Expert Witness: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Luckourt, Nicole

  Chase continued to hold the bill out to her. “Yes, it is. I eat no matter where I am, so I’ll cover the expense. It’s part of the Chase package,” he said lightly.

  She almost groaned. The “Chase package” and what it entailed were the last things she needed to spend more time thinking about. Trying not to take his refusal personally, she gave him a small smile. “Okay,” she relented, taking the money.

  He was here on business, after all. It was probably best she remembered that.

  Jordan called and placed the order, while Chase unpacked his suitcase and moved his car. Then she settled into one of the reclining chairs in her living room and began lazily leafing through her most recent clinical journal. As she turned the pages, her mind wandered back to her bodyguard. Her stomach dropped at the thought that he’d be temporarily living with her. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why he elicited this sort of reaction. Not to mention the blunders she’d made when she’d been around him. She couldn’t deny that he was extremely attractive, but she’d met many attractive men who hadn’t made her foot take up residence in her mouth.

  And she hardly knew anything about him—the actual man behind the calm demeanor and methodical behavior. She stifled another yawn. Maybe she was simply sleep-deprived. A good night’s rest would give her much better perspective.

  The doorbell sounded and she moved to get up, but before she’d made it out of her chair, Chase was standing behind the door. Rather than opening it, he turned to her.

  “Stay put until I say it’s okay,” he instructed.

  Her breathing stopped for an instant until she realized his actions were probably standard procedures for a bodyguard. She perched on the edge of her seat and observed him cautiously. Her heart hammered even though the rational side of her knew it was likely only their dinner.

  “Who is it?” he called out.

  “Thai Spice. Delivery,” the respondent answered in a heavy Asian accent.

  Chase glanced through the peephole and then slowly opened the door to the man standing on the other side. He took the bag of food, setting it down on the entry table. His eyes never left the deliverer. “I appreciate it. Have a nice night,” he said, handing the guy another twenty-dollar bill. He would have a generous tip. Chase closed the door, but then he waited by a nearby window until he saw the delivery man drive away. “Coast is clear,” he announced. “The food smells delicious.”

  It was only as he looked for a place to relocate the food that Jordan noticed the small handgun in his right hand. She gasped.

  Chase searched out the source of her distress. He followed the direction of her gaze to his weapon and shoved the gun back into his side holster. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, still holding their dinner.

  “I’m fine. It’s just that I hadn’t thought about you needing your weapon here. I mean, I know it only makes sense, but…it surprised me. That’s all.” She stood up. “And really, a warning that I won’t be answering my own front door would have been helpful,” she snapped.

  He watched her face closely. “I know it feels unnatural to have me answer the door in your home, but under the circumstances, it’s best that you don’t. You’re right. I should have given you instructions prior to his arrival. I have to keep reminding myself this type of security is entirely new to you.” He pinned her with stormy green eyes. “But I can guarantee this won’t be the only time that you’re caught by surprise. In our initial meeting, I told you that you might not understand all of what I do, but it’s critical that you follow my instructions just the same. This is an example of what I was getting at. In fact, you did well tonight. If the guy at the door was our man, you wouldn’t have been anywhere near his line of fire.”

  Jordan turned away from his stare as she considered what he’d said. She knew he was right. He was trying to protect her, and she was giving him a hard time. Her shoulders slumped and she let out a sigh. How could she explain that she wasn’t upset with him, that it was the idea of having to place her life in his hands? She’d taken care of herself for so long that she now found it difficult to let someone else take over that responsibility. On top of that, she had to admit that when it came to fighting bad guys, she was out of her realm. For a woman who was accustomed to consistently providing help to others, she now felt utterly useless to help herself.

  “I’m sorry. I do realize you’re doing what you need to do. It’s going to take some time for me to adjust. That’s all. I can tell you I won’t stand in your way though, no matter how strange it feels. I know this is your area of expertise,” she conceded.

  “No worries. We’ll get it down,” he said, his voice reassuring.

  She gave him a quick nod. He was more certain than she was that she could adjust to this type of routine. Not wanting to debate it any longer, she changed the subject. “The food does smell delicious, and I’m starving. Why don’t we get started? You can set the food on the kitchen table. I’ll get the plates and silverware.”

  Over the tantalizing aromas of fresh lime, spices, and lemongrass, she told him more about her work.

  “So how often are you out of the office?” he asked conversationally while he squeezed another lime over his Pad Thai.

  She watched his long fingers make quick work of extracting the juice. “Quite a bit, though it sometimes comes and goes in waves. Between going to jails, prisons, or hospitals to perform evaluations and testifying in court, I can sometimes be gone more than I’m there.”

  “What types of evaluations do you go to the jails for?”

  “Competency and sanity—” she paused, not knowing if he was familiar with the latter, “—sanity at the time of the offense are probably the most common. Sentencing or sexual offender evaluations are some of the others.” She tried a bite of the red curry.

  He leaned forward like he was about to say something, but stopped himself.

  She titled her head. “What is it?”

  “I’m curious about your perspective. To be honest, I find it kind of aggravating when a criminal commits some horrible crime and then claims that he didn’t know what he was doing. How do you deal with that?”

  “You aren’t the only one,” she replied, shaking her head. “The public perception of the insanity defense is mostly negative. Some speculate it’s because of the media. But the truth of the matter is, the defense is rarely used in real life— less than one percent of the time—and out of the times it’s used, it’s successful less than one percent of those.”

  The corners of his mouth turned down. “I didn’t realize that.”

  She gave him a wry grin. “Most people don’t. It’s a common misconception.”

  “But how do you know the right answer? These are criminals, after all. How do you know which ones are telling the truth?”

  “There’s a lot of science behind the methods we use. We have tests with normative data that provide useful results. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. But it’s something we often catch when it does. I’ve diagnosed defendants with malingering when they were using the system to avoid jail or for some other gain.”

  “You can tell when they’re doing that?” He looked at her with interest.

  She nodded. “I was evaluating a defendant once who had all kinds of mythical creatures in the room with us. Unicorns, dragons, even a miniature mermaid. It was something.” The corners of her mouth turned up as she shared the memory. “He was trying very hard to appear impaired, but his symptoms weren’t consistent with any real mental illness. It made for an interesting morning though.”

  Chase chuckled, and Jordan felt herself laughing lightly with him. It was so easy to share things with him. She couldn’t help but think that he probably made a wonderful date. He could teach the men she’d been set up with on rare occasions a thing or two.

  “So what about you?” she asked between forkfuls of broccoli and bell pepper. “Mike said you were with the state police before. I’m sure you’ve been to the jail a time or two.”

>   “I’ll say. When I first started, I couldn’t seem to stay away from the place.” He shook his head. “I remember a buddy telling me I needed to learn how to drive home with blinders after my shift ended—this was after a week of barely sleeping between arrests and court appearances.” His tenor became somber. “But I could never do it. I’d see a driver ping-ponging back and forth between the road lines, and all I could think about was preventing anyone from getting hurt. Getting home was the last thing on my mind then.”

  “That’s a hefty responsibility.” Jordan rested her chin on her fist. “I can’t imagine being able to ignore it either.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve had to tell enough parents they’ve lost a child…husbands they’ve lost their wives or the other way around. If there was anything I could do to save someone that unwanted visit from one of us, I did it.”

  She felt her heart constrict at his confession. “That must’ve been hard. Having to be the one to tell the family members.”

  Chase didn’t say anything. He nodded, then took a long swallow of his water. “Sorry I got into that. It’s not exactly dinner talk.”

  “I don’t mind,” she responded softly.

  “Well, I’m glad those days are behind me. That’s one part of the job I don’t miss.” His tone indicated he was done discussing it.

  She didn’t pursue it any further. It was apparent the death and loss he’d encountered had weighed on him. But she’d also seen a determination to protect others in what he’d shared. She wasn’t surprised he’d ended up a bodyguard, given his inclination to want to shield others from danger. The setting might’ve changed, but he was still doing the same thing he was those late nights on patrol.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After finishing dinner, they retired to the living room. Jordan settled into a recliner, and Chase took a seat across from her on the couch. He debated going straight to his guest bedroom, but he decided to sit with her for a few minutes instead.

  The sleeping setup wasn’t what he was used to. He purposefully didn’t tell her this when she’d asked earlier. Most of his employers had specific quarters designed for security personnel. When he traveled, he generally requested a hotel room adjoined to his clients. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d stayed in such close quarters.

  Letting out a breath, he reminded himself that this was part of the reason he’d taken the assignment. He’d wanted a change from the ordinary. And the physical proximity wasn’t the only difference. Most of his clients could afford an army if they needed one, but Jordan was facing this difficulty while living alone. And though she was putting up a strong front, it was clearly wearing on her.

  “I usually watch the news or read a little then turn in for the night. If there’s something you’d like to watch, you’re welcome to change the station.” Her voice was groggy with sleep.

  “No, the news is fine.” He settled into the soft cushions on the back of the couch.

  “Chase.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

  “Yes?” He strained to hear what she was saying over the anchorwomen droning on about another heat wave approaching.

  “I’m really sorry about my reaction earlier. That’s not like me. It’s all just a lot to take in.”

  Chase wrestled with how to respond. Earlier, he’d started to apologize when his gun had startled her, but then he’d caught himself. He would have his weapon wherever they were. As much as he wanted to shield her from all of this, that wouldn’t be smart. She needed to be aware of what was going on, not kept in the dark. Although the darkness would prevent her from seeing the demons around her, it would make her blind to the danger.

  He tried the middle ground. “It is,” he said with a nod of understanding. “And I’ll try not to blindside you next time. That was my bad.”

  “Good idea,” she mumbled sleepily. “At least it was just dinner…” Her voice drifted off.

  Despite the shaky start, he’d enjoyed their dinner together, far more than he usually did while on assignment. Her ingenuity and wit impressed him. He’d found himself intrigued as he’d listened to her describe her work. He hadn’t meant to get into his days with the patrol and certainly not the death notifications. That wasn’t like him at all. There was something about the compassion she’d shown when she’d identified with his obligation to act. She got it. And the connection made him want to tell her more. He needed to watch that.

  “Yes, just part of the routine,” he assented.

  When she didn’t reply, he glanced over at her and discovered her sound asleep. She’d drawn her legs up around her and turned her head so it rested on the back of the chair. Although he could tell from her heavy respiration and peaceful expression that she was sleeping contently, the position she was in looked terribly uncomfortable. Not to mention, she was still dressed in her suit. Pushing himself up from the couch, he decided she’d thank him tomorrow if he woke her up now. Sleeping like that would lead to cramped muscles and maybe a pinched nerve.

  “Jordan,” he said softly, not wanting to startle her.

  No danger in that; she didn’t even stir.

  “Jordan, wake up,” he said a bit louder. He was rewarded with an unintelligible sound as she settled deeper into the chair. He jiggled her shoulder. Once again, he got no response. Oh well. At least she’s able to find sleep tonight.

  He picked the remote control up and clicked the television off. As he went to turn the light off, he gazed back at his stunning new client. Her long soot-colored lashes were splayed across the top of her cheeks, and her chest rose and fell steadily. But he could still see the dark circles beneath her eyes. There was no way he could, in good conscience, let her spend the night in that chair.

  “Oh, to hell with it,” he mumbled under his breath. Then he walked back over to her and scooped her up into his arms.

  She murmured something he couldn’t decipher and settled in against his chest. The movement caught him off guard, and he inhaled deeply to steady his heart, which was now beating at an erratic pace. Instead of the calming effect he’d intended, the breath only intensified his feelings of restlessness as he took in her soft, feminine scent. She smelled like something sweet. And vanilla? Whatever it was, it didn’t help matters. Heat spread through his body. He hastily deduced the faster he got her into her bedroom, the better, so he made a beeline in that direction.

  Although he hadn’t been in her room, he’d seen it at the end of the hall when she’d walked him to his. He pushed the door open with his foot and carried her through the entry. A small table lamp illuminated the room. Unlike the décor in the remainder of the house, which had a simplistic rustic beauty, her bedroom was more luxurious and elegant. His feet sank into plush carpets covering the hardwood floors as he moved forward. He wondered at the differences in style. She was certainly an enigma. From her tailored suit and professional demeanor, he might have pictured her entire house this way, but it was only this room.

  Looking down at the beguiling woman he held in his arms, he almost regretted that he had to put her down. The feeling lasted only a few seconds before rational thought smothered it away. She was a client—that was all. He’d never again become personally involved with someone he was hired to protect. The two didn’t mix.

  He leaned forward, pulling the covers back from the tall, velvet headboard. After easing her on to the mattress, he positioned a pillow beneath her head. Her hair fanned out around her face, framing it in a dark silky cloud. Tearing his eyes from the exquisite sight, he cupped the bottom of each calve and removed her dress shoes. While he was slipping off the second heel, it dawned on him that he was putting her to bed in her conservative linen pantsuit.

  The suit will have to stay. This is where I draw the line. Taking a last look around, he saw a large sitting window in the corner of the room. He made sure the lock was securely in place then treaded lightly toward the door. When he realized what he was doing, he switched back to his normal gait. Probably nothing could wake that woman short of an explosion.


  §

  Jordan awoke to sunlight streaming through her window. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so soundly. Taking in the beautiful morning, she moved to stretch her arms out over her head. About halfway up, something hindered her movement and she looked over to identify the culprit. Seeing the sleeve of her suit jacket, she sat up straight, now entirely awake. She was dressed. But how?

  She didn’t remember going to bed. The last thing she could recall was watching the news with Chase… Then understanding crept up on her as she grasped what had happened. Chase must have carried her into the bedroom last night. She found herself a little self-conscious at the thought of such an intimate interaction, particularly one for which she had no recollection. He was only being considerate, she reminded herself. Still, she couldn’t help but be moved by the gesture. She was certain it wasn’t part of the “Chase package.”

  Wondering if he was up yet, she hurriedly took a shower and threw on a gray-blue silk dress. The vision she saw of herself in the mirror looked significantly less tired than the one she’d seen yesterday. Her skin was more vibrant, and the purplish hue beneath her eyes had faded. What a difference an uninterrupted eight hours made.

  On her way toward the kitchen, she could hear the water running in the guest bathroom and gathered that Chase was taking a shower. There was no need to rush now. She poured herself a cup of coffee and then hunted around the fridge for a suitable breakfast. Her foraging resulted in little that was still edible. A container of sun-dried tomato cream cheese and a package of bagels appeared most promising. She needed to get to the grocery store soon.

  While toasting the bagels, she heard the water shut off. She pictured him getting out of the shower. Wet hair combed back, muscles glistening with beads of water… A streak of desire shot through her, leaving a warm sensation in its path.

  Chase’s deep voice intruded into the way-too-appealing image. “Good morning.”

  Even his voice is freaking sexy.