Imminent Affair

Bell ended the interview, and Daniel returned to her.

“I want you to come home with me,” he said. “To stay at my house until this is over.”

She looked into his eyes and noticed that the light caught a corner of his contact lenses. Two months had passed since he’d lost his memory, since Daniel had morphed into a harder-edged man, and she was still getting used to the alpha he’d become. Although he’d always been tall and muscular with striking features, he’d also been a bit of a nerd, even to the Warrior Society. Years ago, they’d nicknamed him “Fearless” derived from Fearless Fly, a goofy vintage cartoon character that obtained superpowers from his glasses.

Sometimes Allie missed Daniel’s glasses. Sometimes she missed who he used to be. But the new Daniel was wildly compelling, and she couldn’t help but love him, too. He was Fearless either way. The nickname still fit.

A scowl bracketed his mouth. “Why aren’t you talking to me, Allie?”

Oh, damn. She’d done it again. She’d kept quiet. “I’m not sure about going home with you.”

The scowl deepened. “Why not?”

Because sleeping under the same roof would only make her want him that much more. She fabricated an excuse. “My studio is here.”

“I have a couple of extra rooms. You can use one of them as a studio.”

She put Sam on the ground. The cat was meowing for her freedom. “I know, but—”

“But nothing. I’m not leaving you here alone. Detective Bell thinks this could turn into a stalking, and I agree. We think the vandal is a deranged woman from my past who considers your friendship with me a threat.”

Allie had already mulled over that possibility. The calligraphy seemed deliberately feminine, as if the vandal was identifying herself as a woman, especially from the pretty way she’d written Daniel’s name. “How did she get into my loft?”

“The front door lock was picked. But that isn’t a complicated lock. A credit card would have done the trick.”

“Maybe the police will come up with some fingerprints.”

“Maybe, but it’s doubtful. More than likely, she was wearing gloves.”

“How many deranged women from your past do you think are out there?”

He tunneled his hands through his already messy hair. “How the hell would I know? I’m going to ask Rex Sixkiller to investigate my life, the things I can’t remember.”

“Is Rex from the Warrior Society?”

“Yes, but he’s a licensed P.I., too.”

She could only imagine how invasive for Daniel that was going to be. “What about Glynis?”

He squinted. “Who?”

“Glynis Mitchell. She’s a former lover of yours, and a bit of an enemy of mine. She’s never done anything threatening, but she disliked me from the start.”

Daniel cocked his head. “Because of me?”

“Because of my mother. A lot of people dislike me for being related to Yvonne Whirlwind.” A connection that made Allie sick, too. “Still, I should probably tell Bell about Glynis.”

“Yes, you definitely should.” He angled his head again. “Why didn’t you ever mention her to me before?”

Allie shrugged, trying to seem more unaffected than she was. She didn’t like thinking about Daniel with other women. “Glynis didn’t seem to matter until now.”

“After you talk to Bell, you need to pack your bags,” he said, reminding her that he wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was going home with him, whether she wanted to or not.

While Allie settled into a guest room at his house, Daniel waited for her to join him in the kitchen for dinner. He wasn’t much of a cook, and since Allie was a vegetarian, he tossed a simple green salad and proceeded to grill a couple of cheese sandwiches. He put on a pot of herbal tea, too. Allie liked hot tea.

Samantha purred at his feet and he reached down to pet her, but the cat wouldn’t be staying for very long. Tomorrow, she would be going to a boarding facility. Allie was worried that Sam might become the target of the vandal’s next threat, and Daniel agreed that it was a valid concern.

He petted Sam again, thinking how pretty she was, much like her mistress. Allie was a bit of cat herself. Long, lean and feline.

Damn, Daniel thought. Damn.

Allie stirred a blood-burning hunger he was desperately trying to suppress. Being friends with a woman that you wanted to strip naked wasn’t a good thing.

To make matters worse, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten laid, and he meant that literally. He’d been celibate since the post-surgical coma that had wiped out most of his memory.

She entered the kitchen, and his pulse quickened. She looked so soft, so beautiful, so vulnerable, he battled his emotions. Beyond the attraction was an overwhelming desire to keep her safe.

The scene at her loft had knotted his gut. If it went further, if someone tried to harm her…

“I think it’s done,” she said.

He gave her a blank stare. Or maybe it wasn’t so blank. At the moment, he’d become fixated on her waist-length hair, on the way it framed her face and wrapped her in flowing lines. “I’m sorry. What?”

“That sandwich. You’re killing it.”

He glanced down at the pan. He was squishing the grilled bread with a spatula, making cheese leak out the sides. He scooped it up and put it on a plate, then realized how unattractive the presentation was. Trying to pretty it up, he reached for shiny red apple from a basket on the counter and placed it beside the sandwich. He’d already put the salad on the table.

Once both plates were fixed, he and Allie sat down to eat. She didn’t seem to mind his lousy cooking. Either that or she was too hungry to care. The tea seemed to help, too. She sweetened it with honey and sipped generously.

“Tell me more about Glynis,” he said. It was odd to ask one woman about another, but what else could he do? He had no recollection of his former lover. His doctor claimed that portions of his memory might return, but a full recovery was doubtful.

Allie glanced up from her plate. “She owns a string of mortuaries that she inherited from her late husband. She’s always had a ‘thing’ for death.”

Daniel made a tight face. If Glynis was the vandal, she might be capable of anything. Not only that, but why would he have slept with a woman who was intrigued by death? That didn’t bode well for his character.

“In the eighties, she ran a Death Rock club,” Allie said.

“The eighties?” Not only did Glynis sound odd, she was older than he’d expected. “I dated a cougar?”

“That’s one way of putting it, I guess. But I can see why you were attracted to her. She’s quite glamorous. She resembles Bettie Page.”

“The 1950s pinup model?” Daniel got an image of a shapely brunette wearing fetish gear. The Glynis scenario was getting weirder. He wondered what sort of relationship he’d had with her. He couldn’t begin to describe how disturbing it was not knowing intimate details about himself.

He quit eating. The sandwich tasted like crap anyway. “I wasn’t into kinky sex, was I?”

Caught off guard, Allie coughed on a sip of tea, and he realized how inappropriate the question was. He couldn’t backpedal, so he apologized. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t expect you to know something like that.”

Her cheeks turned rosy, making her look young and sweet, even if she was almost thirty.