“Which keys did you grab?” I asked while we waited for the elevator. I wondered if he had a car to go with every mood. It would be really helpful if I knew that he drove the corvette when angry or the Jag when nervous. Did he have an “I just got laid” car?
“Um, the Audi,” he answered. “Did you want to take something else?”
“No,” I said. “I was just wondering.”
He considered me for a moment and then retraced his steps and picked up another set of keys. “You’re right.” He smiled at me. “We should take the Vanquish. I fucking love that car, and I never drive it.”
“Jackson, I didn’t mean for you to...”
“I want to, Alissa. I’ve learned a lot in the past two weeks, and my favorite lesson is that I took a lot of things for granted in my life. I am going to appreciate and enjoy the things that I have from now on and that means not letting those 460 horses sit idle.” I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Am I going to be able to get into this one?” He snorted. “No, but I won’t let you fall.”
He helped me into the car as promised. “Thank you, Mr. Bond” I said as he shut the door, which then led to a discussion of how cool the 007 cars were, and how awesome the actors were, and what a womanizing asshole the character was. Those movies made my feminist-alter-ego cringe.
He hummed and moaned in appreciation of my cooking, which made me want to jump him again, but we both had other things to be doing today so I refrained. I kissed him good-bye a little while later and watched him cross the street to get into his sleek sports car. I wondered for the five millionth time what he was doing with me. He had it all: cars, money, class, looks, brains, and everything else you could want. It made no sense that he wanted to be with me, but still, I would not look a gift horse in the mouth. I would enjoy it for as long as he would have me.
I cleaned up the breakfast dishes and spent a little time doing laundry and other everyday tasks that I hadn’t had much time for lately. I knew things would only get busier when I reopened the restaurant.
The new paint was dry in the dining room so I removed the painter’s tape and cleared away the plastic. One more good cleaning of the floor and we would be ready to move the new furniture in. I was still heartbroken over the vandalism, but I had to admit that the new look was going to be incredible. I was excited to reopen and see what the public thought.
Around 11:00 my phone rang, and I hobbled across the wet floor to get it.
“Dad?” I asked.
“Alissa,” he said, “I have news. The local PD picked up Ryan this morning. He confessed to vandalizing your restaurant. He was connected with Kayla.”
“Did they get her, too?”
“No, she wasn’t with him. They are still looking for her. She was supposedly involved in the vandalism as well.”
“Okay. Do the police need me to do anything?”
“No, just stay put, I’ll be in touch when I have more information.”
“Okay, thanks Dad.”
“Sure Sweetie. What time is the truck coming? I’ll help unload.”
“They said around 2:00. I’ll see you then?”
“Yeah. Bye, Alissa.”
“Bye, Dad.”
That was a typical phone conversation with my dad, straight to the point. I let out a deep breath. I couldn’t wait until this whole thing was resolved. I just wanted to go back to normal.
Well, normal plus Jackson. I would take on a million Kaylas if I got to keep him, but it was still stressful not knowing if my restaurant was really safe. Even if they caught her, we would be battling all of this out in court for a while, too. Just the thought of it was exhausting.
I returned to scrubbing the floor. The paint was almost all gone; just a faint hint of their sloppy scrawl was left. No one would ever know the difference.
I heard the backdoor squeak open.
“I’m in here, Tyler,” I called.
I froze. It sounded like high heels clicking across the floor.
“Do I look like Tyler to you?”
Chapter 29: Surprise After Surprise
Alissa
I swung around, trying not to slip on the wet floor.
“Fuck! Lexy! You scared the shit out of me.”
“Geez, chill out. You knew I was coming over to help you hang the new curtains.” I took a couple of deep breaths. “Of course, Lex, I’m sorry. I just got off the phone with my dad, and I was thinking about Kayla, and I thought you were her. Paranoid moment.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“What’s the latest news?”
I filled her in about Ryan’s arrest while we finished the floor. All that was left were curtains and furniture. I was stoked.
As expected, Tyler showed up a little while later and helped to reach some of the tall things that Lexy and I couldn’t get. I wasn’t dumb enough to try to get on a ladder with my clumsy feet.
Tyler and I made lunch together while Lexy finished up in the dining room, and it felt awesome to get back into a cooking rhythm with him. So much had happened in the last week, and I really needed this feeling of normalcy.
Lexy filled me in on all the David gossip. It sounded like the two of them were really hitting it off. They had been seeing a lot of each other. Lexy got this dreamy look on her face when she talked about him, and I recognized the emotion immediately. I recognized it, because I saw it on my own face every time I looked in the mirror. She was a woman in love.
As I listened to Lexy prattle on about him, I realized that I hadn’t ever told Jackson how I felt. We’d had a lot of deep conversations – like the night in the bar, when he told me about the homeless week and all the things he’d learned, or the night of the storm when he held me and we discussed art, philosophy, and life in general, but we hadn’t talked very much about us. I was content to just take things one day at a time, but I wanted Jackson to know how strong my feelings were. I hadn’t taken the time to admit it to myself, but I was in love with him. I was hopelessly head over heels, and I loved every minute of it.
I couldn’t keep the goofy smile from spreading across my face. I really needed to get some more alone time with that boy... man... my thoughts wandered back to last night... and this morning... definitely all man.
“I’m sorry, Lexy, what did you say?”
She just laughed at me, and then asked me to hand her a different screwdriver. She couldn’t make fun of me because she was just as over the moon as I was.
My dad showed up around 2:00, and Jackson showed up at 2:30. The truck was late. At 3:00, Jackson suggested that we try to get the truck driver on the phone. There was no answer on his cell. At 3:30 the truck finally pulled up into the alley. We all went out into the side alley to greet the driver and help bring in the furniture. What met us, however, was not the truck driver we had expected.
Her eyes were bloodshot like she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. Her hair was a mess, and it looked as if she was recovering from a punch to the jaw.
In her hand was a .357 revolver.
I skidded to a halt when I saw her, but it was too late. We were all pinned by the narrowness of the alley. We were directly in her gun sights.
Jackson
No. Oh, God, no.
“Kayla,” I said as calmly as I could, “please put down the gun.”
“You bastard,” she said pointing the gun directly at me.
That’s right, focus on me. Leave them out of it.
“You fucking bastard. You took everything. I loved him, damn it, and you took him away from me.” Her hands were shaking badly. She was very unstable. “Why couldn’t you just buy the fucking company? You had plenty of money? Don’t you know how hard I worked on that? It was going to be our ideal life. We were going to run off to Mexico. He was going to marry me.” The tears were streaming freely down her cheeks. She was absolutely hysterical.
“Kayla, we can work this out. Just put the gun down...”
“No, you fucking prick,” she screamed, “I am done working things out with y
ou. You never gave a rat’s ass about my opinion. It’s always been your way or the highway.” She was moving closer to me, her eyes fixed on mine. I needed to keep her focused on me.
I saw Mark shifting his stance out of the corner of my eye, and I hoped he was doing what I thought he was doing.
“That’s not true, Kayla. I value your opinion.” Stay with me. Focus all that hate right here.
“Liar. You fucking liar!” She was still advancing on me. “You cost me the love of my life, my future, my dreams. Everything!”
How had I let it get this bad? She was completely insane. She was going to kill us all. I could barely understand her. Her words were broken and tortured.
“And now... now... I am going to take from you what you took from me.” She turned away from me and pointed the gun at Alissa, I tried to block her path, but Mark was faster. He had drawn his gun slowly as she spoke, and when she turned to aim at Alissa, he shot Kayla twice, squarely in the chest. The gunshots echoed loudly in the small alley.
Kayla fell to the ground in a heap. Her gun clattered to the pavement.
The policemen who had been stationed at the front of the building ran around the corner yelling into their radios about an ambulance. Alissa buried her face in my chest. I had never been so glad to hold her. I realized how close I had come to losing her.
“Shhh, baby,” I soothed, “It’s over. It’s all over now.” Mark went into cop mode, and the excitement swirled around us. Kayla was pronounced dead at the scene by the paramedics. Mark handled the statements and other police matters. We were all shaken up, but virtually unharmed.
The truck driver was found in the back of the hijacked truck, duct tapped to one of Alissa’s new chairs. I felt terrible about the mess I’d involved him in, but he was amazingly understanding. I had my lawyers provide him with a settlement. They found a legal loophole, which allowed me to compensate him if he agreed not to talk to the press. I didn’t care about the legal jargon; I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t need to drive truck any more if he didn’t want to. He deserved some time off.
Later that evening, Alissa finally got her furniture moved in. It wasn’t properly arranged, but we could do that tomorrow. The truck needed to get back to its rightful place, and we all just wanted to be done with it. Enough was enough for one day. I was exhausted once again. I wanted nothing more than to take her home with me and fall asleep with her in my arms.
I got a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach. What if she didn’t want to come home with me? Kayla was dead, and the danger was gone. There was no longer a reason for her to stay with me.
I was suddenly very insecure. What if she didn’t want me any more at all? I had involved her in a living nightmare, and now that it was over, she would be smart to just walk away.
“What are you frowning about?”
I looked up. Alissa was standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the kitchen light with her hands on her hips. She was so lovely.
“Nothing,” I said. I didn’t sound convincing, even to myself. “I was just thinking I would head home.”
Her forehead wrinkled. She looked as heartbroken as I felt. Maybe she wanted to come after all.
“I mean...” I backtracked, “unless you needed something else, er if, I mean...” Geez Hayes, could you sound like any more of an inarticulate ass? “Alissa, I would like for you to come home with me, again... I mean... if you want to...” She smiled, and I thought I would die of happiness right there in her restaurant.
“I was kinda’ hoping that maybe you would like to stay here tonight?” she asked shyly. “I mean, since it’s safe and all now? I know it’s not as nice as your place, but...” I hadn’t even thought of that, but I was thrilled. I was going to get to experience a night in the life of Alissa Allen, sleep in her sheets, surrounded by her smell. I couldn’t think of one thing that I would like to do more.
“That sounds great. I’ll just run home for a minute, if that’s okay, to get some clothes, change cars, and take care of a couple of little things. I’ll come right back?” She ambled across the restaurant to me. “Don’t keep me waiting.” Her smile was breathtaking. I wanted to see that playful look over and over and over again.
“I wouldn’t dream of making you wait.”
Chapter 30: Exhaustion and Abundance
Jackson
I ran home as quickly as possible and grabbed an overnight bag. I felt grimy after everything that had happened, and I wanted a shower, but I was hoping I could talk Alissa into showering with me. Thoughts of running my hands all over her soapy skin had me racing even faster through my apartment.
I took the Audi back to her place, hating to leave the Vanquish out of the garage overnight.
Mark was just walking out the front door as I pulled up. I hadn’t had a chance to thank him, and I wanted to rectify that oversight.
“Mark,” I called, as I jogged across the street to him. “I, um, I just wanted to say thank you... for today. Your daughter is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I don’t know what I would do if I lost her. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you were there, in that alley.”
“That girl is the best thing that ever happened to me, Jackson. I am very proud to be her father, and I am proud of you for doing what you did today, too.” There was an awkward emotional pause for a moment while neither one of us knew what to say. I studied my shoelaces. Mark shifted his weight around.
“But don’t let it go to your head kid,” Mark finally joked, “I still don’t trust you with her.” He gave me a smile that said I was okay in his book, and then he slapped me on the back.
As he walked away, I ran back to my car and got my stuff.
Alissa let me in and then locked up behind me. I dropped my bag and grabbed her unexpectedly.
“Come here you,” I said, grabbing her around the waist. She jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around me.
I backed her up to one of the new tables and sat her ass down on the edge. “Want to break in the new furniture?” I asked, before sucking her bottom lip into my mouth.
She chuckled. “I doubt my customers would appreciate that.”
“You’re probably right,” I sighed, “and truthfully I would like a shower more than anything. It’s been quite a day.”
“A shower sounds lovely,” she agreed. I picked up my bag. Ten minutes later she was leaning back against my chest, wearing nothing but bubbles. I gently traced her hip bones with my fingertips and enjoyed the feel of her soft skin under the water. Granted, Alissa’s tub was not really designed for two people, but we managed. I made a mental note to do this again in a larger tub.
We talked about the day, and I vented my fears and frustrations to her. I was worried about Robert and whether I should allow him to remain on my board. I was worried about Nick and Ryan and if they would be convicted. I was worried that Jason wouldn’t be able to smooth this over with the press.
I was also worried about Alissa and if she would leave me now that the danger and excitement were over. I did not voice this last concern, however. To say it aloud would bring it to life, and I was too much a coward for that. Apparently, Alissa was braver than me.
“Jackson?”
“Yes, dear?”
I could feel her smile as she turned her head against my chest.
“I just...” she hesitated. “I know that we really haven’t known each other very long, but I kinda feel like we’ve been through a lot together already.”
“I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’m hoping for quieter times to come, at least for a little while.”
“Yeah. I’ll be glad to get back to normal, but I’m a little worried about something.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me lately, but I’m afraid that I’m going to lose you now that you no longer need to be my guardian superhero.” I opened my mouth to speak, but she continued. “My heart is invested now, and it’s going to
hurt a lot if you leave.”
Oh, thank God.
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against my chest, holding her as tightly as I could without hurting her. I brushed my lips against her neck right below her ear.
“Alissa Allen, I never want to hear you say anything so ridiculous again. My heart is invested, too, and I am not going anywhere. You are stuck with me for the rest of eternity as far as I am concerned.”
“Eternity huh?” she turned to face me, and I kissed her gently. “That’s a long time.”
“Not long enough,” I replied, and I meant it. I could never grow tired of this woman. We sat in a comfortable silence for a while longer, but the water was cooling quickly, and I wanted to be in a warm bed with her instead.
A few minutes later, I had Alissa towel dried and tucked into bed beside me. We leisurely explored each other’s bodies and made love slowly, whispering words of endearment that never meant more. Eventually, we fell asleep with our limbs tangled together and our hearts entwined.
I had never felt more at peace, despite the trying day. It was like I had finally found my home. Wherever Alissa was, that’s where home would be.
Alissa
I woke around 7:00 the next morning to a disappointingly empty bed. After such an amazing night, I had wanted to wake up beside Jackson, but I knew that he had a lot of work to do. He left a note, folded into a delicate origami bird, on the bedside table. Origami? Was there anything that man couldn’t do?
I pushed aside my feelings of inadequacy. Jackson told me last night very clearly that he was serious about being with me. I was going to trust his words.
I smiled as I read the note.
My Dearest Alissa,
I can’t tell you what torture it was to leave your warm bed for a cold office. I hope
you’ll forgive my absence and allow me to return this evening... and every evening. I’ll think
of you twice a second until then.
The Billionaire Bum Page 17
