A final frustration. But the wood's dry and it caught faster than I thought. By the time I got to my car to call the fire department from my cell phone, the north side was nearly gone and the fire engines were roaring in.' He shook as he explained. 'I never meant for it to be so bad. I felt so guilty and-'
Vaughn chose that moment to move forward. His boots creaked against the floorboards.
Roy lurched around, took one look at the man he admired staring at him as if he were pond scum, and all Annabelle's hard work drawing him out vanished in an instant.
In the second it took for Annabelle to look from Roy to Vaughn and back again, Roy had reached for his box cutter and pulled her tight against him.
She froze at the realization a frightened man had a blade against her throat.
'I never meant it to go this far. I swear I didn't.' Roy's voice shook and Annabelle didn't know whether it was his sweat or tears she felt against her skin.
Vaughn raised both his hands in blatant supplication. 'Do not do anything stupid, Roy.'
'You mean don't do nothing dumber than what I've done so far? Tell me you didn't hear everything. That this bitch didn't set me up by bringing you here.'
'I didn't!' If anything she'd gone out of her way to avoid telling Vaughn until she was sure.
'Shut up.' Roy pulled her tighter against him. 'I gotta think and I can't think when you're talking. It's like my wife. Talk, talk, talk.'
'I agree with, you on nagging women, Roy.' Vaughn looked paler than Annabelle felt at the moment. 'Come on. We've known each other a long time and you'd never intentionally hurt anyone.'
She felt Roy nod but he was tense and his knife; was still against her throat. She shut her eyes and assessed her situation. Her legs were too close to Roy for her to get a good kick in. She had one arm locked between her body and Roy's.
'I'm so sorry,' Roy muttered. 'One day I think you're incredible for all you do for my kid and the next I'm so jealous I could spit because Todd loves you and can't stand being around me.' He'd begun to ramble.
Vaughn still stood, hands in front of him. 'That's not true and you know it. All kids go through a period when their parents embarrass them. I remember it, don't you?'
Roy was silent.
'And I understand Todd because I'm dyslexic, too. Did you know that?' Vaughn asked Roy, admitting his biggest weakness to this man. 'And I'm sure that's why he thinks he can talk to me. But it doesn't leave you out in the cold, Roy. You're his
'I am, aren't I?' Roy asked, sounding almost dazed.
With the man's focus on Vaughn, his idol, Annabelle took a deep breath for courage and with her hand, she grabbed him by the balls and squeezed hard.
He yelled in pain and Annabelle let her body go slack so she fell out of his arms and to the floor at the moment he let her go.
VAUGHN'S GAZE NEVER LEFT Annabelle's and though she caught him off guard, he dove for Roy, knocking him to the floor and wrestling him for the weapon. He'd taken control of both the box cutter and Roy at the same time the police barged in. They quickly took over, leaving Vaughn free to go to Annabelle.
She glanced over his shoulder to where the police were subduing Roy with handcuffs and reading him his rights. 'Don't hurt him,' she called as the police led him away.
'Don't you think you ought to be worrying more about yourself than Roy?' Vaughn asked her as he pulled her to her feet. 'And what the hell were you thinking by confronting him alone?' he asked her, all the fear he'd felt on seeing Roy grab her descending upon him.
'I know how much damage he caused but he isn't dangerous. He just needs psychiatric help.' She stared at him, those deep blue eyes begging him to understand.
He doubted he could invest that much faith but he wasn't about to argue over it either. 'You call holding a box cutter to your throat not dangerous?'
'I think he just panicked. And I-'
'Didn't believe in me enough to come to me with your theory? You didn't think I'd trust you or your instincts?'
She shook her head. 'Don't be ridiculous. I didn't want to burden you with a crazy notion that might not be true. You had enough to worry about, what with the police suspecting Laura, her asking you for money, and the lodge still at risk.' Annabelle sighed and lifted her hand to her neck.
For the first time he realized she'd been grazed by Roy's blade. He reached out and touched a finger to the reddened skin bruising her flesh.
'He hurt you.' The thought caused anger and a primal feeling of possessiveness to sweep through him. As if no one had the right to touch this woman but him. Ever. Such an instinctive desire to protect and to cherish was as alien to him as love.
Love.
'I'm really okay,' she said, unaware of the emotional turmoil taking place inside of him.
'Vaughn?' Nick interrupted, coming up beside them. 'The cops want a word with you and Annabelle.'
'Not now. She was hurt and shook up. I'll bring her by to talk to them later.'
'But I'm fine,' she insisted.
He ignored her protests and grabbed her hand.
'We're going home.' He wanted, no needed, to see for himself how fine she was.
ANNABELLE HAD NEVER seen Vaughn in such an intense, dark mood before. And though she won the argument and they gave their statements to the police before leaving the lodge, she let him take charge afterward. Despite that she was more than okay, he insisted on leaving his car and driving hers back to his house for her. If she didn't know better she'd think the incident with Roy had shaken him up more than it had her.
They drove home in silence and Annabelle assumed he was contemplating the unexpected resolution to his problems. A man he'd trusted had turned on him.
But at least now he was free to finish the job at the lodge without worrying about sabotage or delays- and without the need for further crisis management from her. Beyond a statement that they'd succeeded in catching the culprit as they'd anticipated they would all along, Annabelle's job here was complete. If Vaughn wanted basic PR for the lodge, she'd be happy to continue working on his behalf but she didn't need to do that from here. Her heart squeezed tight as she accepted the fact that it was time to go home.
They walked into the house and Vaughn kicked the door closed behind them. Because things had wrapped up so quickly, she hadn't had time to run a few more ideas by him and she wanted him to know there was so much more he could do to make his dream for the needy kids a success.
He'd been so quiet, so withdrawn, she hadn't looked at him straight on since they'd arrived here and was almost afraid to do so now.
'Listen, I had one more idea I'd like you to let me implement,' she said, talking fast and not turning to see his face. 'Since I doubt the college will release the names of its students for a mailing, I've put together a letter and a brochure suggesting your hotel for their lodging needs during the school year. You can ask the college to send it out with their welcome package to the families.'
When he didn't answer, she forced herself to turn and face him, possibly one last time. He stood leaning against the wall, studying her in silence. He still had that dark, brooding look and she couldn't see past the mask he'd put in place or read the emotions deep inside.
Her heart pounded fast and furious and her chesthurt at his lack of expression. Was he pulling back because their work and time together was over and he didn't know how to tell her to leave?
Without any clue from him, she grasped on to her business proposition. 'If you don't like the college letter idea, we can just call it a day-'
With a low growl from deep in his throat, he stepped forward and, shocking her, he pulled her into his arms.
Once again Annabelle didn't argue with the man. After all, these were probably the last moments with him that she'd have. So when his lips came down hard on hers, Annabelle shut her eyes and gave herself up to sensation. She wanted to feel everything he did to her and imprint it on her memory, to last her for years to come.
He brushed his lips back and forth over hers, tantalizing and arousing her with each seductive caress, but the
