Danger Calls

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 up the program, his mind drifted back to Melissa.

Forcing himself to concentrate, he made sure the changes requested by the computer game manufacturer were working. He was just completing the first level when he heard the grate of a key in the lock. “Well look who’s finally home.”

“I have an early morning,” Diana answered as she entered the apartment.

Sebastian gave her a puzzled look.

“Ryder’s still weak. He needs to rest—”

“And he’s not about to get it with you around,” he said with a knowing grin.

Diana smiled and grabbed the squeeze balls from the desk. She juggled them at a speed well beyond what Sebastian could manage. But then again, Diana never did anything at normal levels. Including picking a boyfriend.

“Show-off,” Sebastian teased and Diana playfully tossed the balls at him in response.

Sebastian managed to catch them all as his sister peeked at the screen. “What are you working on?”

Rising, Sebastian blocked Diana’s view of the monitor, leaned on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. “Hacking into classified FBI files to see what’s new with my sis and her furry friends.”

She crossed her arms and stood before him, impatiently tapping one sensibly-soled foot. “Ryder’s not furry.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. He’s just life-challenged?” He cocked an eyebrow.

Diana tried to see around him, but Sebastian dodged left and right, blocking her view. With a huff, Diana finally said, “You’re not hacking me, right? I mean, I know you could do it, but you didn’t. Right?”

He grinned and stepped aside to show her the frozen scene in the game. “I could, but I won’t because you’d have to bring me in.” He held his hands out in front of him, pretending he was about to be handcuffed.

His sister slapped his hands away. “Cut it out, hermanito. Concerned brother slash hacker extraordinaire that you are, you wouldn’t put me in that difficult a position.”

Sebastian joined her on the couch as she kicked off her shoes. He watched his sister intently as he said, “Things are tough enough, aren’t they? What with Ryder and stuff.”

Diana met his gaze squarely. “I’m assuming Melissa came by?”

“She did. Explained her problem. I’m not sure what to do,” Sebastian admitted.

“About her or the project?”

“The project and nothing but the project.”

“Funny. My radar hinted the two of you had connected.”

Sebastian tried to laugh off the suggestion. He was hesitant to admit he and Melissa had shared a night together. “Yeah, like a wrong number kind of connect.”

Diana rose from the sofa and placed her hands on her hips, drawing open her suit jacket slightly. She scrutinized him much the way she would a suspect. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Yep. Major League error.”

His sister smirked, confirming she recognized the lie for what it was. She playfully chucked him on the chin. “Little bro, you may fool some women with that pretty-boy face, but not this girl.”

Ruefully shaking his head, Sebastian said, “We’ve been through too much together, huh?”

And wasn’t that an understatement of gigantic proportions? In the year after their father’s death, Sebastian had tried to help his sister cope with the pain. His sister had always been the strong one—until their father had been killed and Diana had fallen apart.

Diana had entered a dark and dangerous world, and Sebastian had thought he could somehow keep her from totally going over the edge. So he’d gone with her to clubs for those who liked to live precariously; been by her side on many a late night. Tried to make sure that in the numbing haze created by one too many tequila shooters, Diana did nothing that would harm her.

The defiant streak inside of him had responded to the make-no-excuses, take-no-crap kind of life. In that blurry world of alcohol and angry music, he’d finally discovered peace. He’d realized there was nothing wrong in walking his own path, rather than toeing his father’s line. His dead father, who he’d never been able to please anyway.

Rebellion suited Sebastian and gave him a place where he was free of his pain. But the freedom had been an illusion, and a dangerous one at that. The partying and drinking had only numbed his guilt over never having lived up to his father’s expectations.

It had taken great strength to untangle all the conflicting emotions within himself, to deal with Diana’s pain, and his own, and find a way back to who he really was. It hadn’t been easy, but it had made him a stronger man.

Years later, he had finally accepted that he could never have been the son his father wanted. The best he could do was be his own man.

“There’s a lot going on now, and I’ve dragged you into it again, haven’t I?” There was an edge of anguish in his sister’s voice that Sebastian hated to hear.

“You love Ryder and he makes you happy. I would never wish anything different for you.”

“But you want something different for yourself?” she pressed, apparently hearing something behind his words.

“I want the Happily Ever After, but with someone simple.”

“Someone not like Melissa—is that it?”

Sebastian was finding it difficult not to confide in his sister since they’d never kept anything from each other before. He didn’t want to start now. “There was something between us,” he said, although he didn’t quite know what to call the night he and Melissa had shared.

“Something, huh? You think you can just make that something go away?”

“I’m trying, although it’s not easy,” he stated flatly. “There are other things in my life that keep me busy.”

“Like your games? And your hacking?” Sebastian flinched as he heard the echo of his father’s words lashing out at him. Like father, like daughter.

Diana must have realized she’d struck a sore point, for she apologized instantly. “I didn’t mean to condemn.”

“Didn’t you? You sounded just like him. RoboCop redux.”

Her color paled at his rebuke and her generous mouth thinned into a tight line. But she still reached out and laid a hand on Sebastian’s leg in an effort to soothe the sting of her words. “Hermanito, I’m sorry. It’s just you and I are so different that way.”

“Don’t I know it. Didn’t Dad tell me often enough that I should be more responsible? That I should care about school more.” His sister started to speak but Sebastian silenced her with an angry wave of his hand. “You know what I remember best about Dad? Besides watching him die in your arms?” He paused, although he expected no answer to his question. “I must have been thirteen or fourteen. I was playing a game up in my room and Dad came in. He sat beside me, watching the screen but not talking. I tried to explain the rules, but after a few minutes, Dad mumbled something about wasting time playing games when life was so much more important.”

“He just couldn’t understand you,” Diana said, much as Sebastian expected she would. He adored his sister and trusted her judgment, but Diana had never grown beyond her hero worship of their police-officer father. She didn’t realize that while being a champion to others, their father had often put his family second and ignored a son who was totally different in temperament and interests.

“Do you think Melissa could understand me?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” Diana admitted.

“She’s uptight and über-responsible. I’m a no-strings-attached kind of guy.” He looked away from his sister. He didn’t want her to see his confusion or his guilt. Despite his best efforts these last three months, he hadn’t been able to forget Melissa.

More than most, he knew the hardship of conforming and being bound by another’s conventions. Sebastian sensed that Melissa’s life was not her own, that she needed an escape from the burdens she bore. He wanted to ease the weight off her shoulders. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time—as if he could help someone else. Be someone worthy for her. But he’d both disappointed and angered her tonight with his hesitation.

Funny how much it was like the situation with his father all over again.

After a long silent moment he turned to face his sister, not knowing what to expect. Certainly not the little Mona Lisa-like smile on her face. “Seems to me you’ve been thinking about it way too much, hermanito.”

Sebastian stood, took a breath, about to tell her that he didn’t want to talk about it, when Diana surprised him by saying, “I’ve got to get some sleep. Hasta mañana.” She rose and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“’Night, sis.” How could she understand him so well? Sometimes better than he understood himself.

After Diana walked into her bedroom and closed the door, it was impossible to concentrate on the mock investigations and battles of his game.

If he had any sense, he would stop wondering about Melissa. But it was difficult, given the impression she’d made. Months ago, she had been strong enough to confront his sister and convince Diana to look for a missing Ryder. When faced with Ryder’s injuries, Melissa had been capable and unafraid. But after the crisis was over, the pain hidden behind her competent façade had called out to him. He’d tried to soothe her emotional wounds, and they’d ended up making love.

Not that he considered himself shallow, but he had noticed more than her vulnerability. Melissa’s eyes—dios, but he could spend hours looking into her changeling blue eyes. A deep, dark slate-gray with worry. Bright and sparkling with bits of aquamarine when she was happy, as she had been in those unguarded moments the morning after.

She had a dimple when she smiled, and although her smile was sometimes hesitant, as if she didn’t experience it often, it lit up a face that was stunning in a healthy, blond, California-girl kind of way.

Sebastian couldn’t deny that he’d remembered on more than one occasion what she had tasted like when he kissed her. How her compact, curvy body had felt pressed to his. What she looked like without her…

He groaned as his nether regions sprang to life as they did way too often when he thought about Melissa. He heard a door opening, sat up slightly and grabbed a pillow, which he placed on his lap to hide his erection. A second later, Diana strolled into the room.

She was rubbing her hands together, as if she had just put on some lotion, and she had changed into her pajamas. “Still up?” she asked when she noticed him on the couch.

Oh, he was up, but not in a way he’d admit to his sister. “Sí, still awake. Trying to figure out a problem.”

Diana gave him a puzzled look, her brows furrowed together. “Need help?”

Sputtering, Sebastian quickly replied, “No, thanks. I think I’ve figured out what to do.” And the truth was he suddenly knew where to begin.

Chapter 3

Melissa had been with her patient for the last hour, trying to be of comfort as the young girl went through her first treatment for a rare blood disorder. There was a crick in the small of Melissa’s back from sitting in the chair by the girl’s bedside and, after, helping shift her into another bed so she could return to her room.

It didn’t matter that Melissa had missed lunch. She hadn’t really been hungry, and her fifteen-year-old patient was nervous and needed a little support. Besides, Melissa’s afternoon was light, appointmentwise. She could grab a quick bite later, before rounds. As she reached her office, she heard the phone ringing and raced inside.

“Dr. Danvers.”

“Hello, Doc,” Sebastian said.

Anger rose up in her as she recalled their encounter of the night before. Color her stupid, but she’d been counting on him to help without hesitation. “Have you made up your mind yet?”

“Direct and to the point. Right, Doc?”

Melissa shook her head at her own abruptness and tried to smooth things over. After all, she needed this man’s assistance. “Please don’t call me Doc. It always makes me feel as if I should be balding and hanging out with six dwarves. I’m short, but not that short.”

Sebastian chuckled and she was able to picture his grin in her mind. That was not good. She shouldn’t be remembering that much about this man. “Melissa, then. I wanted to talk about the help you needed. Maybe even share a latte kind of boost.”

“I could use some caffeine,” she said, although what she was more interested in was his answer to her request. “There’s a pretty good coffee shop right near the corner of 60th and York.”

“I can meet you there in about ten minutes. Does that work for you?” Sebastian asked.

“I’ll see you then.”

It was one of those weird summerlike December days in New York City. Midseventies with a bright blue cloudless sky. Melissa made the short walk to the coffee shop, enjoying the weather. It was something she rarely got to do.

As promised, Sebastian was waiting outside. He wore faded black jeans that were snug against his lean legs and a black Buffy the Vampire Slayer shirt, bearing a picture of the blond superhero and assorted monsters. The first time she had met him, he had sported a Star Wars T-shirt.

Today’s shirt, featuring one of her favorite shows, made her smile. Some vampires, Ryder excluded, might find the show politically incorrect toward the undead. Although she had never met another vampire. When she’d questioned Ryder, he’d hinted that others like him existed in Manhattan. He’d also made it clear he preferred to avoid their company. Melissa hadn’t pressed the issue at the time. Someday, however, they might have to revisit that issue.

Sebastian grinned as he caught sight of her. His smile caused an unexpected lurch in the middle of her chest. Melissa suddenly felt like a self-conscious thirteen-year-old instead of a liberated thirtysomething woman. “Hi.”

“Hola,” he replied and made no motion other than to hold his hand out in the direction of the shop. She wasn’t sure why that disappointed her. She’d been expecting a handshake, a hug or one of the other typical greetings people who knew one another shared.

But then again, she and Sebastian didn’t really know each other at all.

Inside the coffee shop was fairly quiet as the afternoon lunch rush was over and the midafternoon coffee break surge had yet to start. It took only a minute for them to place their orders.

“You look wiped,” Sebastian said. “Why don’t you grab a seat? I’ll bring our coffees over when they’re ready.”

Melissa nodded and walked to the front of the shop, where there was a bench seat and table near a window facing York Avenue.

While waiting for their orders, Sebastian looked her way. She smiled nervously, then glanced down at her outfit, suddenly wishing she had changed. The white lab jacket and hospital scrubs were big on her petite physique, giving her a too-youthful appearance. Of course, that might not be such a bad thing considering Sebastian was several years younger than her—in his late twenties at the most. Also, someone had told her once that the pale blue color of the scrubs made her eyes look a crystalline blue. She wondered if Sebastian would notice, then forced such thoughts from her mind.

The only thing between them was Sebastian’s help with the journals. Nothing else. Certainly nothing like what Sebastian had done with her and to her during their first meeting. A little bit of heat flared to life at the recollection of that night. She fanned her hand before her face to cool it.

A second later, he walked over with their lattes and she fumbled a bit as she took the large cup from him. “Thanks.”

When she looked up into his eyes, she noted amusement. She was about to ask him what was funny, when he said, “You’re not used to people caring for you, are you?”

It was unsettling that he could be so right. “Are you always this perceptive?” she challenged, trying to erect some kind of barrier to his insight. She didn’t like being so transparent. Poker face, she reminded herself.

Sebastian only smiled and motioned to the bench with the hand that held his coffee. “May I join you there?”

Melissa realized for the first time that there was very little room beside her. Unfortunately, there was also no chair nearby. To refuse him would seem rude. She shifted to the edge nearest the window and inclined her head in invitation.

When he eased down beside her, his broad shoulder brushed against hers. His denim-covered legs were not as close, but still too near. She was finding it hard to ignore him. He was attractive, with his gleaming dark hair and eyes accented by well-defined cheekbones. His skin had the kind of tanned color that didn’t fade in the winter. And his lips…

Don’t think about those lips, she warned herself and forced her thoughts to something else.

Like the fact that he wasn’t tall. Barely five foot ten, but his leanly muscled body gave the sense of greater height. His sculpted arms were bared by his short-sleeved T-shirt. She had tried to put his physical strength out of her mind, but now, with him nearly on top of her, it was hard not to appreciate how compellingly masculine he was. Even harder to just sit here beside him and stare. She grabbed her cup with two hands and shimmied closer to the edge of the bench. He smirked wryly.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she said.

“I guess I invaded your space, huh? Sorry. I’m Cuban. We’re physical with…” He paused, as if searching for the right words. Finally he said, “Friends and family.”

“Well, have MCI take me off your list,” she replied sharply, then shook her head. “I’m sorry. That was harsh.”

Sebastian gave a careless shrug, which stretched the fabric of his shirt across the width of his shoulders. He took a sip of his latte. “But you’re right. We’re not family…or friends. Still, you want my help.”

She was grateful he was enough of a gentleman not to mention their night together. Things were uncomfortable enough. She examined his face but couldn’t read his mood like she had the other night. “We’re not friends yet,” she said, realizing how weird it was that she had known this man intimately, but didn’t really have a clue about him.

“There’s time for you to make my list,” he said. “What about you and Ryder? Have you been friends for long?”

She stared at her coffee and avoided his gaze. “Ryder’s more than a friend. He’s all the family I have.”

“I guess you’ve known him a long time?”

“All my life.”

Motioning with his hand, Sebastian asked, “All your life as in—”

“Forever.” Melissa took another sip of her latte.

Sebastian cocked his head, seemingly perplexed. “Didn’t you notice that, well, Ryder didn’t get any older-looking?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Melissa glanced at him. “No more than I wonder about Dick Clark every New Year’s Eve.”

Sebastian laughed. Melissa joined him and rolled her eyes, realizing just how unbelievable her whole situation must be to an outsider like him.

“And you’ve been his keeper…Do you think we can call you something else? Like his companion, maybe?”

“A rose by any other name—”

“Do you resent it?”

“It’s what I have to do.”

“Why?” he challenged with a cocky shrug.

“Because it’s my duty. Because my family has honored that call for nearly six generations.” Suddenly she had the urge to leave. The conversation was exposing too much to a virtual stranger. This meeting was supposed to have been about him helping, not about her. “Come to think of it, it’s time I returned to the hospital.”

She began to rise, but Sebastian laid a hand on her arm and applied gentle pressure to keep her beside him. She stared at his hand and followed the line of his muscled arm until her gaze met his. “I have to—”

“No, you don’t. In fact, rumor has it that the only two things you have to do are die and pay taxes. Only I guess you don’t have to die, do you?” His voice trailed off at the end, as if he, too, realized what an awkward situation they were in.

“If you’re like Ryder, time doesn’t matter.” But it mattered to her and to this man sitting beside her, looking at her way too seriously and with too much compassion.

“I respect what you feel about honoring your family’s loyalties, only—”