Annie nodded.
“Get her number and I’ll call her right back,” he told Annie. They were all on cell phones and he didn’t want to keep Annie from making the rest of her calls.
The minute he could, he called the woman who was chair of the Impossible Committee.
“I am sorry to bother you, Mr. Anderson,” she said when they connected, “but I’m having trouble with the military agreeing to set up a conference call for the children whose parents – mostly dads – are overseas. Everything else we discussed has been taken care of and will be ready.”
AJ mentally cursed. This had been a big one – more than a dozen children had asked for their dads to come home. Some, like Jennifer, had simply mentioned going away in green clothes, while others had known very specifically where their parent had gone and why. Regardless, they all wanted to be reunited with family.
“Let me see if I can come up with a plan,” AJ told the woman, mentally running through a list of contacts – anyone with connections at a level to provide what he needed. And then he remembered the one person who did, although it was the last person he wanted to call.
He went into the kitchen, not wanting the others to know who he was speaking with. It took a few minutes to get through to the politician he had recently worked for, and AJ thought at first his secretary had hung up on him.
“What do you want?”
Considering what AJ had done for the man, he could be a little less gruff, but then he remembered hanging up on him when the man had called about his wife being in jail. Okay, so the man probably didn’t owe him, but AJ was going to ask anyway.
“Don’t you have connections in Washington, DC with the military?” AJ asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.
The man didn’t answer.
“Isn’t your brother a senator who’s on one of the military subcommittees?” AJ pressured.
“Are you blackmailing me; going to expose me if I don’t answer?”
AJ clenched his teeth. “I don’t do business that way. I’m simply asking you to do something good,” he paused before adding under his breath, “for a change.”
“What is it you want, Anderson?” the man growled, and AJ figured he was lucky he didn’t hang up on him.
He explained what he needed to happen, and although the man grumbled all the way through the discussion, he finally agreed to help, but only after AJ told him it would probably be good for his career, given the events of late.
AJ had no sooner hung up then his phone rang again. With a sigh, he flipped it open. While it was great to see things happen for Chanti, he was ready for a rest from the hectic pace he had been maintaining. When he saw the number, his fatigue was immediately forgotten.
“Tell me you’ve caught the bastard,” he told the policeman who was handling Chanti’s case.
“I wish I could,” Officer Calahan said. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you first thing this morning when you called. Christmas time seems to turn people crazy.”
“I imagine,” AJ replied. “You know I brought Ms Morrison to her home in Hattiesville after the accident. Today, her assistant brought down the mail and there was a threatening letter from the same person who cut the brake lines in her car.”
“Damn.” The officer swore softly.
“And come to find out, it was the second letter she’d received. The first one she threw out as a prank, but I have the latest.”
“Great. Can you drop it off at the station?”
“That’s the problem. We’re in Hattiesville until Wednesday, and I don’t want to leave her alone.” He had no idea where this maniac was, but he had the feeling he knew enough about Chanti to get to her if he wanted. And that scared the hell out of him.
“Okay, let me make a call. We need to start processing that letter if we hope to avert another mishap. I’ll get someone from the Hattiesville police over to Ms Morrison’s house to pick up the letter. I suppose it’s been handled a lot?”
“Yeah, sorry. We didn’t know what it was at the time, but you should only find Ms Morrison’s fingerprints on it and mine. I doubt she’s in any database, but I am.”
“You are?” The way Calahan asked, AJ figured he would be high on the suspect list.
“From military service, as well as my current job,” he clarified.
“Alright. I’ll have them get fingerprints when they pick up the letter. That will save time in the long run. Expect someone in an hour or so.”
AJ hung up, glancing at his watch. He hoped it would be sooner, as it was almost quitting time, at least for Annie and Jake, who had to travel back to the city. He got back into the dining room to find them already packing up.
“You can’t leave until after the police come for the letter,” he told them.
“Why?” Chanti was the one who asked the obvious.
“They need everyone’s fingerprints, just to eliminate any that might be on the envelope and letter,” he hastened to add when he noticed Annie’s face pale.
She plopped in a chair, hand to her heart. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought for a minute we were suspects.”
“Why don’t you and Jake just stay here tonight?” Chanti asked, coming to stand by Annie, rubbing her back in assurance. AJ knew how she felt about her young assistant, but if he had his say, they wouldn’t stay. He wanted time alone with Chanti.
Annie shook her head and AJ breathed a sigh of relief.
“You know what I have waiting for me at home. I can’t. They’d eat me alive by the time I got home tomorrow night.”
AJ watched Chanti smile but he was confused. “Who would?”
Chanti laughed at his concern. “Annie is the world’s softest touch when it comes to the walking wounded. She has quite a menagerie at home – cats, dogs, birds, even a ferret, and all with missing body parts.”
“And all jealous as heck whenever I come over,” Jake grumbled.
AJ looked between the three of them. How had he been so fortunate to encounter such unique, truly caring people? He would have to thank Charlie for giving Chanti his card.
It wasn’t long before Janice Yang, of the Hattiesville Police Department, showed up, collected their fingerprints and the letter, and assured them she would get any information they discovered to Officer Calahan. AJ walked her back out to the police cruiser, requesting that she also contact him. She pulled away just as Annie and Jake emerged from the house, bundled up against the cold. Chanti followed and he frowned.
“Where’s your coat?” he growled, shrugging out of his jacket and dropping it over her shoulders.
“It’s only for a minute.” She looked at him with laughter in her eyes.
Annie and Jake snickered, said they’d see the two of them on Wednesday, and climbed into Jake’s car. As soon as they disappeared down the drive, AJ turned Chanti, tugging on the lapels of his coat to pull her closer.
“Alone at last.”
She laughed. “What about George and Wilma?”
He shook his head. “They go to bed with the sun.” He bent his head to kiss her, his tongue flicking across her lips and she opened for him. Groaning, he wrapped her in his embrace as he deepened the kiss. All day he had watched her, wanting her with an intensity that had kept a knot in his stomach. He would be eternally happy when this party was over and he could spend time with her without worrying about business interfering.
“Wilma and George usually go into town for a movie on Monday night,” she said, her breath warm against his neck. “She said we could eat the rest of the chowder, if you don’t mind leftovers.”
“Later,” he whispered, taking her mouth again, wanting to devour her and live off her energy.
Long minutes later, he realized it was starting to lightly snow, he was shaking, and she had his coat.
He dragged her into the house where she shrugged out of his coat and handed it to him. When he started to put it on the hall tree, she stopped him.
“I want to show you something new,” she said, a mischievously twin
kle in her eye.
AJ’s thoughts were on taking her to bed and making love, but he was up for something innovative. He raised his brows. “Are we going to try out the Jacuzzi?”
She stepped close and he thought she was going to kiss him again, until she reached past him for her coat. “First, we make snow angels.” At his immediate snort of protest, she added, “Then we see if the Jacuzzi will fit two.”
Chapter 14
They played in the snow, Chanti showing him how to make snow angels and AJ grumbling the entire time about how unmanly it was and if his brothers saw him they would disown him. But he did it and Chanti had the feeling he would do whatever it took to make her happy. They plopped down all over the back yard until they had an entire chorus of angels, the last two of which were him and her together, holding hands.
Cold and wet, they had shed their coats at the back entry way and scurried up the stairs, quickly discovering that the Jacuzzi tub was large enough to do more than soak in the hot, bubbly water.
“I could get used to this,” AJ said as he came out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair dry with a large fluffy towel. Chanti had already dressed in jeans and a tee shirt and was brushing her wet hair. Looking behind her in the dresser mirror, she thought she could get very used to seeing AJ like this, snug jeans riding low on his hips, bare chested and bare footed. There was something very sexy about a man’s bare feet.
“Get used to what – my Jacuzzi?” she asked, sensations still flowing through her, caressing her from the inside as AJ’s gaze slid over her in the mirror.
AJ reached for her, tugging the brush from her hand and turning her to face him. He slid his hands up her back and pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his instead of answering her question. The kiss was passion intensified, his mouth hot and hard on hers, his tongue sweeping into her mouth to mate. His hands moved to her hips, pulling her closer still and she wanted to again fuse their bodies in the ultimate closeness of lovers.
“Chanti, look at me.” His throaty whisper reached her across the sensuous current swirling around them.
“You,” he said when she finally forced her eyes open to be captured in his gaze. “I could get very used to you --- morning, noon and night. In my world every day.”
Was that a declaration of love? Chanti tucked the words close to her heart to examine later because AJ led her toward the bed and all she could think about was the beauty of what they shared and the fear that it wouldn’t last beyond Christmas.
* * *
AJ had a hard time concentrating on work Tuesday, mainly because Chanti refused to sit still for more than a minute.
“My knee is better, and my head doesn’t hurt at all. I might as well be at work.” She pouted for the umpteenth time.
“You were supposed to wear that brace for a week, and you haven’t. What if I tell the doctor that tomorrow?”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “What if I tell the doctor exactly why I haven’t been wearing the brace?”
AJ had the grace to blush at her reference to the amount of time they had been spending in her bed, making love. Well, it wasn’t as though she couldn’t wear the brace at other times. He decided that topic was better off left alone.
“Isn’t there something you can do from here?” he asked instead.
“I’ve checked my email at least three times. I’ve called Annie so many times she’s not even answering the phone anymore; she makes it go right to voice mail.”
AJ could hear the frustration in her voice. Everything was falling into place and all they could do now was bide their time until the party. Chanti was like a little kid, anxiously waiting for Christmas.
“Come here,” he commanded, using the slow, southern drawl he knew she loved.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. Silhouetted by the light from the window, her slender curves caught his eye, just as they had the first night he’d met her. God, he loved this woman. Everything about her, from her impatience to her laughter and humor; her generosity to her business deplume made him want her with every fiber of his being.
Heaven help him, he had even talked to his business partners last night about the possibility of opening a branch office here in Chicago. That was a trump card that he wouldn’t use unless there was no other way to get her to marry him.
Now, she flipped her hair back over her shoulder as she turned and walked toward him. She wasn’t limping anymore, and they probably could have returned to the city today, but AJ wanted just one more day all to himself; one more night to lose himself in her softness, before the realities of the world intruded.
“What?” She gave him a pout, but he saw the twinkle in her eyes. She moved in close, her breasts right at eye level, and he was very tempted to…pots clanged in the kitchen and he sighed. Wilma was fixing lunch and would call them to eat soon. He knew George and Wilma liked him, and they had to know what was going on at night, but AJ wouldn’t embarrass them or Chanti by hauling her up to her bedroom in the middle of the day.
Even though he would love to do just that.
Instead, he tugged her down on his lap, circling her waist with one arm and tilting her chin to capture her gaze. “What can Santa bring you for Christmas?”
“You didn’t want to play Santa, remember?”
That reminded him of the all-important guest at the party. “Did Charlie agree to do it?”
“Yes. The suit will be delivered right to the office. Charlie said he’d drive up Sunday in plenty of time to get ready.”
“Good. Now, back to my original question.”
“Time,” she replied and when he dipped his brows in a frown, she continued. “I spend my life at the office working. I’d like time to find out what the real me wants out of life.”
AJ’s heart pounded. Could it be that she was ready to give up her business; or at least slow down, and spend more time with him? Could they work out the distance thing?
She sighed. “I suppose you’ll want to be with your family for Christmas. We’ve done all we can do, and you’ve been amazing to find so many children in such a short amount of time. I can have my accounting department cut you a check when we get to the office tomorrow so you can make your flight arrangements and get back to Texas before the holidays.”
Even if she didn’t sound too happy saying it, her words made him angry. He shook her slightly. “I don’t want your money, Chanti, and I’ll be staying until the job is done.”
He couldn’t read her expression because she started to cry, tucking her face against his neck. She sobbed quietly and he held her tight, rubbing his hand up and down her back, wanting to soothe her but not knowing how.
Finally, she mumbled into his shirt, her voice catching with more tears. “The p…police have the evidence. They…they’ll eventually find out who hurt me.”
“Is that what you think? That I’m only staying to find out who hurt you?”
He felt the tentative nod of her head.
“Ah, baby, you’ve got it all wrong. Yes, I want to find the bastard who cut your brake lines and sent you those threatening letters. But more than that, I want to stay until you figure out exactly what’s good for you.”
He wasn’t going to tell her he loved her; that would be too easy. She had to discover for herself that they were right for each other. AJ already knew his heart, and he thought that he knew Chanti’s. But until she could voice her feelings and they could decide how to make their relationship work, he wasn’t going to pressure her into giving him the answer he wanted, if it wasn’t something she wanted, too.
* * *
Chanti’s desk was covered with flowers when she arrived Wednesday morning. All the different departments of Mori Cosmetics had sent her get well wishes, and it did her heart good to know that they thought of her other than as a signature on their paycheck.
She bent to sniff a vase of gladiolas. Life was good. The doctor had given her a clean bill of health this morning, and she and AJ had stopped at the car dealership to pick out
a different car, which was to be delivered this afternoon. AJ had groused about not wanting her to drive yet, but she had assured him that he could be her chauffeur for as long as he was here.
As long as he was here. The thought immediately depressed her, and she pushed it to the back of her mind. The days were rushing by far too fast, and she was almost to the point that if AJ didn’t say something pretty quick, she would have to tell him…
Exactly what would she tell him? That she loved the tight fit of his jeans, the way he held her all night long, even when they hadn’t made love; that his laughter and soft Texas drawl were like music to her ears?
When all was said and done, there wasn’t anything about him she didn’t love. He was perfect, and that scared her. She wasn’t. A perfect man should have a perfect wife, and she was far from it. She was impatient; demanding at times, close to being a workaholic and she loved living in Chicago. Was there a place in this world for two such disparate people?
“Ms Morrison? Noel is here. She said she has an appointment with you?” Annie interrupted Chanti’s thoughts, which was just as well because they kept going round and round and not getting her anywhere. She had four days to finish this party, which had grown so out of proportion she couldn’t believe it, and then she could think about her future. Would AJ wait? He had said he would stay until she figured out exactly what was good for her.
“Hey.” Noel, a tall, willowy brunette walked into her office. Even in jeans and a sweater, she looked and walked like a model. Now that she was here, Chanti wasn’t at all sure how to approach the fact that they had found her biological mother. Did Noel even know she was adopted? That would be the first thing to find out.
She recalled how she had first met Noel. Their parents had been friends and her mother had signed Noel at the young age of sixteen to a modeling contract. Both sets of parents had been on a trip together when their plane crashed and everyone was killed. She hadn’t seen much of Noel since the funerals, except for the occasional cosmetic shoot she managed to attend.
If Wishes Were Magic Page 13