Flirting With Disaster

Josh’s hand immediately covered hers. “You okay? The worst is over. Don’t fall apart now.”

“It’s probably low blood sugar. I’ll be fine as soon as I’ve eaten something.”

Magically, a waitress appeared at that instant, her artificially red hair sprayed into a dated beehive style and adorned with a frilly white cap held in place with bobby pins. A pin on her pocket said her name was Linda Sue.

“Hey, sugar, you’re out late,” she said to Josh. “You want your usual?”

Maggie regarded Josh curiously. “Come here often?”

“Most nights like clockwork, right at seven. I could set the clock by him,” Linda Sue claimed. “Hasn’t changed his order once in all these weeks, either.”

Josh looked vaguely unsettled by the revelation. “Maybe I’ll do something totally unpredictable tonight.”

“Such as?” the woman asked skeptically.

“Yes, Josh,” Maggie encouraged, eager to see what he would consider a daring break with tradition. “Do something wild.”

“Okay, you two,” he chided. “Stop trying to turn this into some sort of dare. I happen to like burgers and fries.”

“But not tonight?” Linda Sue asked. “Is there something different about tonight, besides the fact that you finally have a good-looking woman with you?”

Maggie watched as Josh struggled to find a suitable comeback for the question. She grinned at his obvious dismay, then decided to give him a break.

“Well, while you’re making this life-altering decision, Josh, I’m ordering the burger and fries. If you have it every night, it must be good.”

“Best in town,” the waitress assured her. She turned to Josh. “Made up your mind?”

He shrugged finally. “What can I say? I like the burger. But I will be daring. I’ll have onion rings tonight.”

Maggie chuckled. “That is daring. I’m impressed. And just so you know, if you try to sneak even one of my fries, I will hurt you.”

Josh sighed dramatically. “Then you’d better bring me a side order of fries, too.”

“Coming right up,” Linda Sue promised.

The whole exchange had succeeded in calming Maggie’s nerves, but as she met Josh’s gaze, her pulse set off at a gallop all over again. However, he was the first to blink and look away.

“Why don’t you tell me more about what happened earlier tonight?” he suggested. “What set the guy off?”

Maggie finally blinked and looked away. “I gather Brian was Ellie’s mentor. When he heard I’d offered her a showing at the gallery, he freaked.”

Josh frowned. “You think she’ll stay the hell away from him after this?”

“She says she will. Problem is, he doesn’t seem to want to stay away from her.”

“Do you think he’s dangerous? Does she need protection?”

“I wanted her to get a restraining order, but she refused. She says he would never hurt her.” A look flashed across Josh’s face that startled Maggie. “You think she’s wrong, don’t you?”

“Women make that sort of mistake a lot,” he said tightly.

“And you know this because …?”

He shook his head. “It’s not important.”

“I think it is,” Maggie contradicted, seeing the evidence in his stormy gaze.

But before she could press the point, Linda Sue came back with their food. The heavenly aroma and the gnawing sensation in her stomach forced her to push her questions aside for the moment. When she picked up her burger instead of prying into his life any further, there was no mistaking his relief.

Maggie met his gaze. “I won’t forget what we were talking about,” she told him, determined to put him on notice.

“Have a French fry, sugar. They’re just about good enough to make you forget everything.”

“Nothing’s that good,” Maggie countered, but she popped one into her mouth. It was excellent. Crisp on the outside, tender inside and sprinkled with just the right amount of salt.

“Well?”

“Not bad,” she said, deliberately playing down the tastiness.

His eyes locked with hers. “Oh, really? That’s the best you can come up with?” He picked up another fry, dipped it in ketchup and held it to her lips.

Maggie swallowed hard, then accepted the unspoken dare. She licked the ketchup off the fry, then slowly took it into her mouth. When she did, Josh’s fingers brushed her lips.

And that had the effect he’d desired. She promptly forgot everything except the sensation of his work-roughened finger skimming across her lower lip. The jolt shot right through her. Something told her she’d be remembering that long after she was home—alone—in bed.

6

Maggie hated nothing more than having her curiosity aroused and then not satisfied. Once the impact of Josh’s touch finally wore off sometime in the middle of the night, she recalled why he’d deliberately set out to distract her. He’d wanted her to forget all about his inadvertent mention of his past.

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do this morning to track down any answers. She was scheduled to open the gallery at ten and was hoping to hear from Ellie that everything was quiet at her studio. With any luck at all, Brian had gotten the message that he wasn’t to return.

When she arrived at the gallery, she found Dinah already waiting on the doorstep. Maggie regarded her suspiciously.

“What brings you by this early?” she inquired as she unlocked the door and turned off the security system.

“You called last night. I just came by to see what you’d wanted.”

“How did you know I called? I didn’t leave a message,” Maggie said.

“That’s the wonder of modern technology. Answering machines reveal all sorts of things. Cord insisted we have a top-of-the-line machine so we could screen calls.”

“Were you home when I called?” Maggie demanded, suddenly irritated. What good were best friends if they didn’t pick up the phone when you needed them most?

Dinah blushed. “We were, but we were otherwise engaged.”

Maggie knew she should have seen that one coming. “Is this honeymoon of yours ever going to end?”

“Goodness, I surely do hope not,” Dinah replied, a grin spreading across her face. “So, what did you want? I figured it couldn’t be that important since you didn’t leave a message.”

“It was an emergency, as a matter of fact,” Maggie retorted. “So I had to call someone who actually answers the phone when it rings.”

“Warren?”

“No.” Maggie hesitated, then reminded herself that she was dealing with Dinah, the intrepid reporter who’d made world leaders squirm. There would be no peace until Maggie revealed who she’d turned to. “Josh.”

Dinah’s eyes widened. “Really? How absolutely fascinating!”

“Is that all you can say?” Maggie asked in disgust. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about the emergency?”

“Did Josh handle it?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters. I’m more interested in why you chose him.”

“He had technical expertise I required, along with a truck.”

Suddenly Dinah looked worried. “You weren’t disposing of a body, were you?”

“Good Lord, no. You really do need to rein in that imagination of yours.” She frowned at Dinah. “And what on earth makes you think Josh would have the technical expertise needed for that? What kind of background does he have, anyway?”

Dinah shrugged. “He’s an edgy kind of man. Something tells me he has all sorts of dark secrets.”

“And yet you’re encouraging Amanda O’Leary to get all cozy with him,” Maggie said wryly.

“I am not encouraging anything between him and Amanda,” Dinah said impatiently. “That’s your imagination working overtime. The woman made an offhand comment about how hot Josh is, and you’ve pictured some sort of relationship blossoming ever since. Since you claim you’re not interested, I have to wonder why it even matters to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Maggie insisted irritably. “At least, not the way you mean.”

“Is there some other way it could matter?” Dinah asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Would you just drop it?”

Dinah chuckled. “Happy to, now that I’ve got the answer I was looking for.”

“You don’t know squat.”

“That’s what you think,” Dinah replied mildly. “So what happened that had you calling for reinforcements?” she asked, pushing to get the topic back on her track.

Maggie described the scene she’d come upon when she’d gone to visit Ellie. “I wanted to get a new lock installed and those paintings of hers away from there before that Neanderthal came back and tried to destroy any more of them.”

“They’re here now?”

Maggie nodded. “Secured in the vault in back. I’m not taking any chances that he’ll figure out they’re here and decide to come by to ruin a few more.” She shuddered at the memory of the fury in his eyes just before he’d stormed out of Ellie’s studio. “The man’s scary.”

Dinah studied her with increased concern. “For you to say that, Maggie, he had to have been awful. Notify the police.”

“I can’t. I promised Ellie I wouldn’t do that, at least for now.”

“I think you’re being foolish. At least tell them to keep a closer watch on the gallery,” Dinah pleaded.

“The vault’s secure enough,” Maggie insisted.

“And the rest of this place? If he can’t get to Ellie’s work, he might take it out on the gallery.”

“I don’t think he’s that stupid or that crazy,” Maggie said, though her certainty was shaken by Dinah’s concern. “This is personal between him and Ellie. He’s jealous of her talent.”

“Really? Her paintings are that good?”

Maggie’s enthusiasm for the paintings overcame the last of her irritation at Dinah for shutting her out the night before. “They’re fabulous,” she confirmed.

Dinah’s eyes gleamed the way they did when she was on the scent of a great story. “May I peek?”

Maggie grinned. “Are you asking as a reporter or as a friend who’s capable of keeping a secret?”

“As long as you promise me an exclusive when the time comes, I’ll keep your secret,” Dinah bargained.

“Okay, then,” Maggie said, knowing that she could trust Dinah’s promises. They’d both kept silent about an awful lot of youthful misadventures. “Come with me.”

She opened the vault and switched on the overhead light, then gestured at the individual storage bins. “The paintings are in those.” Then she waited, holding her breath for Dinah’s reaction.

The hundred-watt bulb in the humidity-controlled vault was nothing compared to what the gallery lighting would be when it came time for the show, but Dinah gasped at the first painting she pulled out to view.

“Oh my, she really is talented, isn’t she?” Dinah said in a hushed voice, stepping closer to the still life. “Not that I’m half the expert you are, but this is amazing.”

Maggie beamed as relief flooded through her. “Don’t sell yourself short, Dinah. The art collection your folks have is nothing to sneer at. You grew up being able to tell a masterpiece from junk the same way I did.”

Dinah gently retrieved each painting from its protective bin. At last she turned back to Maggie. “When’s the show?”

“I want to take my time planning it, so I’m thinking September at the earliest, maybe October,” Maggie replied. “That will give me time to create a certain amount of buzz and maybe lure a few art critics down here from New York.”

Dinah regarded Maggie with evident curiosity. “What did Josh think? I assume you paid close attention to his reaction.”

“He seemed impressed,” Maggie said carefully. “But he was more interested in getting these things out of Ellie’s place and tucked away here than he was in examining them.”

“So he’s not an art lover.” Dinah studied her. “Is that a problem?”