“No what?”
“No. You can’t come with me.”
Jesse shook his head as if just remember what they were arguing about. “Why not?” he asked, turning back to the eggs. He flipped the eggs from the pot to their plates with more force than necessary, splattering several clumps onto the counter.
“I’ve already told you why.” She tossed the toast onto the plates, took hers then grabbed her coffee. “I’m going out on the deck. The wind and the ocean might be more reasonable than you are right now.” She needed distance. Last night, she’d felt things that weren’t on the same page as a casual fling.
Jesse followed. “I’m not the one being unreasonable. You are.” He expelled an exasperated breath as he sat and picked up his fork. “What do you think the point of the past three days has been? You’re here to be safe. I can’t have you walking alone into who knows what. I’m going with you.”
It was an excuse for sex, she told herself, trying to sound convincing to her own mind. It wasn’t because she was in any real danger. She stabbed some egg with her fork, shoved them into her mouth, and chewed until she could string two sentences together. His mother’s claim that the Weldon men were as stubborn as a devil didn’t half cover it. Jesse was like a mountain of obstinacy. “I’m going to a hospital and to a bank in a taxi during business hours in broad daylight. Besides, if you come with me, I won’t know if Roger is acting strange because he’s doing these weird things, or if it’s because you’re there. You tend to have an effect on people’s behavior.”
“I’ll stay in the background.” He waved his toast and she realized he liked to wave things when he was angry. Maybe it was his way of cautioning people not to cross him. Beaches used the same technique, posting red flags to warn swimmers that conditions were treacherous. She had the fleeting idea that any warning she might have heeded about getting involved in the sucking rip tide of Jesse’s sex appeal had come too late. He’d already pulled her out to sea so far she couldn’t see the shore.
No. She wasn’t lost in Jesse. She was just feeling the result of having her life turned upside down by not marrying Roger. By moving from home. By being isolated with Jesse for over two days. All she had to do was get back on track with her life—her job, her friends, and charity work—and this situation with Jesse, this obsession to be with him, this desire spinning around in her head and burning up her body would fade.
“You stay in the background? That’s like the Jolly Green Giant promising to blend with a pea pod. I can’t hide here forever. I have a life to get back to, things to do, and an art auction to prepare for.” She picked up her coffee. “You’re being unreasonable. You can’t hold my hand every second.”
“I’m not doing that.” He sat back in his chair, glaring at her. The morning sunlight streaming off the ocean sparked a deep-blue sheen in his eyes and kissed his raven’s wing hair to rich shine. Her breath caught and her heart jigged twice before evening out to a steady pace—a pace faster than she ever remembered. The scent of his aftershave on his robe kept luring her to crawl back into bed with him. “It is reasonable to say that I have to get back to my life.”
He paused and frowned, as if he didn’t want to admit that point. “Okay. I agree. You’ve a life to get back to. But—” He looked down at his food, seemingly irritated that he’d yet to finish eating, and forked the rest of his eggs onto his toast, making a half sandwich. “You’ve only given this thing twenty-four hours. That’s not a lot of time to reach any conclusions worth risking harm over. Your safety is more important. Will you be by yourself at the art gallery?”
Part of her knew he was right in some ways. “No. Karin will be there.”
“Not Andy?”
“Not today I don’t think. You know, all of this might not even be necessary. Nothing truly sinister has surfaced.”
“Not true. Breaking in and trashing a hotel room is a criminal offense. And the phone calls worry me. A person has to be pretty determined to make calls at fifteen-minute intervals for an entire day and half the night. Determination and willingness to break the law are serious. At least let me be chauffeur.”
“You’re acting as if I need a bodyguard.”
“No, I’m acting as a professional. I’d advise any woman with your problem to do the same. Why take chances?”
She sighed, wondering where their argument had gone. She had a feeling that she’d made little progress in getting a foothold on her life. “All right. I’ll let you drive, happy?”
“No, but it’ll have to do.” He tossed the last of his bread off the deck and a gull swooped down to nab the treat. “I just hope that neither of us end up regretting your decision.”
She feared her only regrets were going to be not feeling his touch, hearing his voice, feeling his passion. She sighed and stood. “I’d better go get dressed.”
“Not quite yet,” Jesse said. “Since you won’t spend the day in bed like I suggested, breakfast isn’t over.” He pulled the sash of the robe, untying it in one quick stroke. Then he caught the hem and deftly managed to snatch the robe from her shoulders, leaving her naked. Anyone passing would see.
“Jesse!” She tried to snatch the robe up to cover her breasts, but threw the robe aside.
“I like my gingerbread naked,” he said. “And unless you want the fox to feed out here, you better run.”
Alexi took off, wondering what he’d do if she ran for the beach rather than the house. Next time she had an argument with Jesse, she’d definitely remember not to wear his damn robe. A full Medieval set of armor might serve her better.
He caught her in the dining room, plopped her onto the table, and feasted until they were both sated.
* * *
The morning at the gallery passed slowly. Karin spent most of the time in the back room cataloging a collection of jeweled, sterling silver boxes. Andy showed up after all, claiming that he needed to take his mind off of his newest project. He helped Karin with cataloging and Alexi sat alone in her office with the Adam and Eve nudes. No customers appeared. The phone didn’t ring. She had no scheduled appointments because she was actually supposed to be on her honeymoon. So, she had nothing to do but stare at the too tempting Adam in all of his nude glory and wonder why in the world she’d been so darn anxious to get out of Jesse’s bed this morning. They could be in the hot tub. She could be sunbathing nude on his private deck, looking at Jesse’s gorgeous naked body; rather than staring at a photo of passion, she could be having another box of melted Godiva’s a la Jesse. Her office also triggered a really potent memory of Jesse seducing her in front of the nudes, of him posing her just like he wanted her to look were he to take a nude photo of her.
When it was time for Jesse to arrive, she was in front of the gallery waiting on the sidewalk for him, feeling like she’d tear his clothes off the moment she saw him. Andy, taking a cigarette break, stood with her. Andy didn’t believe that art belong only in a frame; he sported a colorful array of tattoos and piercings.
“So what’s going wrong with the new project?” Alexi asked. She knew the subject he was attempting to “metalize”, a hubcapped equivalent of Rodin’s “Thinking Man.”
“Bad,” Andy said pacing away, agitated. “The muse ditched me. The bitch has no sense of loyalty.”
“And this is a surprise?” Every two months Andy always cursed the fickleness of his creative juices. Alexi laughed and then jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder. She swung around to see Jesse’s stern face glaring at her. “You’re supposed to be inside.”
“And you’re late.” She kissed his cheek and ignored his irritation. “Jesse, this is Andy, my all around handyman for the gallery. Andy, this is Jesse, an old friend.”
“Old friend or new?” Andy nodded Jesse’s way then stuffed his cigarette out. “I’d better get back inside and help Karin close up.”
“Tell Karin I’ll call her later, all right?”
“We gottcha. Later, man.” Andy went back into the gallery. Alexi turned to Jesse.
He was frowning at the closing door.
“He’s not real friendly is he? I thought he wasn’t going to be here today.”
“He doesn’t go much for strangers and he came by to help out. Sometimes he just does that.”
“What was he pissed about?”
“When?” she asked puzzled.
“Who’s the bitch with no sense of loyalty?”
“Oh, nothing.” She laughed. “His muse. His creative juices have deserted him again.”
“It didn’t sound like nothing. It sounded like a lot of pent up frustration to me.”
Pent up frustration had too much of a familiar ring to Alexi for comfort. “Let’s go or I’ll be late for lunch with Nan. I honestly think you are zeroing in on Andy unnecessarily. He’s not acting weird. He has always been this way.” Had she really thought there was something to Jesse’s suspicions, she would have given it a lot more thought, but Andy had always been Andy and right that minute, after staring at the nudes all day, she wanted to kiss Jesse. She didn’t because he got a business call and the trip to the hospital was only minutes away. Jesse appeared to have had a harried morning as well. His close cropped, dark hair looked as if his fingers had dug ruts in it, and his smile was grim.
“How did your morning go?” he asked as he hung up the phone and turned into the hospital parking lot.
“Good,” she said with conviction. She didn’t want him to know that she’d been miserable and had thought of nothing but him. She was not a clinging vine. Surely she had enough spine left to spend a day without crawling all over him. “I don’t know how Karin would have managed without me. Between the calls and customers, there wasn’t a spare moment. How about you?
“Good. Wes likes the pictures of the property and we’re going ahead with the expansion.”
“Good,” Alexi said. His sports car ate the drive to the entrance in seconds as if the devil was on his tail.
She bit her lip; she didn’t want to leave him behind, and again cursed herself for not taking him up on his offer to spend the day in bed. Maybe it wasn’t too late. If he came to lunch with her, she could at least see and smell him even if she couldn’t be touching him. “Will you join Nan and me for lunch?”
Jesse looked at Alexi, trying to read her convoluted mind. This morning she couldn’t wait to get out of his house. He’d had to almost force her to let him operate on the periphery of her schedule.
His day had started on the bad note of her declaration to see Roger and it had yet to hit a good tone. His real estate agent was friendlier than he’d been comfortable with. He couldn’t put his finger on what she did different than the other times he’d met with her. He just knew that this time he’d been uncomfortable with her interested gleam over coffee. After he’d finished the business portion of their meeting, he’d split and paced around Forsythe Park until it was time to pick Alexi up. That had turned out to be a bad idea. It’d been where she’d almost married Roger just days ago. It’d been there that he’d kissed her. That seemed so long ago.
He’d stopped at a vendor and bought cotton candy to munch on. It was the sweetest thing available to consume. His conversation with James wouldn’t leave him alone and Jesse cursed the fact that he had time to think. Why did Alexi have to pick today of all days to get back into the groove of her life? A day of mindless sex fit his mood. That she had chosen to run errands told him that for her maybe the sex was starting to fade.
He had to think of something to spice things up a bit because he wasn’t ready to let the fire they had going burn out. By the time he left the park, he’d decided he’d give her a little space today and then wow her tonight. He’d play it cool then come on like gangbusters. So why was she acting like he’d been the one to give her a cold shoulder. He didn’t get it.
“Next time. I’ve already made a lunch appointment.” He looked at his watch; he was meeting Paul in five minutes at the same pub where they’d met before. “If I get done early, I’ll meet you in Lucy’s room, okay?”
“That will be fine.” But green eyes turned as distant as a snow-capped mountain. She opened her door and stood before he could kiss her. The tension between them felt as oppressive as a ton of explosives sitting on his chest ready to blow.
He didn’t know what was causing the tension, but he knew one way to let it vent. He pulled up the emergency brake, got out of the car, and caught her before she disappeared through the hospital doors. Her mouth opened in surprise as he swung her around to face him. Before she could say anything, he leaned down and kissed her hard. “I’ll see you later all right?”
She smiled the first real smile he’d seen since he chased her into the dining room after breakfast. He looked down at the killer black shoes that turned her red power suit into a major come-on. “Wear those to bed tonight.”
Her brows arched. “Wear my shoes to bed? Wha-”
He pressed his finger over her lips. “Don’t ask, but believe me, you’re going to love it.” He turned, and feeling a hell of a lot better, he walked back to his car. Yeah, she just needed for him to perk her interest up a bit. Her fire wasn’t fading. He wore a satisfied grin all the way to meet Paul.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jesse slid into the booth. Paul looked like hell. Bags hung under his bloodshot, tearing eyes, and he pressed a handkerchief to his nose, constantly.
“Allergies,” Paul mumbled. “It’s just my damn luck that the first gorgeous babe that I’m Johnny on the spot to save, lives in a freaking forest. I’m allergic to any pollen.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Nan. The woman is a dream centerfold from the top zipper of her nurse’s uniform to her squeaky white shoes. But she’s a plant fanatic,” Paul said then sneezed three times. “Her apartment is wall to wall plants. It’s a nightmare.”
Jesse shook his head. “Any more trouble last night?”
“Four more hang-up calls. The dude quit calling at one.”
“Our caller’s male? Did he say anything?”
“No. Just a feeling I had. I thought I could hear the smack of pool balls in the background, but it was strange. Too fast and rhythmic to be someone playing the game though.” Paul kept his nose pinched, making his words obnoxiously nasal.
“Can you let go of your nose?”
“Nope. I sneeze constantly then.”
“There’s got to be something you can do. Go to the drugstore and load up. But for now, what else have you got?”
“More of the same. Holstead’s still coming up clean. He plays golf at the Country Club. Works in the bank and that’s about it. Nothing has turned up yet to cut him out of his golden boy mold. Gossip is he got stiffed for his wedding.”
“I know. I’m the man who carted off the bride.”
Paul grinned; the draping handkerchief only revealed the corners of his mouth, making him more comical. “I know. I was about to tell you that the guy who kidnapped the bride is a much more unsavory character.”
“Very funny.”
“Yeah, unfortunately, the jilted groom is coming up clean.”
“That isn’t something I want to hear. What about Andy Larson?”
“That dude’s weird and fits the stalker profile if you ask me. Spends hours talking to hubcaps then bangs on them. Have you met him?”
“Just today. I wasn’t impressed. Pretty antisocial. Anything on Benny?”
“Harmless so far, if a bit reclusive. He works then goes home—a big historic Victorian on—”
“I know,” Jesse held up his hand.
Paul nodded then sneezed three more time. “Damn. You and Wes failed to mention that this job came with plant hazards.”
“I could send you to do security detail at the next Home and Garden Exhibition unless you give me something more to work with here. Nobody can be as squeaky clean as Roger and Benny are coming up.”
“I’ll keep digging on all of them. Oh, you’ll get a laugh out of this. Benny’s an avid bird watcher. The postman says he delivers go
bs of stuff and the man at the hardware store says that Benny’s backyard is a virtual Disney Land for our fine feathered friends.”
“Great. Next you’re going to tell me he’s an Audubon—”
“Yep. The society meets at the library every month and he’s there. Even leads bird-watching expeditions to the parks in the area.”
“So I’ve got a golfing golden boy, a flaming bird empathizer, and an antisocial hubcap hammerer.”
“You’ve summed it up rather well, boss.”
“I was afraid of that.” Jesse tossed money onto the table.
Paul stood. “Oh there’s one thing. When I spoke to Wes this morning, he said Reed may have picked up a line on this Taylor guy you’re looking for, but the trail went cold at some homeless mission in Hardeeville, South Carolina. That was three years ago. It’s just over the Savannah River from here. I’ll pop over there and ask a few questions while Roger and Benny are at work.”
“Good. Let me know what you turn up.” Jesse left a sneezing Paul and headed out of the pub. So, Reed had been able to track down Lucy’s father. It was rather interesting that the man’s last known address was not more than fifty miles away.
He wished the inquiries about the situation surrounding Alexi had produced more answers.
* * *
“All right. Out with it. What’s wrong?” Nan asked, sliding her lunch tray next to Alexi’s on the gray table.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Alexi said, pulling out her chair. She absently glanced at her shoes. Wear them to bed tonight?
“Hello. Earth to Alexi. Not only are you fading out on me here, but did I hear you just say nothing is wrong?”
“I’m not fading and you’re not in need of a hearing aid.”
“Then if nothing is wrong, why in the ever living world are you calling me on the phone for a lunch date when,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “you’ve got a man like Jesse to be in bed with?”
“You can’t spend all day in bed.” Alexi whispered back as she forked her salad.
Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Brothers Series) Page 17