CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

BEING SURREPTITIOUS, Jackson checked the phone. The code showed calls from both Dare and Trace, confirming that not a soul had followed them from Dare’s home to his apartment. He perused the parking area and saw mostly familiar cars. At six in the morning, few people were around.

“When are you going to meet Arizona?”

“I don’t know.” He struggled with his conscience. Alani wanted him to confide in her. She didn’t have a clue that he, Dare and Trace were deliberately keeping her in the dark.

It didn’t feel right. Sure, she knew Arizona had called. She knew he’d try to help her.

She didn’t know that she had an unwitting role in setting a trap.

He turned to look at her. “She’ll call again.”

“And then you’ll go to meet her at a secret place?”

He couldn’t answer. He didn’t want to lie to her.

“Alone?”

He reached for her hand. “Let’s get inside, then we’ll talk.”

She held back. “That sounds ominous.”

“Everything’s fine. I have some explaining to do, that’s all.” He didn’t want to betray Trace or Dare, but more than that, he didn’t want to betray Alani’s trust.

This morning she’d dressed in another of her classy outfits, and it turned him on. There was something about the understated wrapping on such a sexy package that stirred him on a gut level.

He knew how she looked under that demure sundress.

He knew how she burned for him.

Keeping watch as they crossed to the front door of his ground-level apartment, Jackson listened to the clicking of her low heels on pavement, the distant whine of a siren, the chatter of birds in the trees.

Somewhere out there, Trace and Dare had set up, Trace ahead of him, Dare behind. She would be safe.

“Here.” He handed her the front door key while he turned to study the surrounding area. He knew the location by heart, every possible vantage point, every place to hide. Only an idiot would live somewhere without knowing, and he wasn’t an idiot.

Big trees shaded the apartment complex, offering concealment. He scrutinized each and every one.

Shaking her head at him, Alani unlocked the door. Jackson stopped her from going in, reaching in around her to turn on the light switch.

This was where he’d first made love to her.

Sensations bombarded him—and judging by her expression, they hit her, too.

“Come on.” A hand at the small of her back, he brought her inside, then relocked the door. “Wait here.”

Doing a quick, cursory check of the place, he ensured their privacy. He knew Dare and Trace had been through his place with a fine-tooth comb, but they’d left his belongings undisturbed. Few would ever know they’d been there.

Jackson saw the subtle signs. Too bad they hadn’t found anything to help with the identity of the woman who’d drugged him.

When he came back into the living room, he found Alani standing beside the door, her face flushed, her gaze warmed with expectation.

“Memories?”

She nodded and looked beyond him to the hallway that led to his bedroom.

Rather than approach her, he propped a shoulder on the wall. “Bad?”

“Not at all.” Gathering herself, she looked around. “Your apartment amuses me, Jackson.”

He surveyed the decorations that mostly consisted of the naked female form. He now knew that none of them held a candle to Alani. “You weren’t amused before.”

“I was jealous then.”

His gaze zeroed in on her. “Of artwork?”

“Of your interest in other women. Of your experience.”

“Yeah?” He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugged. He couldn’t very well deny that for most of his life, he’d been a glutton and then some. “I told you. Sex made some shit easier to deal with.”

“It was an escape mechanism. I know.” She dropped her purse on a table and came to him, sliding her hands up his chest and around his neck. “Now, I have to admit that I appreciate your experience.”

“No kidding?” He looped his hands around her narrow waist.

“Of course.” Her smile held new self-confidence. “After all, I’ve been the beneficiary of all you’ve learned.”

“All I’ve learned? Not yet.” He dragged her in closer. “But I’d be happy to show you—”

His phone made a quiet beep.

Shit.

Keeping her close, he said, “Hold that thought,” and drew out the cell to see the code. Visitor.

At this time of the morning? He took Alani’s arm and drew her away from the living room and into the kitchen. “Stay put.”

“But—”

Pressing her up to the wall, he kissed her hard. “Someone’s coming up. Don’t move. Promise me.”

He saw it in her eyes: she wanted to ask a million questions. But instead, she nodded. “All right.”

Amazing, sensible, understanding Alani.

He hesitated. She’d almost sidetracked him with that teasing confession, but he had to come clean with her, and soon, especially now that she knew he had gotten the code. “We’ll get to that talk in just a minute, okay?”

She nodded. “Be careful.”

Jackson turned to go back into the living room, turning out the lights as he moved. With the sun on the rise, an intruder wouldn’t need the lights to see, but at least the apartment would be in shadows.