Tempt Me (8 page)

Reaching over, he caught
her hand where it lay fisted in her lap. “This won't be
so bad. You just answer some questions and sign your name in a few
places. And since you know the cop, he'll probably be able to
speed things up, too.”

“
I know.” She
rolled her head on the seat and gave him a weak smile.

Something about her tone
made him think she
did
know, too. Hmmm. Okay. He was asking.
Damn it, he was asking. Because whether they had their date tonight,
he was already in far too deep with this woman and he needed to know
what in the hell was going on. Assuming she told him.

“
Somehow, I don't
think that ‘
I know'
is just a vague, empty
comment.” He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand,
noting how tightly she had that fist clenched. So tight her hands
must ache from it, he mused. “Somehow, I think that ‘
I
know'
is said from experience.”

As he slowed down for a
red light, he turned his head to look at her. “Am I right?”

Rocki had her eyes
closed. In the faint light coming into the car, she looked pale, too
pale. And still so amazingly beautiful. Scared, too. Somehow, he
didn't think
scared
was her normal. He wanted to gather
her up against him and hold her close, stroke her until that tension
faded.

“
You're
right,” she whispered. She opened her eyes, staring straight
ahead. “Yeah. You're right.”

The light turned to green
and he focused on the road once more, but continued to hold her hand.
“You maybe want to tell me about it?”

“
I don't
know.” She blew out a shaky breath. “But I can't
right now. I need to keep it together and that's taking a lot
out of me.”

Cole nodded. He could see
that easily enough on his own. “Okay.” He wouldn't
push. Not yet. But he wanted to know what was going on, what kind of
unhappy secrets had darkened her lovely eyes.

This was an unexpected
complication.

But oddly enough, he
wasn't the least bit inclined to walk away.

“
And that's
it. I ran outside, didn't see anybody. I came back inside and
called you.”

Damn it, this was hard.
Even though Clayton was here, this was still hard. Clayton had been a
friend of hers for years—since college. Lacey used to tease her
that he'd had a thing for her. Rocki didn't know if that
was true but she did know he'd always been there. Always. And
he was here now. But this was still so hard.

She sat perched on the
edge of the chair, her hands wrapped around the coffee. She'd
asked for it more to warm her hands than to drink it, but she'd
had a few sips. The caffeine was already zinging through her system,
and she wondered if it would be possible to sleep.

She didn't know.

She didn't know if
she
wanted
to sleep. A split second later, she decided she
probably didn't.

Off to the side, Cole
stood silently, his face expressionless, his golden eyes unreadable.
A lawyer. She wouldn't have guessed it. She didn't have
the knee-jerk dislike for lawyers that Clayton obviously had, but
still, she would have thought she'd be able to peg one.

It didn't matter,
though. Not to her. She'd meant it when she said it earlier and
she still meant it. She was glad he was here. Glad she wouldn't
have to drive back to the shop alone, although she wasn't so
glad about spending the night alone at home.

Morosely, she stroked a
hand down the silky black sleeve of her new corset and decided it
hadn't mattered what she wore. She wasn't really going to
be able to put it to good use, anyway. Not that she'd planned
on doing much more than seeing if he appreciated her efforts, but
still.

“
Rock?”

Glancing up, she saw
Clayton staring at her, his brows arched, an expectant look on his
face. She sighed and lifted a hand, pressed her fingers to her
forehead. “Sorry, Clayton. My mind is wandering.”

“
It's okay.”
He reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair, much as he'd
done when they were younger. And she reached out, swatted at his
wrist, much as she'd done. It was a familiar thing, something
that settled her, soothed her. “You've got plenty of
reasons for your mind to wander. But I need you think, to focus.”

He slid a look toward
Cole. The way he was sitting, it wasn't very likely Cole would
have noticed, but Rocki saw it. “I've got a few more
questions to ask you. Would you like for me to do it privately?”

Way to be subtle,
she thought tiredly. But she just shook her head. She'd already
decided she'd tell Cole. Why? She wasn't sure. But she
just felt like she should. She felt like he needed to know—like
she should tell him. “Just go ahead and ask.” She looked
at Cole, their gazes connecting. If he didn't feel casual about
her, then he needed to be aware she came with a bit of baggage, she
figured. If he couldn't deal with that, then better she know
early, right? “I plan on telling Cole later on, anyway.”

Clayton stilled.

She looked at him, saw
the way his eyes narrowed, the way his mouth tightened. “Is
that so? Things that serious with you two already?”

In her peripheral vision,
she saw Cole push of the wall. Quietly, she said, “That's
not exactly your concern, is it, Clayton? You're my friend.
That doesn't give you license to inquire about my personal
life.” She glanced at Cole and then away. “Come on.
Whatever you need to ask, get it done.”

“
Shit, Rocki.”
Clayton grunted and shoved a hand through his hair. “Fine.”
He shoved off the desk and started to pace. “How likely is it
that this is connected to...before?”

Before
.

Terror hit her. Images
flickered through her mind. Hands hard and cruel. A low, ugly
whisper...She swallowed the bile churning its way up her throat and
blinked away the dots trying to crowd in on her vision.
No, damn
it—you're not controlling me like this, bastard. Not now.
Not again
—

Taking a deep, slow
breath, she closed her eyes. She wasn't helpless. She hadn't
been then, she wasn't now. Closing her hands into fists, she
opened them, flexed her fingers.
Breathe, Rocki...breathe ...

As the black dots faded
away, she looked at Clayton. “Honestly, I don't know.
It's been
years
. Eleven years. You know that. Would he
still be out there, trying to freak me out?”

“
He had an
obsession for you. You tell me.”

Rocki shuddered. “Hell.
I don't know. I just don't know.”

Clayton nodded. “Okay.
Well, he's going to be the
first
person I check out.”
He sighed. “Go on. Get out of here. Get some rest.” Then
he added, “And damn it, be careful. Anything else happens, I
want to know. Immediately.”

C
hapter
Six

The walk to his car was
quiet. Snow came down around them in a gentle, steady fall. Already
their tracks from just a short while ago were nearly covered. Rocki
grimaced and kicked at the ground.

“
I'm getting
tired of snow.”

Cole muttered, “Me,
too.” He glanced over at Rocki, felt his heart stutter at the
sight of her. There were snowflakes in her hair. She had her head
tipped back, and even though she was scowling, there was a smile on
her lips. “You know, for somebody who claims to be tired of it,
you aren't in any rush to get out of the snow.”

Rocki sighed. “Well,
maybe I'm tired of it in theory. Maybe only partially tired.
But there's something peaceful about it, too. I could use some
peace right now.”

“
You're safe,
you know.” He brushed her hair back from her face. He meant to
push it back behind her ear. Really. But he found himself rubbing the
dark, thick lock between his thumb and forefinger. Tearing his gaze
from her hair, he looked into her dark eyes and said, “You can
relax.”

She scowled. “I
don't think I remember how.”

“
Try.” He
forced himself to let go of her hair. “Come on. It's
cold. We can enjoy the peace from inside the car, too.”

Moments later, they were
doing just that. As the car took to the roads, Cole glanced over at
Rocki, saw that she was staring out at the falling snow, still
smiling.

“
I moved to
Asheville from Florida when I was in high school,” she said,
glancing at him out of the corner of her eye and. “Never got to
see snow until then. I always used to dream about a white Christmas.
Every now and then, I can actually have one. Mom used to complain
about it, telling Dad they should have picked a different spot in
North Carolina. She hated the snow. I don't always mind it, I
guess.”

Her smile.

Damn it, what was it
about that smile of hers? It hit him like a punch, straight to his
gut. It didn't matter if it was the mischievous sort, or the
pensive, thoughtful kind. Every time she smiled and her dark eyes
crinkled up like that, it just got to him.

Clearing his throat, he
said, “You want me to take you to your car? I'm following
you home, just so you know. So I can either take you home now, or
follow you home, it doesn't matter, but...”

She reached over and laid
a finger across his lips. “I'm hungry. How about you take
me to get some food, instead?” She glanced around and said,
“Assuming the snow hasn't shut the city down.”

He caught her wrist.
“Nah. This place doesn't shut down that easily.” He
really should take her home. She was tired—the bruised look
under her eyes more than told him that. And she looked fragile, even
though he knew she was anything but.

But he wasn't about
to pass up a chance to spend some more time with her.

“
Although, you
realize, this doesn't count as a date. This is just getting
food. You still owe me a date.”

“
Typical lawyer,”
Rocki sighed. But she was smiling.

“
So what happened
with you and Mara?”

She had a heaping bowl of
Irish stew in front of her, a glass of Harp, and a fire crackling not
too far away. As far as she was concerned, it was the ideal way to
spend a Friday night—providing she didn't think about
earlier.

She hadn't expected
him to take her to
Molly Flanagan's
, but the sight of it
had made her smile. She loved this place. The Irish-style pub was
packed, too, all but bursting at the seams as they made their way
inside.

Cole had gone for a
Guinness and a burger, and glanced at her now as she snatched a few
of his fries. He scowled at her. Rocki decided then and there that
they really did need to have a second date. It felt too right not to.

If everything else went
okay.

“
Mara...”
Cole sighed. He wiped his fingers on his napkin and lifted his
Guinness, but didn't drink. Instead, he studied the half-empty
glass, as though it held the answers to the universe. “Have you
ever known somebody who could go from being one thing to being
something else...completely?”

Rocki lowered her gaze.
Her heart bumped against her ribs. “Maybe.”

“
It wasn't a
quick thing. Quick...well, that probably would have made me leave
sooner, and it wouldn't have been so hard, maybe. Might have
gotten ugly at first. But...” Scowling, he studied his drink.
Long moments passed before he finally shifted his gaze up to meet
hers. “She didn't used to be so miserable—I'm
not talking outright mean, because she could always be a bitch when
she wanted. It's just that lately, she just wanted to be a
bitch more often than not. She never used to be that way. She used to
be happy. Or happier, or least. I don't know when that started
to change.”

“
It makes you sad.”

“
Yeah.” He
sat the glass down and leaned back into his chair, turning his head
to stare into the fire. They were tucked into one of the smaller
alcoves and it was mostly quiet, rather private. They could hear the
muffled music and the roar of other voices, but nothing distinct.
“It's not that I have regrets about ending it, because I
don't. Maybe I only regret not seeing this sooner. But I hate
that somebody I used to love is so unhappy now.”

Then he shoved a hand
through his hair. “Not exactly good dinner conversation,
considering I plan on convincing you to go on another date, right?”

“
Well, technically,
this isn't a date.” She smiled at him as she lifted her
glass. “We were both hungry. So we're eating.”

She took a drink and then
set her glass down, staring at him. “I'm sorry.
Regardless of whether you still love Mara or not, I can tell it
bothers you. So I'm sorry.” Then she wrinkled her nose.
“Even though I don't much care for her.”