Wicked Ties(25)
And he wouldn’t stop staring. With every clinging gaze, he lashed Morgan with
memories of his kiss, his touch, the way he took control. Her body kept warming like an
oven on pre-heat.
“Why does it matter?” Morgan shot back, aware she was dodging the question.
“Aren’t the most important facts that this monster knows my habits, my friends, family,
and the places I’m likely to go?”
He shrugged. “Cher, there isn’t a man alive who isn’t willing to kill to get a woman
he’s truly desperate for. But if she’s running from him, thwarting both him and his lust…
that man can get a hell of lot more ruthless.”
With a shiver, Morgan wondered if Jack somehow meant to imply that description
could apply to more than just her stalker. Did he include himself in that group?
Somehow, she didn’t picture Jack needing a lot of excuses to get ruthless, but she also
didn’t picture a lot of women turning him down.
“He’s especially dangerous if he’s already had a taste of what he’s missing. I need to
know all the possibilities so I can check them out, run them down. Then we’ll get to your
other questions. Now, you’ve had just those three lovers?”
“Yes.”
“I need names, vital statistics, age, and last known addresses to start digging.”
“This is embarrassing.”
“This is critical. Start talking.”
Morgan sighed, squirmed in her place, and looked down at her hands folded in her
lap. “Sean Gardner is…about five-ten, maybe. Sandy hair, brown eyes. I think he’s
twenty-eight by now. Last I heard he’s living with his wife and kid in San Diego.”
“And he was the first?”
She nodded. “When I was a sophomore in college, yes.”
“When did you see him last?”
“About four years ago, just after he graduated. We only dated six months or so. It
wasn’t that serious.”
“But you gave him your virginity?”
“I already said that.”
“Why?”
“I’m not answering that. That goes beyond name and vital statistics.”
“I need to establish motivation, cher. Maybe he still thinks of you as his little virgin
and doesn’t like the thought that you’ve shared the pretty pussy he considers his with
other men.”
Morgan held in a gasp. She wasn’t used to those words, not with a born-again mother.
She’d never dated a man like Jack who used them so unapologetically. Her mother would
have fainted dead away…even more than she had after seeing the first installment of
Turn Me On.
“Not likely. When we split up, he encouraged me to date his roommate, who was a
major horn dog. Trust me, he was as over me as I was over him.”
Jack shrugged, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Number two?”
“Brent Pherson.”
“The Brent Pherson drafted by the Raiders a few years ago?”
“The same. If you want his vital stats, look them up on ESPN.com.”
Jaw tight, he asked, “How’d you meet?”
“At a press party. He was doing a reality show about athletes during the off season
for the same parent company that airs Turn Me On. I doubt he’s stalking me. We… It
was just one night.”
Jack scowled, looking decidedly unhappy about that. “Why did you let him fuck you?”
“Do you have to put it like that?”
“That’s what happened, right? Why did you let him? Did you have feelings for him?”
Brent had been built like the side of a mountain and the supposed leader of his
football team. He’d been quiet and seemingly in control. That illusion had drawn her in,
along with his good looks. A night had been all she needed to see how insecure and out
of control he’d been.
“That’s really none of your business.”
Jack stood, approached the bed, towered over her. Morgan looked up, past the ridged
abs and rippling shoulders that screamed power. Having him this near…it wasn’t good
for her mental health. He was part aphrodisiac, part beast. And she responded way more
than she wanted to.
“If you want my help, I need to know your past. It’s not uncommon for previous
lovers to turn stalker, since they know where you live, who you’re close to, and may even
know some of your friends and can get his information through them. You being modest
and treating me like an auditory voyeur is only giving him more time to hunt you down.
Do you have a death wish?”
“If I did, I would have just sat there in Lafayette and let him use me as target
practice,” Morgan grated out. “Do you think he followed us here? Did you see anyone