"I'd prefer him in the room with you, but I didn't think you'd ever agree to that." Rusty's grin was pure masculine superiority.
"Why on earth would you put Nick—Mr. Romero next to me? I'm sure you've already called in an army of guards to surround this place."
"We'll have more than enough security by tomorrow," Rusty said. "But regardless of that, Nick's the kind of man I want close to you if there's any trouble."
"How do you know what kind of man Mr. Romero is?" Addy asked.
"Are you forgetting he saved you from a kidnapper tonight, little girl?"
"For heaven's sake, stop calling me that! I'm thirty-five years old."
Completely ignoring Addy's demand, Rusty surveyed Nick from head to toe. "I ran a check on Nick. Just a preliminary check, when Dina said she'd invited her brother-in-law to come for the party and to stay a few days. Did the same thing with Brett Windsor. No big deal."
"But why, Daddy? That's an invasion of privacy."
"Brett Windsor has shown an interest in you. I wanted to see just how much money he did or didn't have. I wouldn't want you to have to go through the same kind of mess you did with Gerald."
"Give me some credit, Daddy. You didn't have to run a check on Brett. I've known all along that it's your money he wants and not me."
"So we're both smarter than we used to be, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Some of us are smarter," Addy mumbled under her breath.
"Insulting Dina in front of her brother-in-law?" Rusty laughed.
"I'm going to bed," Addy said, heading for the door. "And in the morning, I'm going home."
"Nick, you go on with her, see her tucked in all safe and sound." Rusty commanded, but a trace of chuckling humor softened his words.
Addy stopped dead in her tracks. Without turning to face either man, she said, "What did you find out about Mr. Romero that makes you think he's so trustworthy?"
"He fought in Nam. Spent ten years in the SEALs. Went in when he was eighteen. He was a DEA agent for nearly a dozen years." Rusty paused, as if waiting for his daughter to comment. When she didn't, he continued. "He came from nothing and made something of himself, just like I did. I think Nick and I are a lot alike. Besides, he's one of Sam Dundee's best friends, and Dundee said that, despite Nick's bad leg, he's one of the toughest, meanest sonofabitches he's ever known. The kind of man you'd want on your side in a fight."
Addy knew she'd made a mistake in asking. Obviously, Nick Romero possessed all the requirements her father considered important in a man. Close friendship with Sam Dundee, whose private security agency her father had used on more than one occasion, was a definite plus in his favor. What more could Rusty McConnell ask for? "With such glowing credentials, I think you should just adopt him—then Dina would have someone around to amuse her when you're too busy."
Rusty's big body shook with laughter. "Dina has Brett for that. Besides, I was thinking I wouldn't mind having a man like Nick for a son-in-law."
Nick's gut twisted. His heartbeat accelerated. What the hell kind of game was McConnell playing? When he saw the stricken look on Addy's face, he wondered if she hated the idea of marriage or just the idea of being married to him. "Don't worry, Addy, I'm not the marrying kind." He gave Rusty a hard stare. "Maybe you'd better just adopt me."
"You take care of our Addy." Rusty walked over and draped one arm around Addy's shoulder, then reached out and placed his other arm around Nick. "If you hear the least little peep out of her during the night, you rush right on in. You—" he turned to Addy "—behave yourself and cooperate."
Rusty walked them to the double doors leading out into the foyer. Stepping away from them, he laid Addy's hand on Nick's arm.
"Why don't you just play along with your father?" Nick whispered. "It'll make it easier for both of us."
"It's obvious that you don't know Rusty McConnell, Mr. Romero. He doesn't respect easy compliance, especially not in his daughter. He expects me to fight back."
"Have you always?"
"No, I haven't." Addy allowed Nick to lead her up the winding staircase. "Daddy has always loved me. Adored me, really. But when I divorced Gerald and moved out of this house, Daddy learned to respect me and accept what I wanted."
"And you're afraid this kidnap scare will somehow turn back the clock to the way things used to be?"
"I won't let that happen."
Nick didn't doubt her. There was more to Addy McConnell than met the eye. Was that why he felt so attracted to her? He couldn't figure it out. She was far from his type. Hell, she wasn't much to look at. Too flat-chested, too plain, too tall and too hostile toward men. He liked women who liked men. Soft, fluttery females. Sultry, sexy ladies who enjoyed flirtation and seduction. Experienced women who knew the rules and played the game to perfection.
Addy McConnell didn't fit the description. But there was something about her, something lonely and vulnerable, and something filled with raging hunger. She hid it well, but Addy was a woman in need. And Nick wanted to be the man to fill that need.
Addy opened her eyes. Dawn light filtered through the sheer panels that covered her bedroom windows. She'd forgotten to draw the yellow drapes last night. An early morning hush enveloped the room. Stillness. Quiet. Then she heard the woman's voice coming from the room next to hers, the room her father had assigned to Nick Romero.
Addy scooted to the edge of the bed, slipping into her blue house slippers. Feeling around at the foot of her rumpled bed, she found the blue robe that matched the lace-trimmed cotton gown she wore. When she'd moved out of her father's mansion nearly seven years ago, she'd left everything behind. She wanted nothing that reminded her of the three years she'd spent with Gerald or the two heartbreaking miscarriages she'd suffered. But her father had kept not only her room unchanged, he'd kept every one of her possessions, including her clothes.
Walking softly, Addy made her way to the door, cracking it slightly open. When she heard Nick's door opening, she closed her own, leaving just enough space so she could peep into the hallway. Dina slipped out of Nick's room. He stopped in the open doorway. She stood close, her body grazing his. Dina wore a sheer black silk negligee. Addy gasped at the sight of Dina's near nakedness. My God, had the woman no shame?
Dina ran her long nails down Nick's cheek, then across his lips. Addy sucked in her breath.
"We're in agreement, then," Dina said, breathlessly. "You won't say a word to Rusty about—about what happened, will you? He might not understand."
"It's none of my business." Nick looked down at the small blond woman who had once tempted him beyond reason. Strange how age and experience change a man. "But Rusty McConnell is nobody's fool. My guess is that he already knows exactly what you're all about and he wants you anyway. Why not be totally honest with him and see what happens?"
"Silly boy. You know better than that. You men are all such fools when it comes to women. You get so possessive and can't bear to think that we might be as experienced as you are. We're supposed to be thankful to all the women who taught you how to be studs in bed, but you're jealous of the men who taught us how to be pleasing."
"Hell, Dina. Rusty knows you've been married five times, doesn't he?"
"Yes, but—"
"Go back to bed before Rusty wakes up and finds you gone. It would be easier to explain everything about your past to him than it would to explain what you've been doing in my bedroom at five-thirty in the morning."
She ran her fingers down his throat, across his bare chest to the undone snap of his tuxedo trousers. "All we've done is talk."
Nick grabbed her hand, shoving it away. "And that's all we're going to do, now or ever. I'm not a sex-hungry seventeen-year-old."