Unauthorised Passion/Intimate Knowledge Read online

  Cassie pushed the lock button as she hunkered down in the seat and watched him in the rearview mirror until he disappeared from her sight. Then she glanced nervously around the neighborhood, hoping that no one would spot the car and call the police. She wasn’t in the mood for lengthy explanations, and she wasn’t sure the cops would buy what she had to tell them even with Jack’s corroboration.

  “Well, Cassie,” she muttered. “This is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”

  To think, back in Manville her biggest concern was being hexed by Minnie Cantrell. Cassie shivered. Considering everything that had happened in the past couple of days, maybe the old bat had some supernatural powers, after all.

  THE HOUSE had appeared completely dark from the street, but as Jack approached from the opposite direction, he could see a light in the rear.

  Slipping behind a neatly trimmed hedge, he reconnoitered the street for a moment before making his move. It was still relatively early, and he was surprised by how quiet the neighborhood was. Only an occasional car drove by.

  Plastering himself against the side of the house, he inched toward the lighted window that he’d spotted from the street. As he drew alongside it, a dog began to bark from somewhere nearby, and he froze. A silhouette appeared in the window for one brief moment, but from his position, he couldn’t make out who it was.

  He waited for several minutes after the shadow disappeared before easing up to the glass. Glancing through, he saw nothing at first, and then his heart bucked wildly as a woman came into view. She had on dark glasses and what he thought was a wig, but he recognized her, anyway.

  She walked quickly to the door, then paused to say something over her shoulder to someone Jack couldn’t see.

  A split second later, a well-groomed Chihuahua trotted over and followed her out the door.

  WHEN JACK RAPPED on the driver’s window a few minutes later, Cassie let out a breath of relief as she disengaged the lock.

  “That didn’t take long,” she said as he slid behind the wheel. “Did you find anything—” She broke off on a gasp as she realized that the man climbing into the car wasn’t Jack at all, but someone she’d never seen before.

  Terrified, she made a grab for the door handle, but the man’s hand shot out and stopped her. His other hand came over her mouth as she tried to scream.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you, okay?”

  When she continued to struggle, he said, “I’ll remove my hand, but if you scream, I’ll be forced to do something drastic. I might even call the police and tell them who you really are. You don’t want that, do you?”

  Cassie went dead still.

  “That’s better.” He removed his hand from her mouth, but the other one held fast to her wrist.

  “Who are you?” Cassie breathed.

  “I would ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer. You’re the cousin.” He released her then and draped one arm over the back of her seat, staring at her intently in the dark. “Cassie, isn’t it?”

  Her heart thudded even harder. “Who are you?” she asked again. “How do you know me?”

  “Come on. You must have some idea.”

  “Professor Gold?”

  He smiled.

  The hair at the back of Cassie’s neck rose at that smile. She remembered, suddenly, everything Jack had told her earlier about Gold. “The really interesting part of all this is that Alaina Gold died seven years ago. She was shot during a home invasion. No one was ever arrested for her murder.”

  Cassie gulped. “What do you want?”

  He shrugged and moved in closer. So close Cassie could have sworn she saw a diabolical twinkle in his dark eyes. “All I want from you is a little cooperation.”

  She pressed herself against the door to get away from him.

  He laughed when he saw what she was doing. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. Assuming we’re able to strike a bargain, of course.”

  The door handle dug into Cassie’s ribs. “What kind of bargain?”

  He was so close now she could feel his warm breath on her face. He smelled faintly of peppermint, which seemed like an oddly comforting scent for a man like him. “You get your friend to stop snooping in my business, and I won’t go to the police.”

  Cassie crossed her arms and inched her fingers toward the door handle. “What makes you think I have anything to hide from the police?”

  “You’re running around town masquerading as Celeste, staying in an exclusive hotel, eating at expensive restaurants, going on shopping sprees. Not to mention stealing my boat. Last time I heard, that’s a felony. You could be looking at some serious jail time.”

  Cassie’s fingers curled around the handle. “But Celeste knows what I’m doing. It was her idea.”

  “And she’d come forward to clear you?”

  “Of course.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because—”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “No, but—”

  “How to reach her?”

  Cassie hesitated. “No.”

  “Then at the very least, you could spend a few unpleasant days in jail with some very unpleasant people until your cousin decides to surface and clear you. If she does.”

  Cassie had already thought of all that herself, but she tried to assume a confident air. “Of course, she’ll clear me. Why wouldn’t she?”

  Gold shrugged. “Celeste can be a bit capricious at times. No one knows that better than I. What if she went off to Europe to lick her wounds and forgot all about you? You’d be left holding the bag, wouldn’t you?”

  Cassie’s confidence quickly deflated. She hadn’t considered the possibility that her cousin might have left the country. “Okay, you’ve made your point,” she conceded. “We both know why I don’t want to involve the cops, but what about you? What are you so afraid of?”

  Too late, Cassie realized her mistake. Pushing Ethan Gold into a corner was not a good idea.

  “Let’s just say, the cops could make my life unpleasant, as well,” he said softly. “Do we have a deal?”

  Cassie had a feeling she was making a deal with the devil, but she wanted him gone so she nodded.

  He opened the car door, then turned to stare at her in the sudden glare. “You don’t really look that much like Celeste, you know. I’m surprised you’ve been able to pull this off for as long as you have.”

  Then he climbed out of the car, closed the door with hardly a sound, and was gone before Cassie had time to catch her breath.

  SOMEONE TAPPED on the car window, and the faint sound startled Cassie so badly she banged her head against the glass. She spun, her heart in her throat, but this time, it was Jack who stared down at her. She released the locks, and he went around to the driver’s side to climb in.

  Cassie had never been so glad to see anyone in her life. She felt tempted to throw her arms around his neck and hang on tight, but then, in the brief second before he closed the door and doused the light, she saw a trickle of blood at his temple. “Oh, my God, Jack. You’re bleeding! Are you all right?”

  “I’ve been better.” He leaned forward and started the engine.

  “What happened?” Cassie asked worriedly.

  He shrugged. “Ran into a hedge. Guess I’m getting sloppy.”

  She could have wept in relief. For a moment there she’d been afraid he might have run into Ethan Gold. “Did you…see anything?”

  “Like what?”

  His tone puzzled her. He sounded almost…angry. Oh, no. He had seen Ethan Gold. Maybe he’d even spotted him getting out of the car. Did he think now that Cassie—Celeste—was somehow involved with Gold? Did he think they’d conspired to kill Gold’s wife seven years ago?

  “Jack, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “What is it?” He turned then and the look in his eyes made her falter.

  Cassie bit her lip. What if she told Jack the truth and he didn’t believe h
er? What if he turned her in?

  And maybe that had been Celeste’s intent all along. Maybe she’d committed a crime and planned for Cassie to take the fall.

  Even if she somehow managed to convince Jack of the truth, he might not be so willing to help her once he learned who she was. He might just turn her over to the cops and wash his hands of the whole affair.

  Okay, so she couldn’t just blurt everything out to him. She had to find the right time and the right way to tell him so that her confession didn’t end up coming back to bite her on the butt.

  “You had something you wanted to tell me?” Jack pressed.

  Cassie glanced away from that penetrating gaze. “Are you…sure you’re okay? That scratch looks pretty deep.”

  “I’m fine.” If possible, his expression grew even darker as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.

  Cassie didn’t understand what had happened, but his new attitude worried her. What had he seen? What did he know? And, most important, could she trust him?

  She really, really, really needed to talk to Celeste. In hindsight, Cassie realized she should have insisted on having a number where her cousin could be reached. In hindsight, she realized a lot of things.

  She said tentatively, “Where are we going?”

  He scowled at the road. “Back to the hotel to regroup. Unless you have a better idea.”

  “No, that’s fine.”

  A few minutes later, they arrived at the Mirabelle and rode the elevator in silence to the third floor. Once again, Jack walked her to her suite, but this time he didn’t linger. Nor did he mention dinner.

  Instead he said wearily, “It’s been a long day. We both need to get some rest. We’ll get together tomorrow and try to figure out where to go from here.”

  Cassie nodded in disappointment, but at least he’d lost the attitude. Whatever had been bothering him in the car seemed to have faded now that they were back at the hotel. He was almost like the old Jack again, Cassie thought. Almost, but not quite.

  “You know where to reach me,” he said. “And you have my cell phone number, right? If anything happens, anything at all, you call me.”

  She nodded again.

  When he turned away, she said very softly, “Jack?”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re still bleeding.”

  He touched a fingertip to the scratch. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me…Celeste.”

  Was it her imagination or had he hesitated over her cousin’s name?

  Once again he started for his suite and once again Cassie called him back. “Jack?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I never got around to thanking you. I’m grateful for everything you did today.”

  He shrugged. “No problem. That’s what I’m trained to do.”

  She nodded.

  He turned.

  “Jack?”

  This time, instead of answering her, he spun and putting his hands on her arms, he backed her up against the wall. His mouth came down on hers so fast and so furiously, Cassie didn’t have time to even gasp. The assault left her stunned. She couldn’t think, couldn’t respond. For a moment, all she could do was cling to him helplessly.

  Then her body took over and she opened her mouth beneath his. Her tongue met his, desperate thrust for desperate thrust, as her arms wrapped tightly around him and she pressed herself against him.

  He groaned into her mouth.

  She groaned into his.

  And all the while he kept right on kissing her. Kissing her so deeply that Cassie felt herself coming apart at the seams.

  When he finally pulled away, she leaned her head weakly against the wall. Oh…my…God…

  “That was…wow.” She fanned herself. “I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that in my life.”

  The old Jack grinned down at her. “I guess you inspired me.”

  “I guess,” she said in awe. And who would have thought it? Because that was her, Cassie Boudreaux, who had been kissing him and not Celeste.

  And, man oh man, did she, Cassie Boudreaux, ever want to kiss him again. His mouth was just begging her to.

  She stared up at him, drinking in every detail of his face. Those baby-blue eyes that had deepened with passion. The high cheekbones, the straight nose and strong jaw…he was one fine-looking man, no question.

  And looking finer by the minute.

  And that body, all lean and sexy and hard in all the right places.

  “Do you…” She moistened her lips “…want to come inside?”

  He slid his mouth along her throat, then nuzzled her ear. “You know I do.”

  “Well, then…”

  He cupped her neck beneath her hair. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than…come inside.”

  Cassie just about lost it then. His voice was like a velvety purr…and that mouth. Oh, God, that mouth was not even an inch from her own. “Well, then…”

  He kissed her again, quick and hard, and then he stared down at her for a moment, his expression enigmatic. “I don’t think it would be such a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Because it sounded like a spectacular idea to Cassie.

  “We’ve both been operating on an adrenaline high for hours. I think we need to come back down to earth and let you think things through before you do something you might regret in the morning.”

  But she wouldn’t regret it. Cassie just knew it.

  She cleared her throat. “You don’t have to play the hero. I’m a big girl. And this is the twenty-first century, remember?” Consenting adults could have sex without regrets. They did it all the time.

  Jack drew a finger along her jawline. “You don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for. There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

  “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

  “Like what?” His voice hardened almost imperceptibly. “What is it I don’t know about you?” He trailed his finger down her throat.

  Cassie shivered at his touch. “A girl can’t give away all her secrets, now can she?” She wrapped her hand around his finger and drew it to her mouth, teasing the tip with her tongue.

  Something like a shudder went through his whole body, and he closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to collect himself. When he looked at her again, his eyes were like laser beams burning into hers. “You’re a very dangerous woman.”

  His words thrilled Cassie. Her? A dangerous woman? Cool.

  Chapter Eleven

  The moment Cassie closed the door, she spun to peer out the peephole. Jack was still out there. Even after she turned the dead bolt and fastened the safety lock, he lingered just outside her door. She even saw him lift his hand once as if to knock, and then, thinking better of it, he turned away.

  Only then did Cassie tear herself away from the peephole and collapse weakly against the door.

  Her heart started to thud again as she closed her eyes and recalled every detail of Jack’s kisses. The way his lips had felt against hers, the way his body had pressed into hers…

  Cassie had never had a kiss effect her so powerfully, and she told herself that her pounding heart and trembling legs were the result of a very potent physical attraction and nothing more. She’d wanted Jack Fury from the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

  But even though all that was true, Cassie had a sneaking suspicion more was at play here. If she wasn’t careful, she just might fall in love with him.

  Would that be so terrible? Her engagement to Danny Cantrell hadn’t worked out, but that didn’t mean Cassie was incapable of sustaining a relationship, did it? Danny just hadn’t been the right man for her. He was content with his life in Manville. He was a big fish in a little pond, and Cassie couldn’t imagine him living anywhere else any more than she could imagine herself going back there, even when all this ended.

  And it would end. Celeste would come back and reclaim her life, and Cassie would have to f
ind one of her own. What that life would be like, she had no idea, but she was ready for it. Eager for it. And if Jack Fury was a part of it, so much the better.

  But he wouldn’t be, would he? He was a part of Celeste’s life. When he found out who Cassie really was, he’d have no need to stick around any longer. He’d move on and so would she. Eventually.

  Cassie sighed as she tried to push away all those annoying thoughts and just concentrate on Jack’s kisses. Because the man could kiss. Seriously. And if he could kiss like that, she could only imagine—

  Her eyes popped open as something dark and scary slithered into her thoughts.

  There was no sound in the room, no movement on the balcony, nothing that should have scared her, but suddenly Cassie was frightened.

  A chill crept up her backbone as her frantic gaze searched the room. Nothing seemed amiss or out of place. The cushions on the sofa were perfectly straight. The lamp she’d left on earlier glowed from the corner desk. The French doors across the room were closed and secured.

  And yet…something was different.

  Cassie couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but she knew that someone had been in her room while she’d been out.

  Her first instinct was to run screaming into the hallway, but she forced back her panic as she took a step inside the room. The bedroom door was open, and a light was on. From her position, Cassie could see the bed. The covers were neatly turned down, and there were mints on the pillow.

  She put a hand to her heart, trying to calm herself. Okay, mystery solved. The maid had been in while she was out. No cause for alarm. No reason to call Jack and have him rush right over, although that had been Cassie’s second instinct.

  But if she called him so quickly after he’d just left her, he might think it was a ploy on her part to get him into her room. And into her bed. Cassie couldn’t honestly deny that a part of her was looking for any excuse to do just that.

  So she wouldn’t call him. She did have some measure of pride, she supposed. But…the room seemed so quiet. And empty.

  Cassie couldn’t help feeling unnerved by the silence, and then she suddenly realized why she felt so uneasy. So alone. She missed Mr. Bogart. In spite of her dispassion for dogs, she’d become attached to the little guy, and now his was another presence in her life that she’d have to give up when Celeste returned.