Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “Damn you, Burnett. Now look what you’ve done.” She swiped at her eyes.
She stood, dragged the lounge chair closer to the bed and plopped into it. “Now go to sleep. You need your rest.”
He searched her eyes. “You won’t sneak out while I’m asleep? I’ve got a feeling those pain meds they gave me are going to work really well.”
“I’ll be right here,” she promised. “All night.”
They watched each other until his eyes grew too heavy and he drifted off to sleep. Then Jess watched him. She had never seen him look vulnerable. It terrified her. Tomorrow he would be better, stronger.
And Spears would be a world away.
Saturday, July 24th, Howard Johnson’s Inn, 9:00 a.m.
Good thing Jess had bought hangers, too. The hotel only provided six.
She’d tucked her suitcase over to one side and made a nice neat row of shoes on the rest of the floor space in the closet. After a trip to the one-hour cleaners yesterday, that had actually taken three hours, the suits and one dress she’d brought with her when she left Virginia twelve days ago hung in another nice, neat row.
Tomorrow she would have to go shopping for more work clothes and other things she would need.
Jess closed the sliding door and stared at her reflection. Vaguely she wondered if management would be upset if she removed the mirrored doors. She supposed at some point she would come to appreciate them. Mostly they reminded her that she was getting old. Needed to workout.
“Tomorrow,” she promised her reflection.
Her cosmetics were assembled in order of necessity on the bathroom counter. Luckily, it was good-sized with plenty of working room.
She padded to the desk. The handy-dandy shredder she’d picked up had done better than she’d expected. Shredded the photos as well as the papers. Made a mess on the carpet when it overflowed. She should clean that up but she didn’t want to touch anything related to Spears again.
It had been more than forty-eight hours since she’d gotten that text.
Whatever he was doing or planning, she couldn’t live her life wondering if he was coming for her. She had to move on.
She stared at the tiny pieces of the Player’s case scattered on the floor around the shredder. Maybe she’d just let the maid get it.
Jess smiled. She had a maid. The woman didn’t speak a word of English but she smiled a lot. And Jess didn’t have to make the bed or scrub the toilet.
She could get used to that.
Lori had helped her find this place. She’d gone to Dan’s with her, helped her gather her stuff and bring it here. Not that Jess had much stuff. Mostly she’d needed Lori for support. Jess had worried that she would give in if Dan tried to talk her into staying.
She laughed. Lori had been held hostage for two and a half days and she was helping Jess. She and Lori made quite a team.
Jess dropped onto the end of the bed. Dan was disappointed she wouldn’t stay with him or Lori until she found a permanent place. But she needed some space. Last night she’d awakened in a panic. Had to walk it off around the pool. She’d dreamed that Spears had showed up at her door with one of those damned Peace Lilies.
A rap on her door yanked her from the disturbing replay of the dream.
She pushed to her feet and went to the window. Gant. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be on his way back to Quantico.
Jess opened the door. “Morning, Gant.”
“Morning, Harris.”
She nodded. “You headed to the airport?” If so, he’d taken the long way around town.
“Wentworth left yesterday. I stayed for Agent Miller’s memorial service. But it’s time for me to be on my way.”
Jess nodded. “Have a safe trip.”
Gant looked around, hands tucked in his trouser pockets. “I want to apologize to you, Harris. I was wrong to let anyone think you were the reason the Spears case went south. I was wrong and I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. What happened here. . . shouldn’t have.”
“Nothing we can do about that now.” Okay, say the rest. “But, in retrospect, I understand you did what you had to do.”
He nodded. “I’ll keep you briefed on any updates we get on Spears.”
“I appreciate that.”
He looked her in the eye then. “I also wanted you to know that your job is waiting if you ever decide to return to the Bureau.”
Funny, but the offer was in no way appealing. “Thank you but I’ll be staying here. My family is here.” Lily and her husband and kids would be home tomorrow. “This is where I need to be.”
Gant nodded. “I can understand that. Birmingham PD is lucky to have you.” He stuck out his hand. “If you ever need anything, just call.”
Jess took his hand and gave it a shake. “Thank you. I’ll remember that.”
Gant walked away. She watched, grateful that they could be friends again. That was another funny thing. All these years Gant had been the closest thing to a friend she had, but actually they were just work friends. Not personal friends. Jess couldn’t remember when she’d last had a friend like that. Lori was her friend now, on and off the job.
And there was Gina Coleman. She’d helped Jess out considerably with that leak about her resignation. She and Gina could be friends.
Jess considered how gorgeous the woman was and her thing for Dan.
Maybe not.
Jess closed the door and picked up her bag. She had a lot to do today. Check out some apartments, maybe drop by her new office. She’d contacted a realtor yesterday about selling her house in Virginia. She’d mailed the keys and, for a fee, the realtor would have her things packed and put in storage. The furnishings could go with the house. And of course there was the repainting that had to be done in the living room.
The possibility that Spears had touched any of her stuff was reason enough to never want to see it again. The personal belongings she would need to go through at some point.
Just not now.
Eventually she would find a place here. Something small and private. Away from the noise and traffic of downtown. . . away from Dunbrooke Street and Dan.
Her sister was annoyed that Jess wouldn’t move in with her but one good thing had come of this whole ordeal. Lily’s husband had decided that moving to Nashville was out of the question. That would put them an additional three hours away from the colleges the kids would be attending and this nightmare had made Blake realize that his family meant more to him than a salary increase.
Maybe two, Jess supposed. She had decided that life was too short to give everything to her career.
From now on, she was taking some time for herself.
The job was no longer going to control her destiny.
She stared at her left hand and the band she still wore. She rubbed it around and around for the last time. Hesitation slowed her, but she slid it off and tossed it into the drawer of the bedside table. She closed the drawer and effectively closed that chapter of her life.
She drew a deep breath. Felt a sense of freedom. From her past. From her regrets. From a lot of things.
Maybe she’d just go shopping today. Why not? She had at least one credit card that wasn’t maxed out.
Just as she reached the door another knock sounded.
She checked out the window. Dan. Her pulse tripped as she opened the door. Her knees went a little weak with the way he stared at her. For a man who’d been stabbed and sliced a couple days ago he looked damned good.
“What brings you to the low-rent district on Saturday morning?”
“I came by to take you to breakfast.” Those blue eyes swept over her, returning to meet hers with something fierce in their depths. Hunger. And not for eggs and pancakes.
The sound of his voice flowed over her senses, made her warm and shivery inside. God, he looked good. Beneath the short-sleeved tan crew neck that muscled chest was marred and bandaged, but that knowledge did nothing to diminish how strong he looked. The jeans were worn soft and well-fitted to his body. The memory of the way he’d kissed her that night in his kitchen made her a little giddy with her own fierce hunger that had nothing to do with breakfast either.
But he was her boss now. She lifted a shoulder, let it fall. “I was going shopping. I need stuff.”
He grinned and leaned against the door frame. “You’d need less stuff if you’d continue staying with me.”
The desire that glittered in his eyes was almost her undoing. “I can’t stay with you, chief. Not if I ever hope to gain the respect of the other deputy chiefs, not to mention the detectives in my unit. And we won’t even go into all the legal crap.”
He reached out, toyed with a wisp of her hair. “Is this the way it’s going to be? I know what I felt the other night. . . I know what you wanted.”
“We can’t always have what we want, Burnett.” She had to get the situation under control. Her body was humming with need. . . she wanted him. Damn she wanted him. Ten years. . . they hadn’t been together in ten long years.
He straightened, took a step inside.
Her breath caught. She backed up a step.
“Our private business is just that, private.” He took another step. This time he closed the door behind him.
Jess stood her ground. “Is that what this is? Business?”
He wrapped his fingers around the strap resting on her shoulder and lifted her bag away, dropped it to the floor.
“I think you know the answer to that.” His hands molded to her face and he leaned down to kiss her.
She encircled his wrists and pulled free. “If we’re going to do this. . . there have to be rules.”
He dropped his hands to his sides. “All right. Tell me your rules.”
“First and foremost, just because we have sex doesn’t mean you own me.”
He rolled his eyes. “This is not the same as when we were kids, Jess. I think I’ve matured a little since then. Hopefully we both have.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Are you listening or are we finished already?”
He held up his hands. “Okay. Okay. Rules.”
“You will not do that whole protector thing. I am a deputy chief in your department, you will treat me with the same respect and confidence you do Black or any of the others.”
“You wouldn’t have the job if I didn’t respect you and have confidence in your ability, Jess.”
“Do you hover over Deputy Chief Black and try to protect him?”
Dan said nothing.
“Do you agree to that rule or not?”
“Agreed.”
“Third, this. . . thing between us. . . it’s about sex.” She forced the words past the lump in her throat. “This does not constitute a relationship. Agreed?”
“Wow.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I think I’ve lost interest now.” He glared at her. “Why is it you have to make everything so damned complicated? Can’t we just let things take their natural course?”
Lost interest? Like hell. Her fingers threaded into his hair and she kissed him with all the repressed anger and passion, need and desperation that had been mounting inside her for days. She showed him with her mouth that she could get him plenty interested in about five seconds. She wanted him right now. No more ignoring her personal needs.
She kicked off her sandals. He toed off his sneakers. Slowly they peeled off each other’s clothes. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. Would he still find her body sexy now that she was over forty?
No matter that his chest and abdomen were covered with bandages, he still looked amazing. She glided her palms down those muscular arms. . . walked all the way around him admiring the lean, power of his body.
He molded his hands to her breasts, traced her ribcage down to her waist and then pulled her close. “How can you be more beautiful now,” he murmured against her ear, “than you were at seventeen the first time we made love?”
Emotion burned her eyes. “You need your eyes checked, Burnett.”
He cradled her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “The only thing I need checked is my head for letting you get away the first time.”
She pressed her finger to his lips. “Shh. Remember rule number three.”
He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed.
Her body curled around his and he settled fully between her thighs. There was no need for all that foreplay required back when they were crazy teenagers. Their bodies meshed skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat, he filled her completely. . . and that was the perfect starting place.
Felt like home. . . where she had always belonged.
At least until Monday morning when she became Deputy Chief Jess Harris again and he became her boss.
But they had nearly forty-eight hours before that happened.
Unless
some freak took a hostage or there was a heinous murder. . .
Dan tangled his fingers with hers and braced their arms on the pillow above her head. He nuzzled her neck with his lips, trailed kisses along her skin, and then he whispered such sweet words that she forgot all about psychos and killers and everything else beyond this moment.
“I’ve missed you, Jess.”
She smiled. “Missed you, too.”