Turning Point (The Kathleen Turner Series) Page 5

  When I looked up, I found his blue eyes staring intently at me. The pull between us was nearly tangible now in the quiet of the motel room.

  Kade set his drink down, got up, and crossed to the bed. Silently, he stretched out facing me, so close I could feel the faint brush of his breath against my cheek and smell the slight tang of soap from his shower.

  Reaching out, Kade combed his fingers gently through my hair, pushing it over my shoulder. His touch was soft against my jaw. Our eyes met and held.

  I grasped his hand in mine, pulling it away from my face and resting it between us.

  “Don’t,” I whispered.

  “Why not?” His thumb caressed the back of my hand, and my skin seemed to tingle from his touch.

  “You, me… us… isn’t going to happen.”

  His blue eyes seemed to see more than I wanted him to, but I couldn’t look away.

  “You know that, right?” I continued.

  “I know that you like me, you care about me, you’re attracted to me.”

  “But I love Blane.” The words fell out of my mouth without any forethought. Yet I knew they were true. Regardless of the attraction I felt or the strength of the temptation of Kade, I loved Blane.

  Kade’s eyes had turned cold. “Will you love him when he leaves you to head to Iraq?”

  “Do you think he’ll go?” I couldn’t keep the anguish from my voice.

  The hardness of Kade’s face softened, and I thought I detected a hint of pity when he said, “Probably.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  I stood under the hot spray of the shower, Kade’s words echoing inside my head. I couldn’t pretend that the idea of Blane going back into the Navy didn’t terrify me. Not only for his safety, but for what that would mean for anything the future might hold for us.

  I remembered Adriana Waters—the ex-wife of Navy SEAL Kyle Waters. She had been devastated when he’d re-enlisted, despite knowing she was pregnant. She’d miscarried shortly into his deployment and divorced him a few months after that.

  “Be sure to fall in love with someone who loves you more than you love them,” she had told me. I could still recall the bitterness in her voice and the disillusionment in her eyes.

  I loved Blane, but did he love me? And if so, would he love me enough not to reenlist? And did I love him enough to stick around waiting for the very real possibility that he’d die in combat?

  Should I get out now, before it was too late? Or was it already too late?

  I couldn’t answer any of these questions.

  When I came out of the bathroom dressed in fresh clothes, Kade was just getting off his cell phone.

  “My contact just called.” He glanced over at me. “I need to go meet with him.”

  “Okay.” I said, pulling my hair back into a ponytail. “Let me grab my purse.”

  Kade gave a snort. “You can’t go.”

  “Why not?”

  Kade sauntered closer. “Because where I’m going”—he twisted my ponytail around his finger and gave a gentle tug—“isn’t the kind of place for a girl like you, princess.”

  “But who’ll have your back?” I asked.

  “I’ve been doing this alone for a long time,” he smirked. “I think I can go one night without backup.”

  I pulled my ponytail out of his grasp and huffed in exasperation as he walked out the door. How was I supposed to do my job if he left me behind?

  Making an instant decision, I shoved my feet into my running shoes. Grabbing my purse and the extra room key, I headed out the door—just in time to watch Kade cross the street a block up.

  Trying to remember everything he’d taught me about surveillance, I followed him at a distance, close enough to keep him in sight but not draw his attention. There were just enough people out downtown to camouflage my pursuit.

  A crowd filled the sidewalk up ahead and Kade disappeared into it. I stepped up my pace.

  As I pushed my way into the mix of people, I realized I’d lost him. Looking up, I saw stairs leading into a nightclub. The sign overhead proclaimed it to be Bar Sinister.

  Well, that didn’t sound ominous or anything.

  I maneuvered my way to the front of the line, where a huge guy was manning the door. Even with the temperature around forty-five degrees, he wore a short-sleeved T-shirt stretched tightly across his massive arms and shoulders. Tattoos covered his arms and I could see more on his neck that disappeared under his collar. He wore silver earrings in each ear, and his head was shaved.

  When I got to the door, he stepped in front of me. Looking me up and down, he said, “I don’t think so.”

  Surprised, I glanced up, then up some more. He towered above me.

  I swallowed heavily. “My friend is in there,” I said, digging inside my purse. “How much for the cover?”

  “It’s not the cover, sweetheart. This ain’t no place for a sorority chick like you.” He gave me another derisive once-over and snorted.

  I looked down at my clothes, then at the people around me.

  Hmm. Okay, maybe he had a point.

  While my jeans, cami, and pullover sweater might seem fine to me, compared to the leather, lace, and stilettos around me, I looked like the proverbial fish out of water. Even if I did get in, I’d stand out. Bad idea.

  I backed away and pushed to the edge of the crowd, ignoring a few leers and aspersions on my sexual predilections cast my way.

  I chewed my lip, trying to think over my options. Kade was in there without backup, and while I wasn’t under any delusions about how much actual help I’d be should the need arise, some was better than none, at least to my way of thinking. Kade obviously held a differing opinion.

  Movement caught my eye and I looked down the narrow alley next to the building. Two women had emerged from a side door and were stumbling away, teetering precariously on their high heels. Making a quick decision, I jogged down the alley toward them.

  They seemed to find their own unsteadiness amusing, as they were laughing and clutching each other to stay on their feet. I could smell alcohol, cigarette smoke, and stale perfume. One was a tall blonde. The other was about my height with hair a shade of red I was sure was not found in nature. Scrutinizing her for a moment, I realized she would do nicely.

  “Excuse me,” I said.

  Neither one responded, still giggling as they stumbled away.

  “Excuse me,” I repeated more loudly.

  That finally got the redhead’s attention and she turned toward me. I could tell immediately from her eyes that she was stoned or drunk, maybe both.

  “What do you want?” she slurred.

  “Want to make twenty bucks?” I asked.

  She looked me up and down. “Sure, honey, but if you want a threesome, it’ll cost you fifty.”

  My face grew hot, but I tried to ignore my embarrassment at her assumption. “That’s not quite what I meant.”

  I explained what I needed. She grinned at me.

  “Sure thing, honey.”

  A few minutes later, I stepped inside the dimly lit bar. The bouncer had let me in without batting an eye. I don’t think he’d even recognized me.

  It had taken fifty bucks to swap my clothes for the redhead’s. I was now wearing something that would have made my mother faint on the spot.

  A black leather miniskirt was glued to my skin, starting beneath my belly button and ending so it just covered my ass. If I even thought about bending over, I’d be displaying my entire… well, everything. Up top I had on a leopard-print tube top, my breasts straining against the thin satin fabric. I’d have to make sure I didn’t raise my arms at the same time or the girls would be popping out like twin jack-in-the-boxes.

  A spiked leather band around my neck, leopard-print stilettos (which were killing my feet already), and black lipstick completed my outfit. I’d taken my hair down and tousled it as wildly as I could without the benefit of hairspray.

  The inside of the bar was packed with people. Surprisingly, the tempera
ture was cool and goose bumps erupted on my bare arms. A DJ was playing heavy metal; the loud grinding of the guitar and shrill voice of the singer assaulted my ears. The bass was turned up enough for me to feel the pulse in my body. The predominant lighting was red mixed with black light, the better to showcase the graffiti on the walls, glowing eerily in the semidarkness.

  When my eyes adjusted, I started moving through the maze of bodies, scanning the crowd for Kade.

  “Tell me that collar comes with a leash and I’ll say I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  I turned to see a guy, tall and thin, leering at me. He had numerous piercings in his face and giant plugs through his earlobes that looked really painful.

  I forced a smile. “Sorry. I’m not on the market to be someone’s pet.” I slipped into the crowd before he could say anything else and, purely by chance, saw Kade.

  He was at a corner table, with another man sitting on a stool across from him. Each had a glass on the table, though neither was drinking. Taking a deep breath, I made my way toward them. I didn’t know if the other guy was friend or foe, so decided it would be best not to tip my hand.

  “Looking for a date tonight, tall-dark-and-dangerous?” I smiled seductively, sliding my hand over Kade’s shoulder.

  “Not tonight—”

  Whatever else Kade had been about to say died on his lips when he turned to look at me, a flash of startled recognition crossing his face. I smiled prettily and batted my eyelashes. The look of surprise was quickly wiped away and his eyes narrowed.

  “On second thought, I’d like nothing more than a night with you.” Snagging me around the waist, he pulled me between his knees, turning me so I faced the other guy. Kade’s hands rested possessively on the bare skin of my midriff, my back pressed against his chest.

  Now that I was close enough to get a good look at his companion, I could see he was in his early thirties, with brown eyes and brown hair. While attractive enough, he wouldn’t stand out in a crowd. If I passed him on the street and then had to describe him, I’d be hard-pressed to do so. I thought perhaps that might be by design.

  “You were saying?” Kade prompted the man.

  The guy looked me over and rolled his eyes. “Really?” he asked Kade, quirking an eyebrow.

  “I’m not dead yet,” Kade countered.

  “You will be, you keep barking up this tree.”

  I stiffened. What did he mean, Kade would be dead?

  “Have a drink, princess.” Kade held his glass up for me and I automatically took it, swallowing a mouthful of ice-cold vodka and tonic.

  “You find out anything more on Sheffield?”

  The guy shook his head, taking a sip of his own drink. “Nah, man, only that the dude was into some fucked-up shit. The people pulling his strings are impossible to find, much less fight.”

  “Any word on who rigged the building to blow?”

  “Nope. I asked around, but no one’s talking. But it was a good move. Anybody got close enough to find that guy’s place wouldn’t live to tell the tale.”

  “Did he have any friends? Partners?”

  “Only name I came across was Parker. Supposedly they’d hang together at that club down on Fifth.”

  “I’ll check it out. Thanks.”

  “Seriously, man,” he said. “I’d leave it alone, drop it now, while you can. You get on these guys’ radar and you’re dead. They’ll smoke you before you even know what hit you.”

  “I’ll take that chance,” Kade said. “Thanks for the warning, Garrett.”

  I took note of the name as Garrett downed the rest of his drink, nodded at Kade, and disappeared into the crowd.

  “Interesting disguise,” Kade said, his lips by my ear. His hands caressed my abdomen, the pads of his thumbs drifting to the skin at the bottom edge of the tube top. I watched the crowd, a shiver running through me. I told myself it was from the chill in the air.

  “You left me behind,” I said stiffly. “I had little choice.”

  “I left you behind for a reason.”

  I felt him move my hair to the side, then the lightest brush of his lips on my shoulder.

  I abruptly turned so we were facing each other. With him sitting on a stool and me wearing heels, we were roughly eye to eye. “I can hold my own,” I said evenly. “So don’t leave me behind again.”

  He studied me, then gave a slight nod. “Understood.”

  His gaze drifted down to my mouth and he frowned. Reaching behind me, he dabbed his cocktail napkin into his drink, then swiped it across my lips, removing the thick black lipstick.

  Surprised, I didn’t move as he worked assiduously.

  My lips felt a bit raw when he was done; the cheap lipstick had chapped the tender skin. My tongue darted out, licking the residual sheen of vodka left behind. Kade was rapt as he watched my mouth. His hands had drifted down and now stroked the backs of my thighs. Trapped as I was between his knees with the table at my back, I couldn’t move away.

  “Don’t,” I warned, afraid he was going to kiss me.

  “What is it with you and the barely-there clothes?” His voice was bitter. “I’m a man, Kathleen. What do you expect?”

  “I expect you not to do something you’d regret,” I said stiffly, stung at the veiled accusation that I was deliberately tempting him.

  “I’m the wrong brother for those kind of expectations.”

  Before I could retort, he’d risen to his feet and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To find Parker.”

  I followed him through the club out into the street. It was a relief to be in the fresh air, and I gratefully filled my lungs. The next moment, I wished I were back in the bar as a gust of icy wind hit me and I began shivering.

  “So where exactly did you come by the clothes?” Kade asked, removing his leather jacket and swinging it over my shoulders.

  “I can’t divulge my sources,” I replied, pushing my arms into the sleeves.

  Kade’s lips twitched.

  I jumped when he let out a piercing whistle. A taxi pulled to the curb, and Kade held the door while I got in. He slid onto the seat next to me, giving the driver the name of another bar.

  I settled back in the seat, noticing that though the jacket helped cover me up top, now that I was sitting, the skirt left almost nothing to the imagination. I tried to tug it down, to no avail. The backs of my thighs and more were bare to cold vinyl.

  “Problems?”

  I glanced up to see Kade’s blue eyes watching me, a smirk playing about his lips.

  “I’m fine,” I said archly. His gaze traveled down to my thighs, pale against the dark seat and pressed tightly together. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “If I can’t touch, then I sure as hell am going to look,” Kade replied matter-of-factly.

  I averted my eyes, though I could feel the weight of his stare. I restlessly shifted in my seat. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Kade suddenly touched my leg, hooking his hand underneath my knee and drawing it up until my foot rested on his lap.

  “Killer shoes,” he observed, ignoring my scramble for modesty as I pulled his jacket down as far as it would go. Removing my shoe, he began massaging my foot, his strong fingers digging into my instep. It felt so good I bit back a moan, tentatively relaxing back against the car door.

  “Who was that guy?” I asked.

  “Garrett.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that much I got. Who is he to you?”

  “Garrett and I go back a ways. Met him at the Academy.”

  “The FBI Academy?”

  Kade gave me his that’s-a-dumb-question look. “He left the FBI before I did. Saved my life once, and I’ve returned the favor. We help each other out occasionally. He has good street contacts in a lot of places.”

  Tucking my foot between his body and the seat, Kade reached for my other leg, removing the shoe and giving my aching arch the same treatment. I tried to tug my other foot loo
se so I wouldn’t be sitting with my legs spread, but Kade kept it wedged tightly.

  “Wish it wasn’t so dark in here,” Kade mused. His eyes glittered in the passing streetlights.

  The feel of his calloused fingers on my skin, even in this fashion, felt like seduction. He massaged the ball of my foot, easing the nerves knotted there, before cupping my heel in his palm. I’d never considered a foot massage as sexual, but then again, I’d never before been on the receiving end of one of Kade’s foot massages.

  I leaned my head against the seat, closed my eyes, and tried to pretend what I was doing was okay. But even I couldn’t ignore Kade’s hand moving from my foot to my calf.

  “Kade,” I warned, trying unsuccessfully to pull my leg out of his grip.

  He slid closer to me, his fingers brushing the tender skin behind my knee, the rough pad of his thumb sliding up the inside of my thigh.

  The touch sent a spiral of lust into my veins, making me gasp. Kade watched me, his gaze unrelenting.

  Ruthlessly, I tamped down my desire, a bitter note of shame welling inside as I thought of Blane. He and I were trying to patch up our relationship, build something again, and here I was thinking impure thoughts about his brother. It made me embarrassed, angry at myself, and angry at Kade.

  “Knock it off, Kade!” My tone was sharp as I pushed away his wandering hand.

  “Tell me you don’t want me,” he demanded. “Look me in the eye and say you don’t feel the heat between us. Do that, and I’ll stop.”

  “It has nothing to do with that and you know it,” I retorted. “Even if Blane and I don’t work out, and I’m not saying we won’t, that doesn’t mean I’m going to hop into bed with you.”

  “I never said anything about a bed.”

  I rolled my eyes. This time he let go of my limb when I tugged, and I righted myself in the seat, turning toward the window so I wouldn’t have to look at him.

  “Blane excels at making women fall in love with him. Now ask me how many times he’s been in love.”

  His words stung, hitting me in my most vulnerable spot—doubt in what Blane truly felt for me. I turned and asked, “And you’re a much better option than Blane?”