Rebecca York - More Than a Man

Noah could see that someone else was watching her, too. A man who’d been sitting along the far wall. He came over and spoke to her in a low tone, his face angry. What was that all about?

The doctor must have noticed he wasn’t commanding Noah’s rapt attention. Annoyance flashed across his face.

But he quickly recovered. Glancing at his watch, he said, “It’s late. I should let you go to bed.”

“Sorry,” Noah apologized. “I put in a long day in the lab before I came here and I’m a little wiped.”

They both stood. Hemmings reached out to shake his hand again. Noah automatically did the same, then felt a slight prick at the base of his thumb. “What was that?” he asked.

Hemmings looked embarrassed. “Sorry. This damn ring of mine has a rough edge. It must have slipped around to the inside. Did I hurt you?”

“It’s fine,” Noah said, looking down at his hand where it was slightly scraped.

Of course, it would be good as new in the next few hours.

“Sorry,” the doctor apologized again, then excused himself and hurried out of the bar. Noah stayed in the room, watching the woman still sitting at the table. Before he could stop himself, he picked up his sparkling water and walked across the room.

OLIVIA’S breath caught as the man she’d been watching walked over to her table. This was it, and she wished she knew what “it” was.

“I’ve noticed you sitting here,” he said.

“I was waiting for a friend, but I guess he stood me up,” she lied.

The guy looked like he didn’t buy it, and she thought he was going to walk away.

Instead, he said, “May I join you?”

“Yes.”

“My name’s Noah Fielding.”

“Olivia…” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “Stapler.” She knew he caught the hesitation.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked as he sat down.

Up close he was very handsome and younger than she’d thought. He carried himself with a confidence that usually came from maturity, but his face was unlined and there wasn’t any gray in his dark hair. She doubted that a man like him would go to the trouble of dyeing it, although one never knew how much a guy was stuck on himself.

A man like him? She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. When she realized she was waiting a long time to answer his question, she said, “You’re drinking soda water?”

He looked at his glass and back at her before nodding.

“That sounds good.”

“You don’t want champagne?” he asked.

“It’s not worth what they charge by the glass here.”

He grinned. “I guess you know the ropes better than I do.”

“Did you come here to gamble?”

“Everybody comes here to gamble. It’s the standard vice. But my excuse is a medical convention in town.”

“You’re a doctor?” she asked.

“Just a hanger-on.”

She tipped her head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“I’m an independent researcher. I like to keep up with the field.”

Maybe he was also independently wealthy. She canceled that thought immediately. It didn’t matter if he made big bucks, because she wasn’t going to play Pearson’s game.

“Which field?”

“Longevity.”

“Oh,” she answered, thinking how easy it would be to fall into the trap Pearson had laid for her and this man.

Suddenly, she felt like the room was closing in around her. “I need some air,” she blurted.

“The hotel has a very nice garden out back.”

She’d been thinking that she’d go outside alone and incur her brother’s wrath later. But when she stood, Noah Fielding did, too, and she didn’t protest as he walked beside her toward the back of the hotel.

Outside, the air was hot and dry, and the night sky was filled with a million stars. But no casino relied on nature for outdoor effects. The hedges and flower beds were illuminated by cunningly placed floodlights.

The garden was designed to please the senses. Annual and perennial flowers filled well-tended beds that bordered stone paths. Each plot held a pleasing mix of colors and textures, many of the blooms perfuming the air.

She inhaled deeply, glad to be out of the stale casino atmosphere. Trying to come up with something to say, she murmured, “I love the way they laid out the garden in a pattern. I guess they hired a fancy landscape architect.”

“Maybe. But whoever did the design copied it from Versailles.”

She tipped her head toward him. “Have you been there?”

“Several times.”

No one else was outside, she noticed. The garden apparently wasn’t as much of an attraction as the casino.

When she pressed her hands against her sides, he said, “What’s bothering you?”

The direct question startled her. In her experience, guys didn’t care about an attractive woman’s personal problems.

“How do you know something is bothering me?”

“The way you hold your shoulders.”

“Really?”

“Maybe I can help.”

Could he?

Before she could reply, a man rushed from the shadows. He was holding a gun, which he pointed directly at Noah Fielding.

“I finally found you, you bastard,” he growled. “Hold it right there.”

Noah cursed under his breath, and Olivia thought she heard him mumble, “Not again.”

At the same time, he thrust her behind himself, putting his body squarely between her and the gunman.

“Move,” the attacker said. “Both of you.”

“Leave the lady out of this,” Noah replied, his voice low and even.

In the part of her mind that still functioned rationally, she marveled at his calm. She had to stiffen her legs to keep from falling over.

“I’m giving the orders,” the gunman said. “Hands up. Move to your right.”

Somehow, she did what he demanded, but as she raised her hands, she was thinking there must be guards out here and security cameras. If guards came running, though, would they just get her and Noah shot?

“Take it easy,” Noah said.

He was talking to the gunman, but his calm, even voice helped steady her as she moved to her right, into a rectangular space formed by a hedge and a wall that enclosed one of the luxury villas for the high rollers.

Noah tried to keep his body between her and the gunman as they stood facing each other in the little courtyard, but the man maneuvered them so that she was terribly exposed.

She glanced sideways at Noah. He wasn’t even breaking a sweat. The other man was breathing heavily. Maybe he’d have a heart attack and drop the gun so they could escape.

“If you do anything to hurt this woman, you will be very sorry,” Noah said, punching out the words.

“Her bad luck that she was with a scum like you.”

She saw Noah clench the fists held above his head. He looked like he wanted to lunge at the gunman, and to hell with the consequences. Maybe he would have if he’d been alone. Instead, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Are you after my winnings?” he asked.

The man gave a harsh, nervous laugh that scared her as much as the gun. This guy was on the edge of doing something very foolish.

“You wish. You’re going to pay a lot more than any winnings. You’re going to pay for what you did to my brother,” the attacker bit out.

“Who is your brother?”

“You damn well know.”

“Just tell me,” Noah said, sounding weary.

“Eddie Carlson.”

Noah sighed. “I’m sorry for what happened.”

The man snorted. “Oh sure. You killed him.”

“No.”

“Then why is he dead and you’re alive?”

Noah’s jaw tightened, and she waited for him to say something devastating to the man. Something that would let him know for all time that his brother’s death had been his own fault.

As she watched, Noah’s expression changed. When he began to speak, his tone was regretful. “There’s always risk with an experimental venture. It was damn bad luck that the sub got stuck in that crevice. I’ve had a lot of deep-sea training and I’ve done a lot of exercises that make me able to survive on much less oxygen than normal. It’s the same kind of technique that a magician relies on when he’s locked in a box underwater. The rest of the crew didn’t have that training.”

Apparently Carlson still wasn’t convinced. “So you say. But if you’re not guilty of anything, why did you give each of the widows a million bucks? That’s three million dollars you gave away.”

Olivia goggled. Three million dollars?

Noah spread his raised hands. “I didn’t have to give them the money. But I felt a moral obligation because I funded the expedition and I felt responsible for the safety of the men who went down in the sub with me. Now you have your own moral obligation—to Eddie’s children. Their father was taken from them in a tragic accident. You have to be the father he would have been. You have to do that, because he can’t. And if you end up in jail for murder, what will happen to them?”

Long, tense seconds passed, then Carlson’s expression changed, softened. Moments ago, the guy had been roaring mad, ready to avenge his brother’s death. Now, apparently something Noah had said got to him.

When he lowered the gun, Olivia let out the breath she’d been holding.

“Thank you,” Noah said.

Carlson answered with a tight nod.

Lowering his hands, Noah said, “Give me the gun.”

Carlson hesitated, then handed over the weapon.

Noah took it and shoved it into his pocket. “I know you’re grieving, and a grieving man sometimes does things he might regret later.”

Carlson nodded again.

“I’m truly sorry. When I was asked to finance the expedition, I thought it was a good idea. I guess I should have planned better.”

Carlson looked down at his hands. “I feel like a jerk coming after you. It won’t bring Eddie back.”

“I understand. You’re hurting and you wanted to lash out at me because I’m still alive. I’m curious, how did you find me?” Noah asked.

The man sighed. “The Light Street Detective Agency. They’re in Baltimore, my hometown. I couldn’t find where you lived, but they saw that you’d registered at this hotel.” Carlson swallowed hard. “Eddie always was reckless. Did he do something…that got you in trouble down there?”

Noah answered quickly. “No.”

From the way he voiced the word, Olivia thought he was probably lying.

Carlson stepped back. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“Go back home to Baltimore and stay out of trouble.”

“I will. Thanks for keeping me from doing something really stupid.” Carlson turned and hurried off, leaving Olivia trembling.

“What just happened?” she asked.

“A man was upset, and I made him realize that if he hurt me, he’d be going against his fundamental values.” Noah put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry you had to get involved in that. Are you okay?”

“I…” She couldn’t hold her voice steady.

“Come here.” When he pulled her against his body and wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into him as he stroked his hands up and down her bare arms, feeling the goose bumps that had sprung up on her skin. “You’re shaking.”

“I’ll be okay.” She was thinking that she’d just witnessed something extraordinary—with an extraordinary man, she silently added, as she closed her eyes and nestled against him.

Twenty minutes ago she’d barely known Noah Fielding, but they’d just been through the fire together and that was a shortcut to intimacy.

She was still trying to work her way through the terrifying experience. “He was mad as hell, but you talked him down. You’ve got a knack for reading people.”