One More Day (18 page)

“Thanks.”

She waved it off. “He tried. And this guy’s not stupid. Covers his tracks, has his sites set up as mirrors so you can’t really tell what the originating source is. All David’s hit has been dead ends.”

We sat and watched for a couple of minutes. “Seriously, what the hell does a blogger need a secret identity for anyway?” I asked in irritation. I glanced over at Jenson to see her smirking.

“What?”

“Maybe because sometimes he ends up with pissed off super-powered people cyberstalking him.”

I glared at her, and she laughed.

“Just a theory,” she said, and I shook my head.

“How’s the training coming? I meant to ask you. Caine said you did really well when he trained with you.”

I shrugged. “Well enough, I guess. I really do need to hit the training room with him more. It seems like there’s always something going on, and now I’m trying to make sure Mama’s house gets done.” I shook my head. “Did you guys uncover anymore files? Anything beyond what you guys showed me before?”

Jenson shook her head. “There were three more files he was able to crack, but they were all personal emails between Alpha and Crystal.”

“Personal?”

“As in, details about what they wanted to do to each other. Lots and lots of detail,” she said with a grimace.

“Ew.”

“Yes. I wish brain bleach was a thing and I kind of hate David for showing them to me.”

I laughed. “So we’re still going with the theory that this was some kind of injection to give people powers?”

Jenson nodded.

“And that this was Dr. Death negotiating with Alpha?”

She nodded again.

“Have we asked Alpha and his people about that?”

“Of course. None of them will say a word. Either way, Portia feels that we have enough evidence to turn them over to international custody. And I’m looking forward to it. The sooner we get them out of here, the better.”

“And then we lose Alpha’s money.”

“We all knew that was happening anyway. And that’s why you’ve been socking money away, right?”

I nodded.

“I still think it was wrong, but it made some sense. He likely won’t even miss it.”

“Wishing you’d let me siphon a little more?” I asked with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes. We sat in silence for a few moments. “It’s going to be a bit of a shake up when it all comes out. This guy’s gonna have a field day,” I said, gesturing toward my laptop, where the streamer was talking about the dangers of masked heroes again.

“Well. We knew that, too. We’ll get through it. And we still have a little time. The international tribunal moves about as quickly as ents.”

“You are such a nerd,” I said. “I bet you even speak elvish.”

She stood up, muttering “
Auta miqula orqu
.”

“I knew it! What did you say?”

She just rolled her eyes and let herself out, chuckling softly as she left.

Chapter Ten

I took the bus to Grosse Pointe again. One thing I was already liking about Mama’s house was that checking on it gave me a good excuse to get out of Command once in a while. And the bus rides gave me time to think.

I was sitting on the bus, looking out the window and letting my mind wander, when my phone rang, and my stomach flipped a little when I realized which ring it was.

I looked at the phone, then answered it. “Yes?” I asked.

“Hey,” Connor said. I hated how just that one syllable made me respond, how it made my chest hurt and my stomach twist. After a couple of moments, he spoke again. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been better,” I said.

“Yeah. I saw that shit on the news. Portia did a good job addressing it.”

“It wasn’t just that.”

I heard him take a breath. “I know. I’m sorry, sweetheart. The shit I said… I don’t even know why I said it. I didn’t mean any of it. I’m crazy about you and I alway have been. You have to know that. I said that shit because I was upset, and I never should have said it.”

I swallowed, caught between emotions. I wanted so badly to believe him. But my heart told me otherwise. There’d been no deceit in the angry words he’d thrown at me, in the way he’d insulted and belittled me. I watched it happen too many times with Mama and my dad. He’d be an asshole, and the next day, it would be all sweetness and compliments, and then things would go back to normal until he snapped again. I remember Mama telling me once, when I was a teenager, to turn and run the second a man tried to treat me like shit, because he’d do it again.

“No. I think you meant every word you said.”

“Jolene, I want you, sweetheart. I miss you. You have to know that.”

“I think it’s better if you don’t call me anymore. I said it last time, and I did actually mean it.”

“You didn’t. You were pissed, and you had every reason to be. Just… let’s go out to dinner tonight and try to talk about this, huh? We can work this out. We’re worth fighting for.”

I bit my lip. I’d already made mistakes with him. I wasn’t going to make any more.

“We’re done, Connor. I really don’t want to hear from you again.”

He was quiet for a few beats, then he sighed. “Fine. Suit yourself.” And then he hung up, and I sat there wishing it could have been different. That we would have been okay and he’d never lied to me. That he was all of the things I’d thought he was. But he wasn’t, and I couldn’t try to fool myself into thinking he was.

I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and went back to staring out the window. By the time the bus pulled up to my stop, I felt a little lighter, a little better than I had. I felt stronger. I’d get through this, and I would be okay.

I walked up to the house, noting that the living room and kitchen lights were on. Justin’s truck was pulled up into the driveway. As I mounted the front steps, I saw Justin cross in front of the windows. When I opened the front door, he peered around the wall between the living room and dining room.

“Hey,” he said, stopping. “I was wondering if I’d see you today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You stop in every three days. I was hoping this would be another lucky day,” he said with a smile, and I shook my head.

“Smooth, Justin,” I said, and he laughed.

“I meant it, too,” he said, and I met his dark eyes for a moment before looking away. “I finished painting the upstairs, so that floor is completely done now if you want to take a look at it,” he said after a moment.

“You move fast,” I said, heading toward the stairs.

“Not as fast as I’d like, sometimes,” he answered, and I had the feeling that maybe he wasn’t just talking about the house. I felt a blush heat my cheeks as I walked up the stairs in front of him.

The first thing I noticed was the the dark wood floors absolutely gleamed. The hallway was painted a clean cream color with white trim. I peeked into the bathroom to find a soft pink, which my mother would love. The front bedroom and second bedroom were a soft, buttery yellow, and the other small bedroom on the floor was a soothing sage green.

“This looks so good,” I said quietly. “I figure, with those built-ins, she can have a little library in here. It’s a cozy room.”

He nodded. “It would be perfect for that.”

“You’ve done an amazing job already.”

He didn’t answer, and I glanced up to see him looking down at me. I felt a pang of regret again. Once upon a time, I would have been brave enough to take a chance on the mouth-watering carpenter with the deep, warm voice. His eyes alone were enough to make me want to take a leap of faith, but I just didn’t have it in me. I looked away, digging a check out of my pocket.

“Here. For the work you’ve done already. I wanted to keep up with the invoicing,” I explained.

“Thanks. This will make billing easier once it’s finished.”

I nodded.

We walked back downstairs and the doorbell rang. Justin went to the front door and said a few words to whoever was on the porch. When he came back to the living room, he was holding a large pizza box.

“Well. I’m planning to stay late and finish up that mess of plumbing in that first floor powder room. Do you feel like eating with me?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“You’d be saving me. I definitely shouldn’t eat the whole thing,” he cajoled.

“I think you’d be fine, somehow.”

“Pizza’s dangerous. Seriously, it’ll go straight to my ass and then I’ll have self esteem issues…”

I laughed. “Right. Because you so obviously have that problem.”

“Come on. Help me, Jolene,” he said with a smile. He opened the pizza box, wiggled it a little, trying to entice me to take a piece.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. I grabbed a slice and he grinned. He sat down on the living room floor and set the pizza box down, and I sat beside him. We ate in silence for a few minutes.

“Security guard, huh?” he asked.

“It’s a temporary thing. I want to do community outreach stuff eventually,” I said, remembering the things I’d wanted when I’d started college. The ideas I’d had about what I’d do if I ever had enough power and money. I shrugged. “For now, it pays the bills, you know?”

“Based on how much you probably paid for this house, plus what you’re paying me, it more than pays the bills.”

“I’ve been socking money away. I don’t really spend much otherwise. I knew I wanted to do this eventually.”

Justin nodded. “You should find a house like this for yourself.”

“I don’t know if I’m the house type. I’m not home much.”

“You’d be surprised. I thought the same thing, and then I bought my first house, fixed it up. The plan was to flip it, sell it at a profit, but I couldn’t do it. It’s nice feeling like there’s a place that’s just yours, you know?”

I nodded. “That’s what I want for Mama. Maybe someday, I’ll want it for myself.” I took another bite of pizza. “So where’s your house?”

“Indian Village.”

“Expensive area,” I commented.

“My house was the blight in the neighborhood. I got it for a steal because it was about to be torn down. It took me almost a year to get it livable.”

“You must be persistent,” I said.

“You have no idea.”

I glanced up to see him watching me again.

“And a complete professional,” I reminded him.

He looked away. “Right.”

I shifted a little. This was stupid. I shouldn’t be sitting here. This guy and I had nothing in common, even if you didn’t count the whole super powered thing. And the fact that I wasn’t looking for anything like what I had a feeling would happen between us if I just let go a little bit.

“It’s not you, you know,” I blurted. His dark eyes met mine, and I went on before I lost my nerve. “I just ended what I thought was maybe something… something more than it actually was. I don’t trust my judgment right now and I don’t know when I will. Just… it’s not you,” I repeated.

He sat there for a moment, silently studying me. “Okay,” he finally said. “Thanks for telling me that. I know what that’s like. Went through it a few years ago, and I’m just glad I figured it out before it was too late. Before there was a wedding or kids or anything like that.”

“Right. But I don’t think this is exactly the same.”

“Maybe not,” he said with a shrug. “All I know is that when it was over, I felt like an idiot. Like I’d been the butt of her private joke the entire time we’d been together. And I figured I had lousy taste in women.”

“Maybe you still do,” I said, dropping my pizza crust back into the box. I stood up, and so did he.

“Kinda doubt it.” He finally looked away from me. “You know, it doesn’t have to be the type of thing that leads to us getting married. We can just have fun.”

“So all you want is a booty call type of thing?” I asked.

He met my eye again. “No. If I wanted that, I would have said so. I meant, we can hang out. Go places. Yeah, maybe see if I can make you moan, because I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I would be up for the challenge.”

“No pun intended, huh?” I asked with a smirk, even though I could feel my face burning.

“Pun very much intended, actually,” he said in a low voice. I looked away.

“Well. Like I said, I’m not looking for anything at all like that right now. My life is too crazy and I’m pretty sure it would just end badly. And who knows? Maybe I’d want to hire you again but if we hated one another, that would be awkward, so…. yeah,” I said with a shrug.

“Very practical,” he said, and I caught a glint of humor in his dark eyes.

“And I can promise you that that is something no one has ever accused me of being before,” I said. I stood up, and so did he.

I looked down at his hands, which were strong, calloused, and large. I fought back a little shiver. “Um. I should probably go.”

“Worried you might do something stupid?” he asked.

I started stepping away. “Maybe.”

“Jolene.”

“Yeah?”

“I just thought I should tell you that you have a gorgeous ass. It was a pleasure following you up the stairs.”

“I— ”

“And I enjoy seeing you blush like that.”

“This is very unprofessional,” I said backing away another step.

He stepped forward. “Then fire me.”

And the next thing I knew, his lips were on mine, his hand buried into my hair, holding my head at the angle he wanted me. This wasn’t a timid kiss. It was hot, hungry, and I had the sense that he was holding back, that what he really wanted to do was kiss me senseless. He gave my hair a light pull, moving my head to the side a little, and I heard a tiny moan escape my throat.