***
Cora couldn’t imagine what the two men had to talk about. She had been able to hear parts of the conversation, and it sounded like they were just trying to insult each other. A pissing contest, nice. Maybe it would help her that they weren’t working together.
Nick entered the cabin alone. “Alexander’s leaving now, but I doubt he’ll stay away long. He might have one of the guys check on us too.”
That didn’t help her plan.
“Want to get out of here? We could walk down to the stream, it’s not far. I found a great spot.” He walked over to her and extended his hand. “The mountain air will be good for you.”
“Aren’t you worried about Alexander?”
“He has work to do in Eugene. He can’t stay out here spying on us all day.”
She glanced at his hand, accidentally letting her look linger, and stood by herself, too afraid of what touching him might do to her.
“I’ll walk to the stream with you, but it doesn’t mean I trust you.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to say that and throw another jab.
He exhaled and looked hurt for a tiny second. “Fair enough.”
She had to pause outside the door to let her eyes adjust again. He waited and then led the way across the grass to the forest.
“Do you know how my father’s doing?” she asked, thinking maybe Alexander had brought news.
“He thinks he can find whoever actually stole the money.”
She followed him on a deer path through low-laying ivy and short holly trees that grew between large tree trunks. The soft forest floor hardly made a noise as she walked on it and became a part of the large landscape.
If she timed it right, she could make an escape when he wasn’t looking. Alexander might be watching though, and that thought chilled her.
The sound of the rushing stream grew louder as they neared. The path ended after just a few more steps, and the ground sloped down to the water’s edge. She sat on a large, flat boulder and pulled off her shoes, and placed her bare feet in the cold water. The coolness seeped up through the air, giving her tangible relief from the tension she had been carrying. Cora could breathe again.
It was truly beautiful here, untouched by man or the worries of modern life. On the other side of the stream, lush greenery hung over the water while water skippers skimmed across the stream, flying over the round pebbles in the riverbed.
Through her peripheral vision, she noticed him watching her. She quickly glanced in his direction, mostly to make him look away. He didn’t.
“I was born into that family, but I didn’t choose them.” He spoke quietly. When she left him dangling, he said, “You hate me, don’t you?”
“I don’t want to.” She didn’t? Cora couldn’t say anything more without getting herself into a pot of boiling water, which happened to be how her insides felt sitting next to him. Everything she felt came crashing down on her. She turned away, embarrassed.
He moved next to her and wrapped his arms around her. She was surprised by his strong, yet tender, embrace. It was wrong, it had to be, but she didn’t want to push him away or fight him.
Instead, she melted into him, glad for the comfort. He pulled her head into the hollow of his neck. They fit together perfectly.
He brushed her hair away from her face and rested his face against her head. She needed this; she needed him. The thought jolted through her brain. It didn’t make sense that she felt such a strong pull to him under these circumstances.
His hand ran down her back, sending a tingling sensation up and down her body.
Suddenly, she vividly remembered her dad and how defeated he’d looked in Keith’s study. Cora pulled away, her face red. “This is so wrong!”
Nick quickly put a finger over her lips while gazing into her eyes. His touch felt so personal. She suddenly felt as if he could see every thought and emotion inside her. Looking into his eyes felt like trying to look directly at the sun, but she still couldn’t drop her gaze. She wondered how his soft mouth would feel on hers. Cora wasn’t sure she could muster up a decent amount of indignation if he kissed her.
His gaze searched her eyes and took in her face. With an earnest face, he asked, “If we weren’t in this situation, do you think you could give me a chance?”
“That’s beside the point,” she told him sadly, “Because we are in this situation.”
“That’s my point!” He laughed. “If we weren’t.”
She shook her head.
“You wouldn’t give me a chance?”
You don’t need it to win me over, she thought, but she said, “I can’t think like that right now.”
She couldn’t think about that possibility now because, in any other time and place she would run into his arms.
How could she even think about romance when her father was out there somewhere, trying to find a million dollars?
“I’ve been in this position before,” she told him softly. Seeing the question in his eyes, she went on. “This is the point when I realize I’m going to lose someone.”
Her mind raced back to a day in her childhood, a cold day in January, when she realized her father didn’t tell her things were going to be okay anymore. One day he stopped telling her that her mother was getting better. She sat in the cold, on her front steps, and knew that her mother was going to die.
Nick held her tighter. “He’s smart. He’s been involved this long, so he knows a little something about handling these kind of men. But what can I do to prove to you I’m on your side?”
The timing of his question threw her for a loop.
“Come on, you can’t be a reporter without being curious. What do you want to know about me?” he asked, giving her direction.
She wanted to ask why he looked at her like he wanted to know her, as if just seeing her made him smile. Her thoughts ran in circles and finally pulled up a safe question. Here was her chance to find out something about this man . . . if he told her the truth.
“What kind of career did you study for in college?”
Something came and went in his expression before he said, “Law.”
“Law?” His simple answer brought Cora to her feet. “You’re an attorney?”
Nick jumped up as well. “I’m one of the good guys. I help people when a big corporation takes advantage of them.”
“You’re a lawyer and you’re helping your father with something like this?”
“They follow a different set of laws.”
“You’re saying they’re exempt from the same laws the rest of us live by?” Cora demanded, her hands on her hips as she faced him. “You’re committing a crime for them. You must realize that.”
Wow, he looked good with the green brush behind him. He fit into this wild, forest world. The sight made her pause but she quickly remembered why she was angry.
“I meant to walk away from all of them, all except my cousin Adam. I wasn’t going to move back to Eugene, either.”
“Then why did you?”
“For you.”
“How can you say that? You had never met me. I didn’t even know you existed!”
He looked up at her. Sunlight came through the trees and landed on his face. “Adam told me what he knew about the situation, and I couldn’t let an innocent person be used like that. You’re right, I didn’t know you, but I knew what Keith had in mind. I can’t stand injustice.”
While standing, she assessed him slowly and mercilessly. He didn’t hide from her investigative eyes.
“You can help my father, then.”
Nick stood again. “The police aren’t involved in this.”
“They should be.”
“Let’s stick with reality here. We have no way of knowing a crime actually occurred. I can’t view the evidence or question witnesses. I have only my father’s version of events.”
“Are you saying my father has no way out of this?”
“Only if he plays by their rules. Maybe so
mething can be done later, but right now I’m concerned for your safety. That’s the one thing I can control at this point in the game.”
Some game. “I can’t feel sorry for you because you’re stuck in the middle.”
Nick shook his head and said, “I don’t expect or want you to.”
“You can’t stay there long.”
“I have to.” His pleading face and focused eyes pulled at her heart. “I can’t help you unless I’m on Keith’s team. If I hadn’t gotten involved, you’d be out here with Alexander.”
She twisted a strand of her hair and gazed out into the tall timbers surrounding them. “My father always kept to himself and worked hard. He doesn’t deserve this. He only stayed there, working for Keith, because he wanted to see me get ahead.”
“You’re sure your father is innocent?”
She jerked around to face him. “Of course.”
He gave her a nod and began pacing. Cora watched him while he mused on his own thoughts. His long body had just enough muscle to keep him from looking too skinny. He looked and carried himself like a limber athlete, a quarterback in high school maybe. He had a tan, perfect neck. What an odd thing to notice, she thought, but couldn’t pull her eyes away.
Her eyes slid up Nick’s body until she met his eyes, they were looking right back. Heat swept over and consumed her, like an angry brush fire eating up dry twigs. The look in Nick’s eyes, and that one raised eyebrow, said more than any words he could have spoken. He boldly walked to her and took her hand, lightly holding her fingers. The gentle touch sent a physical reaction pumping though her.
Suddenly he leaned closer and kissed her softly on the lips. It was a quick meeting that only allowed her to feel how soft and supple his lips felt. She searched his warm eyes, looking for the truth. Instead, she found him searching her as well. She saw need. Cora didn’t take a step back as they both expected, and he brushed his lips across hers again. He stepped closer, applying more pressure. She felt dizzy with delight when his mouth slightly parted.
Push him away, she thought as she kissed him back. He made a sound, hmmm, when she met his eagerness. He reached around her, pulling her against his flat stomach.
The contact ignited her desire. An ache started deep inside, racing up through her. Her body, completely betraying her, pressed into him, yearning and begging.
“No!” She pushed back away from him and turned to run back toward the cabin.