“I’m sorry,” she said again, glancing away.
“Hey, stop it.” His tone was sharp. “I brought you dinner, and I meant for us to eat that dinner. I won’t have you changing that just because I kissed you, got it?”
She nodded and glanced at the floor. “Got it.”
Jenna stepped back and allowed Ryker inside. She could barely believe she had this incredibly gorgeous man in her room, and he’d brought food. Wafts of spices and warmed meat assaulted her nostrils, making her mouth water and her stomach growl. It was as if she’d been transported into some kind of ultimate fantasy, but she was still awake.
Ryker glanced down at the trashcan filled with used wipes and an empty packet.
“You did a lot of cleaning.”
“Yeah. I like things to be clean.”
“Do you have that OCD, or something?”
She snapped. “No, it’s not like that. I just like things to be clean. I have my reasons.”
He held up his hands. “I was only asking.”
And it wasn’t like that, was it? She didn’t have OCD, it was just that after she’d gotten out of hospital, her survival instinct had gone into overdrive. She’d allowed something out of her control to almost kill her, and she hadn’t planned on letting the same thing happen again. From that point on, she’d promised herself she would do everything she could to take care of her. Screw what everyone else thought.
Ryker spread the boxes across the desk, one after the other, after the other.
Wow, he must really think I eat a lot. But she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t delighted to see the food. She’d stopped for a decent breakfast of bacon, pancakes, and maple syrup mid-morning, but she hadn’t eaten since.
She was starving.
“You sure ordered a lot of food.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well I didn’t know what you liked, so I figured I’d get a selection. We’ve got steamed dumplings, salt and pepper ribs, special chow mein, nasi goreng, duck with mushroom, and prawn crackers.” He paused. “You can’t have Chinese food without prawn crackers. I think it’s like a law or something.”
She laughed. “Definitely a law. But I have no idea what some of those things are.”
He grinned back. “You know what? Neither do I, but the guy at the takeout recommended them.” He fished back in the bag and produced two slender paper packets. He held them out to her. “Chop sticks or forks?”
“Oh, forks,” she said, reaching for the wider packet. “I eat too fast to mess around with chopsticks.”
He smiled at her again and her heart did a back flip. “That’s my girl.”
They sorted the takeout boxes between them and sat, cross-legged on the floor. Jenna did her best not to think about the number of feet that had passed over the surface and the number of bacteria that had been brought in on the bottoms of all those shoes.
Ryker quickly distracted her from her thoughts. He speared a dumpling with his fork and lifted it to her mouth. “Here, try this. It’s good, I promise.”
Tentatively, she parted her lips and took a bite. The dumpling split, half landing in her mouth, and the other half falling. They both reached to catch the pastry and meat, their hands fumbling together, as juice dribbled down her chin and she struggled to laugh around the mouth full of food. Ryker caught the half of the dumpling and popped it in his own mouth, chewing appreciatively. For once, she found she didn’t feel like a glutton eating around someone.
She caught him staring, a thoughtful smile on his face.
Quickly, she chewed and swallowed, wiping the juice from her face. “What?”
“I was just thinking I could get used to eating with you.”
Her stomach dropped and she glanced away. “No you can’t. I have to leave in two days.”
“Why, Jenna? Why do you have to leave?”
Tears filled her eyes and her appetite vanished. “I can’t tell you, Ryker.”
He shook his head. “Nothing could be that bad?”
She lifted her eyes to his.
“You have no idea.”
Chapter Five
As soon as they’d finished eating, Ryker had made his excuses—that he couldn’t risk leaving Mikey alone for too long—and left. He’d not tried to kiss her again, something Jenna couldn’t decide if she was relieved about or bitterly disappointed. Oh, hell, who was she kidding? She’d desperately wanted him to kiss her again, to let her relive that magical moment. Even if her head told her nothing could come of it, her head appeared to have forgotten to tell her heart.
But she couldn’t get involved with someone like him for too many reasons. Putting aside her own issues, Ryker had responsibilities. Even if she could stay in one place, and Ryker actually accepted who she was –though she still suspected the moment he got even a glimpse of what she hid beneath her clothes, he would run a mile—she didn’t think she could handle having a sullen, teenage boy in her life.
Jenna sighed and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was letting her thoughts run away with themselves. A guy she’d only just met had brought her dinner and kissed her, that’s all. By the way she was over-thinking things, anyone would have thought he’d gotten down on one knee and proposed.
No, he’d fix her car, she’d get on her way, and they would never see each other again. Ryker probably just thought she looked a bit desperate and figured he’d take advantage of that. As soon as she left, he’d forget all about her.
Trying to expel all thoughts of the tattooed young man who had somehow pushed his way into her life, Jenna climbed into bed, quickly checked her emails, and then flicked off the light. She curled up in the unfamiliar bed and closed her eyes, hoping her dreams would be kind to her that night...
She woke with a start, her heart pounding against her ribcage, her breath leaving her body in frantic gasps. Her skin was covered in goose bumps, the hair on her arms and the back of her neck standing to attention. Her ears strained for any sound, her eyes wide against the dark.
What had woken her? Had she been having a bad dream? But no, she was sure a noise had so violently dragged her from sleep. She’d heard something, she felt certain of it.
Jenna held her breath, trying to perceive the sound again. It had been a loud thump against the door, as if someone had been banging to try to get in. Or had she dreamed it?
You’re in a motel, she told herself. There are always loud noises in a motel.
Someone had probably come back drunk and stumbled against the door accidentally, and that’s what had woken her. But she couldn’t hear anyone drunkenly singing, or arguing with their partner, or doors slamming, or any of the usual noise associated with someone being drunk and raucous. She remembered Ryker telling her how quiet these establishments tended to be, and how there was barely enough business to keep one motel open in the small town. Would there really be drunken people banging on other doors at... she glanced at the small LED clock... 3:23 in the morning?
She spoke out loud, trying to sooth her frazzled nerves. “It can’t be him. He doesn’t get out for another,” she recalculated the dates in her head, “two days yet.”
But something about the situation had put her on high alert. The way she felt right now was exactly the same as she’d felt back then when he was in one of his tempers and she was tiptoeing around him. In those days, she’d been alert for every irritated sigh, every heavy footstep, every slam of a door.
Jenna swung her legs out of bed and went to the window. The window looked out onto the parking lot, and she slowly reached out and pulled the blind to one side, peering out. A couple of vehicles were parked out on the asphalt, but she didn’t see any sign of movement. She wished she’d taken Ryker’s cell phone number. But then she almost laughed at herself. What would she have done if she had? Call him in the middle of the night, begging for him to abandon his teenage brother and come down to her to check she didn’t have any not-so-strange men prowling around outside her motel room. No, she was being ridiculous.
She
knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep again tonight. She was wide awake, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Instead, she went back to her bed, flicked on the bedside lamp, thankful for the welcome glow, and lifted her laptop onto the bed.
For the next few hours, Jenna got on with some work.
She caught herself glancing continually at the clock, willing the time to go by until it got to a reasonable time for her to call Detective Nick Harlem.
Finally, 7:00 a.m. flashing on the digital clock. With a copy piece finished and emailed back to her client, she picked up her cell. Nerves caused butterflies to flutter around her stomach. She’d not spoken to him for months; she’d not had any reason to. At one point in her life, Detective Harlem had been her rock, her only support, but now he felt more like a stranger.
Nick Harlem’s number was programmed into her phone, so she scrolled down to his name, hesitated for a moment, and then hit the call button. She took a deep breath and placed the phone to her ear. As the ringing sounded, she chewed at a piece of loose skin on her lip, hard enough to draw blood. The taste of iron filled her mouth.
“Nick Harlem.” His voice came down the phone, so familiar it was as if she’d stepped back in time.
“Detective Harlem,” she started, but her voice came out as a squeak, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Nick, I’m sorry to disturb you so early in the morning. It’s Jenna Armstrong.”
He paused and she heard him sigh. “Oh, hell, Jenna. I’m so sorry. I’ve been meaning to contact you, but I forgot to note down last time you changed your number, and I never quite got around to tracing your new one.”
“Well, I’m calling you from it now, so you can note it down, right?”
“Sure, I’ll do that. Changing your number all the time kind of makes you hard to contact.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of the point,” she said.
A rustling came down the line and in her mind’s eyes she saw the clean-cut, auburn-haired man in his mid-thirties continuing about his morning routine as he spoke to her, probably getting dressed and making breakfast. “So how are you doing?” he asked her.
“I’ve been better. The date’s coming up, and it’s getting me a little spooked.”
“There’s no need to worry, Jenna. He’s got no reason to come after you.”
She almost laughed. “Are you kidding?”
His tone grew stern. “It’s not your fault he got put away. He was the one behind the wheel, he was the one who was three times over the limit, and he was the one who forced you into the car.”
“All Garrett will think about is how I told the court how he locked me in the car, and how I begged him not to drive. I saw it in his eyes during the trial. He blames me for going down, and he’ll find me and punish me for it.”
“It’s more likely he’ll just want to get on with his life.”
“You didn’t know him like I did.”
“You’re right, I didn’t.”
She paused, not wanting to feel like an idiot, but needing to say what was on her mind. “The thing is, Nick, I’ve had this horrible feeling like he’s around again. I can’t describe it. It’s like I can sense him, or something.”
“How can that even be? He doesn’t get out for another couple of days.”
“I know, but could you just check for me? I have this horrible feeling and it won’t go away.”
“Sure, Jenna. I’ll make some calls. You’ll be on this number?”
“Yeah, thanks Nick.”
“No problem. Take care, okay? I’ll speak to you soon.”
Reluctantly, she ended the call. She didn’t feel any better. Her common sense tried to tell her if Nick Harlem wasn’t worried, she shouldn’t be either, but her instinct was telling her something different.
Though she wanted to hide in the room until Nick called her back and reassured her that Garrett was still locked behind bars, for another couple of days anyway, she craved a sweet, milky coffee, and something stodgy and full of sugar. She thought she remembered passing a coffee house on the way to the motel. It was only a block or two from here, and even she could manage to walk that.
She brushed her teeth and dressed in Capri leggings and a long t-shirt to cover her stomach and backside. The day was already warm, so she slid her feet into a pair of flip-flops, tied her hair back, and slipped a pair of sunglasses on her face.
The quick stroll in the bright morning light helped to dispel the terrors she’d experienced during the night. Her recollection of driving past a coffee shop had been correct. A couple of turns brought her to the right place, and she pushed open the door to the aroma of freshly ground coffee, warm pastries, and the hiss of milk steaming.
Jenna placed her order, and took a seat in the window. At this early hour, the place was almost deserted, and it only took a few minutes for the waitress to bring over her breakfast.
The sweet, creamy taste of coffee from a cup as big as a cereal bowl immediately made her feel better. She took a bite of the iced doughnut, almost groaning as the fat and sugar hit her tongue.
The café door opened, making her glance up. She almost choked on her doughnut as she saw Ryker, standing in the doorway, grinning at her, his blue eyes bright with amusement. He wore jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt which showed off his tattooed biceps. A chain ran from the belt of his jeans, hooking to the back, and he wore a thick, black leather cuff around his wrist. Quickly, she chewed and swallowed, her hand held over her mouth as she did so.
“What are you doing here?”
He approached and pulled out the seat opposite and sat down, folding his ankle over his thigh and sitting back. “I was taking Mikey to school.”
She peered out of the window to where the boy sat in the passenger seat. He saw her looking and waved a hand. She lifted her own and waved back.
Frowning, she said, “But the school is on the other side of town.”
“Not to my place, it’s not. Only if you’re coming from the garage.”
“Oh, right.” Something else occurred to her. “And didn’t Mikey get suspended?”
“Oh, dammit. I’ve never been a good liar.” He gave a crooked grin and reached up to scruff his hair. “I might have just been checking if you were up and about.”
Automatically, she leaned across the table and smacked his arm. “See, I knew you were here for a reason. This is close to stalking, you know?”
The words struck a chord with her and she shivered.
Ryker noticed. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked with a frown.
She forced a smile. “Yeah, fine.”
“Are you going to be here for another fifteen minutes?”
She glanced down at her still-full soup bowl of coffee. “Yeah, I’d say so.”
“Cool. Let me drop Mikey back home and I’ll come back and have coffee with you.”
She shrugged, but her heart fluttered with happiness. “Sure.”
She watched Mikey rib Ryker as he got back into the car, punching him in the shoulder, laughing. She couldn’t help but laugh as well.
Jenna sat back, enjoying her coffee and finishing a couple of mouthfuls of doughnut. She must have been over reacting at the banging she thought she’d heard last night. It must have been a dream that her anxious mind had projected into the real world.
While she waited, she grabbed a pen from the waitress and jotted down some notes about one of her projects, glancing out of the window to keep an eye open for Ryker’s return. Did he really like her? Why else would he be seeking her out at this time in the morning? She tried not to think too deeply into it. She wished she could learn to live in the moment.
Her cell rang and her stomach crawled into her throat. The coffee and doughnut suddenly made her nauseated. She fumbled her pocket for the cell and pulled it out, Nick Harlem’s name flashing on the screen.
She answered, “It’s me.”
“Jenna, hi. I’m not calling with good news, I’m afraid.”
Dread settled like a stone in the
pit of her stomach. “Just tell me.”
“Garrett was let out two weeks ago on good behavior.”
“What?” All the strength sapped from her body and she slumped in her chair.
“I’m sorry, Jenna. The prisons are all bursting at the seams, and they’ll use any reason to free up a cell if someone appears to be reformed.”
Her mind ran back over the last two weeks, all that time when she’d believed herself to be safe, but he’d been out all along. Had she slipped up and left a trace of herself somewhere? Despite all of her cautiousness, there was bound to have been something.
Panic began to build inside her. She needed to leave. She needed to keep moving, and stay ahead of him at every turn. It was the only way he wouldn’t catch up with her and kill her.
Jenna got to her feet, knocking her coffee cup and spilling milky liquid all over the table. She ignored the mess.
Nick’s voice came, concerned down the phone. “Jenna? Jenna, are you still there?”
“I’m sorry, I have to go.”
She ended the call and stumbled blindly toward the door, not even thinking about where she was going. Her instincts had kicked in, to fight or flee, and with no one to fight, she had no other choice but to run.
As she barreled through the door, she collided with a big, hard body. She shoved the person away, flapping with her hands.
Someone caught her wrists. “Hey, Jenna. Hold on. What’s wrong?”
She blinked and realized Ryker held her by the arms.
“What’s wrong?” he said again, more gently this time.
And she burst into tears.
Chapter Six
Ryker’s strong arms wrapped around her and enfolded her into his chest.
She found herself with her face pressed against his t-shirt, inhaling the masculine scent of him, and soaking up the warmth of his skin. Her hands, seemingly of their own will, snaked around his back, grasping at his t-shirt.
She sensed the waitress from the café, and the few patrons they had, staring out at the scene in front of the shop. Let them watch. She had more important things to worry about than a few stares.
Dangerous Encounters: A Romantic Suspense Boxed Set Page 46