Cherish her: Laws of Seduction, Book 4 (15 page)

Once we had the number, we just had to make the call. I think back to how my heart had been pounding and my palms were so sweaty I could hardly hold on to the phone. Her father had answered, and I laid out the events of the past month. I hadn’t known what to expect, but immediate acceptance of Becca’’s guilt in every instance surprised me. It seems like he knew his daughter well. Things had become easier after that. We decided that it would be best if Becca’s father were to wait somewhere nearby. I would try to get Becca alone so that she would not have a chance to get away, and Nick would call her father and let him know when to come. Miraculously, everything had gone according to plan, with the exception of James crashing the party. Luckily, that had not lead to a major disruption.

When I finished telling James how everything had come together, I sit back and contemplate how things could have gone wrong. I am amazed that Becca’s father had the foresight to hire a doctor who had come prepared with a sedative. It had certainly made things easier. As the silence lengthens, I glance over at James. His expression reveals none of his thoughts. I consider pushing him for a reaction, but instead force myself to be patient. He pulls off the highway onto an exit. Instead of heading for a gas station, James pulls over into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. “Are you hungry?”

“No, I am not hungry. I didn’t want to be driving for this discussion.”

“Oh.” I can’t think of anything else to say.

“Do you have any idea how many things could have gone wrong with that plan?”

“But they didn’t.”

I watch as James gets out of the car. He moves to the front of the car and starts pacing back and forth in front of it. Placing his hands on his hips, he stops to glare in at me through the front windshield before once again resuming his pacing. I observe this behavior for several more minutes before opening my car door and stepping out. When I am standing in his path, James stops again. “I was wrong.” He must read the confusion on my face because he continues. “I shouldn’t have sent you away.” I am so thankful that he has changed his mind that I can barely keep myself from jumping into his arms. His sheepish look endears me to him further. “I thought I could protect you by staying away from you, but I see now that you have no sense of self-preservation. I can’t stand the thought of you coming up with some crackpot plan and there being nothing I can do about it. Besides… I missed you like the devil.”

“You did?” My eyes burn, and I hope I don’t start to cry.

“God yes, every second of every day. Last week was hell on earth.”

“For me too.”

James gives me a dirty look. “You wouldn’t have thought it by your behavior. Every day you seemed to grow more beautiful before my eyes, and you sure did seem to enjoy your new freedom.”

I can’t help the smile that blooms across my face. He had noticed the attention I had been getting. I think it is better that I don’t tell him that most of it was just the guys’ way of getting his goat. It wasn’t every day that an ordinary guy could get one up on someone like James McAllister.

My smile fades. He missed me this week, and God knows I had missed him, but had anything really changed? I wasn’t even sure if he wanted me to move back in with him, and if he did, was I willing to risk him shutting me out again? My heart and body longed for him desperately, but I needed to be careful of where this is going. We stand a foot apart, neither of us moving, staring into each other’s eyes, when his phone starts to ring. We listen to the rings until it stops. James moves a step closer and starts, “Lainey, I….”” He is interrupted by his phone ringing again. Whoever it is seems to be persistent. With a mumbled curse, he fishes it out of his pocket and looks at the display. Turning his back to me, he accepts the call. As I watch, he strides over to a grassy patch of land and resumes his pacing. From this distance, I cannot hear what is being said, but from his body language I know it is nothing good. Finishing the call, he re-pockets his phone and walks back to me.

“Who was that?” I ask.

From the way that his eyes shift away from mine, I know he doesn’t want to say. “Well?” I prompt again.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he looks off into the distance before turning back to me. “That was Rex.”

I regard him silently waiting for more, but when nothing is forthcoming, I press. “Okay… Was it something to do with Tobin?”

I don’t think he is going to answer and am surprised when he speaks. “They have a Jane Doe at the morgue, and they think it’s Davis’’s ex-girlfriend.”

“The one taken by Tobin?”

“Yes, her name is… was Chantal.”

I remember hearing her name the night of his grandfather’s party. I stand for a moment letting this information sink in. “Do you think Tobin is responsible for her death?””

James shrugs. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. It’s what we can prove, and that is nothing.””

“And now Tobin is out to get you. How did he find out that you were investigating him?”

“That’s a very good question, for which I have no answer.”

“What now?”

“I want to tell you to stay away until I know it is safe again, but if the last week has taught me anything at all, it’s that I can’t stand being apart from you.””

“You have to stop pushing me away when the going gets rough.”

After a long pause James concedes, “I’ll try.”

I know it won’t be easy for him, and I probably shouldn’t expect miracles overnight. My despair at the thought of spending another day without him overrides my conviction that James will probably continue to want to exclude me when trouble comes around. I look up into his brilliant blue gaze and longing washes over me in a hot wave. “You had better.”

He opens his arms and I throw myself into them. His arms clutch me tightly as his mouth descends on mine. I have missed the feel of him. He feels like home.

I vaguely hear the sound of cat whistles as James draws back. A couple of guys holler at us to get a room as they get into their car. James laughs down at me, making me smile. “I love you, Lainey Hart.”

“Right back at ya, James McAllister.”

“Maybe we should take their advice.” At my look of confusion, he clarifies, “You know… get a room. I don’t think I can wait until we get back to the city.”

“What happened to enjoying the anticipation?”

He groans. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

We climb back into the car, and James pulls back onto the highway. He taps his fingers on the steering wheel a couple of times and stops. When he does it again, I know something must be bothering him. “What is it?”

He glances quickly in my direction before returning his attention to the cars in front of him. Clearing his throat, he begins, “I should probably mention some office news I heard last week.”

“Yes?”

“Valerie informed me on Friday that Elizabeth will be coming back to work next week.”

I sit for a moment absorbing this information. Am I happy about it? No. Can I live with it? Maybe. “How do you feel about that?”

James shrugs. “As long as she doesn’t come between us, it really doesn’t concern me.” He slides another look my way. “You are the most important thing in my life, Lainey, and I will do anything to keep you safe and happy.”

His words send my heart tripping. In the face of such sweetness, I can hardly put up a fuss about Elizabeth’s return. Still, I can’t help wondering if she is truly over James. “Maybe we can find someone to set her up with.” I run this scenario through my head. “Or maybe not.”

The traffic is surprisingly light for a Saturday, and we reach the Tribeca condo in record time. We don’t touch as the elevator takes us up to the apartment, because we both know that as soon as he touches me again, there will be no stopping the inferno to follow no matter where we are. When the doors open, James holds his arm out, and I exit first. Looking around, I see that the apartment looks the same as when I left it. The blue glassware in the kitchen and the other personal touches that I had added make it an inviting home. James stands by the couch and follows my movements around the apartment with his eyes.

When I am finished looking around, I walk over to James, who extends a hand and brushes my cheek. “You belong here, Lainey. You belong with me.”

Nuzzling my cheek into his hand, I agree. “Yes.”

I watch conflicting emotions race across James’s face. “I want you here, but I also want you safe. Paulson will continue following you, but I want you to promise me something. You have to promise that you will be careful. If anything unusual happens, no matter how small or inconsequential, I want you to tell me or Paulson right away.”

I will him to see the sincerity in my eyes. “I promise.” Wrapping my arms around his waist, I rest my head on his chest. His warm clean scent washes over me, and the sound of his steady heartbeat soothes the raging hurt from our week apart. I would be content to stay like this forever, but James pulls back and looks down at me with a look that makes my stomach muscles clench in anticipation. I let out a startled yelp when he bends down and throws me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “I hope you don’’t have any other plans this weekend, because I am keeping you chained to the bed.”

He strides off towards the bedroom as I swat him on the back. “Let me down!”

James laughs at my token resistance. “Not until I get you where I want you.”

“And where’s that?”

He throws me across the bed, and I land on the mattress with a bounce. His look is full of sensual promise when he answers. “Naked and begging for more, of course.”

EPILOGUE

James has promised to take me to lunch today. He waits patiently in the chair across from my desk while I finish responding to an urgent e-mail. When I finish, I glance up to find him looking at me. “What?”

He gifts me with one of his beautiful smiles, his dimple peeking out at the corner of his cheek. “I was just thinking how beautiful you are.”

I eye him suspiciously. “What’s with the charm, Loverboy?”

He quirks his eyebrow. “Loverboy?”

I shrug. “If the shoe fits….” A brief knock on my door cuts short our flirtatious exchange. Alex walks in, followed by Patti and Dennis. My office suddenly seems tiny.

Alex appears to be having a difficult time keeping a straight face. “Come on Lainey. The time has come for you to pay up.”

Confused, I look over to James, who is giving me a knowing grin. I look around at the others, who are also sporting huge grins. I am missing something, and can’t help thinking that the joke is on me. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

Alex laughs. “There is the small matter of a bet that you lost. It’s time to pay up, Lainey.”

I feel my eyes grow wide. The bet we had made on our very first day of work at Houghton Mills seems like a lifetime ago now. Little did we know when we made that bet how right Alex would prove to be. Someone had taken the office politics far too seriously. I never would have expected the analogy of crazed athlete to have fit someone in the law firm so perfectly. Becca had hurt a lot of people who she felt had stood in her way. “You’re not really going to hold me to that silly bet, are you?”

“Of course, that’s why we are all here.”

I look around the room again until my eyes land on James. “So you’re not taking me to lunch?”

“You’re going to have to sing for it, Baby.”

I blush at his endearment, but looking around, I see that no one else has taken notice. “Fine. I’m starving, so let’s get this over with.”” Never say that Lainey Hart doesn’t make good on her debts, even if they are ridiculous.

It is an unusually warm day for October. The sky is a solid blue without a cloud in sight. They couldn’t have chosen a more perfect day to play hooky from the office for a few hours. We make our way through the throngs of Midtown workers and tourists to Times Square. It doesn’t take us long to locate the Naked Cowboy, who is stripped down to his tighty whiteys. He has his cowboy hat pulled down low on his forehead to block the sun from his eyes as he strums the guitar hanging by a strap across his broad, tan shoulders. A group of enthusiastic tourists listen as he belts out a Johnny Cash song.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turn to see Sam and Dylan standing next to Nick. Apparently, Alex had decided to invite everyone I knew to witness the spectacle. “I can’t believe Alex told you about this.”

Sam laughs. “Yea, I think he went a little crazy with the tweets.”

Over her shoulder I see Jett talking to Brad. I groan, “Did he have to invite my brother? I’ll never hear the end of this. Then, to my amazement, I see Jarod walk up to Jett and Brad. Our eyes meet as Jett points in my direction. In a few strides, Jarod is at my side, swooping me up in a bone-crushing hug. “Little Miss America, I’ve missed you.” The air is crushed out of my lungs, and I wriggle around trying to escape.

I hear someone clearing his throat beside me. When Jarod puts me down, I turn to see it is James with a ferocious scowl on his face. After a few moments of tense silence, his brow clears, and he breaks into a friendly smile. “James, this is my brother, Jarod.”

James extends his hand for Jarod to shake. “I recognize you from Lainey’s pictures.”

Jarod scrutinizes James from head to toe before nodding his head. “Nice to meet you.” Jarod was always the more laid back of my brothers, and I’m glad that he seems to be putting the nonsense that Jett has been filling his head with aside.