Obsession

CHAPTER SIX

AS EMMA USHERED Raul into her living room, she realized too late that it looked exactly like what it was-a place for entertaining that was never used. The maid came every day to sweep and dust, but glancing around the tiny parlor, Emma suddenly felt embarrassed by the sterility. It held no photos, no mementos, nothing to indicate that she had lived there for two days, much less two years. For the first time since she’d come to Santa Cruz, she mentally compared her house to the home from which she’d been expelled. It had been a sanctuary where lemon-polished furniture rested on handmade rag rugs, and oils of her children gleamed from their places on the walls. The image brought a lump to her throat.

Raul seemed to sense her discomfort. “Do you have a patio or garden where we can sit? The weather’s too nice to ignore.”

Grateful for his perception, Emma led him toward the back of the house. They had to pass through the kitchen, which was messy, but at least it looked as though someone lived here. Stepping outside to the bricked patio, she held out her hand. “How’s this?”

He smiled in the darkness. “Perfect.”

She made her way to the chairs and table that perched on the edge of the patio. More hand-me-downs from the previous tenants. She pulled out a chair and Raul surveyed her yard. It was planted with a riot of tropical plants, and the night air was filled with their fragrance.

He stood for a moment in silence, then breathed in deeply as she watched, tilting his head to take in the stars overhead. It was the gesture of a man who’d been inside too long, and Leon’s words shot into her head.

A moment later, Raul stepped to where she sat, taking one of the chairs and moving it closer to hers. Over the scent of the flowers, she caught a suggestion of spice, an aftershave lotion, she realized a moment later. How long had it been since she’d noticed anything like that?

All at once, she regretted her invitation. It’d been crazy. Impulsive. Totally foreign to her usual behavior. What had she been thinking?

He started to sit down, then stopped. “Damn! I can’t believe I forgot,” he said, snapping his fingers. “I brought you a little something, but I left it in the truck. I’ll be right back.”

Emma watched him disappear into the house only to return a few minutes later. He held out a bulky newspaper. “A friend came in last night from the States. I asked him to pick this up for you.”

Mystified, Emma took the paper and unrolled it. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she took in the banner at the top. “The Times Picayune! Oh, my God, how great!”

“I thought you might enjoy it. News from home is always nice.”

She shook her head with delight. “You don’t know,” she said. “It’s been months since I saw one and this is yesterday’s, too!” Impulsively she hugged him, then drew back quickly. “Thank you very much. I’ll read it from cover to cover!”

He looked pleased by her reaction, a slow smile spreading across his face. Something warm and unexpected rolled down her spine. Trying her best to ignore the feeling, Emma folded the paper carefully and put it to one side of the table.

He tapped the paper. “Tell me about your home there…about yourself.”

“You know all there is to know,” she said lightly. “I’m divorced, I’ve lived here two years, I’m a banker. That’s it.”

“That’s not who you are,” he said. “It’s what’s happened to you and where you live, what you do for a living, but it’s not you.”

When she didn’t answer right away, he prompted her. “Tell me what you do in your free time, what you like to read. How you became a banker.”

“You don’t really want to know all that stuff, do you? It’s terminally boring, believe me.”

She couldn’t really see him, but she sensed his movement as he leaned closer to her. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.”

His interest was too much. It felt incredible to have someone this intrigued by her, yet how could she answer? She stood up abruptly and moved away from the table toward one of the hibiscus plants. Plucking one of the blossoms, she knew she had to say something, but she didn’t know what.

His voice floated to her on the humid night air. It was closer than she would have expected, and turning, she saw that he’d followed her to the edge of the patio.

“What are you so afraid of?” he asked quietly.

She swallowed hard. “What makes you think I’m afraid of something?”

“You avoid saying anything about yourself unless I insist, and every time I get close to you-one way or another-you run.”

In the dim light of an overhead street lamp she saw him raise his hand. Dreamlike, it came toward her face, and with the back of one finger, he brushed her cheek, an echo of his touch earlier that evening. The caress was so soft she could barely feel it.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were frightened of me.”

“That’s ridiculous. Why on earth would you frighten me?” She sounded brave on the outside, but inside, she was trembling. Her skin tingled from the simple heated contact.

He leaned a little closer, and for one panicky second, she thought he was going to kiss her. And she didn’t want to move away, either, she realized.

“Tell me more, Emma,” he said softly. “Tell me who you really are…”

Although she didn’t know what she was going to say, she opened her mouth to answer him. But she never got the words out. A loud crash shattered the silence into a thousand pieces. From the sound of metal on metal, it was clearly a car wreck, followed by a screeching alarm. With a loud curse, Raul whirled, bounded over her fence and ran toward the street.

RUNNING INTO THE CENTER of the boulevard, Raul shut off the car alarm with his remote, barely giving his vehicle a second glance. Whatever had happened, it didn’t matter. Who was the more important question. His eyes searched the road, first one way and then the other. He caught the barest glimpse of a set of taillights careering around the corner, but that was all. He cursed again. Had Kelman somehow followed him to Emma’s? The man knew where she lived, but the thought of Kelman following them home, watching them together, left a bad taste in Raul’s mouth.

Slowing to a walk, he looked across the street at his truck. The driver’s side door was caved in, a long slash of stripped paint evidence of the other vehicle’s progress from the back of the parked SUV and then along the side. It seemed to be a warning: I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know you’re doing it. Next time you might be inside the car when this happens.

This was Kelman’s way. Aggressive and nasty, but indirect. Staring at the damaged vehicle, Raul wasn’t really bothered by the destruction, because he knew the man too well. Kelman would do nothing to jeopardize whatever plans he had-he’d only wanted to send Raul a message.

He crossed the pavement and reached the truck the same time as Emma. She raised her hand to her mouth in dismay. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe this!” She stared down the street. “Did you see who did it?”

“They were already gone when I got here.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?” Her expression was horrified. “It’ll cost a fortune to repair this. And take forever, too!”

“It’s only a vehicle,” he answered.

She looked at him with an incredulous expression, then blinked, his meaning becoming clear to her. Without saying a word, she gazed again at the bashed-in door and bit her bottom lip. When she spoke, her voice sounded shaky. “Come inside and we’ll call the police.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” he said. “I’ll handle it.”

“But you can’t-”

“I’ll take care of it, Emma.” Her startled look made him realize too late that his tone was sharper than it needed to be. “It’s just not worth the hassle.”

“But it’s the law,” she said stiffly. “You have to report accidents in Bolivia, or things get really sticky for you later. Raul, you don’t want to mess around with the police here-”

“You’re right,” he interrupted gently, “I don’t. So let me deal with this for now, and I’ll contact them…later.”

“All right.” Her words held all the reluctance of someone who followed the rules.

Not of someone who broke them.

“All right,” she said again. “If that’s really what you want to do.”

“It is.” Walking around to the passenger side of the SUV, he opened the door. It wasn’t easy-the car’s frame must have been bent-and the door protested with a metallic screech. Reaching inside, he stuck his keys in the ignition. The engine turned over instantly just as he’d thought it would. If the wheel was free, he’d be able to drive.

Standing up, he turned to Emma. “Not a very good ending to our evening, huh?”

She wore an expression of distress. “I’m really sorry about this. It’s usually a very quiet street. Nothing ever happens here-” She broke off abruptly, her words stopping awkwardly.

Stepping closer to the sidewalk where she stood, Raul sensed she’d been going to say more, but at the last minute, had thought better of it. He waited to give her another chance, but she stayed silent.

“Has something else happened here lately?” he pushed.

She started shaking her head even before he finished speaking. “No, not that I know of…”

She was so clearly lying and so obviously shaken Raul reacted without thinking, one thought foremost in his mind. What in hell has Kelman done to her already? He reached over, tilting her chin up, so he could look into her eyes. “You could tell me, you know. It would be all right.”

She looked so startled that Raul wondered just what in hell he was doing. She recovered before he could answer that. “Nothing’s happened.” Her voice was stronger, more determined. “Absolutely nothing.”

His reaction made no sense at all, but a sudden sweep of protectiveness, then anger, came over Raul.

He recognized at once how ridiculous the emotions were. He was here to use Emma, just as Kelman was, but emotions were emotions. They came without reason.

Just like the craving to kiss her. He didn’t even bother to fight it this time; he simply gave in, leaning toward her and brushing his lips over hers, telling himself it would be enough.

But it wasn’t. Her mouth was as soft as it looked, and instead of satisfying him, the kiss only made him want more. More of them. More of her. More. He pulled back abruptly, met her gaze, then climbed into the damaged truck and drove off.

EMMA COULDN’T REMOVE Raul’s kiss from her brain, in fact, with each passing day, the moment seemed to grow in importance and take even deeper root. It had been nothing, a mere brush of his lips against her own, but she wasn’t able to erase the sensation, no matter how hard she tried. It wasn’t the feeling as much as the gesture; the brief touch had held the promise of more, and she had to remind herself she didn’t want it.

She had a goal and nothing could stand in its way, including a romantic entanglement. Especially a romantic entanglement with someone like Raul, she amended quickly. A relationship with a man that intense, that focused, would be like standing under a magnifying glass. They’d burn up from the heat they’d generate. She could tell that just from his kiss.

But the more she thought about him, the more confused she got, especially when she realized he’d never asked her about his trade. Had he merely wanted to go out with her? He’d called several times since then, inviting her for drinks or dinner, but each time she’d turned him down.

If she didn’t know better, she might think he was trying to court her. He’d brought her flowers, sent her candy…and the thoughtfulness of the newspaper! Only someone who’d been away from home for a long time knew what that meant. It wasn’t just a paper; it was a bridge to everything familiar, a little link to the stores and the politics and the things you took for granted when you saw them every day. She’d read every inch of it, including the ads.

That night, he’d even invaded her dreams. Finally, about six in the morning, she drifted off into something close to rest only to have the phone sound an hour later. She wanted to ignore the baleful ringing until she remembered it was Sunday and Todd’s turn to call her. She snatched up the receiver quickly; missing the call would have been awful.

Jake’s voice reached across the miles and immediately captured her. “Mommy? Is that you? You sound funny…”

Sitting up in bed, she pushed the hair out of her eyes. “It’s me, sweetheart. I was asleep, that’s all. Remember how I told you it’s not the same time here as it is there? We don’t have daylight saving time like you do-”

He was too excited to listen. “Mommy, guess what I’m getting?” Not waiting for an answer, he continued, “You’ll never guess. Not in a gazillion years.”

“Okay, then, tell me.” She blinked and tried to wake up more. “What are you getting?”

“A pony!” His words rang together in a string.

“Charlotte’s gonna move in here after she and Daddy get married, and she’s bringing all her horses and she said I could pick out one just for me. Not one too big or anything, but one for my very own. Isn’t that neat? I’m gonna call him Ranger. What do you think?”

He stopped to draw a breath, and Emma spoke in the gap, her heart suddenly in her throat. “Are you going to take riding lessons, honey?”

“Charlotte’s gonna teach me.” His voice was puffed up with importance. “She tol’ Daddy she wanted to spend time with me. I heard her tell him. She hugged me and she smells nice.”

The rest of the conversation was more of the same. Charlotte this and Charlotte that. Even Sarah had mumbled something about “’Lette,” her young tongue unable to get completely around the other woman’s name. Hanging up the phone twenty minutes later, Emma spent the rest of Sunday in a fog of depression. She should have been happy that Charlotte was treating the children so well, she told herself, but instead, she was jealous. She wanted to be the one teaching Jake to ride. She wanted to be the one holding Sarah’s hand when she toddled around the yard.

Sitting at her desk at home the next morning, unable to face the day, Emma picked up the phone, called Felicity and told her she’d be working from there.

But she accomplished nothing. Her thoughts tumbled around like clothes in a dryer, going from Raul, to her children and back to Raul.

The memory of the kiss occupied most of her thoughts, but the car accident troubled her, as well. Her unlocked gate was nothing compared to the damage to Raul’s vehicle, yet to have them both happen so close together was unnerving. She’d wanted to mention the open gate to Raul, then at the last minute had decided not to. The incident was so minor she felt foolish even to be worried about it, much less mention it to him.

To top it off, there had been the fight between Kelman and Raul. What kind of woman would those two men have fought over? Emma had called Reina that evening and told her more about the conversation she’d overheard. For the first time in their friendship, they’d exchanged angry words, Reina insisting that Raul was someone Emma should avoid. They’d apologized to each other before hanging up, but the tension was still thick between them.

Emma held her head in her hands and stared out the window. The monkey who lived in the trees next door was scampering from one branch to another, screeching and screaming as he shook the limbs and sent the leaves trembling as if in a storm. The irritating sound echoed inside her head, and for a minute, Emma thought about howling, too. The phone beside her jangled, saving her from her thoughts.

“Emma, I need to talk to you about something.” Christopher Evans spoke without a greeting, and behind her boss’s voice, Emma heard a note of unusual urgency. Typically unflappable, he sounded as if he was trying much too hard not to be worried.

But he was failing.

She couldn’t imagine what might have upset him, but she felt her stomach knot in response, a cramp of nervousness she couldn’t ignore. “What’s going on?”

“That account you opened a few weeks ago for Raul Santos. Have you checked the funding on it?”

“I had Felicity look at it on Friday. She talked to the bank in El Paso and they said everything was fine-or at least that’s what she told me.” Emma hesitated. “Why do you ask? Is there a problem?”

“A problem?” His voice rose slightly. “Oh, no, there’s no problem. Unless you think not having any funds to cover the check presents a problem.”