Don't Say a Word - Barbara Freethy [63]
"He sounded Russian. Just when I start believing that Julia is completely crazy to think she's that girl in the photograph, something happens to change my mind."
"I need a beer," Michael said. "You want one?"
"Absolutely." She followed Michael down the hall, into the family room/kitchen. "Hey, what's with the sleeping bag and pillows?" she asked, pointing to the pile in the corner.
"I've been sleeping here. That way I can work late and start early."
"On the floor?"
"It's not that bad," he said with a laugh. "Did anyone ever tell you you're a spoiled brat?"
"I think Julia has mentioned it a few times."
He opened a beer and handed it to her. "I don't have any glasses."
"This is fine."
Michael leaned against the counter as he sipped his beer. "Tell me more about the phone call. What did the guy say?"
"He asked for Julia. No, wait. He twisted her name. It sounded like 'Yulia.' I said she wasn't home. He asked me where she was, when she would come back, if she had a cell phone number he could contact her on. He said he had to speak to her immediately. I tried to put him off. He got agitated, started saying something in Russian, I guess. Then the line went dead. I think he was calling from a pay phone. There was a lot of background noise." She shook her head, feeling edgy and restless. Too much was happening too fast, and she was in the dark about most of it. "I really need to talk to Julia."
Michael nodded. "I'm sure she'll call you back."
"She hasn't so far. This isn't fair, Michael. She stirs up a hornet's nest, then leaves me to fight off the stinging bees."
He smiled at that. "You do love to be dramatic."
"I'm not being dramatic. My life is spinning out of control. So is yours, in case you hadn't noticed."
"I've noticed," he said heavily. "But Julia is worth waiting for."
Liz wasn't so certain of that. The last few days seemed to be pulling Michael and Julia farther and farther apart. Michael was renovating a house and planning for the future. Julia was digging up skeletons and searching for her past with a man who wasn't her fianc?. She wondered why Michael wasn't more bothered by that fact.
"Why don't you help me scrape some wallpaper," Michael suggested. "It will take your mind off your problems, and I could use the help."
The last thing she wanted to do was scrape wallpaper. Then again, she didn't particularly want to go home, where the doorbell and the phone would keep ringing with mysterious strangers laying claim to her sister. "Fine," she said. "On one condition: We work for an hour, then play some cards."
Michael loved blackjack. In fact, he'd been the one to take her on her first casino trip to Lake Tahoe after her twenty-first birthday. Julia had stayed on the beach while Michael had shown Liz how to play craps, blackjack, and poker. She'd been hooked ever since. "I have cards in my purse," she said.
"You carry cards with you?"
"I have to admit I was hoping to talk you into a game. On your break, of course. I know you're obsessed with this house."
"I am obsessed with it," he admitted. "It's the first place that's mine. I've been living with my family my whole life. I've never had a place of my own. This is what I've always wanted."
"It's a great house."
"Julia will like it, don't you think?"
For the first time she heard some doubt in his voice. "Sure, she'll love it."
"You're just saying that, aren't you?"
"I don't think it's the house you have to worry about," she told him.
He frowned. "I know, but the house is the only thing I can control at the moment. Julia is the wild card."
Chapter 10
"Enough," Alex said, breaking off the kiss. He jumped off the bed, running a hand through his wavy brown hair.
Julia blinked, dazed by the last few minutes of passion and desire. "What?"
"This is…" He waved his hand in the air as if he couldn't come up with the word. "A mistake," he said finally. "I don't poach on another man's turf. What the hell am I doing? And what the hell were you doing-kissing me like