Daddy's Little Killer

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 

It occurred to me when I walked into the Arboretum Restaurant and immediately spotted Orion sitting at the bar nursing a crystal glass of amber liquid, that perhaps my other shadows were lurking about too. Sure enough, I scanned the room and saw them trying to appear unobtrusive tucked into a corner along the restaurant wall. 

Apparently, they all knew I returned to the hotel after my visit to the medical examiner this afternoon. A wild thought tickled through my brain. Who was Orion following? Them or me? Didn't it make more sense that he happened to find me being harassed by men he followed from Darkwater Bay rather than another more convoluted scenario?

That's the problem with paranoia. It can put you at the center of the universe when that's not the case at all.

I strode through the busy restaurant to the bar and tapped Orion's shoulder.

"I was wondering when you'd make an appearance."

"Funny," I said, "but I was about to say the same thing to you. It struck me that I've been vain, Mr. Orion."

His eyebrows took an exaggerated arch. "Indeed. Do tell."

"I thought you've been following me, showing up in D.C., a convenient excuse to swoop in and play hero, ingratiate yourself and make me feel indebted to you because you're interested in what I'm doing."

His chuckle was a warm, soft hug that wrapped me in desire that my delusion was true. "What makes you think I wouldn't go to such exaggerated ends to get your attention, Doc?"

"Because I observe behavior for a living, and I think that if those men trying to hide so poorly in the corner weren't here, that you wouldn't be either. This isn't about me, it's about them."

He lifted his glass in silent toast.

"Any idea why they're following me yet?"

"Not the foggiest clue."

"And I don't suppose you'd share if you did know."

The twinkle in his cerulean blue eyes intensified. "I might be coerced into sharing."

"You're a pig," I muttered.

"Hey, nobody held a gun to my head and forced me to go to your suite in D.C. I figured it was a case of mistaken identity, just like you said it was."

"So you showed up because?"

He leaned close and whispered against my neck, "Because you're gorgeous, and I have no self control when I meet a woman and want her the way I want you."

My stomach twisted and dived down to the vicinity of my left ankle. "Nice try, Orion. Why were you tailing Dumb and Dumber?"

"Why did you lie and say your name was Diana? It would've saved me a hell of a lot of trouble if I'd known they really were after you."

It was my turn to lean in and be provocative. "Is it so difficult to understand why a woman might use an alias before inviting a complete stranger into her bed?"

It was a ridiculous claim, and if Orion had the capacity for rationality, he'd have known it instantly. I gave him the name I used when I checked into the Ritz. My ruse was in play long before he showed up. Fortunately, the notion that I planned to spend the night with him stripped away his sense of reason. 

Before I could retreat, Orion's hands morphed into a cage that trapped my waist. His thumbs stroked along the bottom of my ribs. "Doc."

"Let go of me. Have you lost your mind? You're not Todd and I'm not Diana." The weak delivery rendered the message ineffective. I might as well have said, take me to bed and make wild passionate love to me all night.