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But then there was the problem of Heath Goldwin, III. Bad enough he was best buds with Murphy and treated her like a kid who needed a spanking most of the time. Now he had the audacity to make her like him. And not in an isn’t-he-a-nice-guy way either. That kiss in the park had curled her toes good from a lust perspective. Then he had to go and be all warm and cuddly with the MacLeans and make her picture a life with him past this mess they were currently involved in. Made her picture him with their kids—a girl and a boy, one with his blond hair and her amber eyes and the other with her dark hair and his gray gaze. Made her picture them sharing a house, a history. It was nuts.
She wasn’t looking for a relationship right now. She had her work, her career to think about. She wasn’t ready to settle down like that at the ripe old age of twenty-five, was she?
No. She was not. Her foot slipped off a rung and Aileen gripped the freezing cold metal tighter, hoping her bare palms wouldn’t stick to the wet steel. Would’ve been nice to get her coat and gloves before sneaking out, but that would’ve ruined everything. Heath was far too observant for his own good and it would have been weird to take that stuff into the bathroom with her. So, here she was, hanging off the side of a Manhattan brick building as big fat snowflakes pelted her face, two days before Christmas and probably catching pneumonia.
Way to go, idiot.
And yeah, she was Jewish, but that didn’t mean she still didn’t like all this cheesy, commercialized holiday stuff. She didn’t celebrate in the traditional Christian sense, but she could still get into the whole spirit of the season.
Shivering and wet, she made her way down the last ladder and set foot on solid ground once more, breathing a sigh of relief. She figured she’d sneak back into the lobby and beg the night watchman, Sid, to let her hang out in the back room until Heath was gone, then head back up to her apartment for dry clothes.
Sounded like a plan.
Except when she turned to duck around the back corner of the apartment building and head toward the service entrance, she ran smack into a warm, hard wall of muscle. The same warm, hard wall of muscle she’d been pressed against during that fantastic kiss in Central Park.
Heath.
So much for her intrepid stealthy escape moves.
He held her tight by the upper arms and gazed down at her with a raised brow. “Going for a post-dinner walk?”
Chin jutted out in defiance, she shook off his hold and crossed her arms. “I ate too much pasta.”
Aileen tried to step around him and keep going like his appearance hadn’t totally screwed up her plans and flustered the crap out of her for the second time that day. But he simply moved with her, blocking her path. Then he had the gall to maneuver that big, hard body of his around to basically cage her in against the wall. Never mind that his warmth felt delicious, radiating through her damp clothes, and the way the glint of suspicion mixed with heat in his eyes made her girly parts do a tingling happy dance. He was definitely the predator in this situation and she the prey. And no way was she going to get caught tonight.
“Out with it,” he said, a slight growl to his tone.
“With what?” She did her best to keep her voice
steady and cool, hiding the tremor now running through her from head to toe. This time, however, the shaking had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the irritating, incredibly sexy man in front of her. Still, she wasn’t about to give up the fight that easily. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Fair enough.” His gaze flickered to her lips before returning to her eyes and her lips parted, remembering his kiss. “But what about Murphy?”
“What about him?”
“Are you going to answer every one of my questions with another question?”
“Are you going to keep asking me things you don’t want the answer to?”
Heath narrowed his gaze on her, studying her for a moment before moving closer to rest his gloved hands against the brick wall on either side of her head. Being this near to him, she could see the flecks of brown and green in his irises and catch a whiff of his scent—cloves and spice and expensive soap. His minty breath ghosted over her icy cheeks as he whispered, “What makes you think I don’t want to know? I’m here, aren’t I? Tell me, Aileen.”
“You wouldn’t understand.” Her words came out breathier than she wanted and she coughed to clear the sudden lump of want from her throat. “You’re just keeping a promise to my brother.”
“I am, that’s true. But tell me anyway. Why are you putting yourself at risk like this? There’ll be other stories, other opportunities to make a name for yourself as a journalist.”
“Making a name for myself has nothing to do with it.” The snow started to come down harder and Heath huddled closer to protect her from the worst of it. Her jaded heart gave a small squeeze. Such a gentleman, even at a time like this. She exhaled and stared at the toes of her black patent leather Santa boots. God, she hadn’t even thought to change at the MacLeans and bless their hearts they’d never said a word about her odd attire, except to stick up for her to Heath. Man, she loved them as much as she loved her own father and brother. They were like her family. That was the real reason she was here. “You met Fiona and Devon. They’re good people. The best. They took me in and helped me when no one else would. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them. But they’re in trouble. Fiona mentioned a bit about their financial issues over dinner, but it gets worse. If Senator Lawrence’s crooked deal with EnKor goes through, they’ll corner the market on clean energy and jack up the prices for everyone. People like the MacLeans can’t afford them. They’d lose everything. Just like millions of other folks all over the country. That’s why I went undercover. That’s why I took such risks. Why I’ll keep taking those risks until I expose every shady connection and detail between the senator and EnKor. I can’t stop now. It’s too important.”
Heath cursed under his breath and looked away. “I had no idea.”
“How could you?” She sniffled and wiped the back of her hand across her damp cheek. “But I can’t risk Murphy getting involved. He’s a wonderful brother and I love him so much it hurts, but he could ruin everything if he starts his whole big, bad protector act around me and blows my cover. Understand?”
It took several agonizing seconds of silence before Heath finally nodded. “How much longer?”
“For what?”
“For you to get the intel you need and to finish this story?”
“I don’t know. Maybe two weeks?” She shrugged, frowning. “Why?”
