In Your Wildest Dreams (35 page)

She sighed. She'd promised, and she'd truly intended to
keep
the promise this time. But New Orleans sounded dreadfully boring without him. "You're a tease," she accused.

He rubbed his knees against hers under the table as he cast an apologetic smile. "Even so, you'll be a good girl while I'm gone, no?"

"I guess I could do some work while I'm waiting for news on Tina." Although the truth was that she no longer even
cared
if they got the phone company account. Trying to make one long-distance service seem better than the next had somehow ceased to seem important. The only thing motivating her at this point was her sense of responsibility, the fact that other employees depended on her, that her work reflected on her entire team.

"You, uh, don't sound too excited about that,
chère."

"I suppose my work doesn't hold the thrill it used to."

He tilted his head. "That surprises me. You seem like a woman who'd be all
about
work."

"I suppose worrying about my sister has made the corporate rat race seem
...
a bit like a rat race," she said on a soft laugh. So much so that the revelation startled her. Whereas a few weeks ago her job had been everything to her, she realized that she didn't miss going into Grable & Harding every day—at all. She didn't miss her power suits or her power meetings, she didn't miss the high-tension atmosphere, she didn't miss all the glad-handing and executive fakery that was part and parcel of that world.

"Well, no rat race down here for you,
beb."

You can say that again.
The life she'd led since coming to the Big Easy, and the things she'd done with Jake, both in search of Tina and in bed—it was like having entered an entirely new universe. And it was suddenly hard to imagine that old world seeming like
enough.

On the way toward the mall's exit, Stephanie stopped in front of another lingerie shop, this one featuring bath products in the front window. "I bet Shondra could use some new underwear, too," she said, the idea just striking her.

He gave her a look of caution. "Uh, no—I'm not buyin' the girl underwear. She's a cool kid, but she's a
little
skittish sometimes about me bein' a man, and
...
just
...
no way."

She bit her lip, smiled up at him, and proceeded into the store anyway, knowing he'd follow.

"What are you doin' ?" he asked over her shoulder as she quickly grabbed up two pairs of good cotton panties—pink and yellow—as well as a bottle of peach body wash.

"What size bra do you think she might wear?"

He blinked at her disbelievingly. "How the hell do you think I'd know somethin' like
that?'

She laughed. "You're right. Sorry. Guess we'll have to forgo that item." Then she headed toward the checkout, laying her purchases on the counter.

"Didn't you hear me,
beb?
I'm
not
givin' her panties."

She smiled up at him as the sales associate wrapped the
undoes
and body wash in yellow tissue paper, placing them in a dainty matching shopping bag. "Just tell her this bag's from me. She can open it privately and you can pretend you have no idea what's inside." When he still looked skeptical, she peered up into his eyes. "A girl
needs
these things, Jake." The truth was, just since mentioning Tina's name over lunch, she couldn't help but wonder if her sister had fresh underwear to put on, soap to wash with, wherever she might be. Making sure another down-on-her-luck girl had them was the least she could do. "Just tell her a
...
lady friend helped you shop and wanted to add this."

He gazed down into her eyes, his expression going warmer, until he said, "You know something,
chère!
You're a pretty damn sweet lady friend."

The truth was, he didn't want to go to the bayou house after work. He wanted to stay here, with Stephanie. He wanted to make love to her 'til they were both breathless.

But good sense had prevailed. He couldn't get in any deeper with her. Didn't mean they couldn't keep getting together while she was here, but it couldn't be every night, and he sure as hell couldn't go confiding any more secrets in her. He had to keep it light, casual, fun—just like he'd made a point of mentioning this morning in bed. That had to be enough.

He'd decided not to panic over whatever it was he felt for her. His thoughts while failing asleep last night had been
...
well, crazy, that was all. An example of what great sex, bad memories, and exhaustion could do to you.

Yes, he felt something for her that turned him warm every time she came to mind—but he just wasn't ready for anything more than what they already had. Having fun with a woman, that was good. Sharing hot sex—also good. Definite steps in the right direction for getting his life back on track. That very concept had seemed impossible until just a few days ago, so being with Stephanie wasn't something he would deny himself. He just had to keep her at a certain distance. And putting some miles and time between them would do that—help him put all this in the right perspective. Then, in a few days, he'd come back to town and they'd be together again.

Sounded like an eternity.

Too damn bad.

The apartment was quiet when he came in. He lowered the shopping bags to the floor just inside as Shondra's mutt came trotting across the old linoleum to meet him, furry tail wagging, tongue lolling.

"You keep forgettin' I don't like you, mangy dog," he said as he bent to give the pooch a quick scratch behind the ears anyway. "But don't be lookin' to me for anything to eat. If I know little miss Shondra, she's keepin' you well fed."

Speaking of which—where was she? He made his way down the hall, pausing in the doorway when he found her asleep on his bed. He didn't wake her, knowing she was used to sleeping during the day.

When the phone rang, he hurried to grab it. "What's up, pard?" he asked when he heard Tony's voice.

"Slow day, so I started checking around for leads on this Raven girl. Quite a few people in the CBD seem to know her, but nobody's seen her lately. And I found another guy who might have seen Tina, too."

"No shit?" In a way, Stephanie's sister had begun to seem spectral to him, a ghost of a girl who would never turn up.

"Doorman at the Courtview, little old hotel that caters to businessmen traveling cheap."

"I know the place," Jake said—he'd once broken up a fight there back in his early days in blue. "What'd he

say?"

"Didn't remember her by name, but the pictures and the association with Raven made him think he'd seen her pass through the lobby, looking for a pickup."

"How long ago?"

"A few weeks, at least. Said she and Raven were together, and it was probably the last time he'd seen Raven, too."

Jake nodded to himself. "Okay. That's something anyway." But not much. "Listen, I know I gave you Stephanie's number, but don't call her about this. No need to get her hopes up until there's somethin' more concrete."

"Got it."

"And by the way, I'm headin' out to the bayou house tonight, so I gave her your cell number, too—in case she wants to check with you while I'm gone."

"That's fine," he said, then slowly added, "About Stephanie..."

"Uh, what about her?"

Tony only laughed and Jake wished he were better at playing dumb. "I'm your best friend. Come clean with me."

"She's a nice woman who needs my help."

"Dude," Tony said, "you two looked like you were about to do it on the dance floor."

Jake couldn't help chuckling softly at the reminder. He'd sort of forgotten Tony had witnessed all that heat, and he supposed it made his lies even more useless. "Okay—yeah, we got together."

Tony stayed quiet for a moment, and Jake could almost feel his friend's smile. "So you got yourself laid by a pretty girl, huh?"

"I just said so, didn't I?" Jake grumbled, but neither of them would deny this meant way more than just some regular guy getting lucky. He knew Tony would see it as a return to the land of the living, and he couldn't refute it.

"Well, that's some damn good news, man."

"But it's just
...
you know
...
casual. Fun in bed."

"That's good enough, dude. I'm glad you're back in the saddle."

He laughed. "Yeah, me too. I mean
...
it's good." He was quick to add, "Only fun, but good."

He looked up to see Shondra enter the room with a sleepy-eyed yawn.

"Listen, pard, thanks for helpin' me out with Stephanie's sister, but I gotta take off. I'll call when I'm back." He hung up and gave Shondra a small smile. "Hey there,
'tite
fille.
You finally wakin' up?"

She nodded, but looked sheepish. "Sorry I stole your bed. But it was almost morning, so I figured you wouldn't be usin' it."

"No problem—you were right."

She blinked, as if trying to clear the sleep from her head, then scrunched up her nose. "So
...
where you been? I mean, if it's 'cause I was here ..."

He shook his head. "No such thing,
'tite
fille.
I'm fine with you bein' here—I told you that. As for where I slept
...
well, my grandma had an old house out in Terrebonne Parish and sometimes I hang out there."

She tipped her head back
sligh
tl
y
. "Oh. I thought maybe you were gettin' your groove on with some girl."

She said it easily enough that he thought,
Hell, what's the point of lying?
"Okay, well, actually, last night I
was
with a woman. Tonight I'm headed out to the bayou for a couple of days, though, so I'll leave a
little
cash on the dresser for food or anything else you need while I'm gone."

Her eyes opened wider. "You don't got to leave me money."

He sighed.
Merde.
If she was arguing over cash for food, how would she react to two shopping bags full of clothes? "Shondra, I want you to eat decent while I'm gone." The dog stood panting happily at her feet, so to drive the point home, he added, "Hell, I don't even mind if
he
eats good." Then he tried another approach. "In fact, you'd be doin' me a favor if you got some groceries in this place. Whatever you want—stuff that's simple to fix."

"What if you don't like what I pick?"

Twill. I'm easy."

"
Speakin'
of
that
..."

"Huh?"

She bit her Up. "Who's the woman? The one you were with?"

He drew back
s
li
ghtly
, shocked, although with Shondra, he figured he shouldn't be. "Know what I like about you,
'tite
fille!
You're direct as hell."

She shifted her weight from one bare foot to the other. "The reason I'm askin' is
...
am I crimpin' your style by bein' here? I mean ..."

He shook his head. "Just the opposite, you wanna know the truth. She thinks I'm sweet as hell for lookin' after you some."

She relaxed a little. "Oh. Well
...
good." She dropped onto the couch, and glanced up at him, her interest suddenly seeming more girlish than worried. "What's her name?"

"Stephanie."

"You in love with her? Or is it just sex?"

He'd have been bothered by the first question if the second hadn't made him laugh at his world-wise
little
roommate. "Somewhere in between those two."

"But it ain't nothin' serious?"

He shook his head, perhaps a bit too hurriedly. "She's only in town temporarily. Be goin' back up to Chicago soon."

"She on vacation or somethin'?"

Given how world-wise she
was,
he decided to tell her the rest of it, to let her know bad stuff could happen to girls who ran away from home. "She's down here lookin' for her sister, Tina. Girl came down here, must've got into a rough crowd, and ended up turnin' tricks for a livin'. Stephanie hasn't been able to find her and she's worried somethin' bad happened."