“But it’s the best kind,” James responded, holding the car seat in one hand and the diaper bag Patricia had been using in the other.
“Is good chaos even a thing?” Queso asked back, raising his voice over Baby Gardner’s cries.
James laughed. Chelsea rolled her eyes.
“If you can take on a man twice your size, I think you can handle being around a crying baby,” she said.
Queso scrunched up his nose. “As long as I don’t have to change it.”
No sooner did the words leave his mouth than the smell of a soiled diaper filled the room.
“Ew, gross,” Justin said from her side. Suzy mussed his hair.
“Hey, you used to do much worse than that,” she teased. Her mother nodded.
“Amen to that,” the older woman said.
“Looks like I’m about to change my first baby,” James said with a laugh. He motioned to the stairs. “Chelsea, could you show Suzy, Ms. Cordelia and Justin to the guest suite?” He looked at Suzy. “There should be some new clothes and things for you three in there. If you need anything else, let me know.”
Suzy’s eyebrow rose. “Does that mean Douglas is around?”
James laughed. She liked how much he was doing that, now that they’d found his nephew.
“Yes, he did some shopping for me while we were at the department,” he answered. Then he looked to Chelsea, though he spoke to the group as a whole. “There’s already been several sweeps over the house to make sure everything is safe. The guards are back and here to stay for a while, just to ease our minds.” Then James looked directly at Queso. “The door that was broken into was repaired, and the alarm will be set momentarily. If you have the urge to leave the house to smoke, the entire estate will know it.”
“The lesson being, don’t smoke,” Chelsea muttered.
Queso rolled his eyes this time. “Chief deputy here already crunched my last one,” he whined.
Suzy smiled. “And I’d do it again.”
“Amen to that,” her mother repeated.
It earned a laugh from Chelsea before she started a tour for the only two people who hadn’t been in the house yet. Suzy hung back. She wanted to talk to James. But about what, she didn’t know. Maybe about the baby. Maybe about Katrina.
Maybe about them.
“Queso, I need to talk to you before you go up,” James said, stopping the boy midstep. His expression hardened. He didn’t look Suzy’s way.
Their one on one would have to wait.
Chapter Eighteen
Douglas had done it again.
He’d managed to pick out sleeping clothes with ease for the new estate guests. Suzy’s mother was finally out of her robe and into a matching pajama set that was also purple, while Justin was sporting a Spider-Man shirt and shorts. Suzy was back to sweats and a T-shirt. This time, there was even slippers.
The same slippers she stepped into after an hour of being unable to sleep.
The bed made no complaint as she eased out of it, careful not to jostle her son or mother. While there was another bed they could have used, all three had wound up together. Neither her mom nor Justin wanted to admit it, but they were shaken by what had happened. After Suzy had gotten to the department with Baby Gardner, both had clung to her, trying not to cry.
Suzy traced her sleeping boy’s face, peaceful now.
She could admit that the last two days—the last four months, really—had definitely shaken her.
Moonlight streamed through the part in the curtains, helping Suzy navigate the unfamiliar room to the door. She held her breath as it clicked open. A small light in the hallway showed a quiet second floor. Queso’s and Chelsea’s doors were shut. James’s office door was not. A faint light pooled on the hardwood.
Like a moth to a flame, Suzy was drawn to it.
And like he’d been expecting her, James was already smiling.
“Glad to see I’m not the only one who can’t sleep,” he greeted her, voice low. He stood next to his desk, the box of pictures in his hand.
“I think we’re definitely in the minority on that front.”
A baby monitor with a camera attached sat on the side table next to the couch that was opposite the desk. Definitely a new addition since yesterday—they were closing in on four in the morning. Suzy moved around to the front of the monitor and took in the view. The image of a sleeping baby made her heart warm. Being a single mother had been hard, especially when Justin had been that size, but Suzy couldn’t help but miss it sometimes. The baby phase didn’t stick around, even if their mother’s love for them did.
“I just got him down,” James said at her shoulder. “I came in here so I wouldn’t wake him back up since I couldn’t pass out as fast as he did. He’s had one heck of a day.”
“One thing I think every parent envies is their kids’ ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.” She sighed. She wasn’t frustrated or angry. It was just an observation. One of many she realized she wanted to share with the man.
Suzy turned and was surprised at how close he was. A warmth of a different nature started to spread within her. Especially when she realized that the last time they’d been in the room they’d been in a lip-lock.
Twice.
“So, let me guess,” Suzy started, putting some mental distance between his body and hers. “Douglas did more than shop for clothes while we were at the sheriff’s department?”
James chuckled. “Big-time,” he confirmed. “If he wasn’t a friend, I think he would have up and quit. Thankfully, he took pity on me. He even bought a crib. Which I coaxed Queso into helping me put together.” He smirked. “The kid’s pretty good with his hands. Fast, too. Whines a little too much, but I think he’s frustrated.”
His smile dropped. A sigh pushed out and followed him as he moved around to the back of his desk. He pushed the chair aside, opened the top drawer and waved her over.
“I didn’t say anything earlier because the whole Katrina thing really threw me, and then we saw Baby Gardner—which by the way, I really hope Hank pulls through with his birth certificate so we can stop calling him that—and it went out of my mind but...”
Suzy came to his side and accepted a card he pulled out. It was smaller than a normal business card and completely black. She ran her finger over the top of it. There was an indentation.
“It’s in the shape of a butcher’s knife,” James explained.
“One of Sully’s calling cards?” she guessed.
He shook his head. “That’s Sully’s card, period.” He leaned against the desk facing the office’s one window. Through the gap in the curtains, Suzy could see the dark trees in the distance. It was comforting in a way. Foreboding in another. “I spent a lot of time and money trying to find someone, anyone, who could get me information on Gardner. After months of rumors and hearsay, one name stuck out. The Butcher. It wasn’t until I got the name Sully that I was able to set up a meeting. I’m assuming that, because of my status in the public eye, he met with me without his normal cloak-and-dagger routine. Which is good, because it’s what he’s known for.” James tapped the card. “For instance, one of his unique practices is this. It’s his ID, essentially. One that encompasses who he is. One he’d never let go.”
“Where did you get it?”
James managed to look sheepish. “Out of Katrina’s purse.”
Suzy opened her mouth to point out this was the type of information to share in an official capacity and not behind closed doors in their pajamas. But James held up his hand to stop the thought before it could spring out.
“I know, I know. I shouldn’t have taken it, but once I did I got sidetracked with everything else and forgot about it.” He gave her a small smile. “I was going to tell you in the morning. Well, later in the morning.”
Suzy ran her fingers over the engraved knife again.<
br />
“You think Katrina killed Sully.” It wasn’t a question.
James’s frown was back. It deepened. Suzy put the card in the drawer and shut it. She was sure she knew him well enough to pick up on his unspoken thoughts.
“You can’t be everyone’s father,” she reminded him.
“No, I can’t,” he agreed. “But I can be a friend.”
It was such a pure sentiment that Suzy couldn’t help but reach out. She cupped his face and with a genuine smile told him the truth.
“You’re a good man, James Callahan,” she said. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you any differently.”
It was one of the observations she had wanted to share with him. She had done it because she believed it needed to be said, not because she’d hoped for anything in return. So when he caught her hand as she pulled it away, Suzy didn’t know how to react. Not right away.
Instead, she gave him a questioning look.
He returned the look. However, there seemed to be no question in his.
Slowly, as if he was trying not to spook her, he pulled her hand up to his mouth and turned so her palm was open toward him. Even more slowly, he brushed his lips against the skin of her palm. It took the breath right out of her.
Confusion melted away, replaced by something hotter.
His eyes found hers as he wrapped his other hand around her hip. Suzy felt her eyes widen. James’s crystal blues held her gaze. He stood, and just as slowly as he’d done with her palm, he pulled her body to his. He kept her stare, as if waiting for her to deny him. Or simply waiting for her to stop him.
She would do neither.
His body was warm against hers, even through their clothes. Suzy’s breathing had gone shallow. She searched his expression for proof that he was as affected by her as she was by him.
She found it in a kiss.
A warm and soft beginning turned to something hard and needy. And this time James didn’t seem to have any plans to end it. One of his hands slid into her hair, while the other continued to rest on her hip. Keeping her close. Keeping her against him. Not that Suzy intended to pull away.
She maneuvered under his shirt, desperate to feel his skin against hers. He broke the kiss long enough to show he wanted the same thing. Soon both of their shirts were at their feet, and Suzy was staring down at a chest that shouldn’t be real.
In fact, she laughed.
James didn’t waste time and covered her mouth with his. It was a softer kiss. “Shh, woman,” he whispered, pulling back a little but still keeping close. “If you wake the baby then I’m sending you in there. Why are you laughing, anyway?”
Suzy placed her palm against his stomach and grinned. “Not only are you a charming millionaire but you have abs of steel, too. It just doesn’t seem fair for the rest of us simple folks.”
James’s smile disappeared. So did Suzy’s. Had she offended him?
Before she could ask the dark-haired, sexy-as-hell millionaire, he did something else to surprise her. In one fluid movement, he picked her up and carried her to the love seat, only stopping long enough to lock the door.
Suzy tensed, waiting for the drop, but James was gentle. He eased her against the cushions, the cool of the leather sending a chill over her exposed skin. It wasn’t until he was on top of her that she really got a show.
Starting at her neck, James trailed his lips down to her collarbone. She curled up against him when he got to her breasts. He thumbed her nipple until it puckered. His mouth and tongue took over next, eliciting raw pleasure in her. It was all she could do not to moan as he treated the other one to the same play.
When he was satisfied he’d been fair to the second nipple, he moved down to her waistband, where his kisses turned hard. Everything in Suzy was on fire, and somehow still managing to get hotter. James hooked the inside of her pants and, for the first time in her life, she praised God that she wasn’t wearing her tight jeans. He slid them down and off in a second flat.
Then he did Suzy’s work for her, which was good. She was already having a hard time not attacking the man. She didn’t just want to be with him. She needed it. She needed him.
He threw his pants on the floor next to hers and lowered himself on top of her slowly, pressing against her and showing Suzy exactly how excited he was by her. Suzy couldn’t help the small moan that escaped.
James seemed to enjoy it, but before he could show her how much, he looked into her eyes and smiled.
“Suzanne Simmons, you are anything but simple.”
* * *
JAMES WOKE UP when he hit the floor. Pain spread through his side and across the cut he’d bandaged at the department. For a second he didn’t understand why either hurt and, even more confusing, why he was on the floor. Then the details started to filter in.
First the floor—a burgundy rug on hardwood—then the couch he was staring ahead at—dark leather, a bit worn—and the last clue that reminded him where he was—the blanket that was half on the couch and half covering him up.
He was in his office.
Naked.
And he’d fallen off of the couch because it was definitely smaller than the bed he was used to.
The door was shut, but the room was bright. Sunlight was leaking around the curtains, meaning there was a good chance the rest of the house was awake. It was a thought that sent him scrambling. He jumped up, tripped over the blanket caught between his legs and barely missed falling flat against the floor. Again.
It wasn’t until he found his footing that he even thought to look for Suzy.
The last time he’d seen her she’d been on the couch with him, wrapped in his arms and also very naked.
Now?
Now all he could find was his clothes.
He hurriedly put them on, trying to get his bearings—where was Suzy? What time was it? Did anyone know he was asleep in the office and naked to boot?—when he spotted his phone on the desktop.
He cursed beneath his breath. It was nearly eleven.
“Why didn’t you wake me, Suzy?” he mumbled to himself while unlocking his phone. He had a new text message but nothing else.
It so happened the lone message was from the chief deputy herself.
You needed the rest. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Baby G.
James let out a breath and smiled. He realized that trusting Suzy had always come easy.
The next few minutes were spent rushing through a shower that he had to admit felt great. Maybe, like she’d said, he really had needed some rest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so soundly. Finally having Gardner’s son had been a big part of that, he was sure. Just as James was sure having Suzy with him had helped, too.
When she’d told him he was a good man, it was like a piece of him that had always been missing fell into place.
And making love to her?
That was another feeling he wanted to experience again. Preferably many more times.
By the time he was dressed, he could have almost laughed at how excited he was to see her again. Like he was a schoolboy nursing the mother of all crushes.
He even skipped the last two steps on the stairs before sliding into the kitchen with more pep than he’d had in years.
Nothing was going to ruin his good mood, he decided.
So he was nowhere near prepared for the sight that greeted him.
Douglas was laid out on the top of the kitchen island. Blood pooled around him, dripping off the counter and onto the floor. James’s own blood turned to ice.
Grayton McKenzie stood from his chair at the table, a gun already aimed at James.
The man smiled.
“You have only two options. You come with me, or they die,” the man said. He shrugged. “It’s as simple as that.”
Chapter Nineteen
Suzy was going to
be sick. Her head throbbed; her body throbbed; everything in the room throbbed. Light was pain. Sound was pain. Breathing was pain. If it wasn’t guaranteed to hurt, she would have yelled out.
Not that she thought it would do any good.
The raw pain at her wrists, along with the full-body ache brought on by gravity, spelled out a situation that turned her stomach even more.
She was hanging up by her wrists, shackled to chains that were connected to metal beams in the ceiling. A ceiling that wasn’t a normal ceiling. Suzy fought to find her footing against the concrete floor. The moment she was able to stand up, the pain in her arms and hands lessened considerably.
But that was the only good news for her.
Not only had she been jumped in James’s house, she’d been brought back to the one place she’d never thought she’d visit again.
“It’s a bit dramatic, I know.”
Suzy whipped her head around so fast she whimpered at the pain. Katrina walked into view. There was blood across her white pantsuit. She motioned to the room around them. “But bringing you back to where this all started? Well, I thought it was worth being a tad dramatic.”
Suzy couldn’t help but look at the spot in the corner of the large room.
It was where she’d found Gardner, murdered, four months ago.
“Where’s the boy?” Suzy asked, fighting through the fear beginning to spread within her.
Katrina raised an eyebrow.
“Which one?” she asked, feigning confusion. “My boy, your boy or that poor excuse of a boy?” Her dark eyes slid behind Suzy. She turned, igniting more pain, and saw someone else hanging in the warehouse.
Queso’s body was completely slack. His face was covered in blood and bruises.
“Don’t worry—he’s alive,” Katrina assured her when Suzy turned back to face her. “I’m smart enough to know that if I killed either one of you, James would feel personally responsible for your deaths. When I negotiate with him, I need him to be relatively calm. Which I don’t think he’d be if I had let Grayton continue to beat on that one there.” She took a few steps closer. The click of her heels echoed around them. “Plus, since your boy wasn’t at the estate, I had to improvise. I knew you’d cooperate if I had someone to hold over you.”
Loving Baby Page 16
