“I know what I want. I have made a decision. You and I cannot be together that way. It won’t happen, no matter what you say. I’m sorry.”
Tim stood up and carried his cup of tea to the kitchen.
He grabbed his jacket and started to head out the door.
“I’ll leave a few units stationed outside your home and to tail you to work. I’m going to be in the office most of the day following up any possible leads on this. We will find out who is behind it. Just have a bit of faith in us.”
With that he walked out the door casually as if the previous conversation had never happened. Jess had never met a man who was so sure of himself that he literally could not be rejected. She supposed she should be glad that he wasn’t going to get all “drama queen” on this thing, but she couldn’t help but feel a little insulted because he wasn’t more upset over the rejection she had just delivered. She never wanted to hurt anybody, but it kind of made her wonder how much he cared if he didn’t care ultimately about being brushed off. Or maybe he figured that it would work out eventually and he had no reason to push it. If that was the case then he knew more about things than she did.
Jess got dressed and went to work. That was about the only thing she could do; she had to keep everything as normal as she possibly could. She would not let someone force her into a corner or isolate her from her life. That was exactly what this pervert wanted and she was going to be damned if she would allow them to win.
Alex called her into his office when she arrived at work. As soon as she walked through the door he wrapped his arms around her. It felt amazing to be held and comforted, even though she had not told him about what had happened the night before. She wondered if he had found out some other way. Had Tim told him just to make her mad and mess with her head? She pushed that ridiculous thought out of her head instantly.
“Are you OK, babe?” Alex asked.
His voice was more comforting and reassuring than she had ever heard it and Jess had to wonder what was up. There had to be something going on that he was not telling her.
“I’m fine. Are you OK?” Jess asked.
“Yeah, I’m great. I just didn’t get a chance to talk with you last night. I was here at the office late catching up on some stuff. I just didn’t want you to feel like I was ignoring you or anything.”
“No, it’s OK. I needed some time alone to just clear my head.”
“I’ll bet. The stress has to be getting to you. I’m amazed at how well you are holding up.”
“I’m managing just fine, honey,” Jess said. She was not sure that she had ever called Alex “honey” before. It felt good and somehow reassuring. He smiled at the word. Were they becoming one of those lame couples she wondered? It was funny if they were, actually. Deep down she had always wanted to be a part of something cheesy. She read her Danielle Steel just like every other girl in the world.
“Well, I think I should take you somewhere this weekend to celebrate.”
“That’s not necessary. I would rather stay in this weekend and just relax. I’ve got a bit of work to do, but other than that it feels like a Netflix and chill kind of weekend,” Jess said.
“OK, well that’s cool,” Alex replied. He really didn’t seem to care that she wanted to relax that weekend, which was a relief.
“It’s been a while since we did anything like that. Let’s just be lazy and grab some pizza, beers, and watch good TV,” Jess said. She pulled Alex close and kissed him sweetly on the lips.
“That does sound like fun, baby. It has been a long time since I did that.”
Jess kissed him again, more gingerly and more passionately.
The rest of that Friday went according to schedule. Jess met with her new clients on the new case she had been assigned and she was relieved to find that it appeared they were actually innocent of any wrong doing and the evidence was not going to be strong enough to land a conviction. That made her job a lot easier and the clients were not lying through their teeth so she didn’t expect any slip ups or weird occurrences to throw a wrench into things.
She finished up the day, went home and got ready to go to the track. She found that the running was starting to become enough of a routine that she didn’t really even have to think about it or psych herself into doing it. It just felt right and that her day wasn’t complete without doing it. She was even getting used to doing it twice a day. Now that she was doing this it seemed to amplify the effects and she felt twice as energized and totally stress free. Even though she had been scared out of her mind with the whole stalker business, she was feeling pretty encouraged right now. She wanted to find this person and look them in the eye, even if she had to take them down herself.
She waved to the police patrol as they parked across the street from her home. She wasn’t familiar with the new guy, and she found herself missing Tim. She wondered if she had pissed him off that badly or if he really was working hard on breaking some leads on her case. She imagined it was a combination of both. Unless he had really found something. In that case she would take his absence as a good thing.
She had just taken off her business clothes and was admiring herself in the mirror when her phone rang. She saw it was Tim and answered it quickly.
“Hey,” Jess answered.
“Hey, I’ve got big news.”
“What? You found them?”
Tim paused a moment before answering.
“Yes,” he said.
“That’s fantastic! Who is it? How did you find them?”
“The perpetrator is a woman named Sharon Williams.”
“I don’t know anyone by that name. Why would she want to threaten me?”
“Sharon was an intern at the firm of Mathers and Clark a few years ago. She had a brief affair with Alex. They went out a few times and she wanted more of a commitment, but he wasn’t having any of it, I guess. She began driving away clients and basically trying to hurt Alex’s name, so she was let go. She has been keeping an eye on Alex ever since then and for whatever reason she chose you as her target of rage. She is a sadistic freak, basically.”
“Wow, so she was really going to kill me?”
“My guess is that eventually she would have worked herself up into enough of a frenzy that your life would have been in danger.”
Jess sat down on the bed. She wanted to cry as she heard the words coming from Tim’s mouth. The thought that someone out there actually wanted to kill her made her want to crawl under the bed. She took a few deep breaths.
“How did you catch her?”
“Well, last night when she entered your house she did it as the shift changed between me and the officer who was taking my place when I went to follow you to the track. The moron left his car unattended while he went behind a tree to urinate. When we reviewed the camera footage from the dashboard camera we saw a shadowy figure enter the house by picking the lock. She was dressed all in black, but not wearing a mask. I guess she didn’t want to draw attention to herself if a neighbor happened to be watching. Anyway, her face was reflected in the living room glass window on the front of your house. We were able to use face recognition software and track her down that way. She has a few priors from when she was a teenager so she was in our database.”
“Wow, so it is finally over.”
“Yeah, you can rest easy now.”
“Thanks Tim. Thanks for everything,” Jess said.
“You’re more than welcome. This might sound weird, but I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too. And I’m sorry,” Jess said.
“Don’t be. You and Alex take good care of each other, but if it doesn’t work out you know where to find me. I’d like to invite you for a cup of coffee if that ever happens.”
“OK, that sounds great.”
“Bye, Jess.”
“Bye.”
Jess stepped out of her house and waved goodbye to the police cruiser that had been parked there as it drove off down the street. She felt a weight rising
up off her shoulders and she noticed for the first time in weeks how beautiful everything was. The weather was starting to warm up and she was going to enjoy as much of everything as she possibly could.
She jogged to the track and had herself a great workout.
The next day she was lazing on the couch at Alex’s mansion. He had the most comfortable sofa she had ever had the privilege of parking her butt on. It sank down with you as you sat down and molded to every subtle nuance of your body offering just the right amount of support. Once you were in there, you never wanted to get out of it. It was really that amazing.
Alex lay beside her with his shoulder underneath her head. She loved to lie against him and just relax. His body was so warm and inviting that she could just use him as a human pillow for hours and she often did after sex, but even without the sex it was amazing.
They agreed to watch several goofy movies that neither had ever seen before. Jess had to admit to herself that it felt weird to not be stressed about something and even weirder to be wasting a Saturday on meaningless drivel and not getting up off the couch. She had not done this since college, but she was glad she was enjoying it. She was learning that as an overachiever she needed to stop and smell the coffee once in a while. The experience of the past several weeks had taught her that it was the little things in life that you had to take time out to enjoy or else you would miss them completely. She loved her job and she loved the fact that she was moving up in the company. Her superiors had almost assured her of this based on her work and it was refreshing knowing that she was working towards something specific with every case that she won.
Alex got off the couch and grabbed another couple of beers for the two of them. Jess grabbed the bottle and took a huge gulp. It felt good to just let loose and let the beer do its thing as she poured it down her gullet. She realized she was not being very lady like, but she figured she was allowed to let go of that stuffy stereotype every now and then. Alex seemed to find it charming.
“So, how does it feel to be officially stalker free?” Alex asked.
“Pretty good,” Jess replied.
“Just pretty good? I figured it would feel amazing,” Alex said.
“Well, it does, but I like to be modest about things,“ Jess joked.
“Well, modesty does suit you just fine. You should try it more often.”
Jess slapped his arm playfully. “Jerk.”
Alex laughed good-naturedly.
“So, you don’t have any more psycho women you have pissed off recently do you? Any other stalkers in the midst I should know about?”
Alex shook his head.
“I don’t believe so.”
“Well, you had better hope not. I’m not going through that again. If another psycho woman wants you that badly then she can just have you.”
“Oh, I see how it is.”
“I can’t imagine you didn’t think of her when you were going through the lists of potential people that could have been stalking me,” Jess said.
“I thought she was in an institution or something. That was the last I heard of her.”
“Well, apparently she got out. You still might have mentioned it.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you,” Alex said.
“How?”
“I’ll pay for the pizza next time,” Alex replied.
“What do you mean next time? Did you use my credit card for this?” Jess asked.
“Sort of.”
Jess burst out laughing. “I’m going to kill you!”
“Now, who is the pscyho?”
Jess wrapped her fingers around Alex’s neck and pretended to strangle him before pulling him close for a kiss.
Jess often found herself thinking about the past several weeks and how everything had played out. Her feelings and loyalties had been tested by three different men but she had chosen Alex over the others. And she was proud of that choice. It was true that your heart would never steer you wrong and so far she was living proof of that.
The next night Alex asked Jess to go out to a nice dinner aboard his yacht. She had never been on a yacht before and she was flabbergasted at how romantic and amazing it had been. Alex had a great meal catered onboard before they drifted off into the bay. Jess had never really acquired an affinity for boats or the water, but she was starting to feel pretty special drifting slowly along on Alex’s yacht. The food was amazing and Alex couldn’t have handpicked a more perfect night. The evening was warm, ushering the first remnants of spring and the sky was clear with a huge full moon shining down on them.
After the main course followed by the most amazing Tiramisu she had ever eaten Alex surprised her yet again. The man was always keeping her on her toes and tonight he didn’t disappoint as he asked her to close her eyes. When she opened them Alex was on one knee with the biggest diamond ring she had ever seen held out in front of her. He asked her to marry him and Jess immediately said yes.
She said yes before she even knew that the answer would be yes.
As Alex scooped her up in his arms and held her closely she found herself wishing that she had not waited so long to embrace this man in her life.
But she knew that time had a plan for everything.
And it was time for the next step.
The End
Kickass Billionaire
Romantic Comedy
Chapter One
I grabbed Lincoln by the back of his shirt collar, as he narrowly missed colliding with the young couple and child exiting the studio.
“Lincoln, calm down! What’s the rush?” I asked, exasperated, speaking to the air. The blur of movement that was my son escaped from my grasp and dashed through the door. I didn’t know if he had outright failed to acknowledge my question, or simply hadn’t heard me. Either way, I didn’t bother attempting to keep up with him. It was a battle I never won and I realised that it was a futile effort on my part. Besides, he was in a closed room with lots of other kids; he wouldn’t get that far.
I studied the room as Lincoln came to a halt about ten feet in front of me and stopped to turn around. He smiled mischievously in my direction as I did my best to look serious, although I couldn’t stop the hint of a smile pulling at the edges of my lips. Lincoln was a handful, but he was a sweet kid through and through.
As I neared him, I took note of the gleaming wood floors and the mirrors that lined the entire right side of half the studio. The room was pretty large: one half boasted gleaming wooden flooring, the other was covered in mats of various sizes. Children ranging from ages four to twelve were bustling about wearing white karate uniforms. I had heard them referred to as karategi and couldn’t wait to see Lincoln in one.
As I predicted, Lincoln didn’t get too far; an attractive woman dressed in a karategi stepped away from a class and extended her hand, blocking Lincoln from going any further.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa where are you going so fast?” she asked, looking around for a parent. I guiltily waved in her direction and the woman gave me a dismissive look. She was clearly unimpressed with my parenting skills (or lack thereof, as the case might be).
“Is this your son?” she asked me when I came within earshot. I nodded and reached for Lincoln’s hand. He gave me a questioning look, with big brown eyes, sensing the woman’s distaste for him, me, the situation or all of the above.
“Yes, I’m sorry. He’s quite energetic so he got away from me. He’s normally well-behaved but he’s been so excited to learn karate. It’s all he’s talked about for weeks.”
The woman didn’t return my smile and continued as if I hadn’t said a word. “We teach discipline and restraint here. Are you sure your son will adjust to this environment? He seems to be lacking---.”
The woman stopped abruptly as I looked at her sharply, a scathing retort was on the tip of my tongue when a warm voice said behind me, “That’s enough, Ronan. I’m sure you’re needed elsewhere.”
I didn’t turn around to see who was talking to us, given that I was givin
g Ronan my version of a death stare. As I glared, Ronan gave the person behind me a weak smile and then quickly began to explain herself, “I just want to make sure the child is a good fit---”
“The child has a name,” I growled, “And that name is Lincoln.”
Ronan’s expression moved from feigned concern to irritation as she opened her mouth to speak. I placed my hand on my hip and turned my body completely in her direction, waiting for Ronan’s response, when the person behind me stepped into view, shot Ronan a warning look and knelt down next to Lincoln.
Although I was angry, I wasn’t angry enough to not notice that this new arrival was gorgeous. Even as he squatted next to my son, I realized that he was a large man. All sinewy muscle, with wide shoulders and an expansive chest, he gave me an apologetic smile as he looked up at me, our eyes locking. His light blue eyes held mine for a moment before he reluctantly broke eye contact with me and turned to address Lincoln.
“So are you ready to learn karate?”
“Yes, sir” Lincoln said saluting the man as if he were an officer. The man laughed and said, “My name’s Jonathan. Is this beautiful woman next to me your mom?”
I blushed as Lincoln nodded solemnly, “Yes, her name’s Mia, but I just call her Mom.”
“Well, I think that next time your mom asks you to do something, you should. It’s a sign of respect and respect is very important, Lincoln.”
Lincoln nodded his head, taking in every word. He looked up at me “Sorry, Mom for running off like that,” he whispered as I ruffled his hair and smiled thankfully at Jonathan. Ronan watched the entire exchange with displeasure etched across her face and then muttered a barely audible, “Excuse me,” before she disappeared back into the crowd.
Jonathan stood up as she left and said, “You’ll have to forgive Ronan. She’s one of our best instructors, but her people skills are definitely lacking.”
I noted that as Jonathan spoke, he subtly checked me out. I shifted from foot to foot, holding on to Lincoln’s hand, suddenly uncomfortable under Jonathan’s gaze. He was well over my own 5’10” stature and I immediately noticed he had beautiful hands. Hands that I imagined a musician would have, instead of someone who made his living showing other people how to defend themselves. I also noted that he didn’t wear a ring and blushed, trying to get my thoughts back on track.
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