Unforeseen Danger (29 page)

“You look incredible,” he said, and reached to take her hand.
 
She winked at him, the sparkle in her eyes mesmerizing him.

“You’re not so bad, yourself, Mr. Hawthorne,” she said

“Do I look incredible, too, Jake?” Catherine teased.
 
“Over here, your dear old mom.”

Jake finally tore his gaze from Nikki to acknowledge her.
 
He bent to place a kiss on her cheek.
 
“You always do, Mom.”

 
“Well, what about me?” Zeke asked, and turned in a slow circle.
 

They all laughed, and the men helped the ladies with their wraps.
 
As they headed out to the limo Zeke had rented, Jake whispered, “I love you” as he placed a hand at the small of her back and helped her inside the car.
 

***

Jake could tell the
Marshall
estate left Nikki awestruck, and it made him a little sad.
 
This was the kind of place he wished he could give her, the kind of place she deserved.
 
He tried to tell himself the money didn’t mean anything, that it was the love that mattered, but the thought felt hollow.
 
He always felt out of place in her circle, although his mother had fallen easily into it when she married Zeke.
 
Then, there was the very real possibility that her lover would be here.
 
Would the stalker find security in the sea of faces, maybe even talk to Nikki…maybe even talk to
him
?
   

The thought nagged at Jake.
 
He hated feeling so helpless.

Nikki rolled down the window as they approached the mansion.
 
The huge fountain in the front lawn looked almost magical in the moonlight, sparkling with the reflection of the Christmas lights of the two large trees on either side of it.
 
Jake wondered what kind of staff it took to service a place like this.

A butler took their invitation and announced their names.
 
As they moved to the ballroom, a throng of people immediately surrounded Nikki, inquiring about her health and commenting on her dress.
 

Jake was having a hard time taking his eyes off her, struggling to remain attentive when someone else was speaking to him.
 
He couldn’t help but feel proud, and more than a little amazed, that this lovely creature was his wife and that she was here with him.
 

What would his life have been like by now if it weren’t for that accident?
 
Would he be standing here, miserable, watching her on the arm of another man?
 
The thought of losing her now was unbearable.
 
Jake hadn’t thought it possible, but he was more in love with her now than he’d ever been before.

He glanced over to where a circle of her friends swept her away and didn’t even feel jealous to see an old boyfriend talking to her.
 
She met his eyes and smiled, and he smiled back.
 
Jake realized he trusted her now, in a way he never really had before.
  

The pre-Nikki had known he was jealous and had sometimes used his jealousy to punish him.
 
How he had hated that throaty, sexy laugh that she reserved for other men when she was angry at him.
 

But now, she didn’t seem interested in playing games.
 
Her smile, her touch, and especially the way she looked at him, promised him he was the only one she wanted.
 
Jake had, in his heart, arrived at the point where the why and who of her affair didn’t really matter that much to him.

If it had only been an affair, and this man hadn’t hurt her, and wasn’t still trying to hurt them, Jake could let the past
die,
even though there was still the nagging fear in the back of his mind about what
she’d
feel when she got her memory back.
 
Now his reasons for finding out the identity of her lover weren’t because of how she had hurt him, but because of how this man had hurt her.

“Hey, J-man, how’s it going?”
 
Eliot punched his arm.
 

“Better than ever.”
 
Jake nodded a greeting at Eliot’s wife.
 
“Hey, Kelly.
 
You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you, sir.”
 
She bowed in a mock curtsey to him.
 

It was true.
 
Her brown eyes danced, and she held tight to Eliot’s arm.
 
Jake was glad to see things seemed better between them, too.
 
For a while, he had sensed a strange tension between them and could tell something was wrong with Eliot, but his friend hadn’t been able to talk about it.
 
Now, the couple seemed almost like newlyweds again.

“I’m going to go say hello to Nikki.”
 
Kelly kissed Eliot’s cheek and they watched her join the circle around Nikki.

“Nothing new from the stalker?”
Eliot asked quietly.

Jake shook his head.

“You still have no suspicion as to who it might be?”

“Not a clue.”

Jake felt an arm lace through his and turned, expecting to see Nikki, but it was Elaine.
 
The swelling had gone down on her face and she looked much better.

“Hey, guys!
 
Some shindig, huh?
 
I do believe this thing gets bigger every year.”

Elaine, too, had chosen a silk gown, except hers was aquamarine.
 

“Hi, gorgeous.”
 
Jake brushed a kiss across her cheek.

“Hey, sis.
 
Who are you here with tonight?” Eliot asked.

She rolled her eyes a little, and said, “No one.
 
Your spinster sister is
traveling
solo.”

Jake grinned.
 
“That’s good news for Rick
Montebelle
, I guess.
 
He asked me earlier if you were dating anyone.”

“
Oooh
!”
 
Elaine shivered with mock delight.
 
“Rick
Montebelle
.
 
Sounds promising.
 
Who is he?”

“You remember,” Jake prodded.
 
“I introduced you to him one day at the office.”

Elaine gasped.
 
“You mean the beautiful man with the gorgeous amber eyes?”

“Yeah, that’s how I usually describe him,” Jake said and Eliot laughed.

She scanned the room.
 
“Which way did he go?”

“Last I saw, he was being led around by the widow
Cheever
,” Jake said.

“Well, I suppose the only charitable thing to do would be to go rescue him.”
 
Elaine winked and gave them a little wave as she strolled away.

“Glad she seems to be getting out of this funk she’s been in,” Eliot said.
 
“I went to the jail and talked to
Brandon
.”
 
He cast a sideways glance at Jake.
 
“He won’t be bothering her again.”

Jake nodded.
 
He, too, had put in a visit.
 

Darcy arrived.
 
She caught Jake’s eye and waved, then made her way toward them.

“You look ravishing, my dear.”
 
Eliot kissed her hand and bowed extravagantly.

“Yeah,
Darce
.
 
You look great,” Jake added.

“Thank you, thank you.”
 
She patted her hair.
 
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“But we only mean it with you.”
 
Eliot smiled.

“Keep it up, you charmer, and we’ll put Kelly on the road,” Darcy teased.
 

She was at her element at a party
, Jake thought with a grin.
 

“So, are you
traveling
solo tonight?” he asked.

“Sure!” Darcy exclaimed with a coy wink.
 
“I want to dance with all the boys.
 
Including the two of you, so be sure to save me one.”

“It’s a promise.” Eliot grinned.
 

Darcy blew them a kiss and was off, a flash of bright red in the crowd.

Eliot shook his head.
 
“That girl’s a mess.
 
This party’s not a safe place for men tonight, between her and Elaine.”

At that moment, Jake had an eerie premonition of something to come tonight, and wondered if it was a safe place for him and Nikki, either.

A few minutes later, Eliot excused himself to dance with Kelly, and Jake realized he’d lost sight of Nikki.
 
He strode through the throng of people, searching for a glimpse of her gown.
 
Finally, he found her with Catherine.
 

They were speaking with the hostess, Eva Marshall.
 
Jake slipped up behind Nikki and wrapped an arm around her waist.
 

“Good evening, Mrs. Marshall,” he said.
 
“It looks like you’ve outdone yourself this year.
 
Thanks for inviting us.”

“You’re always welcome here, Jake,” she said.
 
“And do call me Eva.
 
Mrs. Marshall is my mother-in-law, and Lord knows, I don’t wish to be confused with her.”
 

Jake laughed and said, “No chance of that, Eva.
 
I want to steal my beautiful wife away for a moment, if you don’t mind.”
 
He winked at Eva and said, “I hope you’ll save me a dance later.”

“Certainly.
 
I wouldn’t miss the chance to dance with such a handsome young man.”
 

She and Catherine resumed their conversation and Jake led Nikki to the dance floor.

“Alone at last.”
 
He sighed and twirled Nikki around, making her giggle.
 
“Mrs. Hawthorne, you are breathtaking.
 
I thought I was going to have to beat my way through all your admirers, just to have a dance with you.”

“So I clean up good?”
 
She batted her eyelashes.

“
Mmmm
hmm,” he murmured, the desire in his blue eyes making her tingle.
 
“I don’t know how the angels in heaven could be any more beautiful.”

Nikki reached to caress his jaw.
 
“How could I possibly have forgotten you?”

Jake kissed her, and for that moment, nothing else existed for him.
 
This was his wife and nothing was going to tear them apart.
 

Nothing.
 

***

Nikki was having a wonderful time.
 
She and Jake danced and danced, spinning around the ballroom like Cinderella and her prince, but the look in Jake’s eyes told her this evening wouldn’t end as the clock struck
midnight
.
 
She wished they hadn’t ridden to the party with Catherine and Zeke, so they could steal away together.
 
She didn’t care if it was selfish; she wanted him all to herself.

Kelly grabbed Jake’s arm.

“Have either of you seen Eliot?”
 
Kelly said loudly, struggling to be heard over the music.

Nikki shook her head.
 
Truthfully, she wouldn’t have noticed if Santa Claus had waltzed by with the Easter bunny.
 
She had eyes for no one but Jake.

“Too many people,” Jake shouted.
 
“Do you want us to help you find him?”

“Would you?” she yelled.

They split up, after agreeing to meet back in the main ballroom if they found him.

Nikki walked down a long corridor and wondered if they’d have to come looking for her next.
 

It would be quite easy to get lost in this house, she suspected.
 
She found herself in a large library.

“No Eliot here,” she said and turned to go back.
 

Nikki bumped into someone and gave a strangled cry of surprise.
 
She hadn’t heard the man follow her in here.

She gasped and pressed a hand to her chest.
 
“Oh, you scared me!”

“Sorry, Nikki.”
 
The man grinned wolfishly at her.

Something about that grin frightened her.

“Excuse me,” she whispered, and tried to dart by him but he grabbed her arm.

“Hey, don’t you remember me?” he demanded.

***

“Hey, man.
 
Kelly’s looking for you,” Jake said, as Eliot opened the patio door and stepped inside.
 
“What are you doing out there, anyway?”