Caught in the Act

Celia continued, saying, “If you stay with Angel, then we can visit you.”

Del knew that any second now Mick would agree to Angel’s offer, and then she’d lose her chance. She took a deep breath, unglued her feet and tongue, and declared, “I’m taking him home with me.”

The room fell silent, and as one, all eyes shifted her way. The women and two men stared, as if seeing her for the first time.

Mick smiled.

Under so much scrutiny, Del squirmed. Thanks to the rain and her long jog and the events at the jewelry store, she looked like something out of a circus sideshow. But determination filled her. She wasn’t a coward and she wouldn’t start acting like one now.

Moving out of the corner, she edged in around Angel, who kept kissing Mick’s forehead. Del got as close to him as she could, then stated again, “I’ll take care of him.” She made her voice strong, resolute.

Angel blinked, looked at the other people, then back at Del. “You will?”

“Yes. After all,” Del explained, “it’s my fault he’s hurt.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted from her to Mick. Expressions varied from male amusement, astonishment and fascination, to female speculation.

Del wanted to wince, to close her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear what Mick might reply to her appalling assumption. They were strangers in every sense of the word, but he’d claimed to want to see her again. What better opportunity would there be than for her to take him home? She’d never played nurse to anyone before, but how hard could it be?

She stood by his bed, refusing to budge, blocking Angel and her lips, in particular, and waited in agony.

Expectation hung in the air, along with a good dose of confusion.

Mick grinned, managed a one-shoulder shrug and addressed all six people at once. “There you go. Looks like it’s all taken care of.”

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT her?”

Josh looked down at Angel and shrugged. They stood in the hallway outside Mick’s door, which was as far as Angel would go. “Not a damn thing,” he said, “except that Mick is in a bad way.”

Angel pressed a hand to her chest, looking as if she’d taken the bullet herself. “The wound?”

Josh knew how close she was to Mick—practically a surrogate mom even though only nine years separated them. Mick’s real mother, from what he understood, had been plagued by too many personal weaknesses. She’d died long ago, and Angel and Dane’s family had become Mick’s. “I’m sorry, I meant that he’s been acting…infatuated.”

Relieved, Angel bent a chastising look on him. “Mick is a grown man, a very levelheaded man. He doesn’t get infatuated.”

Josh knew that, which only made it more baffling. Beautiful women flirted with Mick and he hardly noticed. But this one… Josh shook his head. “Call it what you want, but today he chased her down, took a bullet for her without even knowing her name. And according to Zack, the first thing he asked about, even before he got his eyes open, was Delilah.”

A slow smile spread over Angel’s face. “This is wonderful!”

“Did you hear me?” Beyond respecting her a great deal, Josh knew Angel was one of the chew-’em-up-and-spit-’em-out women Mick had mentioned during their lunch, so he carefully measured his words. “Today, just a few minutes ago, is the first time he officially met her. Before that, he just watched her jog every day.” Josh thought about Mick’s preoccupation with Delilah and added, “She’s not even all that eye-catching.”

Angel smacked him on the shoulder. Not hard, but it still stung.

He refused to rub it.

“Looks are nothing, and you should know it by now. Besides, I think she’s cute.”

Dane, carrying two colas, strolled up behind her. He handed one to his wife and asked, “Who’s cute?”

“Mick’s woman.”

Grinning, Dane said, “That little dynamo in there telling him she won’t leave now that he’s awake, not even to go home and get a change of clothes? And if she does leave, she absolutely will not take a bodyguard with her?” Dane laughed as he sipped his drink. “Both Alec and I offered, at Mick’s insistence. Alec even promised her we wouldn’t leave him alone, that one of us would be sure to stay with him until she returned. But she’s not convinced. If anything, that seemed to have the opposite effect on her.”

“I wonder why.”

“Because she likes being difficult,” Josh pointed out, disgruntled.

Dane grinned. “Actually, I believe she’s jealous of Angel.”

Angel frowned. “Of me? But Mick and I are like…”

“You don’t have to convince me,” Dane told her. “But then I know you both well. She doesn’t.”

“Why would she need a bodyguard?” Angel asked, changing the subject. Dane spent a few minutes explaining about the bizarre aspects of the robbery, and Mick’s concerns.

“For whatever reason, I don’t think Mick has told her that he’s a cop,” Dane said. “He tried telling her she could be in danger, but she’s blowing the whole thing off as nothing more than a fluke, or a coincidence. I get the feeling he’ll have his hands full with that one.”

Josh glared toward the closed door. “After spending several hours with her today, I can tell you that she’s about the most contrary woman I’ve ever met. All she did was bitch at me.”

Dane raised both brows. “Let me guess, you tried treating her as you do most women, flirting, teasing—”

“Condescending,” Angel added.

“I was charming!”

“—and,” Dane continued, “she was too smart to fall for it.”

“She wants to do things her own way,” Josh grumbled, still amazed that she’d taken exception to his manner, “and damn the consequences. She’s far too…independent and stubborn for my tastes.”

Barely stifling a chuckle, Dane clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s good for you, teach you a little humility around the ladies.”

Josh wasn’t interested in learning humility, thank you very much. He and the ladies got along just fine. Delilah Piper—well, she was just an aberration, a woman who couldn’t be swayed with sound male logic, smiles or compliments. In fact, she’d been rude enough to scoff at his compliments, as if she’d known they were false, which, of course, she hadn’t because he was damn good at flattery when he chose to be.

Josh felt renewed pique; no woman had ever scoffed at him before. “Do you want me to go drag her out of there?”

Dane’s expression filled with anticipation. “Oh yeah, I’d love to see you try.”

True, Josh thought. Knowing her—and, after spending hours closed up with her in the waiting room, he did indeed feel that he knew her—she’d probably kick him someplace dirty. His groin ached just thinking about it. She’d threatened to do him in once today already, when he wouldn’t agree to label her Mick’s wife, just so she could sneak in and see him sooner. Obstinate woman.

And besides, brute force wasn’t something he’d ever used on a female. He’d only been mouthing off because he’d used up his other tricks on her without success. “I’ll see if I can dredge up some diplomacy,” he told Angel and Dane, and sauntered into the room with all the enthusiasm of a man headed to the gallows.

One look at Delilah and he was again filled with confusion. What was it about her that had Mick going gaga? The woman was…lanky. That’s the only word he could think of that described her. Her arms and legs were long, her body slim, her breasts small. She appeared delicate when he knew she was anything but.

He had, however, noticed that she had a very nice tush, not that it made up for the rest of it.

And now she watched him, on alert, as if he had no right to be in the room seeing one of his best friends. His gaze met Alec’s and Alec shrugged. Celia stared wide-eyed.

None of them were used to Mick being thwarted. Most times, he told people what needed to be done and they did it. Mick had an air about him that demanded obedience. Women especially went out of their way to make him happy. Not that Mick took advantage of his appeal to women. Just the opposite, he seemed unaware of how they gravitated to him and he was the most discriminating male Josh had ever known. Beautiful women came on to him, but more often than not, Mick showed no interest at all.