Runaway Heiress

by Jennifer Morey

  “Are you sure it’s not too soon to start rehab?”

  “Doctor said I should get moving as soon as possible.”

  “Then let me help you ease into it.” He stood next to her. “Why don’t we start with floating on your back? You can move your arms, stretch your muscles.”

  “All right.” That sounded delightful. She lay back on Jasper’s arms. He created a shelf under her mid-and lower back. Her left arm was stiff and sore. She couldn’t move it far. She rested her other hand on Jasper’s lower back. “This is going to take a while.”

  “It’ll probably be a few months before you’re back up to full speed. We’ll take baby steps.”

  She didn’t miss how he said we, but she wondered if he knew he’d referred to months. Did he expect to be here that long? She didn’t comment and floated for a while. He kept her head above water so all she had to do was concentrate on moving her left arm.

  “You have an interesting staff,” he said after a while.

  Was he merely making conversation? Or was he fishing for information? “I’m very attached to them all.”

  “Your family must be envious.”

  “I have no family.” She stared up at the pine ceiling, a circle of glass in the middle showing a sunny blue sky. “Didn’t Steven tell you that at the hospital?”

  “Your father passed, but what about your mother?”

  More fishing? She always got anxious when people asked her about her past. She had to be careful what she said. “My mother died when I was born.” She kept her emotion out of her response. Any talk of her mother usually spurred up some kind of sad thought.

  “No other relatives?”

  “No. None.” She hoped she didn’t sound rehearsed. And that he would stop asking personal questions.

  “Do you miss him?” he asked.

  She found that an odd question. Moving her gaze to him, she tried to see if he had a purpose, an ulterior motive, for doing so. But the detective in him kept his facial expression blank.

  “No.” She could speak honestly about this part. “My father was not an easy man to please.”

  “A lot of dads are like that. They want what’s best for their kids. They want them to be successful. Sometimes that means pushing them hard.”

  “Well, then I’m a stereotypical rich kid when it comes to my father’s expectations. He gave me everything I wanted as long as it was within his rules. I grew up in a mansion and had lots of toys. He planned for me to take over for him since I was in high school. He planned my career path, made me study business in college. Nothing I did was my choice. The only women he respected were the ones he worked with, and then only those who practically killed themselves for their jobs. Forty hours a week was never enough. And if you didn’t work when you were home, you received more black marks. He didn’t care about family. He only cared about making money. And if those who worked for him didn’t feed his love for it, they didn’t last long. He was never faithful in his personal relationships, either. He was the most selfish person I’ve ever known or even ever heard of.”

  “You resent him quite a bit,” Jasper said.

  “Resent?” She thought on that awhile. Resent didn’t describe her feelings toward her father. “I might resent the way he dictated my life, but I don’t resent him. I feel sorry for him sometimes. But mostly I’m...” She caught herself before she said the wrong thing. “I’m glad he’s gone.”

  “So are a lot of people who worked for him, I bet.”

  She smiled up at him, floating on the water, slowly paddling one arm. “I did inherit his money. I suppose I like him for that part.”

  “You do a lot of good with it.”

  “I do a lot of frivolous things with it, too.” She winced as she overextended her arm but continued to work her muscles.

  “Are you all right?” Jasper asked.

  “Yes.” Had she ever been with a man this attentive before?

  “Do you want to stop?”

  “Not yet.” She looked up at him and couldn’t look away.

  As the seconds ticked by, an attracted sort of awareness sparkled in his blue eyes.

  “Where did you grow up?”

  She wasn’t sure why he asked, maybe because she’d said she grew up in a mansion. “San Francisco.”

  “Is that where his company was?”

  She didn’t want to answer that. After a few seconds she finally did, reluctantly. “Yes.”

  He seemed to notice so she treaded water with her hand, pretending not to notice him, as well.

  “Why do you care so much about homeless people?” he asked at last.

  No one had ever asked her why. “I didn’t until I met Bernie.”

  The charity held special significance because of the injustice many homeless people endured. Whether they landed on the streets after suffering financial catastrophes or mental illness, they were treated like trash by the rest of civilization. But why did she care so much? She did care. A great deal. She cared about the people and their destitute circumstances.

  “I needed something to do with my time and I wanted to run a nonprofit,” she said. “Bernie opened my eyes to a lot of things.”

  “What things?”

  She remembered her childhood, going to her father’s corporation and witnessing him rule like a bloated king. It used to disgust and embarrass her.

  “The way my father treated people he viewed lesser than him. How many people did he drive into that kind of destitution?” She lowered her legs and stood, Jasper aiding her until she found her footing. Then he dropped his arms. She put her hand on his arm to steady herself. The contact sent a river of shivering tickles up her arm and through her core. She met his eyes, impossibly blue, and again couldn’t look away.

  “You think your father drove people into destitution?” He found his aplomb before her.

  She lowered her hand but he kept his on her waist. It was distracting. Then she went back in time. “He was a tyrant to his employees and looked down at the lower-earning personnel. He treated his secretary horribly. He taught me that the underprivileged were beneath us, beneath anyone with money and in positions of power. But the older I grew, the more I realized how wrong that way of thinking is. Lording over people who have less isn’t the way to improve society. Encouraging people gives them inspiration and inspiration leads to good, happy productivity. If people thrive the company thrives. People like that are able and willing to contribute more to their community. If you oppress them, they only give what is required because they’re afraid to step out of those boundaries. Do as told and that’s all. Don’t contribute because contributing may lead to more oppression.” She ran her hands through the surface of the water. “I believe the key to real success is through positive reinforcement. You don’t beat people down by taking away their freedom in the workplace, giving orders and constantly reminding them their place is beneath you. I hated my father for being that kind of man. He obtained his wealth working others like slaves to his dream, not giving a rat about how much they suffered or how unhappy they were, like the privilege of working for him was a gift to be worshipped. I despise supremacists because of him and the example he made. I often wonder if he would have still earned his billions if he’d have been generous and kind and humble, rather than the selfish bully he was.”

  Not enjoying the memories, she slipped away from his arm and walked through the water to the stairs, taking them slowly and then picking up the towel the maid had left for her. She wrapped it around her and went to the Jacuzzi. The maid had also turned that on. There was no easy way in.

  “Let me help you.” Jasper climbed in ahead of her and put his hand on her waist. Gently he helped her down onto the seat and then the floor of the tub.

  She sat, feeling weary but the warmth worked like a soothing balm. She leaned her head
back and closed her eyes.

  “You have very strong feelings about your father,” Jasper said.

  “Let’s not talk about him anymore.” Thinking about her father made her feel lousy. “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  She kept her eyes closed. “Your family. I bet they’re a lot different than mine.” They probably hadn’t forced him to do a job he didn’t like.

  “Both my parents live in Toledo, Michigan. I grew up there. Me and a brother and three sisters.”

  She lifted her head in amazement. Such a large family. What would that have been like? She’d been an only child. “Are you close to them?”

  “We talk on occasion. I see them on the holidays.” He had a fond glint to his eyes that spoke more than his few words. He was close to them.

  “How did you end up becoming a detective?” Had he dreamed as a boy and followed them in adulthood? She wished she’d have had the opportunity to explore her own dreams.

  “Video games, books and crime series. I wanted to be a hero.” He grinned, a sexy masculine slide of his mouth. Then he stretched his muscular arms out along the edge of the Jacuzzi, momentarily distracting her.

  In a way, she’d wanted to be a heroine. She hadn’t been allowed working for her father.

  “I was also a hyperactive kid,” he said. “Everything interested me. I had to keep absorbing new things. Experiencing things. Sports. Places. Learning and analyzing. That’s where the crime investigations came in. I couldn’t make a living traveling or rock climbing so I went to a police academy and worked my way up to SWAT. That got old, though. I wanted to use my brain more.”

  “And now here you are, a detective.”

  “Yes. I worked in Detroit for several years before joining DAI.”

  He seemed to like talking about what he did. He had pride in his expertise. “Detroit...”

  “High crime. Failing economy. Exciting times.” He chuckled a little.

  “You need excitement?”

  “I can’t stand boredom.”

  Did that translate into relationships? She didn’t know why she wondered. She didn’t know him well. Why would that matter? She took in his bare chest and no longer had to wonder. How long had it been since she’d been with a man? A long, long time. That’s why she’d joined the online site.

  “How long will it take you to get bored at DAI?” she asked.

  He spent a few seconds contemplating as though no one else had ever asked him before. Maybe no one had. “Actually, I think I found my match.”

  Would he find his match in a woman? She wanted to ask but didn’t. She’d vowed never to put herself in a situation or relationship where she felt she had to work at pleasing someone else. Doing nice things out of happiness didn’t count. The key word was work. Slave. She’d grown up a slave to her father’s demands. No man would have her if she had to work too hard to please him. Was Jasper that kind of man?

  He looked to be in his mid to upper thirties. Close to her age at thirty-five.

  “Have you ever been married?” she asked and then wanted to kick herself. She didn’t need to know such a personal detail about him. Better if their relationship remained professional. Finding Bernie’s killer had to take top priority.

  “No.” He got a faraway look, turning to gaze through the windows across the pool at the sunlight hitting the mountainside.

  Heavy question.

  “Serious girlfriend?” She couldn’t stop herself. He tempted her like warm caramel-drizzled brownies.

  “I’ve had a couple of those.” He faced her again.

  “Did they give up trying to keep you excited?” She didn’t mean to sound crass but she was afraid she did. When he didn’t respond, she was certain he’d taken it as an insult.

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of me. Blame it on my father’s blood coursing through my veins.” She smiled to ease the sting.

  His mouth slid up into an answering grin. “It’s okay. I’ve just never thought of it that way before.”

  Did he think she had a point? That wouldn’t be good news for him...or any woman who had the misfortune of falling in love with him. At least she knew early on. Nice to have a warning...

  She stretched her right arm out along the top of the Jacuzzi and straightened her back, muscles pulling. She’d been shot just below her breast and every muscle in the vicinity protested. Shoulder. Chest. The fatigue had reached her head.

  “I think I’ve had enough.” She moved to stand and slipped on the bottom of the tub. Going down, she landed back on the seat, the jolting movement causing sharp pain. The wound felt as though it tore apart.

  Strong, gentle arms scooped her up.

  “There you go again, getting ahead of yourself.”

  She stared up at him, her hero. He made a good one. Without knowing him very well, she sensed an inner power about him, a toughness that didn’t come from the street. His dominating presence came from a barometer of right and wrong and he stood only for right.

  She looped her arm over his shoulder as he carried her out of the tub, her fingers resting on the back of his neck. Her breast mashed against his hard bare chest, smooth olive skin sloping over the manly ridges. The pleasurable sight eased the intense ache that radiated from her healing wound. She returned her gaze to his face and saw he’d been busy admiring her the same way.

  The moment changed in an instant. Going hot all at once.

  He stood with her outside of the tub, on the stone floor, unhurried to put her down.

  Having caught several glimpses of him in her limited movement around the house, each time had caused a flutter. She thought he might be trying to keep their relations professional and give her time to recover. But there was an electrifying undercurrent linking them. Whenever they were close or their gazes connected, the current crackled to life.

  Now in his arms, her body pressed to his, the heat of desire mushroomed to life. He held her gaze in an inescapable stare. She wouldn’t have looked away even if he had. He absorbed her face as she did his.

  With the sound of the water fountain, he lowered his head and kissed her. She inhaled sharply with an unexpected jolt of desire.

  The suddenness of his kiss and her reaction gave her a scare. She was always so careful about who she welcomed into her life. She hadn’t dated since coming to Jackson Hole, nor did she have any plans to. Not that she’d plan that. She just wasn’t ready for the complication.

  He lifted his head and she fell into another long stare. Then he slowly, gently put her down. She left her hands on his chest, still mesmerized by him.

  “I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s okay.” She quickly dropped her hands. Lord, what a gorgeous body. “I better go.”

  Turning, she walked away. Solve Bernie’s murder. No romance. Romance terrified her with all its unknowns. She loved her house in the Tetons because no one bothered her and she didn’t run into anyone unless she chose to. She’d like to keep it that way.

  * * *

  Later that night, Jasper sat up in the family room with the television on low. He didn’t know why he bothered. This house was big enough that Sadie wouldn’t hear the sound. He could have gone to the theater room or the living room, but the family room suited what he was used to most. The staff had gone home. Sadie had her home to herself at the end of each day.

  He couldn’t get her blunt question out of his head. He’d never thought of women in the context of excitement. Aside from sex, of course. Sex was exciting, but did he need women to excite him at other times? Granted, no one would fault him for not wanting a dull relationship, but to constantly need to be stimulated? Keeping a relationship new and sizzling became a challenge after several years with the same person, but if the foundation was strong, then those calmer times came naturally. Was he differ
ent? Maybe subliminally he sensed if a relationship with a woman would eventually go flat. Maybe he ended relationships when the woman no longer interested him...because she didn’t excite him. It seemed shallow, but he had to admit much of his life had been shaped based on the level of thrills he received. Fighting for good had always taken precedence. Maybe his ambition bled into other areas of his life. Now he wondered why.

  He’d always thought he’d do the marriage thing later in life. He’d never made a conscious decision, just forged ahead with his desire to be a hero. That had stuck with him since he was a kid. As a man he enjoyed women, and yet no one in particular stood out. Well, one did, but his relationship with her had been different...or had it? He’d definitely been excited with Kaelyn. Things had ended on a rocky note, the rockiest of all his relationships. Perhaps that was why she stood out.

  He’d rather not travel too deep into that piece of his past. Someone had tried to kill Sadie and a man’s murder had to be solved. He represented DAI now. He had a job to do.

  Turning off the television, he left the family room and headed for Sadie’s fairy-tale stone castle-worthy stairs. A shadow in the foyer stopped him.

  Dwight had just entered. He turned on a lamp on a table between two wing backed chairs. “I hoped to find you still awake.”

  The way the man regarded him put him on alert. He stepped into the foyer.

  “Finley says you’re getting rather cozy with the miss,” Dwight said.

  Had someone seen them in the Jacuzzi? He didn’t respond. There was a reason Dwight had sought him out and if it had anything to do with Sadie, it was none of his business.

  “I spent some time going over your background.” Dwight stepped forward until he faced Jasper. “Quite impressive.”

  Still Jasper waited. The man had yet to reveal his purpose.

  “Except one part.”

  Jasper looked away. So he’d bring that up, that dark piece he could never manage to shed. It followed him, haunted him. Then he looked directly back at Dwight. The man didn’t trust him and was highly protective of Sadie. While he appreciated that, he also needed someone he could trust.