“Ellie.” He sighed. “Don’t be difficult.”
“I was born difficult.”
She saw his mouth twitch, as if he wanted to laugh, but she knew he wouldn’t. Luke was the king of cool, always had been.
“You’re really starting to piss me off, Ellie.”
“What else is new?” She paused. “You might as well go now. You’re just wasting your time. I’m not leaving.”
“Fine.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Fine what?” Suspicion tugged at her stomach. Luke Russell didn’t give up this easily. He never gave up, actually.
“Stay,” he said lightly.
“Really?” She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this time he would let it go. Maybe this time he would stop being so pigheaded and let her live her own life.
“Sure. Stay.” He shot her a lazy grin. “Should we have dinner tonight, or tomorrow? The sign outside says the first show finishes at eight and the next one doesn’t start ’til ten, so we have time if you want to go now.”
“Huh?”
“Tomorrow, then.”
“Aren’t you going to leave?”
His grin widened. “Nope.”
Of course it wouldn’t be this easy.
“Luke, be logical. You have a job, a life. Maybe even a girlfriend—” she snorted, “—although I can’t picture that one. You can’t stay here.”
“Why not? I’m between assignments right now.”
She tried to keep the desperation at bay. “You won’t convince me to go back.”
“Like I said, as long as you’re here, I’m here. Deal with it.”
He looked so positively smug that she wanted to throw something at him. Why couldn’t he and her brother just leave her alone? Why couldn’t they let her lick her wounds in peace?
“Go home, Lucas.” Her voice came out as a whisper.
He held her gaze, smug, satisfied, stubborn. “Not until you do, Elenore. Not until you do.”
Chapter Two
The next evening, Luke finally worked up the nerve to call Ellie’s brother. The call went exactly as he’d expected.
“She’s doing what?”
Luke held the cell phone away from his ear, afraid if Josh yelled any louder, his eardrums would burst. He hadn’t expected the guy to be pleased with the news, but there was no need to roar.
“Why didn’t you drag her off that stage?” Josh sounded livid.
Luke grinned to himself. “Drag her? She would’ve ripped my eyes out.”
“Better you blind than Ellie stripping in front of strangers.”
“She wasn’t stripping. She was dancing. Just not ballet.”
“Listen to me, man, you need to bring her home right now.”
“I’m working on it,” Luke said in a calm voice.
He raked his fingers through his dark hair and stared up at the neon sign blinking over the front doors of the club. Damn, he didn’t look forward to going back in there. Seeing Ellie in that skimpy costume again.
“I’m going crazy with worry here, Luke.”
What else was new? Josh had been worrying about his sister for as long as Luke could remember. He’d met Josh in sophomore year at high school, the year after Josh and Ellie’s parents had died in a boating accident. The Dawson siblings had been living with an aunt in San Francisco, though the woman was hardly what you’d call a responsible guardian. She was rarely home for her niece and nephew and, as a result, Josh became both father and mother to nine-year-old Ellie.
Over the years, Luke watched as Josh’s protective nature became almost stifling. He could be enormously unreasonable when it came to Ellie, but this time, Luke agreed with his friend’s position—Ellie didn’t belong in a corset and stilettos, dancing for a few beach locals. She belonged at home.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Protecting people is what I do, remember?”
“Just take care of her. Don’t let her coax you into leaving without her. I want my little sister home. No more of this nonsense.”
After he hung up the phone, Luke stared once again at the flashing sign. Under it was a small advertisement for the Dancehall Dolls, who apparently were quite popular among the townsfolk. Well, no kidding. Sexy women dancing to sexy jazz tunes? Why wouldn’t they be popular?
He blew out a breath. What had possessed her to move out to the middle of nowhere and become a dancing doll? Why hadn’t she returned to the Hartford Ballet Company?
He’d never understand Ellie. She was a complete mystery to him, always had been. And she’d always managed to drive him mad. As a kid, she’d been his shadow, following his teenage self around everywhere, annoying him with her pesky questions. As a college coed, whenever he and Josh had gone to visit her, she would purposely try to make him angry with her sarcasm and sheer stubbornness. Even now, when he hadn’t seen her in two years, she got to him.
Why was she here? He couldn’t even begin to figure it out. He knew about the car accident, how she’d broken her foot and had to take a break from ballet. But her foot was healed now—she’d proven at the club that she could move around on it. The company she toured with was one of the most prestigious in the country. Why had she given it up to become a Dancehall Doll?
He shoved the cell phone in his back pocket and took another breath, knowing all his questions would go unanswered the longer he loitered out here. The sound of music wafted from the open doors and he prayed it was just a song from the jukebox. The first show was supposed to be over by now. God, did he hope it was over. Because he couldn’t see Ellie in that corset again.
He didn’t think his dick could handle it.
***
Josh Dawson slammed down the telephone and let out a string of curses that had his secretary gasping. He was a little surprised to lift his head and find Alice lurking in the doorway since normally he knew where all his staff was at any given moment. He wasn’t going to apologize for his foul mood, though. After three years as his secretary, Alice was probably used to his temper.
“What is it?” he grumbled, leaning back in his leather chair.
“I finished making those phone calls.” Her expression was meek and timid, a common look among the people who worked for him.
Josh had once overheard one of his paralegals comment he was wound so tight that “one day the guy will explode,” an outcome that wasn’t far from unlikely. At fourteen, Josh’s entire life had changed. He’d had to grow up fast, and with growing up came a load of responsibilities, the main one being his little sister. After their parents died, he’d become her protector. He’d fast-tracked through high school, gone to law school, found himself a stable, well-paying career, all for Ellie’s sake. His goal had been to keep her safe, secure and happy, and he thought he’d done a good job.
Until she’d decided to take off, of course.
“Boss?”
Josh lifted his head. “Sorry, what were you saying, Alice?”
“I called those places in San Valdez, like you asked.”
“And?”
She held out a few sheets of paper. “All the information is here. Your sister rented a bungalow, paid in full for one year. I also checked out some of the other residents, and the only one who could be useful is Kendrick.”
A sharp look instantly creased his features. “Kendrick?”
Alice glanced down at her notes. “Yeah, a Vivian Kendrick. On the list you gave me there was a Tanya Kendrick, your sister’s old roommate. Maybe they’re related.”
“They are,” Josh muttered to himself. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he added, “Thanks, Alice. Leave the info here and start heading home, okay?”
With a nod, Alice took a few steps forward, dropped the papers on his desk and turned for the door. The second the petite blonde left the office he let out a long breath. Vivian. So that’s where she’d gone. Well. He’d just killed two birds with one stone, hadn’t he? In his search for Ellie, he’d stumbled upon another woman who’d conveniently run away from him.
Th
e last time he’d seen Vivian was at Ellie’s engagement party, when he’d had his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her tits. He wasn’t sure how they’d even ended up in each other’s arms. A little too much champagne on both their parts, of course, but he knew it was more than that.
Maybe it was wrong to lust over a woman almost fifteen years his senior, but damn it, he’d been attracted to Vivian from the moment he met her. He was twenty-six, just opening up his law practice, and Vivian, well, she was forty and the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. A woman who also happened to be dropping her twenty-year-old daughter off at college. Josh hadn’t asked her out simply because he knew she’d say no, but after that explosive kiss they’d shared two years later…he’d hoped something more might come of it. It hadn’t.
After a two-month love affair with Vivian’s answering machine, he’d finally learned from Viv’s daughter that her mother had left town. Not the type of man to chase after a woman who obviously didn’t want him, Josh gave up. Put Vivian Kendrick out of his mind and tried to move on. Even dated a few women in his quest to erase his feelings for her.
He thought he’d succeeded, that he no longer had a single residual emotion left for Vivian.
Obviously he’d thought wrong.
“Boss?”
He lifted his head and found Alice in the doorway again. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving for the night.” She hesitated. “Is everything all right? You look kind of, I don’t know, flustered.”
“Everything’s fine.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Actually, no, something came up. I need to go out of town. When you come in tomorrow, could you please cancel my appointments for the next week or so?”
“I’ll do it first thing in the morning.”
After Alice left, Josh leaned forward and grabbed the papers she’d left on his desk. He scanned the first one thoughtfully. San Valdez. Sounded like a nice little town. Too bad there was nothing nice about it.
He didn’t know what had gotten into his sister but he wasn’t about to let her get away with dancing in some sleazy burlesque show. Though Luke was probably one of the few people who knew how to control Ellie, Josh wasn’t sure his best friend could do this alone.
Pushing the chair back, he stood up. It was settled. He’d fly down to San Valdez tomorrow, just to keep an eye on things and get a handle on the situation.
It had nothing to do with the fact that Vivian was there. Of course not. That would just be ridiculous. Pathetic, even. Nope, doesn’t matter that Viv’s there.
He was still trying to convince himself of that as he left the office and headed for the elevator.
***
Ellie spotted Luke the second he walked into the club. Instantly, she straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin in preparation for a fight.
He was here to coerce her to go home again, and no way would she give in to his bullying. No matter how good he looked right now, in his faded jeans and blue polo shirt. She wasn’t going to let him push her around.
She usually performed two shows a night, one earlier in the evening, the second around ten and lasting until midnight, when the club was at full capacity. The first show had just ended, and there had been no doubt in her mind that Luke would be showing up soon. So she’d dashed to the dressing room after the performance and quickly changed into her regular clothes, then scrubbed all the makeup from her face. She’d have to reapply all the face gook when she came back to the club for the second show, but the hassle was worth it. This time she wanted to be comfortable when Luke ordered her around. It was hard to be taken seriously when you wore nothing but a corset.
“Is that him?” Vivian murmured, following Ellie’s gaze.
The two women stood at the bar, their eyes trained on the darkened doorway of Vivian’s club. At a nearby table, a group of rowdy locals filled the room with loud laughter and slurred chatter, but Ellie barely heard them. Her gaze was focused on the dark-haired man who’d just walked through the door.
She nodded. “Yep. My brother’s henchman.”
Appreciation filled Vivian’s gaze. “If I were twenty years younger, I’d definitely fuck him.”
“Viv!”
“Well, I would.” Vivian made a tsking sound. “It’s such a shame that he’s so hot.”
“Why is that a shame?”
“Because I’m supposed to dislike him. He’s trying to take my favorite dancer away.”
“Don’t worry, Viv, I’m not going anywhere.”
From across the room, Luke spotted her and began making his way toward the bar. His strides were long, determined. As determined as the look in his silver-gray eyes.
“Hello, Elenore,” he drawled when he reached the two women.
“Lucas,” she said in a cool voice. “Nice to see you again.”
She held his gaze, and as usual, neither of them wanted to be the first to look away.
Vivian cleared her throat. “Hello. I’m Vivian, the owner of this place.”
Looking reluctant, Luke broke the gaze and turned his head. “The owner, huh? So you’re the one who lured Ellie away from ballet and into the world of jazz.”
Vivian blinked, and then glanced at Ellie. “You’re right, he is grumpy.” Tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulders, she shot Luke a pointed look before wandering off.
“Didn’t you used to have a way with the ladies?” Ellie said, smiling sweetly at him.
“Used to?” He looked insulted. “Still do.”
“Really? Because Viv doesn’t shoot dirty looks very often.”
He ignored the comment. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“Dinner.”
He slung his hands in the pockets of his snug-fitting jeans, and her betraying eyes briefly rested on his firm, denim-clad thighs. He filled out a pair of jeans nicely. Too nicely.
She set her jaw. “I’m not hungry.”
“Well, I am.”
“So have dinner alone.”
She knew she was being difficult, but she had the right. Luke, on the other hand, had absolutely no right showing up in San Valdez and ordering her to leave. For the first time in months, she was starting to feel good again. About herself. About her life. Ever so slowly, she’d begun to put everything behind her, all the devastating blows she’d received after the car accident.
And Luke wanted her to go home, to relive it all? No, thank you. He didn’t run her life. Neither did her brother. And the two of them would need to learn that. The hard way, for all she cared.
“Ellie, it’s eight o’clock and I haven’t eaten because I’ve been waiting for your damn show to finish. Whether you like it or not, you’re coming to dinner with me. And I’ll be nice. You can choose the restaurant.”
Deciding to pick her battles, she chewed on her lower lip. “Okay. There’s this great seafood restaurant a few miles from here. It’s right on the beach.”
She saw Luke’s jaw twitch. “You know I hate seafood.”
Smirking, she said, “Well, that’s what I feel like eating. Take it or leave it.”
Leave it.
“Fine, let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, they walked into The Crab Conch, a tiny establishment situated on the white sand of Valdez Beach. The restaurant’s patio opened up onto the sand, only a few yards from the rippling blue-green ocean. Ellie had always loved the coast, though she wasn’t much into water sports, nor was she that big on swimming. What she loved was the sounds and the smells, the feel of hot sand beneath her bare feet and the way the salty breeze kissed her face. The soothing motion of the tide as it swelled toward the shore and then retreated, nature’s own little seesaw.
The water looked calm this evening, sparkling under the dusky sky, and a warm, gentle wind snaked through the air and lifted Ellie’s loose brown hair.
If she were with anyone other than Luke Russell, she might have enjoyed the romantic atmosphere.
“Here you
are,” the waitress announced, seating them at a table overlooking the shore.
Ellie jumped into the chair before Luke could play the chivalrous knight and pull it out for her, and then accepted a menu from the waitress. They ordered their drinks, and the waitress hurried off, leaving them alone.
“Everything on the menu looks delicious,” she said cheerfully, glancing at Luke.
He examined the dishes listed on the plastic sheet and wrinkled his nose. She almost felt bad for bringing him here, knowing how much he disliked seafood.
But for showing up unannounced and making demands on her, he deserved to choke back a few clams.
“I guess I’ll go with the Caesar salad,” he muttered, setting down the menu.
Guilt tugged at her belly. Why did he have to look so appealing when he was dejected?
The waitress returned to take their meal orders, and after Ellie had ordered a lobster dinner, she hid a smile as Luke requested his salad.
The waitress seemed surprised. “That’s it? A big man like you will be satisfied with a small salad?”
Ellie’s spine stiffened at the flirtatious tone of the waitress’s voice. Now that she looked at the woman, she realized she was really pretty. Gorgeous, actually, with long blonde hair, wide blue eyes and a pair of enormous breasts that made Ellie glance down at her own chest ruefully.
This woman was flirting with Luke. The nerve of her. For all she knew, Ellie was his girlfriend. Maybe they were out on a date, celebrating their tenth anniversary.
“Salad’s the only thing on the menu I like,” Luke answered, his tone light, and damned if it wasn’t sexy.
The waitress glanced at Ellie as if to say, How dare you bring him here when he doesn’t like seafood? Then she returned her gaze to Luke.
“We have some burgers in the kitchen,” she said, her voice sounding breathy to Ellie’s ears. “Mostly for the staff, but I’m sure I can talk one of the cooks into grilling one up for you.”
“Are you sure it’s no trouble?”
The woman giggled. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all. I’ll run to the kitchen right now with your order.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.”