His eyes darkened and his cock swelled even more. “Seriously, Helen? You’ve got ‘fuck me, Jamie’ written all over your face and you expect me to get dressed and head off to work?”
“Suck it up, Jamie.”
“I was kind of hoping you’d take care of that for me.”
His teasing broke the spell that had frozen her in place, and she laughed as she threw a pillow at him. “That was completely lame. Get moving or I’ll be late for court.”
He stroked his cock twice, as if apologizing for neglecting it, then stood and reached for his shirt. His cock bobbed against his belly, and she glanced at the clock. Maybe…
No. They were leaving. No clothes were coming off.
Fifteen minutes later, she’d eaten a bowl of yogurt and strawberries and filled her travel mug with tea. Jamie had declined to join her, telling her he’d lose his man card if he ate yogurt for breakfast.
As they headed down the stairs, her boot clunked on each step. “I’m going to be so glad when I can drive again.”
“What? You don’t like riding in my truck?” he teased.
“Your truck is very sexy,” she said with a grin. “Just like its owner.”
He slung an arm around her waist at the bottom of the stairs and nuzzled her neck. “Then what’s the problem?”
“You can’t drive me to work every morning.”
“Why not?” He paused with the door halfway open. “I’m planning on being here every morning. Or you’ll be at my place.” One side of his mouth curled up. “So sharing a ride is environmentally responsible. Right?”
They wouldn’t be sharing rides forever. But she wasn’t going to think about that now. “What happens after you’re done with my office?” she said lightly.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said, stroking her side. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Helen Brody.”
Her heart began thumping as he pushed the door open. The sun was shining, but that wasn’t why her skin was so hot. Jamie smiled at her as if he knew what she was thinking and he wasn’t going to let her get away with dumping him.
Time to change the subject. “Do you mind if I call Melinda on the way to the El stop?”
“Not at all.”
As soon as she was in his truck, she stuck her tea in the cup holder and dialed Melinda. Her client’s voice wobbled when she answered. “Hello?”
“It’s Helen, Melinda. Was everything peaceful last night after we talked?”
“Yes.” The woman on the other end of the phone drew in a shaky breath. “He didn’t come back, and Andrea and Linc went right back to sleep.”
“How about you?”
She didn’t answer for a long moment. Finally she said, “I slept.”
Which meant Melinda hadn’t slept much. “I have court this morning,” Helen said. “But I’d like to get together with you this afternoon and run some ideas past you. There’s a coffee shop down the street from my office. Could you meet me there at two?”
“I’ll have the kids with me.”
Damn. She didn’t want to talk about sending Melinda into hiding in front of the kids. “Could you find a sitter?”
“I’m not letting them out of my sight,” Melinda said in a fierce voice. “Doug would love the opportunity to grab them.”
Helen closed her eyes. All that sex in the shower this morning must have softened her brain. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Bring them to my office, and we’ll go from there.”
When she hung up the phone, she realized they had gone past her El stop. “Where are you going? You missed my stop.”
“I’m taking you to the Daley Center.” His hand settled on her knee and headed north beneath her skirt. Her skin burned as if an electrical current ran through his fingers. “Figured it was only fair, since I made you late.”
“I think we were equally to blame for that,” she managed to say, trying to ignore the arousal that made her heart pound and blood pool between her legs.
His finger brushed over her panties and lingered for a long moment, then he took his hand away. “Here we are.”
She took a deep breath, then another, trying to clear the lust from her brain. “Thanks for the ride,” she said, knowing her voice was breathy and aroused. “I’ll come to the office when I’m done here.”
Jamie twisted and leaned against his door. “I heard what you were asking Melinda. You want me to take her kids to the park or something?”
“Thanks,” she said, reaching for his hand and twining their fingers together. “I’ll see what Melinda thinks. She doesn’t want them out of her sight.”
“You don’t want them to hear what you’re going to say, do you?”
“No. I think it’s better if I talk to Melinda alone.”
“That convenience store in the strip mall across from you has slushies. I’ll take them there and she can watch from your office.”
“That might work.” She leaned toward him, meaning to kiss him lightly and get out of the truck, but he deepened the kiss and she was swept away to a place where only Jamie existed.
Finally she eased away when both of them were panting. “I need to go. I’ll see you later.”
He nodded at her boot. “Don’t you have an appointment to see your doctor today?”
“Later this afternoon. He said a week, so I’m hoping to get this damn boot off today.”
“Let me drive you to your appointment?”
“You don’t have to do that,” she protested. “I can take a cab.”
“I’ll drive you. I don’t want you out there on your own until Doug is caught.”
He stared at her, his gaze steady, his expression uncompromising. Determined to keep her safe. She’d begun losing her heart to him after their fight, and another piece just fell into his hands. At the rate she was going, he’d own all of it before long. “We’ll talk about it later,” she finally said. “I have to go.”
She kissed him, then fumbled the door open before she could get caught up in another kiss. Once on the sidewalk, she waved and headed for the building.
***
Too many hours later, Helen shoved some bills at the cab driver and hurried down the sidewalk toward her office. It was already 1:30. Her case this morning had taken far longer than she’d expected.
Her client was a man who wanted custody of his three children because his ex-wife had driven drunk with their kids in the car. This morning, the wife had agreed to go into an alcohol treatment program, and she’d signed over sole custody to her ex-husband while she was in the hospital. There had been paperwork to fill out and file, and Helen had spent a long time talking to her client about what needed to happen after his wife came home from the hospital.
Now her ankle ached and she was emotionally drained. She heard the whine of a saw coming from inside the office, and when she pushed open the plywood door, the smell of newly cut wood drifted out to her.
Jamie was bent over the saw, guiding a piece of wood through the blade. His jeans rode low on his hips and hugged his muscular ass. In the sun, his blond hair gleamed like gold.
She was so glad to see him after the morning she’d had. He would cheer her up, make her laugh and take her mind off the couple she’d just left. She wished she could come back to Jamie every…
No. She’d promised herself, and she always kept a promise. Jamie needed something she couldn’t give him. No matter how much she lo…liked him.
She gripped her briefcase more tightly, vowing not to lie to herself. She loved him. In a week, she’d fallen in love with Jamie.
Not just a week. She’d started to fall in love with him that first night. And every day, as she’d gotten to know him better, he’d become more and more deeply embedded in her heart.
It would destroy her when he left. But she loved him. She couldn’t deprive him of what he wanted so badly.
So she’d smile and love Jamie until she had to let him go.
“Hey,” she called, and the buzzing of the saw
stopped.
“Hey yourself,” Jamie said, turning away from the saw. His face and tee shirt were covered with a film of sawdust, and the fine powder covered the floor, as well. He swiped his forearm over his face and smeared the sawdust into whorls on his cheeks and forehead. “How did it go?”
“It’ll be good, I think. The wife is remorseful and determined to conquer her drinking problem. The husband adores his kids and wants what was best for them. So we’ll see.”
He didn’t touch her – he never did when he was using the saw. He said he couldn’t mess up her designer clothes.
She didn’t care. She pulled his head down and kissed him. He was like water – she couldn’t live without him.
“What was that for?” he asked, reaching for her as she stepped away.
“You’re so hot in your jeans and sawdust,” she said lightly. “I couldn’t stop myself.”
“You want me that bad, huh?”
You have no idea. “Bad enough to kiss your sweaty, saw-dusty self.” Before he could grab her again, she said, “Had lunch yet?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“I’m starving. Yogurt only holds me for so long.”
“How about a sandwich?”
“Sounds good.” She hesitated, but finally said, “Could you get them? I need to sit down.”
“You okay?”
“Just on my feel a lot this morning. The ankle hurts.”
He followed her into the inner office, helped her into her chair and arranged her booted foot on the makeshift stool. “Stay there. I’ll be right back.”
***
By the time Melinda showed up with her kids at two, Helen had had a chance to decompress. She’d already called her contact with the women’s shelter whose services included making women disappear. She hoped that Melinda wouldn’t have to go that far, but she wanted to cover all the bases. Doug would eventually be caught, but until then, she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Hi, Helen,” Melinda said as she walked in, her three-year-old daughter on her hip. She held five-year-old Linc by the hand.
The woman was as tense as a stretched rubber band. She looked like one more tug and she’d snap. Her face was pale, and huge purple circles beneath her eyes testified to her lack of sleep.
“Thanks for coming in,” Helen said. She glanced around the room. “How would you feel about letting my…my boyfriend take Andrea and Linc across the street to get a slushie while we talk for a moment?”
‘Boyfriend’ made her sound like she was in high school. But she thought it might make Melinda feel better to know Jamie was more than her contractor. So much more. Boyfriend didn’t even begin to cover it, but for now, boyfriend would have to do.
Melinda’s arm tightened around her daughter, and her hand whitened where she held her son’s hand. “I don’t know, Helen.”
Jamie appeared in the doorway, and Helen motioned him into the room. “This is Jamie Evans. Jamie, this is Melinda and her kids, Andrea and Linc.”
Jamie squatted in front of Linc and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
The boy let go of his mother’s hand to shake with Jamie, and Helen saw his chest swell and his shoulders square. Her heart melted. Jamie had known exactly the right way to approach a boy who’d been abused and threatened by his father. He’d treated him like a man, shaking his hand and meeting him at his level.
Jamie stood up and smiled at the girl in Melinda’s arms. “Hey, Andrea. I’m Jamie.”
The girl buried her head against her mother’s shoulder. But she peeked out from behind her bangs, and when Jamie caught her eye, Andrea smiled at him. When Jamie grinned back, Andrea lifted her head from her hiding place.
“I know you want your kids close, Melinda” Jamie said in a quiet voice. “I understand why. But you could stand by the door and watch us almost the whole time. We’d be gone five minutes, tops. Maybe ten, if Andrea can’t decide which flavor she wants.”
“She wants blue,” Linc said. “Blue is her favorite flavor.”
Melinda looked at her son, who was tugging on her hand. Andrea nodded vigorously. “Blue.”
“I…I guess it would be okay. I’ll watch out the door.”
“Sounds good.”
Instead of reaching for either child, Jamie waited until Melinda let go of LInc’s hand. The boy stepped to Jamie’s side, and after a tiny hesitation, she handed Andrea to Jamie.
He settled the girl in his right arm, bouncing her up and down a few times, then reached for LInc’s hand. The boy didn’t hesitate to take it.
With an aching heart, Helen watched them leave. Jamie chatted to Linc and Andrea as they walked, and the kids both chattered back. Jamie was so good with kids. He deserved to have a bunch of his own.
He was so easy with Linc and Andrea – he must have nieces and nephews. They’d never talked about his family, Helen realized. He’d met hers. Spent an entire afternoon with them. But she’d been so focused on her own problems that she hadn’t taken the time to learn more about Jamie.
Vowing to correct that as soon as possible, she turned to Melinda. “I want to make a suggestion, Melinda. I don’t expect you to answer immediately, because it’s a big deal, but I’d like you to think about it.”
Melinda kept her eyes on Jamie and her kids until they disappeared into the store across the street. “Okay.”
“There’s a women’s shelter I’d like you to stay in. Just until the police find Doug and he’s locked up.” She glanced out the door, but Jamie and the kids were still in the store. Knowing Jamie, he’d keep them there as long as possible to give her a chance to convince Melinda.
“You can stay there as long as you need to. And they can help you, if you’d like to leave Chicago and start over somewhere else.”
She wasn’t going to be any more specific until she knew if it would be necessary. The women who ran the center needed anonymity and discretion to keep their operation safe. If Doug wasn’t found, they could talk about disappearing.
“Maybe…maybe that would be good,” Melinda said. “I’m scared all the time.”
Helen exhaled. “Great. I have their number on my phone. Do you think you can remember it?”
“Yes. I’ll remember.”
“Tell them you’re my client. I’ll make sure you and the kids get there.”
“Okay.”
There was resolve in Melinda’s voice. Helen relaxed as she limped into the inner office. Melinda wouldn’t have to worry about Doug. She’d be safe.
Helen heard Melinda behind her as she bent down for her tote bag and her phone. She’d just reached into the bag when the plywood door in the outer room slammed into the wall and heavy footsteps rushed toward them.
“Thought you could run away from me, didn’t you, bitch?”
Chapter 12
Oh, my God. Doug. He must have followed Melinda here. Helen sucked in a breath. Had he seen Jamie taking Linc and Andrea across the street? Were they okay?
“You, lawyer bitch. Stand up.”
Helen fumbled in one of the pockets of her bag and closed her fist around her pepper spray. Then she straightened and turned to face Doug.
He had a gun pointed at Melinda. The woman was sheet white and breathing heavily. Doug’s gaze bounced between his ex-wife and Helen. His hand shook, and sweat poured down his face. Was he high? Or just excited about killing her and his wife?
“What’s in your hand?” he demanded.
Helen shoved the cylinder of pepper spray up the sleeve of her suit jacket. “Nothing.” She held up her hands, praying the tube wouldn’t fall out. “What are you doing, Doug?” She tried to keep her voice calm. “You’re not in trouble.” A lie. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” Other than terrorize your ex and ram your car into my office. “But if you hurt Melinda, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”
“Trouble?” His hand stopped shaking and his voice was way too calm. Helen swallowed. The man who’d driven a car into her office had been out
of control. So had the guy who’d pushed her in front of a taxi. This Doug was steady. Determined. Much scarier than angry Doug. “My wife making me into a fool is trouble. Trouble is having my kids taken away from me.” His gaze ping-ponged between her and Melinda. “I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to get my kids back.”
“Put the gun down, Doug.” Helen managed to say in an even voice, as if she wasn’t scared to death. “Hurting Melinda isn’t going solve anything. Let’s talk about what you want.”
“What I want?” He turned the gun toward Helen. “I want her dead. Then I get the kids. You helped her. So you need to be dead, too, don’t you?”
Had Jamie seen Doug walk into her office?
It wouldn’t matter if he had, she realized, her stomach sinking. He didn’t know what Doug looked like. He might assume he was another client.
“Answer me,” Doug said, his voice eerily calm. He stepped around Melinda to get closer to Helen.
She let the tube of pepper spray slide into her palm. “I was doing my job, Doug. I represented my client.”
“You helped her steal my kids.”
Melinda was behind him now. Helen signaled the terrified woman with her eyes. Get out. Call the police.
Doug must have seen her and realized Melinda could escape. He spun around to face the woman who was backing away. “You’re not getting away from me again,” he said as he raised the gun.
Helen saw Doug tighten his grip on the gun. He was going to pull the trigger. She lunged for him, managing to jostle his arm just as the gun went off.
Melinda crumpled to the ground. Blood poured from her head and pooled on the floor beneath her. It clumped around the sawdust, making a red sludge smeared on the floor.
Doug spun around and aimed the gun at Helen. As she fumbled with the pepper spray, his fingers began to tighten again. Desperate, she kicked out with her boot and caught him in the knee.
He screamed and fell backward as he fired. The bullet came so close that Helen felt its heat on her arm. She leaped toward him, aimed the spray at his face and pushed the button. A fine mist settled on his face.
Love Me Page 9
