Chapter Thirty-Five

Where was Juliet now? He wanted to see her in the dress he bought, knowing she would look so beautiful wearing the lacy white gown. But he had to wait for their wedding day. Bad luck for the groom to see his bride in her dress before the day of their nuptials. Still, he wanted to see her lovely face, but there had been no sign of her for hours.

Plus, he decided they should move from this neighborhood. Too much crime. Yesterday, he'd been forced to drive away when cop cars sped by. They upset Mother. He came back this morning and waited until Juliet left before he went inside and set the stage for her surprises. He hung the dress in her room but didn’t want her to find everything at once, so he left the box on the front porch.

Mother hadn’t wanted him to break in but he wanted his darling to have the presents. He'd been so excited when she came home and saw it. He knew she would appreciate what he'd done. But then the cops came again and he was forced to flee.

Now he hadn’t seen Jade all afternoon or evening. No lights or anything at her house. Where could she be?

He needed to place a call to his cousin, Darrell. He worked in the mailroom of MegaPics. Sometimes when Juliet was playing hard to get, Darrell could find her for him. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his cousin.

#

Logan returned later that night to his Aunt’s house after he tucked Bella into bed.

“Where is my granddaughter?” Trudy cried as he entered the house through the garage.

He kissed his aunt on the cheek. “I’m sorry, I know you were looking forward to having her here, but I don’t want her in danger. Dan's staying with her at the house.”

Trudy frowned with disappointment but understood. “I’ve saved you some dinner,” she said, weaving her arm through his and leading him to the dining room. “I’ll just dump the pot of macaroni and cheese down the disposal,” she sniffed.

Logan rolled his eyes at her theatrics. “I promise Bella can stay with you as soon as the stalker is caught,” he conceded. Trudy beamed and ushered him to a chair. She proceeded to fawn over him like she did when he was a little boy. He liked it.

After polishing off two helpings of lasagna, garlic bread and Aunt Trudy’s famous persimmon pudding, he felt stuffed. He refused her offer to join her and Jade for a glass of wine, explaining that he was officially on duty. They sat in Trudy’s comfortable living room while Trudy regaled Jade with stories from his youth that made him cringe. When she started on the story of when he was thirteen and decided to take her car for a spin, he excused himself and sprinted upstairs. Sifting through his pocket, he pulled out a bag of tiny tracking devices. He felt silly sneaking into his old room but he tiptoed to the closet and attached one to the heel of every pair of Jade’s shoes. He pulled out his Swiss army knife, cut a small slit in the rubber sole of her tennis shoes and inserted a GPS into the slot. He dropped one in her purse and planted one in her watch. He’d be able to keep tabs on her at all times. She gave her word that she wouldn't leave the house on her own, but then, she was known to lie.

He retreated back downstairs hoping Trudy had run out of embarrassing stories. Thinking back to his wild and reckless youth, he figured he’d have to wait another five years before she did. Thankfully Trudy began telling him how she met Jade. These stories he found more interesting but went to great lengths to not appear too eager. He needed to keep his distance.

It figured that when he needed to stay close to Jade professionally, he wanted to keep his distance personally. He could tell his aloof manner bothered her. Good. Maybe she would keep her distance, too.

Proving once again that he knew nothing about women, she waited until Trudy retreated to bed and pulled him aside. His forearm tingled where her palm rested. “I just wanted to thank you. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to keep me safe.”

Annoyed at the surge of happiness her words and touch evoked, he shrugged. “Trudy's paying me. It’s my job.”

She visibly recoiled and he felt like a first class jerk. Why he pretended to keep up the charade of Trudy paying for his services he didn’t know. He would never take a cent from his aunt. He owed her too much. Plus, he already took responsibility for Jade’s safety before Trudy asked. He just thought it would be in the form of Dan or one of the other agents. But Trudy played the guilt card so here he was, standing in the dark hallway with the most desirable woman he'd ever met. And couldn’t have.

Backing away from her touch, he steeled himself against the look of hurt in her sea green eyes. “Get some sleep, Ms. LaRue,” he said gruffly. “It’s been a long day.” Twisting the handle to Dan’s old room, he disappeared inside.