AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jayna turned and Quaid was standing in the doorway, an amused look on his face.
“I take it we’re having steak for dinner tonight,” Quaid said, one hand coming down to pet Luna. “I look forward to it.” His eyes moved above Jayna’s shoulders. “Well, look who it is. I’ll keep breakfast warm for you, Jayna. Good morning, Sienna.”
Jayna turned again and then her heart threatened to seize because her sister was walking down the street in the peacock blue power suit she’d bought the day before. She’d done her hair and makeup and wore her good three-inch heels, the ones she wore when she wanted to impress people.
She ran to her sister, bunny slippers and all, and threw her arms around her. “You came.”
Sienna hugged her tight. “I can do this. I can. Mom is wrong.”
“She is.” Jayna felt tears pool in her eyes as she realized Sienna was serious. “You took off the tags.”
If she’d been hesitant, she would have left those suckers on.
“I’m going to be a paralegal, so I need to look professional,” Sienna said. “Tell me I can do this, Jay.”
Jayna stepped back and put her hands on her sister’s shoulders. “You can do anything you set your mind to, Sienna. Anything, and I will help you. You are not alone.”
Sienna hugged her again. “Thank you. Where do I start? Uhm, and is this the dress code? I was thinking professional, but I might be overdressed. Did you stay here last night? I was worried because you didn’t text me back.”
“I told you I was safe and then I’ll admit I got caught upin a book I was reading. Yeah, I’m staying here, but Quaid is in a separate room so put that out of your mind.” Jayna smiled and wiped away her tears. “I will get dressed and then we’ll have Quaid show you around the office.”
She threaded her arm through her sister’s, ready to start the day.
•••
Quaid sat in his office, still thinking about how the morning had gone.
He’d followed Jayna downstairs, ready to deal with his brother when Paul inevitably got through Jayna’s defenses. He wasn’t sure if Paul would charm his way past her or simply walk around her, but he’d known Jayna wouldn’t be able to keep his brother out.
He was wrong. She’d been an immovable wall in pajamas and slippers, her hair all soft and curly. She’d faced down his brother like a Valkyrie wielding small-town meddling as her sword.
There might not be any way to protect himself now. He had it bad for that woman.
She was both a distraction and a much-needed help.
He glanced out the open door of his office and watched Jayna handing a file to her sister, who seemed both nervous and eager. Sienna was starting to get a handle on the phone, and she was already a pro with the coffeemaker. Between the two women, he was fully caffeinated and ready to work.
If only he could focus on the file in front of him. He was due in court in a few days, where he would be facing off against the wiliest opponent he’d had in forever and all he could think about was kissing her again.
It hadn’t been a passionate kiss that morning. The kiss hadn’t gone hot and heavy, and yet somehow that kiss had been meaningful. He’d gotten lost in the kiss, in the wayshe’d softened against him, in the sigh she’d made when her arms had gone around him.
Then there was the fact that she’d actually read his damn book and wanted to talk about it. He didn’t even talk to his best friends about his writing.
She was wrong about the whole romance thing. That wasn’t a road he wanted to go down. The police detective was there strictly as a foil to his protagonist. He’d even brought in another police officer in subsequent books. A new police officer or federal agent kept things focused on his hero and the mystery he was trying to solve. Jayna was flat wrong.
Of course, she’d probably been right about the whole “using his writing as a way of processing his emotional state” thing. Now that he thought it through, he had given Armand a version of his own history and family.
Was he about to make a huge mistake? She could get under his skin like no one ever had before. The only other time he’d felt this way about a woman had been Alison, and it had taken years to get over her.
Jayna turned and started walking his way.
He tried to pretend to be doing something other than watching her like a lovesick teen.
Why the hell hadn’t he seen how amazing she was back in high school?
She knocked on his doorframe. “Hey, Britney from the courthouse called. We’re on for ten a.m. Friday, but she’s begging us to settle out of court because her granddad’s heart can’t take a long trial about a nudist colony.”
Only in Papillon would the court reporter beg for her grandpa judge. “Well, if the judge doesn’t like the view, he can buy his gas somewhere else.”
