Lyn Stone - Live-In Lover

But Damien could never forget a woman like Devereaux’s sister, no matter how short the association. Just thinking about her made him smile with remembered pleasure.

She was tall, a few inches shy of six feet. Lithe and graceful, but too energetic for a model. She’d moved more like an athlete. Perfect skin, auburn hair that shone like polished copper and a laugh that made her green eyes sparkle like gems. Such expressive eyes, he remembered.

Damien recalled how much he had wanted to touch her. Not sexually, exactly, though the idea certainly had merit. But just to see whether her joie de vivre was tangible, maybe even contagious. It had been.

As luck would have it, she had touched him first, just an arm beneath his to lend support. He’d been infinitely glad to be alive in that moment.

He looked at the card one more time and got up, sliding his bare feet into his shoes. What would she need him for so urgently? Though this certainly stirred his curiosity, answering her summons might not be a wise move.

She hadn’t mentioned a husband, but she was most likely married. He knew she had a very young child because she had whipped out pictures and bragged that day.

A baby girl who was not especially photogenic. A smile tugged at his lips. In the photos it had worn one of those ruffled garter-looking things around its bald head and a fancy dress to match. He clearly remembered the poor thing only had two teeth shining in that wide grin.

Now why had he wasted brain cells storing inconsequential details such as that?

Damien didn’t care much for children. At least, he didn’t think he did. As it happened, he’d never had the opportunity to know any close at hand. Judging solely on what others had said about them, they were messy little creatures, noisy and wildly unpredictable.

No, it definitely would not be smart to reply to this message of Molly Jensen’s, given that she was married and a mother and he had felt a definite attraction. Forbidden fruit always tempted him and Damien had learned the hard way to steer a wide course around it.

This time he wouldn’t. He wanted to see her again. If she happened to be off limits, so be it. Nothing said he had to pursue her.

Ignoring his better judgment, Damien slipped on a shirt and headed out to the phone booth by the marina. She’d stirred his curiosity. He would find out just why she thought she did need him.

The skills he possessed might be in demand in some quarters of the world, but surely not in that of a wholesome young wife and mother like Molly Jensen.

Molly wrapped her arms tighter around the sleeping toddler and pressed her lips against the silky curls on her crown. “Oh, Syd, what’s Mama gonna do?”

The phone rang for the fourth time and the answering machine kicked on. She listened to her own voice on the recorded message and waited for the beep. Molly dreaded hearing the laugh, that menacing, deep-throated chuckle. She had endured three of these calls already since noon. Their frequency was increasing.

If she answered, he might talk to her, offering more of those snide, oily questions of concern for her and Sydney that only she recognized as threats. That would be worse than these wordless messages, yet just knowing who it was on the line in no way lessened the terror.

“Hello, Mrs. Jensen,” a deep voice said. “Damien Perry here. I received your card. If you would like—”

She snatched up the receiver. “Wait! Don’t hang up! Hold on a minute, I have to put the baby down.”

She ran to the playpen, carefully laid the sleeping toddler next to her teddy bear, and hurried back. “Sorry. I would have answered right away, but I thought… Well, never mind that now. Are you here? In Nashville?”

“No, I’m not. I’m just responding to your—”

“How soon can you come? You can, can’t you? I mean, I’m at my wit’s end here, and I thought since you were a good friend of Ford’s and he’s not in country, and Mr. Duvek couldn’t—”

“Calm down, Mrs. Jensen. You’re speaking too rapidly for me to understand you. Are you in trouble?”

“It’s Ms. not Mrs. No, it’s Molly to you, but that’s not important. I really need your help—and right away if you can come. Please! It’s a matter of life and death.”

“Whose death?” he demanded, his words curt.

“Mine,” she said, swallowing hard to stifle a moan. “And maybe Sydney’s, too.”

“Sydney?”

“My baby. Remember? Please, will you come? I honestly don’t have anyone else I can turn to. It’s too much to ask, I know, but I can pay you for this. Whatever you charge, I can pay you. Maybe not all at once, but we can work something out.”

“Wait. Before you go any further, tell me exactly what it is that you want me to do.”

“Help me make him stop. I can’t stand this anymore. He’s called three times today and—”

“Do you know who it is?” he interrupted.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, shuddering. “My ex-husband.”

“Molly, listen to me,” the voice ordered. “Calm down. I want you to make certain all of your doors and windows are locked, and after that—”

“They are locked!”

“Fine. Now, have you informed the police? You’ll need an Order of Protection.”

“I have one, and I’ve called until I’m blue in the face, and even went down to the station and talked to them. They won’t do anything because I can’t prove it’s him. They can’t unless he does something and I can prove it. That could be too late. Are you coming or not?”

A long silence followed before he said, “Yes. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Thank God,” she whispered, clutching the phone to her chest with both hands. “Oh, thank you.” Soon now. Soon it would be over and she and Syd would be safe.

A small measure of her terror had lifted just hearing Damien Perry’s voice. That deep, velvety I-will-handle-it tone soothed something within Molly, made her able to close her eyes and breathe more deeply. It renewed her hope, a severely eroded commodity these past three weeks.

Not that she liked the idea of calling on a man to solve her problems, but she had exhausted all her own resources.

The police must think she was crazy, calling them about threats that, when repeated, seemed totally harmless. The best they could do was enforce a restraining order, which in itself was as useful as a boat full of holes. Even if the police hauled him in, Jack could be out on bond the same day.

She fastened her attention on Sydney, who still slept in the playpen in the corner by the television. Her precious baby, her Syd, the person she loved most in the world. The threat encompassed her, too, just because she was Molly’s weak spot.

How could she ever make people believe a man would threaten his own daughter? They had barely believed him capable of hurting his wife, and most people blamed her for that. Everyone but the judge.

The female judge who heard the case was the only one who had bought the truth about him. Thank God she had. But Molly was still the only one in the world who knew exactly what Jack Jensen was capable of.

Molly remembered how he’d approached her last month, the Sunday after they’d released him from jail. He had publicly begged her forgiveness and pleaded for a reconciliation. Right outside in the churchyard after services. Jack couldn’t have picked a place with a larger audience of people who knew them, and she knew that the choice was deliberate on his part.

She hadn’t been nice in refusing him. He wanted her back, all right, and she knew why. To make her life a living hell. Again.

He had called the next day, more insistent, his tone more threatening than the actual words he used. “A woman shouldn’t live alone, Molly,” he’d said. “You know, all kinds of things might happen. Just you and your baby, all by yourselves in that great big house. It’s scary to think about, isn’t it? But I want you to think about it. Think hard.”