Untouched

“What are you doing here?” Her tone was far from welcoming, and he ignored the daggers she shot in his direction.

“Officers, is there a problem?”

“Yeah. Who are you?”

He slipped his arm around Anna and sighed, smiling at Risa indulgently. He hoped she would see that he was here to help her and not spit in his face, like it looked as if she were ready to do.

“My name is Daniel MacAlister. This is my sister Anna. Our family lives in Harwich. And this—” he stared at Risa with all the appearance of affection that he could muster “—is my fiancée, Risa Remington. Now, if you would you take your hands off of her, please, and tell me what’s going on?”

“FIANCÉE?” Risa looked on, just as shocked as anyone. Anna and Kristy spoke in unison, shock evident in their voices, as Agent MacAlister’s eyes held hers. Risa’s voice clogged in her throat as she tried to protest, but all that came out was a strangled sound that didn’t even resemble words. MacAlister was putting on quite a show—he looked positively doting. But she read the warning behind his false affection clearly: go along, don’t make a fuss.

She was in a jam, no doubt. But to pretend she was his fiancée? How had he managed to pop up at just this exact moment? How long had he been watching her, and who had sent him? Why was he here? She had more questions, but she knew she wouldn’t get any answers to them in a jail cell. Having Secret Agent Daniel MacAlister pop up in your life was not a good thing, in Risa’s experience.

“Fiancée, huh?” The guard turned to stare at MacAlister. “She doesn’t sound all that pleased to see you.”

“She’s just annoyed, and I can’t say I blame her.”

Risa had been pissed to discover the camera in the dressing room—she didn’t like being watched—and was even angrier now that she saw who sat on the other end of the lens. She was more than capable of voicing her objections about such treatment, but no one was listening to her.

No one would have dared to ignore her if she still had her powers. She knew ordinary women were dismissed and discriminated against in society all the time, but she hadn’t been an ordinary woman. People had always listened to what she had to say. Some had feared her, but at the very least, she’d commanded respect.

She wasn’t commanding anything at the moment. The frustration—the overwhelming feeling of being horribly, helplessly normal—assaulted her as the three men discussed her situation as if she weren’t even there.

“Well, your fiancée crawled up through the ceiling panel and disconnected the surveillance cameras. We had no choice but to suspect she and her friend were trying to make off with stolen purchases.”

“My fiancée has no need to steal. I can provide her with whatever she needs.”

Risa nearly had a stroke on the spot, so furious she couldn’t speak.

“Why else would she shut the cameras off? Either way, she was caught tampering with store property, and—”

“Excuse me.” Risa’s voice was an acid drip into the conversation, and everyone became quiet. MacAlister’s eyes shuttered and she could see the tension that drew his features tight—he didn’t like it that she’d interfered. Well, too bad.

“You—” she glared at the man holding her arm “—have no right to be watching women while they are changing their clothes. You’re lucky I didn’t take that camera and cram it up—”

Daniel interrupted, laughing loudly enough to interrupt the end of her sentence. “Sweetheart, no need to sink to their level.”

She turned her glare on him, disliking intensely how he insinuated himself between her and the guard who held her arm, breaking the connection to replace it with his own as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She almost pulled away, but the pressure of his fingers warned her not to. The store’s manager had joined them, coming down the aisle at a near run, breathless when he arrived.

Daniel spoke loudly enough to make sure the manager heard him clearly amid the din, inserting just the right amount of male outrage into his tone.

“She’s absolutely right. Aren’t there laws about that kind of thing? I think the local papers would be interested in what’s happened here, and I can’t imagine the damage that would be done when the story comes out. Take her down to your offices, and I’ll contact the media about this matter right away.”

Anna, the woman whom MacAlister had identified as his sister, popped in and said, “Yes, absolutely. I shop here all the time, and I don’t want anyone watching me dress in dressing rooms. It’s despicable!”

Risa had no idea why MacAlister was here, why his sister was defending her or why no one seemed to think she could fight her own battles, but she didn’t need super powers to know he wanted her to stay quiet. The manager was turning increasingly pale as Risa felt her own face redden.

“Now, sir, Mr….?”

“MacAlister. Daniel MacAlister.”

“Mr. MacAlister, I can assure you we always have a female employee review those tapes, and the only reason security was called was because your fiancée was last recorded disconnecting the cameras.”

“She’s shy.”

“Yes, well, um, of course, but we are within our legal rights to monitor for shoplifting.”

Daniel’s voice turned cool. “You won’t have to worry about shoplifting after we tell every woman on the Cape that you watch them change their clothes—and tape it.”

The man stuttered, obviously rethinking his decision, and blinked quickly, trying to backpedal. “Now, I don’t think we need to let this little incident get out of hand. I’m sure your fiancée didn’t mean any harm, and we appreciate your business. Would you like me to take your purchases to the counter?”

Daniel looked at Risa, their eyes meeting in a clash of blue and gray. She was easily six inches shorter than his solid five-ten. Standing so close, he could detect the clean scent of soap and shampoo, and found himself staring. She wore no makeup; she didn’t need it. She was flawless, her burnished locks warming porcelain skin, decorated by a playful spray of freckles over her nose. He’d never noticed those before. Why was he noticing now?

And why was he so acutely aware of how close they were standing, and of how curvy she was? His voice was hoarse when he spoke, and he cleared his throat, telling himself his behavior would be exactly what would be expected from a lover. He was just acting convincingly for the benefit of their onlookers.

“I don’t know. What do you think, sweetheart? You’ve been through a terrible embarrassment here. First the indignity of the cameras, and then being manhandled—”

“Twenty-five percent off everything you’re buying,” the manager interjected quickly, looking at them with dire hope the entire matter could be averted. Other customers had started paying attention.

Daniel could see that Risa’s temper hadn’t cooled down, but the sooner he could get her out of here, the better. Kristy, thankfully, spoke up.

“Make it forty and we’re outta here.”

“Forty it is.”

“Dammit, I don’t care about—” Risa was spitting mad, and wasn’t about to be bought off, especially with clothes. But before she could finish her sentence, Daniel loomed in close and kissed her.

She hadn’t seen it coming—she wouldn’t have seen it coming in a million years, not in her wildest imagination. She hadn’t been kissed since her parents died, and never by a man. Certainly never like this.

Shock and curiosity mingled as MacAlister’s mouth touched hers, stopping her words and confusing her thoughts. It was a strange feeling, and it captured her total attention as she forgot where they were and what was going on around them. Nothing else mattered except for the feeling of warmth she experienced, the soft press of his lips to hers. She shuffled closer, seeking more until someone cleared their throat.

Risa was in a daze when MacAlister drew back, looking just as composed as he always did. He hadn’t been affected at all. The corner of the very perfect lips that had just met hers quirked up, and something heated inside her. She felt like hitting him—hard—but she also felt like kissing him again. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his mouth.

When she realized that he no longer held her, and that both of her hands had somehow found their way to his shoulders and lingered there, she stepped back, turning away. Her pin-straight hair fell forward around her face, hiding her from the onlookers as MacAlister settled the situation with the manager. Risa wanted to hide, to process what had happened and to get away from the crowd. The urge to run, to get back to her apartment where she was safe, assailed her.

What were all these people thinking? She dared to look up, finding the manager looking relieved as MacAlister spoke to him quietly. Anna, MacAlister’s sister, was studying Risa curiously, sending Risa back into hiding behind her hair. Kristy was gathering up the clothes she’d tried on, triumphant in wrangling a discount. Risa looked down, her fingers touching the small white tag hanging from the T-shirt she had on.

Kristy touched her hand and Risa drew back reflexively, as she always did. Except with MacAlister. Her fingers moved to her lips as she remembered the kiss—it was a touch, an intimate one, and she hadn’t drawn back. She’d stepped closer. There hadn’t been any painful blankness or sense of disconnection. In fact, MacAlister’s kiss was the first time she’d felt connected to something, to someone, since she’d awakened from her coma. Realizing it made her want to run—and made her want to have more.

She was staring at him, and he pursed his warm lips thoughtfully, staring right back as if he had every right to look at her so possessively.

“C’mon, you two. Enough of the lovey-dovey stuff.” Kristy broke the visual lock between them, handing Risa some purchases to carry as she leaned in close, whispering, “And you have some explaining to do—fiancé, huh?”

MacAlister must have overheard, and when Risa opened her mouth to correct Kristy, she closed it again, thinking better of it. She didn’t know why MacAlister was here.

She smiled at Kristy. “It was a surprise. It’s not what you think.”

“Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that with you.” She winked. “What a hottie. I wouldn’t mind having a surprise like that. Maybe two.”