Mine Until Dawn (16 page)

She lifted her chin and fibbed. “I don’t know why.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” He closed the car door and took a step toward her. “I’m so sorry.”

Jade took one away from him. “Don’t. If you touch me I’ll…I’ll….” She shook her head. “I’m not strong enough to deal with this.”

An incredulous look crossed his face. “What are you talking about? You’re the strongest woman I know. Yesterday would have been too much for most women, yet you hung in there with me. You were awesome.”

She gave him a dubious look. “You’re just saying that to placate me.”

“No, I’m not.” Vince took a tentative step toward her.

Jade tried to move, but her sandaled feet stayed rooted. He closed the gap between them and bent his head to study her face. She stared back at him, unsure of what to expect.

“I’m not used to sharing anything about myself with people, but I promise to try with….” A car pulling up for gas drowned some of his words. “Please. Just be patient with me.”

The sincerity of his words, the gentle look in his eyes caused a buttery sensation in the center of her chest. She couldn’t take her eyes off him—the chiseled features, the gray eyes filled with hope. Maybe it was time for her to start trusting again and stop being so skittish.

“Okay. I promise to be more patient,” Jade said.

He cupped her cheek, dipped his head and gave her the gentlest of kisses.

CHAPTER 12

Jade closed the cell phone and sighed. She really should buy a new cell phone and stop borrowing Vince’s. She’d even given his number to her mother. Much good it did her. Her mother wasn’t returning her calls or text messages. Knowing Estelle, she was probably having so much fun she switched off her cell phone so no one would disturb her.

Maybe it was time she took this a step further. As soon as she got home, she’d call the offices of Royal World Cruises and have them locate her. Her mother was aboard one their ships.

Having made that decision, Jade felt much better. She looked into the rearview mirror and shook her head. Vince, in his rented compact SUV, was still tailing her despite her objections. She was convinced Hudson and his boss had moved on once they found nothing at her place, but Vince thought otherwise. He could be so stubborn but at the same time sweet.

A dreamy smile settled on her lips as she replayed their earlier conversation. She had no business feeling giddy just because he had promised to be more open, but after being married to a liar, it was refreshing to get some honesty from a man. Granted she hadn’t appreciated Vince’s one-nighter proposal, but he hadn’t sugar-coated it, his needs or what he could not offer her. That was yesterday. Today was a new day, and the romantic in her hoped he’d want more.

She
wanted more. No, she deserved more, and for once, she refused to take a back seat. Clearing her mother’s name in connection with the missing statue was her first priority, but making a few of her fantasies come true was a close second.

Could she survive making love with big, gorgeous Vince Knight? Of course she could. She was a grown woman now, and grown women handled flings with aplomb, not agonized over what-ifs.

Yet she couldn’t stop her heart from yearning for more. Vince was a fascinating man, and given a chance, she could fall for him faster than a ton of bricks. Jade shook her head. She was such a big-time ninny. A fraud. It didn’t matter how often she told herself she shouldn’t confuse sex with love, flings with relationships, or that the man in question had openly declared he was only after a brief affair, her heart still ached for more.

For a moment, she concentrated on driving, her gaze sweeping the gated residential homes with their perfect lawns and high-fences lining the road without much interest. She wasn’t leaving for Dana Point until tomorrow, so it was reasonable to assume she and Vince would be spending the night at his place—sharing her bed or his, or…oh, it didn’t matter where they ended up as long as they were together.

Jade slowed down as she entered Wild Orchard Terrace, the sub-division by the golf course where she’d bought her perfect, quaint home. Not so perfect now it had been burglarized. Once again, she glanced at Vince’s car. There were a few cars behind him, but none was Hudson’s truck, thank goodness.

She turned into her street and her heart dropped. Faith’s flaming-red Camry occupied half of her short driveway. Knowing her cousin, she’d already seen Vince’s convertible in her garage and had a load of questions to throw Jade’s way. Being grilled was the last thing she needed now.

Jade parked beside the Camry and jumped out of her car. She hurried past the security company’s truck, the cleaning crew’s van and pick-up packed with broken furniture. Vince’s car pulled up at the curb.

“Faith’s here,” she said without a preamble when he rolled down his window.

Concern flashed in his eyes. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Oh yes. Explaining the break-in won’t be, but your car is another matter. I can offer her a plausible explanation as long as she doesn’t see you.” Jade followed Vince’s gaze to her next-door neighbor, who had stepped off her porch, her curious gaze locked on them. The nosey woman would want to know what was going on. A few more neighbors working on their gardens or watching their kids also glanced their way and nodded when Jade caught their eyes. She knew the activity at her house would generate interest, just not this much.

Jade sighed and turned to Vince. “Go, please. Now.”

“Are you sure?” His gaze moved across her face, touched the cars at the curb and her neighbors, then swung back to her. “I know I said the less people that know about my investigation the better, but if you need to tell your cousin the truth—”
 

She shook her head. “No. I love my cousin dearly and I hate to say this, but she thinks she can solve everyone’s problems, which she usually does and makes it hard to tell her no.”

Vince grimaced. “So I noticed last night.”

Jade blinked at his telling admission. She’d wondered about what Faith had told Vince during their elevator ride to Ashley’s floor last night.

“Then you know what I mean. I’ll be okay. I can take care of things from here,” she made a sweeping wave, “including nosey neighbors.”

His dimple flashed, then vanished. “I’m sure you can. I should be back by five, but if you need to reach me before then, call me on my cell phone.” His eyes became fierce, a frown creasing his brow. “Don’t go anywhere without contacting me first, Jade. Please. Until I find out what’s going on, we must be careful.”
  

She tried a nonchalant smile, but the effort was difficult. Conversations about his investigation often filled her with dread. “Of course. You, too, be careful.”

Vince ran his knuckles along her cheek. “I will. I have a lot to look forward to.” He cupped the back of her head and tugged gently. The kiss that followed was hot and possessive, and too brief. “Especially tonight,” he added, his warm breath fanning her sensitized skin.

So was she, although the unbridled passion in his scorching eyes intimidated her a little. Jade licked her lip, stepped back with shaky legs and waved.

“Go. Please,” she mouthed when he made no attempt to drive, waited until he pulled away, before pivoting on her heels and starting for her house.

“Hey, Jade,” a voice called.

In blue shorts and a white top, a hat shading her porcelain skin from the summer sun and her feet in heeled slippers, Helen McCloud gingerly crossed her lawn.

“Helen.”

“What’s going on, sweetheart?” the older woman asked. “Radcliff thought he heard sirens late last night and your cleaners keep piling garbage in their pick-up truck. I told Radcliff you’d tell us what’s going on, although he thinks you had a break-in, especially after we saw the men from your home security company arrive. I tell you, none of these security systems are safe anymore. What with….”

Grinding her teeth, Jade barely stopped herself from telling her to shut up. Usually she didn’t mind the way Helen asked and answered her own questions before anyone could put in a word edgewise. Today she wasn’t in the mood.

“Helen, I can’t talk right now.” When the woman’s eyes widened, obviously taken back at being cut off, Jade jerked her head toward her house. “You’re right. Someone broke into my house last night, and I need to take care of things. I’ll see you later.”

Jade waved and hurried toward her door. Any minute, she expected Helen to call out something to detain her. Funny how her family had applauded her decision to move into this quiet subdivision, with its medium-sized homes and carpets of grass overlapping with neighbors,’ but times like this made her wish she had stayed in her old condo. She never had to deal with nosey neighbors.

A sigh of relief escaped her as she opened the door and stepped inside her home. Except for the line of garbage bags near the door, the kitchen was squeaky clean. Noises came from the living room. “Faith?”

“Bedroom,” her cousin yelled.

Jade changed directions, waving briefly to Lila, one of her cleaners busy picking broken pieces of glass from the floor in the living room. Faith stepped into the hallway with a bunch of suits in her arm as Jade approached her bedroom door. They hugged.

“A break-in and you didn’t tell me? How are you holding up?” Faith whispered, leaning back to study her.

“Good.” The shock hadn’t fully worn off, though. The shredded canvases littering the hallway were once expensive original paintings, including a few by her cousin Ashley.

“When did all this happen?” Faith asked.

“Last night.”

Faith wore a baffled expression. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I couldn’t. Not when you were needed at Ashley’s. Anyway, what are you doing here?” Had Eddie told her about the break-in? “I stopped by Ashley’s, but she was still sleeping. I assumed you’d still be asleep.”

Faith made a dismissive gesture. “I’m used to odd hours. Anyway, I’m here because I brought your outfit.”

“What outfit?” Jade raised her eyebrows.

“You know, for the dinner thing tonight. Remember the fundraiser for our governor-to-be Wilkinson? I told you I’d try to make you an outfit.”

Wilkinson’s dinner was the reason she’d borrowed the pearls from the family vault. Now the thought of attending an event was unappetizing. Unfortunately, there was no going around it. She had to attend it. As for the conflicting dinner date with Vince, she had no one to blame but herself. One kiss and she was putty. Jade took a deep breath and gave her cousin a brief smile.

“Thanks for bringing me the outfit, hon. With the other one crumbled, I’ll definitely need it. Anyway, can we talk later? I need to see the agents.” She craned her neck to see if she could spot the men her security company had sent.

“Oh, no. We need to talk. Now. I promise to make it brief.”
 
Faith grabbed her arm, pulled her into the bedroom and closed the door with her foot. “Okay, tell me what’s going on?”

Irritation at Faith’s high-handedness coursed through Jade until her gaze landed on her clothes on the floor. They were separated and piled up into two groups. Her anger quickly dissipated. “Oh, Faith—”

“I mean what kind of a burglar would smash things instead of carrying them off?” Faith whispered. “It’s so senseless.”

Jade took a deep breath. “I think the people who stole my keys did this. At least, that’s Eddie’s take on things. He came in last night when we called it in.”

“We?”

“Vince and I. He gave me a ride home last night. I, uh, spent the night at his place.” Her cousin’s jaw dropped.
 
Jade’s face grew hot. “It’s not what you think. We slept in separate bedrooms.”

Faith laughed. “Only you, Jade, would have a hunk in the next room and not lose sleep over it.”

Jade planted her hands on her hips. “Who said I didn’t lose sleep? Why are we talking in whispers?”

Faith jerked her head toward the door. “Because of the two security morons out there. They’re checking for a reason to place the blame on you, of course. You know, windows left open or whatever.” She added the suits on her arm to the pile on the floor. “I eavesdropped on their discussion earlier. Apparently someone disengaged the system by overriding your codes. They’re trying to find someone to blame instead of their people who designed it. Go figure.”

Jade smiled. Trust Faith to have her thumb in the pulse of things, and Jade had never appreciated it more.

“I’ll talk to them. So, what are you doing with these?” She indicated the clothes on the floor.

“I was sorting them into dry-cleaned and machine-washables. I’m assuming you’d want to clean them before wearing them.”

“You read my mind. I’ll take the washables with me to the beach house and work through them in the coming week. The rest I’ll drop off at Jets Drycleaners.”

“Let me take them to the people who do mine,” Faith offered. “You’ll get the discount I usually get for Falasha.”

Falasha Designs was Faith’s designing company. Jade hugged her cousin. “Thanks.”

“You’d do the same for me, silly. Go talk to the agents.” Faith wiggled her fingers and shooed her out. “Don’t let them off the hook either. If they didn’t make such crappy systems, the burglars wouldn’t decode them. You can tell me about where you and Vince disappeared to last night. I assume the car in your garage is his. Oh, and by the way, I remembered him from high school, brief as his stay was. You did have a crush on him then, didn’t you?” She laughed when Jade’s eyes widened. “Go on before the agents come looking for you.”

Jade hurried out of the room. The men were not in the bedroom next to hers or the den. When the cleaners told her they were outside, Jade’s started for the back door. She was crossing the kitchen when the light on house telephone caught her attention. With everything, she had completely forgotten to check her voice mail.

Jade walked to the end of the counter and picked up her phone, and dialed for her messages. She had eight new messages.

The first one was from her cousin Eddie. He’d left it this morning. She didn’t know whether to be worried or not. The next three were from her older brother, Lex. They were recorded sometime last night. She hoped they had nothing to do with Vince’s investigation or the break-in.

Jade recoiled when the next message started to play. The phone slipped from her fingers and hit the counter. A curse escaped her lips and the cleaners, still in the living room, stuck their heads through the arch separating the living from the kitchen area. She gave them a weak smile, picked up the phone and pressed the button to listen to the last message again.

When she hung up, Jade hurried back to the bedroom and hoped her cousin didn’t see how shaken she was. “Faith, I need to talk to Lex. Can you stay here until I come back?”