Connor surveyed the poorly lit, dirty stairwell with growing dislike. The place wasn’t good enough for Erin. She wasn’t safe here.
She’d be better off in his house.
The idea appeared fully formed in his mind, and stole his breath. He’d been living purely in the moment. This was the first time he’d dared, even for a moment, to project this thing he had with her into the future. He pushed open the front door, sweeping the block with suspicious eyes and taking note of everyone and everything he saw.
He made a mental note to call Seth and do something about her security. Or rather, her complete lack thereof. She might as well pitch a tent in a parking lot.
Erin fell into step beside him on the sidewalk, and he shortened his stride to match hers. There were haunted shadows under her eyes. He wanted to do something flashy and impressive to chase away those shadows. Slay a dragon, fight a duel, whatever it took.
He took hold of her hand. She glanced up, and her slender, chilly fingers curled trustingly around his. Her shy smile flashed out, like a flash of rainbow-split light from a crystal hung in a sunny window. Wham, all the colors that existed, in one bright, blinding rush.
And she was his lover now. His groin tightened at the thought.
“What is Sean doing at Jacey’s?” she asked him. “That place is a health hazard.”
“Stoking up on evil coffee and jelly doughnuts,” Connor replied. “Sean has theories on how different types of coffee are appropriate for different activities. Hunting pimp assholes calls for gritty, hard-core Jacey’s Diner coffee, something that’s been sitting on the burner all night long. Starbucks is for nibbling a hazelnut scone, sipping a mocha latte, flirting with cute girls. It’s the wrong vibe for serious business. Sean’s kind of hyper, so coffee is his natural drug of choice.”
He was rewarded for his nonsense by another smile, and it fired him up, made him famished for more of them.
“Speaking of drugs of choice.” She shot him a curious glance. “You haven’t touched your cigarettes in a long time.”
He shrugged. “I must’ve been distracted by all the other mind-altering substances that my glands have been pumping into my bloodstream lately. You do a number on my endocrine system, baby.”
She laughed. “How romantic. Have you smoked for a long time?”
His mouth opened up, and the words fell out. “Want me to quit?” He was making a lovesick ass of himself, but that was just too bad. He was hardwired for the grand romantic gesture.
Her eyes went wide with alarm. “Good Lord,” she murmured. “Are you sure you want to?”
He fished the tobacco and the papers out of his coat pocket and held them over a Dumpster on the corner. “Say the word,” he said. “I know I should quit. Everybody who smokes knows they should quit. I just never particularly cared before. Give me a good reason.”
It was worth it ten times over, just for that fleeting moment that her face lost the haunted look and cute little dents appeared at the corners of her mouth. “OK,” she said. “Quit, Connor.”
He let go. The bag thudded into the Dumpster. “Quitting will be a piece of cake with you around,” he told her. “I might have some nicotine fits, but I know exactly what to do about my oral fixation.”
She giggled, and her fingers tightened around his.
“I have to call Seth today, after we take care of our other business,” he said. “I want him to come check out your locks.”
“Connor, you know that I can’t afford to—”
“Even under normal circumstances, that place would be unsafe for you, Erin. And I’m going to have a talk with your landlord about the front door lock. Does he live in the building?”
“Are you kidding?” She looked worried. “Please, don’t. I spent the whole month of January with no hot water because I had the bad judgment to complain about the bugs.”
He scowled. “You should move out of that dump.”
“To where? I can’t afford anything better right now, and besides—”
“Move in with me,” he said.
Her eyes went huge and scared. His heart sank like a stone.
He’d fucked up, evidently, but now he had to follow through to the grim finish. “It’s a nice place,” he said, trying to sound casual. “It’s paid for. Two spare bedrooms. One can be your office. For your business.”
Her mouth made an “oh” shape, but no sound came out.
He plodded grimly on. “I remodeled the kitchen a few years back. There’s a yard for your cat. It’s a quiet block. And I’m a pretty good cook. Ask Sean about my chili.”
Yeah. Plenty of room in my king-sized bed every night. Underneath me, on top of me, all over me. That long hair spread out over my pillows.
They had arrived at the car. Connor unlocked her door. She got in and gazed up, her mouth forming and discarding words. “Uh…Connor? We’ve only been lovers for two days.”
“I know what I like,” he said.
She caught her soft lower lip between her teeth. “Maybe you should slow down,” she said earnestly. “Before you make any more big pronouncements and sweeping gestures. It’s incredibly sweet of you to offer, but it’s just…it’s…maybe you should think about it.”
He gestured at the shapely ankle that still dangled outside the door. She pulled it inside. “I’ve been thinking about it for ten years,” he said. He slammed her door shut by way of punctuation.
He was ashamed of himself by the time he got into the car. She stared into her lap as he started up the engine, her face hidden by the dark, thick fall of hair. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I won’t pressure you.”
“OK. Thanks.”
Hell. What technique. He might just as well have proposed marriage on the spot. He’d already invited her to have his baby. What was the perfect way to distract a woman from her personal problems?
Pile some brand new ones on top of them.
Erin was struck mute for the rest of the drive.
Connor pulled into the Jacey’s Diner lot. He didn’t take her hand as they walked toward the entrance. Her hand felt chilly and abandoned, swinging there on its own.
An astonishingly handsome young man with dark blond hair and a black leather jacket burst out of the diner. Erin took one look at his lean face and wide-set, tilted green eyes, the same glacial lake shade as Connor’s, and knew he had to be Sean McCloud.
Sean’s jaw sagged. “Holy shit. Look at you.” A delighted grin spread over his face as he circled his brother. He poked Connor’s chest, palpated his shoulder, slapped his butt. “Only two days, and look at you! You’ve gained weight, you’ve got color. You’ve even shaved.” He lifted a lock of Connor’s hair. “And your hair doesn’t look like it was chewed off by mice anymore.” He sniffed the lock of hair. “Jesus. You’re even perfumed. With girly stuff. Will wonders never cease.”
He turned around and gave Erin an appraising look, which she returned without flinching. She’d been in training for two days with Connor. She knew how to stand up to intense male scrutiny by now.
Sean nodded, as if satisfied. “So you’re Erin. The princess in the enchanted tower.”
“Sean,” Connor growled. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Sean stuck out his hand to her. “You see that shirt he’s wearing?” he asked her. “I got him that shirt.”
She shook his hand. “You, uh, have excellent taste,” she offered.
“Yes, I know,” Sean replied. “Lucky for him, or he’d be wearing nothing but thrift-store rejects. I love him, but he’s a fashion disaster.”
A big, black Ford pickup pulled up in front of them. A man got out who could only be the third McCloud brother; he was just as tall, but bigger and broader, thickly muscled beneath his fleece sweatshirt and jeans. His hair was close-cropped, his face craggy and hard, but he had the same strange, penetrating eyes as his two brothers.
He didn’t say a word, just stared at Connor for a long moment. A huge grin cracked his face. “Hey, Con. Lookin’ good.”
“Hi, Davy,” Connor said. “I didn’t know you were in on this party.”
“Didn’t want to miss the fun.” Davy turned his penetrating stare onto Erin. “So you’re her, then.”
“I’m who?” she asked cautiously.
Davy smiled and held out his hand. “You’re good for him,” he said calmly. “I like this. This works. Stick around.”
“She doesn’t have any choice,” Connor said. “She’s stuck with me until Novak’s back in custody.”
“And that’s just how you like it, ain’t it?” Sean turned his grin back upon Erin. “You know what? I could tell you stories about this pigheaded son of a bitch that would make your hair stand on end.”
“But you won’t,” Connor broke in. “Because we’ve got other things to talk about today. Like Cindy.”
“There’ll be other opportunities.” Sean gave him an evil grin. “Now that you have a girlfriend, you’re going to be so self-conscious. Baiting you will be ten times the fun.”
She giggled, in spite of Connor’s scowl. “I can hardly wait. I would love to hear stories about Connor.”
“But not today, thank God,” Connor said sourly. “You’re more manic than usual today, Sean, and that’s really saying something.”
“Give me a break. I just pulled an all-nighter in the stews of Seattle,” Sean said. “I’m flying on caffeine and nerves.”
“Did you meet anybody who knows Billy Vega?” Davy demanded.
“Oh, I did better than that,” Sean said. “I met Miles.” He knocked on the passenger door of a mud-spattered silver Jeep Cherokee. “Yo, Miles,” he called. “Stop being a dweeb. Get out here and be sociable.”
The Jeep door opened. A long, lanky figure slithered out and unfolded itself. Even hunched over like a vulture he was impossibly tall, thin and pallid, with long, snarled black hair and round glasses perched on his hooked nose. He was dressed in a dusty black Goth frock coat.
He lifted his shoulders, let them drop back down. “Hey.”
Sean winked at Erin. “Miles doesn’t get out much. He’s been hiding in the basement for a little too long, but he’s a great guy. Miles, let me introduce you to my brother Davy, my brother Connor, and his girlfriend, Erin. Who also happens to be Cindy’s big sister.”
Miles’s dark eyes lit up. “Really? Cool. You’re, like, almost as hot as Cindy.” He realized what he’d just said, and his eyes froze open behind the magnifying lenses of his glasses. “Uh, that is, I didn’t mean—”
“Thank you, Miles,” she said gently. She held out her hand. “How sweet of you to say so.”
He blinked rapidly as he shook it, as if unused to the light of day. Erin looked up at the three brothers. Meaningful glances and telepathic messages whizzed over her head. She turned back to Miles, who looked at least as bewildered as she felt. “Would somebody please explain to me what you gentlemen have been up to?”
“Let’s get a booth,” Sean said. “I was just in there, doing recon. It’s perfect. There’s a pissed-off waitress with big hair, and a tray full of surreal jelly doughnuts. And the coffee is a sure thing. Instant ulcer.”
Erin looked around in trepidation as they filed in. “I should’ve brought my own cup,” she murmured, sliding into the booth.
“Nah,” Sean scoffed. “Get into it. The risk of food poisoning is part of the thrill.”
Connor slid into the booth next to her, draping a possessive arm over her shoulders. The waitress flung menus onto the table, sloshed coffee into their cups, and flounced away without a backward glance.
“Excuse me, miss?” Sean called after her. “Doughnuts for everyone, please.”
The waitress scowled back over her shoulder. Sean dimpled at her. She stopped, turned, did a double take, and smiled back at him.
“OK,” Connor said. “So let’s have it. What did you find out?”
“Well, I investigated the babe lair, and Lord, is that house ever pulsing with feminine pulchritude,” Sean said. “They didn’t have much hard info for me, but the blonde with the red thong undies suggested—”
“How did you know she had red thong undies?” Erin demanded.
Sean fluttered his lashes innocently over the rim of his cup. “Because she was wearing skin-tight white palazzo pants,” he explained. “As I was saying, she suggested that I talk to the Vicious Rumors, Cindy’s R&B band. She even tracked down their phone numbers for me, that sweet, helpful curly-haired cutie. What’s her name again, Miles?”
“Victoria.”
“Victoria. Yeah. Yum. Then there was the redhead with the eyebrow ring and the see-through black blouse. She was the one who—”
“See-through blouse? She came to the door in a see-through blouse, at Endicott Falls Christian College?” Erin was scandalized.
“Oh, she wasn’t wearing the blouse when I arrived,” Sean hastened to assure her. “She went upstairs and changed into it after I got there. Nice bra, too. I know it well. Victoria’s Secret, spring collection. Black satin push-up demi bra. A good choice for the blouse.”
Connor sighed. “You animal.”
“Ignore him,” Davy advised her. “He’s just trying to impress you.”
But Erin was already stifling helpless giggles, with both hands over her mouth. “Oh, God. I sent a wolf to a house full of lambs.”
Sean snorted. “Lambs, my ass. Foxes is more like it. Don’t worry, they’re too young for me, but that’s no reason not to ogle their underwear, now is it? But I stray from the point—”
“I’ll say,” Connor said.
“See-through blouse—what was her name?” Sean turned to Miles, snapping his fingers.
“Caitlin,” Miles supplied.
“Caitlin, yeah. She told me about Miles, and the Rumors lead guitarist found his parents’ address for me. And when I breached the basement fortress and saw Miles’s screen saver, I knew he was my man.”
“What screen saver?” Erin asked.
“A four-second video clip of Cindy, blowing a kiss. Over and over,” Sean said. “It took my breath away.”
Miles hunched down between his hulking shoulders. “Jeez. Don’t tell people that stuff,” he mumbled. “It’s private.”
“You tell him, Miles,” Connor said.
Davy grunted. “He never listens, though, so what’s the point?”
“Hey, we’re all in this together,” Sean protested. “Besides, my brother’s not as high-tech as you, Miles, but he knows all about wanting an unattainable girl—”
“Shut up, Sean,” Connor said wearily. “You’re pissing me off today. I know you’re fried, but one more crack like that—”
“OK. I’ll focus. Chill out, Con,” Sean soothed. “In any case, Miles was my big break. When we find your sister, she owes him a debt of passionate gratitude. You can tell her that I said so.”
“I’ll think about it,” Erin said demurely. “Go on, please.”
“Miles is the sound man for the Vicious Rumors, and Cindy’s faithful admirer. You ever want to know what’s going on with a girl? Ask a jealous man,” Sean said. “Miles even provided me with the license number of the infamous Jag, which I passed promptly on to Davy.”
Connor and Erin both turned to Davy. “And?”
“The car belongs to a guy named William Vaughn,” Davy said. “A thieving, pimping dickhead with a rap sheet this long, which you may peruse”—he passed them a manila folder—“at your leisure. I checked out all the addresses I could find, but they’re out of date. One of his ex-landladies told me she hasn’t seen him in two years, and she hopes to God she never sees him again, even though he owes her money.”
“I knew he was scum. From the start I knew it. I slashed the fucker’s tires once.” Miles’s eyes flashed with vindictive heat. He hesitated, and shot a nervous look at Erin. “Uh, shit. Sorry.”
“It’s OK, Miles,” she told him. “I’m glad you slashed his tires.”
He hung his head bashfully and started ripping his napkin to shreds.
“Are you in Cindy’s class?” she asked him.
“No, I graduated last year,” Miles said. “Electronic engineering. I’ve just been hanging around to do sound for the Rumors, and…”
“And Cindy,” Sean said.
Miles stared morosely into his coffee. There was an awkward silence, broken by the waitress, who eyed Sean hungrily as she flung a plate full of lurid-looking pastries into the middle of the table.
Sean seized a jelly doughnut, saluted the waitress with it, and took a huge bite. “Miles insisted on coming along, once I told him my strategy. He’s got that hero mentality, just like you, Con.”
Connor looked up from leafing through the rap sheet, smiled thinly, and jerked his chin for Sean to continue.
“So we took off on an all-night odyssey of squalid roadhouse dives, fueled by Miles’s trusty flask of super-caffeinated Jolt Cola. We finally hit pay dirt when we got to the Rock Bottom Roadhouse, where we met LuAnn. Ah, the beautiful, strawberry blonde LuAnn.”
“She’s not as hot as Cindy,” Miles said.
“Do we want to hear this, Sean?” Connor asked.
“Trust me, there’s a thru-line. Turns out that LuAnn the barmaid knows Billy Vega by reputation. She used to dance in a club near Lynnwood. She told us that Billy comes across as a big-shot agent, but she knows girls who were recruited by him who spit on the ground at the mention of his name. So Miles and I abandoned the roadhouses and ventured out bravely into the wild world of the Seattle titty bars.”
Erin covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God.”
“Watch it, Sean,” Connor said. “This is not for your entertainment.”
Sean’s smile faded. “I never thought that it was.” He reached out and tapped Erin’s wrist gently with his finger. “Hey. Sorry. I’m kind of wired right now, but I promise, I’m taking this thing dead serious. No matter what bullshit comes out of my mouth. OK?”
“Thanks.” She gave him a wan smile. “I appreciate your help.”
Connor grabbed a maple bar, eyed it with deep suspicion, and took a bite. “So that’s why you’ve got that wild glitter in your eye,” he said. “You always bounce off the walls when you’re short on sleep.”
“Sleep? How are we supposed to sleep if that scum-sucking piece of shit is with Cindy?” Miles asked the table at large. “I haven’t slept in a month.”
Sean slapped him on the back. Miles sputtered his coffee over the table. “Attaboy, Miles. You would not believe this man’s concentration. We went to seven clubs full of naked dancing girls, and he might as well have been cruising the Christian Science Reading Room.”
“They weren’t as cute as Cindy,” Miles repeated.
Sean shook his head. “He’s a human laser beam,” he said. “It’s not normal. But anyhow, Miles and I cruised and schmoozed, nursed a few beers, and ingratiated ourselves with some of the young ladies present. Evidently Billy Vega is pretty well-known and generally disliked by the dancers. I passed my card around and let it be known that I was really, really interested in finding Billy Vega, and I would be glad to pass a real generous tip to anybody kind enough to find me a current address for him, or give me a call if he should show up in the club. Which reminds me. I have to make a trip to the bank machine. The slush fund’s been blown on gasoline and beer.”
“I’ll cover it,” Erin and Miles said in unison.
They looked at each other and smiled. It occurred to her that Miles might actually have the potential to be attractive, in a wan, offbeat, undernourished sort of way. There was something sweet and unguarded about his face when he smiled. Like a vulnerable vampire.
“We’ll work those details out later,” Connor said.
“So what next?” Erin asked.
Sean ran his fingers through his spiky hair, and for an instant she saw a flash of weariness on his face. “Miles and I might drop by my condo, freshen up. I could use a shower. I hate stinking of smoke. This isn’t the best hour to cruise girlie bars anyhow, so we should take advantage of the lull. Then we’ll just head straight back into the fray.”
“I want to keep looking,” Miles announced.
“You could use a shower, too, buddy,” Sean informed him. “You don’t want your hair to look like that when we find Cindy.”
Miles lifted a hand to his snarled, stringy dark mane. “What’s wrong with my hair?”
Sean buried his face in his hands. “Why is it my karma to be the frustrated image guru for losers like you guys? Why don’t you all just go buy a Men’s Health magazine and learn how to groom yourselves?”
“I’ve got to get back to the gym,” Davy said. “I’ve got to teach a karate and a kung fu class, and something tells me I’m going to be teaching your kickboxing class tonight, Sean. Again.”
“Hey, that’s what you get for being a responsible businessman and pillar of the community,” Sean said. “You poor bastard.”
“You’re going to make up every class you miss,” Davy warned. “I’ll make you teach Tai Chi on Sunday mornings if you don’t watch it.”
Sean shuddered with distaste. “I hate Tai Chi. Too damn slow.”
“It’s good for you,” Davy said. “It makes you concentrate.”
“I concentrate just fine, in my own way,” Sean snapped.
Connor signaled for the check. “We have to get going. Let me know if you get any calls from your dancing girls.”
“Call me, too,” Davy said. “I hate missing the fun.”
“Where are you two heading?” Sean asked.
“Erin’s mom’s house,” Connor said.
That announcement elicited a shocked, wide-eyed silence from both brothers. Davy’s eyebrows climbed. “Whoa. That’s quick work.”
Sean whistled softly. “That’s, uh, really brave of you, bro.”
Connor gave them a fatalistic shrug. “Why waste time?”
Sean and Davy exchanged glances, and Sean stared down into his coffee, grinning. “That’s what I love about you, Con,” he said. “You’re a human laser beam, too.”
The waitress tossed the check on the table. Connor pulled a bill out of his wallet to cover it. “Let’s get going.”
Erin smiled at Sean, Davy, and Miles as they said good-bye in the parking lot. “I feel so much better now that you guys are helping,” she told them. “Thank you. It makes all the difference in the world.”
Davy grunted and looked away. Miles blushed and kicked the Jeep’s muddy tires. Even Sean was at a total loss for a smart comeback for several seconds. “It’s, uh, our pleasure, Erin,” Sean said finally. “C’mon, Miles. Let’s hit the road. Good luck with the mom, Con.”
“Yeah. Watch yourself,” Davy added.
The two cars pulled out and drove away. Connor laced his fingers through Erin’s and tipped up her chin. Erin lifted her face for his kiss.
“So,” he said. “The complete set of McCloud brothers for you.”
“I like them,” she said. “I like Miles, too. And I really like it that three smart people who give a damn are out there helping look for my little sister. Thank you for making that happen, Connor.”
“Save the thanks for when we find her,” he said brusquely.
“No.” She kissed him again. “I’ll thank you right now, no matter what happens. For being so sweet. For caring so much.”
His arms tightened. “For God’s sake, Erin. Don’t get me all worked up in a public parking lot. It’s embarrassing.”
She smiled up through her eyelashes. “Does it excite you to be thanked, Connor?”
“Yeah.” His voice was belligerent. “By you, it does. So sue me.”
“Must go along with that hero mentality your brother was talking about,” she murmured. “I’ll remember. For future reference.”
“Let’s go. I don’t like displaying my hard-on to the whole world.”
The closer they got to her mother’s house, the heavier Connor’s silence became. “Are you nervous?” she asked.
He shot her an are-you-kidding look, turned the corner, and parked on her mother’s block. They sat for a long, silent moment, and Connor let out a sharp sigh and shoved his door open. “Let’s do it.”
She got out of the car, marched up to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Connor?”
“Yeah?” He sounded apprehensive.
“Just a detail I’d like to straighten up, before we go any further.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Your two brothers? They’re both very good-looking. I might even go so far as to say extremely good-looking. But they are not more good-looking than you.”
A radiant grin chased the tension out of his face, and he leaned his forehead gently against hers. “You’re my girlfriend now,” he said. “You have to say that kind of stuff. It’s part of your job description.”
“Oh, bullshit,” she said. “You’re such a—”
He cut her off with a kiss, pulling her close. She wound her arms around his neck and clung to him, wishing they were a million miles away from all her problems and worries, someplace where she could just wrap herself around his generous heat and strength and power, and soak it up like tropical sunshine. His lips moved over hers, sweet and coaxing and seductive, weakening her knees, making her—
“Erin? Honey? Is that you?”
They jerked apart with a gasp.
Barbara Riggs was standing on the porch in her bathrobe, squinting at them. “Who’s that with you?” She fumbled in the pocket of her bathrobe, pulled out her glasses, and put them on.
“It’s me, Mrs. Riggs.” Connor’s voice was flat and resigned. “Connor McCloud.”
“You?” She gaped. “What are you doing with my daughter?”
Connor sighed. “I was kissing her, ma’am.”
Barbara picked her way down the leaf-strewn steps in her slippers, her gaze horrified. “Honey? What is the meaning of this?”