Full Bloom (21 page)

He reached for her without any warning.

It happened so quickly that Emily did not even have time to think. In a matter of seconds the argument had gone from a shouting match straight into outright violence.

She felt his fingers close around her arm and knew he was going to jerk her off her feet. This time he wasn't just trying to force a kiss on her. This time Damon was going to hurt her. There was no time to reflect on the subject. Emily acted without conscious planning.

She leaned into the direction he was pulling, throwing Damon off balance because he had been expecting resistance and was braced for it.

As he staggered a bit, readjusting his weight, Emily pushed against his opposite shoulder and simultaneously hooked a foot around his ankle.

Completely off balance, Morrell went sprawling. He shouted something as he reeled back against the car and tried to catch himself by grabbing at the side mirror. The mirror bent, offering no support, and Damon hit the concrete.

Emily did not stick around to gloat. She whirled and began to dash around the corner of the lobby wall, heading for the elevators.

She was halfway to her goal when she collided with Jacob's massive frame as he came charging around the partition.

The impact took away Emily's breath. His big hands caught her and steadied her for an instant. Her dazed eyes flew to his face. She had time to register the cold granite of his features and then he was putting her aside, getting her out of the way so that he could reach Morrell.

"I told you what I'd do the next time I found you bothering Emily, Morrell." Jacob leaned down and grabbed a fistful of the other man's jacket, jerking Damon to his feet. Jacob cocked one arm, his hand knotting into a fist.

"Jacob, wait?" Emily finally came to her senses. "There's no need to hit him. I don't want any unnecessary violence."

Jacob didn't look at her. His eyes were savagely intent on his victim, who was staring at him groggily. "What do you expect me to do? Shake his hand?"

"I expect you to call the cops like a good citizen," Emily said firmly. "I mean it, Jacob, this has gone far enough. I will not have you meting out your own brand of justice."

Jacob did glance at her then, his expression unreadable. "You want the cops? Go call 'em," he suggested innocently.

Emily nodded warily and turned toward the elevators. Then she paused. "You promise you won't beat him up while I'm gone?"

"Now, why would I want to do that? You've already decked him once. Emily, if you're not going to go upstairs and call the cops, we might as well break out a pack of cards and play gin. Make up your mind."

Emily gave him one last warning glance and then put her key into the elevator call lock.

Jacob waited until the elevator closed and then he smiled at Damon in wolfish anticipation. "I'll bet you had no idea how dangerous these underground parking garages can be, Morrell. Well, live and learn. I'm going to show you just how risky it is to hang around one."

Emily did not get a chance to really talk to Jacob until that evening. After dealing with the police, she had gone straight in to work and the rest of the day had been spent telling Diane the story, dealing with a real estate broker who had a potential client for the shop and selling a great many flowers. By five Emily had had it. She was ready to put her feet up and enjoy a glass of wine.

Jacob wandered into the shop right on time, chatted briefly with Diane and then escorted Emily out to her compact. He took the keys from her and got behind the wheel.

"What a day," Emily muttered as she collapsed against the front seat.

""You sure know how to wake a man up in the morning, I'll give you that," Jacob retorted.

"Don't blame me for that little scene in the garage. If you hadn't followed me downstairs, you would never have gotten involved. I had everything under control." Emily scowled as a thought struck her. "Come to think of it, why
did
you follow me downstairs this morning? I meant to ask you after the police left, but we didn't get a chance to talk. How did you happen to be there when I ran into Damon? Did you think I had forgotten something?"

Jacob concentrated on fighting his way through the evening traffic. "Something like that," he said vaguely.

Emily blinked suspiciously. "What was it?"

"What was what?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Jacob. What was it you thought I had left behind this morning?"

"Nothing important. By the way, I went to the Pike Place Market today and picked up some nice fresh salmon for dinner. Wait until you see what I can do with a salmon. It's close to miraculous. You're in for a treat tonight."

"Uh-huh. I can't wait." Emily turned in her seat, intent on pinning him down but they reached the garage just then, and Jacob was suddenly very busy using the automatic opener and parking the car.

"By the way," Jacob said casually as he walked her toward the elevators, "the police phoned earlier. They've picked up a couple of suspects who fit my description of the two Morrell sent after me. I'm going to take a look at them tomorrow. Looks like a sure thing, though. Apparently one of them has already started talking. He never met Morrell. Everything was handled over the phone, but the evidence is building."

"I'm so glad they've caught those two!" Emily exclaimed, momentarily sidetracked. She remembered her initial question as they walked into her apartment. "Jacob, I would like to know what you think you were doing following me this morning."

"I'll get the wine," Jacob was saying, going past her into the kitchen. "I've got some chilling in the refrigerator. Oh, I also made the salad. All you'll have to do tonight is sit back and relax."

"Sounds great," Emily said smoothly. But there was a militant gleam in her eyes when she kicked off her shoes and walked barefoot into the living room to put her feet up on a white hassock.

"Here you go. Good Semillon Blanc. You're going to love it." Jacob ambled in from the kitchen with a plate of crackers, a glass of wine and a glass of Scotch carefully balanced. Emily let him sit down before she tried again.

"All right, Jacob. Enough dodging." She leaned back in her chair and glared at him through her glasses. "What were you doing in the garage this morning? I want the truth."

Jacob exhaled heavily. "The truth? I was following you."

Instantly Emily bristled. "I knew it! Of all the nerve. Have you been following me down to the garage every morning?"

Jacob shrugged but didn't say anything.

Emily was not placated. "You have, haven't you? Why, Jacob? What in the world did you think you were doing?"

"Looking after you," he admitted. He smiled with fleeting apology. "I can't help it, Emily. It's a hard habit to break. I never have liked the idea of you coming and going in that damned garage, even before I ran into those two punks down there. Furthermore, I wasn't convinced Morrell had really given up trying to find a way to break RI. I had a hunch he might still try something, even if it was just a shot at hurting you. I figured I'd keep an eye on you until we get out of Seattle."

"So you've been following me? Sneaking around behind me? Checking up on me?" Emily was incensed.

"Now, Emily, there's no need to get dramatic about it. I was just watching out for you."

"You sound as if somebody gave you the job of being my guardian angel. Dammit, Jacob, I won't have it. Do you hear me? For the last time, I can take care of myself."

Jacob gave her an oddly straight look. "Want to know something? Lately I've begun to believe you. Where did you learn that trick you used on Morrell this morning?"

Emily had been about to launch into another tirade, but she paused at the question. Then her sense of humor took over. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled serenely at her husband. "I took a class in self-defense along with the class in assertiveness training."

Jacob groaned. "I should have known. What have I let myself in for by marrying you?"

"I thought you liked the idea of me having turned into a woman with a sense of her own power," Emily remarked dryly.

Jacob grinned. "I may have been a little hasty in congratulating you. Power is a dangerous thing in the hands of a woman. Women are so much more subtle than men. You can usually tell what a man will do with power, but you can't always be so certain about what a woman will do with it."

"It will give you something to think about if you're ever in danger of getting bored with marriage."

"I don't see boredom as a problem in this marriage," Jacob said with great depth of feeling.

"Now, about the way you followed me downstairs this morning," Emily began again, not ready to be sidetracked.

"As long as you're not going to let that subject drop, I'd like to point out a little detail you seem to have overlooked," Jacob said, self-righteousness in his eyes.

"What detail?"

"Emily, I came right down after you in the other elevator. I was only a minute or two behind you."

"So?"

"So I was there right from the beginning when you first encountered Morrell. I overheard you ask him what he was doing there, and I heard the whole conversation between the two of you right up to the point where you threw him."

"It's called eavesdropping, Jacob."

"It's called an incredible display of forbearance and patience on my part. You seem to be missing the main point here, Emily, and that was that I let you deal with Morrell on your own, right up to the moment where things turned violent. Hell, I hesitated so long that you were the one who rescued yourself. Don't I get any credit for that? I'm making progress, honey. Two weeks ago I would have been down on Morrell like a rock slide before you'd had a chance to do anything more than say hello."

Emily stared at him. "You were there behind the wall, listening to everything?"

"And gnawing on my knuckles."

"And you didn't come charging around the corner like a bull moose until after things turned nasty," Emily said thoughtfully, thinking about it.

"A bull moose?" Jacob looked offended.

Emily ignored the hurt protest. Her eyes softened. "You know something, Jacob, there may be hope for you yet. It must have taken considerable willpower for you to hold back when you knew Damon was confronting me on the other side of that wall."

"You'll never know how much willpower," he agreed a little grimly.

Emily broke into a sunny smile. "I hadn't thought about it like that. You're right. You are making progress." Then she remembered something and became thoughtful. "You know, I hadn't realized that fall I gave Damon had shaken him up as much as it did until I saw him getting into the back of the police car. He could hardly walk."

"You're a terror, my love," Jacob said smoothly. He patted his thigh. "Why don't you come over here and tell me just how well I'm doing as a husband who's learning to respect his wife's ability to take care of herself?" Jacob put down his Scotch and reached across the short distance that separated him from Emily. He took the wineglass from her and tugged her down onto his lap.

Emily blinked suspiciously at him and then decided not to ask any more questions about Damon's condition that morning when he had been taken away by the police. Jacob's innocent expression did not deceive her. One couldn't tame a wolf completely. She would just have to be contented with a few behavior modifications.

Emily smiled and went willingly to Jacob, her eyes warm and glowing as she nestled happily into his strength. "I love you, Jacob. Even if you are occasionally overbearing and heavy-handed and even if you do tend to be overprotective."

"And I love you, sweetheart, even if you are occasionally reckless and a little naive and inclined to drive me crazy." He kissed her forehead.

Emily reached up and framed his hard face between loving hands. She studied the tenderness in his eyes that was such a contrast to the rest of him. "I'm so glad the right time and place finally came for us," she whispered.

"It wasn't exactly a matter of fate," Jacob said with a sexy grin. "We both made it happen. I came back looking for you, and you had the good sense to be waiting."

Emily laughed up at him and pulled his face down so that she could kiss him. "From now on we will take very good care of each other, my love."

^