Ever.
“Forget about Kasper,” I tell her. “At least for the night. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company, okay?”
“Okay,” Jami sighs, and I lean in to kiss her, drawing my hand up and down her bare arm, making her shiver with pleasure. Jami moans a beautiful, sexy sound that puts me on edge, nearing the brink. I cover her mouth with mine, tasting the slight tang of huckleberry wine on her lips. Her body brims with heat beneath my own, and I want to take her right here and right now.
I push Jami’s body into the couch and slip my tongue between her lips and kiss her hard, until Jami squirms with desire beneath me. She takes my face between her fingers and holds me there, captive, until we melt into one person, one being. With one hand, I reach for the button on her pants and undo it, feeling her quiver beneath me. I pull the jeans from her legs, exposing red-lace panties that invoke my most primal desires. Then, I pull the t-shirt from over her head, balling up the fabric to toss it aside. She has a matching red bra, and the muscles in my jaw jump as I admire her half-naked body.
“You’re beautiful,” I whisper, trailing my fingers down Jami’s body until she’s squirming again, hot beneath my touch. She brings my face down to kiss me hard, slipping her tongue between my lips to explore my mouth. Fuck, she tastes so good. A groan escapes me, and Jami’s hips rise to meet mine. As we kiss, her free hand unbuttons the slacks around my waist, and she helps me slide them off. My cock jumps free, hard and ready for her, and Jami’s soft lips curl around my shaft, teasing me, driving me wild. I lace my fingers against the back of her head and groan aloud. Jami pulls back and teases the tip of my penis with her tongue, then she smiles up at me.
“Let’s move this to the bedroom.”
19
JAMI
By the time Friday finally arrives, I feel like the week has dragged on for months. My work day is shorter than usual, so I run some errands before stopping by the apartment that evening to see Tara and Maddy.
“I start the child care job on Monday,” Tara tells me excitedly as she pours both of us a warm cup of coffee. She sits down at the table across from me, practically giddy with excitement. “I haven’t had a job since I married Kasper,” she says, taking a sip of her drink. “I forgot how much I missed it, not to mention the feeling of independence from making my own money.”
In the living room, Madison is curled up in a lounge chair, a teddy bear under one arm and a Dr. Seuss book in the other. She’s smiling as she reads, a true, carefree smile that I hadn’t seen on the girl before.
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell Tara, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. “I think leaving was the best decision you could have ever made.”
Tara grins, then gets up to add a splash of creamer to her mug. “I texted Ely this morning,” she says, and then lowers her voice so Maddy can’t overhear us. “We have a plan to meet on Monday so I can tell him what I know about Kasper’s dirty work. I think it’s really going to help nail him down.”
“That’s perfect.” I stand to rinse my empty mug in the seat and then gather up my purse to leave them to their weekend. “Keep me updated, okay? And have a wonderful first day at work.” I muss Maddy’s hair on the way out the door, and the little girl looks up briefly from her book to wave and smile at me. I wait out in the hallways until I hear Tara lock the deadbolt behind me, then I drive home, back to my own apartment this time, because I haven’t been there in a week. It’s about ten, and Ely is working late, so I take the opportunity to head home and check on things before we meet back at his house later.
As I climb the stairs to the third floor and step up to my door, a sudden shiver of apprehension crawls up my spine. I pause mid-step, staring at the front door, but nothing at all seems out of the ordinary. It’s not until I reach for my key and stick it in the lock that I realize something … it’s already unlocked. The knob gives under my slight turn. Did I lock it before I left last weekend?
Yes, youalwaysdo.
Right?
My fingers begin to tingle as I push the door open, still standing on the other side of the threshold. Something seems off.Feelsoff. I poke my head into my living room, holding my breath, listening for anything that could explain the fear pulsating through my body.
There is nothing. Only silence.
I slowly reach into my back pocket for my cell phone, keeping it clutched in my fingers. It’s not much of a weapon, but having it makes me feel better, anyway. I dial 911 into the keypad but wait to hit Send.
I step through the door and pause, looking around. Everything is just as I’ve left it, not a single item out of place. I hold my breath again and listen only to the sound of the ticking grandfather clock down the hallway, the one I’ve always hated so much but never could rid myself of, courteously of my dead grandmother.
“Get a grip, Jami,” I mutter, but that unrealistic fear is still flowing through my veins. I close the front door behind me and step further into my apartment, eyes darting from the walls to the floor to the counters and back again, trying to find something, anything at all, that is out of place. I walk to my bedroom and check the closet. Then under the bed. Nothing.
Not a single thing is different.
Walking back out into the living room, I glance down at my cell phone and dial Ely. I don’t know what I want, but I do know that I need to hear his voice.
20
ELY
“Ely? Something is wrong.” Jami sounds breathless when I answer the phone, and a tint of fear poisons her voice.
“What’s happening, baby? Is everything okay?”
“I think someone has been in my house,” Jami whispers and my heart feels like it’s plummeting to the bottom of my stomach. Hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and my body shudders involuntarily. “Tell me what’s going on, sweetheart.”
“Everything looked fine when I got home,” Jami says. “But someone’s been in here. I can tell.” She’s whispering still, as though worried she might attract the attention of someone dangerous, whoever she thought broke in.
