Home Is Where the Heat Is (32 page)

So Claire had told the computer genius about their unethical meeting, and he’d used the knowledge to gain illegal access to JT’s private information. The geeky bastard had some balls. “You know how to do that?”

“I learned. If I want to keep hackers out, I need to know how they get in.”

JT arched an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”

But his effort to redirect Genius failed. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“I’m not going to.” JT folded his arms over his chest.

“She’s hurting.”

The blow staggered him. “You saw her?”

“We work together, dumbass, of course I saw her.”

He leaned back against his desk and raked a hand through his hair. He’d spent the night in pain, clutching the ruby she’d tossed aside. “Why is she hurting? She’s the one who left me.”

Kurt scratched his head and paced. “I don’t know… I don’t understand all the details. I just came here to….” He stopped and shrugged.

JT took a step toward him. “You broke into the court’s computers and violated my privacy—for no reason?”
I should throw the dork out on his ass.

“She seems to want something she can’t have.” Kurt threw the declaration at JT like a weapon.

Hope lit his heart. “Me?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Us.”

His confidence dimmed. “You and her?”

“Wow, you are dense.” Genius smirked. “Both of us. She thinks that since her boss can make it work, we can too.”

JT winced. “I guess I should’ve told her this was a one-time thing.” He’d never said so because he’d be willing to do it again if she wanted him to, but he wouldn’t offer. She’d have to ask. He leaned back against his desk and rubbed his throbbing forehead.

“Yeah, that would’ve helped.”

He looked up at the exasperated nerd. “Did you expect more?”

“Not from you.” Kurt perched next to JT. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision for me. I went along with it because I thought it was my only chance to be with her.”

“I was trying to make her happy.” And he’d succeeded. They’d spent the following day reveling in all sorts of pleasures. Until he’d screwed up, according to her. “So why is she hurting?”

Kurt scratched his head. “If I had to guess—I have to guess because I’m even more confused now than before we talked yesterday—I think she’s feeling a little guilty.”

“I’m not.” He’d taken a hard-earned break from his demanding schedule, and he refused to believe he hadn’t deserved it.

“Me neither. I’d only fantasized about that stuff before.”

An unexplored idea clicked into JT’s brain. “She’s feeling guilty about the sex?”

“No, she kept saying it was the best sex she’s ever had. I think it goes beyond that.”

The confused arguments Claire had spouted at him came to mind.
It’s too much.
“I think I know.”

“What?”

He’d pushed it too far. “I upgraded our suite, thinking it would be a big romantic gesture.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

That’s what I’d like to know!
“Ya got me. Anyway, she flipped out. Told me I went overboard, then she left.”

Kurt stood and shouted, “Why didn’t you go after her?”

“Pipe down, Sherlock.” JT scowled and rubbed his hand over his face. “She told me not to. I’d done everything else wrong, so I figured I’d better listen to her. I guess that was wrong too.”

Kurt shook his head. “Claire was right. People are overrated. Stick to computers.”

JT laughed. “No shit, man. Is she still mad at me?”

“No. She’s confused. She kept telling me she didn’t know what she wanted, but I thought it was pretty obvious.” He shot a pointed glare at JT.

“Me? It’d better be me, because if she wants you, you’ll have to play me for her.”

The geek’s face brightened. “Pool?”

JT waved him off. “Hell no. I have better luck with casino games.”

“She won Roulette.”

“You’re right, she did.” He jammed his hands on his hips and recalled their contests. “I haven’t won a single fucking bet.”

Kurt laughed, then got serious and retook his seat on the desk. “I think you need to back off for a while. Give her time to sort things out.”

JT snarled at the man who’d planted his ass on his business. “Is that right?”

“I have no idea.” Genius adjusted his glasses. “I just don’t like seeing her torn up. I guess that’s why I came here. I didn’t know how to help her, so I thought maybe you could.”

“By giving her some space.”

He met JT’s gaze. “I think she’ll come after you if you do.”

JT shook his head and sank down next to his friend. “I don’t know about that.” She’d rejected his grand gesture, thrown the ruby he’s helped her choose back in his face, and left with specific orders for him not to pursue.

A heavy sigh rattled the geek. “I do. I know when I’m second best.”

“Now you sound like Claire.”
Maybe he’s good for her. Maybe I’m not.

“That’s why I know she needs you.” Kurt’s cell phone buzzed. “I gotta get back to work.”

JT nodded. “Thanks for coming by.”

A sad smiled touched his lips. “I had to… for Claire.”

They shook hands and parted ways, then JT dropped into the protesting chair and cradled his head in his hands.

I know she needs you.

He seriously doubted that. How could he be good for any woman? Every time things went his way, fate threw a monkey wrench at him and fucked it all up. And even when luck favored him, he eventually screwed up on his own.
Can’t do a damn thing right.
So he decided not to do anything at all.

***

JT rolled over and glared at the clock on his nightstand. The fuzzy red numbers slowly came into focus: 2:07. He’d gotten maybe an hour of sleep, then a persistent thought woke him and refused to be quiet.

She’ll come to you.

After Kurt left, he’d spent the rest of the day at the office catching up on paperwork. He’d stopped at the job site on his way home and walked through it, inspecting the work. Everything looked good. A couple of minor issues needed fixing, but he’d take care of that tomorrow.

He drove back to his big empty house and turned the heat up. Las Vegas’s desert warmth had been a welcome change. He popped some leftover pizza in the microwave then turned on the news. Blizzard warning for this weekend.
Great.
He’d have to spend the rest of the week protecting the job site.

But it would give him something else to focus on—a task to occupy his mind. All day long he’d been painfully aware of every second his phone didn’t ring.

He fumbled for it in the dark and clapped his hand over his eyes as the backlit screen blinded him. When he could see again, he checked the notifications. No missed calls, no voice mail, no texts.
If Claire’s coming to me, she’s taking her Goddamn time doing it.
Why did he listen to Genius anyway? What did the geek know about women? Why would she even bother coming back when—?

Holy fuck, my phone is ringing.

He grabbed it and accidentally bumped the silence button.
Shit!
But the call connected. “Hello?” His heart hammered as he waited for Claire’s sweet voice.

“This is Jim from Monarch Security. The fire alarm has been activated at 997 Commerce Drive. We’ve contacted the fire department.”

Jesus Christ, the same site?
“I’ll be right there.”

He leaped out of bed and scrambled for his clothes. His truck didn’t want to start in the cold, but he stepped on the gas and brought it to life. All the way there, he violated the speed limit, and arrived at the same time the police showed up. He ignored them and ran straight to the nearest firefighter.

“What happened?”

Thick black smoke stung JT’s eyes as he struggled to get inside. He held his breath as pain seared his racing heart. Half the building had been engulfed, but maybe he could save the rest.

“Stand back, sir.” The firefighter pushed him back toward the police.

An officer stepped up and grabbed JT’s arm. “Who are you? Are you the owner?”

He blinked at the man and tried to make sense of his questions. “No. I’m JT Luck, general contractor on this job.”
Not for much longer.

Another officer walked up and showed his partner something on his note pad. “This is the second fire at this site. The first one was ruled arson.”

“I know.” JT raked a hand through his hair. “I got the report today. Someone’s out to get me.”

“Any idea who?”

He scratched his head. A fire at another site, the one just after Thanksgiving, had been ruled accidental. JT had investigated and fired the contractor whose faulty work contributed to the cause. Martin Perkins had taken it well at the time, accepting responsibility and pleading for his job, but both he and the client refused to risk working with him. The terminated electrician had sent JT one last email begging for another chance, but he’d deleted it without replying.

“A disgruntled employee? I can think of one, but he never made any threats.” He turned and watched his life’s work burn. All of it, going up in smoke. The first fire had only damaged part of the building, but this time, the flames roared out of control and firefighters scrambled as the roof collapsed.

Had the bastard returned to finish the job? His head spun, groping for something to cling to, and ended up hanging from the officer’s collar. “How could this happen?”

The man pried JT’s hand off his jacket. “How’s your company doing, Mr. Luck?”

Again, JT collected his thoughts into some sort of order. “It was great until this started happening. The repair job on this project took a lot of time and money.”

“So you thought you’d burn it for the insurance.”

Swirling blackness knocked him back a step. “What?”

The officer in charge flipped through his partner’s notes. “A witness saw a truck similar to yours and a man matching your description here last night around six p.m.”

“Well yeah.” That made perfect sense. “I wasn’t able to get out here during the day, so I stopped to look at it on the way home.”

“Where were you between the hours of midnight and two a.m.?”

“At home, asleep.” Alone. He’d wanted to call Claire, but Kurt’s prediction had kept him from doing it.

“Can anyone verify that?”

Oh dear God.
“No.” His heart hammered and his stomach churned.

The second officer dangled a pair of handcuffs while the first one grabbed JT’s shoulder and pinned him against the car. “You’re under arrest on suspicion of arson.”

“Are you kidding me? I didn’t do this!”

“You have the right to remain silent.”

JT immediately clammed up, his mind racing. He’d call his lawyer first, then Claire.

No. I don’t want her to see me like this.

The officer forced him into the back seat and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked. JT pressed his face against the window, his panting breath fogging up the cold glass and mercifully dulling his view of the roaring flames destroying his life.

Chapter 27

Claire rolled over and blinked at the clock on her dresser. Five a.m. exactly. What had woken her up? Getting to sleep had stolen a good three hours; she couldn’t afford to lose more. Her eyes drifted shut then snapped open when her alarm screeched at six.
Good lord, what a long night.

She slapped the snooze button and curled up in a ball in an effort to keep the cold day from invading. She’d told Kurt she needed time to figure out what she wanted, but she knew. Kurt adored her, and according to Will, she needed that from a man. But JT understood her whims, encouraged her wild fantasies, drove her crazy in all the best ways. There’d never been a competition for his affection. She’d won it the moment they met.

So why didn’t she call him last night?

Because calling him would put an end to the one wild fantasy she still hoped to live out. She couldn’t quite let go of Kurt, so she wrapped the idea of having both men snug around her heart. But as she pondered how to make their relationship work in everyday life, practical details piled on and smothered her dreams. Would she and Kurt live in JT’s house and pay him rent? Would they share one bedroom? What happened when one of them wasn’t in the mood?

She flung the blanket back and let reality shock her awake. Yes, it worked for Alex, but lightning didn’t strike twice, did it? She’d have to research that.

Her snooze alarm violated her reverie. Six fifty-four.
Fudge!
She ran to the shower, got dressed in a hurry and grabbed breakfast on the way to work.

A new case file waited on her desk. She flipped it open and read the police report. Probable arson fire at 997 Commerce Drive, second incident. Suspect Jared Tucker Luck arrested at the scene.

Jared Tucker… JT!

She choked on her coffee, spewing it all over the document. “Oh my God!” She grabbed a tissue and patted the spill so as not to blur the writing, then read it again. He’d been taken in and questioned. No word on whether the police were still holding him.

Second incident. The first fire had occurred in December, just before New Year’s. The night they met! He’d been with her when the alarm company called. She could vouch for him. But did he have an alibi for last night? Was he alone?

Or could he have been with someone else?

She shook off that thought and searched her purse for her phone. One missed call, 4:59 a.m. He’d called her while she slept.
That’s what woke me up!
Why didn’t she check
? Oh my God, he must think I hate him!

She dialed his number, but her call went straight to voicemail. “JT, I’m so sorry I missed you. I read the case file this morning. Call me!” She sobbed as the phone slipped from her hand and thumped on her desk.

Had JT burned down his job site? Why would he do it? She searched the report again and found that the police listed his motive as insurance fraud. Too obvious. Had they investigated him at all? Gotten to know the real JT and realized he could never destroy the work he loved?

Her desk phone rang, and she snatched the receiver. “Hello?”