Finding the Magic (3 page)

“Care to tell me what you’re doing here?” She sat on the arm of one of the armchairs and watched him. He stood completely still, yet he seemed to fill the room with his presence. There was something about him that drew her and yet, at the same time cautioned her to stay away. She wasn’t afraid of him, though he could undoubtedly be a dangerous man. The air around him fairly vibrated with it.

He abruptly shifted his attention from the window, pinning her with his amber gaze. Jayne stared back patiently and waited.

“I’m here because you’re in danger.”

She wasn’t sure what she had expected him to say but it definitely wasn’t that.

“Danger?” she repeated doubtfully. “From what?”

“You know about the man who was after Jack and Megan?”

She nodded. “He had some kind of grudge against Jack. What does this have to do with me?”

“Somebody told James York where to find them, gave him details about their lives. I believe that person might come after you next.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know why yet,” he growled and swept a hand through his hair. “I
dinnae
even know
who
. I only know there have been other, similar cases where someone like you has disappeared.”

“What do you mean someone like me?”

He was silent a moment. “Someone with the same…characteristics as you.”

He glanced out the window again, tension visible in every line of his body. Jayne had the impression he would rather be anywhere but here. The fact that he had believed strongly enough that she was in danger to come here to warn her made her more inclined to take him seriously.

“Shouldn’t we go to the police?”

“No! I…there’s no evidence I can take to them.”

Jayne blinked in surprise at the vehemence of his reply. “Well…okay. I’ll take care…” he took a step toward her and she trailed off.

“No’ good enough.”

The statement brought her to her feet, wiping away her calm façade. “What do you mean ‘No’ good enough’? What else do you want me to do?”

“I want you to come home with me back to Murray House. Now. I can protect you there.”

He had the most amazing voice, even when he was growling at her. Wickedly deep and smooth, it was an unusual mixture of American and Scottish. It poured over her like melted dark chocolate. Unbearably tempting. For a second, part of Jayne yelled,
Yes
! But sanity prevailed, for once.
“No. I’m sorry but, no.”
You have no idea how sorry
.
“I can’t just up and leave everything at a moment’s notice. I have a job.”

“Is it more important than your life, lass?”

“You don’t even know for sure that my life is in danger!”

“Nevertheless, you
will
come with me.” He glared at her, hands clenched at his sides.

Jayne laughed. “Don’t you pull that ‘Lord of the Manor’ shit with me, Cameron Murray. You might have more money than God but that doesn’t give you the right to order me about.”

He studied her in silence, expression thunderous. A muscle ticked in his tightly clenched jaw and she had the impression that he was fighting some internal battle.

“Fine,” he ground out. “Then
Ah’ll
stay here.”

Jayne tilted her head, considering. She wondered if he was aware that his Scottish accent thickened when he was mad. What else would bring out the Scot in him? Lord, he was a wonderful specimen, even when he was pouting. What would she give to see that powerful body naked? Every one of her hormones stood up and screamed at her,
“Do it, Jayne!”
She thought of Bob, her trusty but weary friend. Hadn’t she decided just this morning that she needed a real man? Why not this one? Her flirting skills might be a bit rusty after all this time but she could at least try. Her chances would be increased tenfold if he were under her roof for a few days until he was convinced she was safe.

After all, he was kind of a friend of the family and he had driven all the way from the north of Scotland to warn her… It just wouldn’t be right to just send him straight back, now would it? There was something about Cameron Murray that had instincts she thought she had lost twitching back to life. It was just the kind of impulsive decision the old Jayne would have made and, if she was going to take back her old life, what better way? She smiled at him and he met her eyes with suspicion.

“Okay.”

Cameron blinked in surprise at her easy compliance. He had been prepared for an argument and was aware of a vague feeling of disappointment that she hadn’t given it to him.

“You agree?”

She nodded serenely and he frowned at her suspiciously. She was up to something. He hadn’t picked up any specific thoughts, but he was sensing a kind of muted anticipation and excitement from her. He watched as she stood up and started toward the sitting room door.

“Make yourself at home, the sofa in the library folds out into a bed. I have to go to work so I’ll see you when I get back this evening.”

He shook his head and followed her down the hall, leaning against the wall outside her bedroom. Drawers opened and closed and he tried not to imagine what she was doing. Against his will images of Jayne naked drifted into his mind. He wondered if her skin tasted as creamy as it looked. He wanted to nibble and lick his way up those long legs, run his tongue over the birthmark that proclaimed her his. Did she have freckles? There were none on her face but that didn’t mean they were absent from her body. Were her nipples pale pink or soft peach? Given her hair
color
, he thought they would probably be pink. He pictured them peeking through that hair as it hung loose and free over her shoulders. Tangling around them both as she straddled him. Would her fiery red pubic hair burn him when he entered her? Or was she bare? Cameron moaned as his cock surged to eager life.
Stop it
!
Stop torturing yourself
,
you bloody idiot
!

The door behind him opened and Jayne sailed past him, dressed now in black trousers and an ugly green shirt. Her hair tied back, hanging in a long ponytail down her back. She seemed completely oblivious to his presence. She had put him out of her mind, her thoughts now filled with her job. He didn’t like the fact that she might be able to do that when he was struggling to do the same. Heels clicking on the hardwood flooring, she walked to the hallway closet and pulled out a black coat. He reached for her, shackling her wrist with his hand, angry green eyes snapped at him but Cameron paid them no mind. The instant he touched her, every thought vanished from his head and all he was aware of was the softness of her skin and the warm pounding of her pulse beneath it. She pulled out of his grip and shrugged into her jacket.

“I have to go to work.”

Shaken by his reaction to just that small touch, it was a moment before he responded. “I’m going with you.”

She chuckled, shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“You need to be protected.”

“Cameron, I understand that you’re concerned but I’m only going to work. In a supermarket, not a combat zone. Though, admittedly, it can feel like it when the sales are on. I think I’ll survive.”

“No, Jayne, I
dinnae
think
you
understand. These people, whoever they are,
dinnae
play around. The missing people I told you about were all taken when they were alone, going about their daily lives. No warning, just gone. No trace of them has been found. I am going with you. Besides, it’s a public place. You
cannae
stop me.”

He followed as she turned her back to him and marched out the door. “Fine,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “But if you get me fired…” Her threat trailed off ominously and Cameron’s teeth flashed in a rare smile. She was…a challenge.

Chapter Three

Jayne handed the credit card and receipt back to her customer with a smile that faded the instant the woman walked away. For about the hundredth time since she had sat down at the checkout point, her gaze drifted toward the wide storefront window. Yep, he was still there. His blond hair shone in the patch of sunlight where he stood, leaning against the wall of the building across the street. Watching her with unnerving intensity.

She had ignored his presence as she walked to work, pretending she couldn’t feel him just behind her all the way. While she marched through the shop to the staff room, he had prowled through the shop, looking, she assumed, for any threat. Then with a long heated glance, he had walked out of the store and across the street to stand with what looked like endless patience in his current spot. Jayne swore that every female in the place had sighed longingly as the door had shut behind him. Including herself.

He nodded at her and she looked away quickly. Searching for a distraction in the now quiet store, she was relieved to see Linda approaching from the direction of the manager’s office. There was a sympathetic expression on her colleague’s face. It was enough to tell Jayne she was not going to like whatever Mr. Harrison had said. The little weed.

“Jayne, I know it’s a hassle but the boss wants you to switch places with me and work in the stockroom today. I’m really sorry.”

And she was. Linda knew as well as she did just why Frank wanted her there.

Privacy.

Jayne had thought—no,
hoped
—that her threat of sexual harassment charges had been enough to finally discourage him. He hadn’t touched her since then. She should have realized it wouldn’t last, creeps like him never changed. It wasn’t a route she really wanted to take, it would probably mean losing her job. They couldn’t fire her for it, even if he was the owner’s son. She doubted she could continue to work here though. Much as she hated to admit it, Harrison was right. There was a stigma attached to anyone who involved themselves in a sexual harassment case. With a sigh of resignation, she logged off the cashier system.

The stockroom was essentially a large warehouse almost as big as the shop itself. It had a full-sized roll-up door in the rear so that the delivery trucks could be unloaded with ease directly into it. One half was filled with rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with boxes, while the other was taken up by a refrigerated room and a huge freezer room. Jayne hated those and avoided them at all costs. As large as they were, she still felt claustrophobic in them. Both were sealed with large heavy doors and, although she knew they could be opened easily from the inside, she had a fear of being trapped in them. She turned her back on them determinedly and grabbed the clipboard with the inventory list from its hook on the wall. Linda had only checked off the first few items so it was easy to find where she had left off and, within a few moments, Jayne was absorbed in the task.

She had just reached the end of the first page when she began to feel as though she wasn’t alone. The back of her neck prickled with awareness and the scrape of a shoe on concrete confirmed it. With deliberate casualness, she sat the clipboard on top of the box she had been checking and turned, unsurprised to find Frank Harrison behind her, just a few feet away. Damn, but the man could move quietly when he felt like it.

He was average height, which made him about an inch shorter than Jayne, more if she wore heels. Which of course she did, just to annoy him. Average build, mid-brown hair, brown eyes, not handsome, not ugly. He was dressed in a mid-range
gray
suit with a white shirt and a dark blue striped tie. Everything about the man’s appearance was just average. The only thing that set Frank apart was his personality. His total belief was that he was God and everyone else—especially women—were put on this earth for his amusement.

“Mr. Harrison, is there a problem?”

He walked toward her, a slight smile on his face. “Now, Jayne, I thought we had progressed beyond last names. Haven’t I told you to call me Frank when we’re alone?”

Yeah
,
right
.
Jayne watched him warily, resisting the impulse to take a step back when he invaded her personal space. He’d love that, a sign that he threatened her. “I’d rather not, Mr. Harrison.”

His smile broadened. “Well, maybe I can change your mind.” The thick, cloying smell of his aftershave drifted around them, making it all the more difficult to stand her ground. She frowned as his muddy brown eyes drifted down the length of her body then returned to fix on her breasts.
Okay
,
that does it
.

“Mr. Harrison, you are making me uncomfortable. I meant what I said before about taking action against this kind of
behavior
.”

He shook his head and laid his hands on the curve of her waist. “I think we both know you’re not going to do that, Jayne. If you were, you’d have done it already.”

“You know, you’re right.” And the knowledge grated, what kind of coward had she turned into? She straightened to her full height. “But I have decided that I don’t need this job enough to put up with you. I quit.” His eyes widened at the steel in her tone and made her smile, it was a tone he had never heard from her before. “I haven’t decided yet whether to press charges against you but…you know that little place in my letter of resignation where you put reason for leaving…? Now, take your bloody hands off me.” Anxiety flickered briefly over his face before he could hide it. Jayne took a step forward, smile broadening when he stepped back.