Twice the Temptation

Placing her hand over the receiver, she mouthed to the others. “Charlie. He wants to meet with me.”

“Please,” Charlie said. “For old time’s sake. It’s urgent. It’s about the black rose you received yesterday. There’s something you need to know. Is there someplace we can meet?”

“I could meet you in the courtyard of the hotel.”

“No.” She could hear a thread of panic in Charlie’s voice. “It has to be private.”

“How about the cliff path at the back of the gardens then? Start out at the gazebo. You can see it from the windows in the bar and follow the path that forks to the far left. It winds around and ends along the path that’s open to the public. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

“Yes. Okay. Promise me you’ll come alone.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Reese could see Mac shaking his head.

She placed her hand over the receiver to block the sound again, then spoke in a low voice. “He says there’s something he needs to tell me about the black rose. This is our chance to find out if he’s involved.” Then without waiting for agreement, she spoke into the phone. “I’ll come alone, Charlie. Half an hour.”

“You’re not going to meet him alone.” Mac grabbed her arm.

Reese covered his hand with hers. “He just has to think we’re alone. Then he’ll be more likely to open up. I’m meeting him on the continuation of the path we were on last night. But it’s at the back of the gardens and it’s open to the hotel guests.”

“There are several places along it where you and Nate can get some cover,” Avery put in.

Nate was already on his feet. “We’ll take a circuitous route, go through the back of the maze and then follow the path along the cliffs from that direction—just in case Dutoit or someone else is watching. Avery, you stay with Reese.”

Nate moved toward the windows that lined one wall of the suite. “From here you can see the gazebo. If luck is with us, you’ll be able to see Dutoit take the path. Then you walk Reese at least as far as the gazebo and keep her in sight as long as you can. I’ll call you as soon as Mac and I are in position.”

“Got it,” Avery said.

“And just in case, Reese, I’ll need your cell phone.”

When Nate held out his hand, Reese got it from her purse and handed it to him.

“I’m punching in my number as your first speed dial. If something sinister happens, punch one and then leave the cell open so that we can eavesdrop.”

Then Nate glanced at Mac. “You’re going to need your shoes.”

“I’ll have to stop by my room,” Mac said.

“I think they’re over by the door,” Avery said.

Mac saw that Avery was correct and frowned. “They weren’t there earlier.” After he stepped into them, he strode back to Reese, pulled her up from the couch and kissed her hard. “Be careful.”

“You, too.”

For a moment, neither of them moved. Reese wanted badly to cling to him.

“I can go instead,” he said.

She shook her head. “I have the best chance with him.”

“We need to leave now if we want to get in place,” Nate said.

“We’ll talk just as soon as you’re through meeting with Dutoit,” Mac said before he turned away.

As Reese watched the two men walk through the door, her heart sank. She had a pretty good idea what they were going to talk about. The subject they’d never gotten around to discussing in the bathtub.

Avery wrapped an arm around her. “I could have sworn those shoes weren’t over by the door when I came in. I know they weren’t there when Nate and room service arrived.”

Reese recalled that Mac had been shoeless when he’d kicked the florists’ box across the hallway. Nor could she remember seeing his shoes anywhere in the vicinity of the door. “What are you saying?”

“Hattie may be up to some of her old tricks.” He squeezed her shoulders. “I hope to hell she’s keeping an eye on you when you meet with Dutoit.”

9

“I DON’T LIKE LETTING you go alone,” Avery said as they reached the gazebo. “Once you walk around that first curve, I won’t be able to see you. And it will be a good four or five minutes until you reach the cliffs.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “And if something goes wrong, I have my cell.” She patted the pocket of her jacket where she’d placed her phone. “Besides, both Mac and Nate will be close by.”The morning sun had begun to climb in the sky, shortening the shadows that slanted across the lawns. The muted sounds of chatter and laughter drifted to them from the courtyard where breakfast was still being served. When the concern on Avery’s face didn’t fade, Reese said, “If all else fails, I have Hattie on my side.”

He took both of her hands and squeezed them. “That’s the only reason I’m letting you go. And you’re right, Mac and Nate will be waiting for you at the other end.”

Yes, Mac was waiting for her. Turning, Reese drew in a deep breath as she walked away from Avery. Nerves still jittered in her stomach. To settle them, she thought of last night, when she’d walked in the same direction with Mac. She’d been much more nervous then. And excited. It was just as she rounded the first curve that it struck her.

It had been less than twelve hours since Mac had kissed her—only about twenty-four since she’d collided with him in the lobby. And her whole life had changed.

The realization had her stopping dead in her tracks. Was this how it had been for Hattie and Samuel? Was this what her sisters had experienced? Suddenly, it wasn’t nerves dancing in her stomach. It was panic. She barely knew Mac—and yet from the first, he’d become…what? Important? Essential?

Not the qualities one expected to find in a boy toy.

The panic increased. No. It was her work that was essential to her. Her affair with Charlie had merely been an aberration. And when he’d dumped her, she’d recovered quickly.

But if Mac dumped her? The tightness around her heart hurt so much that she had to rub her palm against her chest to numb the pain. She’d recovered from Charlie because she hadn’t been in love with him.

Had she fallen in love with Mac?

No, she couldn’t think about that now. She had to keep her mind on the job at hand—meeting with Charlie and finding out what he knew about the black roses, not to mention the woman in the photos.

Then she’d figure out what to do about Mac.

She’d started forward when a voice from behind her said, “Stop right there, Reese.”

Reese whirled to see a woman step out from behind a hedge and walk quickly toward her. Recognition and fear rippled through her. The woman was medium height and wore her mousy brown hair pulled through the back of her golf cap in a ponytail. In the sunglasses, shorts and sandals, she looked like any one of a number of guests staying at the hotel. But she also resembled the woman Mac had pointed out in the photos. And picturing her in the big hat and the fancier clothes, Reese could also recognize the woman Charlie had introduced as his publicist.

But it was hard to keep her gaze on the woman’s face and off the gun that she carried in her hand. “You’re Charlie’s publicist.”

“Not exactly. I’m Charles’s older sister Chantal. I often pose as his publicist or his manager because it allows me to keep a low profile when I have to step in and keep his career on track. Now, raise your hands, please, and move along across the grass.”

The woman’s tone was conversational and polite, a stark contrast to the businesslike gesture she made with the gun. Reese heard a buzzing in her ears that she recognized as fear. She tried to ignore it just as she was trying to ignore the gun.

“Your hands?”

Reese raised them but she didn’t move. She had to keep Chantal talking. “Charlie lived with you in Paris, right?”

“Yes. I should have killed you then.”

Kill? Reese thought giddily. Was she mad? When Chantal took her sunglasses off and Reese saw her eyes for the first time, she had her answer. She wanted to run, but she didn’t dare. Just keep talking.

“Why would you want to kill me?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.” Chantal’s eyes narrowed and any trace of pleasantness drained from her tone. “You’re beginning to ruin my brother’s chances just as you did at Le Cordon Bleu.”

“Ruin?”

“Don’t pretend innocence,” she said, her voice rising. “First you lured him away from me and then you became LeBeau’s favorite. You might have fooled Charles, but you never fooled me. Charles had to graduate first in his class to get the kind of career boost he needed. When I explained that to him and how you’d ruined his chances by seducing him, he finally came to his senses.”

“But what does that have to do with me now?” Reese asked.

“You’re doing the same thing all over again.” Chantal was nearly shouting now. She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Now, start moving or I’ll put a bullet in you right here.”

For a moment, Reese stood frozen to the spot. Even her mind seemed paralyzed, which was making it hard to sort through her options. Would Nate or Mac even hear her if she screamed? And Avery must be back at the hotel by now.