Brenda Harlen - Dangerous Passions стр 3.

Shannon was ending her call when he stepped back inside. He closed the door tight and flipped the lock into place.

He said he has no record of the hotel staff accessing my room during the time I was out, she told him. But he thinks thats probably what happened.

Mike could tell by her tone that she remained unconvinced.

She wandered through the room looking around, into the bathroom and back again.

Something isnt right, she insisted.

He wasnt prepared to ignore her instincts. Not when her safety was the reason hed come down to Florida in the first place. But he needed facts to back up those instincts. Is anything missing?

Not that I can tell. But

But what?

She looked away, her cheeks flushing with color. My sister likes to joke about my organization, she admitted. I have a specific way of doing things, a structure to my life that I never deviate from.

Her blush deepened, and he knew she was thinking about her behavior with him tonightwhich was something

he was trying not to think about.

Almost never, she amended. And thats how I know someones been here. Someone moved my bookit was on the other side of the table when I left. And I always align the cap of the toothpaste with the bristles of the toothbrush, but the toothpaste is upside down now.

She shook her head. You probably think Im a nutcase.

On the contrary, he was starting to believe she was right. Someone had been in her room, looking around, searching for something.

But what?

And why was the patio door left open?

Unless whoever was in her room wanted her to know hed been there. That was a far more sinister possibility than a random burglary attempt.

I thought I heard you ask the manager about moving to another room.

I did, but there arent any vacancies in the hotel.

You could stay with me.

She eyed him warily.

He smiled, trying to put her at ease. As much as Id like to pick up where we left off, its not an offer with any strings attached. There are two beds in my room, too.

But she shook her head, rejecting the offer. Im sorry for the way things ended. I didnt mean to mislead you, but I really just want to be alone right now.

I dont think thats a good idea.

Ill be fine.

She sounded as if she believed it, but she didnt know the truth about who he was and why he was in Florida. She didnt know that she might be in real danger.

Would she believe him if he told her now? Would she be willing to accept his help and his protection? Or would she feel betrayed by his deception?

Not that hed intended to deceive her. Hed never intended to make contact with her at all. His instructions had been simply to watch out for her, but from a distance. Lieutenant Dylan Creightonnow Shannons sisters fiancéhad instructed Mike to be discreet in his surveillance so as not to alarm Shannon unnecessarily.

Mike believed the break-in justified sounding the alarm. But as much as he wanted to share his suspicions with her, to make sure she understood how serious the situation could be, he had to talk to his client first.

Please, she said. Id like you to go.

Okay. He relented to her request only because he had no intention of going any farther than the hall and he wanted to call Dylan without Shannon overhearing the conversation.

Thank you, she said stiffly.

He wanted to reach out to her, to offer her comfort and reassurance. But her spine was rigid, her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive and distinctively hands-off posture. He turned away. Lock up behind me.

He stood outside the door, waited to hear the lock click into place, then reached for his cell phone. He powered it up, only to have it beep once and shut down again.

Damn.

The battery was dead and the spare was in his room upstairs. He tucked the useless phone back into his pocket and leaned back against the wall. The door directly across the hall was clearly marked Stairs. He could run up to his room to retrieve the extra battery and be back within five minutes.

But still he hesitated, his instincts warning him not to leave her, not even for five minutes. Was it worry about Shannons safety that made him so reluctant to step away from her? Or were his instincts off-kilter because of the desire still pulsing in his veins?

He mentally cursed again.

This was exactly the reason hed tried so hard to keep his distance from her. Because personal involvement interfered with objectivity, and emotional responses led to mistakes. It was a lesson hed learned in Righaria, when his mistake had cost his best friends life, and when his guilt over Brents death cost him the woman he loved.

He pushed aside the past to concentrate on the present. He was here now to protect Shannoneverything else was secondary.

But hed be better able to protect her if he could tell her the truth, and he couldnt do that until hed spoken to Dylan Creighton. And he couldnt talk to Dylan without returning to his room for the spare battery.

He glanced back at her door, hesitated.

Hed checked the locks on the windows himself, heard her flip the security bar into place. She was safe inside, probably already in bed