The devil and Jessie Webster

by Lydia Burke

  Preoccupied with his evasion, Jessie followed him to the house and watched him unlock the back door. He pushed it open and stood back to let her precede him. She walked through but turned around just inside the door, thinking she might as well find out right now whether he would shut her out as Antonio had.

  "So was it your idea? The cop on the beat, I mean."

  He stopped short and looked down at her with a frown of mild exasperation. "As a matter of fact, it was. The program was set up here in this neighborhood as a pilot for the whole city. Look, Jessie, I'll tell you about it later if you're really interested, but right now let's get inside. It's cold out here."

  He nudged her out of the way. With a hand at her back, he hustled her through the spacious country kitchen before she could note anything other than the cheerfully checkered tile floor and a backyard view through the breakfast nook windows. In the living room, he stepped away, leaving her to look around while he slipped out of his jacket and removed the holster strapped to his shoulder.

  "What a gorgeous room!" she exclaimed.

  "Thanks," he said nonchalantly, though she sensed he was pleased. "The furniture is kind of hodgepodge, but since I live alone, I don't have to suit anyone but myself."

  "You mean you decorated this? Ben, it's wonderful." Jessie was amazed but sincere in her praise. The high-ceilinged room was open and airy, the traditional furnishings chosen for expansive comfort and utility. Nothing jarred the senses or called

  attention to itself. Even the decidedly modern, freestanding fireplace occupying the comer looked homey.

  "I'll take care of this and be right back. Look around, if you want." Still holding the leather-encased gun, Ben disappeared down a hallway, and Jessie had a chance to leisurely study her surroundings.

  She liked the color scheme, a mix of blues and muted reds against light walls and a gleaming parquet floor. Ben had achieved an atmosphere both pleasing to the eye and restful to the spirit. Two picture windows flanked what must at one time have been an exterior door, but which now opened onto a glassed-in sun porch. Through plain, translucent curtains, she caught a glimpse of dark branches beyond the porch's wall of windows. She would have wandered out to investigate if Ben had not returned to the living room just then.

  "Was this your parents' home?" she asked.

  "No, I bought it several years ago as a fixer-upper. So far I've only renovated the downstairs. I don't fed rushed to do the second floor since there's a bedroom down here."

  Jessie absorbed that surprising information. Ben, a handyman? "Darn. I had almost managed to visualize you as a rosy-cheeked little boy climbing all those trees out in the yard. Now I have to rearrange my thinking again."

  His mouth tilted. "Well, I was a little boy, once upon a time, but otherwise you're way off base. There weren't any trees where I grew up, or even a yard, for that matter. My father and mother were missionaries with an inner-city ministry. We lived over a Salvation Army-type mission in a pretty rough section of Chicago."

  Dumbfounded, Jessie exclaimed, "Are you serious?"

  "What's the matter? You can't picture me as a preacher's kid?"

  She was trying, but it was hard. "What was it like?"

  Ben plucked his jacket from the back of the couch and walked to a narrow louvered closet by the front door Jessie had noticed earlier. "I can't complain. I had it pretty good compared to the other kids in my neighborhood."

  "I mean being a preacher's kid. Was that difficult?"

  He shrugged as he hung up his jacket. "I suppose it set me apart. When your parents are ministers, you don't have much

  in common with the homeboys. I learned early on to make it on my own. I didn't mind that so much as I did sharing my mom and dad with every drunk and junkie on the street."

  He crossed the room to the thermostat and made a quick adjustment. The furnace clicked on.

  "So you were alone even then/ 9 Jessie said quietly.

  Ben's eyes warmed as he looked at her. "What's going on inside that beautiful head of yours, Jess? Have I touched a chord of sympathy inside your soft heart? Are you thinking I had an unhappy childhood?"

  "Well, it couldn't have been easy, with no friends and having to compete for your parents' attention."

  "It's tempting to let you think so, just to find out what form your sympathy would take."

  Somehow he had shifted closer, and Jessie looked up and saw the devilish glint in his eyes. She stepped back and made a face at him. "You've been putting me on, haven't you?"

  He broke into a teeth-flashing grin. "Not really, but I couldn't resist teasing you. You looked so earnestly concerned."

  As far as Jessie could tell, he hadn't moved as he spoke, but somehow he'd managed once again to invade her personal space. She resisted the urge to take another step back. "So what was it really like?"

  He tapped her nose. "Don't tell anybody, but I was a normal, selfish kid who didn't realize how special my parents were or how lucky I was."

  "Were they there for you when you needed them?"

  He lifted a careless shoulder. "Not always. But they did the best they could. Truthfully, I couldn't appreciate their work until I was old enough to understand. My folks gave people hope, as well as food and clothes and a place to sleep for the night. There were plenty of victims around who needed them more than I did."

  "Baloney." Jessie was indignant. "You were just a child. Children need to know they're the most important thing in the world to their patents. Somebody should have set them straight on that point."

  Ben smiled crookedly. "C'mere."

  He reached for her, and after a brief hesitation, Jessie let him draw her close. This isn't smart, she told herself. But she didn't resist when he gently pressed her head to his chest. Instead she rested her hands on his biceps, closed her eyes and savored the strength and the hardness of him as she imagined the lonely little boy he'd once been.

  "You're determined to champion my cause, aren't you?" he said against her hair. "I like it—even if you're just doing it for the sake of argument."

  "I'm not."

  She jerked back in protest and the top of her head connected solidly with Ben's chin. Yellow spots pirouetted in front of her eyes as his arms fell away.

  "Ow! Dammit, woman!" Gingerly he kneaded the underside of his jaw with the heel of one hand.

  Still reeling, Jessie rubbed her own sore spot. "Sorry," she muttered.

  "Me, too," Ben said with comic remorse. "So much for taking advantage of your gentle sensibilities."

  "Is that what you were doing?"

  "If I was, you launched a pretty good defense. My aching chin tells me you're not in the mood."

  "I didn't do it on purpose," Jessie protested.

  Ben studied her for a charged moment and asked evenly, "Does that mean you are in the mood?"

  She bristled at the soft, vaguely threatening question, torn between relief and regret that the poignant moment was over. "Don't be ridiculous. I was just... you were just—"

  Unsure herself about what would have happened if she hadn't been so clumsy, Jessie floundered for an explanation.

  "Never mind," Ben said, coming to her rescue. "I'm hungry, aren't you? If s been a long time since lunch."

  Jessie accepted the new subject gratefully. "Are you cooking?"

  "Sorry, all I have to offer is your choice of TV dinners. Sometimes I think I single-handedly keep the frozen food folks in business."

  "I've eaten my share, too," she said lightly. "Cooking for one isn't very rewarding, is it? fery well, show me to your freezer."

  He turned and headed for the kitchen. Jessie followed, her mind going back to the way he'd told her about his childhood. She couldn't suppress a thrill of pleasure at the memory. Whatever his motivation for telling her, she'd bet there weren't too many people who knew how he had grown up. He'd given her an important piece of himself without hedging or putting up roadblocks. Having lived for two years with an uncommunicative man, Jessie treasured that relative ope
nness.

  Inside the kitchen doorway, Ben flipped on a light, reminding her that darkness fell quickly during midwestern winters. Until the artificial brightness chased away the gray shadows in the room, she'd hardly noticed the gathering dusk outside the windows.

  The phone rang as Ben reached to open a door on his side-by-side refrigerator-freezer, and Jessie's thoughts flew immediately to her twin.

  "I'll get that," Ben said. "You go ahead and pick out what you want to eat from the freezer."

  "Do you think Agent Leutzinger had time to get my calls forwarded to your number?"

  "It's possible. I'll let you know if if s Allie."

  He left her alone, and seconds later the glow of a lamp from the other room lit the doorway. Jessie heard his low voice murmur a greeting. She waited a moment for his summons. When it didn't come, she relaxed and glanced around the kitchen. Like the living room, the kitchen was unpretentious and homey, but its overall atmosphere was more cheerful than serene. Simple blue-and-white gingham curtains graced the windows, complementing eggshell walls, the checkerboard floor, and a multitude of wooden cabinets and almond-toned appliances. Ben's "fix-up" had apparently been extensive.

  Jessie walked to the refrigerator, opened the freezer section and smiled. He hadn't been kidding about eating frozen meals. The freezer was crammed with several brands and varieties of breakfasts, sandwiches and dinner entrees. Ben had a fondness for beef, she decided.

  She scanned each of the shelves and spotted a lone turkey dinner at the bottom of the lowest shelf.

  "Aha!" she said under her breath. With some awkwardness she stooped to extricate her dinner choice from the pile of

  boxes, her leg muscles reminding her of the high heels she wore. She berated herself for the preening foolishness that had motivated her to dress up for the trip to the FBI office. If she'd been less occupied with her own vanity—or, more to the point, with impressing Ben—she might be comfortable now in jeans and sneakers.

  She hoped there would be a way to pick up some things from her apartment tomorrow. Even if she was here for only a short time, she didn't want to spend it in a suit and heels. The way her life had been going lately, she ought to start carrying a fully stocked duffel bag wherever she went.

  On that thought, she freed the turkey with two hands and somehow managed not to break a fingernail in the process.

  "Finally," she muttered.

  Clutching her dinner triumphantly in one hand, she straightened and arched her back to get the kinks out before closing the freezer door. When she turned around, there was Ben.

  Embarrassed that she'd just given him a fine view of the backs of her knees, not to mention her too-rounded fanny, Jessie cast about in her mind for something to break the silence. "Who was on the phone?"

  "A neighbor kid, Stevie, who lives in the house we passed just before turning into my driveway. He saw us come in earlier and wanted to know if I'd play catch with him tomorrow.''

  Ben's gold-green eyes gleamed dangerously. Jessie fiddled with the buttons on her stylish but suddenly warm jacket. "Won't it be too cold?"

  "Not for Stevie. But I had to tell him no. I'm working, remember?"

  "Oh, right." She'd do well to remember that, she cautioned herself. She wouldn't be here if Ben hadn't been assigned to take care of her. "I hope he wasn't disappointed."

  "There's plenty of time for me to practice with him before the summer Little League season. He wants to be a pitcher, and I told him I'd help him. His dad died a few years ago."

  "That's nice of you."

  "Not really. It gives me an excuse to play ball, and Stevie's a fun little kid."

  "Still. Some men wouldn't even consider it. Not every man likes children. My ex-husband didn't."

  Ben folded his arms and leaned back against the counter, his eyes following the fluttering movement of her fingers on her buttons. "Did the two of you disagree about having kids?"

  Glad to have even Antonio as a topic of conversation, Jessie nodded. "That was one of the many reasons I left him. Although it's not his fault entirely. I was young and starry-eyed and never told him what I expected before we got married."

  "How old were you?"

  "A very young twenty-three. I hadn't ever lived away from home—Allie and I had commuted to the University of Chicago—and I was married shortly after I graduated. I'd never been on my own, never had any hard knocks. I guess I thought marriage would just be a continuation of my uncomplicated life, only better. Pretty dumb, huh?"

  "But hardly unusual."

  Jessie tipped her head in acknowledgment. "I suppose not. I had in mind a big happy family with lots of babies. I thought most Latin males loved children, but somehow that trait bypassed Antonio's genes."

  "How did you meet him?"

  "He was a Bolivian exchange student at the university. He charmed me into marrying him, became a U.S. citizen, and never went back home. I was just part of his great plan. You can't know how stupid I felt when I realized how I'd been used."

  Ben was watching her intentiy as she spoke, and abruptly Jessie was reminded of her ex-husband's rapt attentions while he'd courted her. The uncomfortable thought struck her that she had taken Antonio at face value and never questioned the motivation behind his attention. Did Ben have another agenda besides protecting her? Would she find, when this was over, that she'd been used again? It's not the same thing, she assured herself, brushing the fleeting suspicion aside.

  "When did you figure out he had taken advantage of you?" Ben asked.

  Jessie hardly noticed that she had begun to work her top jacket button in and out of its buttonhole. "It didn't take long, once we were married. He was possessive of me from the start.

  I thought he didn't want children because he didn't want to share me. I tried to accept it, telling myself I should be flattered that he loved me so much." She shook her head. "But Antonio loved only Antonio. Ultimately I realized any slave would have suited him, as long as she was American, female, and willing to jump as often and as high as he dictated. I'm afraid that toward the end, I wasn't very good at that. But by then, he'd already picked out my replacement."

  Suddenly Jessie felt ill at ease. "Listen to me, would you? I hadn't intended to tell you all that. "

  Ben's smile was almost tender. "You're not boring me."

  "Maybe not, but AUie's the only one I've ever confided in about my divorce. Even my mother doesn't know the whole story."

  "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

  Jessie shrugged. "There's not much more—you might as well hear the rest. Antonio had an affair with a meek little secretary in his office. A better woman than I, he was quick to tell me, one who knew a wife's duty, something I had forgotten. They're still married, as far as I know, so maybe she's made of stronger stuff than I am."

  "Or weaker."

  "I don't think so. I heard they had a baby a couple of years ago. Apparently she was able to influence him, something I could never manage."

  "Or maybe she was just more devious."

  Jessie brightened. "You mean she might have tricked him into fatherhood?"

  She spared Antonio's current wife a moment of empathetic congratulations, then grew thoughtful. "You know what? I just realized I don't feel angry or humiliated about any of it anymore. I think I'm finally over the whole thing. After six years, it's about time, don't you think?"

  "Antonio's a scumbag," he muttered, pushing himself away from the counter and approaching her. "You're well rid of him."

  "I couldn't...agree more," Jessie said, her voice faltering when, instead of stopping, he entered her personal space and took the frozen dinner from her hand. Tossing it behind him onto a countertop, he backed her against the refrigerator.

  "i

  'What... What are you doing, Ben?"

  "I don't want to talk about your ex anymore, Jess," he growled. He propped his forearms against the enameled door, blocking her in. "And if you don't stop fooling around with that button..."


  His eyes fell to her busy fingers. Instantly Jessie stilled them and caught her breath as she looked into Ben's hungry gaze.

  "It's too late, honey. I'm already imagining what I'd see if you opened up that jacket... for me."

  "I'm... not going to do that," she whispered. Her respiration quickened. With each indrawn breath, her wool-covered breasts brushed against his encroaching body. They swelled and grew heavy inside her bra, the nipples tightening.

  "Aren't you?" Warm air from his mouth caressed her lips. Jessie felt her body grow liquid from his nearness.

  "Ben ... I thought we decided not to..."

  "We were stupid." His voice was raw with tightly leashed passion. "I can't be with you without wanting you. I'm going crazy with it. Tell me you fed the same."

  Jessie swallowed and recalled his kisses, the fed of his hands, the spiraling pleasure he'd ignited in her body that had yet to be fulfilled. Oh, yes, she wanted him.

  "Tell me," he said again.

  This strong, hard man knew his power over her; she wouldn't resist were he to take what he wanted.

  But he didn't take. Instinctively she knew she could say no, and he'd honor her refusal. It was that which tipped her over the edge and fully seduced her.

  Surrender was all the sweeter for being freely given. Jessie slipped her hand up his chest and cradled his stubborn jaw in her hand. "I do want you, Ben."

  Masculine lips captured hers on the whisper of his name. Unconsdously mewing deep in her throat, she opened her mouth in invitation. Without hesitation his tongue swept inside, scouring the moist cavern with sweet ravishment.

  The whole of Jessie's being was centered on the greedy joining of thdr mouths and the heated yearning in secret places inside her newly awakened body. The past two days of fighting her desire had kept the lusty coals smoldering, and in seconds she was once again on fire for him.

  Ben pinned her against the refrigerator, practically lifting her out of her shoes as he imprinted his hard planes against the yielding curves of her body. Jessie strained against his arousal, frustrated by the thick clothing that prevented a more satisfying meeting of flesh to flesh.