Page 27 of Accidentally Mine

Once I had her in my arms, I sure as fuck never wanted to let her go.

She was easy to lead. And as I held her, my hands wanted to wander all over her back, her arms, her waist, her ass.

I forced my hands to stay on the skin of her lower back, my fingers tracing small circles as my cock strained against the zipper of my pants.

Gliding her across the floor, I inhaled her sweet, flowery scent and murmured, “You’re a natural. ”

“I think you’re just a good dance partner.”

“I’m better at sex.” I winked. What was she doing to me?

She grinned. “Hmm. Time to leave?”

“Getting there.” Not really, but with her in my arms I didn’t care what my stuffy peers thought about my escaping early.

She pressed closer to me, then lifted onto her toes, and under the guise of whispering in my ear, took my earlobe into her mouth, sucking gently on it as she pressed her body into my erection. “Now?”

I nodded and took her hand, led her back to the table where Claudia was talking animatedly with several neurologists. “I think we’re going to go,” I said to my sister.

“So soon?” she asked, a mixture of worry and disappointment on her face. “Are you okay?”

“I have a headache,” I lied without thinking it through, and of course, the second it was out Claudia’s eyes widened in concern. “Little one. Nothing acetaminophen can’t take care of. But we can take the T. You take the car.”

“Nonsense, there’s a game tonight at Fenway and the T’s going to be packed,” she said, standing. “We can all go. I have a ton of work to catch up on anyway.”

Back in the car, I instructed Ernest to take us to Claudia’s house in the North End first. As we drove, Claudia looked at me, her eyes narrowed. “My poor brother and his headaches. There was a time you used to close down parties like that.”

“I’m not the life of the party anymore, I’m afraid.” I looked over at Roselynn. She uncrossed and crossed her legs, giving me a glimpse between her thighs, and wicked thoughts bloomed in my head.

Claudia patted my hand. “It makes me sad,” she said to Roselynn as I shook my head slightly. Was she oblivious? Did she really think that I could be in the presence of a woman as beautiful as Roselynn and not want to be alone with her? “I’m sure he told you about the accident.”

“Well, yes. He told me he’d been in one, but that he’d recovered.”

Claudia frowned at me. “Recovered on the outside, sure. But—”

I exhaled. “Hey, Claudia. She doesn’t want to hear about that.”

Roselynn’s worried eyes landed on me. “I don’t want to hear about what ?”

I sucked in air through my teeth and blew it out. “Fine. What my sister is trying to say is that I suffered from various injuries that day, and they persist. But I’m getting over them, day by day. I’m fine.”

“Fine?” My sister’s voice went up an octave.

“You call two years of suffering fine ?” I was sure she was thinking of the countless doctor appointments she’d accompanied me to, the surgeries, the therapy, the pain.

But I’d mostly recovered now, and I didn’t want to burden Roselynn with any of my problems.

Next to me, Roselynn stiffened. I took her hand. “Right. But I’m here. I owe everything to the woman who saved my life.”

Claudia shot me an incredulous look. “What? You mean the phantom that doesn’t exist?

” She turned her eyes on Roselynn, who was burrowing into the seat beside me.

“There was one woman, who it turns out caused the accident. Then she ran away! You owe her nothing. She left the scene, Brent. The police reenacted the accident and determined that she was the only person at fault. She should be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, at the very least.”

“Can we drop this?” I wanted to concentrate on enjoying a gorgeous woman tonight. Not on my accident and its aftermath.

Claudia shook her head and said to Roselynn, “My brother. He’s just too damn nice sometimes. Some people deserve justice, and she’s one of them.”

I looked down at the floor and fought the need to press my fingers to my temple as an actual headache pinged inside my skull.

Instead, I tightened my grip on Roselynn’s hand.

To my surprise, she pulled hers away. She’d turned pale and gazed forlornly out the window, her hands buried under her thighs.

As I watched, she began to visibly shiver.

“You cold?”

When she didn’t answer, I removed my tuxedo jacket and dropped it onto her shoulders, receiving a small smile of thanks in return.

The car pulled up in front of Claudia’s apartment complex. “It was wonderful to meet you,” she bubbled at Roselynn, oblivious of the other woman’s distress.

Roselynn smiled and said quietly, “Likewise.”

Claudia nudged my shoe with her own. “See you, brother.”

As she stepped out of the car, I ducked my head and planted a kiss on Roselynn’s bare collarbone. “You okay?”

She flinched at the touch of my lips and slid closer to the door. “I’m the one who actually does have a headache now. I’m sorry. Can you just drop me at home?”

I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t disappointed. For the first time since my accident, I’d been faking the headache and looking forward to a long, long night with Roselynn in my arms. But now she wanted to call it a night? Fuck.

“I could take you to my place. I have ways to fix that.”

She shook her head, and her eyes blinked a little too rapidly. Was she on the verge of tears?

“Hey. Are you all right?”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes and nibbled at her lip. “Yes. I just want to go home.”

“Roselynn, I want you to stay with me.”

The tendons in her neck tightened as she swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I can’t.”

Can’t .

Her jaw was tensed. She was set. There was no use trying to convince her otherwise.

“Ernest. Take us to Roselynn’s house.” Sliding the glass up, I turned toward her more fully, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” I said softly. “Look at me.”

She wouldn’t. But I kept my hand there, fingers slowly massaging her pale skin.

I tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her face to mine.

I studied her, seeing the Roselynn she’d been when I first met her, the one who was so damn hard to get to know, so stuck in her shell that nothing seemed to pry her out.

It occurred to me at once, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle suddenly falling into place. She’d been running from something that night. That was how she’d caused the accident then. And that was why she couldn’t stay now.

She was the woman with the turquoise eyes. I had thought it might be true before, but now I knew I was right. Certain of it.

“What is it?” I urged, fingers digging into her shoulder. “Do you have something to tell me?”

She shook her head violently. “No. No. I just want to go home.”

Completely frustrated, I shook her slightly. “You’re her. Aren’t you? The woman at the scene of the accident.”

“No, I…” Her eyes met mine for the briefest of flashes, filled with remorse and guilt and a hundred other emotions. “I’m sorry.”

She was shaking. Terrified. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone look so terrified.

I forced my muscles to relax. “Hey. Listen to me. I don’t blame you. It’s okay. You can trust me. Please. Trust me.”

But her eyes strayed past me, to the window beyond my shoulder.

The car slowed to a stop at a red light on Broadway.

Before I could say another word, before I could put my mouth on hers and kiss that fear away, she reached behind her and lifted the handle, pushing open the door.

Bundling the fabric of her gown in her hands, she jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and ran in the opposite direction, down a dark, empty Broadway sidewalk.

What the hell.

“Roselynn!” I shouted, scrambling across the limo and re-opening the door. Scanning the street, I spotted her. She’d taken off her heels and was at the intersection before I could call her name. When I finally found my voice and shouted her name several times, she didn’t even pause.

Fuck. I started after her, but a bus surged by, and by the time the street cleared for me to cross, she’d disappeared.

Worry lanced through me. I told myself she’d be fine, that she’d survived this city and more, long before I’d ever met her.

I cursed as I went back to the limo and climbed into the back.

“Give her time,” Ernest said.

I glared at him through the rearview. Right. Time. But she’d told me she was going to flee town for whatever reason, and soon. This could have been the push she needed to leave for good. I scrubbed my hands over my face and dropped my head back against the headrest, then loosened my bow tie.

Then I placed a call to Kyle at the police station. “Hey, asshole,” I said when he answered. “Thanks for calling me back.”

“Your Highness,” Kyle responded, “I would have, but I had this pesky little thing called a job to do. Rebecca Reece disappeared without a trace over two years ago. She was last seen at her dorm at Boston College, arguing with her boyfriend, one Anthony Markin. A real piece of shit.”

Anthony Markin . “What do you know about this Anthony?”

“His father pretty much runs the Boston mafia.”

Fuck. So it was just as her aunt had said. I let out a long breath. “Okay. Do you know the day that she disappeared? The date she was last seen?”

“Not off the top of my…” He exhaled. “Let me check. November third, two and a half years ago.”

I clenched my fists. Everything was starting to make sense.

“Hey,” Kyle said slowly. “Wasn’t that the day of your accident?”

“Can you look into one more thing for me? The name Roselynn Reid.”

“Yeah. I’m in the computer now.” I spelled the name for him and there was a pause as he typed. “Well, this is interesting.”

“Yeah?” I prompted.

“It says she’s twenty-three and lives in Illinois. But she didn’t exist until two years ago. There’s no previous known addresses or anything. Like she just appeared one day.”

She hadn’t just appeared. Rebecca Reece had simply become Roselynn Reid.

“Hey,” my friend continued. “What is this all about? She’s not by any chance the woman who caused the damn accident?”

Shit. I’d told him too much. “Thanks, but I’ve got to go.”

“Wait. Dude. Are you saying Rebecca is hiding out now in Chicago under the name of Roselynn Reid?”

“Sorry, man, I’ve really got to go. Do me a favor and hold that thought until I get back with you,” I said quickly, cutting off the call.

I looked up at Ernest and raked my fingers through my hair. “Jesus, could this day get any more fucking unbelievable?”

“I thought it was unbelievable enough when you brought a date to the gala,” he said, shaking his head at me. “And from the look on your face, I’d guess that she’s not just a good runner.”

“I’m almost positive it was Roselynn, also known as Rebecca, who was driving the car that night.”

“Whoa. So she’s a fugitive responsible for almost killing you? You can pick the winners.”

I glowered at him. “She’s in trouble. I think she was running from the mafia, and still is.”

“The mafia?” He frowned. “Wonder what could make the mafia come after a girl that sweet. Damn. Once you fuck with the mafia, you’ll never be done with them.” He met my eyes in the mirror, telling me silently that if I was in, so was he. Ernest was nothing if not loyal to a fault.

I’d told her I’d never hurt her, but what I should’ve told her was that I’d never let anyone else hurt her, either. No matter what had happened in the past.

I opened my phone and punched in my sister’s number.