Alex reached for his beer instead of the phone. He’d tried to concentrate on the ebb and flow of the conversation, but his mind kept wandering to Tess. What was she doing? Was she scared, being alone for the first time since the attack? He should have insisted on staying home, but her determination to return to some semblance of normal life had gotten to him and on one level he agreed with her. It was the other level that was giving him problems. The one that wanted to lock her away.
Lock her away how? To keep her safe, or to keep her from walking away from you again?
“I promised I’d let her be,” he said to Tony, banishing the inner voice that lately wouldn’t leave him alone.
Tony edged in a little closer and lowered his voice. “Look, AJ, I know you never wanted to talk about it before and as your partner and friend, I respected that. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I’m damn glad you’re back together.” He looked away, clearly embarrassed, and grabbed his beer.
“Thanks, Blankenship. And thanks, too, for putting up with all my shit during those months.” It couldn’t have been easy for Tony to ride alongside him eight hours a day while he bitched and complained about everything
but
what bothered him.
“Hey, Juran, how’s the knee?”
“Strong enough to kick your ass, Harrison.” A few chuckled and some scowled. The older guys seemed to accept his presence, while the younger ones watched him warily. A month ago—hell, a week ago—that would have bothered him. Now he accepted it. He was a cop down to the marrow of his bones. He’d proven himself to most of these men, his superiors and more importantly, to himself. He didn’t need the younger men’s approval.
Someone’s cell phone rang and Alex’s gaze jumped to his silent phone.
Tony nudged his shoulder. “If you don’t call her, I will.”
Alex grabbed the phone and dialed the familiar numbers. He just needed to hear her voice, needed to know she was okay. That was all.
He put the phone to his ear, his hand over his other ear. After the fifth ring the answering machine kicked on and a sick feeling began to churn in his belly.
“Thank you for calling Tess’s Temptations. We’re not able to take your call right now. Please leave a detailed message and we will get back to you.”
Beeeep.
“Tess, honey, it’s me. Pick up.” He pulled his hand from his ear and drummed his fingers on the sticky bar. “Tess?” Someone fighting for bar space bumped his elbow. A loud burst of laughter drowned out Nickelback.
She’s probably up to her elbows in cheesecake batter. She’ll call back when she’s free.
“Sweetheart, call me back. Love ya.” He flipped the phone closed and set it on the bar, noting the time on the neon clock above the Budweiser sign. He’d give her fifteen minutes, then call back.
After ten minutes he couldn’t stand it any longer. This time the phone rang twice, indicating she hadn’t picked up the first message.
“Tess? Where the hell are you?” He tried her cell phone but the call went straight to voicemail. He jumped off the barstool and pulled out his wallet.
Tony appeared next to him. “What’s up?”
“Tess isn’t answering.” He threw a few dollar bills next to his beer and grabbed his coat.
“Shit, AJ, that doesn’t mean nothin’. She probably went out. Or maybe she’s in the can. She could’ve fallen asleep.”
“She promised she wouldn’t leave.”
Cool it, Juran. Tony’s right, she could’ve just fallen asleep.
But something told him she hadn’t.
“You’re overreacting, partner.”
Alex glared at Tony. “She was attacked in my apartment by a man who knew things he shouldn’t have. How would you react, Blankenship?”
Tony grabbed his arm at the same time he poked Upton on the shoulder. “Pay my tab.”
“You don’t have to go with me,” Alex said, pulling on his coat.
“Hell, yes, I do. We’re partners. If there’s trouble, we back each other up.”
Alex debated calling the cops, then figured he and Tony were as good as they could get. His house was only about five minutes from the bar. He made it home in three, Tony sticking to his tail the entire time.
When he turned down the street, the first thing he noticed was the empty space where Tess’s van was usually parked. The second thing he noticed was that the street light in front of their house had burnt out. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
He cut the engine and reached under his seat to pull out his Glock. Both he and Tony got out at the same time, Tony with his own weapon held tightly to his thigh. They met at the bottom of the driveway.
“Her van’s gone.”
“That doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Tony muttered, his gaze raking the area.
Alex started toward the house. When he reached the porch steps, Othello started barking. He inserted his key and turned the lock, then froze, his gaze swinging to Tony who watched his back.
“The door’s unlocked,” he whispered, slowly sliding his key out.
Tony pulled him to the side of the door. “I’ll go in first. You take my back.”
Alex shook his head. “No one’s in there. O wouldn’t be at the front door if someone was in there.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. That dog loves Tess. He’d either rip the guy’s throat out or die trying.”
Alex swung the door open and stepped in. Othello rushed him, his tongue hanging out, his tail wagging.
“Tess?” Alex strode through the living room and into the kitchen. A cake was cooling on the counter. A measuring cup tilted on its side sat next to the flour container and a mixing bowl filled with some sort of batter. The small light above the desk was the only light left on.
***
He could take her in the parking lot. By the time Juran figured out his precious wife was missing, it’d be too late.
Ah, the satisfaction of seeing Juran’s face when he realized his Tess had been taken right out from under him. He chuckled. That man needed to be taught a lesson. He needed to learn that he couldn’t go around ruining people’s lives.
He looked around the nearly empty grocery store. Excitement raced through him at the thought that he could have her tonight. No more waiting. No more dreaming of her.
But he hadn’t ruined Juran yet. He hadn’t exacted his revenge for Juran trashing his career and stepping in where he had no business being.
No, better to wait. Better to plan. Better to watch her for a little while longer.
She picked up three bags of chocolate chips, strolled through the frozen food and hesitated at the ice cream. His hands clenched at his sides and he had to control the urge to grab her now.
Not yet. Too soon. The anticipation about killed him, but if he waited, the pleasure would be all the more excruciatingly sweet.
Tess’s Temptations. She sure as hell knew what she was doing when she named her business. Tess’s
Sweet
Temptations. His temptation.
She paid for her chocolate chips and left the store, glancing nervously around as she hurried to her car. He hugged the shadows, pulling his dark hood over his head and followed.
He was taking a risk, getting too close, but he couldn’t resist. He had to get closer. Just a little. Not much. Definitely not enough to draw attention.
She stopped suddenly and looked in his direction. He slipped farther into the shadows. His hands, itching to grab her, clenched inside his jacket pocket. Not yet. She turned and unlocked her car door. He sprinted in the opposite direction, trying to outrace his urges. Not yet…not yet…not yetnotyetnotyet.
Chapter Seventeen
Tess rested her forehead on the steering wheel and took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She raised her head and searched her rearview mirror for the man in the hoodie.
Nothing. No one except her and the buzzing parking lot lights. Just like that her fear turned to anger. Damn it, she would
not
live her life in fear. She would
not
look over her shoulder every time she stepped out of the house and she would
not
view every man in a hooded sweatshirt as a potential attacker.
She’d faced the evil that day in Alex’s apartment. She’d fought back and she’d won. If she had to, she’d do it again.
Starting the engine, she looked around, half tempted to find the poor man who’d walked through the parking lot, ashamed she’d thought the worst of him.
Five minutes later, she turned onto her street. Alex’s pickup sat at an angle to the curb, his front tires on the snowy grass, Tony’s SUV parked behind it.
“Great.” Before she had time to take the keys out of the ignition, the driver’s side door of the van was yanked open.
“Where in the
hell
have you been?”
Grabbing her grocery sack, she slid out of the car. “Replacing the chocolate chips
you
ate.” She rounded the hood of the van and slapped the bag against his chest, forcing him back a step. He reached up and held it there. “You owe me ten bucks.”
“You went to the store for chocolate chips? After promising to stay inside?”
Tess put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I wouldn’t have had to break my promise if
you
hadn’t eaten all of my chips.”
He dropped his hand from his chest and the chips fell to the ground. “This is
my
fault?”
Her anger erupted, hot and heavy, drowning out the voice of reason. She knew it was the adrenaline still pumping through her system but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “You bet this is your fault. You could have told me you ate all the chips.” Suddenly the whole conversation and her anger went beyond baking ingredients. “My life was going great. I finally got this business off the ground. I was
proud
of the things I accomplished. Then you showed up—” she poked her finger into his chest, “—and everything went to hell. I’ve got people running through my backyard and spray painting my door and a man attacking me in your apartment…” She clamped her mouth shut, but it was too late. The hurtful, hateful words had already been spoken and there was no taking them back. A mask descended over his features until no emotion remained. “Alex—” She reached for him, but he took a step back,
“I think you made yourself perfectly clear,” he said. “No need to say more.”
Her hand dropped, along with her heart. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s been my experience that people usually tell the truth in times of anger.”
“Not in this case.”
Anguish flickered, then died in his gaze. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
Tess stared down at the ground. A bag of chips had broken open, the pieces scattered at her feet. She pushed one of the little brown dots with the toe of her boot until it blurred and she could no longer see through her tears.
The crunch of ice behind her had her pulling her hands up into her sleeves and sniffing the tears away.
“Now that I know you’re okay, I’m outta here,” Tony said.
She nodded and wiped her cold tears with the sleeve of her coat.
“I know this hasn’t been easy on you, Tess, but don’t forget, he did get shot and no matter how much he denies it, he’s afraid he may not be able to return to work.”
Tears of shame dripped down her cheeks as Tony drove away. Yes, her life had been different after Alex had moved out. Her business had flourished and she’d made a name for herself, but it’d been a hollow achievement. Her real happiness didn’t lie in cheesecakes or Boston cream pie, but with Alex.
She looked up at the sky. Her tears made the stars glow brighter, giving them a hazy, surreal look.
Ah, Tess. You’re such an idiot.
She gathered up her chocolate chips, leaving the broken ones behind. When she entered the house, Alex was going from room to room, checking the locks on the windows and doors, just like he’d done every night for the past several weeks.
Not knowing what to say or how to mend the breach she’d so carelessly created, she finished mixing her batch of cheesecake.
***
Tess stood at the window, watching Othello run in circles in the backyard, barking at a squirrel. When she and Alex had taken the Christmas tree down and stored the ornaments away, she hadn’t been able to pack Maggie’s. She held it in her hand, turning it around and around.
“What are you doing?”
She almost dropped the pink ball in her surprise. “Alex. You startled me.”
He glanced at the ornament. “What are you doing?”
“Thinking.” She looked down at her hands.
“About what?”
“About what I said last night.”
His expression was forbidding. He wasn’t allowing her to get close and it hurt that he was closing her out, but she didn’t blame him. She’d said some nasty, unkind things. Things she didn’t mean.
“Are you really sorry I’m back, Tess?”
“Oh, Alex.” Her heart ached for him. For them. For how she was always screwing it up and how they could never seem to move on. “Of course not. Maybe I am for the
way
you re-entered my life, but then I wonder, if you hadn’t been shot would we have patched things up?” She ran a hand through her hair. “I feel guilty for even thinking that. Of course I don’t want you hurt, but what would have happened if you hadn’t been hurt?”
“I like to think we would have found each other again.”
She would too, but the sad thing was they’d been so angry at each other that they probably would have lived the rest of their lives alone and mad.
“So you’re not angry I’m back? You don’t want me to leave?” For a moment, he looked more like a lost little boy than a hardened cop and Tess wanted to cry for the pain she’d caused.
“I want you to stay. I want us together again.”
His shoulders seemed to slump. “God, Tessie, so do I.”
She put the ornament on the table and walked into his waiting arms. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He kissed the top of her head. “So am I, but we’ll work it all out. Just have faith.”
The phone rang and Tess pulled away, reaching for the cordless lying next to the ornament. “Hello?”
“Hey, beautiful, how’s my girl?”