by Kit Tunstall
After a moment, he started the engine and shifted into drive. As he pulled away from Blake’s apartment, his mind was still preoccupied with who might be after Olivia, and how they could solve the problem together. He didn’t even have to think about it before heading in the direction of her office, wanting to share what he’d found out about Blake with her.
***
At ten minutes before noon, Bethany popped her head into the office. “I’m making a run to Sal’s for lunch. What would you like?”
She grinned at her friend. “Do you really need to ask?”
Bethany grinned in return. “Eggplant Parmigiana sandwich?” At Olivia’s affirmative nod, she called, “I’ll be back in a bit then.” The door closed behind her a second later.
Olivia rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to banish the headache lingering. Staring at spreadsheets hadn’t helped diminish the headache left over from last night’s attack. A quick glance at her watch revealed she had at least another hour before she could take more ibuprofen, so she’d just have to tough it out.
There was a tentative tap at her door, and she called, “Come in.”
The door eased open, and Lindsay stepped through with a steaming mug of coffee. She looked nervous as she approached the desk. “Bethany said you still have a headache, so I thought this might help. When I get migraines, strong coffee and chocolate are just what I need.” As she finished, she laid a chocolate bar on the desk beside the coffee.
She smiled her thanks. “That’s really sweet of you. Thank you, Lindsay. I do still feel a bit like a Mack truck ran over me, and I might cut out early today.”
The girl’s eyes darted to the coffee before back to her face. “That might be a good idea.” Though she was agreeing, she was clearly distracted. “Do you want cream or sugar for your coffee?”
She shook her head. “Not if I’m going to use it to kill my headache, but thanks.”
When she still didn’t reach for it, Lindsay nudged it with her hand, moving it closer. “You should drink it before it gets cold.”
She smiled at the intern, finding it amusing if a little annoying how the girl was hovering over her in nurturing mode. “I actually prefer cold coffee. I know it’s a weird quirk, but iced coffee is my favorite, and room temperature or cold is a close second. The only thing I like hot is a hot toddy or hot chocolate.”
Her eyes sparkled, and she seemed on the verge of tears. “I could make you hot chocolate, if you prefer?”
Concerned she had hurt the girl’s feelings, she stood up from her desk and moved around to Lindsay, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Coffee is fine, but thank you. You don’t have to fuss over me like this, and please don’t get your feelings hurt if I don’t drink it right away.”
Her lips were wobbling, and she seemed terribly anxious. “I just want you to like it.”
Realizing Lindsay was working herself into quite a state, Olivia picked up the cup, wincing at the temperature of the hot liquid inside. It was definitely going to be hotter than she liked, but she hated to see the young woman so upset about her perceived rejection of her overture.
She brought the coffee to her mouth, about to take a sip of the steaming hot brew, when Lindsay suddenly slapped it out of her hand, splattering coffee on both of them before bursting into tears.
Olivia stared at her, stunned by the intern’s behavior. “What are you doing?”
“You can’t drink that. I’m sorry. I knew I couldn’t go through with it, but I had to try.”
Olivia leaned against the desk, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned at Lindsay. “What are you talking about?” She lifted a hand to pull her sodden blouse from her chest, still confused. “First you bring me coffee, and then you won’t let me drink it after pressuring me to? What’s going on here?”
Lindsay was sobbing so hard that she clearly couldn’t speak for a moment, and she crumpled forward before dropping to her knees on the floor as she buried her face in her hands. The way she rocked back and forth was pitiful, and despite her confusion, Olivia knelt down on the floor beside the girl and put her arms around her, offering comfort. “Calm down and tell me what’s happening here please.”
It took a couple of minutes for the girl to regain enough control to talk, though she was still hiccupping periodically and seemed on the verge of sobs. “There was poison in the coffee. He told me to put rat poison in it.”
She stiffened, shocked to hear those words coming from the young woman she was comforting. She dropped her arms and leaned back. “You put poison in my coffee?” At Lindsay’s miserable nod, she frowned. “But why? Who told you to do that?”
“Gary Towers,” she said with another hiccup. “He’s the one who told me to scratch your car and mess up your office too. I think he spends hours a day thinking of ways to torture you.”
In her shock, Olivia dropped back onto the floor, her butt colliding with the soft carpet as she stared at Lindsay. “How do you know Gary Towers?”
The girl bit her lip, as though trying to control its trembling. “He’s my father’s cellmate, and he’s been illustrating pretty much everything I do for the last couple of years in preparation to get revenge on you. He said if I didn’t cooperate, he’d shank my dad in the middle of the night.
”My dad’s not a bad man. He just got involved with drugs and did a stupid thing, but he certainly doesn’t deserve to die. Towers told me which classes to take in school for my last couple of years of college, and then he told me to apply for an internship here. I’ve been watching you for the last few months since I worked here, and periodically before that, and he made me report back to him what you are doing every time I went to visit my dad.”
Olivia shook her head, wanting to deny the words tumbling from the girl’s mouth.
“When he found out you were dating someone, he almost lost his mind in the visitor’s room, and one of the guards had to put handcuffs on him and drag him out of the room. The next time I saw him, when I saw my dad, he told me it was time to start punishing you. I’m sorry, Olivia. I didn’t want to hurt you or scare you, but I don’t know what to do. He’s going to hurt my dad if I don’t cooperate with him.”
The girl’s tears started again, and Olivia thought they might be genuine. There was a possibility Lindsay was still trying to manipulate her, but the fact that the girl hadn’t let her drink the poisoned coffee indicated she wasn’t completely under Towers’ control, or a murdering psychopath.
“I wish you’d come to me sooner. We could figure this out together, rather than dealing with all this unpleasantness.” The throbbing in her head reminded her it was bit more than unpleasantness, but she wasn’t going to beat home the point on Lindsay at the moment, since the young woman was still clearly traumatized. They were both traumatized, to be honest, but at least she hadn’t been forced into trying to hurt someone else.
Lindsay shifted on the floor, moving from her hands and knees to sit with her back against the desk as she wiped at her eyes with the sleeves of her green dress. “I really am sorry, and I know you don’t owe me anything, but I don’t want to go to jail. I’m scared.”
Olivia reached over and patted her shoulder, feeling kind of strange comforting the girl who had just tried to kill her. “Jensen has a friend in the police department, so we’ll give him a call and see what ideas he has. There has to be a way out of this for you and your father, while ensuring Gary still gets the punishment he deserves.”
She looked hopeful as she lifted her head, looking into Olivia’s eyes for the first time in the last few minutes. There was shame there, but also a hint of tentative trust. “Do you really mean that? You think I may not have to go to jail, and you can save my dad?”
“We’re going to do our best.” She looked up as the office door opened, unsurprised to see Jensen. She’d actually expected him to check in on her earlier, since he’d been somewhat grumbly about her coming to work in the first place. Seeing his look of surprise at them on the floor, she gestured hi
m over. “I’ll explain later, but could you please call Detective Strand and ask him to come to the office?”
He didn’t hesitate, though he was clearly confused, as he dialed his friend’s number. After speaking with Jason for a few minutes, he hung up. “He’ll be here soon.”
When he approached her, she took the hand he offered to get to her feet before looking down at Lindsay. “Why don’t you lay down on the couch in the corner for a bit and gather your thoughts? You’ve been through a rough time of it.”
Lindsay moved as if in a daze, getting to her feet and walking over to the couch, where she sprawled on the microfiber, buried her face in the pillow, and started sobbing softly.
Olivia pulled Jensen to her office chair, pushing him down in it lightly before sitting on his lap. “Don’t go all bear on me, okay?”
He frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
She grinned at him. “It means I don’t want you to lose your mind when I tell you what I’m about to tell you, and you have to promise to keep the bear inside for the moment.”
He looked hesitant as he nodded. “I guess I can do that.”
She briefly gave him a recap of events that had just occurred, seeing his anger swell and then ebb as he got the full picture. His arms tightened around her, and he held her tightly for a long moment before speaking. “I nearly lost you.”
“No, I don’t think you did. I don’t think she could’ve gone through with it. Obviously, she couldn’t go through with it, because she stopped me before I could drink the coffee.”
His lips tightened. “She belongs in jail.”
Olivia sighed. “I disagree. I know from experience how charismatic Gary can be, and if he wasn’t able to charm her to do what he wanted, and it sounds like he wasn’t, he would’ve certainly resorted to threats against her father. She just had the bad luck of crossing paths with him. It’s not really her fault.”
He issued a small growl. “It’s her fault when she didn’t tell someone what was happening, and when she physically assaulted you last night. She could have killed you.”
She nodded. “I suppose she could have, but I really don’t think she would’ve gone through with it. I guess we’ll never know, but that’s okay. I feel badly for her, and I don’t want to see her go to jail. I’d rather find a solution that protects her and her father while punishing Gary.”
He nodded stiffly, clearly disagreeing with her point-of-view, but apparently respecting it anyway. Either that, or he realized it would be futile to argue with her, because she wasn’t going to change her mind.
***
In the end, Detective Strand proved to be the biggest obstacle toward Olivia’s goal of protecting Lindsay and her father. His first instinct was to arrest the young woman, and it took quite a bit of persuading from both her, and surprisingly, Jensen to convince him.
When he finally acquiesced, he insisted on taking Lindsay with him for a statement, and then promised to drive her to the prison where her father was, ensuring personally that Timothy was moved to a different cell, and Gary was placed into solitary confinement as they built a new case against him for additional charges. After another attempted murder charge, the detective seemed confident Gary wouldn’t see light of day for a long time, and he’d likely be barred from having any cellmates in future.
It was the best outcome Olivia could hope for, and she waved off Lindsay with a reassuring smile more than an hour later as Detective Strand escorted her from the building. After they had left, she turned to Jensen. “Thank you for helping me persuade your friend. I know you didn’t agree, so it means a lot that you supported me.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not that I don’t agree exactly, especially after hearing the full story and seeing the girl crying her eyes out, but I still think she’s getting off too lightly. You’re a bit too softhearted, my mate.”
She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him at the same time. “It’s a good thing I have a gruff polar bear to protect my tender heart then.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes, but he put his arm around her, pulling her close as he did so. “I can think of a few things I like to do to you right now, and none of them involve protecting your tender heart. Maybe tasting some of your tender places…” He trailed off with a suggestive wink. “
“Is sex all you ever think about?” she teased, admitting to herself she was thinking exactly the same thing.
“Of course not. Occasionally, I also think about eating. It’s the best of both worlds when I can combine the two.” As he said it, he lifted her into his arms before burying his face in her neck, nibbling lightly on her throat.
“You’re crazy, Jensen,” she said with a laugh.
He pulled away, his expression serious as he looked into her eyes. “I’m just crazy for you.”
Her amusement faded away, and she was just as intent when she clutched his arms and met his gaze. “I’m pretty crazy for you too. You drive me crazy in all sorts of ways, and I can’t imagine being without you.”
His gaze softened, and he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “Does this mean you’re ready to talk about living together?”
She nodded, her forehead brushing against his lips. “Let’s be honest. We’ve been living together for days now, but we should probably decide where we’re going to live.”
“I was thinking your apartment, because I know Kingston is anxious to get his yacht back. Now that their daughter is old enough to sail, he and Grace have been talking about taking a few months off and just exploring in their yacht. I think it was a veiled hint that I should get a place of my own before my brother kicks me out.”
She smiled at him before it turned to a frown. “That’s too bad. I really like your yacht, or your brother’s, as the case may be.”
He shrugged. “We can get one of our own, you know. I’m not just a sexy retired Marine. I have an unlimited bank account.”
Though he was teasing her, she couldn’t help a hint of anxiety. “You know that doesn’t matter to me, right? I’d love you if you were a janitor just as much as I do knowing you’re heir to the Meade fortune.”
He stiffened, his eyes widening, and he seemed to focus on only one thing she’d said. “You aren’t really afraid I think you’re a gold-digger?”
She shrugged. “No, not really. I guess.”
He lifted her into his arms, hugging her tightly before slowly letting her slide down his body, ensuring she had full contact with his hard cock. “I know you love me for other reasons, not my bank account. I love you too, and I’d like to start showing you all the different ways.”
She bit her lip as she glanced at the closed office door. “Bethany is still here.”
He let go of her for a moment to stride across the office and throw open the door. “Bethany?”
Her friend appeared in the doorway a moment later. “Yeah?”
“You get the afternoon off so I can ravish my mate. Do you have a problem with that?”
Bethany grinned. “Absolutely not. See you tomorrow, boss.” She winked at Olivia as she said, “Assuming you can walk into the office.”
Her face was red with embarrassment, but she waved her friend away before turning her attention to Jensen as he closed the door behind Bethany, engaging the lock a second later. She had him all to herself now, and that was just the way she liked it.
******
Keep reading for an excerpt of “Papa Bear,” the first book of another shifter series.
Bonus Excerpt
In the Finding Fatherhood series, these shifters become daddies in unconventional ways.
U.S. Marshal and bear-shifter Lucas Anderson failed to protect his pregnant witness, so when she asks him to adopt her daughter as her dying wish, he can’t refuse. Angel is a sweet baby, and he soon feels like Papa Bear, and maybe she’ll be the key to help him wear down his mate’s resistance. Libby has shut him down for months, and he knows they belong together, but she won’t give him a chance to prove it. C
an the stubborn bear and his baby win her over to their readymade family? Can he keep his mate and child safe when the cartel that killed his witness comes after him, putting all three in danger?
PAPA BEAR (FINDING FATHERHOOD #1)
“I can’t believe it’s finally time. I’m soon going to hold my little girl.” Astoria Martin’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she said the words, seeming not at all bothered by the contractions that had grown steadily closer and longer, prompting them to leave the safe house and head to the hospital.
Lucas was impressed by her equanimity and her lack of nervousness. He glanced at his partner, Tim Crosby, with a small grin. The other man seemed more nervous than the expecting mother, which was amusing. He didn’t allow his amusement to show, or his focus to stray from the street around them, as they stepped out of the apartment they had holed up for the last six weeks, going to ground to protect Astoria. Her testimony was crucial, but it wasn’t just her status as a witness that prompted him to protect her any longer. He’d grown close to the young woman, and though Tim was one to play it close to his chest, he must have done the same.
Astoria suddenly grabbed her stomach and slumped forward, and he knelt beside her, at first assuming a powerful contraction had seized her. It was only when he lifted her slightly upright that he saw blood staining the front of her white maternity dress. It was far too high to be from a birth complication, and his training as a federal marshal kicked in, allowing him to instantly identify it as a gunshot. “We’re under fire,” he said to Tim.
Tim pulled out his gun, clearly searching high and low for the source of gunfire. Lucas focused on Astoria, lifting her into his arms and running to the line of cars on the street. He hunkered down with her there, wincing at the scrape of metal as bullets dinged around them. He caught Tim’s eye and pointed upward, certain from the trajectory that their sniper was a level or two above them. Tim nodded before slipping around the apartment building and out of his view, clearly intent on tracking down their sniper from behind.