Jesse (7 page)

Stopping in a window to look at the mannequins
there, she pretended to shop. Though why anyone would want to wear the thing
was beyond her. Glancing at the price tag she nearly laughed out loud. Seriously?
Did people actually pay three thousand dollars for a stupid dress that looked
like it was made out of plastic? And those shoes? Really? The heels alone would
cause painful feet and then there was the—

The man moved within ten feet and she
decided to pretend she was going inside. Going to the deep doorway, she hid
just around the corner and waited. It didn’t take long for the big man to come
near her, and she sprayed him as soon as he reached for the handle of the shop.

“Mother fucking son of a bitch, that
fucking hurts.” He started to rub at the liquid on his face and danced around
too. “What the fuck, Miss Foster? Did you have to try and blind me?”

She held up the bottle again and
advanced toward him. “How did you know my name? And why are you following me?”

He stopped so suddenly that she was
afraid he was faking it to get to her. She looked around, just realizing that
he could have a partner. He held up his hands and backed up.

“My name is Jared Stone. The man with
me, the coward who is still on the other side of the street,” he yelled. “That’s
my brother-in-law Alex. Alexander James, and we’re not here to hurt you.”

“Then you’re a pervert? You like scaring
helpless women on the street?” She waved the bottle at Alex as he came toward
her and nearly tossed it at him and ran. “You’d better stay away or I’ll hurt
you too.”

“Okay, first…you’re far from helpless. And
from what I’ve seen over the past few days, I think you’d give anyone who tried
to attack you a run for their money. You’re very street smart.” Mr. Stone
grinned at her. “You should meet my wife. You and she would get along great.”

“Thank you, I think. Who sent you to
follow me?” She watched the other man, bigger than Mr. Stone, pull out a cell
phone. “Is he calling for back up?”

“Something like that. How did you make
us? I mean, I’ve been following you for a couple of days now and you never—”

“Four days. You’ve been following me for
four days. Ever since I left the hospital.” She put away the perfume, deciding
he wasn’t going to hurt her. “You’ve not answered my question, Mr. Stone. Who
sent you?”

“You’re not going to be very happy about
the answer, but I figure it’s payback for the mace. Mrs. Hunter and Daniel. Daniel
and I went to school together and when he called me to…where are you going
now?” He walked beside her and grinned again. The man had a lethal grin and she
wondered if his wife was immune to his charm. She had no doubt he had tons of
it and knew just how to use it. Much like Jesse did.

At the oddest moment she’d think about
the kiss. She’d not planned on calling it that, but after the thousandth time
it popped into her head she began to think of it as just that. The kiss. She
stopped suddenly and Mr. James ran into her from behind. She stepped away from
them both.

“Does this have anything to do with the
hospital bill? Jes…Mr. Hunter told me if I stayed until released that it would
be covered.” She poked Mr. Stone in the chest, suddenly angry. “If he thinks I
can afford to pay that stupid bill, he’s nuts. And besides, he owes me for that
kiss.”

“He kissed you?” The woman coming up
behind them had her reach for the perfume again, but Jared stopped her with a
declaration that it was his wife. “Wow, Jesse kissed a woman and she’s not
falling over herself to have sex with him? I need to shake your hand. I’ve
never met anyone that turned down the famously fab Jesse.”

“Behave, Willow, or I’ll tell your dad
on you,” the man growled at her. “Joey Foster, I’d like you to meet my wife,
Willow Stone. Willow, this is the lady that Danny asked us to keep tabs on.”

“What happened to your face? And what is
that smell? Did you step in something? Christ, that’s nasty.” Willow Stone
looked like her name. Long and strong and Joey liked her right away. “Did
someone mace you?”

“I did it. And it was perfume, not mace.
Though I’m inclined to believe that mace might smell better. The lady next door
to me gave it to me when we were evicted. She said she wanted me to remember
her. I do, and don’t care for the memory.” Shaking her head, she started off
again. “I’m going to see the Hunters. They have no right to have someone follow
me for a bill I can’t afford. Stupid people going around having innocent people
followed and can’t keep their lips to themselves. What was I supposed to do? Let
him paw me right there against the wall? No, I will not. There was a perfectly
good bed not five feet—” She stopped again and, this time, she was bumped by
Willow. She looked at the woman and couldn’t think what to say. She looked for
the men who’d been told to follow her and noticed they were gone. Then Joey
looked back at Willow.

“I told them you’d be safe with me. Though
I think they’re only a block back. Alexander is my brother and he and Jared
only were watching over you.” The girl stayed with her as Joey started forward
again.

“I didn’t mean what I said. I didn’t
want to use the bed for—”

“Yes, you did. And it’s okay. Jesse is a
great guy, and I’ve known him nearly all my life.” Joey frowned as a thought
popped in her head. Willow seemed to understand and answered her. “No, I never
slept with him. None of the Hunter men. They were just friends I grew up with.”

They were in front of the building by
then. She hadn’t realized she’d been so close, or anger made her walk faster. She
looked up at the imposing building then back at Willow. “I really don’t want
anything to do with these people. I’m trying to get my life back together and
these people…” She looked up at the building again. “These people are way out
of my league.”

“They’re just people, Joey. Just like
you and me. They put their pants on one leg at a time. Though you should watch
Jesse do it after you get him into the bed of your choice to make sure.” Joey
flushed and felt the heat all the way to the top of her head. “Go in there, kid,
and give ‘em hell.”

Before she knew it, she was inside the
lobby of the imposing building and security was coming at her. She didn’t reach
for her perfume this time, the guns at these guys’ hips telling her that they’d
mean business if she tried that stunt again. When the first guy was close, she
gave him her most charming smile and hoped she didn’t look like a deranged
idiot.

“Hi. My name is Joey Foster. I’d like to
have a word with either Mrs. Annamarie Hunter or Mr. Daniel Hunter.”

“Let me see if they can see you, miss. Have
a seat and this won’t take a minute.” She turned when the door opened and
closed her eyes at who stood there.

“It’s okay, Tom. I’ll see her up.” When
Jesse wrapped his hand around her arm she thought he was going to squeeze it
off, but his touch was gentle. “Come on, Josephine, let me show you to my
lair.”

His whispered comment made her shiver,
but she tried to pull away. He simply pulled her to him and then wrapped his
hand around her waist. She was well and truly caught. Damn it, one of these
days she’d learn to think before he acted. She only hoped that he was kidding
about his lair.

“I’m here to talk…your mother and your
brother. I’m here to talk to him…them. Could you please let me go?” He pulled
her into the elevator with him and pushed the button. She grabbed the railing
as it took off with a lurch. He leaned against the opposite wall and stared at
her. Well, two could play this staring game.

Chapter 7

He simply looked at her. He wanted to
make her squirm, but he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable himself. She
didn’t speak, didn’t fidget, nor did she seem to be bothered in the least bit.
When the elevator opened she stood up and walked out ahead of him. He moved
past her and bumped her slightly on his way to his office.

Jesse opened the door and she walked in.
There were two chairs in front of his desk and a long couch. She looked at the
couch, but went to one of the chairs instead. He was glad. If he had to sit
next to her on the roomy furniture he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his
hands off her. Sitting in his large chair behind the desk, he leaned back,
hoping that soon she’d give in.

She was beautiful. Her hair was long and
dark and as it was loose about her shoulders, he could see that it was
straight. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, much like the sea off the Caribbean
he’d been to last month. She was tall, but not overly, thin, but he was sure
that if she lived in a real home she’d put on weight. He knew from touching her
she had full, heavy breasts and her nipples were as thick as his thumb. Shifting
on his seat he continued to stare at her. She still hadn’t spoken a word.

About ten minutes into their contest of
wills she yawned. She didn’t even try to stifle it, but opened her mouth hugely
and then sighed when she finished. He had to work hard at not joining her, even
after she did it four more times. He watched as she stretched, her body
spilling out of the chair like a cat after a long nap. Jesse sat up and leaned
against his desk, wondering if he could go turn the air conditioning lower
because he was burning up.

When his phone rang he leapt at it like
a lifeline. He heard her giggle and felt his cock twitch in his pants. He hoped
that whoever was on the phone needed him right fucking now. Because if he
stayed much longer he was going to try and take her again.

“Jesse, please see if you can get Joey
to come to my office. The FBI would like to have a word or two with her.”

He closed his eyes at his mother’s
request. This was not going to make Josephine happy at all.

“Tell her that she is free to speak to
them about this.”

He looked over at Josephine. She was
glaring at him and he knew that she’d heard his mother. He repeated it to her
anyway.

“No.” She stood up. “And if you’re
finished playing your little mind games, I’d like to leave. I have to find…I
have things to do.”

“Let me call you back,” he said into the
phone before hanging up. He came around his desk as Josephine went to the door.
When he reached out to touch her, she turned quickly and put up her fists.

He might have laughed at her, but was
reasonably sure that she’d hurt him. And this time she wouldn’t stop at his
nuts. He put up his hands in defense and took a step back. “May I ask you why
you won’t help us?” Her laugh didn’t sound like she was amused, but he
continued. “Mrs. Jennings, the real estate agent, may have committed a crime in
that she took out some insurance policies on the buildings and could have
started the fire herself. Her and probably her brother-in-law.”

“And this affects me how? Or are you
going to threaten me again if I don’t cooperate? Why should I care if that
woman goes to prison or wherever? You people have done nothing but make my
life—” She turned away and he knew she was crying.

“Josephine, I’m—”

“Stop calling me that,” she snapped. “I’m
Joey. Everyone, with the exception of you, calls me that. Why are you so
stubborn?”

He wanted to point out that he thought
she might be a tad bit more stubborn, but didn’t. He continued with trying to
get her to help with the Feds. He put his hands down, but didn’t reach for her.
“Look. Come and talk to them. If they don’t need anything from you then you can
go. I mean it. And I’ll even help you find some employment if you want.”

“I don’t need your help. I have a
perfectly good job.” She stood there and didn’t move. He didn’t either. Waiting
for her to make a decision was the hardest thing he’d done in a while. “I can
leave if they piss me off?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ll even be there for
you if you’d like. That way you’ll have representation if you…if you happen to
try to kick them.”

“I thought you were just in charge of
security and stuff like that.” She sounded nervous and he laughed a little at her
tone. She made it sound as if he didn’t do all that much.

“I have a law degree like all my
brothers do. My mom wanted us to stay on the straight and narrow and figured
the best way to ensure that was to know the laws before we broke them. I have a
small practice outside of security.”

“Small?” she snorted. “Probably in a
building as big as this one with two hundred clients. I just wanted to go to
college, but something kept coming up. Then you guys took my home and the homes
of a lot of other people.”

“I didn’t…we didn’t know. There’s more
to that than you were told. Besides,” he said as they moved down the hall. “If
we hadn’t needed your building, we wouldn’t have met.” He’d tried for a joke,
but he could see it had failed. When she nodded, he motioned which way for her
to go and she walked beside him. She asked to go to the bathroom and he showed
her to the one in the hall across from his mother’s office. As she went into
the small room he knocked on the door to his mom’s office. “She’s going to help,
but she’s not happy about it. And she said if they piss her off, she’ll leave
anyway.” He looked over at the two men sitting at the table when one of them
cleared his throat. “I promised her, Mom. I owe her.”

“Of course. I’ll help you.”