“How much older?” Selena asked, doing her best to sound nonchalant.
“I think Kent said he was twenty-one. Still…if he wanted to hang out with me, I wouldn’t say no!” Jen teased as she took a bite of her pizza. “What about you?”
“Me?” Selena squeaked. “I really haven’t given it much thought. After all, I only saw him for a second.”
Everyone arrived at the table and the conversation turned to the upcoming football game, the history quiz they were all taking when they got back from lunch, and plans for the weekend. Selena was relieved by the interruption. She took a bite of her own pizza and caught Jen’s eye.
“Liar,” Jen whispered with a smile before joining in with the rest of the group.
* * *
Somewhere in the distance there was a loud crash. At first Selena thought she was dreaming, and rolled over to snuggle a little more into her pillow and blanket. It wasn’t until she heard Jen’s footsteps running past her door that she immediately jumped up and shot into action. Kicking the blankets off and reaching for the door, she heard Jen cry out. Selena was beside her in a flash. “Oh my God! What happened?” A quick glance showed shattered glass all over the floor and furniture and a large brick in the middle of the living room. “What in the world?”
“This cannot just be a coincidence,” Jen muttered as she looked at the mess around her. “It’s not possible.”
“You think it’s Todd?” Selena asked as she scanned the room.
“How often do you hear about random bricks being thrown through a living room window, Selena?” Jen snapped.
“Okay, okay…let’s just calm down and call the police,” Selena said as she carefully stepped around the shattered glass. “Be careful. It’s everywhere.”
Jen went in search of her cell phone and was heading back toward Selena when there was a second crash. Screaming, she threw the phone to Selena. “Tell them to come now!” she cried. “That one came from the kitchen!”
Selena had no time to think, a voice was already speaking to her from the phone. “Hello? Is anyone there?” a deep, male voice was saying.
“Um, yes,” Selena began nervously as she moved away from the living room and any windows and made her way down the hall where she thought it would be safer. “My name is Selena Ainsley. I’m staying with Jennifer Lawson. Someone has thrown two bricks through her windows and we think he’s still out there. Can you please send someone right away?” She rattled off Jen’s address as her heart hammered in her chest.
“We’re on our way,” the officer said and hung up.
Closing the phone, Selena called out to Jen. “Where are you?”
Jen came out of the shadows and turned on the light in the hallway. “I think this is the safest place in the house right now.” She motioned to the phone in Selena’s hand. “Are they coming?”
“On their way. Hopefully there’s a patrol car or something in the neighborhood.” Do cops still patrol neighborhoods? Selena wondered. For all she knew, they could have to wait for God knows how long for someone to get there. They hugged one another for support. “Oh, Jen, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this is happening!” She wasn’t sure who was trembling more at the moment.
“Me either. I mean, I knew Todd was crazy, but this is just too much!” Out of the corner of her eye, Jen saw the flashing lights of a police car. “They’re here. That was fast.” Relief filled her voice. She pulled back and made a face. “I’m going to go and grab a robe and maybe some slippers. Can you let them in?”
Selena wasn’t particularly dressed for the occasion either, but compared to Jen’s barely there nightie, Selena’s flannel boxers and stretchy tank seemed more appropriate. Carefully, she walked around the worst of the destruction to the front door and pulled it open. No one was standing there, but she could see the flashlight beams as the police searched the yard and the surrounding area. Not wanting to interrupt them, Selena stood quietly in the doorway.
“Did you talk to them yet?” Jen asked from behind her.
Shaking her head, Selena turned. “It looks like they’re searching the yard.” Taking in Jen’s appearance, Selena decided it was time for her to cover up. “You stay here and I’ll go and get dressed.” Without waiting for an answer, she made her way carefully back to her room and shut the door. Searching through her luggage, she found a pair of leggings and a T-shirt and put them on the bed. Off in the distance she heard voices and figured the officers had finally come inside for a look around.
Quickly, she stripped off the boxers and donned the leggings. Hands on the hem of her tank top, Selena jumped at the sound of a knock on her door. Grimacing at the thought of facing anyone while partially in her pajamas, she threw vanity to the wind and opened the door.
And came face-to-face with James Montgomery.
* * *
James did his best to keep his expression neutral, like it was no big deal that he was standing less than a foot away from Selena after ten long years. He did a quick scan of her face and noticed that she seemed to be in shock; her green eyes were wide, her skin pale, and her mouth shaped in a perfect O. His immediate reaction was to pull her into his arms and ask if she was all right, if she was hurt, but then he remembered that he was here on actual business.
“The screen to this window has been pulled down and was lying in the yard. Did you hear anyone outside?” he asked as he stepped around her and went to examine the window. When she didn’t answer, James turned and saw that while she had turned around and was watching what he was doing, she didn’t seem able to speak. “Selena?” he prompted carefully and ignored the way his own heart rate kicked up a notch at being in the same room as her and being able to speak to her.
“Oh…um…no. I didn’t hear anyone outside,” she finally said, breaking the trance she was in. “I heard the first crash and then got up when I heard Jen running by the room. After that, we were either in the living room or the hallway until the police showed up.” Her voice was trembling, and she hated herself for that. Maybe he would just attribute it to the fact that there was an obviously crazy person lurking around.
James noted that the window was locked and was safely intact before turning his attention back to her. He meant to keep the conversation impersonal; he meant to talk only about the situation at hand. Looking around, he saw her robe hanging on the back of the door. He reached for it and handed it to her. “You should probably cover yourself up. There’s no need to parade around like that.”
He failed.
“First of all, I’m not parading around,” she snapped. “And secondly, I was in here getting changed when you came knocking on the door. If you could have waited five minutes, I would have been decent.”
“You could have told me to wait.”
“Is this conversation really necessary?”
“Wasn’t that you standing in the doorway earlier when we pulled up?” he asked, one dark brow arched.
Selena rolled her eyes. “Yes, but that was only so Jen could go and get changed, and really, what does this have to do with anything?” she demanded, but before he could answer she added, “Why don’t you go and get more information from Jen so I can actually get dressed. She’s the one you need to be talking to, not me.”
She was feeling pretty pleased with herself until James leaned in close. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. His deep-timbered voice barely concealed his rage.
She blanched at his words and before she could utter a response, he was gone. With shaky fingers, she closed the bedroom door, quickly finished changing her clothes, and put on shoes to protect her feet from the broken glass. Once she was done, she found Jen speaking with James and another officer out in the living room.
“James said it looked like whoever did this was going to try to come in through the guest room,” Jen said, her voice trembling slightly. “Thank God he didn’t get in.” She reached
out and hooked an arm through Selena’s and pulled her close.
“Did you see anyone out there?” Selena asked the other uniformed officer, doing her best not to acknowledge James’s presence. It wasn’t easy to do; he seemed to fill the space and she was having a hard time keeping her voice even. Her eyes actually hurt from not looking at him.
“No. Once you started turning on the lights and he heard the two of you, he probably got spooked and ran.” The officer looked over his notes and then addressed Selena again. “Miss Lawson believes this may have been the same man who has been harassing her. Have you ever met him?”
“Todd, you mean?” Selena asked and then shook her head. “I don’t live around here, and Jen only mentioned him once or twice before all this craziness began. Are you going to arrest him?”
This time James answered. “We’ll bring him in for questioning, but we have no concrete proof that it was him. It could have been some of the neighborhood kids, or it could have been a random act. Unless someone actually saw this guy, there’s not much that can be done.”
That sparked Selena’s ire and she forced herself to look at him. “So Jen’s just supposed to live in fear, is that it? I mean, she’s gone to you and told you all the ways this guy is harassing her and upsetting her, and yet nothing is being done about it. Aren’t the police supposed to protect and serve? Why haven’t you gotten Jen a restraining order against this guy?”
“There are laws, Selena,” James said through clenched teeth.
“What good are they?” she snapped. “She’s scared, she’s being harassed, and her house has been damaged. What exactly has to happen before you actually do anything? Does she have to be raped? Assaulted? Have her house burned to the ground?”
“That’s enough!” Jen yelled and then took a steadying breath. “Look, this is a tense situation for many, many reasons, but I can’t handle all of your fighting on top of it.” She stopped and looked at James. “I appreciate you coming here tonight. I honestly didn’t think you’d be one of the guys responding, but I need you to promise me that you are going to do everything possible to get whoever did this.”
“You have my word, Jen,” he said solemnly. He hated that it had even escalated to this point and that Jen now had property damage to deal with on top of everything else. Maybe they’d catch a break and someone could identify Todd as the one responsible.
Selena snorted with disbelief.
“And you, Selena…I appreciate you being upset on my behalf, but I rely on you to be the levelheaded one out of the two of us. When I see you freak out, it makes me freak out.” It felt odd that Jen was the one trying to make everyone else feel better; she could certainly use a little comfort herself.
“I’m sorry, Jen. I just feel so helpless…”
“I know…I do…but I need you to be the strong one here. It’s…” She looked over and saw the time and groaned. “It’s four in the morning and my house is trashed. Luckily it’s not too cold out, but I have to get someone out here to fix the windows, call my insurance company, and right now, I don’t even know if I feel safe staying here.” That’s when her voice finally cracked.
Selena realized she had to put her own anxieties aside for her friend’s sake. “Okay, first, we’ll get this mess cleaned up and do what we can to cover the windows until someone can get here. We’ll call your insurance company and get that going, and then we’ll go stay somewhere for a couple of days until things calm down.” If nothing else, Selena was good at keeping her head together in a crisis. She could prioritize and delegate like a pro.
“I can’t afford that right now,” Jen cried as she collapsed on the only chair without glass on it. “I have to pay for windows, and I’m going to want to get an alarm system installed, and we have the reunion next weekend…I mean, I just can’t swing that right now.”
“It will be my treat,” Selena said reassuringly as she knelt at her friend’s side. “It will be a business expense. I can write it off since I’m up here for an event. Let me do this for you. We never got to have that apartment in the city, remember? So let’s stay at that Marriott resort we always wanted to go to—you know, the one up on the bluff—and be pampered for a few days. What do you say? I know it’s not ideal circumstances, but I promise to try to make it fun.”
Jen looked at Selena and then James and then the other officer, and that’s when Selena noticed the look. This was the officer Jen had told her about. He was looking at Jen with more than just casual interest. Maybe there was a silver lining to this nightmare of a night. “Do you think that will be okay, officer?” Selena asked him directly. “Should Jen stay here, or will it be okay for her to get away for a few days? We’ll only be about fifteen minutes up the road, and you’d be able to reach her if you needed to.” She did her best to keep her tone light and casual, but inside she was just a little bit giddy at the prospect of Jen and this guy actually dating.
He cleared his throat and then looked to James before answering. “That’s really up to her, Miss Ainsley. As long as we know how to contact her, she should go wherever she’s going to feel the safest.” He turned his attention to Jen. “You should be fine in either place.”
Selena wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but his politically correct answer sort of took the wind out of her sails. It wasn’t as if this was the time for any declaration of love or even mild interest, but it would have been nice if he’d at least cracked a smile. “As soon as we get our reservations, Jen will call you and let you know where we’ll be.” Maybe then he’d be inclined to have more than a businesslike conversation with her.
He nodded and then turned to James. “I’m going to go see what I can do to help them get these windows covered and secured before we leave, if that’s all right.” James nodded.
“I think I have some plywood in the garage and maybe some plastic. I bought supplies like that last hurricane season, but I don’t know how much I still have left,” Jen said, standing and leading him out the front door, leaving James and Selena alone again.
Unfortunately, her emotions were too close to the surface for her to deal with James directly right now. They eyed one another, but neither said a word long after the front door had closed. Stepping around him, Selena walked over to the pantry, found a dustpan and broom, and started to clean up the kitchen. She hadn’t so much as moved the broom more than a few times when James stepped up behind her and took it from her hands.
“Let me,” he said and didn’t give Selena a chance to respond before he started sweeping. His movements were quick and efficient, and Selena could feel the barely concealed anger radiating from him. She was sure part of it had to do with the fact that he had to come out in the middle of the night, but she sensed his feelings had a little something to do with her too.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said wearily. “Don’t you have to go back to the station and file a report or something?” She was hoping to give him an excuse to leave, actually hoping that he would leave, but he didn’t seem willing to cooperate with her wishes at the moment.
The broom stilled as he looked at her. “Jen’s a friend of mine. The extra few minutes Mike and I spend here helping her out isn’t going to hinder anything.” His clipped words were said through clenched teeth; he was clearly doing his best not to out-and-out growl at her.
“Why aren’t you wearing a uniform, you know, like your partner?” Selena figured it was a safe topic. If they were going to be cleaning up together, she’d rather not have it done in silence.
“Mike’s not my partner. I’m a detective now. Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I go in and catch up on paperwork. I happened to be at the station finishing up on another case when the call came in. Mike knew that Jen had come in a couple of times and talked to me about the situation, and he let me know. I can finish my reports in the morning. I wanted to make sure Jen was okay first.”
It made sense but it wasn’t getting h
im out of here any sooner. “What if whoever did this is still in the area? What if he’s close by and just waiting for you to leave? Shouldn’t you be out there looking for him and not…you know, sweeping?” Seriously, did the man need to be hit on the head to take the hint?
“We have a second car patrolling the area. Relax. I honestly don’t think this guy is a violent threat; he wants to bother Jen, not hurt her,” he said dismissively and went back to sweeping.
“So…what? That means we can all just relax? Because I have to tell you, James, that sounds like you’re just not taking this seriously.” She turned to walk away. “Maybe I need to speak to someone higher up than you to get this taken care of.” James reached out and spun her back around before the last word was fully out of her mouth. His dark brown eyes blazed furiously.
“Let’s get one thing clear here. First, I am taking this situation very seriously. I’ve been watching this guy. Jen came to me scared, and because of that, I’ve looked into this guy’s life. He has no history of violent behavior or of previous harassment,” he said.
“But—”
“But,” he interrupted, “that doesn’t mean that he’s not starting to. We’re working on it, Selena. It may not be fast enough for your standards, princess, but we are going to find out if Todd is responsible for this, and if he is, he will be charged.”
Selena didn’t remember moving but suddenly found herself toe-to-toe with James, almost chest to chest. She looked up into his brown eyes, and it was as if ten years had suddenly disappeared; in front of her wasn’t the present-day man, but the boy she had fallen in love with. Lines became blurred; past and present seemed to collide.
Her heart beat erratically in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. Against her chest, she could feel his heart beating just as rapidly. His gaze met hers: heated, narrowed. Selena swallowed hard and licked her lips. His face mesmerized her—it always had. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch it, to feel the rough stubble on his jaw, to trace the soft fullness of his lips. Her body trembled with the need she felt and with the restraint she was forced to have. It wasn’t fair that she still responded so strongly to him.
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