The Soldier's Seduction Read online

  “I kicked the door down.”

  “You did what?” That was better. That tone had something approaching her usual fire.

  His grin peeped out. The boyish one that had an annoying habit of disarming her just as she was in full tirade. “Oh, come on, Steffi. I could have blown on it like the wolf in the kid’s story and gotten in here. It will take me two minutes to patch it back up again. Five minutes and I’ll have it in better shape than it was before. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

  She tried to inject every bit of energy she had into her next words. “Get out of my house.”

  Evidently every bit of energy she had wasn’t enough, because he scooped her up in his arms and deposited her on the bed. She should try to fight him, but it was taking every ounce of stamina she had just to keep her eyes open. She slumped back onto the pillows, scowling at him from beneath lowered brows.

  “Tell me what I can do to help you.”

  She didn’t want his help. Accepting it was the very last thing she wanted to do, but she was weak as a kitten. Maybe if she conceded and allowed him to feel useful he would go away. She had a feeling it was a vain hope. “Some water would be good. And you could hand me my glasses.”

  “You don’t need those tinted lenses in here. It’s gloomy as hell.”

  “I can’t see without them.” It was a lie, but she’d remembered what it was about eyes that bothered her. Part of it.

  He found her glasses on the bedside table and handed them to her before making his way toward the tiny kitchen. She heard him moving around in there and lay back, too wrung out to do anything else. When he returned with a glass of water, Steffi found to her shame that she couldn’t struggle into a sitting position. Without hesitation, Bryce placed the glass on the bedside table and, sitting on the bed next to her, slid an arm around her waist. Lifting her so she could lean against him, he held the glass to her lips. She submitted, grateful for both the cool liquid and his strong arms.

  “We have to get you to a doctor.”

  She shook her head, the action causing her cheek to rub against the hard muscle of his chest. It was both comforting and disturbing at the same time. Disturbing because she didn’t do physical contact. Closeness meant opening up to another person. That meant trust. The last time Steffi had trusted someone, she had been five years old. The person she trusted had brought her a new doll, then murdered her parents. She had never made that mistake again.

  “No doctor.” Not a chance.

  “Steffi, you are clearly unwell. If this is about money...”

  With an effort, she lifted her head to glare at him. Even behind the dark glasses, she had perfected the expression so it had maximum impact. “I said no.”

  His laugh vibrated through her body. “Has anyone ever told you that you are the most stubborn person in the whole world?”

  “Apart from you?”

  “Apart from me.”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Your family? I’d like to meet them.”

  You never will. The thought jerked her back to reality. “I’ll be fine now, Bryce. You can go. Thanks for your help.”

  “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.” The sarcasm in his voice was withering. “I’m just going to walk out of here and leave you when you can’t even crawl to your own bed.”

  “You don’t have any choice. I don’t want you here.” With a determined effort, Steffi pushed herself away from him and tried to sit up straight. It was a mistake. Behind the tinted lenses, the edges of her vision went black. Everything swam out of focus. She heard Bryce call her name in alarm, and the last thing she felt was his strong arms catching her as she fell back onto the pillows.

  * * *

  Steffi would kill him for ignoring her wishes, Bryce decided as he ended his call. If she couldn’t find something to do to him that would cause more pain than death. He checked on her again in between waiting for Leon Sinclair to answer his summons and fixing the pathetic front door. Her breathing seemed way too shallow.

  Stop panicking. Leon will know what to do.

  Bryce was pleased to have found this decisiveness within himself. It was a trait that often went missing at the most important times. Day to day, he could function. No one would know there was a problem. At Delaney Transportation, he knew the drivers viewed him as a good boss: tough, uncompromising, a little picky about the details. It was when the unexpected happened, if he was faced with an emergency, that it all came back to him. The explosion, the blood, the guilt. That was when his mind and body froze and he ceased to function. But he had made this decision about Steffi without hesitation. The thought brought with it a new and unexpected tingle of pride.

  He prowled restlessly around the little cabin. In contrast to its ramshackle exterior, the inside was scrupulously clean and neat. In the midst of this squalor, Steffi had tried to make the place comfortable. Somehow, the sight of the bright cushions and throw on the sofa brought with it a feeling of sadness. He frowned. If she suspected him of pitying her, Steffi would be outraged. In the bedroom, the quilt on the bed was a colorful, cozy patchwork and there were vases of wildflowers throughout. The whole cabin smelled fresh and clean. There was a TV in the tiny den and a smaller one in the bedroom.

  Even so, there was nothing about this place that made it Steffi’s. The few prints on the walls were landscapes. There was nothing personal, no photographs, no knickknacks, nothing that claimed it as hers. It was as bland as a vacation rental or hotel room. If she walked out of here right now, no one would know who had lived here. The only unusual thing was the stack of newspapers—she must read several each day—and celebrity gossip magazines. He wouldn’t have figured Steffi was the type to enjoy those. He shrugged. It just confirmed how little he knew about her.

  When Leon arrived, Bryce studied him cautiously. Both men were veterans of the war in Afghanistan, but their career paths could not have been more different. While Bryce had been an explosive ordnance disposal—EOD—specialist, or bomb disposal expert, Leon had been an army doctor. Bryce’s promising career had been brought to an end two years ago by a roadside bomb. His physical injuries had healed quickly, leaving him with only a slight limp. He knew his brothers would say he had been left with other, deeper scars. Bryce didn’t encourage such comments, even if he knew them to be true.

  Although Leon retained his medical license to practice, he had been given a medical discharge for mental health reasons. He had come home to Stillwater just over a year ago and had proceeded to make a name for himself by getting drunk and raising every kind of hell he could come up with. He had achieved the distinction of getting himself thrown out of every bar in the city and beyond.

  Leon’s arrival in town had coincided with a period in Bryce’s life during which he had wondered whether alcohol might be the answer to his own problems. Since he didn’t even know what the question was, he soon found out it wasn’t. He and Leon had been on some spectacular benders while he tried to find out. Bryce had quickly sobered up, but it took Leon a lot longer. A spell in rehab had followed and he was still fighting his demons day by day. His reputation lingered and Bryce was the only person in Stillwater who didn’t believe it was still Leon’s ambition to drink the town dry.

  Although Bryce knew how hard Leon was working to fight his addiction, he was secretly relieved to see that Leon was perfectly sober.

  “Where’s the patient?” The slight stammer that disappeared when he had been drinking was evident now as Leon held up his medical bag.

  “Through here.” Bryce led him through to the bedroom. “She was on the floor when I found her. Although she was conscious then, she passed out again after I lifted her onto the bed.”

  “Who is she?” Leon had removed Steffi’s glasses and was checking her pulse.

  “One of my drivers. She didn’t show up for a meeting today—” He broke off as St
effi blinked.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, Bryce.” Although her voice was weak, she still managed to sound belligerent. “I told you I didn’t need a doctor.”

  “As the only doctor in this room, I’m going to overrule you.” Bryce had never heard that sort of authoritative tone from Leon before. “I expect you would prefer it if Bryce left us while I examine you?”

  Steffi subsided back on the pillows, nodding submissively. So that was all it took? Somehow Bryce doubted the high-handed manner Leon had used would work for him. Before he left the room, he overheard a brief doctor-patient exchange.

  “When did you last eat?” Leon asked as he opened his medical bag.

  “What day is it?”

  “Wednesday.”

  Steffi seemed to be struggling to work something out. “That means I was sick all day Tuesday, my day off. So I may have had a snack on Monday evening.”

  Bryce closed the door quietly behind him. Damn it, Steffi. How the hell could she not know when she last ate? What was he going to do about her? There must be a story behind why she was here, but the chances of Steffi letting anyone get close enough to know what it was were remote to nonexistent. The chances of Bryce being the person she chose to confide in... He shook his head. Worse than nonexistent. Stillwater was a small city and Delaney Transportation had its own grapevine. Bryce had overheard the inevitable speculation about Steffi when she first arrived in town. He knew she had been a disappointment to the gossips, who had been unable to discover anything about her. He was fairly sure she had no friends in Stillwater. Who did Steffi talk to? Who knew anything about this intensely private and prickly woman?

  Bryce gazed out the kitchen window at the hayfield of lawn surrounding the cabin. He knew what his brothers would say. Bryce was good at collecting waifs and strays. It was what he did instead of dealing with his own problems. He had a sixth sense for people who were in trouble. And when that sense kicked in, he had no mechanism for walking away. Was that what he was doing here? Maybe there was no problem with Steffi other than her current illness. Okay, this cabin she lived in was a dump. There could be a good reason for that. Eccentricity. Debt. Maybe she was getting out of a bad relationship and didn’t want to be found. It was her business. She didn’t want him here. He should just walk away, leave her to it.

  Oh, hell. I’m already involved. Walking away wasn’t an option.

  The sound of a door opening drew him away from his thoughts. He went back to the hall where Leon was closing the bedroom door behind him. “I’ve told her to get some rest.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” Bryce scanned his friend’s face.

  “A nasty case of stomach flu,” Leon said. “It’s been going around.” His expression was grave. “In Steffi’s case it’s been much worse because she doesn’t look after herself. What’s her story?”

  “I don’t know. She’s only been working for me for a few months.” Bryce ran a hand through his hair. “What does she need?”

  “Medication doesn’t help with this particular strain. She needs rest and plenty of fluids. Then light meals for a few days. After that she needs to build up her strength. From what she was saying, she rarely eats more than one meal a day and even then it’s not well balanced.” Leon gave Bryce a sidelong glance. “Is money a problem?”

  “It shouldn’t be. We pay our drivers well.” Bryce heard the defensive note in his voice and was annoyed. He had no need to uphold the company’s reputation.

  Leon nodded. “Even so, if she had money trouble before she got here, her debts might eat up all her income.”

  It was exactly what Bryce had been thinking. He withdrew a roll of cash from the pocket of his jeans. “Can you go to the store, get some provisions and bring them back here?”

  Leon raised a brow. “People don’t generally trust me with their money.”

  “I know it won’t end up behind the bar of...” Bryce paused. “Is there anywhere in town still serving you?”

  Leon pretended to give it some thought before shaking his head. “Bartenders don’t have much faith in the word of a recovering alcoholic. And I find the bigger the distance I put between myself and any bar, the better it is for everyone concerned.”

  The words might have been frivolous, but the look in his friend’s eyes was anguished. “I trust you to come back.” Bryce handed him the cash.

  Leon grinned. “Damn. Now you’ve guilt-tripped me into it.” He made his way to the door, turning back with a slight frown. “I asked Steffi about her eyes. She said her vision is fine and her only problem is light sensitivity.”

  “Her eyes?” Bryce tried to remember if he’d ever really seen Steffi’s eyes. He didn’t think he had. They were always hidden behind those tinted glasses she wore.

  “Yes, it’s a condition called coloboma. It causes an irregularly shaped iris. In Steffi’s case, it means she has very striking-looking eyes, but I don’t think there is anything for you to worry about as her employer. She told me she doesn’t have any of the other complications that can be associated with the condition. She’s certainly safe to drive, and she has insurance that covers her condition.”

  Bryce had no idea what Leon was talking about. He was worried about Steffi, but his concerns had nothing to do with her eyesight.

  “I’ll be here when you bring the groceries back. I’m staying with her tonight.”

  Chapter 2

  As Steffi came slowly awake, she was conscious of two unexpected things. One was a sense of well-being, something she hadn’t felt for the last three long, fraught months. The second was the low murmur of the TV in the corner of the room. When she turned her head, she realized that Bryce was seated in a chair at the side of her bed. His head was turned away from her as he watched the screen. She took a moment to study his strong profile in the flickering light.

  When she had arrived in Stillwater, her whole focus had been on survival. Finding somewhere to live had been her first priority. An undemanding job had been next. When she had been hired by Vincente, he had introduced her to his brother, her new boss. With everything that was going on in her life, the last thing Steffi had expected was to be blown away by a man. But that was what had happened the first time she had set eyes on Bryce Delaney. And the impact hadn’t gone away. It hit her every time she looked at him.

  With his dark, wavy hair and deep-set brown eyes he was a striking man. High cheekbones, an aristocratic nose and a perfectly proportioned mouth, with slightly full lips, would have made him stand out in any crowd. Add in a muscular, athletic body, and Bryce Delaney came as close to the ideal image of masculine perfection as it was possible to get.

  But it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen a good-looking man before. She had been around plenty of them day to day and never once experienced the sort of fizz of electricity Bryce Delaney induced in her. And to feel this now? Shouldn’t she be immune to anything but the way her life had recently been turned upside down in the most destructive way imaginable?

  Bryce’s presence explained the noise from the TV. The feeling of well-being? She had no idea where that was coming from. All she knew was she felt safe. Which was ridiculous. She wasn’t safe and it would be madness to try to fool herself. If she allowed herself to slip into a mind-set where she stopped being watchful, she would make a mistake. She had been scrupulously careful; she wasn’t about to throw it away now just because, for some reason, she’d managed to snatch a few hours’ sleep. And that was another thing. After three months of insomnia, how come she was suddenly able to slumber peacefully?

  Her thoughts caused her to stir restlessly. The movement brought Bryce out of his chair and to her side in an instant.

  “Hey.” He switched on the lamp. “Let me get you a drink of water.”

  Steffi managed to shuffle into a sitting position so she could accept the glass from him. It wasn’t dignified, but from t
he moment he had found her sprawled on the floor her self-respect had taken a nosedive. “Why are you still here?”

  “Because you need someone to take care of you.”

  Instead of firing up with anger at his high-handedness, Steffi felt sharp, unaccustomed tears sting her eyelids. Bryce couldn’t know what he did to her with those words. He had no idea what the last few months had been like. For the first time in forever, she had no razor-edged comeback. Everything slipped away. The role she played, the barriers she put up, they were all gone as she gazed up at him.

  “Say something quick, Steffi, or I’ll think you’re dying.” There was a trace of amusement in Bryce’s voice.

  “Go to hell.” The words had no bite and she sank back onto the pillows.

  “That’s more like it.” He took the glass of water from her, scanning her face. She saw his eyes widen.

  Damn. She was used to that look. It was the reaction she got whenever people first saw her eyes. Her unusual, beautiful eyes. In the early days, they had been her passport to success. Now they might just be her downfall.

  “Is there something wrong?” She might as well call him on it.

  Bryce collected himself with obvious difficulty. “No. Not unless you count the fact that Leon thinks you need to take better care of yourself.”

  Steffi hunched a shoulder. “He had no right to tell you that.”

  “He was concerned about you. I’m concerned about you.”

  She watched his face. She preferred him snapping and snarling. In this mood, he was too breathtaking. And Steffi lived in a world where breathtaking men were commonplace. Used to live, she reminded herself. Those days are gone. Forever? I guess so...unless I can bring this nightmare to end. She had come to Stillwater with that aim in mind, but her quarry had remained stubbornly elusive. The man she had come here to confront seemed determined to stay away, although she didn’t flatter herself that her presence in Stillwater had anything to do with his absence. But, until she could meet him face-to-face, she had to avoid being found by his thugs. If they got to her, she was unsure whether their instructions would be to kill her or take her to their boss. Steffi wasn’t taking any chances. She had come here for answers, even if getting them meant putting herself in danger.