Imminent Affair

Although Daniel treated her like a friend, he was sexually attracted to her. Some of what he’d felt for her prior to the coma was still there, sluicing through his blood. If Allie wasn’t such a Chicken Little, she could seduce him.

Climb right in his lap and make him moan.

“What’s going on?” he finally asked.

“Nothing. I just wanted to say goodnight.” So much for thinking on her feet. They’d already bid each other goodnight earlier.

He stood up, and his height dwarfed the military-tidy room. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“A little.”

“So am I. But I’m a bit of an insomniac anyway.” He adjusted the waistband of his pajama bottoms, lifting them a smidgen. They’d fallen even lower on his hips. “Was I always?”

God, he looked gorgeous. Rough and ready. “Were you always what?”

“An insomniac?”

She tried not to stammer. He was moving closer. “I don’t know. We never slept near each other.”

“But we fought paranormal creatures, searched for a magic talisman and helped your cursed lover get back to his dead wife?”

“It sounds unbelievable, but that’s what we did.” Her cursed lover had been a time-traveling warrior who’d shape-shifted into a raven.

“Was it hard to let him go?”

The question threw her. Daniel had never questioned her in detail about Raven. “I wanted him to be happy, to find peace.” Before Raven went away, he’d asked Daniel to look after her. But since Daniel didn’t remember, she wasn’t about to tell him. There was only so much she could say about the past without getting emotional. Besides, he was looking after her, even without recalling his promise to Raven.

Allie shifted her bare feet. By now, she and Daniel stood face-to-face. Seducing him crossed her mind again, but she thought better of it. She wanted more from him than sex. She wanted him to remember that he’d loved her.

He had loved her, hadn’t he? He’d never come right out and said it, but she assumed that he had.

A knot grew in her belly. What if she’d been wrong? What if all he’d ever felt for her was a physical attraction?

She glanced at the neon green numbers on the alarm clock. It was almost midnight, and she was battling a newfound blast of anxiety. “I should go. I should try to get some sleep.”

“Me, too. For all the good it will do.” He reached out to touch a spaghetti strap on her nightgown. “You look pretty, Allie.”

The knot in her stomach got tighter. Was he making a play for her?

“I imagined you wearing something like this. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you wore it on purpose.” He snared her gaze. “You’re not psychic, are you? Like your sister?”

She felt like a rabbit caught in a trap. “I can’t read people’s minds. And you shouldn’t have been thinking about me in my bedclothes.”

“The way you shouldn’t be coming to my room looking like an innocent siren?” He stepped back, putting distance between them. He wasn’t making a play. He was reprimanding her, along with himself. “We’re both guilty of misconduct.”

Yes, they were, and he was too damn observant for his own good. Struggling to temper her emotions, she said good-night once again, and turned and left his room, closing the door gently behind her.

Too bad he wasn’t observant enough to figure out that the innocent siren loved him.

The sun shone through the windows, making Daniel aware of its yellow rays. Christmas was only two weeks away, but the Southern California weather didn’t seem to know the difference. Not that Daniel cared. The holidays didn’t make him cheerful. Why he felt like a bit of a Scrooge, he couldn’t say. But lots of people got depressed around Christmas, so he tried not to make too much of it.

Although he was still sleep deprived, he showered, shaved, and donned a pair of freshly laundered jeans and a basic white T-shirt. Next, he headed to the kitchen where Allie was getting a jumpstart on breakfast. She’d already beaten him to the punch and brewed a pot of coffee, and now she was cracking eggs into a bowl.

He stood in the doorway and watched her. She was wearing a big, fluffy pink robe and ugly slippers with mottled colors. He assumed that the pretty nightgown was underneath, but damn if he could tell. She was belted good and tight. He supposed that after last night’s encounter, she wasn’t taking any chances. But at least it was out in the open. At least they’d admitted that they were attracted to each other. Or sort of admitted it. Whatever the case, one thing was clear: they weren’t going to act on it.

Maintaining a platonic relationship was best. Safer, he thought. Less complicated.

“Morning,” he said by way of a greeting.

She glanced up, and they stared at each other, trapped in remnants of the awkward stuff. He cursed the caveman feeling that being near her gave him. He wanted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her back to his bed, ugly robe and all.

Finally, she gestured to the food on the counter. She’d diced onions and tomatoes to go along with the eggs. She’d grated cheddar cheese, too. “I hope you don’t mind that I raided your fridge.”

“No, it’s fine. Help yourself. You’re a far better cook than I am.” But who wasn’t?

“Do you want an omelet?”

“I’d love one. Could you put ham in mine, though?” He wasn’t up for another meatless meal. The awful sandwich from yesterday hadn’t stuck to his ribs. He needed something with substance.

She opened the refrigerator to get the ham, and Daniel walked past her to pour himself some coffee. He took a closer look at her slippers and noticed that they were cat faces, with pointed ears, plastic eyeballs, tiny pom-pom noses and long white whiskers.

He couldn’t help but smile. They were even more ridiculous than he’d first assumed. He pointed to the fur balls in question. “Does Sam like those?”

“She loves them.” Allie wiggled her feet. “So do I.”

“It must be a girl thing.”

“I suppose you think they’re atrocious.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. You can wear whatever you want.” Except pretty nightgowns while she was in his room. He made a show of looking around. “By the way, where is Sam?”

“She was up earlier, but she went back to sleep.”

In Allie’s soft, warm bed, no doubt. “I guess she’s not an insomniac.”

“No. She’s a cozy sleeper. But cats are supposed to take catnaps.”

Daniel’s omelet was done first. Somewhere in the midst of their conversation, Allie managed to fix hash browns, too. She handed him his food, and he stood near the sink and wolfed it down. He didn’t sit at the table because he didn’t want to make a domestic ritual out of sharing meals with her. It was bad enough that he’d brought her to his house for an extended stay.

But what choice did he have? The vandal, the potential stalker, was all too real, and he intended to do whatever it took to keep Allie safe.

Would he take another bullet for her? Yeah, he thought, he would. He would do just about anything for Allie Whirlwind. He wasn’t sure why; he just knew that he would.

“You’re going to get heartburn.” She scolded him for eating so fast.

“I’m fine.” To prove his point, he took a second helping of hashed browns.

She shook her head and sat at the table, spreading a napkin on her lap. She would have looked quite proper if it weren’t for the horrendous robe and slippers.

“I already called Rex,” he said. “He’ll be here in a few hours.”

“I wonder where he’ll start.”

“With my background, I suppose.”

“Are you nervous about it?”

“Why?” He scooped the last of his food onto his fork. “Do you think I have something to hide?”

“No. I just can’t imagine being in your position.”

“I can’t imagine being in yours, either.”

“Getting my loft trashed or having the kind of ancestors that I do?”

“Both.” He thought Allie was too sweet to hail from a lineage of evil witches, but that was her background, her burden to bear. He had no idea what his was going to be.

He’d lied about not being nervous.

By the time Rex arrived, Daniel’s anxiety was at an all-time high. But he hid his feelings, greeting the other man with a sturdy handshake and inviting him into the living room.

Rex Sixkiller was a half-blood from the Cherokee Nation. At thirty-six, he was the same age as Daniel, and although they weren’t from the same unit, they were both Desert Storm veterans who had served in the army. But like most people from Daniel’s past, he had no recollection of Rex. Of course since regaining consciousness, Daniel had made a point of spending time with the Warrior Society, and that included Rex.

“Where’s Allie?” the P.I. asked.

“In her room. I’ll go get her.”

Daniel went down the hall and knocked on her door. She appeared in a colorful Santa Fe style dress and a pair of western boots. Her hair was plaited in a single braid that hung down her back, leaving the angles of her beautifully sculpted face unframed. Her earrings were big silver hoops decorated with turquoise nuggets.

“Rex is here,” he said.

“Oh, okay. I’m ready.”

She walked beside him, and upon entering the living room, Daniel made the introduction. Rex rose to meet her. He also checked her out a bit too closely, putting Daniel on edge. From what he knew, Rex was single and somewhat of a player.

Daniel gave his comrade a territorial stare, and Rex looked back at him with a curious expression. Apparently the other man had wanted to gauge Daniel’s reaction, to see what he and Allie were truly about. And now he knew.

Daniel had the hots for his female friend.

“Let’s get started,” Rex said, settling back onto the sofa and elbowing a leopard-print pillow.

Daniel sat next to him, leaving a leather recliner for Allie.

For a moment, they were all silent, then Rex turned to Daniel and said, “Tell me what you recall from your past.”

“I recall bits and pieces about my parents. My dad lives close by, and my mom died when I was a boy. I’m from the Lakota and Haida Nations.”

“Do you remember being from those tribes or is that something you were told after the coma?”

“I remember.” He paused, then frowned. “I also remember Mom’s body being laid out at the funeral house. It isn’t a good memory.”

“No. I don’t suppose it is.” Rex furrowed his brows. “Do you have any good memories?”

“Not really.” Daniel paused once again, pondering the question. “Actually, my memories of Allie are good.”

He glanced her way, and she scooted to the edge of the recliner. As soon as their gazes locked, he broke eye contact. He wasn’t comfortable with Rex watching.

“How good are they?” the P.I. asked, almost making the query sound like a double entendre.

Not that good, Daniel wanted to say. “They’re kind of warm and fuzzy, I guess.” He hoped that didn’t sound stupid, but it was the only description that came to mind. “I don’t remember her as much as the feeling of being around her.”

“And it was warm and fuzzy?”

“For lack of a better term, yeah.”

Rex shifted his attention to Allie. “Does that sound about right to you?”

She nodded. “Daniel and I were close.”

“But there was no romance?”

“No.” She started to fidget.

Annoyed, Daniel squinted at the P.I. “Is this line of questioning necessary?”

“Yes, it is. I need to know if there’s anything that happened between the two of you that the vandal might have seen or heard.” Rex pushed Allie a little further. “No romance at all?”

“No,” she said again.

“Not even one little oops? One little kiss?”

She responded with another fidgety, “No.”

Rex kept pushing. “Were you visibly attracted to each other? The way you are now?” he added, not mincing his observations or his words.

Her breath hitched. “Yes.”

Damn, Daniel thought. This hungry-for-each-other thing wasn’t new. He gave Rex a flustered stare. “Can we move on now?”

Rex gave him a tight nod in return. “Yes, but I’d like to know about other women from your past. Do you recall any of your former lovers?”

“No, and I already told you about Glynis over the phone.”

“She’s a good place to start, but she can’t be the only significant woman from your past. I’m going to have to interview your friends and family and see what they know.”

“You’re an old friend,” Daniel pointed out. “Don’t you remember me being with anyone?”

“Unfortunately I don’t. You were private that way. But someone else from The Society might have a helpful recollection.”

Having his life dissected by other people sucked, Daniel thought. “What if the vandal isn’t a former lover? What if it’s someone with a whacked-out crush on me?”

“I plan to work on that angle, too. And I’m going to need as much cooperation as I can get from you.” He looked at Allie. “And from you. Whoever did this has probably been watching you and Daniel. Tracking your relationship. She might even blame you for his memory loss.”

Daniel spoke up. “You’ll get our cooperation. But I’m not sitting idly by. This is my investigation, too. Whatever leads you uncover, or the police discover, or I find out on my own, I’m following through on them. I’m doing the legwork.”

“I figured you would.” A second later, Rex addressed Allie, including her once again. “And you, too. From what I heard, you and Fearless made quite a team.”

“We did,” she admitted softly, drawing Daniel to the sound of her voice, to that warm and fuzzy feeling that lingered in his scattered mind.

Chapter 3

Allie rode beside Daniel in his truck. That was another thing about him that had changed. He used to drive a simple white van, but he’d traded it in for a sleek black pickup with custom wheels and tires.

Allie had never liked the van, anyway. His new vehicle was much sexier. But so was he. Everything about him left her breathless. She glanced at his profile and got warm and tingly.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Why? Don’t I seem all right?”

“You’re fussing with your seat belt.”

Because the device seemed too tight across her Daniel-deprived body. One little kiss, one little oops, as Rex had put it, sounded darn good about now. “I’m okay.”

“Are you nervous about seeing Glynis?”

Allie glanced out the window. They’d just dropped off Sam at the veterinary clinic where she would be boarded, and now they were headed to Daniel’s old lover’s house.

“Are you?” he asked again.

“Yes,” she responded truthfully. She’d never expected to confront his ex again. She’d had enough run-ins with Glynis in the past to last a lifetime.

“I can take you back to my place,” he offered. “I can do this alone.”

“No way.” Allie wanted to see the other woman’s reaction firsthand. “I wonder if we’ll be able to tell if she’s the vandal, if she’ll give herself away.”

“That seems doubtful. From what you said about her, she sounds complex.”

“She is. I was hoping this would be easy, I guess.”

Daniel turned onto Ventura Boulevard, following the directions Allie had given him earlier. “Can you still paint magic pictures?”

The question caused her to widen her eyes. “Do you remember that about me?”

He shook his head. “You told me about it.”

“Oh, that’s right, I did.”

“Well, can you?”

“I don’t know.” Her experience with Raven had started with a portrait she’d painted of him. “I haven’t been involved in anything magical since then.”

“What about sensing the presence of ghosts? Can you still do that?”

Once again, she didn’t know. “I suppose I could if there was a ghost who insinuated itself into our lives.” Last time, both she and Daniel had made contact with ghosts, but her connection to the spiritual world had been stronger than his. “Why? Are you getting a ghostly vibe?”

“No, but I feel kind of sad.” He stared out the windshield. “And it feels like a memory.” He shot her a quick glance. “How bizarre is that?”

She sat up a little straighter, stretching her too-tight seat belt. “The doctor said you’d probably regain bits and pieces of your memory.”

“I know. But I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Tell me exactly what you’re feeling.”

“That someone who mattered to me died. Someone besides my mom.”

“A woman? A lover?”

“A teenage girl, I think. But the vandal isn’t a ghost. Whoever trashed your room was a real person. A ghost wouldn’t have picked the lock.”

She couldn’t imagine a ghost slashing her bedding with a knife or using blood-red paint, either. But Daniel’s sudden sadness gave her pause. “You should tell Rex.”

“I will. After all of the paranormal stuff that happened before, we can’t be too careful.”

“I agree.” She sighed, wondering if there really was a ghost in their midst. She didn’t feel anything, but maybe her supernatural skills were gone. Or maybe she only felt ghosts that were connected to her, and this one belonged to Daniel.

He drove the rest of the way without sparking another conversation, frowning at the road. Allie didn’t talk, either. She couldn’t think of anything pertinent to say.

Finally he turned onto Glynis’s street, and Allie directed him to her house. He parked at the curb.

“Is that her car?” he asked, pointing to the silver Mercedes in the circular driveway.

Allie nodded. Daniel’s former bedmate lived in a Tuscan estate in Studio City with a spectacular view. She had lots of money and lots of style. Women like Glynis Mitchell ruled the San Fernando Valley.

They took the flagstone path that led to the front door. Exotic plants bloomed in artfully tended flower beds and heart-shaped ivy crept along the building and up around the windows, where rustic shutters were drawn tight.

Allie rang the bell, and the housekeeper, a short, stout woman with graying hair, answered the summons and spurned them with a bitter look. She was fiercely loyal to her employer and had given Allie trouble before.

Daniel gazed at her as if she were supposed to be Glynis. “She doesn’t look like Bettie Page to me.”

Allie bit back a smile. He knew darn well that this snippy old broad wasn’t his former lover.

The housekeeper raised her eyebrows at him, but whether she was reacting to his smart-aleck remark or to the obvious changes in his appearance was unclear. “What do you two want?”

“We’d like to see Glynis,” Allie responded.

“Mrs. Mitchell is relaxing.”

With a martini, Allie thought. Oh, wait. Glynis favored a cocktail called Vampire’s Kiss. That was her drink of choice.

“We’re not going away,” Daniel said. “So you may as well tell her that we’re on her doorstep.”

The housekeeper stormed off in a huff.

She came back a few seconds later and pointed a crooked finger at Daniel, explaining why they were being allowed admittance. “Mrs. Mitchell is curious to see you.”

From there, she ushered them into the living room and said, “Wait here.”

Daniel glanced around, but Allie didn’t need to take in her surroundings. The house looked the same.

The décor presented mottled colors with terra cotta accents. The floors were brick, and the furniture was constructed of timeworn woods. Glynis’s late husband had collected Native American artifacts, and the stunning collection included tribal masks, baskets, pottery, small stone carvings and arrowheads. Strings of chevron beads, probably dating back to Christopher Columbus’s time, were displayed in glass cases.

Holiday decorations dazzled the interior, as well. An artificial Christmas tree shimmered with white lights and crystal ornaments.

“Well, now…” A luxuriously feminine voice sounded from the living room entryway.

Allie and Daniel spun around. There stood Glynis in all of her aging-siren glory. Her pinup-girl hairdo was perfectly coiffed with short rolled bangs and flowing, dark locks. She wore capri pants, high heels and a feather-trimmed blouse. Although she was in her early fifties, she had the figure of someone much, much younger. But didn’t most rich L.A. women? They bought themselves boobs, got liposuction if they gained an ounce of fat and did Pilates with private trainers.

Daniel stared at her, and she stared back at him.

Uncomfortable, Allie sucked in a silent breath.

Finally he said to Glynis, “I don’t remember you.”

“Yes, I heard that you had amnesia.” Her glossy red lips curved into a deliberate smile. “It’s been a long while since we dated, but I’d be glad to refresh your memory.”

“I’ll bet you would.” He kept his expression blank. “But my tastes have changed.”

“Oh, that’s right. You have a crush on Allie. I noticed it the last time I saw you together, before the amnesia and all that.” Glynis finally turned to face her rival. “Have you let him into your pants yet? Or are you still being a tease?”

Before Allie could respond, Daniel snapped at Glynis. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

The other woman kept her cool. “I guess that means she’s still being a tease. Poor boy. That’s what you get for falling for a witch.”

Allie came to her own defense. “I’m not a witch.”

“You’re not evil like your mother? I wonder if it’s possible to have those genes and not be just a little bit evil.”

Allie narrowed her eyes. Was Glynis the vandal? Was she behaving like a potential stalker? Or just a jealous old girlfriend?

“So what’s going on?” Glynis asked, switching tactics. “Why did you stop by?”

“To harass you,” Allie said in her drollest tone.

“Very funny. What for?”

“As if you don’t know.”

“Please, no games. Just tell me what this is about.”

“Someone broke into Allie’s loft and trashed her bedroom,” Daniel said.

Much too dramatic, Glynis clutched a hand to her blouse, ruffling the boa-type feathers. Her fingernails were as red as her lips. “And you think it was me?”

“It seems like a possibility.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time.”

“Wouldn’t you?” he challenged. “Not even for me?”

“No, dear boy. That isn’t my style. But feel free to give my regards to whoever did it.”

“Any idea who that could be?” Cynicism edged his voice. “Besides you?”

“If you’re asking me who else you slept with, I have no idea. You weren’t the type to kiss and tell. Speaking of kisses, why don’t we have a drink?”

He furrowed his brow. Apparently he wasn’t following Glynis’s logic. Allie was, but she remained silent.

He asked, “What do drinks have to do with kisses?”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t remember. I have a Vampire’s Kiss every day. Sometimes you had one with me. But mostly you preferred Gin and Nothing.”

“I’ll have one of those.” He made a thought-provoking expression, as if he were delving into his own lost mind. “That’s still what I prefer.”

“Then there you go. Some things don’t change.” The dragon lady looked at Allie. “Would you like a drink, too?”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Afraid I’ll poison it?”

Allie coined Daniel from earlier. “It seems like a possibility.”

Glynis rolled her elegantly lined eyes and proceeded to fix the cocktails. For herself, she used a recipe that consisted of vodka, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and fresh lime juice. For Daniel, she poured a jigger of gin over ice and added a twist of lemon peel.

He accepted the drink and made himself at home on the sofa. Allie figured he had a plan, but she wasn’t sure what it was. He patted the spot next to him, silently telling her to join him. She did, even if she wasn’t comfortable staying any longer than necessary.

Glynis sat across from them and sipped her Vampire’s Kiss. Ignoring Allie, she gazed at Daniel. “I can’t get over how different you look. How different you seem.”

The ice in his glass clinked, and he spoke above the Gin and Nothing sound. “Do you like me better this way?”

She crossed her legs, flashing her sexy high heels at him. “Would it matter if I did?”