Brenda Jackson - Married Or Not? - Married or Not? / Ian's Ultimate Gamble

“So they’ve been watching me?”

He nodded. “Has anything unusual happened to you this week? Besides your apartment being destroyed, I mean.”

“Well, I don’t know how unusual it is, but I’ve gotten several hang-up calls. Probably wrong numbers.”

“Or checking if you’re home.”

She stared at him in surprise. “I suppose.”

“My guess is that they’re trying to scare you.”

“They have definitely done that.”

He groaned. “And I’ve made it worse by showing an interest in you. They think you’re giving me additional information.”

“That’s a logical assumption.”

“But we both know that isn’t the reason I asked you out.”

She bit her bottom lip. She refused to cry in front of him, but it was tough because he was being nice to her. It had been easier to hide her emotions when he was in his cop mode.

“Let’s go shopping,” he said, opening his door. She got out and met him in front of his car.

“From now on, you wait until I open your door.”

“I’ve been opening my own doors for years. I’m sure I can handle it.”

“So if a car happened to pull up beside you as you were getting out of the car, and a couple of men grabbed you and threw you into the back of their car…or van…you could cope with that?”

“Are you trying to scare me?”

“If it makes you a little less independent for a while.”

“I’ve never been the damsel-in-distress type.”

He took her elbow and guided her across toward the front of the store. “We’ll have to do something about that.”

Nine

Greg lived in a quiet, residential area, made up of several apartment buildings that looked so much alike Sherri wondered how anyone would know which one was his or hers.

He pulled into a covered parking area. “We’ll get your car in the morning. I have two parking spaces.”

Sherri had so little energy left she had to force herself to get out of the car and gather the sacks in the backseat that contained all of her worldly belongings.

Greg gathered the ones she couldn’t reach from her side and, once the doors were closed, locked the car. Without a word, he led her across the driveway to one of the buildings, climbed two stories to the top floor and strode to the door of one of the apartments.

“Talk about getting your exercise,” Sherri said in a strained voice.

“I like it up here.” He opened the door and waved her inside. Once he had turned the light on, Sherri looked around. The apartment was much larger than hers and had a nice view of the hills west of Austin.

However, the place was definitely a bachelor’s pad. Newspapers were scattered around on tables and the floor, a pair of sneakers sat beneath the coffee table, a few dishes sat on the kitchen counter and more were in the sink.

“I could make excuses for the way the place looks,” Greg said. He must have noticed her looking around. “But the truth is, this is cleaner…and less cluttered…than usual.”

He continued toward the hallway and she followed him. He stopped midway and opened the door to a bedroom. “I’ll get some sheets and stuff.” He pointed to the door opposite. “That’s the bathroom. It’s yours. I have one off my bedroom.”

Sherri walked into the room and looked around. The bed had no headboard, but there was a bedside table and a chest of drawers.

“I’m not sure what’s in the closet, but whatever’s there, shove it aside.”

She turned and looked at him. “I doubt that I’ll need much space.” She laid the sacks on the bed. He dropped his beside hers and put his arms around her. He rocked her gently and after a moment she slipped her arms around his waist.

Sherri had no idea how long they stood there. When he eventually let go of her, all he said was, “I’ll get the bedding for you.”

While he was gone, she hung up the few clothes she’d bought, placed her underwear and a couple of sleep shirts in a drawer and took her toiletries across the hall to the bathroom.

When she came out she almost collided with Greg.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No problem.” He made short work of making the bed with her help.

He glanced over the room before looking at her. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

She nodded.

“Good night,” he said and closed the door behind him. He had turned on the lamp beside the bed when they’d first walked in and now it was her only source of light.

By now, she was too tired to think straight. She got her sleepwear out of the drawer and went across the hall. A warm shower helped to revive her a little. Once she’d brushed her teeth, Sherri stumbled back to her room, closed the door, turned off the light and dropped onto the bed.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee woke Sherri the next morning. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost ten. She didn’t think she’d moved all night.

She quickly dressed and visited her bathroom. When she came out, she followed the scent of coffee.

Greg sat at the counter reading the paper, but looked up immediately when she walked into the room. She’d made no sound that she knew of. He wore battered jeans that clung to him like a second skin and an old sweatshirt with the arms cut out of it. The outfit on anyone else would look ratty. On him, it was sexy as all get-out.

“Mornin’,” he said. “Ready for coffee?”

“More than ready,” she replied, still standing in the hall doorway. “I didn’t mean to sleep this late.”

“You obviously needed it. Shock works that way on people sometimes and you’ve definitely had your share of that during the past week.” He poured her a mug of coffee from the carafe by his elbow.

Sherri walked across the room and slipped onto the bar stool next to him, feeling his body heat beside her. She shivered and picked up the cup of coffee, inhaling the tantalizing scent.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much here for breakfast…or any other meal, unless you have an addiction to sandwiches. I thought we could go out a little later for breakfast…or lunch…and maybe do some grocery shopping.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

They sat there in companionable silence. He offered her a piece of the newspaper and she took it.

When they were finished with the paper and coffee, Sherri asked, “How did those men find me?”

“A good question. We’re looking for an answer to that.”

“Did they think I’d leave town after last night?”

“At the very least, they were hoping to frighten you.”

“Then their plan worked. Just thinking about what they did to my place gives me the creeps. I don’t understand people like that. The destruction was so brutal and personal. Why would they destroy my clothes?”

Greg shook his head. “Once we know who did it, we’ll find out why it was done.”

“So you think you’ll be able to find out who they were?”

“Generally speaking, people hired to do that kind of destruction aren’t the sharpest blades in the drawer. Even if they wore plastic gloves there’s a chance we can pick up a shoe print. There’s always evidence to be found when we sift through everything. There’s no need for you to be frightened. You’ll be safe here.”

She nodded and tried not to look at him. How was she going to make herself immune to his presence? She was already attracted to him more than she’d ever been to any man. Seeing him the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning, could become addictive and would play havoc with her peace of mind.

“So what next?” she asked after a long silence.

He looked at her and smiled. “What do you usually do on Saturdays?”

“Clean house, go shopping, pay bills, study.” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t need to worry about cleaning.”