“I more than like what I see,” he grumbled before leaning forward and capturing my lips with his. The kiss picked up right where we had left off in my office, the force of it making my toes tingle. His bare chest was so warm, heating my skin through my thin nightgown. I ran my fingertips across his muscular chest and down his flat stomach. With my other hand, I reached up to run my fingers through his short hair, only to pull back suddenly as Emmett hissed in pain.
“Your head!” I gasped. “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine,” Emmett replied as he leaned in to reclaim our kiss.
I placed both palms on his delicious chest and pushed him back. “We can’t. You’re hurt, Emmett. You need rest.”
Emmett groaned and collapsed onto his back, wincing when his head hit the pillow.
I stifled a giggle and poked him in the ribs. “See?”
“Yeah yeah,” he grumbled, pulling the blankets up to his chest.
I reached over to set my alarm for two hours and laid back down, wiggling my butt to get more comfortable. I had almost gotten there when Emmett reached out and tucked me into his side, running his fingertips along my bare shoulders. I nuzzled my nose into his chest and ran my own fingertips along his stomach.
“Goodnight, Emmett. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours.”
“Goodnight, Anna. Thank you.”
9
Lunch with a four year old and a Ginger is always an adventure.
Friday morning I woke up in a fantastic mood. Not even Figaro’s butt in my face dampened my outlook on the day. After the whole “me almost dying” part, the night before had been wonderful. I fell asleep in Emmett’s arms and woke him up every two hours with kisses all over his gorgeous face. Even his grumpy groggyness was adorable.
He snuck out some time around 4am, kissing me goodbye and thanking me again for taking care of him. I fell back asleep just in time to have a fan-friggin-tastic dream about Emmett and some strategically placed marshmallow fluff. The day was going to be great.
I headed to the gym bright and early, despite my body begging me to stay in the warm sheets still awash in Emmett’s spicy scent.
The gym was nearly empty, as it usually is on Friday mornings. I was a little disappointed that Blake hadn’t shown up for a treadmill race, but I tried not to dwell. I’d find out soon enough if Emmett had indeed called him about the night before. I still didn’t understand why Emmett was so close-lipped about the whole thing. He snuck out early in the morning before I had a chance to grill him anymore.
Eager to confront Blake, I sped through my work-out and took an extremely fast (and cold) shower before making my way to my office. When I arrived on my floor, I high-tailed it to Eric’s office and tried to patiently wait while he wrapped up a phone conversation. I paced outside his office, chewing my bottom lip as I considered everything that had happened the night before.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet, Jennings,” Blake called. “Quit that and come in.”
I hustled into his office, shut the door and took a seat in front of his desk.
“What’s up?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee and lifting a leg up to rest on his desk.
I decided to just get right to the point. “Did Emmett call you last night?”
Blake sighed and removed his leg, leaning forward on his desk. “He did. Are you alright?”
“Yes. Emmett is, too. I think he has a concussion, but he refused to go to the ER.”
“I suppose you’ve been making yourself sick with the questions you want to ask,” Blake smirked.
“Of course I have!” I exclaimed. “Emmett won’t tell me anything! He won’t even acknowledge that something supernatural happened. He completely shuts down when I even hint at it.”
“Jennings, we’ve all been sworn to secrecy about all of this. Most of us don’t even tell our spouses about it. You’ve been dating him for all of two or three days. Of course he’s going to be tight lipped about it.”
“Didn’t you tell him about the warehouse?” I asked.
Blake shook his head. “I didn’t want to involve you in this world, Anna. I have no idea what would happen if the team found out you saw what you did.”
I gasped and straightened in my chair. “They wouldn’t hurt me, would they!?”
Blake rolled his eyes. “No, Anna. None of us would ever hurt you. I just don’t know what they’d do. They could fire you to keep you out of our business. They could isolate you on a different floor so you don’t talk to other coworkers. They could transfer you to another city. I honestly don’t know.” He stood and made his way around the desk to sit in front of me. “Anna, nobody else knows you were there. I have no idea how that’s even possible with you and Super Clutz, but it’s true. I really think it needs to stay that way.”
Unfortunately, he made sense. That sucked. What’s so great about having a superhero boyfriend if you can’t even ask him to show off his powers?
“So what happened last night? Do all of your enemies wield giant balls of electricity?”
Blake stood and turned his back to me, but not before I caught the sheepish expression on his face.
“No. We’ve actually only come across one person with the power to control electricity.”
“Wait … So you’re saying the guy last night was Captain Zinger?!” I exclaimed. “How is he on the loose!? Didn’t you catch him back in Englewood?”
Blake grimaced and sat back down behind his desk. “He kind of escaped.”
“Kind of? How do you kind of escape?” I demanded.
“We thought he was down for the count. While he laid there on the floor, we regrouped to make sure everyone was okay. While we were all momentarily distracted, he somehow managed to blow a fuse in the warehouse and shut down power. He used the darkness to escape.”
I sat there stunned for a few seconds before the anxiety started. I covered my face with my shaking hands and let out a squeal. “So this lunatic is still out there. And he’s pissed. And he’s pissed at you. And he’s pissed at me!”
Blake held out his hands in a gesture meant to calm me. “Chill, Jennings. He didn’t see you at the warehouse. He’s pissed at us, yes, but he isn’t pissed at you. That being said, until we can find him, you do need to keep an eye out. Last night could have ended very differently.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Did Emmett tell you that this Zinger guy knew my name?”
That seemed to catch Blake off guard. “What do you mean he knew your name? You spoke to him?”
“Just a few words. Emmett must have still been unconscious for that part. After Carl swooped in and attempted to save us, Zinger said something about giving me a warning. He called me Anna.”
Blake ran a hand through his hair. “And you didn’t get a good look at him? Did anything about him seem familiar?”
I thought back to the man’s size and the way he held himself. “There was something familiar about him. I don’t know if it was his body type or the way he spoke or what … But he was standing in front of his headlights, so I couldn’t get a good look at him. He was just a shadow.”
We sat there for a moment, staring blankly at each other, lost in our own thoughts. Blake was chewing on a pen with enough aggression that I worried it would explode blue ink in his mouth. He stopped chewing suddenly and stared down at his pen before tossing it in the trash.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“Heh?”
“Nothing. Anna … Are you about ready to take this stuff seriously? It’s dangerous enough that you know about us. Now you’re sucked into all of this. I know you’re independent. I know you’re strong. But this is scary shit. You need to be careful.”
I stood and walked around his desk, unable to fight off the urge to administer an awkward hug. “I’ll be careful. I promise,” I mumbled into Blake’s shoulder.
He thumped me twice on the back before pushing me away. “Okay. Enough. You got your hug. Get out.”
I grinned up at him an
d punched him hard in the shoulder before heading to my own office.
Mae had taken the day off, and I was actually pretty excited for a quiet morning and an uninterrupted moment. As I sat down at my desk, I noticed the horror-filled brown paper bag sitting by my keyboard. I had forgotten to confront Carl about it. And actually, I hadn’t heard from Carl since he left the night before. He didn’t text when he got home like he promised. Maybe he just fell asleep.
I pulled my cell out of my purse and sent him a quick text, just to be sure he was alright. After finding a box of granola clusters and pouring myself a cup of coffee, I settled in to read my emails.
This lasted about three minutes before the first time I checked my phone. Still nothing from Carl. Three minutes later, still nothing. By the time I checked my phone for the fifth time, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy my moment if I didn’t know Carl was alright. He had kind of grown on me. Like a fungus. But a friendly, harmless fungus.
I stood and walked out into the cubicle farm to see if I could spot him delivering the mail. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, I asked a couple of my coworkers if they had seen him. No luck there. My concern was growing. Had he followed Lloyd Vance again? Had he gotten himself in trouble? Could he have been zapped by the Zinger asshole or another evil super villain?
After calling his supervisor and learning he hadn’t yet reported in for work, my heart was in my throat. I walked the short distance to Blake’s office and shut the door behind me.
“Eric, Carl isn’t at work today. He was scheduled to start at six. I can’t get ahold of him on his cell. I’m worried. You know he was following Lloyd Vance around earlier this week. I’m sure Emmett informed you that Carl even followed the two of us last night. What if he got himself in trouble?”
Blake looked up at me and pursed his lips in thought. “You’ve checked with his supervisor?” he asked.
I nodded.
He picked up the phone and pressed in an extension. “Lilith,” he barked into the phone. “I need the home address of a courier up here on the 28th floor. First name Carl, last name …” He looked at me for an answer.
I didn’t know. Ugh. What kind of friend was I? I just shrugged apologetically.
“Last name unknown,” he finished. After a beat, he grabbed a post-it to write down the address, thanked Lilith and hung up. He stood, grabbed his suit jacket and rounded his desk. “Let’s roll, super girl. Your car.”
I rolled my eyes and followed him out the door.
After a thirty minute ride from hell, weaving in and out of traffic while desperately trying to keep my cool, we arrived at our destination. If I thought the building looked sketchy the few nights I gave Carl a lift home, it was nothing to seeing it in the daytime.
Carl’s apartment was located in an extremely run down multi-story building with barred windows and a dilapidated fire escape. The lobby door was unguarded, and the buzzer, if there ever was a working one, wasn’t functioning.
We let ourselves in and climbed to the third floor. Carl’s door was one of the few that wasn’t covered in eviction notices. It actually looked pretty normal aside from the gold number 3 dangling upside down.
I used my sleeve to wipe off a spot on the door and pressed my ear to it. Blake chose that moment to pound his fist on the door, sending me sprawling backward onto my rear. I glared up at him as he grinned down at me. He helped me up and was about to knock again when we heard a muffled, “Help!” coming from within Carl’s apartment.
Blake rattled the doorknob and, not surprisingly, found it locked. I lifted my eyebrows at him in expectation.
“What?” he asked.
“Use your super strength! Transform into a lady bug and climb through the keyhole! Use your mind powers and telekinetically move the security chain! Melt the lock with your lazerbeam eyeballs!” I pleaded.
He gave me a perfect “don’t be an idiot” look and rammed his shoulder into the door. The frame let out a large crack before giving way and sending both Eric and I toppling into the apartment.
Of course, I landed on top of him. I think our bellies have magnets. Some people land gracefully. Some people land on their rumps. I land on Eric Blake. Every time.
After a now familiar awkward moment, I rolled off of him and did a scan of the one room apartment.
“Carl!?” I called out.
“ANNA!?”
I helped Blake to his feet and took off in the direction of the sound. Along the side wall, I noticed a scrap of yellow fabric sticking out of what I could only assume was the bathroom door.
I ran over and pounded on the door. “Carl!? Are you in there?!”
“Yes!” shouted Carl. “Thank God you’re here! I’m stuck!”
Flashes of the movie “There’s Something About Mary” ran through my brain and I was momentarily stunned into silence. Blake tugged on my pony tail before moving me out of the way. He twisted the doorknob and pushed. Nothing happened.
“I told you!” Carl cried. “I’m stuck! My cape is wedged in the door frame.”
“Oh for the love of all that’s holy …” Blake murmured under his breath. “Stand back, Carl. I’m going to push in the door.” This time he was a bit smarter and kicked the door open instead of barreling through.
Poor Carl was curled up in his bathtub, looking rumpled and ridiculous in his Stealth costume. I rushed in and gingerly helped him out of the tub. “How long have you been stuck in here!?” I asked.
“Just since yesterday evening,” he admitted, looking pretty embarrassed with himself. “I was feeling pretty great last night, so I put my costume back on, thinking I’d go back out on the prowl. Before I left, I had to pee and my cape got stuck in the door behind me. I didn’t have my phone on me. I shouted for help, but that’s kind of a common occurrence in this neighborhood so nobody paid any attention.”
Blake and I each placed one of Carl’s arms over our shoulders and lead him to his futon. I tucked him in, warmed up a can of soup and lectured him on the hazards of wearing a cape. After thirty minutes of fussing over my little spandex fungus, Blake politely but firmly escorted me out the door.
I checked my watch as we left the building, cringing when I saw we had twenty minutes to get back before our scheduled lunch date with my brother and Blake’s daughter Sophia.
“We need to book it,” I told Blake and picked up my pace.
We reached the office in 15 minutes. As we pulled in, I snuck a glance at Blake who was looking a little green. I laughed and patted his knee. “You’re alive. Breathe!” I teased as we got out of the car.
“If Sophia is in the car, I’m driving,” he muttered and followed me inside.
No sooner had the elevator arrived on our floor, than we heard a high pitched squeal followed by the pound of little feet on commercial grade carpet. Sophia Blake raced down the hallway, followed by an exasperated looking Minni, and jumped into my arms.
“Anna Anna Anna!” she cried, hugging my neck.
“Sophia Sophia Sophia!” I laughed and smooched her chipmunk cheeks. “Are you ready to go to lunch?”
“Actually, would you mind entertaining Sophia in your office for a moment?” asked Blake. “I have something to discuss with Minni before she leaves.”
I, of course, agreed and swooped Sophia off to my office. I sat her down in my desk chair and rifled through my candy drawer to find her a sucker. She is seriously the cutest little girl ever. And that’s saying something. I have a bazillion nieces and nephews and they’ve got nothing on her. I could see so much of Eric in her. Her long black hair was straight and shiny and her eyes were the exact same shade of blue as her father’s. She had the most adorable rosy cheeks and a little button nose begging to be smooched.
Sophia’s eyes lit up at the sucker I presented her and she immediately shoved it into her mouth.
“ANNA!” she cried. “Daddy said he’s going to take me to a Chicago Blows game!”
I giggled and corrected her. “Chicago Bulls? Tha
t’s great!”
“Yep! And he said when it gets warmer we’re going camping and he’s going to help me catch a real live fish!”
As she continued to babble on, I couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of Regina Blake going camping. I had never seen the woman in anything other than stiletto heels and Prada. I had no idea how Eric planned on getting her out of her humidity controlled, air conditioned habitat and into a tent.
“Oh, Mommy isn’t going,” replied Sophia, whose eyes suddenly filled with tears. “But I don’t want her to anyway. We don’t need her.” The last statement was given with the same hard set to her jaw as I had seen on her father many times.
I was about to prod her for more information when the man himself walked through my door. He took one look at a sniffling Sophia and scooped her up, shooting daggers at me.
I shrugged apologetically and mouthed, “No idea,” as I grabbed my purse and coat. My nieces were always a bit extra sensitive at that age, but Sophia’s tears were a bit strange.
By the time we reached the parking garage, Sophia had snapped out of whatever funk she was in. She kept begging to sit in my new flashy car, but Blake was having none of it, which was totally weird. He always had me drive. Always.
I shrugged it off. Maybe he was just one of those uber protective dads who didn’t want anyone else operating a vehicle with his offspring in it. Whatevs.
We pulled into a local pizza place and hustled inside out of the cold. My brother Michael was already seated in a booth along the far wall. (Insert another glass shattering squeal from Sophia.) She raced through the restaurant and plopped down on Michael’s lap.
Michael is the youngest of my four brothers and one of the two who are still single. He inherited my father’s fiery red hair and his fiery red temper as well. He’s an extremely nice guy until you badmouth the Bears or threaten his family or friends. Or if you call him a Ginger. He and Blake have been friends since college, rooming together all four years. He is Sophia’s Godfather and is wrapped around her little finger. Hell, we all are.
Blake and I made our way over to the booth and I stooped to kiss Michael’s cheek before sitting across from him. Blake did some sort of manly handshake with Michael before sliding in next to me. I tried to ignore the wave of uncomfortable heat that coursed through me when our thighs touched and scootched away a couple inches. Having the hots for my boss was on my top ten list of things not to do, even if the crush did start way before he was actually my boss.
Power Surge (Anna Jennings Super Novel Book 1) Page 10
