Unexpected Temptation Page 5

  She sat in the love seat across from him and curled into it like a cat, folding her legs under her in the way that women often did. He loved that.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better,” she said. “Thanks for the supplies.”

  “No problem. We can pick up anything else you need as we go.”

  “About the file,” she said, cutting to the chase.

  Luke nodded. “You’re probably wondering—”

  “Julie. The woman you think is Nicole—Nicky—her name is really Julie. She’s my sister.”

  Well. Luke sat back, hit between the eyes by that bit of information. So that’s why she’d been so upset.

  Her sister, of course. He was an idiot, not putting two and two together sooner. They said everyone had a double, but Nicole told him that she was an orphan. No family. Then again, she’d lied about everything else, so why not this?

  “I see.”

  Though he didn’t really see. Not entirely.

  “We were separated, Julie, our brother and me, when I was six. After our parents died. We all were shuffled into the foster system, separated, and I lost track of them after that.”

  The light went on for Luke. “You mentioned you were looking for someone—so you’ve been searching for her all this time?”

  “Yes. I never stopped. I thought I saw her on news footage coming out of Puerto Rico, so I contacted the news outlet and got a copy of the story. I really believed it was her, so I went there, looking. That was the airport photo you had of me—when I was coming home. How did you get that, anyway?”

  “I used to run a tech company. I owned it, actually. We developed some of the key components that are used by airports for facial recognition. I still have some contacts who are able to let me know when they get a hit on Nicky. Julie, rather.”

  “Oh. Wow. But I thought you said you were a bodyguard?”

  “I am, now.”

  “What happened?”

  Luke immediately lost his appetite. “Your sister happened.”

  “I could see that you two were, um, together? You seemed very close. Is that why you want to find her again?”

  “We were very close. Or that’s what she made me think. You may not like hearing this, Vanessa, but you have a right to know what you’re getting into.”

  Luke filled in all the details, as concisely and unemotionally as he could about what happened between himself and Nicky.

  To her credit, Vanessa listened calmly, having no obvious reaction until he got to the part about finding his employee dead in his office. Her eyes welled, her hand clamping over her mouth on a sharply indrawn breath before she spoke.

  “You can’t think Julie killed him? I can’t believe that. I won’t believe that.”

  “No, it was suicide. But it was because of what Nicky, or Julie, did. She probably stole the code to sell out on the open market, and set this man up to appear guilty. I believed he was guilty. I brought charges against him, wrecked his life and he killed himself. She and I both bear responsibility for his death.”

  It was the first time he’d said that aloud to anyone in years, and he couldn’t stand the horror in Vanessa’s eyes. It was mirrored in his own soul, the guilt and remorse. He’d done what he could for Marcus’s family—the man who killed himself—and all that he could do to assuage the rest of it was to make Nicky pay.

  “That’s terrible. But it wasn’t your fault. You were tricked,” Vanessa said softly. “How could you know how he would respond?”

  He breathed in her scent, his soap. Nicky always used it, too. Said she liked smelling like him, keeping him with her all day.

  Damn it.

  “I don’t want forgiveness, Vanessa. Not yours or anyone else’s. I want justice. I want your sister to answer for what she did, and that’s all.”

  She frowned slightly.

  “I know you can’t understand, Luke, but what we went through as kids... I was lucky. I found a good home, eventually. Even so, I’m a mess. I could have easily gone down the same road if not for my adoptive parents. Who knows where she and Max ended up? I know what she did was wrong, but I don’t believe she could ever kill someone. She was a gentle, kind child.”

  “If you want out of this now, say so. It’s not too late to go into protective custody. But make no mistake, Vanessa, if you want to stay you need to understand that my goal is to find your sister, bring her to the authorities and keep you safe while I do it. Whoever you thought Julie was, she’s not that person anymore.”

  Vanessa stared, muted by his vehemence. He cursed under his breath, joining her on the love seat as he continued, his hands on her shoulders as if wanting to make her listen.

  “That bomb in your house? That attack? It was because of her. Someone wants her dead, and they almost killed you, instead. Your sister is a bad person. Indirectly or not, she hurts people. It has to stop.”

  Her eyes were wide. She trembled under his touch.

  “Sorry,” he breathed, getting control of his emotions and pulling her in close.

  Vanessa had been through too much in one day, and he should have known better than to pile more on her. Though when he saw her with the file, he knew he’d have to tell her. She had to know the truth.

  She burrowed into his chest, wrapping her arms around him, too. After a few minutes, the trembling stopped.

  He’d meant to break the contact, but he didn’t.

  “Vanessa,” he murmured into her ear, “after what happened at the police station, in the parking lot, I was seeing if you really were Nicky. She had a tattoo, right here,” he said, touching the spot lightly. She trembled under his touch and he withdrew it. “This isn’t what it seems to be.”

  The attraction, the emotions overwhelming him at this moment, they weren’t real. It was the adrenaline, confusion and who knew what else mixed in.

  She pulled away, but not entirely, as he brushed some thick curls from her cheek. She nodded.

  “I know. I know you love her. Or loved her, once. And I know it’s probably difficult, wanting her so much, and I look so much like her,” she said, her voice tight. “I understand.”

  Luke wanted to protest. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t love her sister and probably never really had. He’d slept with her, enjoyed her, but back then he wasn’t even sure he was capable of love. Nicky sure hadn’t been. It was why, in some respect, he’d thought they were perfect for each other.

  But Vanessa...she was soft. She had a heart. She was hurting, and he wanted to make her feel better. In all kinds of ways.

  But it was better for her to believe what she thought was true. Better for both of them. So he didn’t deny it.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Disappointment and regret flashed across her features, but only for a second before she regrouped.

  “Regardless of that, nothing changes. I have to find her. It would be better if you went to the police.” Maybe she would listen to reason now.

  “No. No matter what, I want to find her, too. I want to help—her and you. There has to be more to the story. I won’t believe she’s as bad as you say until she tells me to my face. I want to know what’s really going on. I want to be there for her, if I can.”

  Admiration swelled in Luke’s chest, but he didn’t dare touch her again. If he did, all of his good intentions might go out the window.

  “Fine. We should get some sleep and think about our next move tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Good night,” she said haltingly.

  “Good night.”

  What had he gotten himself into? He shouldn’t have given Vanessa a choice. He should have delivered her to the police and walked away. But something about her made it difficult to walk away. He headed to his room, too, pausing outside her closed door before he went ins
ide. Resisting her could be more trouble than he’d counted on.

  * * *

  “PSSSST. VANESSA.” Luke’s voice WAS close. Low and sexy. Vanessa wanted that voice to keep talking to her, to tell her what he wanted and that she was the only one for him.

  Luke was on the beach, wearing only very scant black briefs, smiling at her as he emerged from the water.

  He dropped to the sand beside her, reached for her, as she lay stretched out on a towel—topless, of course—which she would only dare to do in a dream. There was no one else on her dream beach. But instead of doing any of the hundreds of sexy things she wanted him to do, he shook her gently by the shoulder.

  “Vanessa, wake up. We’re here,” he said, looking at her intently.

  “What?”

  “You nodded off. You need to wake up,” he said.

  Vanessa blinked, the beach disappearing as she opened her eyes to reality. The inside of the car at night, blinking lights on the dark horizon greeted her.

  And Luke.

  “How’s your side?”

  He laid the back of his fingers on her cheek, then her forehead, and Vanessa pulled away from his gentle touch. No more of that.

  “I’m fine. Sore, but that’s all. I guess I was more tired than I thought,” she said, remembering where she was.

  She and Luke had spent the entire day dissecting her previous trip to Puerto Rico. She’d been taped on camera by airport security, leading Luke to her. Unfortunately, Vanessa hadn’t found anything on that trip—it was as if Julie had never been to the island. No one had seen her. Or they were lying about it, as Luke suggested.

  Luke insisted that her sister knew how to make people see what they wanted to see, how to blend in or stand out, how to manipulate others to her own ends. He hadn’t been able to find any trace of her leaving the island, which meant either she was still there, or had left on some kind of private transport.

  “This is all a waste of time,” she said, irritated by the dream as they parked and locked the car, heading down to the water. She hadn’t slept well at all the night before, after they’d discussed Julie, and her nerves were on edge. She wanted her life back, but that wasn’t going to happen right now.

  Luke told her that he’d once owned a boat that he gave to a friend after he’d abandoned his prior life, and now he was borrowing the vessel for a trip to Puerto Rico under the guise of whisking a lady friend away for the weekend. The tone between him and his friend had been suggestive during their phone conversation, Luke making no secret of the fact of why they needed such privacy.

  She knew it was only a cover, but she wasn’t used to this kind of thing, like he and Julie were, apparently.

  Not only was he still into her sister, but Vanessa was smart enough to know that her attraction to him was simply born of the situation. He was outrageously handsome, had saved her life and he was protecting her. It was normal after what she’d been through, to hold on to the nearest thing that made her feel safe. For her, that happened to be Luke Berringer.

  It would pass. Especially once—if—they found Julie. Finding her sister would be so much more important than any romantic issue at hand. The thought gave her new energy, and she reached for the door handle, getting out of the car, staring at the line of boats.

  “Which one are we taking?” she asked, scanning the docks. She wasn’t afraid of water or of boats, but still, the idea of making passage over the ocean on some of the smaller boats freaked her out a bit. Especially since they would be on the water for several nights.

  “Back this way,” he said, collecting their bags and slinging his arm around her.

  Vanessa started to ease away from him, but he leaned down, talking close to her ear.

  “We should look like we’re a happy couple heading out on vacation. Relax.”

  Vanessa nodded, taking a breath and leaning into him.

  She could do this.

  They passed several docks to the larger boats that needed to be moored in deeper water. Finally, they stopped.

  “Here, this one.”

  He pointed to a boat named Delicious, and Vanessa’s jaw dropped.

  “That’s not a boat. That’s a—”

  “Yacht. It’s eighty-five feet and used to be what they called a megayacht in the old days, though nowadays they make them much larger. I loved this older beauty, though. I had her custom renovated and refitted, and she’s more than seaworthy. I used to take her from New York to the Bahamas and Bermuda all the time. She used to be called My Lady. Jared changed the name, as he’s a famous chef. One you might know from TV, though I’m not supposed to share that.”

  She did know. She watched that show all the time.

  “I know you said you owned a tech firm, but wow... I guess you did very well.”

  Luke grinned. “You might say that. C’mon, let’s board.”

  “Wait, I see someone,” she said, stopping, her hand on his arm.

  “That’s the captain. We’ll sail with two of Jared’s employees. They’ll take us there and stay out of our way. I made it clear we need complete privacy.”

  She smirked. “Yeah, I heard that part.”

  “We needed a good cover story, and I wanted as few extra people on board as possible—and only people Jared knew. No unknown quantities. I still checked them out myself, to be sure.”

  “All right, then, let’s go,” she said, her fears of bobbing around in the ocean on some teeny boat obliterated.

  In truth, Vanessa was a little excited at the prospect of sailing on the yacht—it was definitely the most luxurious boat she’d ever been on.

  They crossed a large, open room on the main level of the boat and descended into the lower levels to the main cabins. Vanessa was taken with the beauty of the rich woodwork and the luxurious details, all of which were very masculine. There was no crystal or anything overly ornate, but rather a tasteful, subtle decor that still spoke of money. Lots of it. It was the ultimate man cave.

  “You said you gave this yacht to your friend?” she asked as they passed a game room with a full-size pool table and vintage video machines.

  He nodded. “Jared always loved the boat, and he’d done several good turns for me over the years. He was one of the few people I could absolutely trust back then. And I didn’t want it, or the money.”

  Vanessa shook her head in awe, but also registered how deep Luke’s crisis must have been when he’d lost Julie and his employee. No doubt things like casting off his possessions had been some kind of penance.

  How long had he punished himself? Did he still?

  The thought quieted her, and she wondered at the depth of pain Luke must still carry around, but she quelled her sudden urge to comfort. That wasn’t part of her role.

  “You can choose from any berth you want. I’ll take the one at the end. They all have their own head, er, bathroom.”

  She smiled at him. “I know what the head is, don’t worry. My father used to take us out sailing, and he always insisted we use all of the nautical terms.”

  “Sounds like you have some good memories.”

  “I do. My parents are great.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Retired. We talk a lot, though.” Her smile faded. “Do you think they’re safe? I spoke with them earlier, to reassure them I was okay, but do you think these people could go after them?”

  Fear twisted her gut, making her feel ill at the thought of anything hurting the people who had adopted her.

  “No. I don’t think so. This is about you tracking down Julie. As long as they weren’t involved in that, they should be fine. I can ask someone to keep an eye on them, though—one of my cousins—to be safe. Would you be okay with that?”

  “Oh, yes, please. But how much—”

  “Don’t even ask that
question, Vanessa. This isn’t a for-hire gig. This is my family doing me a favor.”

  “You must have a great family, too,” she said, relieved that her parents would be watched over.

  Luke smiled, the first really true, warm smile she had seen from him. “They’re the best. Maybe you’ll meet them at some point.”

  “I’d like that. To thank them. Maybe when this is over with.”

  Luke looked down toward his cabin and cleared his throat. “So, uh, I’ll contact the captain and tell him to head out, and I’ll call Garrett, my cousin, about your parents. You should get a good night’s sleep. We’ll arrive in Puerto Rico the day after tomorrow.”

  “Until then?”

  “Rest, relax. Enjoy the trip,” he said, and then bid her good-night as he strode down the hall and disappeared into the cabin where he was staying.

  “Okay, then,” Vanessa said to the empty hallway as she opened the door of the cabin nearest to her.

  “Whoa,” she whispered, taking in the large room, which included a queen-size bed, all the necessary furniture, a small refrigerator, bar and several beautiful views from shaded windows. Pressing a button by the bed, the mechanical shades lifted, retracting into the box above. She looked out over the dark water beyond the marina.

  She really didn’t need to check out the other cabins, but did, to pass the time, and she was wowed each time. It was like being on a floating luxury hotel.

  There was a quiet rumbling somewhere under her, hardly noticeable—the engines. Seconds later, she saw the scenery outside the window moving past her; they were underway.

  She was on her way back to Puerto Rico, back to try to find her sister. With Luke Berringer. On this fantastic yacht.

  It was like living a fantasy and a nightmare all at once.

  Lowering the shades, Vanessa unpacked her few things and headed for the bathroom and the shower. Under the hot water, she thought about Luke, just yards away down the hall, maybe doing the same.

  Maybe standing under the hot water of his own shower, naked, alone. No.