No Desire Denied. Cara Summers

Stuart sapphires. I should have—”

      Reid cut his brother off by saying, “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been blaming myself for not going there right after you called about the letters.” Not that he would have gotten there in time. But he’d be there now.

      There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line. Then Duncan said, “You’ve been blaming yourself?”

      “That’s what I said.” With one hand, Reid eased the car out of the traffic circle.

      “Wait. I’m going to punch the record button on my phone. Would you mind repeating that?”

      “You can always dream, bro. And if you even breathe a word of that little confession to Cam, I’ll deny it. Then I’ll have to beat you up.”

      “You can always dream, bro.”

      With the panic in Duncan’s voice replaced by humor, some of Reid’s tension eased. But traffic had slowed to a crawl. Two blocks ahead, he saw the revolving lights of a patrol car. “I’m within sight of the apartment. I’ll update you soon.”

      Reid jammed his car into a No Standing zone, jumped out and ran down the sidewalk.

      NELL TURNED THE flame on beneath the teakettle on Piper’s stove. She preferred coffee, but the ritual of making tea had always soothed her nerves. It brought back memories of the times she’d talked through her problems while she’d watched her aunt Vi brewing a pot in Castle MacPherson. Nell had spent a lot of time in the sunny kitchen after her sisters had left for college.

      Adair had been the first to leave. Nell and Piper had shared one more year before Piper had deserted her, too. Then for her last two years of high school, she’d been alone. Of course, she’d still had her aunt Vi. And her father had been there, tucked away in his rooms painting or teaching some art classes at nearby Huntleigh College. But there’d been no one to sneak out to the stone arch with in the middle of the night, no one to laugh with as they’d written down their hopes and goals and dreams on different-colored papers and buried them.

      Spotting the teapot in Piper’s kitchen, Nell lifted it off the shelf, then nearly dropped it because her hands were trembling. So far she’d been able to hide that little fact from her sister. Since Piper’s clothes looked as if they’d wiped the street, she was showering and changing before Duncan arrived.

      Thank heavens Nell’s own navy suit was made of some kind of miracle fabric she could roll up into a ball, stuff into a duffel bag and then shake out wrinkle-free. It had been perfect for her lifestyle during the past year. All she’d had to do to repair the damage from their close encounter with that wannabe hit-and-run driver was to sponge off a few spots of dust with cold water.

      If only all her problems were that easy to solve. Tea, she reminded herself, as she searched through the cupboards and finally located the box. When it slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor, she retrieved it and set it gingerly on the counter. Pressing her palms flat on the ledge, she took a deep, calming breath.

      She had to settle down. Once the nice young officer had taken their statements and escorted them up the alley stairs to her sister’s apartment above a Georgetown boutique, her knees had begun to feel very weak.

      A perfectly normal reaction, she’d told herself.

      Someone was threatening her family. She hadn’t heeded the warning in that first letter fast enough, and they’d taken action, nearly succeeding in killing Piper. Now that the initial adrenaline rush had worn off, shaking hands and wobbly knees were understandable.

      But the butterflies in her stomach weren’t just due to what had nearly happened in the street. They’d started frantically flapping their wings when Piper had told her that Reid Sutherland was on his way over. He would arrive momentarily.

      Nell thought she’d have more time to prepare for meeting him again, time to think and to map out possible scenarios. Find the necklace first. Then deal with Reid Sutherland. Closing her eyes, she drew in another breath. The way she saw it, her problem was twofold. If he came to the castle with her, he posed a threat to her plan to prove to her family that she could take care of herself. The other problem was more personal. She wanted very much to bring to life her fantasies about seducing Reid. They couldn’t be denied. Wouldn’t be denied. But the last thing she needed to deal with right now was her attraction to him. She needed to find that necklace.