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ittle bit stressed, but I feel much better now. Thank you,” Cora said, pressing her lips to his cheek.
“You’re welcome, baby,” he said as he continued to stroke a hand down her back. “Did you want to go back to your case files or just stay here?”
She snorted indelicately and then said, “No more case files tonight. I got the majority of it done anyway.”
“Good,” he agreed, his voice drowsy. “Let’s just stay like this.”
“Mm, this is perfect,” she agreed.
Now that her thoughts weren’t racing, Cora just lay there and let herself drift. She was constantly going, going, going. She nestled further into Jamie’s side.
It was nice, for once, to just enjoy the moment. Particularly this one.
Chapter Twelve
Jamie tugged at the collar of his shirt for the fourth time in the last two minutes, as Cora drove them both toward her father’s house for dinner. He’d met him before. Theo had always been a really nice guy, but he was a completely uncertain about what sort of reception he’d receive tonight.
A few nights ago, they’d been in the grocery store shopping for dinner supplies when her father had called. She’d spoken to him but tried to cut the call short. Uttering the words, “Daddy. We’re at the grocery store. Let me call you back a little bit later,” had been the start of a long, awkward conversation. Her father had immediately picked up on the we and it had all gone downhill from there.
Jamie had listened to the one-sided conversation, wincing every so often before he tuned it out and went in search of vegetables. By the time he had gotten back to the cart, and he had taken the long way just in case, Cora was sighing and passing the phone over to him.
One very short and incredibly awkward conversation later, he had been thoroughly boxed into dinner with Cora and her father the next night. There had been no elegant way to bow out of it. Theo had made sure of that.
CFO of a multinational biotech firm, her father was a sharp man. He was relatively quiet, but Jamie suspected that little escaped his notice. This dinner, however innocuous, had been pushed for a specific reason. Theo clearly had something to say to him.
Jamie pulled himself back into the present when Cora said, “Jamie? We’re here.”
After unbuttoning the offending button of his shirt, he said, “Oh jeez. I must be out of it. I’m sorry.”
Cora sighed, placed a hand over his knee, and said, “My Dad is...a little pushy. Thank you for agreeing to come with me.”
“Like I wanna miss the totally awkward conversation that’s coming my way,” Jamie said, grinning good naturedly.
Considering how things had ended so abruptly between them all those years ago, Theo probably had some things to say. As much as he’d like to avoid it, Jamie figured he probably needed to hear them.
Cora rolled her eyes and said, “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. At worst he’s going to ask what your intentions are toward his daughter.”
“Well, gee, Sir. I was hoping to spend as much time as possible with her both in and out of bed.”
“Wow,” Cora snorted. “My dad would love that response.”
Jamie grinned at her unrepentantly, and then finally said, “C’mon, baby. Let’s do this. Before I lose my nerve.”
Cora cleared her throat and said, “By the way. Please don’t mention the Warren Aimes thing. It’ll only worry him unnecessarily.”
Jamie said, “I don’t know, Cora. That’s kind of big. Don’t you think you should at least mention it?”
“He’s got enough on his plate. The district attorney is trying to move my court appointment up since they weren’t able to issue the temporary order. I don’t want to worry him.”
The fact that the D.A. wouldn’t issue the temporary restraining order for someone who was acting under instruction from the court confused Jamie. He had assumed it was a no-brainer, but he had been wrong.
“Thank you,” Cora said, a look of relief on her face.
“I still don’t get why they won’t issue the order,” Jamie complained.
Cora shook her head and said, “They deemed him as not an eminent threat. I’ve got no idea what criteria they use, though.”
“Pisses me off, still,” Jamie said.
