by Dani Criss
As he walked away, Kaitlyn pulled the card out of the envelope, then read the words to herself. “Once our friends are married, you can start planning our wedding. I’ll call you when I’ve set the date. It should be soon. Craig.”
Her breath caught. A shiver raced down her spine. She stared at the note, knowing things with him had just escalated to a new and more frightening level. She’d never had one night out with this man, had refused all his invitations to have dinner or go to a play. Now the man was planning their wedding. As Rob had said last night, this was all too weird.
She looked up at Jake, not knowing where else to turn. He gave her a sharp glance. Wordlessly, she handed him the note, listening as he read it aloud. Hearing it was even more chilling than reading it.
Frowning, Jake studied Kaitlyn closely. She was whiter than white, her dark blue eyes huge in her lovely face. She was scared to death.
He swore in a vehement whisper only she could hear. “Damn it, Katie—”
“Don’t swear at me, Jake Riley.”
Not now, her fear-filled eyes pleaded with him. Jake swallowed his anger, reminding himself that losing his temper would accomplish nothing other than to push her away at a time when she needed his protection. He’d figured he would give her some space and hopefully she would let him be there for her. She was turning to him for help. He couldn’t blow it now.
“Don’t get testy on me,” he said.
“Then don’t use that ‘the little woman can’t think for herself’ tone with me. Jake, what am I going to do?”
He took a deep breath, noting she used her anger with him to keep the fear at bay. Funny how he would have to notice the vulnerability behind the panic in her eyes.
“Get that security system installed. First thing tomorrow,” he stressed, his eyes searching the room for any male fitting the description she’d given him. He found no one, but then, Andrew had indicated he’d been given the note much earlier and had only now gotten around to handing it to Kaitlyn. The creep was probably long gone.
“You will start taking every conceivable precaution,” he told her firmly.
She nodded without protest—a sure sign that she was numb with shock. Jake clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t put up with this sicko terrorizing Kaitlyn. Somehow he would put a stop to it. Soon. He wouldn’t fail this time, as he had with Candy.
“Where are you going?” Katie asked when he pushed back his chair.
“To give this to Rob. He can have this one checked for fingerprints, too. Maybe he’ll find something better than the partial he found on the first note. And I want to talk to him about getting a restraining order.” As he started to stand, she caught his arm.
“Jake, wait—”
His jaw clenched tighter. He leaned closer, towering over her. “Now, listen. This,” he said, waving the note in front of her face, “puts a totally different slant on the situation. He wants you and he’s through playing games.”
“Believe it or not, I managed to figure that out myself!”
“Then think about this. The guy is not rational. There is no way to predict what he will do. You’re way out of your league here and you’ll do as I say—”
“Oh, cut the macho bull,” she retorted. “I’m not disputing your expertise or may need of it at the moment.”
“Then what—”
“This is their engagement party. With their careers, their time together will be interrupted too often. I want them to have this evening. The fingerprints will still be there in the morning.”
“I’ll give it until the party’s over. No longer. I want to know what kind of wacko this Fallon is and if he has any kind of record.”
“In the morning,” she said firmly. “Please, Jake. I’ll defer to your judgment on everything else. However, you lest Shelly and Rob have this night. Agreed?”
Jake had delayed taking action in Candy’s case and was damned lucky she hadn’t been killed. He wouldn’t take any chances with Katie. But looking into her eyes, he knew she wouldn’t budge on this. She was scared, yet she would put her friend’s happiness first. And she would fight him fiercely if he went against her wishes.
That left him little choice on this particular issue. But there were others. Like protection for tonight. This note from Fallon made it clear the man was unstable. There was no telling what he could do next. Jake was not leaving Kaitlyn alone in an unsecured house and he was not putting the matter up for discussion.
Jaw clenched, he caught her wrist and tugged her to her feet. “Get your purse,” he ordered.
“The party—”
“Is winding down. Rob and Shelly can see to the guests who are still here and Andrew said he would clean and lock up.” He gripped her wrist tighter, letting her know he meant business. “I want to get started on that alarm system. Immediately.”
Her chin came up. She studied him through a narrowed gaze, but soon backed down and went to do as he’d told her. Jake wondered whether it was fear of Fallon or of his temper that had her complying. Whichever, he decided, watching her walk away, her shoulders slumped, he didn’t like seeing her defeated. It left a definitely sour taste in his mouth.
Chapter 4
In short order, Jake had them out of the clubhouse and into their cars, then he followed behind her Honda Accord as she threaded the winding streets back to her condo. She pulled into the garage and he parked his Lincoln Town Car in the driveway behind her.
The alarm system was just one of the many lifestyle changes Jake was certain to insist upon, Kaitlyn was sure. How far did she dare let him go? she wondered, reading the frustration that was so evident in his strong profile. He would undoubtedly want her to leave everything up to him, to place her welfare completely in his very capable hands.
She wouldn’t object if it involved her physical security alone. But there was so much more at stake, such as the need to feel strong, independent, in control of her own future—things that Jake had never been able to understand. Things that had made living with him impossible. With a weary sigh, she turned toward the door leading into the kitchen.
Jake pulled his briefcase out of the trunk; gathered the bottle of Chablis and the two bottles of beer the bartender from the clubhouse bar had given him, locked his car, then followed her into the house, pausing a moment to make sure the garage door was closed.
“Do you bring booze on all your estimate calls?” she asked as he set the beer and wine on the long butcher-block countertop.
“I’ve had a rough week and figured a couple of beers would go down real nice. I brought the wine for you, thinking you might enjoy a glass. Got a corkscrew?”
Kaitlyn decided she could do with a glass. She was taut and more tense than she’d been when she made the decision to start Memories To Go Travel. Though she still shook when she recalled the note in Jake’s suit pocket, she had to admit that much of her current nervousness had to do with his being there in her home, standing in her kitchen, looking tall, all-male and more tempting than a double-fudge brownie sundae.
She handed him the corkscrew, half-entranced by the fluidity of his movements as he opened the wine. Once he’d filled her glass and handed it to her, he looked into her eyes.
“You doing okay, Katie?”
She breathed deeply, allowing herself to voice her biggest fear. “He knows where I live. Doesn’t he?”
Jake wanted to hold her, pull her into his embrace and promise her he would make everything all right. But he stood his ground, unsure of how she would react. More uncertain of how he would handle the contact. The attraction he felt for her hadn’t waned all these long years apart. But he was wiser now. Wise enough to see that their natures hadn’t changed. That a relationship with this particular woman wouldn’t work a second, third or fourth time around.
Her walking out had hit him hard. One morning he’d been making plans for the future, ones that included her and a pack of redheaded kids, then that evening he was all alone and wondering how he would pull himself together. He wo
uldn’t go through that pain again.
“It’s very likely he knows,” Jake told her. “You’re going to have to make some tough decisions.”
“About what?” she asked, her shoulders braced, her back against the counter as if for support. She took a sip of her wine and breathed deeply.
“You need to send him a very clear message that you want him out of your life,” Jake told her. “Starting with a restraining order. We can see a judge first thing Monday morning.”
“Will that keep him away?”
Jake sighed, not liking what he had to tell her. “It could make him decide you aren’t worth the trouble of going to jail, but most likely it’ll tick him off royally. Stalkers rarely pay attention to a piece of paper telling them to stay away from their targets.”
Kaitlyn shivered at his words. Much as he hated having her afraid, Jake had to lay all the cards on the table for her to see. No longer could he let her deny that she was the target of a stalker.
“But if it won’t keep him away, why go to the trouble of filing for one?” she asked.
“Legal recourse. The police will have a file started on him. They can arrest him if he hangs around your office, follows you around, anything he does to disobey the judge’s orders. Eventually they might be able to put him away for a long time.”
“Eventually?” she squeaked in sudden alarm. “Jake, you make this sound as if it’ll go on for weeks. Months.”
Or longer. His silence told Kaitlyn everything she didn’t want to hear. This was going to be a long, drawn-out ordeal, with her playing the lead role. Center stage. Craig Fallon was going to turn her world inside out, make her life a nightmare.
She’d never felt more vulnerable in her life, more at another person’s mercy, and she didn’t like the feeling one bit. Fallon was calling the shots. All right, she thought, sipping her wine, he might be pulling the strings, but that didn’t mean she had to dance to his tune.
“I may be the target,” she said, looking Jake square in the eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I have to play the victim, does it?”
Giving her a nod of approval, Jake tipped the neck of his beer bottle to the rim of her glass. “I’m glad you’re thinking that way. It will make my job that much easier.”
Jake’s job. She didn’t want to consider the extent of his involvement in her life just yet. She had enough to absorb without adding him and her confusing feelings for him into the equation. Being around him, it was too easy for her to be vulnerable, too easy to turn everything over to his sharp intelligence and willing, strong shoulders. He made it so easy to be weak—a luxury she couldn’t indulge in.
“The alarm system,” she said, pointing to his open briefcase on the kitchen table. “Shall we get started on the estimate?”
With another nod, Jake took out his tape measure, a notepad and pencil and started his work at the entrance from the garage. She watched, sipping her wine, as he thoroughly went through the nooks and crannies of that area and every room after that, listened as he explained some of the features of the system and services she would have. And, she secretly admired his body and wondered why his particular brand of virility drew her so strongly.
She needed temporary protection—the physical kind. She did not need a temporary affair, no matter how exciting the package. And being with Jake had always been exciting. He could take the sharp side of her wit and give it back in good measure. Their verbal battles had been charged with energy and underscored with a passion so intense it left them both exhausted.
Watching him as he finished measuring the bedroom windows, she realized that those days she was with Jake, she’d been truly and completely alive. She’d felt a passion she hadn’t known was missing in her life until now.
Must be a formerly unknown masochistic side of her that made her feel this way toward a man who was the essence of everything she couldn’t live with, she decided, sipping the last of her wine.
“You’ve got great taste in decorating,” he said, breaking into her musings.
“him?”
“This bedroom. The whole house, in fact. Did you do it yourself?”
She nodded and gave him a pleased smile that Jake realized was the first genuine smile she’d given him tonight. He liked it. And he did like what she’d done with her home. Her taste leaned to the cherry wood and brass with an Oriental touch that said elegance and class in a very subtle way. His own preference was for the oversize and comfortable, but he had to acknowledge that his apartment could do with a bit of Katie’s kind of style.
“Shall we go into the living room and I’ll spell out all you’re going to get?” he asked, jotting down the last measurement.
What she would get extended beyond security for her home. That would be just the start. But Jake wouldn’t go into those details tonight. Right now she was apt to resist further attempts on his part to keep her safe, so he would have to use subterfuge in order to keep his eye on her without her knowledge. It was not the way he normally did business, but she would have his protection one way or another. He knew how very bad this situation could get. He doubted she fully appreciated what happened to many stalking victims. He wouldn’t let her down the way he had Candice.
“Give me a minute to change out of this dress,” she told him, tucking a strand of her silky hair behind one lovely ear.
“I like looking at you in that dress,” he protested. To emphasize the point, he let his gaze once again roam over her curves, softly outlined by the clingy material, reminding himself to no avail that he was enjoying the sight much more than was wise. Why was it that where she was concerned, wisdom always took a back seat to desire?
Jake’s eyes filled with that languorous heat Kaitlyn had noticed in them several times this evening. Once more, she felt the warmth reach out to wrap around her, making her wonder what it would be like to be in his arms again. Making her long for just that.
It was the stress of getting that damned note, she knew, that made her momentarily crave the safety of a pair of strong arms around her. It was an ironic twist of fate that Jake—the only man whose embrace could make her feel safe and cherished—happened to be here. And it was the wine that had her resistance to temptation weakening rapidly.
She sct the empty glass on the corner of the sleek, polished dresser, then gestured toward the door. “Save the leers for someone who might succumb to them.”
“Ah, Katie,” he murmured, coming to stand in front of her. “You shouldn’t chastise a man for something he can’t help.”
He was so close she could feel that heat she wanted to lean into. He touched her cheek, as if he truly couldn’t help himself, much as she couldn’t keep from absorbing the tenderness in his light caress. His deep brown eyes darkened to the color of midnight. Just when Kaitlyn thought he would bend down to kiss her, just when she decided that’s what she wanted, desperately needed, he pulled away.
“I’ll carry your glass out to the kitchen,” he said, taking the first step toward the door, leaving her wanting to turn back the hands of time for just a moment. “Mind if I finish that other beer while we go over everything?”
She shook her head, then as he went back into the living room, she shut the bedroom door. What was she going to do about the way this man made her feel? she asked herself as she grabbed a pair of jean shorts out of a drawer. She was her own woman now. She made her own choices, relied on herself, didn’t have to clear her agenda with anyone, and that’s the way she liked it. She doubted Jake would. A leopard didn’t change his spots, after all.
He’d been about to kiss her a moment ago; she was sure of it. But at the last minute he’d pulled away, as if he knew as well as she that they could never make it work between them, no matter how wonderful that would be. Jake wanted a woman who would lean on him. She wasn’t the leaning type. Jake was strong, liked wielding his authority, giving orders and seeing them followed. She wouldn’t allow herself to be dominated by anyone as her father had tried to control her.
With a
small sigh, she hung up her dress, slipped into the shorts and a T-shirt, then walked into the living room, settling herself on one corner of the low-slung sofa. Jake came out of the kitchen with the beer in one hand and her refilled wineglass in the other.
She accepted the glass, though debating whether to drink any more, since she already felt fuzzy around the edges. She’d skipped lunch, then had been too upset over her discovery that she was still attracted to Jake to eat dinner. Maybe she ought to go to the kitchen and see if there was anything to snack on. But she was entirely too comfortable to move.
“You’ll get new doors and more solid locks on all of them—” Jake began once he’d settled into the chair across from the sofa.
“Whoa, I understand the bit about better locks, but why do I need new doors?”
“The ones you have are hollow and could be kicked in too easily. You’ll get something solid, and you can even pick the style. We’ll replace the back, front, the one from the garage and the bedroom.”
“The bedroom? Let’s not get ridiculous about this.”
“This is the basic stuff,” he insisted. “If an intruder enters the house, you need to be able to barricade yourself in one room until help comes. That’s usually the bedroom. You have a telephone in there so you can call for help.”
“Barricade...” Kaitlyn swore. “Jeez, Jake, this isn’t doing a hell of a lot for my peace of mind. Can’t you sugarcoat some of this?”
“You wanted to know about the bedroom door. I told you.”
“Yes, but can’t you break it to me gently,” she protested, her voice more shrill than she liked. He was treating this as if danger were imminent. She just wasn’t ready to face all the frightening possibilities he was laying out. “You’re talking about turning my house into a fortress and all the guy’s done is—”
She came to an abrupt stop, remembering the irrationality of that note Craig Fallon had asked Andrew to give her. Jake waited with that trademark patience of his—the very patience she generally managed to wear thin.