Lindsay McKenna - Hunter's Woman

“Cathy Simpson?” he growled, on guard. It couldn’t be! It just couldn’t. Ty tried to take in a deep breath, but it was impossible. Ten years ago, when he was just a shavetail lieutenant, fresh out of the naval academy, he’d fallen hopelessly in love with a red-haired woman who was going to medical school at Stanford University. Was this Cathy? She’d changed. Her once-long, gloriously thick hair had been cut short and her athletic frame had filled out. She was more beautiful, if that was possible.

She’d winced visibly when he’d called out her name, and now Ty saw the pain, anger and desperation in her narrowed blue eyes, the anguish in the way her full mouth compressed. More than anything, he saw in her expression the devastating effect of his sudden appearance. She didn’t need to say a thing. He knew this was Cathy Simpson.

As he stood there, every set of eyes on him, Ty felt horribly vulnerable in front of this group of strangers. His heart reeled. His emotions exploded violently within him when he realized the woman he’d loved and lost so long ago was standing here, now, in front of him—and that she was furious. What kind of torturous trick was being played on him—and her? Ty saw all too clearly that Catt, as she called herself now, wanted nothing to do with him. Her face had flushed a dull red, and now that it was whitening, he recalled all too well her hair-trigger temper. Whenever she turned pale again, that meant all hell was going to break loose. This time at him.

Trying to prepare himself, Ty felt an avalanche of old pain surge violently through him. The hurt from the past was alive in Catt’s eyes. And he’d been the bastard to hurt her but good. Helplessly, he stood there. This was the kind of emotional assault he had absolutely no defense against—nor did he try to shield himself from what was justly his to take. The ugly past, the sordid details, all started to rise with vivid clarity into his conscious mind. Lord knew, he’d buried them deeply, but with the beautiful, furious Catt standing before him, they were all coming back with the speed of a laser-fired rocket.

“I used to be Cathy Simpson,” Catt snarled in a low, throttled tone. She found herself trying to hate Ty, but how could she when she saw the absolute surprise and unsettled pain in his expression, the agony in his cinnamon-colored eyes? She wanted so hard to hate him, but her heart was pounding and crying out for him! Choking, she rasped, “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, but whatever the reason, just do an about-face and march back from wherever you came. I don’t ever want to see you again, Hunter. I thought I made that clear a long time ago.”

The sudden prick of tears made Catt blink strongly. Tears! Not now. Not ever! Oh, Ty Hunter had such a vulnerable-looking face! Wasn’t that what had snagged her, entrapped her before—that helpless expression that he was now wearing for her benefit? Well, it was a damned game that he was very good at playing. She’d been a greenhorn of a sophomore in medical school when she’d fallen for him heart, body and soul. And Lord knew, he’d taken her soul, used her and then thrown her away when it came time to take responsibility for their choices. No, Hunter was a user, a manipulator of the worst kind. In her hour of greatest need, Ty Hunter had abandoned her. He’d left her. He’d said to hell with her and had walked away, pleading more important duties to take care of than the predicament she’d suddenly and inexplicably found herself in.

Ty opened his hand in a gesture of conciliation. He tried to speak, but his voice failed him. He could almost feel Catt’s fury pummeling him as she stood tensely, as if prepared for combat. So much of the past, the bittersweetness of their torrid love affair, came smashing back to him. How much he’d tried to forget! And now he realized he’d forgotten nothing about her. Not the thick, silky quality of one strand of her auburn hair. Not the way her soft, firm skin smelled and tasted as he grazed it with his fingertips or tongue. Worse, he remembered her hungry lovemaking and how they’d met, matched and soared to the heights together like two eagles in mating season, high in the sky, hooking claws and tumbling thousands of exhilarating feet in the lovemaking process.

A serrating pain gutted him. What kind of awful trick was being played out here? “Look,” he managed to say in a low, soothing tone. “I don’t know anything about this, Catt—”

“It’s Dr. Alborak to you.”

He winced at the coldness of her words. She meant business—he could tell by the iciness in her eyes.

“Yes…Dr. Alborak.” Ty dragged in a ragged breath. He was reeling so badly from this terrible surprise that, for once in his life, he didn’t have the glib words, the quick comebacks he normally employed to defuse such situations. Lifting his hand in a pleading gesture, he rasped, “I’ve been sent here by OID. I’m your assistant.”

“That’s impossible! What the hell do you know about epidemic lab facilities? Last I heard, you were still in love with your precious Marine Corps. There’s no way you’re part of OID, so don’t try and get me to swallow that lie.” Catt tried to steady her shattered emotions, but it was impossible. Her heart was pounding wildly in her breast. Her breathing was shallow. Her employees were glancing back and forth between her and Ty Hunter with more than mild curiosity. Steve and Andy, who had been with her on just about every mission she’d been assigned to handle in the last five years, really looked baffled. Fortunately, they were smart enough to let her handle the situation. Catt was sure they would have questions later—questions she wouldn’t want to answer. Ty Hunter showing up was the worst possible thing that could have happened in her life—other than the painful tragedy she’d suffered through alone, so long ago.

Now all Catt could feel was bitterness, and she wanted to hate Ty for leaving her when she’d needed him most. “There’s no way you’re going anywhere with me and my team,” she sputtered. “These people I trust. I don’t trust you. I need staff I can rely on, not someone who’ll run out on me when the situation gets tough or dangerous.” She shook her head. “No, you get out of here, Hunter. I don’t care what you say. You are not a part of my team.”

Grimly, Ty pulled a paper from his shirt pocket, opened it and stepped forward, bringing himself almost eye-to-eye with Catt, who was tall at five foot nine or ten inches. As he held her edgy look, the fury of her gaze burning him, a picture from the past flashed before his mind. He vividly remembered the first time he’d seen her. He’d gone into Mountain View, a small town outside the gates of Moffett Field, the naval air station where he’d just been assigned after graduation from Annapolis, for a breather from his duties. The immense responsibilities on his young shoulders had driven him off to find a place to relax. Colorado had always afforded him unlimited open spaces to walk when he was upset as a child. Nature was healing to Ty and helped him when he felt lost or needed to release stress. By chance he’d wandered into a park, and relieved to find a piece of land that didn’t have steel, glass and concrete buildings on it, he began walking aimlessly through, until he spied a group of women playing soccer.

What had drawn him so dramatically to them was one woman—Catt. She was the tallest player on the team, and as she ran down the length of the field after the soccer ball, she’d reminded him of a fine-limbed Thoroughbred in top form. She’d been much thinner, but then she was still growing up, a twenty-year-old full of life, her red hair a banner streaming across her proud shoulders….

Ty remembered sitting on the sidelines, in uniform, not caring if they knew he was watching them. Just seeing Catt play, her intensity, her focus, her drive and competitive spirit, completely captured him. He’d never met a woman like her in his life. She’d overwhelmed him with her athletic ability, her beauty and her incredible presence, which shone like a million sparkling suns that day. He remembered how his heart had pounded, underscoring how drawn he was to her vitality, her raw, unbridled beauty. She reminded him of the wild mustangs that lived in the deserts of Colorado. It was her untamed spirit, her challenging, deep blue eyes, her determined smile, that had entrapped him. That still made him stare at her in wonder, even now.