Night After Night...

She yawned beside him, then rolled away, tucking her pillow under her head. “I have to admit that does make me feel better. No offense, Nate.”

“None taken.”

Nate considered the consequences of romancing Carleen Wimmer away from Hamilton, aware of the dangers of mixing business with pleasure. And seducing this woman would most definitely be a pleasure. His body tightened just thinking about stripping away that nightshirt and discovering all her intimate secrets.

“Besides,” she said sleepily, “if you’re a security specialist, I should be safe with you.”

Nate smiled into the dark at her assumption. Big mistake, Carleen. Big mistake.

THE NEXT MORNING, Mia awoke to find Nate hovering over her, his fingers gently brushing over her right temple. She sucked in her breath, afraid to move as his eyes met hers. Afraid not to move as he leaned toward her to whisper, “Good morning.”

His smile was slow and sexy, sending her heartbeat into double time. Muscles bulged in his arm as he propped himself up on his elbow next to her. He lay so close to her that his thigh pressed into her hip and she could feel the radiant heat of his powerful body from head to toe.

An odd, tingling warmth swirled in the pit of her stomach, then moved lower. Her gaze fell to his firm lips. They were so near to her own that she could capture his mouth in a kiss without even moving her head off the pillow. Maybe that would finally quench the fire that had been burning inside of her since Nate had slipped beneath the covers last night.

He looked even better in the light of day. Dark eyebrows arched across his wide brow and whiskers shadowed his lean jaw.

Mia saw both strength and experience in his face, which she found more alluring than any picture-perfect male model. She wanted to ask him about the scar above his right eyebrow and the second one she’d just noticed at the base of his chin. She wanted to trace the rugged terrain of his cheekbones with her fingertips as well as the small dimple that rarely dared to appear at the corner of his mouth.

She wanted what she couldn’t have.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he murmured, his fingers sliding over her forehead and into her hair.

Then what had he meant to do? Seduce her in her sleep? Mia imagined waking up with his hands under his nightshirt, his nimble fingers caressing her breasts instead of her head. Or finding him naked under the sheets, his lips sliding slowly up her inner thigh until he found her wet and ready for him. Like she was right now.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice raspy with both sleep and desire.

“Hannah was in a few minutes ago and unhooked you from the machine. There’s still some of that sticky gel on your forehead and in your hair. I was trying to wipe it off before it dried.”

A perfectly reasonable explanation. So why did his touch feel more like a seduction than a simple act of kindness? She saw no kindness in his eyes. Only heat and hunger and a stark, raw need that touched something deep inside of her. Something that made her want him even more, if that was possible.

But it didn’t matter how much she wanted him, she couldn’t have him. Not if she finally wanted to break her bad habit of falling too hard and too fast for the wrong kind of man. And Nate Cafferty had Mr. Wrong written over every inch of his sinfully delicious body.

“Please,” she began, her breath catching in her throat as his fingers trailed sensuously over the curve of her cheek and along the length of her jaw.

“Please what?” he whispered huskily.

She swallowed, drumming up every bit of willpower she possessed. “Please…stop. I think all the gel is off.”

To her surprise, he did.

Nate rolled away from her and sat up on his side of the bed. He wiped his fingers on a tissue from the nightstand. Then she heard him take a long, deep breath before reaching for his duffel bag on the floor.

Maybe Harlan was right and she could trust him.

Not that Nate could trust her. He didn’t even know her real name or identity, after all. But what did it really matter? After this sleep study ended, she’d never see the man again.

“Did you know you hog the covers?” Nate asked, pulling his T-shirt off, then tossing it in the bag.

Her mouth went dry at the way the muscles flexed over the width of his bare back and shoulders. “I do not.”

“Do, too,” he countered, glancing back at her with a smile.

Mia knew she should get out of bed, but she didn’t want Nate watching her walk around in her old, grungy nightshirt. The first item on her agenda this morning was a trip to the store to buy new sleepwear.

She looked up to find Nate staring intently at her.

“You know,” he said at last, “you don’t look like a Carleen.”

Mia had almost forgotten she was playing a part. The reminder was as effective as a bucket of ice water on all her forbidden fantasies about Nate.

“It’s a family name,” she improvised. “My grandmother was the youngest of eight girls. Her father’s name was Carl, so they called her Carleen when they realized they wouldn’t have a son to name after him.”

The words just kept tumbling out of her mouth, her tale growing taller by the second. Keep it simple, she admonished herself. The more details she gave him, the more holes he could poke in her story. She couldn’t afford to have him voice any suspicions about her to Dr. Longo.

“That’s interesting,” he said, shifting on the bed to face her. “What about Wimmer? Is that English? German?”

He seemed unusually fascinated with her name. Or did he feel as awkward as Mia and was simply trying to make conversation? Her awkwardness was due to the fact that he was still shirtless. Fortunately, the man seemed oblivious of his effect on her.

“It’s Dutch, actually,” she replied, having no clue as to the origin. “Short for Van De Wimmer. My ancestors changed it when they immigrated to America.”

He stared at her, as if waiting for more. But Mia had already lied enough for one morning. She rolled out of her side of the bed, taking the comforter with her. She wrapped it around her waist, then turned toward him. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

He nodded, rising to his feet and facing her across the bed. “Same time, same place.”

Acutely aware that she probably didn’t look her best, Mia disappeared inside Graceland to wash up. When she emerged several minutes later, Nate was gone.

Anxious to return home so she could be herself again, Mia quickly packed her overnight bag and then headed for the door. Harlan Longo met her there, looking unusually chipper for so early in the morning.

“How did you sleep, Carleen?”

“Fine,” she lied, not wanting to admit that sharing a bed with Nate had kept her awake most of the night. She’d been all too aware of every breath he’d taken and every movement he’d made as he’d lain beside her in the dark.

“Good.” The older man smiled. “I knew Nate wouldn’t give you any trouble. He’s not the kind of man to take advantage of a woman. At least, not an unwilling woman.”

Those words lingered in her head as she made her way past the moat, the school bus and the chickens down to the front gate to retrieve her car. Instinct told her that Nate didn’t come across many unwilling women in his life. Just like Ian.

Which was reason enough to keep her distance.

NATE KNEW it wouldn’t take long for Harlan to find him. He’d just finished breakfast when his old friend walked into the dining room of the Longo estate.

“Well, how did it go?” Harlan asked, pouring himself a cup of hot tea.

“Not quite as I expected.” Nate tossed his napkin onto his empty plate. “Carleen Wimmer might just be my most intriguing case yet.”

Harlan pulled out a chair and sat down. “I think you’re wrong about her. Carleen doesn’t strike me as the type of woman who would scheme to marry for money. She’s too sweet. Too pretty.”

“That’s how she reels in men like Tobias Hamilton,” Nate replied. “Guys fall for that sweet and innocent act all the time.”

Harlan arched a silver brow. “But not you?”

Nate didn’t meet his gaze. “I’m just doing my job.”

“That’s what concerns me.” Harlan set his teacup on the table. “Look, Nate, I know it’s none of my business, but you’re almost thirty years old. Don’t make the same mistake I did by letting your work become your life. You just might live to regret it.”

The light dimmed in Harlan’s eyes and Nate knew he was thinking about his late wife. Those stupid public allegations about Harlan neglecting her illness had taken their toll. Few people knew that Adele Longo had refused treatment for her terminal illness, preferring to spend her last days at home with her husband.

Nate hadn’t seen either one of them for years, losing contact with his foster parents shortly after his high school graduation, though he gave them all the credit for his making it that far.

His own father had left home when Nate was seven years old and his mother had turned to a whiskey bottle for comfort instead of to her only son. She was a mean drunk—taking out her anger and pain on the easiest target. Nate soon learned that words could hurt more than fists. He’d endured the pain of both, always hoping that one day his mother would realize how much he loved her. That he’d endure anything if she’d just be happy again.

Growing up, he’d spent more and more time on the streets, falling in with a neighborhood gang of tough kids. When he was thirteen years old, his mother had lost her job and they’d been threatened with eviction. So one night, Nate and his gang had burglarized a liquor store. A night that had changed his life forever.

That was the last time he’d seen his mother. She’d come to the police station the next morning, still suffering from the effects of a hangover, to tell him he was as worthless as his no-good father. Then she’d signed the formal papers terminating her parental rights. Oblivious to Nate’s pleas for a second chance, she’d turned him over to the state and left him without a backward glance. Years later, he found out she eventually died of cirrhosis of the liver.

He lost his mother but he never lost the memories of the eighteen months he served in a hellhole they called the Pennsylvania Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. After that, he’d been sent into the foster care system. That’s when fate had finally smiled on him—in the form of Harlan and Adele Longo.

They’d taken him in and told him that he wasn’t worthless, though Nate had tested them at every turn. Adele had showered him with love, despite his surliness. Harlan had signed him up for boxing lessons as an outlet for all the rage inside of him.

Nate had been the city’s Golden Gloves champion in his age group for three years in a row. He’d always refused to let anyone bring him down—not his mother, not a rival gang member and not another boxer.

It was the only way he knew how to survive.

Through his high school years, the Longos had made him part of their family. Then he’d left to join the Marines before his foster parents could discover for themselves what his mother already knew—that he simply wasn’t worth it.

News of Adele Longo’s death had finally brought Nate back to Philadelphia again after a ten-year absence, where he promised to stay as long as Harlan needed him. He hated watching his foster father go through the painful grieving process. That’s why Nate had encouraged him to pursue his research projects, which seemed to help more than anything else.

“Is that why you put me in Carleen’s bed?” Nate asked, trying to lighten the mood. “For a little romance? That wasn’t part of our plan.”

“Plans change,” Harlan replied breezily. “I thought it was for the best.”

“So is this a sleep study or a matchmaking project?”

“Can’t it be both?” He smiled. “Once I met Carleen, I knew she couldn’t be the kind of woman you think she is. I thought if you got a chance to know her, you’d see that for yourself.”

Nate knew that Harlan put high stock in first impressions. Hell, he’d picked Nate out of a pool of juvenile delinquents and given him a home fifteen years ago. It was the first time in Nate’s life that anyone had ever believed in him. Now Harlan wanted him to do the same with Carleen.

But it wasn’t that simple. The woman had too many secrets. Besides, Nate had decided a long time ago that he was better off alone. He loved women, but like a boxer using fancy footwork, he knew that the best way to avoid a knock-out punch was to keep moving.

“Just give her a chance,” Harlan said, reading the skepticism on his face. “You might be surprised.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Nate admonished. “I’m not looking for sweet and innocent—if she is innocent. Besides, I don’t think she likes me.”

A twinkle lit Harlan’s eye. “Oh, she likes you all right.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because science doesn’t lie.” He rose to his feet. “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

Nate followed him to the control hub in the research center, where several of Harlan’s assistants were busy analyzing the data gathered the night before.

“Please hand me the Wimmer file, Hannah.”

Harlan’s assistant dug through a stack of files on her desk, then pulled one out from the bottom. “Here you go, Dr. Longo.”

“Thank you.” He motioned Nate into his office. It was cluttered with books, papers, and an assortment of feather pillows left over from his last research project.

“Have a seat.” Harlan handed him the file folder, then hovered at his shoulder as Nate opened it.

“Now take a look at her vitals when you got into bed with her,” Harlan said

Nate glanced down at the file, noting a sudden spike in her pulse rate and respiration around the time that he joined her in the Elvis bed. “That’s not exactly surprising. She thought I was an intruder. Anyone would have that reaction.”

“Yes, but notice how long those levels stay elevated. Even after she falls asleep—or pretends to fall asleep.”

Nate’s gaze flicked from the television screen to the data report and back again. “According to this, she was awake for almost four hours after I got there.”

“Which makes me believe that you definitely had an effect on her.”

Nate closed the file, mentally storing the information for later use. “The only effect I want to have is closing this case. The sooner I can find out the truth about Carleen Wimmer, the better.”

Harlan frowned. “You’re not going to intimidate her, are you? I only agreed to set this up because you made her sound like some kind of ruthless barracuda. Now that I’ve actually met Carleen, I have to admit I’m having second thoughts.”

So was Nate. He’d let Mrs. Hamilton’s prejudices color his image of Carleen. But instead of finding a worldly schemer, she’d struck him more as a woman who didn’t know the power of her own sexuality. Or if she did, had used it so skillfully that Nate was still reeling from their close encounter this morning.

He closed the folder. “Don’t worry about Carleen. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Harlan started to say something else, but Nate’s cell phone interrupted him.

Nate looked at the number on the display panel. “I’d better take this.”

“I’ll give you some privacy.” Harlan headed toward the door. “Go ahead and show yourself out when you’re through. I need to start studying all the data from last night.”

“Thanks, Harlan.” He waited until the man was out the door before he answered the phone. “Hello, Mrs. Hamilton.”

“I know it’s early, Mr. Cafferty, but I’m quite eager for an update on my case.”

“Not much has changed since yesterday.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Mrs. Hamilton’s voice quavered. “My son called me last night. Somehow that tart convinced him to cut his trip short and come home a week early. He told me they’re going to marry as soon as his plane lands.”

“That doesn’t give you much time to torpedo the wedding.”

“You’re the one running out of time,” she countered. “I need dirt on Carleen Wimmer and I need it as soon as possible.”

Nate swallowed a sigh, tempted to quit the case and let Mrs. Hamilton find her own dirt. But the thought of leaving Carleen behind bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Besides, he wasn’t a quitter and Mrs. Hamilton had paid for his services.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said at last.

“Please don’t disappoint me, Mr. Cafferty,” she replied. “I only have three weeks left to save my son.”

He rang off, wondering how he could accelerate his investigation without arousing Carleen’s suspicion. She had told him only the most superficial information about herself and her family so far. Nothing solid he could go on.

Then it hit him.

Maybe the key wasn’t talking to Carleen, but someone who knew her. Someone who lived with her and worked with her on a daily basis.

Nate suddenly had an irresistible urge to redecorate the master bedroom of his home. And he knew the perfect interior designer to hire for the job.

Mia Maldonado.

4

MIA HIT morning rush-hour traffic on her way home from the Longo estate, so she was already in a bad mood when she pulled into her driveway and saw Ian Brock’s shiny red pickup truck parked there.

In her haste this morning, she’d simply thrown on her clothes and left the Longo Research Center with her hair half-combed and no makeup. Not exactly the image to make Ian regret dumping her.

“About time you got here,” he said, as she climbed out of her Miata. “It’s almost nine.”

“I’m running a little late this morning.”

Ian walked with her to the front door, apparently unaffected by the awkwardness that made her drop her purse on the ground, the contents spilling out on the sidewalk.

Ian bent down to help her pick everything up, his hand finding her lip balm first. His mouth curved into a reminiscent smile.

“Strawberry Banana,” he said, reading the label. “That was always my favorite flavor on you.”

She remembered. Mia remembered everything about him, including how much it had shocked her when he’d dumped her for a younger woman. A nineteen-year-old model with bigger breasts and smaller hips. That had been bad enough, but even worse was how he’d treated her at the end. Brushing off her suspicions as paranoia. Making her doubt herself.

Until she’d caught him in the act. Then he’d had the gall to dump her before she could even react. That had been three months ago and his easy dismissal of her had hurt Mia to the core.

Now she wondered what she’d ever seen in the man. Compared to Nate, he was flashy and phony. Perfect hair. Perfect tan. Perfect clothes. She’d been so impressed with him and his skills as a carpenter that she’d failed to notice how impressed Ian was with himself.

Why hadn’t she seen it sooner?

“I think it’s past the expiration date,” she said, taking the lip balm from him and tossing it into the trash can sitting near the front stoop.

Ian’s brow crinkled, as if he just now noticed her disheveled appearance. “What happened to you?”

She walked briskly to the front door, the heavy tread of his work boots sounding on the sidewalk behind her. “What do you mean?”

“You look like hell.”

Indignation prickled her skin. How dare he suddenly show up in her life again and start insulting her. As if he’d done nothing wrong. Never deceived her. Never hurt her. She wished he hadn’t quit three months ago so she could fire him now.

Mia took a deep breath, determined not to show him that his opinion still mattered to her. And what better way than to make him think she’d found someone else.

She turned around and smiled at him. “Really? Nate seemed to like the way I looked this morning.”

His gaze narrowed. “Who’s Nate?”

“Nate Cafferty. A man I met last night.”

“You mean…?” Ian shook his head in disbelief. “No. Not you, Mia. You’re not a one-night-stand type of girl.”

“You haven’t seen me for almost three months, Ian,” she countered. “You have no clue as to what type of girl I am anymore.”

“So that’s why you’re late for work? That’s why you look like you just tumbled out of bed?” A flush of indignation mottled his cheeks. “Because you slept with some other guy?”

Mission accomplished.

“I’m afraid that’s none of your business anymore,” she said evenly. “Why are you waiting out here, anyway? Carleen could have let you in.”

“Nobody answered the door when I knocked,” he told her as she tried to turn the knob.

“That’s odd.” Mia fished through her purse for her house key. “Carleen always opens up the office by eight.”

“Maybe she got lucky last night, too,” he sneered.

“Maybe,” she said breezily, unlocking the door.

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