He still seemed concerned. "I only asked because it"s important," he told her quietly.
She felt oddly uncertain and was angry with herself, but for some reason she couldn"t seem to walk away with things hanging between them.
And Deanna had been outside, sleepwalking, something she"d never done before in her life, and Lauren had been out there with her. Not only that, she"d felt as if someone else had been out there, too, and that somehow this man knew about it.
And at the edge of her consciousness was the memory of how she had dreamed about him, and the ridiculous longing somewhere inside that, against all the evidence, he would turn out not to be crazy.
She forced a casual smile onto her face. "Okay, I"ll bite. Why is so important?"
Instead of answering, he reached into his shirt pocket. "I"d like to give you something."
"Please, I can"t accept anything from you." He smiled then, a charming smile that also managed to convey amus.e.m.e.nt. "No strings attached," he a.s.sured her.
She was almost bowled over by the unconscious sensuality of his appeal. G.o.d, how she wished he were normal. She had never met anyone like him, hadn"t even dreamed that she could meet anyone like him, since she had lost Ken. The sound of his voice was alluring, his body language subtly provocative. If she"d met him anywhere else under any other circ.u.mstances...
"This was Katie"s," he said.
She looked down at the item he"d produced from his pocket. It was a silver cross, beautifully designed and obviously antique.
"I definitely can"t take that," she told him, staring across the table at him.
"Please."
"It"s valuable."
"I would never sell it in a thousand years," he said.
She shook her head. "I can"t take it."
He grinned at her suddenly. "If you were to take it and wear it, I"d feel better about you being out on the streets of New Orleans.
I might even quit being such a pest."
"I think you really are crazy," she told him frankly.
"I"m not. Honestly."
She picked up her tea and took a long sip, suddenly aware that she had both elbows on the table now and was leaning closer to him. "Okay, look at all this from my point of view. First I run into you in a bar. Then I see you standing out on my street."
"My street, too."
"Coincidence, huh?"
He shrugged.
"Okay. Then I"m sitting here drinking tea, and suddenly there you are, too, with a crazy tale about trailing a killer. Don"t you think you should go to the police if you know who the killer is?"
"Probably. I"m just not sure yet how to explain what I know."
"Because it"s crazy," she suggested softly.
"I swear to you, I only want you to be safe," he said.
She groaned, looking down at her hands. "I"ve heard a piece of your story, and I"m not at all sure I want to hear the rest.
Please...you"re very attractive. But I...I really have to ask you to stay away from me."
There. She had managed it; she had said the words and told him to leave her alone.
He pulled away, straightening, his expression both resigned and regretful.
Suddenly she heard Heidi"s voice. "There you are! Lauren, why haven"t you been answering your phone? Oh, hi, Mark. Okay, now I know why you haven"t been answering. Can we join you? Or should we get lost?" And Heidi wasn"t alone.
Deanna was with her.
Heidi"s voice was, teasing, the day sunny, everything normal. And yet...
4.
M ark Davidson was charming, and of course both Heidi and Deanna were outrageous flirts when they wanted to be.
First, though, Lauren demanded to know where her friend had been. Deanna seemed surprised that Lauren had been so worried just because she"d wandered off and told her, "Shopping. And I"m perfectly capable of going in and out of stores alone. You"re the one who left us high and dry, you know."
Ignoring that, Lauren asked, "Did you take a carriage ride?"
"A carriage ride? Why would I have taken a carriage ride?"
So whatever had so disturbed her was really nothing, Lauren thought. Maybe she needed to start worrying about herself.
Over a couple of really po"boys, Mark entertained them with tales of his travels, his writing-and his playing.
"So are you good?" Heidi asked good-naturedly.
"I leave that to the listener to decide."
"I"d love to hear you play sometime," Lauren said.
He justshrugged. "So, tell me more about your business," he said.
He had quite a knack for turning the conversation away from himself, she thought-and decided not to allow it. "Mark lost a fiancee, too," she said. "Her name was Katie, and she looked like me. Or I look like her."
The table went dead silent.
"I"m so sorry," Heidi said.
"Me too," Deanna told him. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
Lauren noted the way he studied her in return. Not lasciviously, more as if he were searching for something, expecting her to give herself away somehow.
"He"s worried about us," Lauren added.
"Why?" Heidi asked.
"Because of that body they found in the Mississippi," Lauren said.
To her surprise, Heidi bestowed a tremendous smile on the man. "That is so sweet of you!"
"Imagine. We go on vacation and find a handsome protector," Deanna said. She turned to Lauren. "And he"s in the cottage right next to ours."
They were both crazy, Lauren decided. The sun was too much for them. And the way they were flirt...She wasn"t sure whether to scream or vomit."He thinks he knows who the killer is, that it"s the same man who killed his fiancee."
"Oh, my G.o.d!" Deanna said, leaning forward and touching him gently, real concern in her eyes.
"I didn"t actually say that he killed her, but he was responsible for her death," Mark said, frowning at Lauren.
"You should go to the police if you have any information at all," Heidi told him.
"You"re right, I should," he said. To Lauren"s surprise, he stood. "I think I"ll take a stroll down to the station right now. Thanks so much for letting me join you for lunch," he said. "And I"m in cottage six, if you need me."
"Are you two insane!" Lauren asked in a vehement whisper as he walked away. When he looked back with a glance of amus.e.m.e.nt; she knew that, even at a distance, he had heard her, and she blushed.
"What is the matter with you?" Heidi demanded. "He"s unbelievable."
"That would be the point," Lauren muttered.
"You"re being ridiculous," Heidi announced. "He obviously has the hots for you, but if you"re going to be an idiot and turn down a good man, let Deanna have a crack at him."
"Lauren, if you"re not interested in him, you"re going off the deep end," Deanna told her.
"Hey, I wasn"t the one sleepwalking," she snapped. "And he"s lying-I"ll be you he"s lying. He isn"t going to the police station."
"We can follow him and find out," Deanna suggested.
"Yeah-right after we pay the check. He joined us for lunch and walked out," Lauren reminded them, waved a hand to signal the waitress.
"May we have the check, please?" Lauren asked when the woman came over.
"The gentleman gave me his credit card before he joined you," she said. "You don"t have a check."
"Oh. Thanks," Lauren said, staring at her blankly.
"I"ll leave the tip," Heidi offered.
"He was really generous," the waitress said. "You don"t need to. Honestly."
"Thanks," Heidi told her. "We"ll...we"ll just add to it," she said lamely.
Lauren rose along with Deanna, as their friend dug in her purse, then laid a bill on the table. "Hey, look at this." Heidi said.
It was the beautiful antique cross. He"d left it on the table, Lauren realized.
"Where did this come from?" Heidi asked curiously.
"Mr. Gorgeous left it," Lauren said. She shook her head, but took the cross from Heidi. "Come on, I"m going to prove to you both that he"s full of s.h.i.t."
She led them quickly through the French Quarter, for once ignoring the architecture that never failed to enthrall her and the street musicians who somehow always sounded so good. When they reached the police station. Lauren opened the door to go in, then froze.Mark Davidson was there, talking to the desk sergeant.
She backed out of the doorway, stunned.
"Ouch," Heidi protested, as Lauren stepped on her foot.
"I take it Mr. Davidson is inside?" Deanna said dryly.
"Yes," Lauren said, puzzled.
"See?" Deanna said.
"Something"s still...not right," Lauren said.
"You always think something not right," Deanna told her. "Lauren, you can"t live your life with nothing ever being right," she added gently.
"You don"t understand," Lauren tried to explain.
"Yes, we do." Both of them spoke in unison, looking at her in concern. They were convinced that she couldn"t get beyond the past, and that she desperately needed to.
"No," she insisted. "I"m fine-these days. I would love to meet the right guy...or even a decent enough wrong guy. Movies, dinner...music," she said. "Honestly, I know you don"t have to plan a lifetime with someone to enjoy his company."
"You know what she needs?" Heidi said gravely to Deanna.
"I do," Deanna said.
"And that would be...?" Lauren asked.
"s.e.x. Wild, hot, pa.s.sionate s.e.x," Deanna said.
"Oh, please!"
"Spontaneous. Wicked," Heidi said, agreeing with Deanna.
"Can we move on?" Lauren said.
"Look-she"s blushing. She is attracted to him," Deanna said triumphantly.