Stalking

by Calle J. Brookes

  No wonder Mal had been nearly crazy when the woman he’d loved had been threatened.

  “Em… baby, it’ll be ok. I’ll make sure of it.” He buried one hand in the hair that curled wildly. He just held her until the tears stopped. At some point he moved them both until they were resting against the back of his mother’s old couch.

  When she was finished crying she was cuddled on his lap and her arms were tight around his neck. Her chest was pressed against his.

  J.T. forced his body to behave itself.

  He’d never let himself be physically attracted to Emma, other than the occasional swallowing-his-own-tongue panic she induced in him occasionally. When she’d brush against him and he’d lose all sense of rationality.

  He’d known nothing could ever come from it.

  But having her draped across his lap was making his assurances of non-attraction he’d made to himself out to be the lies he strongly suspected they were. Hell, who was he kidding? He knew they were lies the moment he’d told himself.

  Man, he wished he was the kind of guy who could just kiss a woman and damn the consequences. Instead, he forced himself to put space between them. “Let me show you to your room. Then we’ll get something to drink and we can watch a movie or something. We’ll pretend that you’re here for some other reason—pretend your room is being fumigated, or it’s a slumber-party.”

  “We going to play truth or dare?” Her answer was watery, but there was a small smile there. He felt like he’d won the lottery, seeing that expression.

  Emma wasn’t meant to be afraid. It wasn’t right. He hugged her, hard. J.T. needed to. He wouldn’t deny it. “I wouldn’t mind Spin the Bottle. Just because I never played…”

  “Me, either. I never went to slumber parties.”

  “I thought all girls did.”

  “My mother was afraid if we saw how other families lived we’d tell about what she did to us. Or that we’d convince the other families to look for our father. At least, that’s my theory. We stuck pretty close to home.”

  “Kelly never talks about it.” He knew her sister better—he saw Kelly almost every day when he wasn’t out of town with his team. He only saw Emma once or twice a month, if he was lucky.

  They were both busy. He was out of town at least two or three nights each week, and he knew she was often working at the runaway shelter funded by a friend of theirs.

  “My mom was worse with her. But I refuse to give her any more power by not acknowledging what she did to us. We don’t have anything to be ashamed of. It’s our mother who shouldn’t be able to look at herself in the mirror.”

  Even he heard the real resentment in her voice. “Still, I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “It’s in the past. When I have children, I’m going to be like Ally. That woman rocks as a mother.”

  “Yes, she does.” He couldn’t imagine Emma with another man. He always forced that idea out of his head whenever it tried to slip into his mind. But he loved watching her with her younger brothers and sisters. Especially the babies. She looked so perfect holding and cuddling the infants. It always made him stutter seeing that. “You will, too. You’re good with the twins.”

  “They’re my brother and sister. How could I not be?”

  “You don’t have to be.” A thought occurred to him. “You want children someday?”

  “Yes. I do. I want a family, besides my dad and Ally. I have always wanted a family, a real one. I promised myself when I finished college that I would do that next.”

  He smiled. Emma always planned everything. He knew that. And she was good at it, too.

  Everyone knew the details of her kidnapping of Gracie. It had been gutsy, but it had worked.

  And she’d orchestrated quite a few other events that he admired. Her father and step-mother’s wedding had been a biggie for her. But J.T. had been there—it had been beautiful.

  And he knew she’d been helping his colleague Paige—who rented the apartment in Dan’s basement—with her own upcoming wedding.

  Emma was a great planner.

  “You can’t really plan a relationship, can you?”

  “No. But I can hope.”

  “So who is this guy that you want?”

  She tensed against him. “Why?”

  “So I can check him out. Make sure he deserves you.”

  Chapter Eight

  Emma’s stomach clenched. “And what makes you qualified to decide that?”

  His hands were hot on her back through her sweater. She wanted those hands under her sweater. She might still be a virgin, but that didn’t mean she was completely innocent. She knew what a man’s hands felt like, and she wanted that again. She wanted him. Why didn’t he get that?

  “The fact that I’m your friend and I care about you. And the fact that your dad would want me to. Act in his stead, and everything.”

  Had he really… She saw the small grin on his face. He knew what he’d said would get a rise out of her, didn’t he?

  Well, she would see what she had to do to get a real rise out of him. She shifted, moved more fully on his lap. She rocked forward slightly. His breath caught.

  Emma didn’t miss what had happened behind the fly of his trousers, and that knowledge was what gave her the courage to do what she was about to.

  “Em… I think you better get up.”

  She licked her bottom lip. “But why?”

  Chapter Nine

  He swallowed, then forced his hands to stay exactly where they were. J.T. tried to get the thought of Emma straddling him out of his mind. He would not make an ass out of himself, no matter what he had to do.

  He just wouldn’t.

  J.T. put his hands on her waist and tried to lift her. To get her away from his pants before he embarrassed himself.

  The woman didn’t cooperate.

  She clenched her thighs on either side of his, and twisted her fingers in his sweater.

  “Em… you really want to move right now.”

  She stared at him for a moment, her green eyes so serious he almost stopped breathing. “No, I don’t.”

  “Yeah… you do.” He couldn’t wipe the sweat off his palms, not without her seeing. Did she understand what she was doing to him?

  She wasn’t that naïve. But there was no way she was doing it on purpose, was she? “Emma…”

  “What’s the matter? Don’t you like me sitting here like this? You’re a guy, a straight guy, right?”

  “Yeah.” That was a good way to describe him. A straight guy with the woman of his dreams sitting literally in his lap.

  It was a wonder he wasn’t all over her panting already.

  “So how come we’ve never found ourselves like this before?” Her hand toyed with the edge of his neckline, her fingers tracing over his skin beneath the collar.

  He wanted her hands someplace else. Definitely.

  “What about the guy you like? The one who…”

  “Who apparently doesn’t know I’m interested?”

  “Yeah, that one?” Lucky stupid bastard.

  She smiled, a full Emma-sexy-as-hell grin. “Weil… I’m thinking he may actually start to get the picture soon.”

  “Um… Like this?”

  She stared at him for a moment.

  His heart stopped when she leaned in and nipped his lower lip. “No. Like this.”

  Chapter Ten

  Emma mustered up her courage and kissed him. Now or never, right? For the longest moment he was as still as a statue, and doubts flooded her.

  Had she made the wrong move? Had she read him wrong? What if he really wasn’t interested in her after all?

  She tried to pull away, to put her thoughts into place to keep herself from being even more embarrassed than she already was.

  His hands locked behind her back and he yanked her closer to his chest.

  Then he was kissing her, and it was everything she’d always known it would be.

  Perfect.

  Absolutely
perfect.

  His hands slipped under her sweater and brushed over her back. Just her back, nowhere else, nowhere the least little bit risqué.

  But that didn’t matter.

  It was J.T. and he was finally kissing her. Like she’d always wanted.

  Chapter Eleven

  It took him a moment or two to realize that he wasn’t dreaming. Emma really had kissed him, and she wasn’t pulling away. But… why? What about the guy that she liked?

  Why would a woman like Emma be kissing him if she was interested in someone else?

  She wouldn’t. Not his Emma. That wasn’t the kind of woman she was.

  So what did that mean?

  What the hell did it matter? He had Emma in his arms, and if there was another guy in her mind, now was the time to knock that guy completely out of the running.

  And if he was the guy?

  He’d be really stupid to do something to mess this opportunity up, wouldn’t he?

  J.T. kissed her back.

  Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he pulled away. A guy needed to breathe, after all.

  And he was breathing her in.

  She just looked at him, her green eyes soft and sexy. “Well. That went about as great as I always imagined.”

  What was she saying? “And you’ve imagined it for a long time?”

  “Since I met you.” Uncertainty hit her face. “Unless, you aren’t interested? Then we can just forget this ever happened. Chalk it up to the situation and move on.”

  “Em, I don’t think either of us work that way.”

  “No. Probably not. Look…”

  “No, you look. I’m going to go out on a real limb here and assume I’m the guy you were talking about earlier…”

  “Yes. You are.”

  “Then why didn’t you say something?”

  “I tried. And then I chickened out. What if you said no?”

  “Are you serious?” She was the most beautiful woman, inside and out, that he had ever known. And she’d been afraid of him? “Em…”

  She held out a small hand between them. “Hey, I tried. The theatre, the movies, I didn’t know how else. And it probably would have hurt too much if you’d told me no. I’m still a little freaked out here. If this guy hadn’t scared me so badly, I…”

  J.T. yanked her against his chest and kissed her quickly. Then he pulled away. “I wouldn’t have said no. I probably would have turned into a complete and stuttering idiot. And this guy? He’s not going to hurt you. No matter what I have to do.”

  He kissed her again, for he didn’t know how long. When he pulled back they were both breathing heavily. He thought about pushing for more, but knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. At all.

  Neither one of them was ready for that. “Em… we need to take a break. Go to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning. Once we’ve had time to think.”

  “I don’t really need time to think.”

  “I probably do. At least with this brain and not the one in my pants.” He shifted, until she was lying on top of him fully. “I’d hate for you to make a mistake, simply because of the situation you’re in.”

  “J.T., you are so sweet. Do you know that? I know I’m not making a mistake. I’ve…cared…for you for a very long time. But I can understand that it will take you a while to catch up. And it’s not because of that guy. It’s…I’m tired of waiting for the right opportunity. We both know anything can happen at any moment. And I’m tired of being afraid to take chances.”

  “And I’m a big chance for you?”

  Her eyes were serious when she looked at him again. She brushed her hand over his cheek. “I think you could be. And that was what scared me the most.”

  J.T. hugged her, then she shocked him and practically melted him when she cuddled her head on his shoulder. “Can I stay right here for a while?”

  “Stay as long as you want.” He shifted her closer then pulled the quilt his mother had made twenty years ago off the back of the couch. He spread it over them as best he could. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Chapter Twelve

  J.T. woke the next morning certain the night before had been a dream.

  A very good one, but a dream nonetheless.

  He nearly dumped them both in the floor when he realized the reason he was lying on the floor of his living room was because Emma was curled right next to him.

  The couch hadn’t been big enough for both of them to sleep comfortably. He vaguely remembered the two of them slipping to the rug.

  One of them had grabbed the throw pillows his sister had made in the eighth grade to match the couch.

  Emma’s strawberry blonde hair completely covered hers, and a strand or dozen was stuck to his cheek. He pushed it away, then let his hand linger.

  He’d kissed Emma last night.

  Much better—she’d kissed him.

  Because she’d had feelings for him for a very long time.

  What was he going to do about that? What if he did something completely stupid after all, and she ended up never speaking to him again? How was he supposed to handle that?

  First, though…hadn’t she said she had three more exams to go before she was finished with this semester? He put his hand on her back and nudged her lightly. “Emma? Babe, you really need to wake up now.”

  “Hmmm. I don’t want to.” She snuggled against him and he felt every beautiful inch of her press against his side.

  Maybe college seniors had make up exam days?

  That wouldn’t work for either of them. He knew she’d worked too hard to get to where she was only to throw it away. “Em, what time is your first class?”

  “Noon. I don’t do mornings very well.” She pulled the blanket up over head and sighed.

  J.T. looked at the clock. Eight. She had plenty of time if she wanted to sleep a little longer. But…they were on the floor. “You think you’d be more comfortable on the couch?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Emma hid under the blanket. She didn’t want him seeing her with bed head and having morning breath. Not J.T.

  Way too embarrassing.

  She’d spent a good portion of the night just snuggled up against him listening to him breath and trying to think.

  They had to find who the stalker was before they could move on. She had a few more exams left and she’d be set for a January graduation day. Then Emma and Gretchen would figure out where Emma’s career would take her next.

  And she’d figure out what kind of life she wanted. She’d originally decided on law school, but that had been before Gretchen’s offer had sparked a real passion in her.

  If she could prevent children from going through what she and her two sisters had, then she’d do it.

  She definitely wanted J.T. and she strongly suspected that he was almost as enthusiastic about the idea as she was.

  But that didn’t mean she was ready to face him for her first ever morning-after-that-actually-really-wasn’t.

  “Em? You can come out of there.” He tugged the blanket down. She blinked at him. His glasses were gone. His hair definitely needed combed. He had the faintest bit of blond stubble on his cheeks. He looked perfect.

  And she loved him. She knew she did, and had for a long time. They’d spent enough time together, even in non-romantic situations, for her to know him. To have fallen in love with him.

  She pulled the blanket back, then brushed a finger across his lips. “Hey. Good morning. You always keep your dates on your living room floor?”

  “Yeah. When I don’t clean my room first.” He sat up and Emma echoed the move. Less than a foot separated them. “You ok with all of this?”

  Her J.T. always so sweet and concerned. His compassion and heart was one of the first things that had attracted her to him. She leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. His hands immediately came around her and lifted her over his lap. “Yeah. I’m ok with you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  J.T. waited just outside her class
room while she took her first exam. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea of her being in the room alone, but the professor, while appearing sympathetic, was firm that no outside people were allowed in the classroom during the final exam. J.T. understood it.

  But that didn’t mean he had to like it. They’d compromised by agreeing that Emma would sit next to the door and the narrow window. It gave him half a view of her if she needed him.

  In the meantime, he had his tablet and was pouring over her social media. She hadn’t liked the idea, but she’d given him the passwords. He’d promised utter discretion.

  Not that he’d really needed to make that promise—he’d do whatever he needed to protect her, even protecting her privacy, if she asked it of him.

  She’d kissed him in the parking lot before they’d gotten out of his car. A sweet exchange that almost confirmed his suspicions that she was just as nervous as he was with this change between them.

  J.T. was determined to make this work. He couldn’t think of a woman he wanted more.

  He studied her social media and watched the people who passed. Eventually, a familiar pair joined him.

  “Any leads?” His best friend Josh Compton asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “How’s Emma holding up? Ally said she spent the night with you.” Emma’s older sister looked at him out of eyes that were identical to Emma’s. J.T. fought the urge to shift on the bench, and knew his cheeks had reddened. Spent the night with—if her family knew just exactly where she had slept the night before…would they be so happy to have her with him?

  That had another thought hitting him for the first time.

  One the people he respected most in this world was her father. What would Dan think of the change in the relationship between him and Emma?

  Something he’d need to talk to her about. He didn’t want to tick off Dan, but if it came down to a choice between Emma and Dan, he’d definitely be picking the daughter.