left was to clean up after their picnic. He set the cups on her plate and grabbed the empty carafe. As he took a look around to make sure he had everything, his eyes strayed to the dogs outside on the patio. He could see Ruby looking out at the water, but Ossie was lying by the door, watching him with sad liquid eyes.
Adam’s guilt gave him a tug. Had he really hurt the dog’s feelings? Realizing how ridiculous that sounded, he stashed the dishes in the bathroom sink, then headed to the shower. When Kaitlin returned he’d eat breakfast and get to work, but in the back of his mind he knew he was going to spend time wondering what type of bombshell his “friends” from Madrid would lob next.
Six
At nine A.M. sharp the workers began arriving, and once again the house was plunged into a beehive of activity. The hard-hat-wearing queen bee, feeling better now that the pain meds were working their magic on her sore back, spent the morning directing traffic, supervising the installation of the new kitchen appliances, and answering questions like what to do about the colony of wasps currently living in the downspouts on the front of the house and how long would the power be off. The electricians had turned off the juice at nine-thirty. It was now 10:45.
At 10:55 the power
Kaitlin had taken off right after breakfast, saying all the noise was giving her a headache, then added, “I’m going to the mall. I’m through playing your unpaid slave.”
As the girl stalked off, Max took a deep breath and prayed for the patience she was going to need to keep from smacking Kaitlin every time they met.
By the end of the day the kitchen’s new sink, dishwasher, and appliances had been installed, and the kitchen walls were primed and painted and waiting for the new cabinetry scheduled to be hung tomorrow. It pleased Max that she would no longer have to forage for food. She’d even found a local grocery that delivered, and the new fridge was stocked and ready to rock. She hadn’t seen Adam since their peaceful morning, and she made sure Ossie stayed close and didn’t wander down to the cellar to say howdy. Content with the new kitchen, she happily started dinner.
Downstairs in the lab, Adam lifted his head. He smelled pork chops. Who was cooking pork chops? At first he thought he might be imagining the down-home aroma, but it was way too succulent to be imaginary. Somebody was frying pork chops, and he got up to go find out who.
He didn’t know why he was surprised to find Max standing over the skillet in the kitchen with a long-handled frying fork in her hand. As far as he knew, Kaitlin didn’t know a ladle from a can opener.
When she turned around, she said, “Hey. Do you want to eat?”
He met those green eyes and said, “If it’s as good as it smells, yes ma’am.”
She gave him one of those smiles he was beginning to crave and said, “There are plates and silverware in that box over there.” She moved some of the pots from the stove and set them on the newly installed countertop. “Help yourself.”
Max back was mad that it hadn’t had any pain meds since noon. She’d been so busy with the workmen she hadn’t had time. Now, she wished she’d made the time. Between the dull ache and the stiffness, she wanted to lie down, but eating overrode everything. This would be her first home-cooked meal in a long time and she planned on enjoying it, messed up back or not.