by Dani Criss
“Hmm.” She tightened her grip on his arm. “Thank you for going in the room with me. She really brightened when she heard you were there. You always had a way with her. Always made her smile.”
“I could help you keep an eye on her,” he offered as they walked across the hospital lobby.
Outside, the sun was coming up over the horizon. It had been a little more than twenty-four hours since the call that Katie’s alarm had gone off. A very strenuous day for them both, and now in a couple of hours they would both have to head for the office. He would have to see what he could arrange on that restraining order, but decided not to mention it to her until necessary.
“I would appreciate your help with Mother,” she told him, then fell silent as they walked across the parking lot and over to her car. Once she’d unlocked the door and had gotten in behind the wheel, she looked up at him. “I meant what I said about us being friends. I think we might be able to handle that.”
“Meaning that anything more is out of the question?”
She nodded. “I can’t give you anything more, Jake. It’s just too big a risk for me. I don’t want either one of us to get hurt.”
And she was sure that would happen. He could hear it in her voice. Perhaps she was right. They’d tried it once, and when it fell apart, it had taken them both a long time to pick up the pieces. He was probably foolish to think they had a better chance the second time around.
“I’ll follow you home,” he said, closing her door and waiting for her to lock it.
Kaitlyn wanted to tell him no, but decided he wouldn’t listen. He had to know she made it home all right. Tomorrow she would start insisting they put their relationship into perspective, a perspective that was best for them both. She would start bringing her feelings in line, corralling them, giving them boundaries.
Tonight—and this morning—it had felt good to lean on him, to have him by her side. But now it was time for her to stand on her own again, she decided as she pulled into her driveway. She paused a moment to let the garage door raise all the way, waved goodbye to Jake, then drove inside.
Her car phone rang as the door was on its way down. “Don’t forget the alarm,” Jake told her.
With a laugh she thanked him and hung up.
In the laundry room, she kicked off her running shoes and dropped her purse on the dryer. She could grab a couple of hours of sleep before going into the office, maybe three if she went in a little late.
Deciding that was what she would do, she walked into the bedroom, unsnapped her jeans, then sat on the edge of the bed to push them off the rest of the way. Just as she kicked them off, the phone rang. She smiled to herself, wondering what she was going to do about Jake and his protectiveness.
“Hello, Jake. What did I forget?” she asked.
The voice that answered was not Jake’s.
“So Riley knows you’re home, does he?” Craig Fallon snarled. “He was real hot and bothered when he couldn’t find you. Did he tell you that?”
Kaitlyn felt her stomach knot. She thought of Jake, worried about her, confronting Fallon. Thought of the man smirking at Jake’s concern. It made her blood boil.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“To tell you to stay away from him. You’re mine once we’re married. And I don’t want Riley in the way. Got it?”
She slammed the receiver down in its cradle, staring at the phone in repulsion. Hers. The man felt she belonged to him. Thought she would marry him, and nothing anyone said could make him see reason. Somehow, though, she would have to make him understand she wanted nothing to do with him. But how?
She debated calling Jake, then decided she couldn’t For her own well-being she had to learn to handle this on her own. She stretched out on the bed, but as soon as she pulled up the sheet to cover her, the phone rang again. There was a chance it might be Jake, she reasoned, and he would be worried if she didn’t answer.
She picked up the receiver and said a quiet, “Hello.”
“It won’t do you any good to hang up on me,” Fallon said. “I’m not going away.”
“Why me?” Kaitlyn asked in exasperation. “You don’t even know me and I don’t want anything to do with you. Why don’t you find someone else?”
“Because I’ve wanted you from the first time I saw that beautiful red hair of yours—”
Kaitlyn hung up again, unable to stomach hearing any more. She finally had her answer to why he’d latched onto her, but it didn’t do a thing for her peace of mind. Or for her peace in general. The phone rang again. This time she let the answering machine pick up the call. Fallon apparently didn’t appreciate that. He called back over and over again. After more than a half hour of that, Kaitlyn decided to forget sleep, and shower and dress for the office, instead.
Once he finished helping Rob move many of his things into Shelly’s house, Jake opened a bottle of beer and carried it out onto the deck in time to see Kaitlyn walking around the back of the house. She was dressed for the warm weather—a pair of navy shorts that showed off her long legs and hugged her slender hips, and a blue knit T-shirt that clung to her curves. She’d pulled her hair up. A big, white clip held it in place.
His first thought was that she appeared fatigued. Her eyes were tired and her shoulders seemed to slump slightly. It had been four days since he’d sat with her in that hospital waiting room. Monday morning they’d finally gotten the restraining order and he’d taken Fallon’s mug photos to the security man in her office building. Since then Jake had given her space, figuring he needed some time and distance to evaluate where his feelings for her were leading him.
In the end he decided he’d better slow himself down. He wanted her. He doubted that would ever change. However, she was determined to limit him to friendship. He had to face the fact that she might never offer him more, and that even if she did, they still needed very different things from a relationship.
So, he hadn’t called her, had only checked on her through third parties—Shelly, Mary, her mother. He’d paid the price in worry and frustration. Seeing her now he was ready to change his mind about giving her—and himself—this space. He wanted to go to her, hug her fiercely, but he forced himself to lean casually against the deck railing and remain there as she walked up the three wood stairs.
She greeted Rob and Shelly, then smiled at Jake. “How are you, Jake?”
“I’m fine,” he said, longing to wrap an arm around her and tug her to his side, but knowing he couldn’t give in to that longing. “It’ll be a while before I recover from moving Rob’s piano over here, though.”
“Don’t wimp out on me,” Rob said. “This weekend you promised to help me dig that hole for the basketball goal.”
Jake groaned. “You know, I think I promised Katie I would help her paint this weekend,” he said with a wink to her.
“Won’t work,” Shelly said. “I already know she’s going to San Francisco tonight and won’t be back until Sunday evening.”
“San Francisco?” Jake asked, glancing sharply at her. He wasn’t sure traveling was such a good idea under her current circumstances. He had no facts or stats to back him up, just a gut feeling that he didn’t want her halfway across the country.
Katie nodded. “I’ve had this trip planned for a month now. Going to check out the changes the airline has made, check out the hotel. Going to get away by myself for a couple of days.”
“What about your mom?” Jake asked.
Katie stared at him, eyes narrowed slightly. “She says she’ll feel guilty if I stay because of her, then in the same breath she says that you will be there to look after her while I’m gone.”
Jake cleared his throat, unsure how to take that pointed look she gave him. “You said you would appreciate it if I helped look after her.”
“That was before I knew she was your number one fan,” she replied around a quiet laugh. She turned to their friends. “When I go up to the hospital, Mom spends most of the time singing his praises.” She
mimicked her mother’s soft, wistful voice. “‘Jake was here again,’ she says. Again. ‘Oh, and he talked that awful Hilda into letting him take me for a walk outside. He’s so charming and such a nice man—’”
“So I’ve got charm,” Jake said. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, you’ve got it in spades.” Kaitlyn looped her arm through his. “Mom loves the flowers you sent. The ones I brought her, she gave to the woman in the next bed. Yours she puts on the bed tray so she can see them all the time.”
“What can I say? The lady has taste,” Jake said proudly, pleased that Katie seemed to appreciate his efforts to help her mother.
“Watch out,” Shelly said, grinning, “it sounds as if she’ll have you two married by Halloween.” With that she took Rob’s arm and tugged him toward the sliding glass doors that opened into the kitchen. “Time to put the chicken breasts on the grill.”
Married? Jake thought as the two walked inside. Damn, but he liked the sound of that. It wasn’t very likely, though.
Katie’s eyes had filled with momentary panic at the mere mention of it. Friendship was all she wanted to give him. So the smart man wouldn’t hold out hope for any more than that, wouldn’t plot how to go about changing her mind. The smart man would go about business as usual. He wondered just how smart he was.
He moved to stand in front of her and leaned forward, arms on either side of her as he rested them on the deck railing behind her.
“What are you doing?” she asked in surprise.
He thought he heard her breath snag a little.
“Saying a proper hello,” he answered, flashing her a rakish grin. She smelled so good.
“Improper,” she scolded, her voice definitely shaky.
“We’re friends, that’s all. Remember?”
“I didn’t agree to that. Not completely.”
“Jake—”
“Relax, Katie,” he said, leaning close to her ear, trying hard to resist the temptation to nuzzle. “My only intention is to say that you look tired and ask what’s going on.”
“Then why are you...”
“I figured that when I’m this close, it makes you nervous—too nervous to evade answering me.”
Nervous was right, Kaitlyn thought. Nervous and downright jittery. She could feel his breath, warm against the side of her face. The woodsy scent of his aftershave was hypnotic. Her pulse was thrumming. She wanted to lean closer still, to wrap her arms around him. Hot as the August evening was, she still wanted to feel his heat. His nearness short-circuited her thinking, made her forget her priorities.
“So, what’s kept you from sleeping, Katie?” he persisted, his voice too close, too seductive.
Kaitlyn struggled to think. “Phone,” she finally managed to blurt out. She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to him, pointing to the number she’d written on the back. “That’s my new phone number. It’s unlisted, so don’t lose it.”
He scowled at her for a long moment as her words sank in. “Fallon’s been calling you?”
She shuddered, recalling the number of calls he’d made in the past few nights. “Starts about ten minutes after I get home and keeps going until I leave for work in the morning.”
Jake slammed the heel of his hand against the railing. Kaitlyn jumped. “Damn it, Katie. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“Tell you I was getting annoying phone calls?” she snapped back at him. “What could you have done to stop it? Nothing, except tell me to change my number. So I handled it myself. That’s what’s bothering you, isn’t it? You always hated it when I handled things on my own.”
His jaw clenched. “It has nothing to do with who handled what. I’m upset—”
“So am I now,” she muttered.
“Because you didn’t ask for my advice. You ask your accountant for financial advice, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“Then why is it so difficult for you to ask for mine. I’m an expert in this field—”
“That’s what you keep telling me,” she noted sharply, then softened slightly. “Jake, I didn’t want you to worry.”
“I’m the one in the protection business, not you.”
“Yes, but when you worry, you usually hover,” she insisted. “I...I didn’t want to deal with that.”
He looked to the heavens in what was probably a silent plea for patience with her and her reasoning. Seeing him upset was becoming more and more difficult for her to take. What was happening with her?
“All right,” she said. “Pretend I’m asking you now. What would you advise?”
That you move in with me, that you let me deal with this situation, that you turn it all over to me and let me take care of you. That’s what he wanted. But Jake knew he would have to settle for a whole lot less.
“That we put the son of a b—” He cut himself short, breathed deeply to get hold of his temper and his concern for her safety. Things with Fallon would only escalate from here, he was certain. “That we call the police and have the bastard arrested.”
“Arrested? For phoning me?” She frowned.
“The restraining order,” he said with strained patience. “It says he can’t try to contact you or harass you in any way. Phone included.” He took another deep breath and cast her a sympathetic look. “I’m not surprised you don’t remember. We were both zombies that day we went to court. It’s my job to take care of those details for you.”
Kaitlyn didn’t like the sound of that. He was taking over, or would if she let him. “Your job,” she said, “was to install—”
“My job is whatever I make it,” he declared. “As your ‘friend’ my main concern is getting this jerk out of your life.”
“Then call someone and have him picked up,” she said, aware her voice was rising sharply.
She’d had a very rough few days between worry about her mother and then the phone calls, and being without Jake. She’d needed to handle matters on her own, to take charge. Now here he was, angry because she didn’t ask for his advice.
She’d leaned so heavily on him at the hospital. She found herself wanting to lean more, but she knew how disastrous that could be. So she had to pull back. He had no idea how very difficult that had been for her, and how frightening it had been to find herself becoming dependent.
“I would have him arrested,” Jake rasped. “But we have to have proof. If you had asked me, which you didn’t, I would have told you to keep your old number and let the answering machine take his calls—”
“I did. He filled up the tape each night.” She had wondered if the man ever slept.
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me you didn’t erase the tapes each night.”
“I didn’t know I should keep them.” She certainly hadn’t wanted to hear the chilling, angry things Craig Fallon had spouted, let alone preserve them. She just wanted him gone.
“Because you never asked anyone.” He slammed his hand on the railing once more. “Damn it, Katie...”
“Don’t swear at me, Jake Riley.” She put both palms against his solid chest and pushed until he backed up a step. With that tiny bit of room, she shoved past him and rushed into the house.
“Drinks are in the fridge,” Shelly said over her shoulder as Kaitlyn entered the kitchen, then she went back to instructing Rob on how often to baste the chicken breasts.
It was obvious Shelly and Rob didn’t need her help, but Kaitlyn didn’t want to go back outside. She needed to do something—she was too agitated to stand still. She reached into the fridge, pulled out a wine cooler, twisted off the cap and had managed a swallow, when Jake stormed into the house. He spotted her in the doorway to the living room and turned his menacing gaze her way.
“I swore at the situation,” he said with controlled fury. “Not at you.”
“I distinctly heard my name,” she challenged, fighting down the memories of the distant past She had to remind herself she was no longer a little girl in her father’s house. She straightened and
gave Jake her most determined look.
“I took charge of my life,” she said with all the firmness she could muster in the face of his fury. Why did his anger with her always upset her so much? “Maybe I didn’t do exactly what you would have done, but you have no right to be angry with me because I didn’t come running to you.”
“Lovers’ quarrel?” Shelly asked from the counter by the sink.
Jake and Kaitlyn whirled to see their friends watching them with avid curiosity. “No,” they both said simultaneously.
Shelly and Rob exchanged glances, then began gathering up the bowls and plates from the counter. “We’ll just get the chicken started,” Shelly said, shooing Rob out onto the deck.
Jake waited until the door shut behind them, then set his beer bottle on the table. He had to resist the urge to shake Katie. His temper was getting the best of him and that would do no good with her. He ran his hand across the back of his neck and counted to twenty.
“I’m angry because you won’t come to me when the problem falls into my area of expertise,” he said, striving for calm.
“You can tell yourself that,” she insisted, “but you’re furious because I didn’t come cowering to you, period. I didn’t let you take care of me.”
“All right,” he barked, acknowledging to himself, and to her, the truth of what she’d said. “All right. I admit you’re right, but in return I want you to admit that this situation is getting serious. Was he hostile on the phone, verbally abusive—”
“Livid over the restraining order? Fighting mad over your interference? He was all that and more,” she said quietly.
Jake nodded once, grateful that she was cooling down enough to listen to what he had to say. “You have to work with me on this, Katie. I’ve nearly gone crazy this week, afraid something would happen once they served that restraining order.”
“It started before then,” she told him. “At first he mainly wanted to gloat that you didn’t know where I was that day, and to tell me...” Her voice caught. She took a deep breath and continued. “Tell me that I ‘belong’ to him.”
Jake felt every muscle in his body tense. Why did she have to go through this on her own? he wanted to demand, but he bit his tongue. She was talking to him and he wouldn’t risk having her withdraw now.