Chapter 3

3

G wen rushed across Grand Central concourse toward the northbound trains, not looking back. She almost didn't care if the rock star fan followed. Her only focus was on getting home.

She reached the stairs to the tracks and pounded down, heading toward the Metro North train. On the platform, she panted to a stop, breathing in the smell of grease and hot metal as she stared at the receding lights disappearing into the tunnel.

Will jogged up beside her, not even breaking a sweat.

She bent over, pulling in a lungful of air before straightening. "That was the last train tonight. I missed it by seconds."

Will trudged up to the main concourse beside her. "Sorry about that."

"We tried, and the subway was probably faster than any cab. I'm sure the passengers on that train are glad the rail operator is sticking to their schedule." In the ticketing lobby she hung back in the shadows and scanned the floor stretching the long length of the hall. Her stalker didn't appear to be around. "I don't see him."

Could she relax or would he pop up again somewhere? She hitched her tote straps higher and looked up at Will. She hadn't wanted him to confront the guy on the subway and possibly get hurt, but maybe the long-haired dude was the one who should have been afraid. With his broad shoulders and ripped arms, Will certainly looked strong enough to take him on.

He dropped his gaze to her. "Me, neither. I wonder if it's me he's after."

Gwen shook her head. "No, it's me. I saw him when I was leaving the package shipping office in the Chrysler building. He followed me down the block. With at least fifty other commuters, true, and caught the same bus. I put it down to coincidence, but I was glad I'd lost him. Guess I didn't."

"Why is he following you?" Will propped his hands on his hips.

"I wish I knew." She huffed out a breath. "At first, I thought he looked familiar, like someone I'd seen around the campus. Why would he spend two and a half hours chasing me around Manhattan for no reason? That doesn't make sense." Did the creep find her attractive and didn't want to lose sight of her? She shivered.

"I think you can relax." Will squeezed her shoulder, his brow furrowed. "I don't see him around now, and I've been looking."

"Good thing because it looks like I'll be stuck sitting around here until morning." She would have to call Leslie and explain why she wouldn't be coming over tonight. Not a conversation she anticipated since she'd put her cousin off all week the same way she had Will. For the same reason: work.

Will, his blue eyes sharp under his straight auburn brows, reached up to swipe sweat from his jaw-hugging beard. "You don't really want to stay here and wait all night."

"No, but I'll be all right. Some of the restaurants here stay open late. There'll be other folks around." She gave him a smile and took a step toward the food hall. "Thanks for your help. I'm sure you didn't plan to spend all this time delivering the book for Erin."

"Wait." He put a hand on her arm. A little fissure of pleasure rippled through her that he didn't want to say goodbye. He was frowning, though. She chewed her lower lip, holding her breath. "I'm responsible for your missing your train. I can drive you home, if you want."

"It's not your fault. I was the one who wanted to stop at the coffee shop. Besides, I don't want to inconvenience you?" She raised her eyebrows. Single guys—and she did know Will wasn't married because of something Erin had said—usually had big plans for Friday night.

"I've got nothing scheduled. Not until a flag football game on Sunday." He steered her toward the street exit. "We can take a taxi to my car. Come on."

The cabbie dropped them at the address of the Westside garage where Will had a monthly parking spot. They found his Jeep and on their drive down the ramp, she gave him directions. He wasted no time getting on the expressway north, and she sagged against the cushy seat in relief as the lights of the city faded.

They soon had to stop, though, as cars were backed up on the bridge across Harlem River.

"I guess this sort of traffic is usual." She tucked her hair behind her ears. Not that she expected the strands to stay there, but she hoped she looked less of a wreck than she felt. "Not that I know since I'm usually on the train."

"It's a Friday before a summer weekend. A lot of people leave town." The cars in front rolled forward, and Will turned his attention once again to the road.

She stared at his long, tapered fingers gripping the wheel. He drove with quiet confidence, the only sound the soft swish of cool air coming through the dashboard's vents. She should find this soothing. She wasn't one to have to talk to fill the time—usually. Right now, she mostly had questions. When she met someone new, she had to have some background to find her own place in the conversation. It was probably the scientist in her, but she needed to know certain facts then she could proceed with confidence. Besides, Will intrigued her, and she wanted to know all about him.

He moved his right hand to rest on the gear shift only inches from her knee. The sensations of his palm pressed against hers during their mad dash through the streets returned. Now that she had time to think, she could acknowledge what she'd been feeling. The contact had managed to make her feel safe, though she wasn't sure why she'd been so frightened. Except that she hated being bullied, which was what that long-haired guy had been doing.

Will had glanced over at her occasionally—and was looking at her again now. She ignored the sizzle of awareness that ran through her and tugged her seat belt tighter.

"We'll be there in another twenty minutes or so," he said, his deep voice almost intimate in the dark cocoon of the car.

"That's good." She ran her fingertips over the smooth belt webbing.

She couldn't get the image of the guy with long black hair her out of her mind. And every time she froze up inside. He'd seemed familiar. That meant she must have seen him before. Somewhere. The fact that she couldn't remember proved she needed to pay better attention to her surroundings everywhere, every time she left home or the lab.

"You cold?" Will reached for the controls.

"No, I'm fine." As far as the car's temperature was concerned, anyway.

"You're rubbing your arms."

"This is the temperature you like. No problem." She clasped her hands in her lap, picking at a fingernail. Just forget that creep. Think about something else.

"You want it warmer?"

She glanced at Will. "If you don't mind, thanks."

Anything to distract him. She did want to know more about him, even if she couldn't let herself be pulled into a romance. Which was going to be hard. He couldn't be more appealing, and she was starved for the nice guy experience. She wouldn't mind hearing about his background but she didn't need to know.

His gaze landed on her again. "What?"

Surprise spiked through her. She tensed. "How did you know I had a question?"

"Instinct?" He smiled. "What's the question?"

She fiddled with the restraint's loose webbing "Call me out if I'm being nosy."

"I have no secrets."

Oh, yeah, like she really believed that. Everyone had some, but until she had more information on Will she wouldn't worry about his. "So…. How long have you known Erin?"

This wasn't the first question she wanted to ask, but the real one would be too embarrassing—at least for her.

"I started at the company a few weeks before she did. What about you?" He rubbed the top of the gear shift.

Butterflies flitted inside her stomach, and Gwen forced her gaze back to his profile, neutral territory. Mostly. "Since grade school. We kept in touch even after my parents were killed and I moved to live with my aunt and uncle. We worked together in an ice cream parlor on the shore in the summer, too."

"Did you stock Rocky Road?"

"You're joking, right?" She laughed. "Every self-respecting ice cream parlor stocks that flavor. Is that your favorite?"

"Guilty as charged." He grinned.

"That was a leading question, as the DA used to say on old Perry Mason shows." Where on earth had that reference come from? "My uncle used to watch those on the re-run channel."

She sucked her lower lip, only now remembering how a former beau had complained about her constant questions.

The silence gradually expanded to fill the space, and any minute it would feel suffocating. Will moved his hand back to the wheel. "Any more questions?"

"No, I better not."

"Why not?" His blue gaze this time sparkled with amusement.

"It's none of my business." She found her phone and listened to the four voice messages her cousin had left, trying to figure out the best response. She'd worked late all week, but knowing her boss would leave today, she'd promised her cousin she'd come to the house tonight. Except she was currently miles from her destination. She leaned her head against the seatback and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You okay?" Will asked. For some reason in the dark car, his voice sounded deeper and warmer.

His concern wrapped her heart in snuggly blanket. "I'll let you know after I finish this call." Her finger poised over the icon. "That is, if you don't mind me talking on the phone now?"

He smiled and flicked his gaze back to the windshield. "I don't mind if you don't."

Gwen peered at him. Why would she care if he overheard? Then she understood. He might think she was calling a boyfriend. "This isn't private, and since I'm calling my very excitable cousin, our conversation is probably going to be broadcast loud enough for you to hear."

Leslie picked up on the second ring. "Gran and I have been waiting forever. Where are you?"

"On my way." Gwen caught Will's gaze. "Don't worry. We should be there soon."

"Who are you with?" her cousin asked eagerly.

Had she said "we"? Gwen squelched a sigh. "A friend is giving me a ride because I missed the last train." That was all Leslie needed to know. She hadn't asked Will if he wanted to be outed, and she wouldn't mention his name.

"It's a man."

"Yeah." Gwen glanced at Will. A man, and what a man. Leslie knew she was taking a break from men at the moment and knew why, but her whole family kept trying to set her up so she'd at least have a date for the wedding.

"How's everything going?" Gwen asked.

"I just heard today the flowers might not arrive on time," her cousin wailed.

"You've still got two weeks on that, right?"

"What if he doesn't get delivery in time?" Her cousin continued to agonize, naming other possible florists in the area. "How am I gonna find someone else this late?"

"Bloomin' Bouquets has been in business forever. They know what they're doing. Listen, I have to go. I'll see you soon."

"Gran's eating her supper now. I'll tell Mom to hold yours until you get here. She made chicken and dumplings."

"I've already eaten." She would have preferred her favorite supper but had been starved at the deli.

Gwen ended the call and pushed her cell into the side pocket of her tote, sensing Will's gaze. "I need to go by my aunt and uncle's house when I get home to try on my bridesmaid's dress. I've been putting it off all week for work responsibilities, and Leslie is getting frantic."

Will chuckled. "Weddings are a serious business."

She estimated him to be about thirty-five years old, and guys that age were usually about to be married or had been. Especially someone like Will Strongbow. Not only was he knockout handsome, but he was polite, too. She liked him. "Spoken like someone who's been there and done that."

Uh-oh. This topic was so not her business. She didn't know him well enough to tease him and hurriedly angled the air conditioning vent to blast her face.

"I was an attendant at both my sisters' weddings. That's the closest I've come to being a participant."

Oh? That meant he himself wasn't married, but he was going to think she was figuring out his marital status because she was interested. She knew she could be. Easily.

They'd turned off onto the Saw Mill River Parkway a while ago and were now closing in on home. "Thank you for sticking with me tonight."

"I could tell you were scared."

"Yeah, I was," she admitted. She took in his face with the dark beard along his strong jaw, the tight lines of his face and the blue eyes in such contrast. If she hadn't been with Will, would the stalker have accosted her? Or robbed her?