“You’re wearing this from now on.” He dug something out of his jeans’ pocket. A flash of something metallic fell from a silver chain, dangling in front of her.
“Is that—” She blinked. “Is that a key?”
Jordan nodded. “It’s for the apartment across the hall. If you ever feel unsafe going to yours for any reason, you go to that one. Let yourself in, whether I’m there or not. Don’t hesitate. Always follow your gut.” He stared at her. “Promise?”
The key caught one of the lights and glinted. Emotions swamped her. All of them, all at once.
“Promise me, Vanessa.” His voice was firm despite the hint of worry in his expression.
“I promise,” she whispered, and gasped softly as he dropped the chain around her neck, the weight of the key settling between her breasts.
“You’re always safe with me,” he murmured, his lips brushing her ear so only she could hear. In one smooth movement, he straightened, grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the table, and headed for the door.
He paused before he opened it, turning toward Natalie and gesturing to the pineapple. “She doesn’t need that. Her kitty already tastes like sugar.” Then the door clicked open and shut behind him.
Comically slow, Natalie turned to face Vanessa, her jaw unhinged, and her eyes huge with disbelief. After a brief silence, she said, “You’re having his babies, right?”
“Stop it.” Vanessa laughed, smacking her cousin’s shoulder, but her burning cheeks betrayed her.
“Omigod, you want to! I can totally see it.”
Dissolving in a fit of giggles, they collapsed against each other in a hug.
When Natalie drew back, tears of laughter streamed down her cheeks. “Ness, you sly little fox.” She dabbed her eyes with a napkin, then threw it at Vanessa. “You let him go down on you? When? And why didn’t you immediately text me?”
Vanessa’s face hurt from smiling so hard. “Last night, and it all happened very quickly. I was going to tell you when I saw you next, I swear.”
“Swearing isn’t good enough. I need to know these things. I live vicariously through you, remember?” Gaspingfor breath, Natalie leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach. “Oh, laughing that hard was good. I wouldn’t have pegged the big guy with a sense of humor.” Her expression turned serious. “Wait, have you two tried any pegging yet, because I’ve always been curious?—”
Vanessa snatched a banana from the fruit bowl and threw it at her cousin, who caught it in another fit of laughter. “Stop it. We have a lot of work to do today, so be serious.”
“Okay, serious,” Natalie said, peeling the banana, but turning her full attention on Vanessa. “Do you want to talk about the not so good parts of what happened last night, yet?”
Vanessa sighed. What was there to say? Natalie knew the gist. She didn’t really feel like digging deeper right now. “Not really.”
“Alright,” her cousin said. “Then tell me how you’re planning on walking away from that god of a man when you go to New York?” She took a bite of the banana. “He just gave you a key,Vanessa.”
Studying the glint of silver resting between her breasts, she picked up the key. It wasn’t anything special. Just a standard apartment key, similar to hers. Technically, it was Sean and Ivy’s key, since Jordan was living there temporarily, but it meant everything to her.
No one had ever gone to these lengths to make her feel safe. It was both exhilarating and disconcerting. Natalie was right. She was supposed to leave in a few days. The comeback show of her career was in just eight days. She planned to take the wild successes of tonight and start over, like a pop star dropping the album after a long hiatus.
Instead, her stomach held a knot of dread. Part of it was the stalker, sure. It would’ve been so easy if it had been Kurt.This whole nightmare would be over by now, but instead they still had no leads on who was pursuing her.
The dread twisting inside her had everything to do with leaving Jordan. She had no idea how she’d faced that, or if they’d even talk about it. Surely, she wasn’t alone in these new feelings?
A scream rang through the apartment, coming from Natalie. Vanessa flew off her chair. Beside her, Natalie jumped onto hers.
The door slammed open, and Dex burst in, gun drawn, his body coiled in an alert stance.
“Get down!” he shouted as he entered the apartment searching.
“The rat!” Natalie pointed at Nigel, who sat frozen in the middle of the carpet, the whites of his eyes showing, his ears tucked way back.
“What—” Dex scanned the room until his gaze fell on Nigel.
Vanessa doubled over in laughter. “Holy hell, Natalie, you nearly gave us a heart attack. That’s not a rat. That’s Nigel.” She gave her cousin a shove, nearly toppling her off the chair. “Dramatic much?”
Dex tucked his gun back into his holster, chest heaving. “Do you have any idea what I thought was happening in here? I thought someone snuck in and was trying to kill you. You scream bloody murder because of a rabbit?”
