Touched by Lightning [Dreams of You] (Romantic Suspense) (12 page)

She had wrangled an address from Stanley with her promise to try to get him back earlier for that Calvin Klein meeting. Hm, maybe she could sweet talk Adrian into using her for the layout. There were definite advantages to having a hot photographer as a lover. If only he would give his heart to her, she’d have it made in more ways than one.

After the twentieth ring, Rita hit the off button and dropped the phone on the couch. Well, whatever he was doing, maybe he could use a little company. She glanced in the mirror, fluffing her hair. What if she showed up on his doorstep and surprised him? She smiled, imagining his pleasantly astonished expression when he walked in and found her naked on his bed, or maybe wearing an apron and nothing else, cooking a nice meal for him. Maybe his guard would be down.

Oscar meowed until she poured cat food into his white bowl. He rubbed against her leg, then walked over to check out the contents. If only Adrian were that simple, she thought with a sigh. Satisfy him, and he’d eat out of her hand. Not a chance.

She picked the phone up and made another call, this time to her travel agent. This would be a surprise visit Adrian wasn’t likely to forget in a long time.

The next morning Adrian combed his beard in front of the large bathroom mirror. He now wished he hadn’t adopted the damned thing for a disguise, although it might seem suspicious that a homeless man would be clean shaven every day. It was worth it if it helped Nikki believe his lie.

He sighed, leaning on the counter. He hated lying. Every time he had to tell an untruth to support his original lie, it killed him. He realized now that she would never have let him near her, though, if she suspected anything but that he was temporarily out of luck. She was beginning to trust him, though it was the last thing she wanted to do. And she’d let him kiss her, though it was the last thing he’d expected to do. She did kiss nicely…very nicely.

The time was coming to tell her the truth. How could he really help her without doing so? He had no idea how she’d take it, but it was far better for him to tell her than for her to find out on her own. She didn’t belong on the streets any more than he did, and he intended to do everything he could to get her off them.

Even if she was penniless, she had a great deal of talent. Perhaps he could bring her to New York and hone that talent to something more commercial and lucrative. A mental picture flashed into his mind of Nikki sitting at his dinette table, the city of New York behind her, drinking coffee and going over contact sheets with him. The cozy picture gave him a warm feeling inside. Strange, but he’d never gotten into cozy scenes before. Why, he’d even seen Crackers lying at her feet.

He shook his head, not sure if he was ready for all that yet. What he did know was he wanted to save Nikki from whatever she was hiding from, and he was getting closer to finding out what that was. Once that was done, then he’d see about the rest of it. The first order of business was finding her this morning and taking her out for breakfast.

Rita pounded on the door, then tried all the windows of the charming two-story house Adrian was staying in. Her five-inch heels sunk into the grass as she tromped through the foliage, which was still lush and green, even in November.

Her black hair snagged on a branch overhead, and she gently disentangled it before trying the window around back. With a gleam in her eye, she realized the catch was loose. She jimmied the window, and it slid free. It was impossible to climb in a window wearing a mini-skirt and fur coat with any amount of grace. She removed her shoes and threw them in first, then climbed in.

“I hope no one calls the cops,” she muttered, half in and half out.

When she regained her balance, she realized she was in a bedroom, but not one that was being used. She found the master bedroom, which was light and airy, with a ceiling fan and two large windows. Adrian’s silk robe was thrown haphazardly over a stuffed chair. In the bathroom, she got all kinds of delicious thoughts when she saw the large marble tub. There was even a separate glassed-in shower stall, big enough for two. The sink was still wet, though there was no trace of those tiny hairs left over from his morning shave. Most importantly, though, she found nothing to indicate a woman also shared that bedroom.

She hadn’t let herself think of finding him here with another woman, but her enormous sigh of relief let on that her subconscious had thought of little else. Which led her to the question foremost in her mind: what was he doing here?

What she did find baffled her even more. In the closet were the clothes she expected to find. But in the drawers were the grungiest things she’d ever seen. Oh, they were clean, but stained and faded and plain old. Rita assumed that they had been left here by the previous renter, but even that left the question: why would anyone able to rent a place like this wear clothes like that?

The photographs were a mystery, too. Framed pictures of homeless people all over the dining table. She sat at the place where Adrian obviously ate—alone—and picked up one of the pictures. These people were the real thing. There was another one without a frame. It was a homeless woman on the beach, all covered in a cloak.

Then Rita smiled, figuring out the big mystery. Adrian was working on a secret project, photographing homeless people. Not that Adrian was the most open of men, but why hide it from her? Wasn’t she supportive? She remembered the nightmare he’d had and wouldn’t share with her. Her frown turned back into a smile as she looked at the pictures again. This wasn’t the kind of work he did, and it couldn’t be all that profitable. So he was keeping it a secret from everyone. It was the perfect opportunity to show him she could be trusted.

Rita’s plans of sprawling herself out on his bed wearing a sexy teddy turned into a nap as she grew bored waiting for him. When she woke, she looked in the mirror and made a face. She looked terrible, not at all what she wanted Adrian to see when he came home. She’d been there for three hours already, and she’d be the picture of boredom by the time he returned, whenever that was.

Rita walked over to the pictures again, picking up the one with the old building made into a church. This is where he was, she knew it. He was taking photographs. Now, wouldn’t he be surprised if she showed up there? She went back into the bedroom and put on her black velvet jeans, a puffy sweater, and those heels. Then she slipped into her fur coat, because it was the only coat she’d brought. She removed all her jewelry, not wanting to attract too much attention in an undesirable part of town.

She was feeling very clever and pleased with herself as she took the picture of the church into a convenience store and asked where it was located. The clerk pointed her in the right direction with a red marker on her map, but warned her about going there alone.

“Oh, I have a friend who’s down there right now. He’s big and strong, and he’ll save me if I run into trouble.” And, of course, she didn’t plan on getting out of her car until she saw him.

She couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when she found him.

CHAPTER 8

Rita cruised through town several times before she spotted Adrian. Or she thought it was him, anyway. He was tall, had dark hair. He wore it loose, like he did when they made love, and it was curly, the way it looked before he blew it straight. But he had a beard, something she’d never seen on him. And he was wearing the most god-awful clothes she had ever seen on anybody, much less a fashionable man like Adrian. Still, it had to be him, but who was the woman walking with him?

She pulled around the corner and got out, fluffing her hair. Then she walked around the building to the sidewalk. Closer up, she knew it was Adrian. She’d recognize those eyes anywhere. What she didn’t like is the way they were glued to the woman beside him. She was obviously a homeless person, though she had a fresh prettiness about her and a nice smile that she flashed at Adrian.

It was insane to feel threatened by this woman, but Rita did. She would not lose the man she loved to a street waif. What could he be thinking? Not about photography; no camera in sight.

They were almost upon her when she gathered her wits about her. Her voice didn’t come out as casually and normal as she would have liked.

“Adrian?”

He looked up at her then, and she waited for a flash of recognition and surprise, hopefully a smile. She got nothing.

“Do I know you?”

He gave her such a blank look that Rita began to doubt it was him after all. “Aren’t you Adrian Wilde?”

“You have the wrong person. Excuse us.”

He walked on, never even looking back. Rita stood there with her mouth open, staring after them. She wanted to scream at him for pretending not to know her. As though he was ashamed to know her. Maybe he’d hit his head and really didn’t remember. No, he looked perfectly healthy. The woman with him glanced back for a second, her expression filled with question. Rita was sure hers looked the same.

“She’s still standing there,” Nikki said, watching Adrian’s face carefully.

He shrugged. “They say we all have a twin somewhere. Mine must have the same first name, too. But I don’t know her.”

Nikki glanced back, saw the woman walking to a nice car she’d parked along the curb. She certainly wasn’t from this area. That fur was real. Then the woman did something that stole Nikki’s breath away: she picked up a framed picture from inside the car, and Nikki was sure it was one of hers. She couldn’t clearly see the photograph itself but she suspected it was one of the collection the mysterious man had recently bought. The woman didn’t look embarrassed, like someone might if she had approached the wrong person. No, she looked angry.

Adrian kept his gaze on anything but the woman. He made a comment about all the empty stores in the area, but her mind was clicking at high gear with her suspicions.

The weight of her thoughts crushed her heart.
Adrian, who are you?
Tremors ran through her body, reaching all the way down to her toes. She had only been worried about his breaking her heart before; now she also had to worry about his taking her life.

“Are you all right? You look pale.”

She smiled, willing the color to return to her face. “I’m okay. Maybe I’m just coming down with something.”

“Do you want to go back to the van?”

She nodded, grabbing at any excuse to get away from him. Above all, she couldn’t let on that she suspected anything. As soon as he was gone, she would leave the area. Then she remembered Maudine’s words:
Spy on him.
Nikki had tried that before, and he’d gone exactly where she had expected him to. Could he have known she followed him? She had to find out who he was before she disappeared. Every instinct told her to run far away, but her heart cried out to know who this man was.

Crackers slid out from beneath the van, his pink tongue hanging out. She could see Adrian gently carrying the pup to the animal hospital, waiting anxiously with her to hear if he was all right. No, he just couldn’t be working for Devlin. She looked at him, her heart breaking into a thousand bits. If he was, he was damned good at his job. Damned slow at it, too.

She untied Crackers and unlocked the door. “See you later,” she said, wishing she meant it.

“Can I get you anything?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Would you like to get together later?”

“I’m just going to relax tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

He left, and Nikki leaned on the side of the van. Where would he go now? There was one way to find out. This time she would make sure he didn’t notice her. She went inside and put on a grey raincoat and boots. She retied Crackers to the bumper and walked down the alley. He was walking south.

Nikki slid out of the alley and ducked into an indented storefront. He didn’t look back, though. In fact, it was several blocks before he did turn around. She quickly turned and pretended to look in the little food store, scrunching down to appear shorter. When she glanced at him, he was gone. She headed to where he had disappeared, peering cautiously around the side of the building.

She heard a car start and ducked back as a white convertible Mustang pulled out of its parking space. Adrian was behind the wheel. And…it was the same car that hit Crackers. That was another punch to her stomach. Of course, he couldn’t blow his cover by admitting it or stopping when it happened. He’d parked right behind her van and pretended to be in the area to help.

All the energy drained out of her. She slid down to the sidewalk, drawing her knees up in front of her. She wanted to scream, to cry, to hit something, but all those took strength she didn’t have at the moment. Adrian was lying to her. Why? Was he going to Devlin’s right now, to report on the latest? Perhaps if she knew for sure, she could put him behind her and disappear. She had to know if Adrian was connected to her brother. She would find out tomorrow night.

When Adrian returned to his rental house, Rita was parked out front. She’d probably blown the whole thing for him by showing up like that. Anger welled up inside him, but he forced it back down again. She looked confused, but her eyes widened when she saw him pull in. He didn’t want to explain anything to her; she had no right to be there, and he owed her nothing. What he didn’t want was for her to run back and tell Stanley he’d lost it. Stanley would be here in five minutes, begging him to regain his sanity. What a mess. He only hoped Nikki really hadn’t felt well and wasn’t blowing him off.

“It
was
you,” she said, walking toward the garage.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you certainly did that.” He walked inside the house.

She followed him in, and he saw that she’d already been inside. She replaced one of the pictures she had with her, putting it back exactly where it had been on the table.

“Adrian, I know about your secret project. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone about it. It’s our secret now.”