Bane. BRENDA JACKSON
nervous. Is something going on? Is some man harassing you or stalking you?”
She lifted a brow. “A man stalking me? What makes you think that?”
He held her gaze. “I told you. I noticed you were nervous and—”
“Yes, I got that part,” she interrupted to say. “But what makes you think any man would stalk me?”
Had she looked in the mirror lately? If she’d asked him why he thought she was being stalked, then he could have told her that his SEAL training had taught him how to zero in on certain things. But her question had been what made him think any man would want to stalk her. That was a different question altogether. He could see a man becoming obsessed with her. Hadn’t Bane?
“You’re a very beautiful woman. You’ve always been beautiful, Crystal. You’re even more so now.”
She shook her head. “Beautiful? You’re laying it on thick, aren’t you, Bane?”
“No, I don’t think so. Level with me. Is there some man stalking you? Is that why you had the gun? And what’s with the luggage? You’re going someplace?”
She broke eye contact with him to shrug. “The gun is to protect myself.”
Bane had a feeling that wasn’t all there was to it. When he’d first walked into her house he’d seen the luggage, but his mind had been solely on her, entranced with her beauty. This older version of Crystal sent his heart pounding into overdrive. It had been a long time. Too long.
He turned his concentration back to what she’d just told him. “You have the gun to protect yourself... I can buy that, although this seems to be a pretty safe neighborhood,” he said. “But that doesn’t explain why you were ready to shoot. Has your home been broken into before?”
“No.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Even after all this time he still could read her like a book. She had a tendency to lick her lips when she was nervous, and unconsciously shift her body from side to side while standing on the balls of her feet. He could tell she was trying to decide how to answer his question. That didn’t sit well with him. In the past, he and Crystal never kept secrets from each other. So why was she doing so now?
“After all this time, you don’t have the right to ask me anything, Bane.”
You’re wrong about that, sweetheart.
Without thinking about what he was doing, he closed the distance separating them to stand directly in front of her. “I believe I do have that right. As long as we’re still legally married, Crystal, I have every right.”
She lifted her chin and pinched her lips together. “Fine. Then, we can get a divorce.”
“Not happening.” He rubbed his hand down his face. What the hell was going on here? Not only was this reunion not going the way he’d wanted, it had just taken a bad turn.
He looked at her, somewhat bewildered by her refusal to answer his question. “I’m asking again, Crystal. What’s going on with you? Why the gun and the packed luggage?”
When she didn’t answer, standing there with a mutinous expression on her face, he then asked the one question he hadn’t wanted to ask, but needed to know. And he hoped like hell he was wrong.
“Are you involved with someone who’s causing you problems?”
That question set Crystal off. She took the final step to completely close the distance between them. “Involved with someone? Are you accusing me of being unfaithful?”
“Not accusing you of anything,” he said in a tone that let her know her outrage had fueled his. “But I find it odd you won’t answer my question. Why are you acting so secretive? You’ve never acted that way with me before.”
No, she hadn’t. But then the Bane she used to know, the one she’d loved more than life itself, would not have forgotten her for five years. He would have moved heaven, hell and any place in between to have her with him so the two of them could be together.
“You’re not the only one who’s changed. Just like you’re not the same, I’m not the same.”
They faced off. She didn’t see him move, but suddenly his body brushed against hers and she drew in a sharp breath. The touch had been electric, sending a sizzle through her. Suddenly, her mind was filled with memories of the last time they’d touched. Really touched. All over. Naked. Those memories were enough to ignite a fire in the pit of her stomach.
“You may not be the same,” he said, breaking into the silence between them, speaking in a low tone, “but you kept your wedding vows.”
He spoke with such absolute certainty, she wondered how he could be so sure. But of course he was right. “Yes, I kept them.”
He nodded. “And before doubt starts clouding that pretty little head of yours, let me go on record to say that I might not be the same, but I kept my wedding vows, as well.”
There was no way. Not that she didn’t think he would have tried, but she knew when it came to sex, some men classified it as a must have. She of all people knew how much the old Bane had enjoyed it. There was no reason to think the new and different Bane wouldn’t like it just as much. Just look at him. He was more masculine, more virile—so macho. Even if he hadn’t targeted women, they would definitely have targeted him.
“Now that we have that cleared up...”
Did they? “Not so fast,” she said, trying to ignore it when his body brushed against hers again. Had it been intentional? And why hadn’t one of them taken a step back? “What kept you sane?”
“Sane?”
“Yes. You know. From climbing the walls and stuff. I heard men need sex every so often.”
He smiled and the force of it sent her senses reeling. “Remind me to give you all the details one day. Now, back to our earlier topic, why did you come to the door with a gun and why the packed bags?”
They were back to that?
But then maybe they should be. She needed to call a cab and get to the airport. And just like she didn’t want to involve her mother and Aunt Rachel in whatever was going on, she definitely didn’t want to involve Bane. Maybe she should have lied and said she was involved with someone else. Then he would have gotten angry and left, and she would be free to do as the note advised and disappear. Whatever was going on was her issue and not his.
She nibbled her lips as she tried coming up with something that would sound reasonable. Something that wasn’t too much of a lie. So she said, “The reason for the packed luggage is because I’m taking a trip.”
He looked at her as if to say duh. Instead, he held her gaze and asked, “Business or pleasure?”
“Business.”
“Where are you headed?”
If she told him the Bahamas, he would question if it really was a business trip, so she said, “Chicago.”
“Fine. I’ll go with you.”
She blinked, suddenly feeling anxiety closing in on her. “Go with me?”
“Yes. I’m on leave so I can do that,” he said calmly. “Besides, it’s time I got to know you again, and I want you to get to know me.”
She drew in a breath, feeling her control deteriorating. Those hazel eyes had always been her weakness.
She knew she was a goner when he asked in a husky voice, “You do want to get to know me all over again, don’t you, Crystal Gayle?”
Getting to