Maureen Child - The Highest Bidder

“I do. You can do this, Charlie.” He reached over and picked up her hands from her lap. Holding them in his, he met her gaze and reminded her, “We already figured out this isn’t a coincidence. Your first threatening note arriving the same day as the article on Ann and Dalton showing up in the paper? No way. Whoever’s behind the threats to you has to be involved in whatever’s being planned for Waverly’s.”

“But, Vance …”

“I’ll be there. Well,” he hedged, “not with you, but close by. I swear I’ll never you out of my sight. You’ll be safe, Charlie, but I think this is our best chance of stopping this guy.”

She didn’t like any of it. The thought of meeting someone who had been threatening her was terrifying, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Charlie understood why Vance wanted to do this, but her son was at risk. “What if he sees you? What if he makes good on his threats and tries to take Jake from me?” Shaking her head, she tried to pull her hands free of his, but he held on even tighter.

“That won’t happen.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“No,” he agreed.

Charlie bit her lip. “Why can’t we just call the police?”

“Because the press would be alerted. I’m sorry, Charlie. Waverly’s can’t risk that.”

“No, of course not. I don’t want this in the papers, either,” she said with a shudder.

“But I can arrange for a member of Waverly’s security staff to be in the area. I’ll be there, too. You won’t be in any danger, Charlie. And I promise you that you won’t lose Jake. If it came to it, I’d hire the best attorney in the city to fight for you. You won’t lose your son, Charlie. You just have to trust me. Can you do that?”

Everything in her wanted to hide in a dark hole and pull the hole in after her. She thought of Jake, safe in the playroom downstairs, and her heart shivered at the thought of losing that little boy. But if she didn’t do this, if she didn’t find the courage to try to stop the threats, then she’d always be hiding. Always be afraid. And she didn’t want to live like that.

“Okay,” she said, before she could change her mind. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

He let go of her hands, reached for her and cupped the back of her head. Pulling her in close, he kissed her, hard and fast, sending jolts of white-hot sensation shooting through the chill in her blood. “Atta girl. It’ll work. You’ll see. Now, he wanted you to contact him by five tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.” There was that tight ball of dread in the pit of her stomach again. Was it wrong that she was starting to get used to it?

“Then we’ll wait until 4:45. You’ll email him telling him you want to meet.” Vance squeezed her hands again when she chewed at her bottom lip. “You’ll say that you’re not going to give him anything until you’ve talked in person.”

“What if he refuses?” She was pretty sure her mystery blackmailer was going to do just that.

“He won’t. He can’t afford to. If you call his bluff, he’ll have to bend,” Vance assured her. “You’re his only access to Waverly’s files as far as we know. So he’s going to have to do it your way or get nothing.”

“Maybe.”

“Charlie,” Vance insisted, his gaze locked with hers, “the only reason his threats have worked at all is because he knows he scared you. Now you’re not scared anymore.”

“I’m not?”

“Why would you be?” he countered. “You’ve got me now.”

Did she? She looked into his eyes and wondered if she did have him, how long would that last? Until this threat was over? Until Waverly’s was secure?

Until he got tired of her in bed?

“I hope you’re right,” she said, still unconvinced.

“I’m always right, remember?” He gave her a wide smile and her heartbeat fluttered in response.

Oh, God, she was an idiot. A first-class idiot. How could she have fallen in love? Hadn’t she sworn off the elusive feeling when Jake’s father disappeared? Hadn’t she told herself never to trust another man? Never to risk the kind of pain she’d felt when she’d first discovered she’d been had?

But this was different, she told herself. Vance was real. He hadn’t lied to her. Hadn’t tried to seduce her purposely for his own reasons. Falling in love was her mistake and she would pay for it, no doubt. Because what she felt for Vance was as real as he was.

And now she knew that what she had thought was love before, hadn’t been. What she had experienced with Jake’s father wasn’t even a shadow of what she felt now. This was real love. This was what she had dreamed of all her life.

And losing it was going to kill her.

Maybe it was the sex.

Maybe it was having Charlie in his house. Vance couldn’t be sure, but whatever the reason, his legendary impatience had roared to the surface. He didn’t like the idea of a threat hanging over Charlie’s head. He didn’t like her being scared, and he’d be damned if he was going to stand for it. That’s when he’d come up with his brilliant plan to face the blackmailer down.

He knew it was the right thing to do. He also knew that Charlie was worried about it.

She was on edge. One glance at her moving around his kitchen told him that. Vance already knew her well enough to notice the tightness in her shoulders, the deliberate squaring of her jaw. As if she were willing herself to hold it together.

He admired strength, and Charlie had plenty of it. She’d had a bad situation growing up, but she’d fought through that, too, and built a life for herself. She loved her son and her determination to protect him touched something in Vance. In fact, he was spending way too much time thinking warm thoughts about Charlie Potter.

Looking across the great room to the galley-style kitchen, he watched as Charlie made dinner. Chicken parmesan, she had said, and he had to admit, it smelled great. Usually, he ordered something from a nearby restaurant or nuked something frozen.

It was … odd, having her and Jake in the house, but it also wasn’t making him nuts. And that worried him.

He’d never brought a woman here before.

His home was his place. He didn’t share. When he was with a woman, they went to her place or an upscale hotel. This condo overlooking the river had been inviolate.

Until Charlie.

Hell, he mused, there was a lot going on lately that he could say “until Charlie” about. Going to a diner, taking walks with a baby, leaving work early, having wild, crazy-making sex in the middle of the day. All that was under the heading “until Charlie.”

“Babababa!”

Vance’s thoughts stopped when the baby pounded little fists against his leg to get his attention.

“What’s a ‘ba’?” he asked, throwing a glance at the woman across the room from him.

“Ball,” Charlie answered, then added, “I brought his favorite. It’s in his room.”

“Babababa!”

The baby’s eyes were wide and his bottom lip was trembling. A couple of weeks ago, Vance would have hit the front door running. He couldn’t imagine why. Now, he scooped up the baby, then carried him down the hall to his temporary room.

The crib had arrived and was already standing ready for the baby to sleep in. The dresser was filled with baby clothes and a box of diapers stood on a low table.

“Babababa!” Jake laid his head down on Vance’s shoulder and patted one small hand against his chest.

“Almost got it, little man,” Vance told him, giving him a pat on the back in reassurance. He found the bright red ball on the closet floor. Setting the baby down, he rolled him the ball and Vance smiled when the baby chortled with glee. Lifting the rubber ball, he swung his left arm wide and flung it back at Vance.