Chapter Eleven

The next morning in her office Samantha tried to keep her thoughts on her work, namely the Holcom-Anders wedding.

She went through her list of to-dos and even double-checked the weather channel to make sure there would be no surprises.

The Holcom-Anders wedding was being held on the beach today—one of those huge unpredictable outdoor weddings that drove wedding planners crazy.

With indoor weddings at least you could control the environment. But beach destination weddings were the big thing this year so most of the Holcom clan had flown in several days before and been up in Orlando doing the Disney thing before the wedding. The Anders part of the family had Miami connections so many of the guests would be driving down to Key Largo today.

The weatherman promised sunny skies. Satisfied there was nothing more she could do, Samantha gathered her things and went down to the parking garage to meet the rest of the team for the van ride to Key Largo.

She hadn’t seen or heard from Alex since last night. She’d been disappointed when she’d returned home after working as long as she could only to find no message on her machine. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let what almost happened in the back of the limo happen again.

Instead, she would tell Alex what she knew about Preston Wellington III. She regretted not telling him last night before the limo ride. But he’d asked for one night without any bad news. And she had to admit, she’d enjoyed herself immensely.

Meanwhile she had a wedding to take care of, then she would be flying to Tennessee to find out what she could about Presley Wells.

She was her usual quiet self as she loaded into the van with the rest of the Miami Confidential team.

The talk among the group was of everything but weddings—and undercover work. Samantha leaned against a side window and listened, enjoying the fact that today they were all women and could chat about the craziest things.

Fortunately, the road to Key Largo was open, the traffic not too bad. Samantha breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived and saw that all of the details she’d so meticulously been working on with the rest of the team seemed to be in place.

This was a part of her job that she loved. Often it rivaled the other part of her job. But surprisingly, she had become a pretty good wedding planner.

The beach and leased hall for the reception were beehives of activity. Samantha checked in with Nicole O’Shea, Weddings Your Way’s photographer; Jeff Walsh, the shop’s music coordinator; and finally Ethan Whitehawk, the team’s all-around handyman. The three had ridden down together earlier. Ethan had been involved in building an arch on the beach where the actual wedding would take place.

“The arch is beautiful,” she told him. “I’ve heard nothing but raves.”

As was his nature, Ethan only smiled as he made some minor changes to the outdoor bandstand.

Samantha left him and saw that Isabelle, the shop’s spokeswoman, was talking to the mother of the bride as if trying to reassure her. Samantha started over but Isabelle motioned that everything was fine.

Normally, this many agents didn’t attend the weddings. Most of them worked behind the scenes before the big day and weren’t needed.

But this was the first wedding since Sonya Botero had been abducted. Rachel had worried that what had happened wasn’t an isolated incident. That instead, another bride-to-be from Weddings Your Way might be in danger, so the whole team had come.

Samantha opened her notebook and began to check off items to be attended to. Alex Graham was hardly in her thoughts as she did what she did so well: tended to details.

The team disappeared during the wedding, all breathing a collective sigh of relief that there had been no problems. The weather had held, all the guests had arrived and the ring bearer hadn’t lost the rings. All small miracles.

And maybe a larger miracle. The bride-to-be had made it through her vows without any problems—including another abduction or hit-and-run.

Samantha had already made sure the reception hall was ready, fully decorated, the wedding cake in its place with the small plastic bride and groom snugly on top.

She started to retreat as the guests filed in. Behind them she caught a glimpse of the turquoise water and sunlight. She had only a moment to appreciate it before someone stepped into her line of vision.

“I wondered if you would be here,” the man said.

He’d taken her by surprise. “Mr. Graham.”

“Brian,” he said, seeing her moment’s hesitation. “Obviously I didn’t make as big an impression on you as my brother.”

There was an edge to his tone.

“I didn’t realize we were on a first-name basis,” she said.

“Even after I lent you my limo last night? I was surprised to see the two of you on what certainly appeared to be a date.”

She ignored the last part. “Thank you for the use of your car. That was very generous of you,” she said, hoping to get away from him as quickly as possible. Clearly he was curious about her relationship with Alex.

Brian resembled his brother only slightly. Unlike Alex, Brian didn’t look particularly fit. He was pale skinned as if the only light he spent much time under was fluorescent. His hair was a darker blond, his eyes brown but without any of the gold flecks that warmed Alex’s.

The little time that she’d spent around Alex’s brother and father had been sufficient to convince her Alex’s problems with them weren’t all his fault.

“You really are a wedding planner,” Brian said, seeming to find amusement in that.

“Did you doubt it?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, just studied her openly. She felt his gaze light on her bruised cheek but he said nothing about that. “I heard you do all the big weddings,” he said instead.

So he’d been checking up on her.

“There must be money in it.” He made it sound as if that would be the only reason someone would resort to her kind of work.

She wondered what he’d have to say if he knew about her other job. She smiled as patronizingly as she could, not about to answer such a crass question.

“So did you find my sister’s fiancé?”

“Not yet.”

“I’m sure my brother won’t stop until he does,” Brian Graham said. “I guess he doesn’t have anything better to do.”

Odd the way he didn’t refer to his siblings by their names, not to mention his condescending tone.

“I’m sure when Alex finds Preston, he’ll be glad your brother went to the trouble. After all, we’re talking about Preston’s future wife,” she said, not at all sure of that anymore, given the man’s name wasn’t even Preston.

“Has it dawned on you yet that maybe Pres doesn’t want to be found?” Brian asked.

As a matter of fact… Out of the corner of her eye she spotted one of the caterers looking around frantically.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to attend to a few more details,” she said.

“The perils of being a wedding planner,” he said glibly as she left him.

But she felt his gaze on her, and later, when she finished calming down the caterer, she was surprised to see that Brian Graham was still standing where she’d left him, apparently watching her.

She turned away, hoping to avoid any more conversation with him, and almost collided with the black sheep of the Graham family.

“Alex,” she cried, hating how breathless she sounded.

It surprised—and upset—her how pleased she was to see him.

That was until she caught his expression.

“Miss Peters,” he said.

So they were back to that?

“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” she said.

He raised a brow. “Actually, I didn’t, either.”

There was something very different about him today. She saw it in his eyes. He seemed wary of her. Yesterday, she’d caught him watching her closely as if trying to see beneath her skin, today his gaze probed even deeper, definitely looking for something.

She felt a sliver of worry burrow under her skin. What had changed? Something more than even the phone call in the limo last night.

“How is Caroline?” she asked, afraid that was the cause.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “They took her into surgery for her broken leg this morning but she is improving all the time.” His gaze came back to hers and she saw the suspicion in his eyes.

It gave her a strange sense of loss that affected her more than she wanted to admit. He didn’t trust her anymore and she felt sick at the thought.

Without his trust she couldn’t do her job.

But she knew that wasn’t what made her sick to her stomach. She liked Alex Graham. Was attracted to him. More than that, she had to admit. He was the first man in a long time with whom she’d actually let her guard down. She could have fallen in love with him. Had already started.

The thought shocked her and at the same time, admitting it made her feel a little more steady on her feet. It was one of the reasons he unnerved her.

“Anything wrong?” he asked.

She blinked at him. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because you’re frowning at me,” he said, his eyes intent on her face. He reached over before she could draw back and brushed his fingers over the bruise on her cheek. “How did you say you did that again?”

He seemed to be waiting for her to explain the bruise and anything else she had to hide. She gulped, not sure what he wanted from her. Worse, what she might confess. “Like I said, I can’t even remember. I bumped into something obviously.”

He seemed disappointed in her. “Obviously.”

A strained silence fell between them. He raked a hand through his hair, his gaze on her. “Can we get out of here?”

She hated to think what would happen if she went off some place alone with him the way she was feeling right now. Fortunately, she didn’t get a chance to answer.

Brian came up behind his brother. “So where is Preston?” he demanded, clearly enjoying that he’d interrupted their conversation. Samantha smelled booze on his breath. “You have found him, haven’t you?”

Alex didn’t look the least bit happy to see his brother. “What do you care?”

“She’s my sister, too. But for some reason you seem to need to play the hero. So where is he?” Brian’s eyebrows shot up. He smiled obnoxiously. “What? The great Alex Graham, brave fireman and all-around good-guy blue-collar worker, couldn’t find him, either?”

Alex visibly tensed. “Back off, Brian. Today is not the day to cross me.”

“Oh? Having a bad day?” Brian glanced at Samantha. “Things not going quite like you’d hoped?” He laughed. “Stick to what you know, Alex. Let me handle cleaning up the mess Caroline made.”

“So you and Dad did invest with him,” Alex said. “I hope you and the old man lose your shirts. I’d love to see this guy take you for everything.”

Brian’s face turned a mottled dark red. “Don’t you think I know you’re just waiting for me to fail? But don’t hold your breath, little brother. I will come out on top. No matter what.”

“I’m sure you will,” Alex said. “But I’m not worried about you. Or Dad. Caroline is in love with this guy. If he really did hook up with her just to get to you and the old man, it’s going to break her heart.”

Brian scoffed. “Caroline will get over him. With her money, she can always find another man. Dad, however, stands to lose considerably. If I were you, I’d worry about your inheritance.”

Samantha could see that Alex was doing everything in his power to restrain himself. “It’s always about the money with you, isn’t it? Have you ever been in love? Or lost someone who meant something to you?”

Brian’s eyes sparked with fury. “Oh, none of us could have loved and lost with such feeling as you, Alex.”

“I don’t want to argue with you.”

Brian hadn’t seemed to hear him. “You have no idea what it takes to run an empire, the responsibility, the pressure. I don’t have the luxury of whiling away my time falling in and out of love.”

“No, your idea of love is the twenty minutes you pay for a woman’s company.”

Brian looked as if he might take a swing at his brother. When he spoke, his words seemed to vibrate with his fury. “You know nothing about my life or how hard it is to be the one in the family who everyone depends on. You turned down the job. You couldn’t handle it even if you hadn’t. So stay the hell out of it.” With that, he stormed away.

“What an arrogant ass,” Alex said through gritted teeth.

Samantha touched his arm. He was trembling.

He looked over at her. “Please, let’s get out of here.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just took her hand and drew her out the door.

“Alex, I—”

“I need to talk to you.” There was a command in his tone. But also a plea.

She couldn’t have denied him anything right then. “All right. Just let me tell someone I’m leaving.”

He seemed to relax a little. “I know a place we can go. It’s cool and dark. I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.” He steered her toward his pickup.

The last thing she wanted was a cool, dark, intimate place to go with him, let alone a drink. Isn’t that the way it had started last night?

He didn’t drive far before he pulled into a small beach bar overlooking the water. As he shut off the engine, she heard music drifting on the warm afternoon breeze. The air smelled of sand and surf with the faint scent of burgers and fries and beer.

Once inside, he headed straight for the crowded bar. She hesitated by the door, half-afraid of what he wanted to talk to her about. Maybe it was just her guilty conscience, but she felt an icy chill skitter up her spine.

Then she glanced behind her and spotted a car parked just down the street. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the one that had been following them before. It was hard to see if there was anyone behind the wheel because of the glare off the windshield. Had they been followed? Again?

She stepped back out of the bar and walked toward the car, turning down a short alley and circling around in order to come up behind it. The car looked like a rental. There was no one behind the wheel and on closer inspection she could see that the car was locked.

She glanced around but didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious. Maybe the driver had gone into one of the businesses and was watching her.

She made a quick call to Clare to run the plates. “I think you’re going to get a rental car agency. Find out who rented the car and let me know ASAP.”

As she headed back inside the bar, she told herself she wouldn’t be surprised if the car was rented by Presley Wells. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been dead wrong about a man. Or the last, she thought as she saw the expression on Alex’s face.

He stood by the door to the beach with a drink in each hand, a frown on his face. “Let’s take these outside.”

She started to lie and tell him she’d been trying to find the ladies’ room. But she was tired of lying to him and determined to end it here today.

He didn’t say another word as he put down the drinks at one of the empty tables and pulled up a chair. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something.

She picked up the margarita he’d ordered her and touched her tongue to the salt, avoiding his gaze as she looked out over the water and thought about how to tell him the bad news.

 

ALEX HAD PLANNED to ask Samantha outright as soon as he saw her if she’d gone back to Caroline’s condo the night after they’d been there together.

Looking at her now, though, the question seemed ludicrous. What possible motive would a wedding planner have to break into anyone’s condo? It made no sense.

What did make sense was someone trying to make him distrust her. Trying to muddy the waters. He and Samantha had been working together to find Caroline’s fiancé. Someone didn’t like that. It told him that he and Samantha were getting close.

Even with all that wonderful rational thinking, Alex knew he was kidding himself. He’d already suspected that Samantha was hiding something from him. Now he would be watching her. And she already intrigued him.

“You look pretty today.” He meant it. Even with the bruise on her cheekbone.

The compliment seemed to embarrass her. He watched her swallow and look away and a sinking feeling gripped his stomach. He still wanted to believe that the call last night had been a prank.

He raised his glass and said, “To you, thank you for all your help.”

Samantha raised her plastic glass trying not to squirm. He couldn’t have made her feel more guilty than if he’d toasted to honesty.

She didn’t drink alcohol other than an occasional glass of wine. She liked to be in control. Always.

And, she needed all the control she could muster around Alex. The last thing she needed was alcohol and this beautiful beach on this wonderful afternoon. Her defenses were already down at just the hint of his smile.

“To happy endings,” she said, wondering where that had come from, and took a sip, pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.

She licked the salt from her lips, the alcohol in the margarita sending a shot of heat through her. She could feel Alex watching her, measuring her. The man definitely made her feel unsettled, unsure. Vulnerable. But it was the other emotions he made her feel that scared her. Especially the big one: desire.

She recalled the last time she’d felt desire—and how badly it had ended. She reminded herself that she was happy being a chameleon, blending in, going unnoticed by men.

She didn’t want her life disrupted by him stirring up feelings, needs. She felt oddly exposed as if for all her care at hiding behind her glasses, her clothes, her front at Weddings Your Way, he could see through her.

It was the way he looked at her. There were moments when she was positive he could see right through her veneer to her deepest, darkest of all secrets. Not only that she was an agent but that her real guise was pretending to be a wallflower so she didn’t attract men like Alex Graham.

Was it possible Alex already knew that while she was cool and collected on the outside, she was a mess below the surface whenever she was around him? That it was a battle to keep anything from him?

Her heart beat a little faster at the thought that he knew her and that was one of the reasons she felt so drawn to him.

He started to say something but stopped as a waiter slid a basket and a dish with what looked like jalapeño peppers onto the table.

“Wait until you taste this.” He stabbed one of the pepper slices with his fork, uncovered the warm bread, took a piece and shoved the pepper into it before he holding to her lips, his gaze meeting hers.

There was nothing she could do but open her lips, all of her senses on alert at the intimacy of him feeding her.

Hesitantly she took a bite. The bread was warm and wonderful, the pepper both hot and sweet. She’d never tasted anything like it.

“I knew you’d like it.” He sounded a little sad, the pad of his thumb deliciously rough as he dabbed at the corner of her mouth when some of the pepper juice escaped. She felt the sudden intense heat of the pepper.

But it was nothing compared to what the look in his eyes did to her. Heat skittered over her skin, firing her senses and sending a shaft of desire straight to the heart of her.

“Well?” he asked.

She took a drink and had to swallow twice before she trusted herself to speak. “Wonderful.”

He smiled that beguiling smile of his. “That was just the beginning. There are more surprises in store.”

She was almost positive he wasn’t referring to food now.

He didn’t want to ask her if she’d gone back to the condo last night. But he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer.

He wiped his mouth on his napkin then took a drink of his margarita. Funny, but he hated to disappoint her. He knew how much she was hoping that Preston would turn out to be one of the good guys.

Putting down his glass, he said, “I’m afraid it’s just as I feared. Caroline is broke. I have connections at the bank. She’s gone through most of her inheritance. From what I can tell she’s completely financing the condo development along with her own condo renovation. The checks are being run through Preston Wellington III’s construction company.” He could see that Samantha wasn’t any happier to hear this than he had been.

She took a sip of her drink, lashes hiding her eyes, and said nothing, giving him the impression that, as bad as this news was, it hadn’t exactly come as a surprise.

“You still want to believe in him, don’t you?” he said.

“For Caroline’s sake and the baby’s? Yes, I do.”

He sighed, unable to wait any longer. “I went to Caroline’s condo last night after I got a call that someone had broken into it.”

Something flashed in her eyes—or had he just imagined it?

“The champagne glasses and bottle were gone and the bathroom was shot up,” he said. “There were two bullets in the wall where the bathroom mirror used to be.” His gaze locked with hers.

He hadn’t realized how much he was hoping she would say she didn’t know anything about it. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of a good reason she would break in to steal an empty champagne bottle and two dirty glasses.

Unless she was covering for somebody.

And he hoped to hell that wasn’t the case, since he was falling for her.

She opened her mouth and said the last thing he wanted to hear. “I was the one who broke into the condo and took them.”