And maybe Larry had been hiding upstairs the entire time.
“That must be what happened,” she agreed, desperately wanting to believe his explanation.
Her ankle throbbed. She entered the dining room and sat down. Her hand trembled as she absently reached for the unopened Christmas card.
Santa being run over by his reindeer and sleigh made her frown. Bessie liked sparkly, glittery cards. This couldn’t be from her.
Jackie never read the preprinted greeting inside. A hand-printed message sucked all the air from her lungs. She fought against the blackness that threatened to envelop her.
Happy holidays, Jack. See you real soon.
The card was unsigned.
He didn’t need to sign it. Only Larry ever called her Jack, usually in an insolent, insulting tone of voice.
Her fingers shook so hard she could barely turn over the envelope. Her address stared up at her. Not the apartment address. This address.
He knew where she lived. What if he had been upstairs only moments ago?
“Ms. Neeley? I’m gonna start on the windows now and…you okay?”
“No. Yes.” She dropped the card to the table and shook her head, trying to keep the horror from her voice. His concern reassured her. She was safe. As long as someone else was around, she was safe.
“Luke, how soon can you have that security system installed?”
He scratched at his chin in surprise. “Well, I’ve got several orders ahead of yours—”
“I’ll pay you double to put it in right away.”
Concern wreathed his face. “I really might have left that door ajar.”
She wanted to laugh, but if she gave vent to that urge she wouldn’t be able to prevent the outbreak of hysterics that beat against her rib cage. If it weren’t for Bessie, she would pack her meager possessions right now and leave town without a word to anyone.
But where could she run that he wouldn’t find her again? She’d promised herself—promised!—that she’d never let anyone terrify her again. Oh, God, she was such a coward.
Footsteps on the front porch sent her head spinning toward the windows. Two small bodies, faces beaming with excitement, plunged up the steps and raced toward the front door. J.D. followed behind.
Jackie took several deep breaths, willing herself to face them calmly. After all, hadn’t she known from the first moment she saw the watcher outside her shop that Larry had found her again?
She made her way to the front door and opened it.
“We came to rescue you,” Heather announced, bursting inside. Her pink cheeks gleamed with childish pleasure.
“Yeah, Jackie,” Todd added. “Dad says you can come with us instead of sitting around the house. We’re going Christmas shopping.”
Jackie lifted her face to J.D.
Instantly, he took a step forward. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
She shook her head and tried for a smile. “No. Nothing.” Her gaze dropped to the children. “So you’re going shopping, huh?” she asked with false heartiness.
“Yeah. Dad says we hafta go see Santa. But I’m not sitting on his lap,” Todd announced.
J.D.’s frown remained in place as he touched her shoulder. It was crazy. A simple touch and all she could think of was that kiss.
“I wouldn’t think Santa would want a big fellow like you sitting on his lap,” she agreed.
“How’s it going, Luke?” J.D. asked as Luke ambled forward. But he didn’t drop his hand from her shoulder. Instead, his fingers began a gentle massage.
Luke forced a troubled smile. “Hi, kids. Almost finished, J.D. I’m ready to secure the downstairs windows and that’s about all I can do for today. I’ll need to go back to the shop to check on when I can install the security system she wants.”
J.D.’s fingers stopped moving as he turned to her in surprise. “You’re going ahead with one?”
“Yes.” In a way, she was grateful the children were here. Otherwise, Jackie knew she would have made a complete fool of herself. J.D.’s touch had planted strange desires. She kept thinking how nice it would be to let those broad masculine hands hold her and offer comfort.
“Good,” J.D. said. “Anything you want to do before we leave?”
Leave? For a second, Jackie didn’t know what he was talking about. She tried to think, but her thoughts kept getting lost in the dark intensity of his deep gray eyes.
He pushed back a tendril of her hair. The simple gesture made her quiver. His forehead furrowed, even as awareness flickered to life in his expression. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
“No. Nothing. I’m just not in the mood for shopping tonight,” she managed.
J.D. stepped even closer to her, making it difficult to draw a decent breath. The children erupted in a chorus of pleas that drowned out his whispered question.
“What are you in the mood for?”
Heat washed her face. A crazy shaft of excitement pierced her. Heather grabbed her hand, drawing her wayward thoughts back to reality.
“Please, Jackie,” Heather begged. “I want to show you that telescope I told you about”
“And we’re gonna get Mexican for dinner,” Todd put in. “It won’t be fun if you don’t come.”
J.D. smiled wryly.
“Yeah, Jackie. We can rent you a wheelchair and take turns pushing. It’ll be fun.”
Jackie shook her head, swallowing horror at the thought of being pushed around the mall in a wheelchair. Talk about a sitting duck.
“Heather, thanks anyhow, but—”
“Come with us, Jackie,” J.D. added, his deep, gravelly voice washing over her like a caress. She drew in a deep breath, instantly regretting it as his sexy aftershave filtered past her nose to imbed itself in her awareness. Jackie tried to take a hasty step back. “I promise. We won’t be out late and we can sit down whenever you get tired. I conned the kids into getting their pictures taken with Santa. They agreed to do it only if you came with us.”
Jackie managed a weak smile. J.D. was seducing her without even trying, making her yearn for what she couldn’t have. She wanted to go with them. Wanted for just a few minutes to grab this heady sensation of feeling attractive and see where it might lead.
“But I’m not gonna sit on his lap,” Todd warned his father again, effectively breaking the strange spell J.D. had woven.
J.D.’s look was rueful, but then a smile etched those devastating dimples on either side of his mouth. “Go get ready,” he urged.
She shouldn’t. Larry was a threat they couldn’t begin to comprehend. On the other hand, Larry had always played the conciliatory husband in front of witnesses. He’d wait to catch her alone before he came for her. She’d definitely be safer at the mall.
“You’ll finish securing the windows?” she asked Luke as she grappled with her misgivings.
“Yes, ma’am,” he assured her.
“Can I go see your computer?” Todd asked.
Jackie nodded absently. “It’s upstairs. You and Heather can look at it while I run a comb through my hair.” She found J.D. watching her closely. “I’ll only be a minute. If you’re sure?”
“Very sure,” he promised.
The glitter in his eyes disturbed her senses all over again.
“Need some help?” he asked.
Before a fully formed image of the sort of help he had in mind could form, Heather piped up, “I can help. Me an’ Jackie are friends, right, Jackie?”
Jackie tore her gaze from J.D. and placed it safely on his daughter’s small face. “That’s right, Heather, we’re friends. I’ll just be a minute.”
She wasted a second worrying about what Luke might tell J.D., and then decided it didn’t matter. She was nervous and she was scared, and now she had more than one reason to be both.
Upstairs, the children entered the den while Jackie hurried to examine the sparse contents of her closet. For the first time in years, she wished she had something to wear that wasn’t dowdy or frumpy. P
laying down her looks might have kept men from noticing her, but in the long run it hadn’t done a thing to keep her safe. Larry had found her anyhow.
Shutting the closet, she settled for washing her face and braiding her hair. With deft, sure movements, she rolled the tight plait against the back of her head. The tiny pair of crystal earrings Bessie had given her last Christmas lay on the bathroom shelf. A silly, harmless bit of femininity, but Jackie slipped them into her ears with fingers that shook.
She took several deep breaths and faced her image in the mirror. The high color in her cheeks gave her a feverish appearance, but at least it drew a person’s gaze from the tiny red welt on her cheek and the bruise at her temple. Her eyes had a wild, feral look.
Maybe some lipstick would help? She didn’t have any other makeup. Heather knocked and Jackie gave up the search of the medicine chest.
“An’ you could bring one of the computers to the store,” Todd was explaining as they reached the foyer. “Then I could show you how to do neat stuff when we come after school.”
They could not be allowed to come by the shop any more, she realized. Larry could strike at any time.
“All set?” J.D. growled.
Gone was the teasing behavior from before. J.D. looked upset. Luke must have said something to him about the way she’d been acting. Soon the entire town would be talking about the crazy lady who ran the ice-cream shop.
She lifted her chin and stared at him defiantly. “I’m ready.”
“Good. Luke gave me the basement keys. Where do you want them?”
“The hall table is fine,” she told him, pointing to the surface where she always dropped her keys and purse as soon as she came inside.
J.D.’s scowl deepened. “Not smart, Jackie. Anyone could walk out with your keys or your purse.”
“Like you did?” she reminded him.
“Here.” He thrust the entire collection of keys into her hand. “Luke will come back to finish the windows.”
Jackie knew the windows didn’t matter. Locks wouldn’t stop Larry. But there was nothing to be gained by mentioning the fact.
“Fine.” She stuffed the keys into her purse.
“I’ll carry your purse, Jackie,” Heather offered as they filed outside.
“When we get back, you and I are going to have a talk,” J.D. said so softly no one else heard him. “I want to know exactly what happened after I left and what scared you about that Christmas card on the dining-room table.”
THE MALL WAS CROWDED with harried shoppers and excited children. J.D.’s two were no exception, darting from place to place. Even if she hadn’t been on crutches, Jackie knew she would have been hard-pressed to keep up with them.
“Are they wearing you out?” J.D. asked. He rested his hand on her shoulder and began to rub, an absent caress. Eating seemed to have restored his humor. She had to admit it had lightened her mood, as well. For the past few hours she’d almost felt like part of a family.
Except that she couldn’t get away from her awareness of J.D. He sat a little too close to her at the small table. Close enough for her to feel his thigh pressing against her leg. Close enough to again smell the mild scent she’d come to associate with him.
Chatting with the children was the easy part. She did that every day and genuinely enjoyed hearing about the things that interested them. But she was distracted by J.D.’s small touches. Touches that sent an electric charge right through her. And time after time she caught J.D.’s eyes watching her, the way a man watches a woman he wants to make love with.
Impossible, of course. She’d done nothing to lure him. Yet she knew, if things had been different…
Jackie tried to bury that thought. She must keep reminding herself that the last time she’d felt like this she’d married the man—and nearly been murdered as a result.
They stood inside a large science store, letting the kids explore.
“Don’t do that,” she said.
His fingers stilled on her shoulder. “Do what?”
“Rub my shoulder like that.”
His fingers changed the rhythm. Now they stroked her more boldly, sliding up her neck in a lover’s soft caress.
Jackie drew in a sharp breath.
“Is that better?” he asked, eyes shimmering.
Infinitely better, but she’d die before she told him so. “No.”
“Sorry But I can’t touch you any more intimately here or we’ll be arrested.”
His bold words stole her breath.
“You shouldn’t be touching me, at all.”
“Why not? I like touching you.”
She liked it, too. Too much. “No.”
“Sure I do.” His hand dropped from her shoulder to slide up and down her spine. The coil of desire tightened low in her belly.
“Why are you doing this?”
His eyes bored into hers. “Do you find my touch offensive, Jackie?”
“No!” She should have said yes, but she couldn’t lie. And it would have been a terrible lie. “You could have your pick of women. Why me?”
He frowned, staring at her as if trying to read her soul. “Why not you? You’re a very attractive woman.”
“No, I’m not.”
“We’re going to have to do something about your selfconfidence,” he told her. “If we were home alone right now, I’d release that prison you’ve made of your hair—” his hand stroked the back of her head “—until it tumbled around your shoulders in a silky mass.”
With a fingertip, he began tracing her lips, which parted in surprise. “Then I’d kiss you—thoroughly.” He gently brushed her cheek, but it was the power of his stare that held her riveted, vibrating in anticipation.
“If I could lead you to a mirror right now, you’d see how truly beautiful you are.”
“Dad! Dad! C’mere.” Todd waved to them from across the store. “You gotta see this. It’s awesome.”
“Later, we’ll finish this discussion,” J.D. promised softly. “On my way, Todd.”
Jackie stood where he left her, heart thudding madly against her chest. She couldn’t move—couldn’t take in a deep breath. She was barely aware of the people pushing past her on either side.
She hadn’t been imagining the attraction. It wasn’t just one-sided. J.D. wanted her, and the feeling was so mutual it scared her to death.
Heather and Todd didn’t want to stand in line with the younger children to have their picture taken with Santa. While J.D. coaxed them, Jackie opted for a seat where she could watch the proceedings and maybe gain a measure of control.
The sensation of being watched built slowly. Jackie sat up straighter as her thoughts left J.D. and she became more aware of her surroundings.
She looked around, seeing nothing alarming. No one watched her except maybe J.D. She mustn’t allow her imagination to take over because of the Christmas card.
But the feeling persisted.
Her breathing grew rapid. This was nuts. Larry couldn’t know she was here…unless he’d followed them. The front door and the picture laying on the floor took hold of her imagination. Larry had been inside the house. She shook her head, but as the ugly warning prickle grew stronger, her eyes skimmed nearby faces. No one paid her more than fleeting attention. Yet her heart began to race as her unease worked itself into a full-blown case of fear.
Someone was watching her.
She forced her breathing to slow, fingers tightening on the crutches at her side. She sifted past each face more slowly.
J.D. and the children were close to the front of the line. Her gaze traveled beyond them, across the little boy sitting on Santa’s lap, past a diminutive woman dressed in an elf costume, to collide with a pair of light blue eyes.
Jackie gasped. An older woman sitting near her turned with a curious expression. Jackie couldn’t tear her gaze from the elf. His eyes widened in immediate recognition and he turned swiftly back to his camera.
A group of teenagers suddenly blocked her view. Jackie strug
gled to her feet. Awkwardly, she started through the crowd, cursing her clumsiness with the crutches.
J.D. She had to get to J.D.
Two little girls darted in front of her. She stumbled and nearly fell. A contrite father scooped a child into each arm, but Jackie barely heard his apology. She focused on J.D. He saw her approaching and murmured something to the kids before meeting her halfway.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“The elf!” Words jammed in her throat in a desperate bid to rush forth. “The one with the camera.”
His head pivoted, but their view was now obstructed by a throng of people.
“He’s the one who attacked me in the living room.”
“Wait here.”
J.D. shoved his way through the crowd. He ignored the angry comments of parents and sidestepped the small children with reckless grace. When he reached the roped-off section, he stepped over the thick braided cord, intent on his goal.
“Sir, I’ll have to ask you to—”
He ignored the Santa’s helper who came forward.
“Sir! I’m going to summon security!”
He reached for the camera elf’s shoulder and spun him around. Only, the cameraman turned out to be a camerawoman who stared at him with wide, frightened brown eyes.
Chapter Six
Jackie wanted to cry. J.D. wouldn’t even look at her. He’d spun the woman behind the camera around like an avenging angel. The poor girl had been terrified.
How could she be the wrong elf?
Security arrived in the form of two determined young men who hustled J.D. away before Jackie could get close enough to explain. Heather and Todd huddled against her sides.
“Why did Daddy jump over the rope and grab Santa’s helper?” Todd asked fearfully.
“Are they gonna arrest Daddy?” Heather asked in a small voice.
“No, sweetheart,” Jackie assured her. “This was all my fault. It’s just a misunderstanding. I’ll straighten it out. I know where the security office is. Come on.”
Her crutches made slow work of walking. Both children kept an anxious pace at her side.
At least, Jackie thought with black humor, she wouldn’t have to worry about Larry any more. J.D. was going to kill her first.
Better Watch Out Page 9