Jackson knew exactly what he was doing to her. He had to. Jenna realized Blaine and Trista were in a serious conversation at the moment even though she had no clue what anyone had said since Jackson began his maddening caress on the back of her neck.
It was wrong to think it, but Jenna wished everyone else would hurry up and go home. She’d say goodnight to her friends. Maybe think of some reason to keep Jackson there. Soft music. A few candles. They could finish that kiss that they’d started.
Of course, it was what would come next that sent a terrified shiver down her spine.
“What do you think about that?” Maureen asked.
Jenna realized that the question had been directed to her. “About what?”
Trista shot her a questioning look. “About the phone records, Jen. How do you explain those?”
“I don’t know. There are too many calls to be coincidence,” Jenna replied.
Blaine nodded, a sad look in his eyes. “I know. It looks bad. If only there hadn’t been a problem with the security system, I wouldn’t have needed to keep calling to check on things.”
“Whoa! Hold it right there.” Maureen’s tone let everyone know she was displeased. “What security problems? Why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?”
He shrugged. “It didn’t seem like a big deal. There were so many false alarms over the past several months I thought it most prudent to have the alarm company contact me instead of phoning the police right away.” With a shake of his head he added, “The fines start to add up after the first couple of times the police get dispatched for nothing.”
Jenna realized this could be the break they’d been searching for. “Wait a minute, Blaine. I went over your cell phone bill with a fine-tooth comb. I didn’t see a single incoming call on the night in question. How did the alarm company reach you?”
“Except for that night, they would always phone. For that one night I asked that they send text messages instead.”
Jackson’s hand went still on her neck. “Why?”
“It was our anniversary,” Trista said. “I’m guessing he didn’t want me to know about the problems at the club.”
Collin was puzzled. “Why?”
Maureen flashed a cagey smile. “I believe it had something to do with Trista telling him that if he couldn’t forget about the club for one night and pay attention to her that they were through.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t I know about that?”
Trista ignored her and turned on Maureen. “I can’t believe you just announced my personal business to everyone like that.”
“Trista…” Maureen began.
Trista jumped off the couch. “Don’t ‘Trista’ me. The only reason you even know about that is because you walked in while I was on the phone.” She shook her head and Jenna realized her ears were the color of tomatoes. “I’m done for tonight.”
Everyone watched in stunned silence as Trista stalked out of the room and slammed the door. For perhaps the first time since Jenna had known her, Maureen was speechless. Finally, Jackson broke the silence.
“So, uh, Blaine. Who all knew about the problems with the alarm?”
He shrugged. “Everybody who worked at the club knew.”
“It’s possible whoever is trying to frame you did something to set off the alarm so you’d have to call the club and give credibility to their story,” Jenna mused.
“I don’t know. The alarm has been giving us trouble for a long time.”
“That could mean they planned this well in advance so that you wouldn’t think anything of it when you got so many messages in one night. It’s possible the alarm was purposely tampered with from the beginning,” Collin offered.
“Uh, sure. Anything’s possible.” Blaine was distracted when he spoke. Rising to his feet he said, “I need to go check on Trista. This whole thing is taking its toll on her.”
After a minute or two, Collin also rose. “Was there anything else we needed to go over tonight, Jackson?”
He shook his head. “No. We can talk in the morning.”
“Alright. I guess I’ll see you guys around. Unless…” Collin knelt down and whispered what must have been a very naughty suggestion in Maureen’s ear, based on the look that passed through her eyes.
No sooner than Collin had righted himself, Maureen jumped up, announced she was exhausted and was going to call it a night. From the spring in her step as she followed Collin out of the condo, Jenna was certain that exhaustion wasn’t the right word to describe Maureen’s current condition.
Jackson turned to Jenna. “Well. They were about as subtle as a marching band.”
“I know, right?”
Jenna hadn’t been aware of it because of the attention she’d focused on the new information about the alarm, but Jackson’s hand was still on the back of her neck. Now that no one else was in the condo to distract her, Jenna was very much aware of his nearness. He was about to kiss her again and, if he did, she would be a goner.
She jumped up with more force than she’d needed and began to collect pizza boxes and paper plates. “I need to get all of this cleaned up or it will drive me crazy all night.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Jackson said, helping her carry everything into the kitchen.
Jenna hadn’t been looking at him when he’d said it, but she was sure he’d have that damn sexy, mischievous grin on his face. It was just as well he couldn’t see her face since his comment caused her cheeks to blush. She tried to busy herself with things in the kitchen for as long as she could. Despite how much she was attracted to Jackson, now that they were alone again, things felt awkward to her.
Jackson was leaning against the door to the kitchen, blocking her in, when she turned to face him. One look into those intense blue eyes told Jenna what was on his mind. His grin did little to calm her nerves.
“So,” he began, his tone casual, “What do you want to do now?”
Jenna was clueless as to how she was supposed to answer that question. She couldn’t say she wanted to move this conversation into the bedroom. Then again, anything else she might say would sound contrived. Of course, she hadn’t known him all that long so a part of her was screaming to slow down. Too bad, that was such a small part.
“I, uh…” Jenna stammered, looked away, saw the counter, remembered the way his body felt against her and blushed. She didn’t think she could remember a time that she’d been this nervous.
“I get it,” Jackson said. “I know what you want.”
Because she didn’t even know what she wanted, she was startled enough by his response to look up at him. Jackson advanced on her and backed her up against the wall, boxing her in by placing a hand against the wall at either side of her. Jenna fought to control her ragged breathing as she prepared herself for the raw passion of his kiss.
Instead of kissing her, Jackson moved his lips to her ear and whispered, “We don’t have to rush this.” He pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “Another night.” He brushed a gentle kiss against her lips, then went home.
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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