Jennifer Greene - Irresistible Stranger

“I’d do anything for my kids, you understand? I’d throw myself in front of a bus if I had to. When that fire happened-when she finally broke and told me-the Campbells, they were already gone. Nothing could save them. Nothing could make that right.”

“And you thought that made it okay to do nothing?” Griff had to keep the growl from his voice.

“No. Hell, no. But bringing it all to light was only going to ruin my daughter’s life, too-as well as the child’s in her belly. Her guilt, her responsibility, was to turn her life around. And she did that. She really did that. No, she didn’t make good marriages. But she’s been a good, fine mother. She pays her bills. She doesn’t play around at all anymore. She may look like she does, but she’s got her lights out at nine, just like her kids. She works hard, built that salon from scratch-”

Griff heard the word salon and a bullet went off in his head. He whirled around, grabbed the doorknob.

“What?” Conner said. “Where are you going?”

Adrenaline shot through Griff’s veins. Lily had babbled last night about getting some clothes, getting the soot and singe cut from her hair. Maybe there was another salon. It wasn’t as if Griff kept track of the women hairstylists in town. But the only one Lily had actually met was Mary Belle.

“What?” Conner repeated from behind him. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

“I think Lily’s with your daughter. Right now.”

He didn’t look back to see what the sheriff did, he just ran.

He pushed through doors, down steps, past people. Torrents of rain bounced on the pavement, soaking him through before he’d made it a hundred yards. He passed his car-and yeah, it was right there-but to get three blocks, he could run faster, and did.

Enough had happened in the last three weeks to make the whole town jumpy. Griff running down Main Street attracted faces in windows, doors opening, a buzz of worried questions-and bodies in his way. He ducked and dodged, thinking that Lily had run through almost nine lives since she got here, but he was the one who wouldn’t survive if she wasn’t totally, completely all right.

He couldn’t be too late.

He couldn’t be.

Blinds were drawn on the salon windows; a sign at the door claimed the shop was closed for a few hours. That stopped him less than a second. Maybe the door was locked; if so, a sharp twist and push and it gave. He stepped in, had a heart attack. Damn near tripped over Mary Belle, who for some insane reason was curled on the floor crying her eyes out.

Lily was in a salon chair. Trapped. Tape circled her a half dozen times and her mouth was taped shut. Her eyes, her gorgeous eyes, were spitting tears-fear, rage, pain? In that first instant, he couldn’t grasp what was happening, the source of danger.

Lily made a muffled sound, bobbed her head over and over to the left. He crossed the room in long strides, saw in that single blink where she was trying to motion him…a hairdryer, plugged in, but the back off, revealing red-hot coils.

Then he got it. The counter of explosive products.

He yanked the plug, grabbed the dryer, heaved it into the farthest sink basin-traveling over the crazy heap of crying Mary Belle a second time. Then back to Lily. He ripped off the tape, heard her hoarsely cry his name. Then ripped at the tape wrapping her, unwinding it, his fingers fumbling blind, his gaze on her face, her lips, her eyes.

When he’d loosened all the miles of tape enough for her to break loose, she more than broke free, hurling herself up and into his arms.

His voice came out in rusty threads. “Damn stupid time to tell you, but I love you more than life.” More rust. His throat felt that raw. “I told you not to get a haircut here.”

“I know.” Her face lifted to his. She had to hear-so did he-the building commotion behind them. Bodies coming in. People talking. The sheriff’s voice. All he could see or hear was Lily. She took in a heave of a breath, a gulp of a sob. He soothed his fingers in her short hair, touching her, holding her, wanting to shield her. From everything. From now on. Forever.

“You won’t believe what stopped her,” she said. “Her youngest daughter telephoned. Mary Belle was all set to blow it up. To blow me up. And her daughter was just calling to ask about a spaghetti recipe or something that silly, and just hearing her daughter’s voice-that was it. Suddenly she caved. Curled up in that ball, started crying and couldn’t stop. Started rocking. But the coils on that hair dryer, Griff. They were hot. They were so red-hot. Another few minutes and…”

“Griff? Lily?”

A fire truck screamed from the street-this time, thank God, not needed-but Pecan Valley wasn’t going to risk not being ready ever again. A man’s hand cuffed his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

Griff wanted to get her out of here. Knew there were things that needed doing, saying, knowing. But for that instant, he just needed to breathe her in a little longer. Feel her hair, her skin. The frantic pulse in her throat was finally easing, that shocky glaze in her eyes softening. Her lips parted.

“You can’t mean it,” she said.

“Mean what?”

“That you’re in love with me. I mean…I know. We’ve been…two. I know we have something, are something when we’re together. But I told you it was all right, Griff.”

“Nothing’s been all right since you got here.”

“Which will make it easy for you to forget me.”

“Which will make it impossible for me to forget you,” he corrected her. “You’re going to have to give it up. Lily. Pretending you’re into flings. You’re not into affairs. You’re into me. The same hot, dangerous, risky, impossibly way I’m into you. And frankly, I’m expecting to be into you-”

“Through fire and smoke?” she whispered.

“Hey. We already know we can survive that part.”

Her lips curved on the start of a smile. It was all he needed to see. He ducked his head, sealed his mouth on hers. He closed his eyes and just took her in. The promise in her lips, the hope in how they fit together, the release of a lonely heart letting go. For her. With her.

Then, of course, they both lifted their heads. And turned together to face whatever questions needed answering, whatever issues needed resolving and explaining. Together.

Ten Days Later

“All right, you.” Lily slid open the shower door, put her hands on her hips. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I had to get some work done.”

“Yeah, right. In the shower.”

He looked up guiltily from his laptop. “I admit, I never tried setting up an office in the shower before. But your sisters are a little…”

“Petrifying?”

“They’re adorable,” he assured her. “And I like their choice of men. Both of them, more than good guys. Interesting, bright. But your sisters-”

“Come on. I know you like them.”

“I do. I do. It’s just that the grilling is nonstop. So are the orders. You can’t live in a hot climate. Anyone who hurts you will endure a not-very-pretty death. Expect high phone bills, you three talk every week. You’ve all been through hell, but they both say you were hurt the worst. A lifetime of my pampering you isn’t enough or close to enough. Jewels aren’t enough-”

“Okay. I get the picture.” Truthfully, she’d primarily tracked him down to empathize. She knew what her sisters had put him through. He’d been a brick. But she needed some time alone with Griff, and totally understood how he felt.

“Your oldest sister-Cate-hey, she should be in Special Forces, particularly in interrogation. She would have followed me into the bathroom if I’d let her. When she wants to know something, she just doesn’t let up. And then there’s Sophie-she flashes those big, soft eyes and you think she’s sweet. She’s not. She’s a pit bull with a soft voice.”