Runaway Attraction Page 14

  A shy, beautiful smile graced her lips, but when it turned wickedly sexy, Micah knew he was in trouble. Bailey climbed on top of him, straddling his waist again.

  “Well, here’s your chance to do it again,” she said.

  So he did.

  * * *

  Hours later, Micah lay across the bed on his stomach, his arm draped over Bailey’s middle. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been awake, just watching her. The moon cast a gentle glow over them, bathing Bailey in a mellow light that made the light brown streaks in her hair shine like gold.

  Even as part of him knew that this was the dumbest move he could have possibly made career-wise, another part—the part he chose to listen to now—was content to just lie there and bask in her exquisiteness. Micah was still unable to fully comprehend that he was in Bailey Hamilton’s bed, that he’d made love to her over and over just hours ago. She had occupied his fantasies for so long that the reality of it was hard to believe.

  She’d insisted on putting on a nightgown after they had both decided that they would die if they made love again, and he couldn’t help but tease her over her shyness. She was one of the most beautiful, sexy, photographed women in the country. She’d graced the covers of magazines and strolled confidently down the runways of New York, Paris and Milan, yet she had been self-conscious about remaining nude in bed with him. Micah was fascinated by the contradiction.

  He moved closer to her, wrapping his arm more firmly around her middle, and nuzzled his nose against that spot just below her ear. It had driven her crazy earlier. Maybe he could do the same now.

  Bailey stirred, but she didn’t wake up.

  Micah nuzzled some more, while his hand inched down to her ridiculously smooth thigh. He fingered the edges of her lace-trimmed baby-doll nightgown, then pushed it up past her waist.

  Just then, a loud boom crashed outside, like a garbage truck hitting a pothole.

  Bailey popped up, her eyes bright with panic. She scrambled out of the bed.

  “Bailey!” Micah lunged for her but missed.

  She ran to the door and locked it, then flattened her back against it. Her chest was heaving with deep breaths.

  Micah turned on the lamp next to the bed, then cautiously approached her at the door. In a hushed voice, he said, “Bailey, it’s okay.” Her eyes shot to his and widened, as if she hadn’t realized he was there. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “It was just a truck on the street. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

  Understanding dawned in her luminous brown eyes, followed by horror and shame. She covered her face with her hands as she slumped against the door.

  Micah gathered her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “It’s okay,” he said over and over again, smoothing his hand down her hair and along her spine. Her body trembled, and no matter how tightly he held her, Micah couldn’t get her to stop shaking.

  “You must think I’m crazy,” she said against his chest.

  “You’re not crazy, just afraid. It’s okay to be afraid, Bailey.” Micah cradled her cheeks in his palms and lifted her face to his. “But you don’t have to live this way for the rest of your life. You can get past this.”

  “I’m trying,” she whispered.

  “I’ve seen it, Bailey. I know you can get past this with the right help. My mother, she was in your shoes once.”

  She looked up at him and his heart lurched at the panic still shimmering in her brown eyes. Micah pulled her closer, wishing he could take away her pain.

  “My mother was in a relationship with a man who beat her,” he continued.

  “But I—”

  “I know it’s not exactly the same scenario, but there are similarities. The fear I see in your eyes... I saw it in my mother’s all the time. She tried to pretend that everything was fine for my sake, but even as a kid, I could tell it wasn’t. That fear paralyzed her, but eventually she got out of that relationship and, in time, she stopped being afraid.

  “You can get past this, too, Bailey. But you first have to acknowledge what the kidnapping did to you.”

  She shook her head. “I’m over it.”

  “No, you’re not. God, Bailey, how can you not see that? You’re practically climbing the walls because of a truck driving down the street.” He brushed away the remnants of her tears with his thumb. “It takes more than just telling yourself that you’re okay. You need to take the necessary steps to actually get to a place where you’re no longer afraid. You can’t get there on your own. You need help.”

  “The press would have a field day with that, Micah, and you know it.”

  “Someone stole something from you that day. He stole your peace of mind. You deserve better than to live your life in fear.”

  “I’m not—” she said, but he cut her off, placing his fingers over her lips.

  “You are, but I swear I’ll help you, Bailey. All you have to do is let me.”

  “Do you really want to help me?” she asked.

  He nodded. “More than anything.”

  “This is all you have to do,” she said. She cradled his head in her palms and pulled his mouth to hers. Micah knew this was a defense tactic, a way to shut him up so that she didn’t have to deal with the real problem.

  It worked like a charm.

  Chapter 11

  Bailey stood with her hands above her head as her sister draped the maxi-dress fabric around her.

  Brianna peered up from where she was crouched at Bailey’s waist and, holding a pin between her lips, mumbled, “You know you’re glowing, right?”

  Bailey tried to affect a look of confusion. “What are you talking about? You’re the pregnant one. You should be glowing. Now hurry up so we can get over to the hotel to help with the setup for Zoe’s bridal shower,” she said, trying to change the subject.

  Her sister just continued to stare with a knowing grin.

  Bailey’s shoulders slumped. And here she thought she was doing a good job of concealing her recent trip to cloud nine. “Is it that obvious?”

  “The only thing that would be more obvious is if you wore a T-shirt with ‘I just had an orgasm’ spelled out in hot pink rhinestones.”

  “Brianna!” Bailey’s face instantly flamed.

  Her sister nearly choked she was laughing so hard. “Just stay away from Kyle,” she said. “If he sees that blissful look on your face, he’ll probably attack Micah.”

  “Oh, God,” Bailey groaned. That was all she needed, her overprotective brothers becoming even more overprotective.

  “So?” Brianna wiggled her eyebrows. “Was he any good?”

  Bailey barked out a laugh. “Um, let’s just say his talents extend beyond television.”

  Daniel, walking into Brianna’s office without bothering to knock, interrupted their laughter. He was followed by their cousin Nelson, who looked mad enough to kill.

  “Uh-oh,” Brianna said, “what’s going on?”

  “People suck,” Nelson said.

  “Care to elaborate?” Bailey asked.

  Daniel lifted the cover on the candy dish Brianna kept on her desk and scooped up a handful of M&M’s. He gestured toward their cousin before popping a few into his mouth.

  “Nelson found out that he wasn’t the Hamilton that the producers of his reality show were really interested in. They wanted Bailey.”

  “Me?” she yelped.

  Nelson nodded. “That’s the only reason I was hired. They were trying to get closer to you.”

  “What did they expect you to do?” Brianna asked. “Strong-arm Bailey into being in the show?”

  “Everyone knows how close the Hamilton family is,” Nelson said. “They figured you wouldn’t turn down your own cousin.”

  “Sorry to break it to you, but I would have,” Ba
iley told him.

  “I never would have asked in the first place,” Nelson said. “I don’t want to ride someone else’s coattails. If they don’t want me for me, then they can shove their job up their—”

  “Just be careful,” Daniel said, cutting Nelson off. “I know I don’t have to tell you that there are some in the media who would do just about anything to get a story out of you, Bailey.”

  “I know,” she said. “I’m not stupid.”

  “No one said that you were.”

  “I’m also not some naive first timer who doesn’t know how this business works,” she added. “I’ve been at this long enough to know when I’m being used.”

  Even as she said the words, uncertainty needled her brain. She hoped that she was savvy enough to read someone’s intentions, but she also knew how adept people could be at hiding their true selves. Being part of the fashion world all these years, she’d seen her share of the fakeness that resided just underneath a shiny veneer.

  Daniel and Nelson left the office and Brianna got back to work, doing the last-minute touch-ups on the designs that would be modeled in that week’s fashion show.

  “Oh, crap,” Brianna said. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I’ve bypassed morning sickness and moved on to all-day sickness.” She dropped the pincushion and took off for the bathroom.

  Bailey grinned, thinking about the new addition to the Hamilton family. Brianna was going to make a great mother, and Bailey couldn’t wait to be the very cool aunt who spoiled her niece or nephew rotten.

  A few hours later, Bailey followed Brianna into one of the smaller banquet rooms at the Childs International Hotel, where Zoe’s wedding shower was being held. The room was breathtaking, just like the rest of the hotel. Two giant crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their glittering lights reflecting off the raw-silk-covered walls. Three-foot-high centerpieces towered above round tables draped with linen.

  Bailey spotted her mother, who had long since taken over preparations for Zoe’s wedding shower, even though it should have been Bailey and Brianna’s job as bridesmaids. Lila Hamilton was in her element directing workers on where to place things.

  “This looks amazing,” Bailey said, greeting her mother with a peck on the cheek.

  “Thank you. I figure it’s a dry run for the wedding.”

  “What can I do to help?” Bailey asked. And, as anticipated, her mother put her right to work. A half hour later, she was sprinkling iridescent glitter along the edges of the head table when her mother walked up to her.

  “Where’s the cake?” she asked. “It should have been delivered over an hour ago.”

  Bailey shrugged. “I thought maybe you were holding it in the back until the start of the shower.”

  “The shower starts in under an hour. Maybe the caterer knows where it is.”

  Two workers carrying an ice sculpture resembling intertwined hearts entered the banquet room. “Where should this go?” one of them asked.

  “I need to handle this,” her mother said.

  “Don’t worry about the cake,” Bailey told her. “I’ll find the caterer.”

  She went in search of the woman who had been to RHD several times over the past few weeks, bringing in food samples for both Zoe’s bridal shower and the upcoming wedding.

  “Melissa?” Bailey called when she spotted the woman directing the staff on where to place the covered serving trays. Bailey pointed to the table where the cake should have been. “Did the bakery call to say they were running behind with the cake?”

  Melissa’s brow dipped into a frown. “Not that I know of. I wasn’t in charge of the cake. Zoe wanted to use a bakery that I don’t contract with.”

  Bailey called Zoe, who was still at home getting ready for the shower.

  “Is something wrong?” Zoe asked.

  “They’re probably just stuck in traffic,” Bailey said, not wanting to alarm her future sister-in-law. “I’ll just call to find out how far away they are.”

  But even as she said the words, an uncomfortable feeling traveled up Bailey’s spine. She tried to brush the feeling off as being overly dramatic, but she couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that had the hair on her neck standing on end. Too much had happened over the past few weeks.

  When Bailey called the bakery, her intuition was confirmed.

  “Please tell me you’re lying,” she said.

  Her mother picked that moment to return to her side. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  Bailey held up a finger and said to the person on the other end of the line, “Well, have you any idea who called?”

  Bailey’s eyes closed. She ended the call with the bakery, her stomach churning with dread.

  “What’s going on?” her mother demanded.

  “Someone—” She cleared her throat. “Someone cancelled the order for Zoe’s cake.”

  “What?”

  “The bakery said they received a call two days ago from a woman claiming to be Zoe Sinclair. She told them she’d found another bakery and she wanted to forgo the deposit she’d paid on the cake and cancel the order.”

  “Zoe picked that bakery because she wanted them specifically. She said she’d been using them for years.”

  “I know,” Bailey said. She looked at her mother. “This is not just a coincidence, is it?”

  The consternation on her mother’s face told Bailey all she needed to know.

  “Oh, my God. This is crazy!” Bailey said. “What could I have done to piss someone off so much that they would attack my entire family?”

  “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this, Bailey. None of this is your fault.” Her mother took her hands. “This didn’t start with you, Bailey. It started before you were ever kidnapped. Whoever is behind this had the entire family in their sights from the very beginning. I’m convinced of that.”

  Micah had maintained the same, convinced that Bailey’s abduction was just one in a number of planned attacks against her family. At this point, it didn’t matter who was the target of this reign of terror. Bailey was ready for it to end.

  When Zoe arrived at the hotel, she was understandably upset. They continued with the shower as planned, but the atmosphere was strained. Once the guests were gone, the entire Hamilton family huddled in Collin’s large office at the hotel. Even though the bridal shower had been a women’s-only affair, their father, Kyle and Daniel had all come to the hotel after their mother called to tell them about the cake.

  Zoe suggested that they postpone the wedding, but that idea was immediately shot down. She rattled off the list of awful things that had happened to the Hamiltons over the past few months, but Bailey’s mother was adamant. There would be no postponing.

  “The Hamiltons do not cower,” her mother said. “We’re not going to stop living our lives because of this.”

  The police had been called and informed of the incident with the cake. They assured the Hamiltons they would contact the bakery immediately to try to gather information on the call that had been made a few days ago.

  Bailey knew it was a long shot. Whoever was behind this had been careful enough and clever enough not to leave behind a shred of evidence when he’d kidnapped her. He’d most likely used an untraceable phone when he’d called to cancel the cake.

  Bailey stopped short. A streak of alarm raced down her spine as a thought occurred to her.

  The person from the bakery had said that it had been a woman who’d called pretending to be Zoe. If this was connected to her kidnapping, as everyone now suspected it was, then they had all neglected to consider that the perpetrator was not acting alone.

  As the family dispersed from Collin’s office, Bailey pulled Brianna to the side. “Do you think the police are looking for the right person?” she whispered under her breath.

  “
What do you mean?”

  “The person I talked to at the bakery said it was a woman who called to cancel the cake.”

  Confusion furrowed Brianna’s brow, but then understanding shone bright in her eyes. “But you said it was a man who kidnapped you, right?”

  “As far as I can remember,” Bailey said. “It all happened so fast, and whoever it was hit me from behind. I never got a clear look.”

  “But could a woman have carried you to that basement?”

  “I don’t know,” Bailey said. “Maybe whoever abducted me is working with an accomplice, or maybe he just paid some random woman off the street fifty bucks to call the bakery and cancel the cake order. There are so many possibilities.”

  “And way too many questions,” Brianna said. “Whoever is doing this knows details about the inner workings of RHD, Kyle and Zoe’s wedding, even which bakery Zoe likes to use.”

  “And they have it in for our family,” Bailey said.

  Fear pulsed through Bailey’s bloodstream. Whoever was behind these attacks had proved they were willing to commit a felony to get their point across. The question was: What point were they trying to make?

  And just how far were they willing to go to make it?

  * * *

  Micah stood to the right of the runway that extended from the arching band shell of Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. It was the site of RHD’s resort-wear show, and the place where Bailey had been abducted less than three months ago. He tried to tell himself that he was being unreasonable, but Micah couldn’t shake the feeling of dread filling his stomach.

  He did not want Bailey out on that runway tonight, not after what he’d witnessed just a few minutes ago.

  The normally cool and collected Lila Hamilton had been distraught over the news that her future daughter-in-law’s wedding dress had gone missing from the studio of the close friend who was designing it. An hour after the dress had been reported missing, it was found draped across the hood of Kyle’s car in the parking garage adjacent to RHD, ripped to shreds.

  If anyone still had any doubts, the picture was now undeniably clear: the entire Hamilton family was the target of something sinister.