Tate shifted the weight off his bad knee. Weather must be changing for the old injury to act up this much. Or maybe it was the eighteen-hour day hed spent on duty, half of it on his feet, searching the lake woods for a lost child. But Tate had no complaints. Hed felt like a million bucks when hed placed the boy in his tearful parents arms.
He knew his stance had given him away when Julees gaze came back to him, drifting down his body to rest at his aching
knee. Though her attention was purely curious, Tates body grew warmer than the April weather dictated.
I never did get a chance to tell you how sorry I was about your knee injury. Does it still bother you?
So she had known. And never even called. Apparently, she hadnt given him another thought once she hit the big city.
Sometimes, he admitted gruffly. Nearly ten years had passed. Why was she bringing it up now?
Julee touched his arm lightly, but enough that the electric shock of her touch still made his insides quiver. Not just physical wanting, though she had that power, too, but emotional need so intense he wanted to collapse at her glamorous feet. After all this time, he was still a fool.
I always hated what happened to you.
If shed cared so much, why hadnt she come home? Why hadnt she been the one to see him through those black days? Why had she left him alone to drown in alcohol and self-pity and to marry the first woman who would tolerate both?
That was a long time ago. He stepped back from the subtle lure of her perfume, placing the desk between the two of them. It all happened a long time ago.
Theyd been so young, thinking they could have it all. Julee would be a famous model. Hed play pro football. Then theyd find their way back to each other. Trouble was, her dream came true about the same time his died on the ten-yard line with three minutes to go in the first half of the season opener.
Hed fallen into the black abyss of anger and alcohol, too proud to call her, but furious when she didnt call him. Then Shelly had come along, sweet and sympathetic, willing to tolerate his drunken rages and self-pity. Shed been his anchor during a time when hed wanted to die. Out of some alcohol-distorted sense of gratitude, and because he needed to believe someone cared, hed married her after less than a month.
Tate squeezed his eyes shut and blotted out the memories. Too much time had passed to go there now. So. What brings you back to Blackwood?
And how soon will you be on the next flight out?
Some emotion stirred behind her beautiful blue eyes. What was it? Nerves? Anxiety?
Squinting in thought, he studied the intense set of her jaw, the shadows above her elegant cheekbones. Thats when he knew. Julianna was afraid.
The loose rollers on his chair clattered against the brown tile as he pulled it away from the desk. One hand on the nubby gray backrest, he waited, cop instinct on alert.
What was she afraid of? And what on Gods green earth could it have to do with the hometown shed abandoned years ago? Better question, what did it have to do with him?
Mind if I sit down? she asked. Tate tried to ignore the tingle in his gut whenever her lips moved. I have some important business to discuss with you.
Fighting the need to protect her from whatever demon chased her, and the greater need to protect himself from her, Tate indicated the green vinyl-covered chair across from his desk, then settled into his own. Immediately, he wished he hadnt. Julee sat, crossing her long beautiful legs directly in his line of vision. His chest tightened. Sitting upright, he steepled his hands beneath his chin to block the view. He had to get her out of this office.
Business? Curiosity got the best of him. What kind of business could bring Julianna Reynolds back to Blackwood?
When she leaned forward, expression earnest, her silky blue blouse gapped slightly, affording him an unwanted glance of creamy skin. Infuriatingly, his body reacted. She was sexy, vulnerable and beautiful, a combination that spelled danger for any man but was deadly for him. She was big city and he was small town. She was rich and he was a working stiff. And she was, as her mother had once said, too good for that McIntyre boy.
Criminy! Why he was thinking this way? He didnt know this woman. Hadnt known her for years. All they had was the past, and that was better left alone.
The phone emitted a soft buzz, and he barely held back a curse. He was too busy to worry over Julianna Reynolds, and the sooner he found out what she wanted, the sooner shed be gone and hed be safe from thinking too much.
Holding up one finger of his left hand in a wait-a-minute gesture, he punched a button with the right. Yeah?
His receptionists voice came out of the speakerphone. Mrs. Barkley needs you to drive by her place. Shes sure the Peeping Tom is back.
Taking out his annoyance on the receptionist, he growled, Where have you been?
Even Rita the Magnificent has a bladder, Tate. Dont get your tail in a twitch.
He glanced at Julee, saw her struggling with a grin, and was relieved when she rose and starting roaming the room. He swiveled sideways