As I watch, the sketchy-looking man behind the wheel sweeps his gaze over the pickup line and says something into a phone.
What is he doing over there? Why isn’t he in the pickup line?
My heart rate increases. Something’s not right.
The car line moves forward, and I park along the sidewalk in front of the school. No, a guy watching a school and not picking any kids up is definitely not normal. Maybe I should say something to the staff.
I’m at the right angle now where I can see the license plate. “B…E…A…” I whisper under my breath, committing the sequence to memory.
Suddenly, the back door opens, making me jump.
“Hi, Jayne,” Mia sings out, dropping her backpack next to mine and plopping into her seat.
“Hey. How was school?”
The words have barely left my lips before I’m turning to look back out the windshield.
The black car is gone.
My jaw sets tight and my stomach twists. It doesn’t matter that the man left. The fact that he was in front of the school at all is disconcerting.
But at least I got the license plate number.
Mia is chattering away, telling me all about her music class today.
“Uh-huh,” I murmur, unable to focus on her story. “That sounds fun. Buckle up.”
Maybe it’s my years in the army. Maybe I’m just an anxious person. I don’t know. All I know for sure is that the man across the street made the hair on my arms stand straight up, and that’s never a good sign.
Chapter 10
Jayne
Mia and I stretch the popcorn string across the table, letting its ends dangle over the sides.
“It’s so long,” she giggles.
“And the birds will love it,” I answer.
“Mm, popcorn,” Eddie comments as he’s walking through the kitchen. “Yum, yum. Give me some of that.”
“No,” Mia laughs. “It’s for the birds.”
“Aw.” Eddie pretends to be crushed.
“Ready to put this outside?” I ask.
Mia grabs the popcorn string and runs for the porch.
I follow her into the backyard, going past the covered pool and the gazebo. At the left end of the yard sit the two-story guesthouse where Eddie lives. Beyond that, it’s more lawn and more trees. At the very end of the property is the tennis court. I’ve yet to see Benjamin use it, but I can imagine him out there in the summer hitting some balls around with his friends.
I can imagine it too well. Sweat sliding down his temples…toned arms flexing as he smacks the ball with his racket…
“Here you go, birds,” Mia says, stopping at the bird feeder, which all the birds in the backyard vacated once they clocked us.
She tosses the popcorn string to the ground.
“How about we put it in a tree?” I suggest. “Somewhere birds like to be.”
“Oh, yeah! Okay.”
By the time we’ve put the popcorn in a tree and are heading back inside, I’ve almost forgotten about Benjamin. Until we run into him at the back door, that is.
“Hi, Daddy.” Mia wraps her arms around his legs and beams up at him.
“Hey, pumpkin.” He places his hand on the top of her head. “How was school?”
“Fine.” She runs off inside, done with the conversation already.
Benjamin turns to me and smiles. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” I stick my hands into my jeans’ pockets. “How are you?”
“Good.”
He nods. I nod.
This couldn’t be more awkward…and yet, I’m not walking away. Clearly, I love driving myself crazy.
Even if I can’t have Benjamin, at least I can fantasize about him—which I’ve already done. More than once.
Has he ever imagined what it would be like to be with me?
I vanquish the thought.
“Mia’s homework is all done,” I tell him. “It was just a worksheet.”
“That’s all for the whole weekend?” He has his phone out and is looking between me and the screen.
“Yeah, they should really push first graders harder.”
He smirks. At least he got the joke.
“Sorry,” Benjamin says, putting his phone in his pocket. “There’s a lot going on with work.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure it’s usually that way.”
He inclines his head in concession. He must have forgotten to shave this morning—or maybe he’s going for a new look. A thick swatch of stubble covers his cheeks and jaw, and it looks damn good on him.
“How did your first week go?”
I have to repeat his question in my head, I was that distracted.
“Good. Mia is…she’s a really wonderful girl.”
Benjamin’s eyes soften. “I think so, too.”
“I know maybe I shouldn’t bring this up, but…”
“But?”
“She begged me to talk to you about getting her a real bunny.”
“Ah. I figured that was coming.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just the messenger.”
Benjamin chuckles and looks over his shoulder. We can see the kitchen through the glass doors. Mia is at the table, swinging her legs over the edge of her chair as she talks to Eddie.
“I keep trying to get her passionate about dogs,” my boss says.
“I love dogs.”
“Me, too.” He looks back at me, his gaze laser-focused on my face. The intensity in his eyes is too much. I have to force myself not to look away.
Does he even know what he’s doing to me? Is it intentional? Or is he just this sultry all the time?
“I was thinking about surprising her with a puppy soon,” he says.
I swallow and look away. Right. Animals. That’s what we were talking about.
“If you give her a dog, she’ll probably name it Bunny,” I answer with a chuckle.
“Nothing wrong with that.”
I peek at him from under my eyelashes. What would things be like between us if he wasn’t my boss? Would we have a fighting chance?
“It’s good to hear it was a normal week,” he says. “You can come in later tomorrow. I’m not going to the office until noon.”
The mention of a normal week reminds me of the man at the school. I already called the school’s office while Mia was upstairs putting her things away. I gave the woman who answered the license plate number and the man’s description, and she said they would keep an eye out for “further activity.”
“Hey, speaking of normal…”
Benjamin cocks an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“There was this weird man across from Mia’s school this afternoon. He seemed to be…watching for something, or someone.”
Benjamin frowns. “He must have been waiting for his kid to come out.”
“No.” I shake my head. “He drove off without picking anyone up. I called the school’s office and told them about it, though.”
Benjamin’s phone rings, and he whips it from his pocket bullet-quick. “Hold on one second.”
I nod.
“Yeah?” he answers. “Okay… And what did they say about the numbers?”
I look past Benjamin and into the kitchen. Mia’s not in there anymore. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find her in this massive house before I leave. I don’t like going at the end of the day without saying goodbye.
“Don, wait a moment.” Benjamin covers the phone’s mouthpiece and looks at me. “What did the school say?”
“That they’d keep an eye out for the car. I gave them the license plate number.”
“It’s probably nothing.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he’s already talking into the phone again. Back to me, he walks across the patio, completely sucked into the conversation.
I frown. I don’t like brushing things off as “probably nothing.” Suspicious behavior is suspicious behavior. And the twisting feeling in my stomach is something, as well.
Benjamin turns back to me, still talking on the phone. “Uh…yeah.” He catches my eye and gives me a little wave. Looks like I’m dismissed.
Not that I care. He’s always taking phone calls at home.
It’s his lack of interest in what I told him that’s disconcerting. It doesn’t seem to worry him at all that a strange character was lurking outside his daughter’s school.
Going through the house, I find Mia and give her a hug goodbye before heading across the front porch. I do a sweep of the yard as I walk to my car. I’m not checking for anything or anyone in particular, it’s just a habit of mine to survey every new area I enter—blame six years in the military, I guess.
Jumping into my car, I hit lock on the doors right away—another safety habit.
Amy makes fun of my cautious personality, but all joking aside, she knows as well as I do that being aware is crucial when it comes to avoiding unwanted situations.
Thinking of her instantly makes me want to give her a call.
Putting the phone on speaker, I navigate out of the driveway.
“Hey,” she answers.
“Hey. Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“So…I saw something weird at Mia’s school today. This guy was watching the building from across the street and talking on the phone.”
“Okay.”
“And then he drove off without picking up any kids.”
“Okay…?”
I check for traffic before turning onto the main road that will take me most of the way to the apartment. “I just want to know…am I being paranoid?”
“Hmm. Good question. With you, it’s hard to tell.”
“Damn,” I mutter. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“But, then again…I don’t know. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Exactly.”
“What do you think this guy might have been doing?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I mean, looking to steal a kid, that’s the obvious answer—”
“School would be a hard place to do that.”
“Yeah.”
I think of Benjamin: his fame and his money. The school Mia goes to is a public one, which surprised me. I’m sure a lot of parents there work in the tech world, but surely none of them are as successful as Benjamin. If someone was looking to take a kid hostage and demand ransom, the daughter of a billionaire would be the obvious choice.
My eyes stray to the glove compartment, and my mind thinks of the handgun at the apartment. It’s in a box under the couch; the ammo is in my duffel bag. In the past, I’ve kept it in my car. Since I’m driving someone else’s kid around all the time, now, though, I know that’s not the best idea. It’s also not appropriate to have a gun around someone’s kid without their knowledge.
Even though I’d feel monumentally better knowing that gun was in easy reach.
“Are you still up for partying tonight?” Amy asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I grimace. “I don’t recall saying yes to that. How about a movie at home instead?”
She groans. “This is because of Benjamin, isn’t it?”
“No.”
“It is. You don’t want to go out and meet men because you’re stuck on thinking about him.”
“I’ll see you at home,” I tell her, smacking the End button and ending the conversation before she can retaliate.
Amy is right about one thing. Benjamin is on my mind. It’s not his hot body I’m thinking about now, though. It’s his daughter’s safety.
The rest of the way home, I do a mental detailing of his mansion. The security system there is good. Very good. I checked it out my second day on the job.
If anyone tries to break into that place, the alarm will go off and the police will be there in minutes.
It soothes me to know Mia is safe while at home. It’s everywhere else I’m worried about.
But maybe I am worrying too much. Honestly, I have a habit of doing that.
Squaring my shoulders, I tell myself that everything is going to be just fine. I mentally repeat the sentence at least twenty times.
By the time I get home, I almost believe it.
Chapter 11
Benjamin
“Ah-choo!” Mia’s little sneeze fills the air. She sniffles and climbs into my bed. “Daddy, I don’t feel good.”
“What’s going on?” I sit up, my head throbbing slightly as I do so.
“I’m so tired,” she whines. “And I keep coughing.”
I hold my palm against her forehead. Warm, but not too hot. “It feels like you might have a low fever.”
Mia collapses against the pillows. “I don’t want to go to school today.”
I rub her back. “Okay. You don’t have to. Jayne will be here soon, and the two of you can stay home together. Here. Get cozy. I’ll have Eddie bring you some juice.”
She wiggles under my quilt, and I put some cartoons on my television before dressing and heading downstairs. Eddie’s there already, and right after I send him upstairs with juice, I hear the front door open.
Jayne.
Pleasurable shivers travel down my back.
“Hi,” she says as she enters. She looks just as delicious as always—more, actually. Her hair is in two loose braids, which my fingers itch to take hold of.
“Mia is sick,” I explain.
“Oh, no. With what?”
“A cold, it looks like. Maybe with a slight fever.” I’ve hardly finished getting the words out when I sneeze. My head throbs again.
“And you are too, it looks like.”
Jayne comes right up to me and puts her hand on my forehead, like I did with Mia. Except, this time, the act is completely different. Our gazes catch, and Jayne quickly drops her hand and steps back.
“I just need to take something for this headache, and I’ll be fine.” I rifle through the cabinet above the fridge and find a painkiller to pop. No sooner have I taken two pills than I’m sneezing again.
“Here.” Jayne passes me the box of tissues from the counter. “Maybe you should consider staying home today.”
I press my fingers against my temples. I hate sick days. I don’t have time for them.
“I have too much to do.”
Jayne laughs. “When do you not have a lot to do? You run a giant company.”
That makes me smile a bit. “Good point.”
“Also, if you don’t take the time to get better, you’ll end up becoming even sicker, and then you’ll miss twice the work.”
“You’ve made your point. I’m staying home.”
I shoot one of my assistants a text, telling her what’s going on, and then set the phone on the table. I won’t be needing it today; a break would be really nice.
“I’ll go up and check on Mia,” Jayne says.
“Hold on.” I reach a hand out, stopping her, though we make no physical connection.
“Do you not need me today?” she slowly asks.
“No, I was…actually, yeah. Stay. Hang out with us. It’ll be fun—unless you’re worried about getting sick,” I add. “If so, you can go.”
“I’m not worried about that.”
“Okay. Great.”
“Cool.” Jayne nibbles on her bottom lip. “Um, so why don’t you go upstairs and I’ll bring you two some breakfast?”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
I make a beeline for the staircase before I can say anything else. I don’t know what compelled me to ask Jayne to stay home with us. Since Mia and I are both sick and won’t be doing much other than laying around, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of her myself.
You just want to look at her, I tell myself.
Mia’s right where I left her, except she’s taken the time to go to her room and retrieve her stuffed bunny. The orange juice sitting on the bedside table is untouched, and all of her attention is on the TV.
Shutting myself in my walk-in closet, I change into a more comfortable outfit
and sit down in bed with her. Jayne appears within ten minutes, carrying a breakfast tray laden with fruit salad and pancakes.
“Wow. I forgot about that.” I nod at the tray. “Where did you find it?”
“In one of the bottom cupboards. Here, Mia. Have some oranges. They’ll help you get better.”
Mia eats a few bites but then lays back down, glazed-over eyes on the television.
“Let’s watch something we all like,” I suggest.
Mia groans.
“What about a nature show?” Jayne suggests. “I like animals, and I know you do too.”
“Okay,” Mia agrees.
Jayne gives me a shrug.
“Good enough,” I whisper so Mia can’t hear.
Jayne’s sitting on the very edge of my bed, looking uncomfortable. Which makes sense. This is my bedroom, after all.
Wait. If she’s so uncomfortable, does that mean she can’t help but think of the things that might go on in here?
“Let’s go downstairs and watch in the living room,” I say, my voice unnaturally loud. “The TV is bigger in there.”
Jayne bolts to standing. “Great idea.”
A few minutes later and we’re congregated in the living room, piles of pillows and blankets on the couch. Mia lays her head in my lap, and I prop my feet on the coffee table. With Jayne curled on the other end of the couch, things finally feel comfortable.
We watch one movie, and then another. My brain feels like it’s melting by the time Jayne suggests we play a game.
“Candy Castle, Candy Castle,” Mia chants.
“Candy Castle it is.” I pull the board game out of the closet in the corner of the room.
We play one game. Two games. Three. Surprisingly, it’s fun. There’s a lot of joking around and laughing. The noises of the house become pleasant white noise: Ray blending and chopping in the kitchen. Eddie puttering around, coming in and out of the back door.
Everything feels nice. Normal.
Is this what it would be like to have a family? One that contains more members than me and Mia?
I surreptitiously watch Jayne as she rolls the dice and claps over a high score. A family life is something I’ve given little thought to in the last few years. My parents are still happily married, so I know it works out well for some people.
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