Expert Witness: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Luckourt, Nicole

  He walked into the kitchen, dressed casually in a green-striped button-down shirt and khakis. Still wet, his hair looked strikingly close to how she’d imagined it.

  Jordan’s cheeks grew warm as she echoed his greeting. “Morning.”

  He raised a quizzical eyebrow. Her blush was probably giving her away. She was glad his investigation talents didn’t include mindreading.

  “You sleep like the living dead,” he said, taking the cup of coffee she held out to him. He took a big gulp then lifted the cup and nodded his appreciation.

  Jordan laughed despite her embarrassment. “I should have warned you. I’m a pretty deep sleeper. But I generally make it into bed myself.”

  Chase snorted. “Deep sleeper, huh? I’d say that’s putting it mildly. I don’t think a live Bon Jovi concert at a venue next door would wake you up.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. Jon is pretty cute. Hearing his voice next door may be worth leaving wherever I am in dreamland.” She handed Chase a plate with a toasted bagel. “There’s cream cheese if you want some.” She gestured to the container on the counter.

  “Careful now. I know all the words to ‘Livin’ On A Prayer,’ and I’m not above using them.” He spread cream cheese on the bagel and paused before he bit into it. “You might not want to fall asleep on me again,” he threatened.

  Jordan felt her stomach tingle at his teasing warning. She didn’t tell him that his threat held little weight for her. Even if he couldn’t carry a single note, the deep tenor of his voice alone would probably make anything he uttered sound sexy as hell.

  Their lighthearted repartee continued throughout breakfast and during the drive to the office. As they neared her building, Jordan, more relaxed, asked him some of the questions that had been swirling in her mind.

  “So, what will you do all day? I mean, while I see clients.”

  “I’ll find an inconspicuous spot to observe you from and watch for any threats.”

  She furrowed her brow. “Is that how it is on most of your other jobs?” she asked, not comprehending why he’d choose to pursue such a career.

  “It depends on the job. But like I said yesterday, there’s a lot of waiting around.”

  Bewildered, she tried again to understand his position. “May I ask what the attraction is, then?”

  The corner of his mouthed turned up slightly. “I know. When you think about the amount of time spent observing, researching, rehearsing, and waiting, it’s easy to see how people wonder why on earth anyone would choose to make this a career. But there’s a lot that’s good about it too. I enjoy traveling to different countries and meeting new people from different cultures. There’s a level of excitement that goes with never knowing where you’ll be sleeping from day to day. I could be guarding a dignitary in Afghanistan one day and escorting a well-known actor at the Oscars the next. Those parts of the job are pretty enticing, at least initially.”

  “When you look at it that way, I can see the draw.” She nodded. “Not to mention you seem to have an aptitude for it.”

  “How do you mean?” His gaze left the road and darted over to hers.

  “Well, we haven’t worked together long, but you seem to be in your element. You know…aptitude, as in you appear to be a natural at what you do.”

  A flash of sorrow crossed his features. What was it about her statement that would have elicited that type of reaction? It was so unexpected that she almost thought she’d mistaken it, but when he replied, he seemed preoccupied.

  “I like to know I’m using my skills and training to do something good,” he said, checking the rearview mirror before pulling into her office parking lot.

  Though she was sure that he meant it, his reply sounded detached. Jordan didn’t press him any further. Still, she questioned why what she’d meant to be a compliment had troubled him instead.

  At six thirty she decided to call it a day. She’d been relieved to find that Chase’s presence didn’t disturb anyone’s work. He’d decided to stake out a place in the main office, at a spare desk that offered a view of her doorway. True to his word, he was able to blend in so that no one really noticed him.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d seen some of the female clients eyeing him through the glass window where Nancy was usually stationed, but she didn’t think that had anything to do with his job. He looked striking today in the shirt that matched the color of his eyes. She was surprised at the stab of jealousy that had moved through her when she’d overhead one of the women grilling Nancy about him. Fortunately, Nancy had been quick on her feet and had smoothly explained that he was a temp hired to help out in the office.

  She dictated the report she’d been working on and gathered her things together. Thankfully, it was Friday and she could use the weekend to get back on track. She’d been scheduled to instruct a court-mandated anger management class on Saturday, but Karen had volunteered to take her place and she was grateful for the reprieve.

  She tried to recall everything she planned to get done. Going grocery shopping topped her list along with catching up on things around the house. Not to mention she’d missed her regular workout sessions this week. Sessions she sorely needed for her own mental health right now. Chase would be accompanying her on all of these errands. For some reason, the thought of his company during these mundane tasks made them seem slightly more appealing.

  Heading toward the main corridor, she overheard Chase and Mike bantering back and forth. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Chase’s laughter echoed down the hall. Mike was animatedly adding to the conversation when she got closer.

  “And when that canoe started heading down the river with our clothes, I thought I was going to die.”

  “Yeah. Well, from what I remember,” Chase shared, “it was ten times worse when we had to race naked down the river trying to catch the damn thing with the entire cheerleading squad rooting for us to reach it.”

  “I still blame you for that, you know,” Mike said. “The whole thing was your idea. Somehow, you always pulled me into your outrageous escapades.”

  “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know it was their annual canoe trip? The place is usually deserted during the week,” Chase said innocently.

  Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, Jordan made her presence known. “I must be missing something good,” she said, entering the room.

  Chase looked over at her and instantly sobered. His reaction wounded her a little. Though he’d initially been reserved, after last night and this morning, she’d thought some of the professional distance between them was starting to dissipate.

  “Oh, Chase and I were recalling the good old days,” Mike said. She knew he’d noticed Chase’s reaction and was trying to spare her feelings.

  Jordan tried not to let her hurt show. She reminded herself that he and Mike had been friends for years, and she and Chase had only met yesterday. The close proximity they shared and their unusual relationship—employer and employee, bodyguard and target, close friend of her best friend—only confused things. And on top of that, why does it matter? After all, this was only a temporary situation, and he was solely her employee.

  “Sounds like you two must have had some fun,” she said lightly.

  “Yes, those were good times,” Chase said, his tone conversational.

  If she hadn’t heard him talking to Mike two minutes ago, she never would have noticed the difference in his voice. But she had. Sticking to her resolve to keep from making her interactions with Chase more than they were, she tried to sound nonchalant when she replied. “Well, if you’re ready, I was hoping to stop by the grocery store on the way home. I don’t think I can survive on what’s left in my fridge.” She grabbed her briefcase.

  “Ready when you are,” Chase replied, getting up to leave.

  Mike looked at them intently. “I’ll see you two later.”

  “See you in the morning,” Jordan said with a wave.

  “Later, brother.” Chas
e gave him a pat on the back then followed Jordan out.

  Jordan began taking the grocery items out of the brown paper bags stacked on her kitchen counter. Chase came in behind her, carrying the last of the bags. He caught her by surprise when he started helping her unpack them.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said.

  “It’s no problem. I’m quite at home in the kitchen.” He pulled a plastic sack of tomatoes out of one of the brown bags.

  In truth, he did look quite at home in her kitchen, just as he had in the grocery store. She’d expected he’d want to get out of there as soon as possible, but he’d walked with her as though they had all the time in the world, watching as she’d inspected vegetables and scanned the shelves for her favorite items. There was no doubt he was good at what he did. Although he’d been attentive the entire trip, he hadn’t at all been overbearing.

  They finished unloading the groceries, and Chase volunteered to help her fix dinner. They diced vegetables side by side and fell into an easy conversation. Nothing very personal, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. They spoke of their favorite hangouts and places to go. Chase’s experiences far outweighed hers, having been on numerous protection assignments in the area. Her mouth watered as she listened to him describe the maple crème brulee he’d tried at Disney’s California Grill. The restaurant was one of her favorites too, but she hadn’t tried that particular dessert yet.

  “Stop! I can’t take it anymore!” she said, holding a hand up and feigning anguish. “I think I’ll starve before we get dinner done.” She adjusted the temperature beneath the pot.

  “Oh. You’ll survive,” he said playfully.

  “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked, sounding indignant while trying to keep a straight face.

  “Only that you had lunch about six hours ago. I think you may live,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “But what are we making anyway?” he asked, watching her combine finely chopped mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes with cream cheese, spinach, and cooked pasta into a pot.

  “Tortellini primavera and grilled chicken. Though, it’s clear from what you’ve told me, this is not the type of gourmet fare you’re used to being served while on assignment.” She grinned at him as she stirred the ingredients together. “Do you think you’ll be able to get by?”

  “Well, it smells awesome. But if you insist I provide you with a verdict now, I’ll have to give it a good ol’ American try,” he said, reaching a spoon into the mixture.

  “You can’t. It’s still not done!” she said much too slowly.

  Chase was licking his spoon by the time she got the words out. “Delicious,” he said after swallowing the last bit.

  “It probably isn’t even heated yet,” she admonished, though she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

  “Then it’ll only get better,” he said in mock seriousness. “Actually, I think I need to try it one more time.”

  He started to grab another spoon, and she lightly pushed his hand away. “Oh, no you don’t. If you’re going to offer a verdict, I’m going to make sure it’s not raw.”

  He propped himself up against the kitchen counter and folded his arms in front of him. With the shift, he was now only a couple of inches away from where she stood. “Wait a second, you can’t change the rules in the middle of judging.”

  Her heart picked up as she tried unsuccessfully to ignore the effects of his nearness. “That was the judging for the ‘before’ round. You’ll have to wait for the ‘after’ round to judge again.” She pointed her mixing spoon at him. “Which begins after everything is actually cooked.”

  A chuckle escaped as she took in his expression, which now closely resembled a child who’d dropped his ice cream cone. She liked this side of him. His humor and roguish grin made him even more appealing though. Add that to the fact that he seemed to have lowered the guard he’d erected earlier, and he was much less like a paid protection agent and more like a friend she was hanging out with. Albeit an incredibly sexy friend who had a penchant for undercooked pasta and an uncanny ability to raise her blood pressure with his mere presence.

  “So many rules to remember.” The end of his mouth quirked slightly as he reached past her to put the spoon in the sink. His forearm brushed lightly across her stomach. The touch launched tingles that raced through her body. Her eyes jerked up to witness his reaction. She tried to decipher if he’d felt anything similar. But he’d begun scrubbing a dried patch of tomato seeds from the countertop, so absorbed in the task that he didn’t seem to notice the contact. She let out a long, silent breath. His touch had made tingles run down her spine, but he was totally unaffected by hers.

  Just my luck. I had no interest in anyone until this moment, and I find someone who has no interest in me.

  “I feel much better now,” Jordan declared, sitting back in her chair. She’d polished off the last bite of pasta from her plate. She looked over to find Chase working on his second helping. “Looks like I wasn’t the only one who was hungry,” she commented.

  “I don’t know if it’s hunger or the fact that it tastes so good. I couldn’t stop at one serving. My compliments to the chef.”

  “And the sous chef,” she added with a meaningful look his way.

  She was glad the uncomfortable moment at the sink had passed. Dinner had initially been quiet, and she could sense that Chase had withdrawn again. She prayed it wasn’t because he’d noticed her response to their brief contact. She didn’t see how, since he’d been absorbed in cleaning the counter, but what else could it have been?

  She looked at him intently, trying unsuccessfully to read into his thoughts. He had an unfair advantage. While she had trouble finding the motivation to mask her emotions in situations like this, he had no comparable difficulty disguising his. Her train of thought was distracted by a pair of green eyes looking back at her. Too late, she realized she’d been caught once again unabashedly staring at him.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was lost in thought.”

  “Care to share them?”

  Absolutely not. Instead, she replied, “It was nothing important. I think I’m just getting sleepy.”

  “No Friday night plans?”

  “Not tonight. Truthfully, I don’t stay up very late. Even on weekends. I guess I’m more of a morning person. I usually go jogging first thing on Saturdays.”

  “Sounds good to me. I have some bookkeeping to do tonight, and that’ll keep me plenty busy. Another one of the not-so-fun parts of the business.”

  “Yeah, that one I can relate to,” Jordan said as she began to clear away their dishes.

  Chase tried to help, but she insisted she had it covered. He took a seat in the living room and removed his laptop from its case. The subtle glow from the screen illuminated his features: the hard line of his jaw as he studied a spreadsheet, his shirt unbuttoned just enough to expose a smattering of dark hair at the top of his well-defined chest.

  Realizing what she was doing, she stopped herself. It’s a working relationship, not a date. Although the statement made sense on a logical level, she knew enough about underlying thought processes to know that emotions weren’t always rational.

  She finished loading the dishwasher and turned toward him. “I’m turning in. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He looked up from the screen. “Night. Oh, and Jordan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I should be awake, but if I’m not, make sure to get me before you go running in the morning.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I’d take off without you? Kind of defeats the whole purpose of you being here, right?” She wouldn’t pretend for a second that she liked relinquishing so much of her independence, but she wasn’t naïve to the fact that someone wanted her killed and the job wasn’t complete.

  He wiped a hand across his mouth. “Okay, so I take it that was a completely unnecessary request. But you’d be surprised by how many times I’ve been ditched at inopportune times. Good to know you aren
’t going to add any to the list.”

  “No worries there,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m much too reasonable to throw away my protection detail on a whim.” She paused, thinking more about his revelation. “No, I’m definitely not the girl in the horror film who makes you bite your fingernails off because she insists on going down the dark staircase to check it out herself. That drives me nuts. So rest easy on that one.”

  Chase appeared bemused by her confession. “Sometimes, I forget what you do until you make comments like that. Takes the old aphorism ‘know thyself’ to a whole new level.”

  “Yeah, well, wait till you hang out with all four of us psychologists at the same time. Conversations are interesting to say the least.”

  She left it at that. Increased self-awareness was kind of a rite of passage in her field. Probably at least partially related to the host of personality tests they took before they were taught to administer them. Whatever the cause, she didn’t think it was a bad thing. Most of the time, anyway.

  She was half asleep by the time she got to her bed. If nothing else, at least I can sleep in peace with him here. But as she laid her head down on her pillow, her thoughts drifted back to him. She let herself wonder for a moment what would have happened if his arm across her stomach tonight had led to more intimate contact. If instead of going on like nothing had happened, he’d snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. Her pulse quickened as she imagined being encircled in his hold, pressed up against the solid planes of his chest… The sound of her kitchen cabinet shutting echoed into her room. She let out a groan and pulled the pillow over her head. I’m pathetic, she thought wryly. I’ve reduced myself to having stolen thoughts about my bodyguard. I definitely need to get out more when all of this is over.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Chase was up early. After lying awake for hours, he’d finally decided he might as well get out of bed and try to do something useful. He’d powered up his laptop, but thoughts of Jordan kept intruding on his efforts to finish the work on his books. He’d felt like a jerk yesterday when she’d walked in on his conversation with Mike at the office. He could tell he’d inadvertently hurt her.