Authors: Mercy Celeste
“Probably. Jaime?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up and go back to sleep.”
“What if I have other things on my mind?” He took her hand in his and laid it over a certain part of his anatomy that was indeed very much awake.
“Then you need to go handle it yourself or call one of your bimbos, because I am worn out.” She smiled against his chest when he gasped after she closed her fingers around his arousal and squeezed. “At least give me another hour of sleep.”
Before she finished speaking, she found herself lying on her back with a very awake man between her legs, his erection hot and heavy against her pelvis. “Jaime!”
“Pepper!” He eased down her body just a fraction, a look of intense concentration on his face as he eased inside her. “Sleep can wait.”
“Yes, it can.” She hooked her legs over his hips and held on for the ride. It wasn’t long before she was spiraling into the stratosphere. Jaime sank his teeth into her collarbone, his body growing tight, his movements quick and precise. “Jaime! No condom. Pull out.” She crashed down to earth, her body screaming for her mind to shut up.
He didn’t hesitate, sliding from her body without releasing her shoulder until his orgasm passed.
His almost angelic face hovered over hers, his lips grazed hers, his golden eyes shimmered as he held her beneath him. Something was different about him. Something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “You’ve cut all of your hair off.”
“Why is it you just now noticed that?” He smiled down at her, while sliding his body against hers, as he nibbled her chin and worked his way lower. “It was that, or borrow one of your hair thingies to keep it out of my eyes.”
“What are you doing?” She ran her hands over his very close-cropped head as he nibbled his way lower, pausing at her chest long enough to start her gasping for air. “Jaime?”
“You didn’t finish. I’m taking care of that.”
“How do you know I didn’t finish?” He didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted her legs and settled between them, dipping his golden head to taste her. When she finally went over, he crawled up the length of her body and laid his head on her shoulder.
“Because you come with your whole body, Pepper. You can’t hide that from me.” He pressed his lips to hers, the devil in his amber eyes smiling down at her as he pulled the covers up. “Now be quiet and go back to sleep.”
“Jaime?” She didn’t know what she wanted to say, but it didn’t matter. He was asleep, lying draped across her body, his breathing slow and even as if he’d never been awake in the first place. “Damn it, Jaime, what are you doing to me?”
Of course, he didn’t answer, and now she was wide-awake with nothing better to do than hold him while he slept, because whether she liked it or not, tomorrow he would be gone.
Chapter Fourteen
The rain didn’t let up until after noon. Sometime before that, Cass managed to extricate herself from beneath the behemoth who. for some reason. preferred sleeping on her instead of beside her. Showered and dressed in a pair of shorts and one of Jaime’s football T-shirts she’d stolen from the laundry, she went downstairs to start breakfast.
She’d just flipped the last pancake onto a platter when she heard the gate buzzer. Jaime hadn’t told her to expect anyone, and she hadn’t ordered anything. Curious she went to the box near the front door just as Jaime appeared on the landing.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know yet,” she shushed him and pressed the intercom. “Can I help you?”
“Dade County Police department. Is this the residence of Jamison Dalton?” The face on the screen was slightly distorted from the rain. He could be anyone.
Jaime looked somewhat pale when she looked up at him to see what he wanted her to do. He just shrugged.
“Show me your badge, please.”
A shiny metal object flashed in front of the camera.
“It looks real. Did you do something I need to know about?”
“Aw, Pepper is willing to alibi for me. That is so sweet.” His grin was infectious. “Let’s see what he wants.”
“You might want to put on some clothes. And stop dripping on the floor. I just mopped up there yesterday.”
A few moments later, she greeted one of Miami’s finest with a smile and offered him something to drink. He simply stood looking at her with surprise in his eyes.
“What’s your name?” He flipped open a notebook.
“Cassandra Pendleton, and if you don’t mind turning that question back on yourself, I’d feel a little less defensive right about now.”
“Detective Ryan. Do you live here?” He really was short and to the point.
“Live here and work here, among other things. And this is relevant because?”
“Is Jamison Dalton at home? We have some questions for him.”
“He just stepped out of the shower. He should be down…”
“I’m here. Pepper, is there something burning in the kitchen?”
The acrid scent of burning meat sent her scurrying to the back of the house. The last thing she saw was the detective’s curious eyes as he shifted from her to Jaime and then back to her.
“What can I do for one of Miami’s finest, this fine afternoon?” Was the last thing she heard Jaime say before she found the kitchen filled with smoke and the bacon a charred mess in the pan.
“Shit.” She carried the pan out onto the patio and left it to cool. She left the doors open and turned on the fans to clear the air. Quickly making sure everything was turned off, she walked back to the front of the house. The heat in Jaime’s voice stopped her cold, and she leaned against the wall to listen.
“Where did you get that picture?”
“Is the woman in this picture the same woman I just met?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business?”
“Just answer the question, Mr. Dalton. Is this woman Cassandra Pendleton?”
Her skin crawling as if something vile had slithered over her, Cass stepped quietly into the room to find Jaime sitting behind his desk his face a mask of rage.
“May I see the photo?” She held her hand out, and the detective looked between them before he handed it to her.
“Cass, you probably shouldn’t…”
Her stomach lurched. She had to reach for the desk to steady herself. “Where did this come from?”
“Is that you, Miss Pendleton?” The detective’s voice took on a different tone. She merely nodded. There were no words.
“I see. And was that consensual?” He nodded toward the photo.
“Yes.” She looked again her heart jumped into her throat. The clear image of her and Jaime on the patio that first day, her arms bound behind her, her eyes covered, her body clearly outlined beneath her cotton gown grew worse as she stared at it. “How … where … who? Oh God.”
“Why are you really here, detective?” His face grew hard. Angry fire seemed to beam from behind his eyes. He bristled with power and rage as he paced the room.
Cass searched for a chair to collapse into, the photo shaking in her hand until the detective reached over and retrieved it.
“This was mailed to me with a tip that you were holding a young woman here against her will. No return address and no signature. I was obligated to check.”
“How could someone have pictures of us on the patio? I don’t understand. The property is completely enclosed. Whoever it was would have to have been standing…”
“Somewhere in the bushes on the other side of the pool. Yeah, I know, I’ve gone over that entire area. I’ve changed all of the locks and security codes. I just don’t know.” He was like a caged animal, trapped and ready to gnaw himself free.
“You knew about this picture? Why didn’t you tell me?” She lashed out and then she could see things perfectly clear, things made sense now. “Those FedEx packages. There are more pictures, aren’t there? Jaime, are there more pictures of us?”
“Pepper…”
“Don’t Pepper me. Jaime, are there more pictures of us from that day?”
“That day, and in New York, others of us around town together.”
“May I see them?” The detective asked in the charged silence.
“Do you know who took them? What do they want?”
“Money, they want money, or they are going to sell them to some magazine. I’ll look like a pervert and probably be fined and suspended for conduct unbecoming—stuff like that. They want to hurt me.” He opened a locked cabinet that held a safe she was unaware of, pulled out three envelopes, and handed them over to detective Ryan.
“Why didn’t you call the police?” he said after looking though the images, his eyes going to her several times.
“I had my people looking into it. My lawyer has a private detective watching the house, and we’ve hired a private security firm to keep tabs on Cass, just in case.”
“But you didn’t pay them?” Ryan closed the last envelope and reluctantly offered them to her. Her heart slamming in her chest she took them and regretted every single second of it, but she had to know.
Images of her naked in Jaime’s lap that stormy afternoon. Of them waiting for the elevator in New York, her arms already bound behind her, her scarf over her eyes. The third held images of her standing on the beach, the bruise on her shoulder from Jaime’s teeth clearly visible. Of her at the grocery store and other places in town, and standing in the kitchen or sitting in the garage. “There’s another envelope. It arrived by regular mail yesterday. I put it in the file over there.”
Nausea gripped her belly, fear her heart as she waited for Jaime to fish through the mail slot and pull out the priority envelope. His face grew ashen as he flipped through the pages.
“These are from Sunday night. Through the window.” He nodded his head toward the front of the house. “And Monday. Son of a bitch can see into your room.”
“What do we do now?” She didn’t want to see these. Shaking her head when the detective held one out to her.
“Who is this?” he asked her pointing to the tall, slim, dark-haired man she was standing with outside the bookstore. “There are several of you with him.”
“David Cooper. I met him at book club week before last.”
“And you had dinner with him Sunday.” There was accusation in his eyes.
“And then I came home and had sex with you. I haven’t seen him since. Christ, Jaime, now is not the time to explore this … this dysfunctional thing we have between us.”
“There isn’t a letter this time.” The detective sighed. “Looks like someone is stalking the two of you. Someone angry with you, Mr. Dalton, who wants to hurt you. If you want my opinion, Miss Pendleton may be in danger.”
“I know.” Jaime leaned his head against the window frame. She could see his eyes scanning the property. “I just don’t know how they are getting onto my property. Like Cass said, it’s completely surrounded by a high brick wall, and the only two gates are secure.”
“They’ll go to the media next. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.” His voice rumbled from his chest. His body grew tense with anger and impotence.
“Cass. Go pack. I’m not leaving you here alone this weekend. You’re coming to Minnesota with me. You’ll be safe from whoever is climbing the fucking trees to watch you sleep.”
“No.” Panic tightened her chest. “I’m going to go home for a few days. I don’t want to be with strangers when this hits the internet.”
“Will you come back?”
“I don’t know.” Cass couldn’t think straight. Fear had a way of robbing her of rational thought. “Maybe this is for the best, Jaime. Things are too confused right now. Maybe it would be better if I didn’t.”
“I’ll … don’t worry, baby, I’ll make the arrangements. Go pack your bags.” She could have sworn he was going to say something else, or start an argument or otherwise talk her out of staying away. He seemed defeated when he sat in his desk chair across from the detective. His shoulders slumped, but the fear she saw in his eyes told her he would respect her decision.
* * * *
After Detective Ryan left, Jaime sat puzzled for a while. The questions the detective asked after Cass had left the room only served to open up a treasure trove of unanswered questions. Who exactly had he pissed off enough for this kind of harassment? Who exactly? He had no effin’ idea.
The paparazzi in general, but they usually sold their ill-gotten gains to the highest bidder. Blackmail and then sending damning photos to the cops didn’t seem to be their MO. Cam at the Cameron Agency? Possibly, but the first photos predated his knowledge of the embezzlement, so Cam wouldn’t have been looking for his head at that time. A rival football team out to throw him off his game? Always possible, but highly unlikely. If he had any enemies, they were on the field and nothing that would go beyond the field. Questions arose about his recent trip to France and the reason for his early return back to the states. Jaime simply refused to believe that had anything to do with this. No, he’d left France with no worries.
He picked up the phone and called his lawyer to fill him in. Mitch seemed relieved that the police were now involved. Jaime wasn’t so sure. Monday he had to go to the precinct and file an official complaint, but Detective Ryan seemed genuinely interested in doing what he could to help him find who was doing this. Jaime suspected it was more for Cass’s sake than his since he now knew her dirty little secret. And what she looked like naked. Somehow, that didn’t sit well with Jaime.
After he called the airline, booked Cass to Birmingham, and then scheduled a rental car to get her the rest of way home, he went upstairs to check on her.
“When do you leave?” She saw him out of the corner of her eye as she moved from closet to dresser to bed folding garments and basically freaking out.
“Later tonight. I’ve got you a flight leaving in two hours. Are you sure you want to go?” He asked hoping she would change her mind and come with him. He had a terrible feeling that if she went home he would never see her again. Right now, he didn’t know how he felt about that.
“I’m sure. Hand me those shoes, will you?” She didn’t look at him for too long; her eyes met his and then looked hastily away. Her hands shook when he touched her.
This was all his fault. He shouldn’t have kept this from her. Hell, he should have stayed away from her in the first place, and then there wouldn’t be any X-rated pictures floating around out there. Then he noticed what she was wearing and suddenly everything was fine.