Danger Calls. Caridad Pineiro

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      Sebastian released a long breath and was surprised that mixed in with the relief was a little regret. Maybe even a bit of anger. Three months of not being able to stop thinking about her and the only reason she was on his doorstep now was because she needed his expertise. “So I guess what happened between us was—”

      Melissa held up her hand to silence him. “Please don’t be offended, but I thought we both knew that it was a result of the danger and—”

      “The tension. Right. Nothing else.” He had known someone like Melissa would have no interest in someone like him. They were too different. It was why he hadn’t called her after their night together. It was why he shouldn’t have been thinking of her all this time. He stuffed his hands into his pockets—he was too tempted to move a stray lock of her silky blond hair from her face. That would be wrong. So totally wrong.

      “What kind of computer help do you need?” He struggled for a neutral tone.

      When her gaze met his, something big and dangerous flared to life inside him. She hesitated, seeming to recognize what he was feeling. “Actually, I’m rethinking this.”

      Despite her statement, she took the seat Sebastian offered and settled herself on the black leather couch in the living room that doubled as his office. He sat before her on the coffee table. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his thighs and clasped his hands together. He was fighting a losing battle not to touch her. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

      Melissa paused again, clearly troubled. With a nod of her head, she explained. Sebastian patiently listened to her description of the Danvers family journals and how one had recently been taken from her office. That didn’t give him a clue as to why his help was needed until Melissa finished by saying that Ryder and Diana thought someone should scan the remaining journals as a safeguard.

      He gave a careless shrug. “Scanning is easy enough to do. But someone could still snatch the one machine with the images. Unless you encrypt the files and the database. Put the pieces at different secure locations.”

      Melissa smiled. “That’s why you’re the best person for this job. You know exactly what we need to do. And you already know Ryder’s secret.”

      “It would take a day or—”

      Melissa quickly jumped in. “It needs to be foolproof. No one can hack into this.”

      From the tone of her voice, Sebastian gathered there was something she wasn’t telling him. It bothered him that she wasn’t being totally honest. “Not giving me all the details, are you?”

      She flushed and shifted nervously. “I’m not really sure—”

      He moved off the table and sat down next to her. “And I’m not sure I want to be dragged into something without all the information.”

      The stain of color on her cheeks deepened and she looked away. Sebastian lost the battle then. He cupped her chin and applied gentle pressure until she faced him. Her skin was smooth and warm beneath his fingers. As soft and silky as it had been the night they…He ripped himself from those thoughts. They were a dangerous distraction. “If there’s more, I need to know.”

      Giving him a tight smile, Melissa shied away from his touch. “I’m not sure there’s more yet. But there are too many things that seem to connect.”

      “Like?” he pressed.

      “Ryder’s secret. The missing journal. The car crash that killed my parents more than a year ago. It’s just too many things happening too close together.” She looked down at her hands as she spoke. They were clasped together tightly, her knuckles nearly white from the pressure.

      “I’m sorry. I didn’t know your parents were dead.” Sebastian reached out and covered her hands with one of his. “Have you talked to Diana about your suspicions?”

      Again Melissa eased away from his comforting gesture. “Ryder and I told her about the crash. And the journal. She’s not sure we should be worried, but thinks it can’t hurt to get some more information. We gave her the details we had.”

      Sebastian considered all that Melissa had revealed, and all that she hadn’t. She was unsure around him. That was clear from the way she withdrew every time he tried to make some overture. He knew from their night together, she wasn’t used to being close to people, not even in a friendly way. Could they work together, given what had happened between them? And she obviously believed there was a possibility the journals—and the people connected to them—were in danger.

      With the exception of his sister, Sebastian kept away from emotional complications. Maybe it was selfish, but the life he had chosen spared him from dealing with the expectations of others, his father in particular. Sebastian had found his own way and was happy with it. He wasn’t sure he was prepared to be anyone’s champion.

      “I need to think about this.”

      Her head jerked up and her eyes widened with surprise. “You’re not sure you can do what we want?”

      Sebastian rose. He rocked back and forth on his heels as he said, “Tech stuff is a slam dunk. I’m a whiz at that. But the rest—”

      Melissa jumped up off the sofa. “Whatever happened before, it won’t happen again.” She stressed that promise with an emphatic slash of her hand.

      He wished it were that simple. “Well, thanks for that little ego boost,” he quipped and, before she could answer, continued. “I’m not sure I want to be involved. I kinda like my solitary life. Plus, being a hero is more up Diana’s alley than mine.”

      “B-but you helped before. When Ryder was hurt,” Melissa said.

      Sebastian shrugged. “No choice then. You needed me—”

      “We need you now. There’s no one else we can trust with Ryder’s secret.”

      He wasn’t going to leap without thinking about it first. His father may have believed him to be thoughtless in his rebellion, but in fact, Sebastian’s decisions had always been studied and logical. Right now, logic was telling him that it made no sense to become more involved in Melissa’s life.

      Melissa, with her by-the-book personality, was a challenge to the comfortable world he had created for himself. She was also a possible danger to his safety, if it turned out she was right and the crash that had killed her parents hadn’t been an accident. And worse, although he didn’t want to admit it, she was a real risk to his heart, regardless of everything else.

      He didn’t want to seem callous, but it made no sense to carry on with the conversation until he’d had time to consider everything without the pressure of Melissa hovering nearby. She was a distraction he didn’t need. He motioned to the door and Melissa hurried to it, the lines of her body tight with anger.

      As she stepped out, he gently grasped her arm. “I didn’t say no, Melissa. I just need to think about it.”

      With a curt nod, she strode off. He lingered by the door, watching her go, wishing he could have immediately said yes. Despite his mixed emotions, something about Melissa Danvers intrigued him.

      When Sebastian closed the door he’d intended to try out an amended version of his latest game. But as he took hold of the joystick and loaded СКАЧАТЬ