Unforeseen Danger (32 page)

Nikki motioned him into the living room.
 
He sat on the couch, but she remained standing, placing herself between him and the doorway.
 
She decided to use the same strategy she used on Stephens.
 
If Eliot was her mystery lover, he had played it very cool and she could only hope to catch him off-guard.
 

“I want to know if you and I were lovers,” she said bluntly.

His eyes widened and he stared at her, looking dumbfounded.
 
“Is this some kind of joke, Nikki?” he sputtered.
 
“I love my wife.
 
I love Jake.
 
I would never hurt them.”

She didn’t say anything, just stood there, gauging his reaction.

“I can’t believe you think – you haven’t told Jake you think it’s me, have you?” he asked.

“Not yet.”
 

He jumped to his feet, startling her and Nikki took a step backwards.
 
He ignored her as he paced around the living room with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

“Sara told me we fought a couple of weeks before my accident.
 
What did we fight about?”

“All right,” he said finally.
 
“I’m sick of this hanging over my head, and worrying whether you’re going to remember and turn me in, so I’ll just tell you.
 
There is something between us, Nikki, but it’s not what you think.”
 

He raked his hand through his hair and sat back down.

“The fight we had…you and I were both on the board of a charity that collected money to buy computers for area public schools,” he paused, his face reddening.
 
“You found out I’d borrowed $50,000 from the fund without anyone’s knowledge.”

“You mean embezzled,” she said, shocked.
 

Whatever she’d expected to hear, it wasn’t this.

“I mean borrowed,” he said defensively.
 
“I’ve since made restitution for the full amount, plus
interest,
and I feel horrible about what I did.”

“Eliot, why?
 
You have money.
 
Your family has money.”

“Most of my capital was tied up in my new advertising business, and I didn’t want to ask my family for a loan,” he said.
 
“I didn’t want to have to explain what it was for.
 
You went nuts when you found out and threatened to turn me in, even though I’d already paid half of it back.
 
Nikki, I’d be ruined if you did that.”
 
His eyes begged her for understanding.

“What was the money for, Eliot?” she asked.

“A baby.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Kelly is obsessed with having a baby, to the point that it’s put a strain on our marriage.
 
She’s dragged me to fertility clinics all over the country, running up bills our insurance doesn’t cover.
 
She finally found a doctor who promised he’d keep working with us until she was pregnant, but he requested 50K up front.
 
I knew I had the money coming in, but it wouldn’t be soon enough.
 
I never intended to keep it, just borrow it for two or three weeks, tops.
 
I swear to you, I’m not a thief.”

He rubbed a hand down his face.
 
“This means so much to Kelly.
 
I’d do anything to make her happy, but I truly regret breaking your trust.
 
You and I were friends, once.”

Nikki blinked.
 
“We still are.”

“I’ll show you the books, and you can decide then what you want to do about it.”

“It will stay between us.”
 

Impulsively, she crossed over and hugged him.
 
“But the next time you need a loan, come to Jake and me first.”

He gave her a relieved grin, looking like a man delivered from a heavy burden.
 
“That’s what you said the first time.”

“See, that just goes to show you I really meant it.”
 

“Thank you, Nikki.”
 
Eliot’s voice was quiet, grateful.

“So, how’s the baby plan coming?”
 

“We’re going to
Atlanta
this weekend, and they’re going to do the in vitro then.
 
We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Are you and Kelly doing okay?”

“Better now,” he admitted.
 
“I swear,
Nik
, I love making love to my wife, but it started to be more like a chore.
 
For awhile there, I felt more like a lab rat than a man.”
 
He looked at his watch, and said in a singsong voice, “Eliot, I checked my temp and we need to do it
right now!
”

“I’m so sorry.”
 
Nikki shook her head in amusement.

He rolled his eyes and grinned.
 
“Well, how about you and Jake?
 
How’s it going with you guys?”

“We’re getting along great.
 
I really love him, and he loves me, but there’s this
thing
hanging over us.
 
I don’t know how we can move forward until we find out who this man is.”

“Well,
Nik
, I have to tell you, I think you really have moved ahead.
 
I’ve never seen Jake so happy, even with all this other crap that’s going on.
 
You hang in there.
 
Everything will work out.”

She sighed.
 
“I hope you’re right.
 
It’s driving me crazy, though.
 
Every time a man speaks to me, I’m looking for signs he’s the one.
 
Evan Stephens hit on me at the
Marshall
’s Ball, and I accused him, too.”

“
Eeewww
!”
 
Eliot made a face.
 
“There goes my feeling of
honor
that you thought you might’ve actually slept with me.”
 
He looked at her with twinkling blue eyes.
 
“Trust me,
Nik
.
 
You would NEVER have let that man touch you, not for any amount of money.
 
I have to admit, you were a pretty classy lady then, too.”

Nikki laughed.
 
“That’s reassuring, but who
would
I have let touch me?”

“That’s the thing,” Eliot said.
 
“I still have a hard time imagining there was someone else.
 
You used to be a lot different, a lot more hot-headed, but I never saw anything to make me think you’d even look at anyone else.
 
Even before the accident, you and Jake were really intense.
 
Yeah, you’d try to make him jealous sometimes, but that was mostly when you wanted to yank his chain about something.
 
It’s just Jake’s weak spot.”

“Tell me about it,” she exhaled, and related the whole story of her encounter with Evan Stephens.

“Oh, man!” Eliot said, wide-eyed.
 
“They would’ve had to scrape what was left of him off the walls if Jake had known what went down.
 
I don’t blame you for not telling him.”

They abruptly ended their conversation when they heard Catherine’s key turning in the lock.
 
Eliot rushed to help her with the groceries, giving Nikki a quick peck on the cheek as he went by.

Ah, well.
 
Back to the drawing board,
Nikki thought, although she was glad it wasn’t Eliot.
 

She followed him outside to see if they needed any help and was pleasantly surprised to see it was snowing.
 

Hurry home, Jake,
she thought wistfully.

***

November 19

Whaap

The snowball landed perfectly, striking Jake in the back of the head.

“
Aaah
!” he yelled, as a sliver of ice slid down his shirt collar.
 
He jerked around, looking for the Jenkins brat from next door.
 
Instead, he spied a flash of dark hair, heard her laughter as she ducked behind the house.

Nikki!

Grinning, he walked around the side of the house.

Right into an ambush.

Nikki was ready for him.
 
She bombarded him mercilessly and with deadly precision, forcing Jake to retreat.
 
He ran around to the front and hid behind the deck, trying to build an arsenal before Nikki found him.

Whaap

Whaap

Both shots landed squarely.
 
Sputtering, Jake got off one lob, but it missed her by a foot.
 
He sprinted after her, but she was as fleet-footed as a deer.
 
Panting, and knowing he could never catch her in a foot race, he ducked behind the propane tank.
 

Hardly daring to breathe, he listened for her.
 
Finally, he heard her feet crunching in the snow.
 
He peeked over the tank and saw her standing a few feet away.
 
To his delight, she had her back turned to him.

With a war cry, Jake charged.
 
He tackled her, twisting as he did, so that she’d end up on top.
 
They went down in a flurry of arms and legs, laughing and gasping for air.

“
Woman,
is that any way to greet your hardworking husband?” he demanded, enjoying the feel of her in his arms again.
 

She was so lovely, so breathtaking, with her cheeks flushed by the cold.
 
She looked so much like she had on the day they met.

“Well, how about this?”

She pressed her lips to his.
 
The kiss was long and sweet and Jake would’ve scarcely been surprised if it had melted the snow bank he was lying in.

“That’s more like it,” he said huskily.
 

Desire lit her eyes and something unspoken passed between them.
 
Jake shivered, not from the cold, but from anticipation.
 

“Nikki, Jake, where are you?” Catherine called.

Guiltily, they scrambled to their feet, grinning at each other like teenagers.

“Coming, Mom!” Jake yelled.

“What were you doing?”
 
Catherine laughed as she reached to brush the snow from his hair.

“She started it,” Jake said, and pulled back Nikki’s collar to dump a fistful of snow down her back before he ran inside the house, laughing as she screeched.

“Hey, Zeke!”
Jake said as he reached to tug off his boots.
 

Zeke lifted his coffee cup in acknowledgement.
 
“Was it a good trip?”

“Got a new client, but I’m glad to be home.”

“I made a pot of
chili
,” Zeke commented.

“Good, I’m starving.”

They ate and then moved to the den.
 
To Jake’s dismay, Catherine was in a conversational mood.
 
Jake was feeling a little impatient, anxious to be alone with Nikki.
 
He glanced at her and she gave him a knowing smile.
 
As he carried his coffee cup to the kitchen, she slipped up behind him and whispered in his ear, “
It’s
okay.
 
They can have you for a little while, but I’m not sharing you with anyone tonight.”
 
She nipped his earlobe with her teeth, and then went back to her in-laws, leaving Jake breathless by the promise in her voice.

***

“
Aahchoo
!”

Jake sneezed, then glowered at Nikki, who stood at the front door, watching Zeke’s car back out of the driveway.

“I feel bad.”
 
She turned to him and grinned at his expression.

“You should,” he retorted, the corner of his mouth curving into a slow grin.
 
He sneezed again.

“Really, really bad,” she said, giggling.

“Good,” he growled.
 

He wasn’t about to tell her that he probably caught his cold from his client.
 
The poor guy had sneezed and hacked the whole trip.
 

He was lying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, where he had been ever since they had finished eating Zeke’s
chili
and he felt the symptoms of his cold coming on.
 

Jake had overplayed his illness a little, coughing and sniffling until Catherine told Zeke they’d better go so he could get some rest.
 
Nikki had rolled her eyes at him, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

Nikki walked over to the couch, and clucked sympathetically as she pressed her hand to his slightly warm forehead.
 
She leaned down and whispered in his ear.
 
“You poor baby!
 
I think I can make you feel better, if you come with me.”