He turned his head and looked at me with those eyes that saw right through to my very being. He touched his hand to mine and then brought my hand to his lips. I let my fingers caress his cheek and slide around his head, gently pulling him forward to kiss me. Keeping my eyes on his, I lightly touched my lips to his, kissing the corners of his mouth. His lips parted and my tongue tasted his mouth tentatively while his hands caressed my face.
“I guess you’re feeling better?” asked Molly from the doorway with a chuckle. Sean touched his head to mine and whispered.
“Get better soon so we can have a private date. Soon.” Sean got up and gathered a large bouquet of pink roses from the table nearby. “I forgot to give you these. I’ll just go and find a vase.” He kissed me again and then walked past Molly who smiled up at him.
“Now, what can I get for you, Laney?” she asked me, still smiling away.
“I’m starving and you can stop smiling.”
“I most certainly will not stop smiling. I like seeing my children happy. Now, his aren’t your only gifts. Miss Heart sent over a huge arrangement of flowers too, and Mason sent over some Godiva chocolates. God love that girl, she knows what matters,” Molly said with a cheeky grin. “I will see what I can put together for you. Tommy has been a grumpy old bear so just bear with him. No pun intended. He always hated it when the kids got hurt and I don’t expect him to treat you any different.”
I nodded. Whether it was the events of the day, the pain, knowing that Sean cared for me, or feeling I was finally part of a family, I lacked the words to say anything. I fought back the tears but for some reason they weren’t as easy to hold back as they used to be. Molly gently gathered me in her arms and rocked me as I let it out. When it seemed that I was done she gave me a tissue, wiped her own eyes, and bustled off to the kitchen.
The kitchen seemed like the place to be. After several tries I managed to get up and then headed toward the noise. I didn’t want to be alone. There was a knock at the front door as I was making my way to the kitchen and since they were making so much noise I went to answer it. No one was there, but a small, wrapped package waited on the doorstep. I picked it up, looking up and down the street, but all was quiet. I stepped back inside, closing the door behind me, locking it. Pulling the ribbon off, I opened the box. Nestled within was a bar of soap tucked into the leg of a pair of nylons.
My hands started shaking so hard that I dropped the box, which clattered to the floor just as Chase came in. I dropped quickly to my knees, trying to gather and hide the contents before he saw them. I was having trouble catching my breath and I was shaking so hard I couldn’t get the box closed.
Chase covered my hands with his. “Shhh. It’s okay. Laney, let go of the box. Please, let me have it.” He took it from me and helped me up and into a chair forcing my head down between my knees. Mike came into the room. “Hey, everything okay?”
“Laney got a bit dizzy. She’ll be okay.” He handed the box to Mike, who opened it. He looked from me to Chase before walking out the front door with the box. Chase knelt down in front of me.
I turned from watching Mike leave to look at Chase. “James can’t hurt you. You are not that little girl anymore.” I clenched my jaw to stop my teeth from chattering.
“How did you know?”
“Mostly I guessed. By what he said, by your reaction, from something that Tommy said. James has a juvenile record that had been expunged. I managed to find out it was for terrorizing a young girl. They settled the case. I imagine that was why he was sent away. There have been two other cases against him, both settled out of court.”
Oh my God. I was not the only one. That sick, sick bastard had hurt someone else. Somehow I had to beat this fear back. I would not be his victim anymore, wouldn’t allow anyone else to suffer at his hands. I looked at Chase as he helped me stand up.
“You won’t tell Sean, will you? Or Tommy?” He looked at me, trying to decide what to do. “Chase, if you tell them then they’ll just do something stupid, like go after him. Just let me handle this, Chase. For now. Please?”
He rubbed a hand over his face but reluctantly agreed. I took a deep breath and shoved the fear aside. For now. For now, I would go bask in the glow of family. For now, that would be enough. It had to be.
Chapter Ten
Somehow that night I managed to get some sleep. Maybe the pain pills had kept the nightmares away. Maybe it was the fact that Sean had fallen asleep next to me in bed.
I had nearly fallen asleep at the table while everyone was talking, so he had scooped me up, tucked me in, and then kicked off his shoes before lying down next to me, drawing me into his arms. “Just until you fall asleep,” he whispered, kissing me gently. That was the last thing I remember until the morning sun woke me. I turned over to look at Sean but he had left a rose in his place. I smiled and picked up the bloom, sniffing it. Maybe this romance stuff wasn’t so bad after all. William and I had never had much romance. We had met while I was working security on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was closing time at the end of a very long, very hot, and very crowded day at the beach. Some young toughs decided they weren’t done riding the roller coaster. I got a call about a disturbance. Unfortunately, I was the only available security guard at the time. There I was, one woman against five young men and a hell of a lot of badass attitude. At least in their own minds, anyway. William and his three buddies, fresh out of eight years in the corps, offered their assistance. I said sure, go ahead. I made sure to announce that I’d give the nice, helpful Marines five uninterrupted minutes with the punks, if they needed that long. The punks thought better of it and left, leaving a trail of curses behind them. Three dates later, William and I were living together in a beach house. One, two, three … wham. Not much chance for romance. Not that I really missed it at the time.
Anyway, there just might be something to this romance stuff when you got right down to it.
Chase stopped in later on during the day and brought a friend. “Laney this is Detective Connor Sweeney. He is Mason’s brother.”
“How many brothers does she have?”
He smiled. “Too many. So tell me about James Prescott.”
I looked at Chase in shock, but he only smiled at me, “You only asked me to not say anything to Sean or Tommy.”
“Damn it, Chase. I don’t want to talk about it.” Connor looked at me and gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Hey, no problem. Prescott goes after someone else, no big deal.”
I pounded the arm of the chair in frustration, but I told him everything that I knew about James.
“Of course there is no proof that he had anything to do with the gift left for you last night. But as a courtesy to Tommy and to Chase I’m going to make some polite inquiries. Prescott has some powerful connections that I don’t want to rile up. Yet.”
I nodded. I didn’t want James riled up at all. I really just wanted to forget he existed, but I knew deep down I couldn’t. I would have to come to terms with him sooner or later. I was wishing for later, of course. Much later.
By the time Sean showed up for dinner I was going stir crazy. He must have anticipated this because he helped me get a jacket on and we went out for dinner along the wharf, to a seafood place serenaded by a dozen barking sea lions. I loved it.
It was during dessert, while he was telling me about one of his adventures at Woo, when the world fell away and I could only see Sean. Nothing else mattered. Not Woo, not James, not the busy waiters, nothing. Just watching the way Sean used his hands to talk, the way his eyes seemed brighter when he laughed, the way he looked at me when he took my hand in his. I knew then and there that I would never be complete unless I had this man in my life. This revelation staggered me. So much so that Sean stopped his story and looked at me with concern. “Laney, you okay? You’re as white as a ghost.” He gripped my hand. “Honey, your hand is trembling. What’s wrong
?”
“I … I … ” But the words wouldn’t come. It was unreasonable to think I could be in love with him. It was too soon, and it was too much. This feeling of being out of control was too much. The room was beginning to spin. God help me, I wanted to say something to him. Tell him how I was feeling. But nothing would come out.
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired.” I could tell he didn’t buy it but he didn’t press me. He paid the bill and we left. As we were walking out of the restaurant, I looked across the street and caught a glimpse of James standing there watching me. My legs went numb and I stopped quickly. Sean was at my side in an instant. “What?” He was looking around, but James was no longer there. In the blink of an eye he was gone. I didn’t dare say anything to Sean. “Nothing. I’m fine.” He frowned but took my hand as we walked to the car.
Back at home I found a message tacked to my door that I was back on the job tomorrow at a bookstore in San Jose. I would have back up as well. Sean sighed when I showed him the message but put a finger to my lips to stop me from saying anything.
“I understand your need to get back on the bicycle, but there’s a big part of me that wants to protect you. I’m trying to allow you to be who you need to be, but it’s difficult.” His hands cupped my face and he pulled me against him, kissing me until I couldn’t see straight. The world around me fell away again and I had to fight to keep from telling him I loved him. It was too soon, and I was too damn scared. I must have looked distressed because he kissed my forehead. “It’s okay, Laney.” A good bit later he finally walked off to his car.
The next two book signings for Miss Heart were in San Jose. We’d be staying at the Hyatt since she didn’t want to deal with traffic back to San Francisco.
I had just gotten the table layout squared away when she showed up. “Laney, you have no business doing this in your condition.”
“Ma’am, I’m fine.”
“How do you intend to stop anyone if you cannot use that arm?”
“I intend to use my keen eyesight and cat-like agility and get both of us out of the way,” I said with a straight face.
She arched an eyebrow at me. “You are having dinner with me tonight.” It was a statement, not a request. “Besides I have taken quite a liking to that ruggedly handsome Mr. Taylor. You can tell me if he’s worth a shot.”
I held back the hoot of laughter. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Miss Heart and Joan headed to the bathroom so I stood outside the bathroom door after making sure everything was clear. “You think the Tidy Bowl Man has it in for me, Laney?” she asked, amused at my checking each stall.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Joan rolled her eyes again. “Amelia, leave the girl be. Let her do her job.”
“I am allowing her to do her job. I just don’t think that anyone from the magicians’ guild is going to go poof and appear in the stall with me.”
“Hey, Joan?” I stepped further into the bathroom, “You ever see that movie with Sigourney Weaver and Harry Connick Jr.? You know, the one where he strung a line over the public restroom stall and tried to strangle Sigourney?” I walked out to take my place back outside the bathroom door and smiled. Cruel, but if it made her stop and think that maybe she wasn’t immortal then so much the better for me.
Miss Heart glared at me when she came out. “Not fair.”
“Nope. It isn’t in my contract to be fair.”
Miss Heart stopped and looked at me. “But it was good, quick brain, smart mouth. I want someone like you in my next book.” She smiled and headed to the table. I groaned to myself. Score one for her too.
While standing a few feet behind Miss Heart, I saw my backup out in the crowd. Jason. Cool. I liked him and we got along well. He was just your average-looking kind of guy that no one never took a second look at. Perfect for what he had to do today — blend. He was also a fourth degree black belt in kung fu. Good, solid back up.
Two hours had passed and my shoulder was beating a bass drum. I had my left arm in a sling and needed a chance to stretch it out and take some aspirin. I couldn’t take anything stronger. Might dull that cat-like agility. I was just about to signal Jason that I seriously needed a break when I noticed a man in a long black satin cape had joined the queue to have their books signed. Now, you don’t see that every day in San Jose. Sure, in San Francisco you see something like that or better any day of the week. He was also wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask that obscured part of his face, and a top hat and tails.
Nope, not something you see every day.
Jason had noticed him as well and moved closer to the man. I moved up to stand next to Miss Heart, who barely registered that I was there. She was deep in conversation with a woman about one of the characters from the book. Jason had managed to get behind the man in line. Once he stepped up to the table he stretched out his hands and with a flick of his wrist a bouquet of fake roses appeared. The crowd laughed and applauded. I had moved almost in front of Miss Heart so that she had to lean around me to see. Mr. Magic then doffed his top hat to her and reached in and pulled out a white dove. He then covered the dove with a cloth and with a wave of his hand it disappeared.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Mr. Ray had finally put in an appearance. He was standing off to the side with a photographer. Damn him and the horse he rode in on. The photographer was shooting away when the magic man decided to pull out his magic wand and aim it at Miss Heart. Or what he could see of Miss Heart around me. Jason seemed to think enough was enough when he bumped Mr. Magic, sending him against the edge of the table. I quickly plucked his wand from his hand and as he turned to look at Jason, I hid his wand in my sling. Between Jason’s bumbling apology and my bland look he had no clue as to what was going on. Jason took the man’s arm and offered to buy him a coffee and was moving him along. The applause of the crowd sunk in and Mr. Magic waved his hand to everyone. Thankfully the crowd thought it was just a publicity stunt. Which it was, I was sure of it. I was just as sure that Steven Ray had arranged it. I would make damn sure I had a talk with him later. I caught Steven looking at me so I pulled the wand out of my sling, checked it over carefully, and asked Joan to take it to Mr. Magic. I stared at Steven until he looked away. Yep, it was time for a talk.
The day dragged on and I was finally able to get checked into my room. I was just starting to remove the sling when someone knocked at the door. Thankfully it was Jason.
“Hurts, huh?” he said coming into the room.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I pulled it off and tried to straighten my arm. I damn near dropped to my knees as the pain shot down my arm.
Jason slid back the shoulder of his black T-shirt and showed me his battle scar. “Yes, I would believe. A knife in an alley in Thailand. Here, allow me.” His hands turned me around, away from him, and he slowly moved strong fingers along my shoulder blade rubbing at the tense muscles. I pretty much would have given him the world right then.
“Nice job today. I thought we diffused Mr. Magic pretty good.” His hand took my arm and started stretching it slowly. “You think her publicist set it up?”
“I know he did. I plan on having a talk with Mr. Ray tonight after dinner.”
“You want me to come with?”
“No. He is a poodle in Armani.”
Jason stopped and turned me around to look at him. “Poodles still have a bite, you know?”
“Yes, I know. I’ll be careful. I’d talk to Miss Heart but I have no proof he’s done anything. Too bad my assailant wasn’t caught.”
“Yep. Well I’m heading out. My sister lives only a few miles away so I’m crashing at her house tonight. Spend a little time with the family. Bill is already stationed at Miss Heart’s door. You need anything, call. Okay?”
I looked at him questioningly. Something didn’t sound right in his voice. “Okay. What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re sure?”
He nodded and headed to the door. “Sleep well.” His cell phone was ringing as I started to close the door behind him so I caught a first few muttered words of, “Jesus, Sean. I just saw her.”
Sean. No wonder Jason had seemed solicitous. Well, I would have to deal with him later. Right now I had just enough time to splash water on my face and head to Miss Heart’s room for dinner. I had just gotten on the elevator and pressed the button to go up when Steven Ray stepped on. The doors had barely closed when he turned to me. I was leaning against the back corner as he closed the gap and got in my face. “Look, sweetheart. I think you need to take a chill and let me do my job.”
He smelled like one too many martinis. I had him by a good two inches so he had to look up at me.
I sighed. “Is your job getting Miss Heart killed?”
“Of course not. You just don’t understand the need for publishity,” he slurred.
“No, sir. I don’t understand the need for your kind of publicity.”
He stepped back and hit the stop button. I blew out a breath and went to move forward to hit the start button. Steven placed his hand on my chest and shoved me back. “I am not done talking with you Elaine.”
“Yes, sir, you are. My name is Laney Murphy. I work for Woo Security and for Miss Heart. You lay a hand on me again sir and I will put you down on the floor so fast you’ll think this is the Tilt-a-Whirl.”
Of course he had to prove me wrong. Of course he had to try to shove me back. He never connected. I grabbed his soft hand and twisted the little finger until I had him kneeling on the floor and squawking like a chicken. Keeping hold of his pinky, I hit the start button and when the door opened up for the fourth floor I let go of his finger. “We’re done with this conversation, Mr. Ray.” I got out and headed down the hall to 413.
Sexy in the City Page 28