He didn’t want to hurt Penny, but he didn’t think he was ready for a relationship. He didn’t even know what she expected out of this.
You’re safe with me...
Did she mean she wasn’t looking for a relationship? While he hoped that was the case, he made up his mind. He’d talk to her. He’d tell her he wasn’t interested in long-term. Marriage. Family. Hell, just the thought of that gave him the chills.
He’d communicate with her. As long as he was up-front, no one would get hurt.
By the time he heard Penny emerge from the bedroom, he’d restored his equilibrium. Illusion or not, it was what kept him sane.
He’d showered and dressed already and saw that she had, too, when she rushed into the kitchen.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” She clanked and clattered around, getting a thermos from the dishwasher.
“It’s only seven.”
“I’m going to be late to work.”
Is that all she cared about? “Sorry.” Here he’d been lamenting over sleeping with her, and her only concern was getting to work on time. “I’ll drive you,” he offered.
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
She carried her thermos and stopped before him. Lifting herself up on her toes, she pecked a kiss on his mouth. “Last night was fun.”
Her sparkling eyes held no worry, only truth in her declaration.
“Yes. Fun.” He eyed her as she moved past him to the ottoman in the living room and bent over her purse to search for something.
He walked to her, perplexed and uncertain as to how to proceed.
After seeing her car keys on the side table, she snatched them and put them in her purse. Then she straightened and faced him with an unabashed once-over.
“You’re pretty good, you know,” she said.
Good? Was she playing with him? Acting as though last night didn’t matter when in fact it had?
“We should talk about that.” Realizing how that came across, he said, “I mean about having sex...and...what each of us expects going forward.”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t be one of those guys. So we had a little horizontal refreshment. Big deal.”
“You really feel that way?” She seemed as though she did.
“Yeah. Well, it was really, really hot. Whoo.” She flapped her hand to air her face and then smiled as she patted his chest. “I’d like more of the same if you’re up to it, maybe a lot more.” She sobered, but her light didn’t dim. “I know you’ve been through a lot, Kadin. If one night’s all you can handle, that’s okay with me. I’ll have a fond memory.”
She was overly exuberant. Bubbly, even. More so than usual. “That’s it? You just...sleep with a guy and don’t expect him to stick around?” Never mind his having been through a lot.
“I don’t sleep with just any guy. And it’s even rarer that I sleep with someone I haven’t known a week, but, hey, something clicked between us, right? We had great sex together. Who can complain about that?” She laughed lightly. When he didn’t share her flippancy, she put her hand on his cheek. “It’ll be what it’ll be, Kadin. Stop overanalyzing. Let’s just...be, okay?”
He looked into her lively green eyes and glossed lips that he’d like to devour right now and then finally found his voice. “Okay.”
* * *
Penny wore a mask of carefree abandon until Kadin dropped her off in front of Avenue One and she entered the building. Then the pretense ended. In the elevator, her shoulders fell as the tension eased and she leaned her head back against the back wall, looking up at the dusty fluorescent light. Dear God, what had she been thinking when she’d taken off her bra, letting her boobs do the inviting?
Not thinking.
The elevator stopped and she stepped out into the office area. Mark wasn’t in his office or any of the conference rooms. Small blessing, that.
“Good morning, Penny,” her assistant said.
“Good morning, Jordan. Where’s Mark?”
“He’s running late.”
“Good.”
Paula laughed. “Jax Ballard called. I scheduled him for an hour at ten.”
Penny had thirty minutes before he arrived. “Thanks.” Jordan was only doing her job. She didn’t know their client was a possible murder suspect.
She went into her office and shut the door. She needed to switch gears from waking to Kadin gone from her bed to professional executive. When she’d opened her eyes this morning, she realized she was going to be late to work. Then she realized she’d slept with Kadin and he wasn’t in the room.
Clear recollection had followed. Her toes curled just remembering.
She was glad he’d left the room. That way he didn’t see her despair. She didn’t expect to start seeing him like other normal couples. She really didn’t. He was an exception. He had to deal with his emotions on his own, at his own pace. She didn’t want to corner him. But she also couldn’t forget herself. She couldn’t compromise her needs to suit his. Ordinarily she wouldn’t put so much importance on a man so early in the relationship, but this felt different. Maybe his expert touch had warped her. Ruined her.
Why had he made love to her so intimately? She’d never forget him. Touching her everywhere. Kissing her from head to toe. And then pushing into her, sinking into her heat. Moving. So slow. So...right there.
She had her chin in her hand, staring off into space, when her assistant opened her office door.
Penny dropped her hand and sat straighter, startled out of her steamy daydream.
“You okay?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. Peachy.
“Jax is here early.”
Double peachy. Might as well get this over with.
“Send him in,” she said.
Jax entered and shut the door with a slight bang. “What are you doing?”
She watched him storm toward her, seeing both emotional betrayal and anger. He’d genuinely liked her. She’d liked him, too. And now this.
“A search warrant?” He walked over to her desk and leaned over. “I thought you didn’t go into the barn.”
Stay diplomatic.“Jax—”
“Why didn’t you tell me you saw a truck?”
“I—”
“You should have told me.” He straightened and paced across her office, pushing the lapels of his suit jacket back to put his hands on his hips, facing the window. And then, finally, pivoting back toward her with a hard sigh, looking disappointed, frustrated, anxious.
She said nothing, just waited for him to say his piece.
Finally he said, “Penny, I didn’t put my truck in the barn. I reported it stolen last week.”
He had? That would be easy enough to check. “Jax.” She rose from her chair and moved around her desk to stand before him. “Your truck was parked in an abandoned barn on your property. Why would anyone steal it only to put it there?”
“You’d have to ask the thief that.”
He expected her to believe that it had been someone random? She supposed the kidnapper could have discovered the barn and planned to hide it there. It would take suspicion off him, especially when the truck was traced back to Jax.
“What would you have done in my position?” she asked.
“I’d have asked you about it.”
Would he have? “I was afraid.”
“Of me?” He stepped closer, something she didn’t like much.
Raising her hand in resignation, she sighed as he had earlier. “I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure. I needed answers.”
“Which you could have gotten from me, had you asked.”
Would he have told the truth? Was he now? She didn’t trust him.
Studying her face, he ru
bbed a hand down his face and turned back to the window. “The cops asked me a lot of questions. They think I kidnapped that girl.” He faced her again. “Do you know what that felt like? Being accused of kidnapping and murdering an eleven-year-old girl?”
No, and she never would. But he seemed honestly shaken by the experience.
“Her name is Sara Wolfe,” she said. “Did you do it?”
He smirked in irritation. “No. I did not.”
“Then we don’t have a problem.” She switched on her diplomatic hat. Even though she wasn’t convinced he was innocent, she wasn’t entirely convinced he was guilty, either. She needed time to secure her job, with or without the Ballard account.
“Actually we do. I don’t think I can work with you anymore, much less see you.”
Did he think she still wanted to see him? “I can still do your ad campaign.”
“My brother is talking to Mark right now.”
His brother came with him today? “Dane is here?”
“I asked him to talk to Mark about reassigning the account.”
Not canceling it? There were contractual requirements. Maybe Jax and Dane were trying to figure out a way to back out.
Jordan opened the door again. Penny had told her she needn’t ever knock.
“Sorry to interrupt. Mark is asking for you. He’s in his office with Dane Ballard.”
“Thank you.” Then to Jax, she said, “I assume that means you, too.”
He let her go before him, controlled loathing in his look. That and devious scheming. Did he have secret plans for her? Like continuing to try and kill her?
She reached Mark’s office and stood to the side as Jax entered behind her. Mark invited them all to the seating area in his office.
“Mr. Ballard was just telling me he has some concerns about his account with us,” Mark began.
Penny looked at Dane and then at Mark, uncertain how much she should say about her relationship with Jax. Her trip to Park City had been personal.
“The police searched Jax’s property for a truck that could have been involved in Sara Wolfe’s kidnapping.” She didn’t mention that the child had been murdered. She didn’t have to. Mark blanched with the revelation and Dane had no reaction, since his brother had already told him.
“Penny told them I had a white truck.”
“With a dent on the driver’s side,” she clarified. “What makes you think I told the police anything?”
The hard lines of Jax’s face deepened. “You’re going to try and tell me you didn’t?” He turned to her boss. “She stayed at my house near Park City and went for a hike without me.”
“I saw a truck in an abandoned barn that matched the description in the news,” Penny explained.
“You stayed in his house?” Mark asked.
Dane remained shrewdly silent, but he watched Penny closely.
“We can discuss that later,” she said. “I did see a truck. But I didn’t report it to the police.” She hadn’t; she’d reported it to Kadin. He was no longer a cop. He was an independent investigator.
“My brother’s truck was stolen prior to the girl’s disappearance,” Dane said. “And the barn caught on fire last night. It burned to the ground.”
Penny couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping. She turned a look to Jax, who wore that eerie calculating expression.
“There was a truck inside,” Dane continued. “And it is Jax’s, but he didn’t put it there.”
“I didn’t start the fire, either,” Jax said.
Guilty people were always innocent, weren’t they? He didn’t park his truck in his own abandoned barn and he didn’t start the fire after suspecting she had seen it. Yeah, right. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting frustration. If the barn had burned down with the truck inside, police would have a real difficult time finding evidence.
“Do you own a black Jeep?” she asked Jax.
“No, why?”
“Well, then. Why are we having this meeting?” Penny said. “He’s innocent.”
“I am innocent,” Jax insisted.
Dane held up his hand and patted the air a few times, telling them both to stop. “My brother has expressed concern over working with you.” He looked pointedly at Penny. “I wanted to come here and see for myself what we’re dealing with.”
“Penny is my top operations executive,” Mark said.
“I’m sure she is.”
“Her reputation is known across the industry. She’ll see to it that her team delivers a competitive product.”
“Yes. I’ve done some reading about her.” Dane turned to Jax. “Let’s continue as we have been.”
“Dane, you said—”
Dane cut him off. “I said I’d talk to Mark.”
Jax’s jaw tightened and she sensed a rift between the siblings. Dane ran the company. Jax worked for him. Clearly her ex didn’t have the final say.
“She turned me in to the police for something I didn’t do,” Jax finally said in outrage.
“She didn’t call the police,” Dane answered calmly.
“Then who did?” his brother asked.
Didn’t he already know? Was he acting?
Penny didn’t say a thing.
“You didn’t kidnap anyone,” Dane said. Then he turned to Penny. “The police will get nothing from the barn or the truck. As I said, Jax’s truck was stolen. We don’t know why the thief put it in his barn.”
“Who set the barn on fire?” Penny asked, earning a warning look from Mark that she readily disregarded. Did he not care that a young girl had been murdered?
“The police will find the thief,” Dane said. “In the meantime, I need these ads to stay on schedule.” He stood. “This meeting is over. Jax, you’ll continue to work with Penny as usual.” He nodded once to Mark. “This has been an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Her boss smiled and stood with him, shaking his hand with a desperate sounding, “Thank you, Dane.”
Jax glared at Penny.
She met his wrath indifferently, when inside she was a tight bundle of nerves. She did not want to work with him any more than he wanted to work with her. And Dane...
An unfortunate misunderstanding...? Was he protecting Jax? Who’s side was he on? He’d just done what Mark wished, catered to his concern over the account. But something definitely felt off.
* * *
Kadin waited in the reception area of Penny’s office. Jordan told him she was in a meeting. He’d followed Jax here, and now he just needed to make sure she was all right. Then he’d tell her about his conversation with Detective Cohen.
Penny appeared ahead of Jax, who said something heated close to her ear. He was furious. Kadin stepped forward so they’d both notice him.
Penny stopped short and Jax followed her surprised gaze.
“Is everything all right?” Kadin asked.
Ballard looked from her to him and back. “Who the hell is this?”
“Kadin Tandy.” He stuck out his hand. He figured there was no point in hiding the truth now that Jax’s barn had burned to the ground before the search could be conducted. He’d gotten suspicious of how much Penny knew and had taken precautions.
Jax didn’t take his hand. He looked at Penny expectantly.
She offered no explanation.
“You must be Jax,” Kadin said, lowering his hand.
“Should I know you?”
“Sara Wolfe’s parents have asked that I help them find their daughter’s killer.”
As Ballard absorbed that, he slowly turned to Penny in accusation. She hadn’t told the police, but she’d told this man.
“He’s a private detective,” Penny said.
“Clever, aren’t you?” Jax moved toward her. �
��You didn’t tell the police what you saw. He did. Do you think that makes this any better?”
Penny moved back from his angry face as he leaned closer and closer as he spoke.
“I knew you went snooping where you shouldn’t have,” he ground out.
That almost sounded like an admission of guilt. Kadin stepped forward, putting his hand on Jax’s chest and pushing him back. The two faced each other in a standoff, Jax letting emotion storm his face, Kadin a rock wall of certainty. He would not allow Ballard anywhere near Penny right now.
“It’s probably best if you keep some distance from her until this is all resolved,” Kadin said, taking one side of his jacket and opening it enough for Jax to see he was armed. “Unless you can calm down.”
Jax noticed and then studied Kadin with new curiosity. Then he asked Penny, “How did you meet him?”
Didn’t he know that already? Hadn’t he been the one who followed her?
“I read about him and then went to see him,” Penny answered.
“Read about him?” Jax eyed Kadin and then her. “Are you sure there isn’t more going on? I saw the way he looked at you.”
How had he looked at Penny? Kadin moved closer to her, putting his hand protectively on her lower back. “Maybe it’s best if you leave now.”
Jax took in the personal touch, and his ire renewed. “I’ve heard some things about you, Penny. I didn’t believe them, but apparently they’re true.”
Kadin had to stop himself from asking what things. She didn’t succumb to his goading, but she did seem taken aback.
“You’re not looking for commitment. You’re just looking for your own gratification.”
Was he referring to sex? While Kadin was at odds with what had happened last night, he had no issue with women who had sex without needing commitment. He never understood why it was it okay for men to sleep around and not women, and he didn’t think of Penny as the type to sleep around with just anyone, but that was what Jax insinuated. Out of anger. Resentment.
“Has she slept with you yet?” Jax asked Kadin.
He didn’t answer. Not only did he feel it was none of his business; it was an inappropriate question.
“Jax, stop,” Penny said in a quiet voice. “You’re upset. I understand, but there’s no need to be rude.”
A Wanted Man (Cold Case Detectives Book 1) Page 7