Against the Storm1 (28 page)

For a moment, Ashley was speechless. Then her eyes began to fill. “Oh, Betty, that would be perfect.”

She had patted her on the back. “Don’t cry, now. You ain’t seen the place yet.”

But it wasn’t a bad place at all, and Betty said she was going to have it painted, and the carpet replaced, before Ashley and the baby moved in.

So she would be leaving the fabulous apartment Jason had arranged for her use, and striking out on her own.

And the first step was completing the paperwork lying on the table, an application for admission to the culinary school at the Houston Art Institute, along with an application for a student loan, a program Maggie had found for her on the internet.

Ashley filled in the last few blanks, smiled as she finished, then turned at the chiming of the doorbell. Her heart took a leap. Jason had phoned earlier. She was off work tonight and he was bringing Chinese. She had been cooking so much lately she was looking forward to the treat.

The bell chimed again as she headed for the door. He was coming over early, as he often did. Time had slipped away while she was working on the applications, so she hadn’t had time to change and still wore the jeans, flat leather sandals and a T-shirt with a bunny on the front she’d put on earlier. Funny thing was, Jason never seemed to mind.

She opened the door, excited to tell him all her news, and there he stood, handsome as a god with his gleaming blond hair and tanned skin, all warm smiles, and a soft look in his gorgeous blue eyes that seemed just for her.

“May I come in?”

She didn’t realize she was staring. Warm color rushed into her cheeks. “Sorry.” She stepped back and he walked past her, his arms full of brown paper bags. Ashley hurried ahead of him into a kitchen that was every cook’s dream, waited as he set the bags on the long granite countertop.

Jason leaned over and pressed a light kiss on her lips. It made her stomach quiver. “Hungry?” he asked.

“Starving. I didn’t realize it until I smelled that delicious food.”

He opened one of the bags, inhaled deeply. “Pineapple sesame prawns and lobster dumplings.” He looked into another bag. “Tea-smoked duck, steamed rock cod with ginger and scallions.” He opened the last bag. “Bok choy with fresh pea leaves in garlic sauce—and fortune cookies, of course.”

Ashley laughed. “The leftovers will feed me for a week.”

Jason smiled. “Mike Choo down at the China Palace cooks this stuff just for me. He knows how much I love Chinese.”

Her smile slipped a little. Jason was used to the good life. Restaurant owners who catered to his every wish were nothing out of the ordinary. She wondered if he would still come around when she was living in a tiny apartment above the Texas Café.

She started taking down plates and getting out silverware. “I’ve got some news,” she said as he pulled the cartons out of the bags and set them on the counter. “I just finished filling out my application for culinary school.”

He looked up. “That’s great, Ash.” He glanced away, then back. “I know you don’t have much money. I’d be happy to help you. You know I can afford it. Just tell me what you need and I’ll take care of it.”

She could feel her temper rising. She’d been afraid this would happen. She started shaking her head. “I don’t want your money, Jason. My sister offered, too, but that isn’t what I want. I’m applying for a student loan. I’m pretty sure I’ll qualify.” She looked up at him and managed to smile. “Besides, I’m keeping my job.”

A frown appeared between his sexy blue eyes. “I thought you were just filling in.”

“I was, but Mrs. Sparks wants me to stay. She says she’ll work around my hours while I’m in school.” She kept her smile in place. “And guess what? She’s going to let me and Robbie live in the apartment upstairs. Isn’t that terrific?”

Jason’s frown deepened. “What’s wrong with staying right here?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s the most beautiful apartment I’ve ever seen. But it isn’t mine. Eventually your friend will be coming back. And the truth is, I need a place of my own.”

“Jimmy’s busy gallivanting all over Europe. He won’t
be back for weeks. I think you ought to stay here. I live close by in case you need anything and—”

“Please, Jason. Please try to understand.”

He swallowed, took a deep breath. “I know how much you value your independence. It’s one of the things I admire about you, Ash. But it just seems crazy when I have so much and you—”

“Don’t say it! I know you want to help, but I just can’t take your money!”

A lengthy silence followed. “Okay,” he agreed with a sigh. “We’ll do it your way.”

Ashley looked up at him. “I just want to know one thing. If I move into a little apartment like that, will you still come and see me? I know you aren’t used to that kind of place, but—”

He grabbed her shoulders, gently shook her. “Stop it! Stop it right now!” He bent down and kissed her, quick and hard. “I’m crazy about you, Ash. I wouldn’t care if you lived in a doghouse. I’d still want to see you.” And then he pulled her into his arms. “I just want you to be happy, honey. That’s all I care about.”

Ashley blinked back tears and clung to him. “Jason…” She loved the feel of him wrapped around her, the warmth of his body against hers. When he held her this way, it seemed as if nothing in the world could hurt her.

“It’s all right,” he soothed. “Everything’s gonna be all right.”

She nodded against his shoulder. She was falling in love with him. She had tried so hard to keep him at a distance, but he just kept breaking down her defenses. It couldn’t possibly work out. Jason was a wealthy playboy and she was a working mother trying to scratch out a
life for herself and her child. And yet when he held her like this, her heart swelled with love and hope.

He eased a little away. “Are we okay then?”

Ashley looked up at him and nodded.

Jason released a relieved breath, smiled and changed the subject. “So what are we doing tonight? I stopped at Blockbuster, got us a couple of movies.”

Ashley smiled. “I got one, too.
The Prince and the Maiden.
I promised my sister I’d help her and Trace find the stalker. I thought if we watched it we might find a clue.”

Jason grinned. “Sounds like fun.” He glanced toward the bedroom. “Baby’s asleep?”

“He’ll probably wake up pretty soon.”

“Then we’d better eat so you can give him his bottle.”

He always considered Robbie. Jason smiled when he held her infant son, and Robbie always smiled back. She was afraid her boy was falling in love with him, too.

She didn’t want to think about it. Jason was a man, and though he seemed to care about her, she knew she’d be a fool to trust him.

It made her heart hurt to think how sad she was going to be when he left her.

T
race stomped the dust from his boots, turned off the alarm and opened the back door. Rowdy trotted in beside him.

“Maggie?” He hung his hat on the peg beside the door.

“I’m in here.”

He walked in that direction, more eager to see her than he wanted to be. Damn, he liked having her around. Too much, he knew, but consoled himself that there was nothing he could do about it, not until they found her stalker.

“Hello, lover.” She walked up to him, kissed him softly on the mouth. “I missed you.”

His groin instantly tightened. “I missed you, too.” He had called her earlier, told her he wanted to take her out to supper, and she’d seemed excited about going. She was already dressed to go in a short, sexy burgundy number. One more kiss like the one she’d just given him and he would have to change the time of their dinner reservation.

“So how was your day?” she asked, reaching up to
run a hand through his hair. He resisted an urge to do the same to hers, to tangle a fist in all those glorious red curls.

“Pretty busy. I talked to Mark Sayers. He already knew how our little trip to the shore turned out—unfortunately. He did have some info. He managed to come up with the location of the cell towers the stalker’s calls came through. Two from one location, one from another. It might be something we can use.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

“Sayers mentioned Parker Barrington. Says the D.A.’s case is getting stronger every day. They think they can put him away for Hewitt’s murder.”

“That’s great. From what you’ve said, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Trace chuckled. “Jason was damned glad to hear it. I think the kid’ll be able to move on with his life now.” He leaned back against the kitchen table, settled her in front of him between his legs. “How about you? You get anything done?”

“I finished my client list.” She tipped her head toward the kitchen. “We can go over it whenever you’re ready.”

“Good girl. But not tonight. Tonight I have a date with a beautiful woman.”

She smiled. “I finished my work and then I went out and rented an apartment.”

Trace frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I rented an apartment over on Baylor. It’s very nice, and it’s close to Broadmoor so I can keep an eye on the construction being done on my town house.”

He took a breath and worked to calm his temper. “You can’t do that, Maggie. You know it isn’t safe.”

“I already did it, Trace. I’m moving in the day after tomorrow.”

He felt a growl welling up in his throat, told himself to stay calm. “What about your stalker? He isn’t going to leave you alone just because you want him to.”

“No, he isn’t. But other people have problems like this and they don’t just move in indefinitely with their bodyguard.”

His temper heated. “Your bodyguard? That’s all I am to you?”

“Of course not. But I have a life to live, just like you do, and it’s time for me to live it.”

He clamped down on his anger. “The man set your house on fire. He nearly killed your sister and her baby. What if he does something like that again?”

“You don’t believe he set the fire. You think it was something else. The stalker says he didn’t do it. He says he wouldn’t hurt me, and as crazy as it sounds, I believe him.”

“You believe him.”

“That’s right.”

“These guys are unpredictable, Maggie. He might mean exactly what he says, but tomorrow something could happen that changes the way he feels. You can’t take that kind of chance.”

“It isn’t fair to you, Trace. Can’t you see that? Neither of us wants to make a commitment. When things don’t work out, one of us is going to get hurt.”

Some of his temper seeped away, replaced by a tightness beginning to build in his chest. “Is that what this is about? You and me? It’s over for you and time to move on?”

“No! I mean…I—I don’t know. I just think we’d both be better off if we put things back on an even keel.”

But he wouldn’t be better off without Maggie. Trace was only beginning to realize how deeply he had come to care for her. He liked having her there when he came home. He liked being with her, liked everything about her. Well, almost everything. He didn’t like one damned bit that she was so willing to put herself in danger.

“This is a bad idea, Maggie. But if you want out that bad, I can make it happen. I’ll set up security around your place. We’ve got guys who make regular rounds. I’ll have them put your apartment on the route. We can do some kind of temporary alarm system until you get back in your condo.”

He didn’t say more. His chest was clamping down, making it hard to breathe. He should have known she was getting to him, should have backed off way before now.

It was his own damned fault, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Maggie walked up and looped her arms around his neck. “You’re supposed to be mad.”

“I am mad.”

“We were supposed to fight and then have a round of wild, unbridled sex.”

He eased her arms from around his neck. He felt sick inside, sick and angry with himself. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood anymore.”

Tears welled in her pretty green eyes. “It had to happen sooner or later, Trace. We both knew that.”

“Did we?” He turned and started walking. “I think you’d better call out for pizza. I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Trace…”

He grabbed her client list off the table and kept walking. Carly had played him for ten kinds of fool. But
Maggie O’Connell, with her soft smile and big green eyes, had managed to break through the wall he had built around his heart.

The following morning, Maggie knocked on the door to Ashley’s fancy, borrowed apartment. She had been there with Trace a couple times to make sure Ashley and Robbie were settled in all right. In the lobby, the security guard recognized her and phoned upstairs to let Ashley know she was on her way up. It was all very classy and very secure.

She stepped out of the elevator and started down the ninth-floor hallway, her sandals slapping the marble tiles as she wearily approached the apartment. She was exhausted. Last night, instead of sleeping, she had tossed and turned and listened for the sound of Trace’s boots when he came home, yearning to see him, afraid of the way she would feel when she did.

She took a breath and knocked on the apartment door, and a few moments later, Ashley pulled it open.

“Maggie! I’m so glad you’re here! I was going to call you this morning. I was just waiting until I was sure you and Trace would be up.”

The words made her stomach churn. The baby started crying somewhere inside and Ashley hauled Maggie into the massive entry and closed the door.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Her sister darted off down a wide, marble-floored hallway and disappeared into the room she was using as a nursery.

A few minutes later she reappeared, little Robbie wrapped in a soft blue blanket and nestled snuggly in her arms.

“Jason bought a baby monitor so I can hear him wherever I am. The place is so big it’s kind of hard to
keep track of such a little guy.” She jostled him until he stopped crying, then rubbed her nose against his until he finally smiled. “Your aunt Maggie’s here. She wants to hold you, sweetheart.”

And as Maggie looked down at the baby, she really did. She needed the comfort and sweetness of the little boy’s tiny body pressed against her. Needed someone who could cheer her up out of the terrible despair she had fallen into after Trace had gone.

He hadn’t come home last night, though he must have stopped by sometime, since there was a note on the door.

“I have some really great news,” Ashley said brightly, leading her onto the plush carpet in the living room.

Maggie cuddled the baby in her arms. “I could use some good news.”

“I’m keeping my job at the café while I go to culinary school.” Ashley grinned. “Mrs. Sparks has it all worked out. And she’s got a place for me and Robbie to live, an apartment above the café. So you don’t have to worry about us anymore.”

Maggie reached up and pushed a shiny blond curl back from her sister’s cheek. “I never worried about you. I loved having you and Robbie with me. But I’m happy for you, Ash. Really happy.”

Her sister glanced around. “I’m really gonna miss this place, but I’m excited, too, you know?”

“Yeah, I do. So is that why you were going to call?”

“No. Last night, Jason and I figured something out. Come on, I’ll show you.” Ashley tugged her across the thick carpet into a room with no windows. It was a giant media space with a huge viewing screen, Dolby sound and six wide reclining leather chairs.

“Jason showed me how to play this thing.” She went over and turned on the DVD player. “Last night we watched the movie
The Prince and The Maiden.
That was the song the stalker played for you over the phone, right? We figured maybe we could find some kind of clue.”

Maggie kissed the top of the baby’s head. One of his tiny hands wrapped around her finger and she felt a soft tug in her heart. She looked over at the massive screen. “So you think you might have found something?”

“I’m not sure. We were thinking maybe it could be.” Her sister started the movie, zipped forward at high speed, stopped a couple times until she found the place she was looking for. “Here’s where they sing the song.” The beautiful maid began to dance with the handsome prince. The couple sang the verse together. “I…saw…you…I knew you would be my one true love. I…saw…you…a vision so pure and sweet, my only true love….”

“It’s a lovely song,” Maggie said wistfully, trying not to think of Trace or recall the look in his eyes when she had told him she was leaving. Trying to ignore the grinding pain in her heart that she had destroyed a relationship that had become more precious than anything she had ever known.

“You said the guy broke into your house, right? That night he left a porcelain statuette.”

“That’s right.” She continued to watch the film until Ashley pushed the pause button.

“Well, here’s the thing. The couple in the figurine were dancing, right? That’s what you said.”

“Yes.” Maggie swung her nephew from side to side, watched his little hands fisting and his mouth working.

“Well, the song says, ‘I saw you, I knew you would be my one true love.’” But in the movie, they aren’t just singing, they’re waltzing. Just like the couple in the figurine.”

The truth hit her like a jolt of lightning, and chills rushed over her skin. She sank down in one of the leather chairs, clasping the baby in her arms.

“You’re right. In the movie, they’re waltzing. Just like the statuette.” She looked up. “I love to dance. Until this started, Roxanne and I went all the time. That has to be it. I must have danced with him somewhere.”

“I really think that’s the clue. I think you danced with him and he fell in love with you.”

She shook her head. “It isn’t love. It’s some sick infatuation.”

“Not to him. He calls you, follows you. He thinks you belong to him, don’t you see? Just like the maiden belonged to the prince.”

Maggie’s heart was pounding. She had to call Trace, tell him what they had discovered. Her palms began to sweat. She had to phone him, and half of her wanted that more than anything in the world.

The other half knew how difficult that call would be. Trace saw her actions as the end of their affair. He would be determined to get on with his life—just as she’d said she wanted to do.

Ashley reached for the baby, settled him back in the crook of her arm. “What is it, Maggie? Something’s wrong. I saw it in your face when you walked through the door.”

Sadness welled inside her. “I rented an apartment. I told Trace I was moving out tomorrow.”

“You broke up with him?”

“I didn’t break up with him. How could I? We were never really a couple. It was only a physical thing.”

“That is so not true.” Ashley settled into the oversize leather chair beside her. “He loves you. The way he looks at you…it’s like he could just eat you up. Maybe he hasn’t quite got it figured out, but he loves you.”

Maggie’s throat swelled. She only shook her head.

“You know what else?” Ashley gently pressed. “You love him, too.”

“No…”

“You really don’t think so? Look at you.”

Maggie swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “Even if I did love him, it wouldn’t work. I’m really bad at relationships. I always run away when things get too involved.”

“You mean like now?”

She closed her eyes. She was doing it again. Only this time, instead of escaping, feeling free, she felt as if she were falling into a deep, dark hole.

Ashley’s hand settled gently on her shoulder, making small, comforting circles.

The tears in Maggie’s eyes spilled over onto her cheeks. “I love him. I love him so much.”

Her sister smiled. “Well, then, I don’t see a problem. All you have to do is tell him how you feel.”

A ragged breath seeped out. “You don’t know him. He had a really bad marriage. He was only just beginning to trust me. He won’t do it again.”

Ashley’s smile faded. “Oh, Maggie.”

She rose from the chair, bent down and kissed the
baby’s forehead. “I have to call him. Tell him what you and Jason figured out.”

Ashley stood up, too, leaned over and hugged her. “Do it. Call Trace. Don’t give up on him yet. And don’t give up on yourself.”