Miserable, she finally fell asleep, only to be jolted awake by a crash of thunder and a cold, wet hand settling over her mouth. She sucked in her breath to scream, but the hand clamped down tighter, and a deep, familiar voice whispered in her ear. “Shhh . . . It’s me.”
Her eyes shot open. A dark shape loomed over her. Wind and rain blew in through the window next to her bed and whipped the curtains against the wall. He eased his hand from her mouth and reached out to close the window just as a boom of thunder shook the house.
Rubber-limbed from the fright he’d given her, she struggled to sit up. “Get out!”
“Lower your voice before Medea shows up with her handmaiden.”
“Don’t you dare say anything bad about either one of them.”
“They’d eat their own children for dinner.”
This was too cruel. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? “What are you doing here?”
He planted his hands on his hips and scowled down at her. “I came to kidnap you, but it’s wet and cold out there, so I’ll have to do it some other time.”
He lowered himself onto the straight chair that sat at the sewing machine next to her bed. Beads of water glistened in his hair and on his nylon parka. As another flash of lightning lit the room, she saw that he was still just as unshaven and haggard-looking as he’d been this afternoon.
“You planned to kidnap me?”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to let you stay here much longer with these crazy women, do you?”
“It’s none of your business what I do.”
He ignored that. “I had to talk to you without those vampires listening in. For one thing, you need to stay away from town for the next few days. A couple of reporters have shown up anxious to check out that tabloid article.”
So that was why he’d shown up tonight. Not to bring her a declaration of undying love, but a warning about the press. She struggled to swallow her disappointment.
“They’re a bunch of bloodsuckers,” he growled.
She sat higher in the pillows and met his gaze straight on. “Don’t do anything to Jodie.”
“Fat chance.”
“I mean it.”
He glared at her, and a flash of lightning picked out the hard glitter of her eyes. “You know damn well she’s the one who sold that story to the tabloid.”
“The damage is done, and there’s nothing more she can do, so what’s the point?” She pulled the quilt to her chin. “It’d be like squashing an ant. She’s pitiful, and I want you to leave her alone.”
“It’s not in my nature to let somebody hit me without hitting them back.”
She stiffened. “I know.”
“All right.” He sighed. “I’ll leave her alone. I guess we don’t have to worry too much about it anyway. Kevin held a press conference this evening, and he says he’s holding another one tomorrow for the next batch of reporters who show up. Believe it or not, he’s pretty much defused the whole thing.”
“Kevin?”
“Your knight in shining armor.” She didn’t miss the bite of sarcasm in his tone. “I walked into the Mountaineer to get a beer and found him holding court with a bunch of reporters. He told them that the story was true.”
“What?”
“But only up to a point. He said the two of us had been dating for months before that fateful night. According to him, the birthday thing was a surprise you’d arranged. Middle-age kinkiness, I believe he called it. I’ve got to say, the kid was pretty convincing. By the time he was done, even I believed that’s the way it happened.”
“I told you he was a sweetie.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, your sweetie also made it clear that the only reason you and I started to date was because he’d just dumped you, and you were so upset about it he passed you on to me as a consolation prize.”
“That jerk.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
Despite his words, he didn’t sound all that upset with Kevin. He rose and pushed the chair aside. She stiffened as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Come on home, sweetheart. You know I’m sorry about what happened before, don’t you?” He closed his hand over her arm, where it lay beneath the covers. “I should have called Brian as soon as my feelings toward you changed, but I guess I wasn’t ready to face what was happening. We can work it out. We just need to be alone for a while to do it.”
He was breaking her heart. “There’s nothing to work out.”
“There’s the fact that we’re married, and we have a baby coming. Be reasonable, Jane. We just need a little time.”