Jake found himself grinning. Her eyes were half-closed, her expression slightly dazed, and there was a beautiful smile on her face, making her look almost angelic.
How the hell had he ever thought her cool and dispassionate? he wondered. She was heat and light and everything a man could want.
“Good.” He continued to stroke her shoulder, the length of her back, the curve of her butt. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t realize—”
“Hurt me?” Her head came up and she managed to focus in on him. He looked so sweet, so concerned, that she inched her way up his body to reach his lips, making him groan. All trace of pain and sadness was gone from his face—at least for the moment. “You didn’t hurt me, Jake,” she said softly, planting several kisses around his mouth until he was groaning again and tightening his arms around her. “You made me feel…wonderful. Beautiful.” Kissing him full on the mouth, she grinned at him.
“You are beautiful, Rebecca,” he said softly, pushing her hair off her face. He’d been awed by the power of what they’d just shared, stunned by what he felt for her. It was his turn to press a kiss to her mouth, but this one was longer, deeper, leaving them both staggered, stunned and gasping for air. “Absolutely beautiful.”
His words caused her body to heat, her heartbeat to speed up. The way he was looking at her made warmth crawl over her skin, made her ache with need, desire.
Now she recognized it, felt it, acknowledged it, reveled in it. The thought of detaching herself from something so beautiful, so wonderful, simply never occurred to her.
“Jake?” There was a question in her voice, a sauciness in her eyes, as she slowly slid her hands down his chest, pausing to circle one nipple with her nail, delighted when his eyes widened, then darkened as desire caught him, as well.
“You’re asking for trouble,” he said in a husky voice as she bent her head to plant a trail of hot kisses along his neck, slowly sliding her damp mouth down his chest, to gently lick and circle his nipple with her tongue until he groaned.
“Trouble?” Lifting her head, she smiled, feeling a lightness in her heart, her spirit. “Is that what this is called?” She shrugged as she raised up to straddle him, making his eyes glaze over a moment before they slid shut with a groan.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had pizza for breakfast before,” Rebecca said, snuggling closer to Jake and munching on a cold slice of pizza. She wouldn’t be having it now except she was starved.
“You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten cold pizza for breakfast.” He took a healthy bite of his own slice, grabbing a glass of orange juice off the bedside table to wash it down with. “It’s a staple in every male’s diet.”
“Well, then I’m grateful I’m not a male.” Grinning, she pressed a quick kiss to the dark stubble of his chin, then continued eating.
She felt satisfied and sexy, and definitely sated. She’d lost count of how many times they’d made love. They’d been doing so most of the night, that’s all she knew.
She should have been bleary-eyed with exhaustion. She’d been working for almost a week straight, long into the night, sleeping and eating very irregularly, as she normally did when working on a story. And last night she’d had no sleep at all—had, in fact, been exhausted when Jake showed up.
Instead, she felt charged with energy and ready to go, as if she could tackle the world. Good thing, too, because she still had a lot of work to do this morning.
“Jake, what will Tommy say because you didn’t go home last night?” She glanced up at him, crossing her bare leg over his. “Will he be worried?”
With a laugh, Jake shook his head and reached for another piece of pizza from the box he’d set on the bed. “No, I don’t think so. It’s not a rarity for one of us to stay out all night.” He looked down at her, noted with pleasure there seemed to be a hint of jealousy in her eyes. It pleased him no end. “We are all grown men, Rebecca. I’m sure Tommy expects us to stay out once in a while.” Jake’s brows drew together as he chewed thoughtfully. “Except for Jared. Jared hasn’t been on a date since his wife left him. He’s sworn off women.” With a smile, Jake kissed Rebecca’s forehead. “The guy doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“Can you blame him?” Rebecca shook her head. “After what he went through, no wonder he’s a bit gun-shy with women.”
“I don’t know if it’s that so much as the fact that he doesn’t want to expose the twins to another woman who’s not going to be a permanent part of their life. They’re still too young to understand, and they get attached to people far too easily.”
“That’s understandable.” She hesitated, not wanting to spoil the moment, but needing to discuss something with him. “Jake?”
“Yeah?” His stomach full, he finished off his last piece of pizza, then kicked the box closed with his foot. When she didn’t respond, he glanced down at her. “What’s on your mind, Slick?”
“You,” she said simply, scooting to a sitting position and pulling the sheet up to cover herself.
“Me?” He grinned, pleased, making her swat him.
“Don’t get arrogant, Ryan.”
“Hey, I’m just happy I’m on your mind.”
“You’ve actually been on my mind a lot lately.”
“Yeah?” The news delighted him. “And here I thought you were deliberately avoiding me.”
“I was,” she admitted carefully. “You know how I feel about getting personal with someone I’m involved with professionally.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said wearily, hoping she wasn’t going to start this again. “But it’s a little late to worry about that now, isn’t it? Considering we just spent the night together, I’d say we’re very personally involved.” He tried to nuzzle her neck. Laughing, she pushed him away.
“Don’t start that again. I have work to do.”
“Work?” He glanced at the window, where the first streaks of daylight were visible, bringing light and warmth. “It’s not quite dawn yet.”
“Yeah, but you know a woman’s work is never done.” She hesitated. “Jake, we never finished last night.”
He almost groaned. “I don’t know that I want to do this, Rebecca. Not now.” He didn’t want anything to spoil what they had between them.
“I know.” She pressed a hand to his chest and stroked. “I know it’s hard, Jake, but I’m almost finished with my first draft. I just need some additional information from you, then I can plug it in and turn in my story to Mr. Barker to review.”
With a sigh, Jake pulled himself up to a sitting position as well, tucking the sheet under his arms. “Okay, shoot. What else do you want to know?”
Rebecca was quiet for a moment, trying to put her thoughts in order. Somehow she figured this might be easier now, since she was actually close to him, touching him, able to offer some comfort.
“Jake, the night Jesse disappeared, do you remember anything odd or strange happening?”
“Hell, the whole thing was strange.” Jake sighed, wishing he didn’t have to go through this, but knowing he owed it to her, and to Tommy. “That night, when my parents came home, the police were already there. The nanny had called them. She claimed she’d fallen asleep on the couch, and when she woke up, the front door was open and Jesse was gone.”
“They didn’t believe her?” Rebecca asked carefully, deliberately making her face blank, even though her insides were churning with fear once again.
“Would you?” he asked, turning to her. Rebecca shrugged. This was one part of the story she had no knowledge of; she had no idea what her mother had told the police. She herself had been sound asleep on a couch in the family room. That’s the last thing she remembered. She probably blocked the rest out.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Rebecca, come on, get serious. Do you honestly think if you were watching a kid someone could come into the house, snatch that kid, and you’d sleep through the whole thing?” Jake shook his head, realizing the tension was easing back into him. “Ever
yone thought she was somehow involved. But they could never prove anything.”
“Was she questioned?” Rebecca asked slowly. An icy chill rolled over her and she shivered unconsciously.
“Yes, actually,” Jake said, dropping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to keep her warm. “But they couldn’t get anything else out of her. They thought she might have been the one to write the ransom note, but they could never—”
“Ransom note?” Rebecca bolted upright, her gaze searching his. “Jake, what are you talking about? In all my interviews, all my research, no one has ever mentioned a ransom note.”
“That’s because the family didn’t want it made public.” Jake sighed. He’d come this far, so he might as well tell her the whole story, to have it out once and for all. “The morning after Jesse disappeared, Tommy received a ransom note. The authorities believed it was written by a woman—”
“The nanny?” Rebecca all but whispered, shock nearly traumatizing her entire system.
“Yeah. But they could never prove it, so they had no choice but to let her go. They had no actual evidence against her, and as Tommy says, falling asleep isn’t a crime.”
“No. No, it isn’t.” Rebecca’s voice was unbearably soft, but her mind whirled. If her mother had indeed written the ransom note, then she must have had something to do with Jesse Ryan’s disappearance. At least had a part in it.
It was the confirmation Rebecca had been searching for her whole life. The damning evidence she had suspected, but could never find.
Her chest was so filled with pain, with shame, she felt certain it would simply explode, leaving nothing but her tattered remains behind.
All her life she had wanted to know the truth, and now it looked as if she’d found it.
But she wasn’t certain she could face it. Wasn’t certain she could accept that her mother had been responsible for so much pain to someone else, for endangering an innocent little boy, for crushing a family.
And for what purpose?
Money?
The thought made bile, thick and bitter, rise in Rebecca’s throat, forcing her to swallow convulsively several times. Her eyes burned with the effort not to let tears fall. She couldn’t come apart now, not in front of Jake. It would serve no purpose and would only jeopardize everything she’d worked so hard for. She wasn’t finished yet.
“Hey, Slick, you all right?” Tenderly, he touched her cheek, and she forced a smile. It was brittle as ice.
“Fine. Just…thinking.” Rubbing her eyes, Rebecca took a slow, deep breath. “Jake, did your family try to find Jesse? I mean, did you hire investigators or anything?”
He sighed. “We did everything you could possibly imagine. For almost ten years, Tommy had investigators on his payroll, looking for Jesse, looking for any clues, any leads.” Jake shook his head. “Tommy followed up on every single one of them. The FBI checked out the guy they’d suspected of threatening Tommy, but he came out clean.”
“Someone threatened Tommy?” It was another bit of information she’d not discovered.
“Yeah. That never came out, either, and even I didn’t know about it until last night.” At her look, he explained. “Tommy and I had a conversation about you writing the family history, and that’s when Tommy told me about the ransom note and the threat before Jesse disappeared. But it turned out to be nothing. Tommy fired one of the ranch hands for being drunk on the job. Then about a week later, Tommy got a call threatening one of us if he didn’t pay up.” Jake shrugged. “My grandfather immediately thought it was the ramblings of the drunken man, and pretty much dismissed it, until Jesse disappeared.”
“Did they check the man out?” Hope thrummed through her. “Could he have had something to do with Jesse’s disappearance?”
“No. Apparently the FBI checked him out the same night Jesse disappeared. He was in a hospital detox center. There’s no way he could have had anything to do with Jesse’s disappearance.”
Hope deflated like a popped balloon. “This ranch hand, Jake—do you remember his name?”
“Yeah, it was Martin Weaver.” He studied her face. “Why do you ask?”
She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “Just being a nosy reporter, I guess.”
“For almost ten years we searched for Jesse. But there were no leads, nothing. Tommy hired untold private investigators, but nothing turned up. We had nothing to go on.”
“What about the nanny? Were you ever able to talk to her?”
Jake shook his head. “Nope. She was taken in for questioning the morning after Jesse disappeared, but was released after a few hours. The cops had nothing to hold her on so had to let her go. Apparently she skipped town right afterward.”
“So no one else ever interviewed her? Talked to her?” Rebecca held her breath.
Jake shook his head. “No, not that I know of. I don’t think anyone could find her.” Scrubbing his hands over his face, he stifled a yawn. “How much more, Rebecca?” he asked wearily. “I’m beat.”
“Just one more question, Jake.” Rebecca licked her lips, then met his gaze. “If it was possible, would you try to find Jesse?”
“Find him?” Jake shook his head. “Rebecca, I’d do anything and everything in my power to find my brother.” He sighed. “Anything.”
“Then let me help, Jake.” She held up her hand. “No, let me finish. I don’t plan on publishing anything I find out—that’s not my intention, or my motive. I just want to help you find Jesse if I can. Someone has to know something, Jake, but my guess is no one’s ever talked to the right person—the person who might know what really happened that night.”
Curious, but cautious, Jake refused to let the hope that bubbled up inside blossom. He didn’t think he could stand another disappointment, not about Jesse. “And how do you plan on doing that, Rebecca?”
The fact that he hadn’t vetoed the idea outright gave her the courage to go on. “It’s my job, Jake, remember? That’s what I do. Dig for the truth.”
“Yeah, I remember,” he said nervously, wondering if this was such a good idea.
Cocking her head, she met his gaze, a small smile on her face. “I don’t think it would hurt for me to do a little discreet digging, to see what I can find out.” She shrugged, trying not to let him know how much this meant to her. If she could finally learn what had really happened to Jesse Ryan, it might make up, just a little, for whatever her mother’s involvement had been. It was the least Rebecca could do. She needed to do this for herself as well, so that she would be satisfied that she’d finally learned the truth about her mother’s involvement. “What have you got to lose?”
Jake was thoughtful for a long moment. “Nothing, I guess. Absolutely nothing.”
Relief flooded her. “Then I have your permission?”
“Provided you bring me any and all information and promise not to publish it.”
“I promise, Jake.” She nestled closer, needing to feel his strength, his warmth, his comfort right now. “I’m not doing this for publicity.” Lifting her head, she met his gaze. Their eyes held for a long moment as silent messages passed between them. She laid a hand on his cheek. “I’m doing this for you.”
Chapter Nine
By noon, Rebecca had already done almost a day’s work, poring through police files, old phone and hospital records as well as newspapers, and all the material Tommy had given to her. She was trying to find anything, any little tidbit, that might give her a clue as to what had happened twenty years ago. She’d been able to piece together parts of the puzzle, but a big chunk was still missing.
After several phone calls, she finally had something to go on, and couldn’t wait to get back to the house to tell Jake.
Her work probably would have been a lot easier if she could go for five minutes without thinking about him and what had happened between them last night.
All morning as she worked she’d had to chase him from her mind. He was there, hovering like a wonderful, comforting memory.
>
In spite of what had happened between them, Rebecca vowed to herself that she would not allow it to compromise her professional integrity. She couldn’t.
Her personal life—now that she finally had one— and her professional life had to remain on two separate tracks, especially while she was involved in this story.
She had no idea what would happen when it came time for her to go back to Reno, to her home and her job there, the life she’d built for herself. Granted, until last night she’d had no idea how lonely that life had been.
Now the mere thought of going back to what had once satisfied her on every level only made her sad, because Jake, wonderful Jake, wouldn’t be there.
This morning she’d been far too preoccupied to think about the future, about what would happen when she was finished with her story, but she decided that for now she would enjoy whatever it was she and Jake had. Enjoy it for the pure pleasure it gave her, not just the sensual satisfaction, but the pleasure of feeling alive for the first time in her life.
Her black-and-white world was now joyously filled with vivid, vibrant colors. Because of Jake and what she felt for him, she’d experienced things she’d never hoped or imagined she would.
If for nothing else, she would be grateful to him for that—for giving her something she had always believed she’d live without. She would forever appreciate what he’d given her, and not look for or expect more.
There could be nothing more. Under the circumstances, considering who she was and who he was, to expect more would be both foolish and ludicrous.
She was far too pragmatic to think that they could have a real relationship. They’d been thrown together because of circumstances, nothing more. Once those specific circumstances were removed, the two of them would no doubt go their separate ways.
It was not a thought she relished or wanted to dwell on, considering the depth of her feelings for him. Especially not today, when she had so many other things on her mind, things that simply couldn’t wait.
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