“I have to go out of town in the morning. It’ll just be an overnight thing, so I’ll be back sometime Wednesday afternoon. The guy I met with today wants me to fly to Kentucky with him to meet with his partners.”
“It’s okay,” Nikki said. “I’m sure Catherine and Zeke will let me stay with them until you get back.”
“I don’t like leaving you. I’d take you with me, but I’m afraid I’ll be too busy to be much company.”
***
Even though Jake called her twice after he arrived at his hotel, Nikki missed him terribly. She lay awake in Catherine’s guestroom that night, unable to sleep with Jake so far away. As she stared at the ceiling, puzzling over the letter she’d found in her pocket, she had a horrible thought.
What if it was Eliot?
Eliot Simms, with his blonde good looks and old money, certainly seemed a more likely suspect than Evan Stephens. He was married and somewhat older than Jake. He was someone Jake considered a friend, and someone who could’ve easily gained access to their home. Nikki prayed it wasn’t true, because she knew Jake loved Eliot like a brother.
He reacted so strangely when Catherine talked about babies at Sunday dinner. Was it because he hated the thought of her and Jake having a family together?
She knew it was vain to think that Eliot was so recklessly, helplessly obsessed with her, but she couldn’t think of another man with those initials. The more she thought about it, the more it tormented her. He was at the house when she found the globe, could’ve slipped it in under her nose. And the fire…he arrived right behind them.
Eliot made perfect sense.
Although the thought, and all its implications, terrified her, Nikki knew she had to find out.
Tuesday afternoon presented her with the perfect opportunity.
Nikki sat on the couch, listlessly channel surfing, when the doorbell rang. She jumped up and went to the front door. Her pulse tripped when she saw Eliot standing on the front steps, but she quickly opened the door and invited him in.
“Is Dad here?” he asked. “I called his office, but they said he already left for the day.”
“He told Catherine he was going to the club to play bridge after work,” she said.
Eliot glanced around. “Where is Catherine?”
“Gone to the store.”
“What? She left you here alone?”
Nikki swallowed.
I’m so stupid, she thought. I am alone, and I just let in a man I suspect of murder.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. Catherine would be back soon. And she really did need to talk to Eliot alone.
Nikki made a show of looking at her watch. “She should be back anytime now. Meanwhile, could we talk?”
She wasn’t sure if it was her overactive imagination or not, but she thought she saw a shadow of apprehension cross his face.
“Sure,” he said. “What do you want to talk about?”
Nikki motioned him into the living room. He sat on the couch, but she remained standing, placing herself between him and the doorway. She decided to use the same strategy she used on Stephens. If Eliot was her mystery lover, he had played it very cool and she could only hope to catch him off-guard.
“I want to know if you and I were lovers,” she said bluntly.
His eyes widened and he stared at her, looking dumbfounded. “Is this some kind of joke, Nikki?” he sputtered. “I love my wife. I love Jake. I would never hurt them.”
She didn’t say anything, just stood there, gauging his reaction.
“I can’t believe you think – you haven’t told Jake you think it’s me, have you?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
He jumped to his feet, startling her and Nikki took a step backwards. He ignored her as he paced around the living room with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
“Sara told me we fought a couple of weeks before my accident. What did we fight about?”
“All right,” he said finally. “I’m sick of this hanging over my head, and worrying whether you’re going to remember and turn me in, so I’ll just tell you. There is something between us, Nikki, but it’s not what you think.”
He raked his hand through his hair and sat back down.
“The fight we had…you and I were both on the board of a charity that collected money to buy computers for area public schools,” he paused, his face reddening. “You found out I’d borrowed $50,000 from the fund without anyone’s knowledge.”
“You mean embezzled,” she said, shocked.
Whatever she’d expected to hear, it wasn’t this.
“I mean borrowed,” he said defensively. “I’ve since made restitution for the full amount, plus interest, and I feel horrible about what I did.”
“Eliot, why? You have money. Your family has money.”
“Most of my capital was tied up in my new advertising business, and I didn’t want to ask my family for a loan,” he said. “I didn’t want to have to explain what it was for. You went nuts when you found out and threatened to turn me in, even though I’d already paid half of it back. Nikki, I’d be ruined if you did that.” His eyes begged her for understanding.
“What was the money for, Eliot?” she asked.
“A baby.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Kelly is obsessed with having a baby, to the point that it’s put a strain on our marriage. She’s dragged me to fertility clinics all over the country, running up bills our insurance doesn’t cover. She finally found a doctor who promised he’d keep working with us until she was pregnant, but he requested 50K up front. I knew I had the money coming in, but it wouldn’t be soon enough. I never intended to keep it, just borrow it for two or three weeks, tops. I swear to you, I’m not a thief.”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “This means so much to Kelly. I’d do anything to make her happy, but I truly regret breaking your trust. You and I were friends, once.”
Nikki blinked. “We still are.”
“I’ll show you the books, and you can decide then what you want to do about it.”
“It will stay between us.”
Impulsively, she crossed over and hugged him. “But the next time you need a loan, come to Jake and me first.”
He gave her a relieved grin, looking like a man delivered from a heavy burden. “That’s what you said the first time.”
“See, that just goes to show you I really meant it.”
“Thank you, Nikki.” Eliot’s voice was quiet, grateful.
“So, how’s the baby plan coming?”
“We’re going to Atlanta this weekend, and they’re going to do the in vitro then. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Are you and Kelly doing okay?”
“Better now,” he admitted. “I swear, Nik, I love making love to my wife, but it started to be more like a chore. For awhile there, I felt more like a lab rat than a man.” He looked at his watch, and said in a singsong voice, “Eliot, I checked my temp and we need to do it right now!”
“I’m so sorry.” Nikki shook her head in amusement.
He rolled his eyes and grinned. “Well, how about you and Jake? How’s it going with you guys?”
“We’re getting along great. I really love him, and he loves me, but there’s this thing hanging over us. I don’t know how we can move forward until we find out who this man is.”
“Well, Nik, I have to tell you, I think you really have moved ahead. I’ve never seen Jake so happy, even with all this other crap that’s going on. You hang in there. Everything will work out.”
She sighed. “I hope you’re right. It’s driving me crazy, though. Every time a man speaks to me, I’m looking for signs he’s the one. Evan Stephens hit on me at the Marshall’s Ball, and I accused him, too.”
“Eeewww!” Eliot made a face. “There goes my feeling of honor that you thought you might’ve actually slept with me.” He looked at her with twinkling blue eyes. “Trust me, Nik. You would NEVER have let that man touch you, not for a
ny amount of money. I have to admit, you were a pretty classy lady then, too.”
Nikki laughed. “That’s reassuring, but who would I have let touch me?”
“That’s the thing,” Eliot said. “I still have a hard time imagining there was someone else. You used to be a lot different, a lot more hot-headed, but I never saw anything to make me think you’d even look at anyone else. Even before the accident, you and Jake were really intense. Yeah, you’d try to make him jealous sometimes, but that was mostly when you wanted to yank his chain about something. It’s just Jake’s weak spot.”
“Tell me about it,” she exhaled, and related the whole story of her encounter with Evan Stephens.
“Oh, man!” Eliot said, wide-eyed. “They would’ve had to scrape what was left of him off the walls if Jake had known what went down. I don’t blame you for not telling him.”
They abruptly ended their conversation when they heard Catherine’s key turning in the lock. Eliot rushed to help her with the groceries, giving Nikki a quick peck on the cheek as he went by.
Ah, well. Back to the drawing board, Nikki thought, although she was glad it wasn’t Eliot.
She followed him outside to see if they needed any help and was pleasantly surprised to see it was snowing.
Hurry home, Jake, she thought wistfully.
***
November 19
Whaap
The snowball landed perfectly, striking Jake in the back of the head.
“Aaah!” he yelled, as a sliver of ice slid down his shirt collar. He jerked around, looking for the Jenkins brat from next door. Instead, he spied a flash of dark hair, heard her laughter as she ducked behind the house.
Nikki!
Grinning, he walked around the side of the house.
Right into an ambush.
Nikki was ready for him. She bombarded him mercilessly and with deadly precision, forcing Jake to retreat. He ran around to the front and hid behind the deck, trying to build an arsenal before Nikki found him.
Whaap
Whaap
Both shots landed squarely. Sputtering, Jake got off one lob, but it missed her by a foot. He sprinted after her, but she was as fleet-footed as a deer. Panting, and knowing he could never catch her in a foot race, he ducked behind the propane tank.
Hardly daring to breathe, he listened for her. Finally, he heard her feet crunching in the snow. He peeked over the tank and saw her standing a few feet away. To his delight, she had her back turned to him.
With a war cry, Jake charged. He tackled her, twisting as he did, so that she’d end up on top. They went down in a flurry of arms and legs, laughing and gasping for air.
“Woman, is that any way to greet your hardworking husband?” he demanded, enjoying the feel of her in his arms again.
She was so lovely, so breathtaking, with her cheeks flushed by the cold. She looked so much like she had on the day they met.
“Well, how about this?”
She pressed her lips to his. The kiss was long and sweet and Jake would’ve scarcely been surprised if it had melted the snow bank he was lying in.
“That’s more like it,” he said huskily.
Desire lit her eyes and something unspoken passed between them. Jake shivered, not from the cold, but from anticipation.
“Nikki, Jake, where are you?” Catherine called.
Guiltily, they scrambled to their feet, grinning at each other like teenagers.
“Coming, Mom!” Jake yelled.
“What were you doing?” Catherine laughed as she reached to brush the snow from his hair.
“She started it,” Jake said, and pulled back Nikki’s collar to dump a fistful of snow down her back before he ran inside the house, laughing as she screeched.
“Hey, Zeke!” Jake said as he reached to tug off his boots.
Zeke lifted his coffee cup in acknowledgement. “Was it a good trip?”
“Got a new client, but I’m glad to be home.”
“I made a pot of chili,” Zeke commented.
“Good, I’m starving.”
They ate and then moved to the den. To Jake’s dismay, Catherine was in a conversational mood. Jake was feeling a little impatient, anxious to be alone with Nikki. He glanced at her and she gave him a knowing smile. As he carried his coffee cup to the kitchen, she slipped up behind him and whispered in his ear, “It’s okay. They can have you for a little while, but I’m not sharing you with anyone tonight.” She nipped his earlobe with her teeth, and then went back to her in-laws, leaving Jake breathless by the promise in her voice.
***
“Aahchoo!”
Jake sneezed, then glowered at Nikki, who stood at the front door, watching Zeke’s car back out of the driveway.
“I feel bad.” She turned to him and grinned at his expression.
“You should,” he retorted, the corner of his mouth curving into a slow grin. He sneezed again.
“Really, really bad,” she said, giggling.
“Good,” he growled.
He wasn’t about to tell her that he probably caught his cold from his client. The poor guy had sneezed and hacked the whole trip.
He was lying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, where he had been ever since they had finished eating Zeke’s chili and he felt the symptoms of his cold coming on.
Jake had overplayed his illness a little, coughing and sniffling until Catherine told Zeke they’d better go so he could get some rest. Nikki had rolled her eyes at him, knowing exactly what was on his mind.
Nikki walked over to the couch, and clucked sympathetically as she pressed her hand to his slightly warm forehead. She leaned down and whispered in his ear. “You poor baby! I think I can make you feel better, if you come with me.”
Jake’s heart stuttered in his chest when she tossed him a seductive glance and crooked her finger at him. He couldn’t have resisted her if he wanted to. They bounded up the stairs together.
Nikki turned up the gas wall heater, although Jake would’ve told her there was no need if he could’ve gotten the words out. Just the thought of making love to Nikki again was making his blood run hot.
“Wait here,” she commanded, as she tied her hair back in a ponytail. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the connecting bathroom, leaving Jake staring after her, wondering what she was up to. He heard the sound of running water as Nikki filled the tub.
She emerged a moment later wearing one of his old cotton T-shirts and Jake thought with wry amusement that he couldn’t be more turned on if she was wearing the slinkiest negligee from Frederick’s of Hollywood.
Jake caught a glimpse of black panties as she reached for a bottle on her dresser. Jake hadn’t gotten such a thrill over one quick little flash of underwear since he was an adolescent. She disappeared into the bathroom again, and then reappeared suddenly in the doorway, motioning for him.
“Come here,” she said.
He walked over to her and she began unbuttoning his shirt, her eyes never leaving his. Jake shivered as her cool palms pressed against his chest.
“Tonight, I’m going to take care of you, just like you’ve been taking care of me,” she murmured, and pressed her lips to his throat.
Jake groaned, caught in the sweetest anticipation of his life. She undressed him, and then led him into the bathroom. Steam rose from the round marble tub and the scent of jasmine perfumed the air.
“Get in,” she said.
Jake shut off the water and winced as he climbed in the tub.
At first he thought he wouldn’t be able to stand the temperature of the water, but then he began to relax as the heat seeped into his muscles, into his bones. Nikki sat on the edge of the tub, dangling her legs in the water. Gently, she guided him with her hands until he faced away from her and began soaping and kneading his back. Jake groaned as she massaged him, her small hands magically pushing all the tension of the last several weeks from his body. The heat acted like a drug, leaving him lethargic and completely at her mercy. He close
d his eyes and almost felt like he was floating out of his body.
He drifted into some sort of mindless haze and didn’t even notice that Nikki had stripped and climbed into the tub with him until he felt her bare skin press against his back as she massaged his scalp.
The hands that had relaxed him moments before now snapped him into awareness as they stroked him. She teased him until Jake could no longer stand it. He twisted around in the tub and suddenly they were face-to-face. He seized Nikki’s waist and pulled her to him, claiming her mouth with his own. His hands glided greedily over her wet skin slick from the bath oil. They made love, then played until the water around them grew cool. With some reluctance, they climbed from the tub and toweled each other dry.
“I missed you,” Jake murmured, as he reached to stroke her damp, dark hair out of her face. “And I have something for you. I was going to wait for the perfect time, but I think maybe this is it.”
***
Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, Nikki slid beneath the crisp white sheets of their bed and admired the powerful lines of Jake’s body as he dug through his suitcase, clad only in the towel swathed around his hips.
He laid another rose globe on the comforter beside her. Its vivid red and white stripes reminded her of a candy cane.
“It’s a floribunda. The red and white stripes mean unity,” he said, staring at her with those intense blue eyes. “That’s what we have now, more than we ever did before.”
So intent on the rose, Nikki didn’t notice the black box he held in his hand until she heard it creak open.
Stunned, she stared at the platinum diamond eternity band nestled against black velvet.
“I know you don’t remember our wedding, so I’d like to give it back to you. Our anniversary’s coming up in a couple of weeks and I was thinking maybe…” Jake cleared his throat. “Will you marry me, again?”
“Oh, Jake!” Nikki threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
She held her right hand out, not sure which hand he was supposed to place it on. He slid the ring on her finger and crawled into bed beside her.
They spent a lazy afternoon in bed, making plans for the wedding and the rest of their lives together.
***
Unforeseen Danger Page 19