He was in the kitchen when I got downstairs, making omelets at the stove. Tess sat at the counter. Her face split into a grin when she saw me. Good morning! she signed.
Good morning. My own signing was getting better, although I was still far from fluent. I was barely conversational. Dad make food?
She showed me a sign and then finger-spelled e-g-g-s.
Eggs, I signed back, and Tess signed great!
Noah turned around. “What are you two chattering about?”
“Tess taught me how to sign eggs,” I told him. Then, because I had learned how rude it was to talk in front of a deaf person without trying to communicate, I added, Tess me sign eggs.
“Very good,” Noah grinned.
I sat down at the counter. “So, my inheritance money just came in.”
Noah had taken over signing, setting the spoon down briefly. “Really?” he said. “We should go out shopping.”
“Shopping?” I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that. “I can’t. I need to use the money on advertising and supplies, things to grow my business.”
“Oh, come on,” he scoffed. “Life can’t always be about business. You have to have some fun sometimes. You’ve had a lot to deal with lately and you deserve a break. Besides, you’ve been wearing the same three outfits over and over.”
I looked down. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”
“Nothing’s wrong with them except you’re going to break my washing machine if you keep using it every other day,” he said with a grin that told me he was teasing. “But wouldn’t it be nice to have a little more variety? Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to do laundry every day?”
Tess signed something at us. “No,” Noah says, signing back. “Adult shopping trip.”
“She wants to come?” I asked.
“Yeah, but she’d rather go into the suburbs and hit the mall,” Noah said with a grimace. “We’ll do that later this week. I want to take you to the Manhattan department stores.”
“I can’t afford to shop there,” I said automatically, but I realized that wasn’t true anymore. Thanks to my new inheritance, I actually could afford a little splurge. And maybe Noah was right. Maybe I did need to get away from my intense focus on my business and spend a little time and energy on myself, especially after all that had happened.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a plate of eggs in front of me. Noah joined us at the counter, and because our hands were occupied with eating, we finished our breakfast in silence. I had grown used to quiet meals since I’d been staying with Noah and Tess. We ate our dinners together slowly, taking the time to stop and talk between bites, but at breakfast and lunch we ate quickly and said little.
After the dishes were cleared, Tess grabbed her backpack and Noah grabbed his keys. We rode the elevator to the ground floor and waited with Tess until the school bus picked her up. She kissed her dad on the cheek before climbing aboard, then Noah gestured for me to follow him to a Town Car that had just pulled up.
“I figured I’d call a car today so we didn’t have to worry about finding parking in the city,” he said as we slid into the backseat of the sleek black car. “Any word on the apartment?” Noah asked, pulling my mind away from my new windfall.
“Nothing yet,” I said. “They said they were going back in today. Apparently they’re bringing some kind of special investigative team along this time. Do you think that’s normal?”
“Doubt it,” Noah said. “They wouldn’t call it a special team if it was.”
“Good point.”
“Well, that’s encouraging, isn’t it?” Noah asked. “They’re giving the case the attention it deserves. Maybe they’ll find something.”
“I don’t know,” I mused. “I feel like it means they’re having trouble finding anything. And that freaks me out.” I leaned my head against the car window. “I hope they’re investigating Josh.”
“You still think he was involved?”
“I think it’s too likely that he was to ignore,” I said. “And if I’m being honest, I’d much rather think of this as a petty crime committed by a guy who was bitter because I wouldn’t sleep with him. If it was Josh, he’s had his little revenge and is done. But if it was somebody else, who knows?”
Noah was quiet. He gazed out the window, and I wondered what he was thinking. He had posed the original theory that the person in my apartment might not have been Josh. Did he regret bringing that up? Or was he trying to figure out how to convince me that he’d been right?
And what about that special investigative team? What were they really hoping to find that the regular police hadn’t? This wasn’t a missing person investigation. The stakes weren’t that high, surely. It was just a question of vandalism. It was some idiot—if not Josh then a random idiot—looking to cause mayhem and chaos.
Wasn’t it?
Or was there really something to be afraid of here?
If they were bringing in a special team, it was because they needed the extra help. It was because the case was more serious than they’d realized at first.
Suddenly I was very glad Noah had insisted we go shopping today. The idea of sitting trapped in my own thoughts was agonizing. I needed to do something fun, to forget the insanity in my life.
The cab pulled up in front of a beautiful white stone building. “We’re here,” Noah announced.
“Bergdorf’s?” I knew the place, of course, having lived in New York all my life, but this definitely wasn’t the kind of store I usually shopped in, now that I no longer lived off my parents’ income. Too upscale. Too pricey. “I don’t know about this.”
Even though I hesitated, I very badly wanted to go in and experience what it would be like to shop at such a fancy store as an adult. My mother had taken me there when I was little, but that hadn’t been fun. She’d always had very specific ideas about the kinds of outfits I should wear, and we hadn’t seen eye to eye. It had been a relief when I’d gotten old enough to start doing my own shopping.
“Come on,” Noah said. “It’ll be fun. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something you like.”
I got out of the car and followed him into the building. Inside, soft jazz played, and the air smelled like rose and jasmine. “This way to the women’s department,” Noah said, taking me by the hand after pointing at a sign. His skin against mine was enough to make me forget all about my worries.
I shook my head, trying to clear it. I wasn’t going to let myself get carried away by thoughts of Noah and the things I wished would happen between us.
I didn’t wish those things would happen.
I wanted those things not to happen.
Sure you do. Sure that’s what you want. You’re definitely not thinking about how cute his butt looks in those pants. You’re definitely not remembering what it felt like when he picked you up, how strong he is, how capable of holding you.
Okay, so maybe I was thinking about those things a little bit.
We had arrived in the women’s section, and Noah released my hand, to my slight dismay. “I don’t know anything about shopping for women,” he admitted. “You’ll have to take the lead here.”
“You should probably learn,” I cautioned him with a smile. “Your daughter’s going to be a young woman before much longer, and she’ll need you to take her shopping.”
“Okay,” he said agreeably. He pulled a pink dress with puffy sleeves off a rack, seemingly at random. “What about this?”
“You’re kidding. Where am I going to wear something like that?”
“I thought this was your style.”
“What made you think this was my style?”
“I don’t know. It looks like your bridesmaid dress.” He grinned rather wickedly.
I groaned. “You’re the absolute worst. Put that down. I don’t need dresses anyway, I need shirts. Maybe a pair of jeans.” I wound through the racks until I found jeans and began to examine them. “Jesus,” I mumbled, pulling the price tag out of one of the pair
s.
“What is it?”
“Three hundred dollars? For jeans?”
“Well, they’re good jeans,” he defended.
“They look exactly like the pair I have at home.”
“They’ll last longer. They’re better made. And I bet they feel better too.” He took the jeans off the rack and thrust them into my hands. “Go try them on,” he said. “See if you notice a difference.”
It had been ages since I’d tried something on in a store. I knew my size and style well enough to know what I liked and what would fit me. But I wasn’t about to spend three hundred dollars on anything without making sure, so I allowed Noah to steer me to a dressing room and went inside. The door closed behind me, I stepped out of my own pants and into the three-hundred-dollar jeans. They fit like a second skin and felt as comfortable as my flannel pajama pants. I turned and looked in the mirror. My ass definitely looked good in them too. Suddenly I didn’t really mind the high price tag. I wanted them.
“Are you coming out?” Noah asked. “I want to see how they look.”
“Okay, hang on,” I agreed. I stepped back into my mules, unlocked the fitting room door, and walked out.
Noah was sitting on a bench, but he stood when he saw me, as if I were a date he’d been waiting to escort somewhere. “Wow,” he said. “Those do look good. Turn around?” Somewhat shyly, I did. There was silence for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said huskily. “Yeah, those are good. You should get them.”
“Jenna?” I whirled around at the sound of the familiar voice. Jessica was standing at the entrance to the dressing rooms, several garments in hand, staring at me. “What are you doing here?”
“Trying on jeans,” I managed.
“Okay, but, like, you shop at Target these days, don’t you?”
My face heated as I glanced at Noah and back to my sister. “Usually.”
“How can you afford Bergdorf’s? Are you just window shopping?”
“No, I—”
“Hang on. You’re not spending Grandma Susie’s money here, are you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Mom! Mom, you’ll never believe this!”
My heart sank as my mother appeared, saw me, and clenched her jaw. “My God. Jenna?”
“Hi, Mom.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t waste any time, I see.”
“What does that mean?”
“I thought you wanted that money for your little art studio.”
“I’m a designer,” I mumbled, embarrassed as if I were doing something wrong. But she was right. As soon as I’d received the money from Grandma Susie, I’d rushed straight out to one of the most expensive department stores in the city to buy clothes.
“It’s her money now,” Noah said, stepping forward. “She can spend it how she wants to.”
My mother glanced at him, eyeing him almost disdainfully. “Oh, it’s you,” she insulted. “Are you two together now?”
“No,” Noah said quickly, and my blush intensified. Why was he so eager to make the point that we weren’t together? “I’m just a friend. And Jenna has every right to shop for clothes if she wants to.”
“She is a little lacking in the fashion department,” Jessica commented, and I wondered if she thought this was defending me or if she was being a jerk.
“She deserves something good.” Noah frowned. “After all she’s been through with the break in.”
“The what?” my mother asked, her head jerking to look at me.
Noah was startled by her response. “You don’t know about—”
“Okay, let’s go,” I interrupted, grabbing Noah’s arm. “Wait for me downstairs, okay? I just need to change out of these jeans and we’ll go.”
“Jenna, what’s going on? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I really just want to go now.”
“Aren’t you getting the jeans?” Noah asked.
“No, I don’t need them. It’s fine. Go downstairs, okay?” I darted back into the dressing room, yanked off the expensive jeans, and jerked mine back on. When I stepped out of the dressing room, Noah was gone. My mother and sister were still standing outside the dressing rooms, and I felt their eyes on me as I bolted for the escalator. I just wanted to get out of there before they started asking questions about the break in. The last thing I wanted was for my mother, who was always so critical of my choices and my career, to get wind of the fact that a client might have trashed my apartment.
Noah was waiting for me on the lower level, concern written all over his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Can we go?”
“You didn’t tell your family about the break in,” he surmised.
“No.”
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to spill the beans.”
“It’s not a big deal.” I was more upset about why he felt the need to be so emphatic about the fact that we weren’t a couple, but how could I say that to him? We weren’t a couple.
There was an attraction between us, yes, but it seemed very clear to me now that he’d never intended it to go any farther than it already had. We’d had some amazing sex, but that was all he really wanted from me.
And I’d though hand holding actually meant something.
I felt like an idiot. I felt like exactly the kind of person who would rush out to spend her inheritance on designer jeans that showed off her butt. I was supposed to be smarter than that.
“I’ll drop you off at home,” Noah said. “Then I need to go into the office for a few hours.”
“Okay. I’ve got some work to do anyway.”
“I’m really sorry today didn’t work out,” he consoled. “I did think you looked great in those jeans.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t even look at him. I was going to have to figure out a way to stop caring what he thought.
Chapter 23
Noah
I was still thinking about Jenna as I got off the elevator and headed down the hall to my office. I genuinely felt bad about the tumultuous relationship she seemed to have with her mother, and I wished there was something I could do to ease her mind about it.
Also, I couldn’t stop picturing her in those jeans.
Maybe I could get in touch with Bergdorf’s and have them sent over to the house for her. She’d seemed to like them before she’d been spooked right out of the store, and I thought she probably would have bought them for herself. Sending them would be a nice surprise for her.
The investors with whom I’d rescheduled the meeting to accommodate Eric’s surprise arrival in my office were waiting in the conference room. I paused a moment to gather my wits, then opened the door and stepped in. “Gentlemen,” I said, “thank you for coming in”
Every one of them got to their feet. “Sit down, Mr. Clark,” Mr. Kepler said.
I raised my eyebrows. I was unused to being told to sit down in my own place of work. “What’s this about?” I asked, remaining on my feet. “I’ve been looking over your file with regard to your financial issues—”
“We’re not here about any financial issues,” Kepler said.
“No?” I asked. “Then what exactly are you here for?”
“We’re here about the favor you were asked to do for our organization.”
I blinked. “What favor? What organization?”
“You know who we work for.”
“Harrison Realty?”
All the men exchanged glances.
“I’m referring to the family business,” Kepler said finally.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We know you’ve been contacted by LM.”
My stomach lurched. For a moment I honestly thought I was going to vomit. “You’re—you’re working with LM? Who is he? What does he want?”
“Don’t play games with us, Clark.”
“I’m not playing games! I honestly have no idea what the fuck is going on!”
“Did you co
mply with LM’s request?”
“He didn’t really make a request,” I said, running through my conversation with the man in the bar. “He told me I would have to pay back my father’s debt. But he didn’t tell me how much money my father owed. I can’t pay if I don’t know how much is owed. Someone has to give me some real instructions, not just these vague emails that say six days.” I eyed the man who seemed to be the spokesman. “What is it you want from me?”
“We think you know,” Kepler said. “We think your father told you before he died, and we think you’ve spent the last year—a year in which you could have been squaring your debt and moving on—pretending ignorance. We think you thought you could weasel your way out of the deal by acting like an innocent. But agreements don’t work that way. Not in our family.”
Family. “What are you, the Mob?”
“I don’t think there’s any need for such crude terminology,” Kepler negated smugly.
“But you are, aren’t you?”
“I think it’s fair to say that when someone wants to make a deal without the authorities being any the wiser, they know we’re the ones to come to.”
“And the emails you’ve been sending me? The creepy phone calls? What’s all that about?”
“I told you,” Kepler said. “We’re at the end of our rope with you. We won’t allow you to pretend any longer that you don’t know about your father’s business dealings. We won’t allow you to pretend you don’t know about the debts he left behind when he died.”
“I don’t know anything! I never intended to take over this company, but my father left it to me when he died. I had no choice. He told me jack shit about any of this.” Furiously, I stomped closer to the conference table. “What do you want from me?”
“To settle the debt.”
“If it’s money you want, you’ll need to tell me how much,” I scoffed.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Kepler said, although he looked miles away from laughter. “You know perfectly well you don’t owe us money, Clark. You owe us time.”
“Time?”
“When you blew off your meeting with LM on Monday, you invited us to raise the stakes. Do you understand that?”
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