LITMIR.BIZ

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at the sight of his own blood once, so don’t be too hard on yourself.”

      Vanessa smiled. His hands were gentle around the wound, and his tone was soothing. She studied his hair as he knelt before her, and she wanted to push her fingers through it. Everything had done a complete turnaround since a few hours before, when she was sure he was the one after her. Now she wanted him to stay close. Very close. That was so unlike her, and a sign that she really wasn’t herself.

      “Okay, then,” he said, standing quickly. “Tell me what else you need, and I’ll go to the store while you shower.”

      “Let me give you my credit card, or my ATM—”

      “No. You can’t use any of those things until we know what’s going on. I’ll contact the detective and let him know you’re with me, so the police don’t go looking for you, but that’s it. Otherwise, you need to stay off the radar as much as possible.”

      Vanessa blinked. “How could anyone track my money, or my car? I mean, who does that other than the government?”

      Luke frowned. “You’d be surprised. It’s how I found you.”

      “Yeah, actually, I meant to ask you about that. How did you find me?”

      “We can talk about it later. For the moment, let’s get the basics attended to.”

      She told him what she needed. “I feel awkward having you pay for all of this. Keep the receipts, at least, so I can reimburse you.”

      “Sure, no worries,” Luke said, though she doubted his tone. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. I have a key. Do not open the door for anyone, under any circumstances. I don’t care if it’s life or death, room service, whatever. You keep it locked. Keep the curtains closed, too. Clear?”

      She nodded soberly. Vanessa couldn’t help but feel that this was overkill, but then again, someone had tried to kill her twice in one day.

      “Yes.”

      “Good. Take your time, relax. I’m going to get us some food, too.”

      “I ate earlier,” she said, not wanting to cause him any more trouble.

      “I didn’t,” he said with a grin, and she felt her cheeks heat.

      “Sorry, I just... Never mind.”

      Luke offered one more smile and headed out the door, closing it firmly behind him.

      Alone, Vanessa thought she might be swallowed by the sofa as her muscles turned to jelly. She’d held herself tense the entire time Luke had been touching her.

      He’d only been checking her injury. There hadn’t been anything more to it than that. But still, his touch, and how he looked at her... She couldn’t help but feel something.

      She didn’t know if it was the adrenaline, being completely lifted out of her usual reality, or the need for comfort, but she wished he would kiss her again. Just as he did in the police parking lot.

      It was crazy, but if he asked her again to take her blouse off, she might not hesitate.

      It really was unbelievable. She chided herself sternly as she stood up, minding her side as she headed to the bathroom.

      Vanessa had never been in such a luxuriously appointed room before. Clearly, Luke liked to travel in style.

      The bathroom was larger than the one at her house. Then again, the suite was almost the size of her entire first floor. Well, when she’d had a first floor.

      Stripping off the clothes she’d bought that afternoon, she started to fold them and then sighed in disgust and threw them in the trash. They were all bloody and dirty, anyway.

      Stepping into the hot shower was heaven. She didn’t have any of her usual shampoos or soaps, but Luke had some on the counter, so she used his.

      It was intimate, she thought, moving the bar of soap he’d likely used that morning over her naked skin. She eased the bar down along her thigh, catching her breath for a second.

      Her eyes popped open. What was going on with her? She never behaved like this. It was like her skin was sizzling, her blood pulsing with desire from using this soap.

      The events of the day were messing with her brain. They said people who confronted death often wanted to express themselves sexually. It was a way of confirming they were alive.

      Vanessa was feeling a bit too alive, perhaps. She wasn’t sure she could trust her instincts right now.

      Briskly washing up, she stepped out and grabbed a few towels from the warmer in the corner. It was Florida, and it was summer, but the room was cool and the warm towels felt delicious against her skin.

      Finger-combing her hair, she took in the darkening bruises from her fall earlier in the day, and the cut on her side. It wasn’t bad at all, really. Relieved at that, she looked for something to put on. Usually there would be a robe in the bathroom, but she didn’t see one.

      Luke must have used it that morning.

      Padding down the narrow hall, she found the suite had two bedrooms and Luke’s luggage was in one of them.

      She saw the robe thrown over the back of a chair, and while she didn’t feel right intruding on his personal space, she couldn’t walk around in a damp towel, either.

      She picked up the robe on the back of the chair and let the towel drop as she wrapped the thick, blue terry around her.

      It smelled like him—like his soap. She smelled like him, too.

      Her eye caught a folder on the small table next to the bed, and she knew she shouldn’t look, but she was here in a hotel with a man she didn’t know. She only had his word and the word of the detective about who Luke really was. She approached the file as if it might bite her, carefully picking it up and opening the cover.

      Her own face stared back at her—she didn’t recognize the photo, but then she realized it was from her return trip from Puerto Rico. This had to be from airline security.

      How could Luke get his hands on something like this? Wasn’t it restricted to the government? A chill chased down her spine as she flipped through the papers and blinked, tears stinging her eyes.

      Julie.

      Though the file called her Nicole. Nicole Brooks.

      Nicky.

      Of course. Logic had been lost in the panic of what had been happening, but now it made sense. Luke and Vanessa were both looking for the same woman. Her sister.

      Vanessa paged through a few more of the files. There were a lot of pictures. Pictures of Julie with Luke, the two of them together, looking close. Intimate.

      Her breath caught again. Luke had been her sister’s lover.

      Is that why he wanted to find her so desperately? Why he’d kissed her? And why he’d stopped, knowing that she wasn’t the woman he was searching for? The woman he wanted.

      Vanessa’s hand shook as she closed the file to put it back on the nightstand.

      “Anything you want to know, feel free to ask.”

      Vanessa jumped, dropping the file as she did so, Luke’s voice startling her.

      “You’re back. I, um, I came in looking for a robe, and...”

      “And you saw the file. It’s understandable. I would’ve done the same thing,” he said, unperturbed.

      He set two bags down on the bed.

      “Do you need help bandaging your side?”

      Vanessa wasn’t sure if she was more flustered by being caught peeking or that he didn’t seem upset by it.

      “I’ll be able to do it myself, thanks.”

      What she’d seen in the file had poured ice over all of her

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