Before he could think about it, J.D. walked over and kissed her. Her lips were as soft and sweet as he remembered. Jackie’s mouth was a round O of surprise as he stepped back.
“What did you do that for?” she whispered.
“The kids always say a kiss makes the hurt better. I figured if it worked for them—”
She shook her head. “He was real, J.D. I’m not crazy. I’m not!” Tears of angry frustration pooled in her eyes. He controlled an urge to gather her tightly against his chest.
“No one said you were crazy.”
She wiped at the moisture that spilled from her eyes. “No, your friend didn’t say the word, did he? But his thoughts came through loud and clear. He doesn’t believe me.”
J.D. couldn’t argue.
“And you don’t believe me, either.”
He refused to be drawn into battle. “Jackie, the police need proof. They’re checking out your story. My question is, what do you want to do now? Do you want to spend the night with two magpies and Aunt Dottie, or do we go back to your house?”
Her body tensed. “We?”
“You shouldn’t stay there alone tonight.”
“You can’t spend another night with me,” she protested.
From out of nowhere, J.D. had to struggle with an image of Jackie without those baggy sweats, her hair unbound, lips parted, arms reaching out in welcome. The wash of pink that stole over her cheeks told him she was thinking along similar lines.
“I am the perfect houseguest”
She shook her head.
“I’m not the perfect houseguest?”
“I don’t even know you,” she protested.
“But you want to.”
Her breathing quickened. Oh, yeah. She was attracted, all right. She looked away, then raised her head. As glares went, the one she attempted was really wimpy.
“You’re arrogant.”
“And you’re beautiful. Stop pushing at that hair.” Before she could move, he leaned down and fumbled in her hair for the pins that held the heavy mass in place.
“Stop that. What are you doing?” She batted his hands away, but not before her hair tumbled around her shoulders like a curtain of silk.
“I was helping you take it down.”
“I didn’t want it down.” But she stopped fussing to chew on her lower lip—while conflicting emotions warred on her features.
J.D. squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “Then, I’m sorry. Do you want me to help you put it back up?”
She lifted her head, alert, wary, watchful. Once again, her vulnerability clutched at his soul. And damn it, he just couldn’t believe she was crazy. Or a liar. She’d seen something in that house.
“No.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
His smile widened. “Good. You really are quite lovely.”
She went back to chewing on her bottom lip.
“Don’t do that,” he requested quietly. “It makes me want to taste that mouth all over again.”
Jackie gasped, but his teasing had the desired effect. Vulnerability vanished beneath a sea of indignation.
“Try it,” she suggested. “You’ll sing soprano for a year.” She reached for her crutches.
J.D. grinned, relieved to see her defiance. “I make a better baritone,” he teased. “What’s it going to be? My place or yours?”
“Neither one. I don’t like the idea of someone chasing me out of my house.”
“I admire your grit, if not your common sense.”
She glared at him. “Good,” she said tartly. “Then after we stop at the house to pick up my overnight bag, will you please drive me over to Bessie’s?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“I’m not stupid, either.”
BESSIE AND FRANK STARNES already had company. Jackie tensed as soon as she spotted Seth Bislow sitting in a chair drinking a beer. She caught his lustful expression and wished J.D. hadn’t taken her hair down, or that she had put it back up before they entered the building.
Even Bessie and Frank seemed startled by her appearance. Or maybe it was the sight of J.D.’s possessive arm on her shoulders.
Jackie had felt jittery since the moment they left the hospital. She put her unease down to the horror of what had happened, but as soon as she stepped into the parking lot, she couldn’t shake the sensation that she was being watched. Darting looks around had revealed nothing to alarm her, yet the sensation wouldn’t go away. It grew stronger when she stepped from the car outside Bessie’s building.
She loved Bessie and was glad Frank made her happy, but secretly Jackie had never figured out what her friend saw in the man. Seth Bislow, on the other hand, flat out gave her the creeps. Now she tried to relax as Bessie fluttered about, smothering her with motherly hugs and tsks of sympathy over her injuries. The strain of her son’s death showed clearly in the sadness of her eyes. She shouldn’t have brought her troubles here, Jackie realized. Bessie had enough on her mind.
“Come in and sit down. You poor dear. You need to get off that foot. Seth was just telling us how you’d injured yourself. You should have called me. You’ll spend the night, of course. The rain is supposed to change to snow again after midnight.”
Frank’s thick lips thinned in annoyance, but he quickly pasted a smile on his face when he caught her watching. “Bessie’s right,” he said jovially. “We can’t have you running around on crutches by yourself.”
“She isn’t by herself,” J.D. said quietly.
Everyone stared.
“Of course she isn’t,” Bessie said uncertainly. “You’re welcome to stay, as well. We’ll just put her in the spare room tonight and Seth can take the couch and we can put a sleeping bag on the floor—”
“That won’t be necessary,” J.D. said.
Bessie blinked rapidly. “Oh, it’s no trouble. The men will be gone before sunrise, if you can imagine.”
“We need to get an early start if we want to spend the day on the slopes,” Frank explained.
“You’re going skiing?” Jackie asked in surprise. Frank looked slightly guilty, but Bessie nodded. “They’ve had this trip planned for some time. I told Frank they should go ahead.” She gave her husband a subdued smile. “Nothing we do will bring Donnie back.”
Jackie hugged her, wishing she could do something to ease the other woman’s pain.
“Yeah, well, you might as well stay, Jackie,” Frank said gruffly into the silence.
“Jackie will be staying with me tonight,” J.D. stated quietly.
J.D. captured everyone’s attention with that gritty declaration. Jackie’s mouth opened in surprise. She quickly shut it at J.D.’s warning look, but knew her shock showed when he drew her carefully against his side. Tension radiated from him. Jackie wondered why.
“J.D., could I speak to you for a moment?” she asked.
He glanced down and smiled, but it wasn’t a true smile. His eyes silently demanded her trust. “Sorry, sweetheart, I know you wanted to ask Bessie about the key.”
She did?
Sweetheart?
He turned to Bessie. “Have you found the key to the basement yet? We need to do some laundry.”
“Oh, dear.” Bessie twisted her hands together. “No, I’m sorry, Jackie, I haven’t even looked for it. Frank, do you know where the basement key to the house is?”
Her husband shook his shaggy head. “Nope. Didn’t know it was missing.”
“Oh, Frank. I told you I couldn’t find that set of keys after…after Donnie…” Her voice cracked. Jackie pulled free of J.D.’s embrace and moved to hug her friend again.
“Don’t worry. It’s not that important.”
“Well, of course it’s important, girl,” Frank said impatiently. “Your boyfriend here just said you needed to get down there.”
Frank’s easy pairing of her and J.D. tripped her heart rate. She didn’t glance at him to see how J.D. accepted the comment. “Don’t worry,” she told Bessie again. “A locksmith can make me anothe
r key.”
“Might have trouble getting one to come out if the weather turns bad,” Seth Bislow offered.
They all turned and glanced at the large window near the end of the room. J.D.’s arm suddenly spanned her waist again.
Bessie appeared stunned. Jackie felt a little stunned herself. She also felt oddly protected, and the dichotomy kept her silent. Why was J.D. acting like this? Probably because he knew how uncomfortable she was around Seth, she decided. She should pull away, but, with his strong body pressed securely against hers, it was hard to remember why his taking charge was such a bad thing.
“Going back to your house?” Seth asked Jackie. He shoved his thick glasses against the bridge of his nose.
“Yes,” J.D. answered. He held out his hand to Bessie, and Jackie saw genuine compassion in his expression. “I’m sorry we have to meet and run, but we need to go before the weather changes again.”
“I understand.” But it was clear Bessie didn’t understand, at all. She looked to Jackie, questions momentarily replacing the grief that normally lined her face.
J.D. hustled Jackie to the door and out, before she could protest or explain.
Alone in the elevator, Jackie faced him. “You want to tell me what that was all about in there?” she demanded.
“No.”
“You can’t tell me no. Those are my friends!”
“I thought you didn’t like Bislow.”
“I don’t.”
“Me, either. He leers.”
“He does not.” But he did. “That’s not the point. Did it ever cross your arrogant masculine mind that I might be able to speak for myself?”
J.D. ignored her question in favor of his own. “Don’t you think that apartment would have been a little crowded with the four of you sleeping there tonight? There’s more room at my place.”
“I thought we were going back to my house.”
They moved outside into the crisp night air. A prickle of unease slid right back up her spine.
They were being watched.
Jackie sent a fearful glance in all directions.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” How could she explain her sudden anxiety without sounding foolish? J.D. helped her inside the car, but the sense of being watched wouldn’t dissipate.
“Do you really want to go back to your house tonight?” he asked.
The mere thought made her shudder.
“I’ll take that as a no.” He walked around the car and got in behind the wheel. “It’s just as well. I need to get home to the kids.”
“I can’t go home with you,” she protested automatically. She scanned the sidewalks, expecting to see the watcher nearby.
J.D. steered the car out into traffic. “I can’t protect you at your house, Jackie. Those locks are too old. You’ll be safer at my place.”
Memory of what he’d already risked for her tonight buried her unease. “I didn’t even thank you. For rescuing me, I mean.”
Light glinted off his teeth as he smiled. “You were too busy scolding me.”
“I’m sorry. I really am grateful.”
“Then you’ll come to the house?”
More fear drained away, though the uneasiness remained. “Are you trying to blackmail me?”
“Whatever works. Besides, the kids will be thrilled. They like you.”
“I like them, too, but I don’t think I should spend the night with you.”
His dimples showed in the light reflected off the dash. “Don’t worry, for that sort of activity, we would have to go to your place. There’s almost no privacy at my house.”
He was teasing her. Of course he was teasing her. So why did his words make her breath catch in her throat? Why did images of the two of them together keep skirting the edges of her thoughts? J.D. wasn’t really interested in her, despite the fact that he’d kissed her.
Twice.
His dimples deepened as if he could read her thoughts. “I gather you know a lot about computers.”
If his goal was to keep her off balance, he was succeeding admirably. She’d been living in a state of fear for so long, she wasn’t sure she could remember how to relax.
“Why would you think that?”
“You have two in your spare bedroom. I noticed them the other night.”
“Oh, those aren’t mine. They belonged to Donnie. He had all sorts of equipment. Bessie and Frank aren’t into computers, so Bessie insists they come under the heading of household furnishings,” she explained.
J.D. arched his brows in surprise. “Nice furnishings. I’m thinking of buying one for the kids for Christmas. They won’t stay off mine at home.”
“Better them than me. I know where the On and Off switch is, and that’s about it. Though, I admit, I was thinking of taking some sort of class.”
“The kids could teach you.”
He was probably right, but she didn’t want to talk about computers right now. “Why did you rush us out of there tonight?”
His glance was unreadable in the dark car. “Your friend already had enough to deal with. Don’t you find it a bit odd that her husband and his friend are going off on a skiing trip, when her son’s been dead less than a week?”
Jackie wasn’t sure how to respond because she did find it odd. But Bessie didn’t seem unduly upset.
“Could we swing past the shop for a minute? I’d really like to check and be sure everything is all right.”
“No problem.”
Angel was just getting ready to close. There were no customers inside, so she came to the curb and reassured Jackie that the evening had gone well, though there hadn’t been much business. Angel promised to open again in the morning.
“Feel better?” J.D. asked as they drove away.
“Yes.” But she cast a nervous glance at the tree line near the edge of the parking lot. There was no sign of the watcher or anyone else.
Heather and Todd burbled with excitement when Jackie entered the house a few minutes later. Aunt Dottie welcomed the unexpected houseguest with unruffled calm. Jackie had thought she wouldn’t care for the woman, but J.D.’s aunt turned out to be a kindly lady who reminded her of her grandmother. Aunt Dottie simply had an affinity for television shows and a lot of trouble keeping up with two active children.
Though everyone made her feel welcome, Jackie couldn’t rid herself of a growing disquiet. She spent much of the evening watching the children play on J.D.’s computer while he readied the spare room for company.
When J.D. supervised their bedtime a short while later, Jackie returned to the family room to watch television with his aunt.
“Dear, would you mind very much if I excuse myself?” Dottie asked hesitantly. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten in the habit of getting ready for bed myself about this time.”
“Of course, please don’t let me keep you. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will, dear.”
Dottie smiled and two dimples flashed, clear evidence of her relationship to J.D.
Left on her own, Jackie found her mind straying from the television program. Her gaze kept drifting to the windows, until she finally rose and hobbled over to stare out at J.D.’s silent neighborhood.
Was that a movement by the base of the tall maple tree? She stared until her eyes hurt, unable to decide if someone stood beside the tree or not. The tree was five houses away and across the street. Even if someone lurked there, she had no reason to believe it was the watcher. No reason, at all, except the anxious fear tightening her chest.
“Looking for Santa Claus?” J.D. asked.
She turned to find him watching her from across the room. He had changed clothing, and the dark jeans he now wore molded his frame, displaying hard, muscular thighs and a trim physique—proof that he did something besides sit behind a desk all day.
Well, he’d told her last night he played a lot of sports. Studying him, she could easily picture him running from base to base or spiking a volleyball over a net. In his navy b
lue sweater with his white shirt collar peeking over the top, he was as sexy as any man she had ever seen.
“Just checking to see if it was snowing yet,” she lied.
“Uh-huh. Come join me.” He indicated the couch and she moved slowly away from the window. He sat beside her, close enough that she could see he had shaved. She could even smell the light scent of his cologne.
She didn’t want to be attracted to this man. Men were dangerous, unpredictable creatures. Strange, then, that his warmth made her want to curl against his side.
She was so distracted by his presence, she never heard the start of the newscast. It wasn’t until a vaguely familiar face flashed on the screen that she suddenly sat forward, her attention completely riveted.
“Police have no apparent motive in the shooting death of Ogden Korbel, Jr., earlier tonight outside this popular local hangout”
Her indrawn hiss drew J.D.’s attention. “Jackie? What is it? What’s wrong?”
She heard her voice, as if from a great distance. “That’s Oggie,” she whispered.
His hands were warm and protective as he cradled her face, forcing her eyes to meet his. If only she could absorb some of that strength and warmth. She was so cold.
“Who’s Oggie?” he asked.
Her fear was unreasonable. Oggie’s death had nothing to do with her. How could it? She didn’t even know the young man.
“Jackie?”
“Oggie Korbel was one of Donnie’s best friends.”
Chapter Five
When the lights failed, so did her courage. She jumped at a loud clap of thunder. Lightning illuminated the tumultuous spring sky outside her grandmother’s living-room window. The brewing storm had turned the twilight into a dark winter’s night, allowing the cozy rambler to take on menacing dimensions. She made her way to the bedroom, wishing her friends Bill and Donna would hurry.
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