Serendipity (Southern Comfort) (27 page)

His eyes were intense as he searched her face, but he pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand.  “Sure. No place I’d rather.”

When he opened his arms, she cuddled in, but inside her something quivered.

“You know.” Jordan stroked a hand down her back. “I think that may be the first time I’ve ever forgotten to suit up for the party.”

“Suit up for the….” And what quivered stilled as she put it together.  “Well, hmmm.”  He hadn’t worn a condom. 

She hadn’t even given it a thought, and that was incredibly uncharacteristic.  After some rapid mental calculations, the quiver shimmied again.  Her last period had ended about ten days ago. 

Noticing her silence, Jordan gave her shoulder a little squeeze.  “If it will ease your mind I can assure you that I have a clean bill of health.”

“What?  Oh.  That’s… good.  And same goes.”  She’d always been selective, and very careful, even when she’d been with Michael. 

But aside from disease control, condoms provided another very important function. 

As if he’d read her mind Jordan’s hand stilled on her back.  “So I’m guessing that since you were engaged and all,” And wasn’t his tone extra casual?  “You’re probably on the pill.”

“I can’t take the pill,” she explained, equally breezy.  “It makes me violently ill.  And anyway, my engagement has been broken for nearly two years.  The, um, issue of birth control hasn’t really been a factor since.”

“Ah,” Jordan said, and gave her a little squeeze. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.  Not about the pill.  But about the fact that you haven’t needed it.”

Ava leaned up on her forearm to get a look at his face.  Aside from the obvious – and what she liked to think of as purely masculine – satisfaction that she hadn’t been interested enough to sleep with any other men in recent memory, she detected a reasonable level of concern.  But he hadn’t lost his color or gone cross-eyed or broken out in hives at the idea that they’d been completely unprotected, so she had to give him credit.  “If it will make you feel any better, I don’t think I’m ovulating.”

Jordan stared at her for a moment. “Just out of curiosity, you know this… how? Your ovaries put up a little sign that says eggs for sale when you are?”

“Actually, some women claim that they can feel the egg travel down the fallopian tube into the uterus when ovulation occurs.  I don’t happen to be one of them, but boy, wouldn’t that be handy?  However, the egg is typically put up for sale fourteen days before the start of a woman’s menstrual period.  Also –”

“Ava.  Ava.”  Jordan held up a frantic hand.  “Christ, never ask a veterinarian about reproduction, I guess.  Lesson learned.”

When Ava started to grin at him, he gave her a pained look. “I’m a guy, okay?  And I grew up with four brothers.  Female… cycles have never exactly been a hot topic of conversation for me.”

“You are so damn cute, you know that?  All flustered by the birds and the bees.”

“Ha.” Jordan sat up.  “As fascinating as this topic is, I’ll save us both the
embarrassment
and get the condoms out of my wallet.”

“I’m a scientist.” Ava decided she was thoroughly enjoying herself now.  “Nothing embarrasses me.  If you’d like me to explain how the stringier vaginal secretions during ovulation allow the sperm to –”

“No!”  Jordan covered her face with the pillow.  “No, I really wouldn’t like you to do that.”

Ava laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. 

“It’s really not funny,” he complained as he lifted the pillow to frown at her.

“Yes,” she disagreed.  “Yes it is.”  Then she rolled on top of him and planted a kiss on his lips.  “Now.  Why don’t you check on Finn and get those condoms?  And when you come back, I’ll teach you a thing or two about reproduction.”

The look in his eyes this time was pure male appreciation.  “You know, I’ve always wanted to play Doctor.”

“Oh, honey, I’ll do you one better.”  She brushed her tongue over his lips.  “You stick with
me
, and I’ll show you how to play Vet.”

FROM his position in the tree, Bobby Lee Bender looked through the bedroom window with a kind of giddy disbelief.

It was that prosecutor.  The one who’d taken over Elijah Fuller’s trial.

What were the chances?

He’d seen the man on TV, caught glimpses of him coming and going around the courthouse from time to time.  And after the other attorney had keeled over with the bad pumper, Bobby Lee had followed this one around the park.

He liked knowing who the players were on the chessboard he’d set up.

Of course, he hadn’t anticipated the little queen in there.

Foul-mouthed bitch.

Bobby Lee wasn’t sure just what to do about that.  He’d already tied things up so neatly.

It excited him to remember. 

The first one, well, the woman had badgered him, cursed at him.  Threatened to call his boss because he’d stepped in her stupid flower bed and accidentally trampled some stupid plant.  He’d been doing his job, hadn’t he?  And he’d had to shut her up.  He just hadn’t expected it to be so… satisfying.  He’d made a few mistakes, sure he had.  It was his first murder, after all.  And he’d waited, sweating a little, a little nervous, a little sick, for the cops to figure it out.

Couldn’t they see it when they looked at him?  See the power he had?

But they hadn’t seen it.  No one did.  They just saw good ole Bobby Lee.

Only he knew what he was capable of.   

So the second… yes, the second had been a sort of practice.  A way to hone his skill.

How long could he draw it out?  How loud could he make her scream?  How well could he clean up after?

Pretty darn well, it turned out.  But he hadn’t expected the full impact it would have on the city.  What were a couple dead women, in the scheme of things?  But he’d heard the talk, heard the term serial killer being discussed in worried tones and nervous whispers.

It had given him a thrill, that was for sure.

But Bobby Lee wasn’t stupid.  Contrary to what he’d always been told, Bobby Lee knew he was smart as a whip.

And being as he was whip-smart, Bobby Lee had waited months for the right opportunity.

So the third, well the third had just about dropped into his lap, hadn’t she?  Elijah Fuller was a sick, sick puppy, and he’d made the perfect fall guy.  So the third, yes the third had been a pure pleasure.

He’d intended to stop at that.

But the woman inside the bedroom…  Bobby Lee studied the lace-covered window.  He couldn’t see more than shadows, the occasional movement, and the freaky one-eyed cat on the sill.  But he knew she was in there.  The foul-mouthed bitch.  And the assistant district attorney.  It was a tricky situation, to be sure.

Chewing on that, Bobby Lee wiggled down the tree. And figuring he had some thinking to do, headed toward Bay Street. 

Because being as he was whip-smart, and thirsty with it, he decided he might as well do his thinking over a beer.

JORDAN awakened with a tongue in his ear.

“If you don’t stop that,” he warned, voice husky with the remnants of sleep and the fresh stirrings of desire. “You’re going to have to make an emergency run to the drug store.  We used all the condoms I had last night.”

The licking continued unabated, and Jordan snapped open his eyes.  He was rewarded with a sloppy doggy kiss. 

“Ugh.  Get off me, Finn.”  As much as he’d enjoyed playing Vet with Ava last night, he thought that might be taking things too far.  He gave the dog a playful scrub between the ears, then rolled over to find the bed empty beside him.  He heard the shower, peeked at the clock, and realized Ava must be getting ready for work.  Despite the whole condom issue, he decided not to fight the urge to join her.

There were other ways of pleasing each other.

He stumbled toward the bathroom, knocking this time before stepping in. 

“Hey. You’re up.” Ava pushed her dripping mass of hair aside and took stock of his long, naked body.  “Literally.”  And the grin was fast and flirty.

“Pretend it isn’t there.” He grimaced as he joined her in the shower, slid his hand over her naked hip.  “A perfectly good party to go to, but it seems I’ve nothing to wear.”

“Ah, that’s too bad.  You know the rule.  No shirt, no shoes, no service.”

Jordan laughed, and pulled her close enough for wet skin to rub against wet skin.  “I could try wearing a shoe, sweetheart, but I’m pretty sure that might hurt.”  Then he captured her mouth, torturing them both by spinning out the kiss.

Blood simmered, and his muscles tightened over it.  He felt her pulse flutter against his and reminded himself of the situation.

“Well.” Ava ran her hands over his chest when he stepped back.  “I, um, guess I need to start stocking condoms.  And dog treats.”

Gripping her chin between his fingers, Jordan lifted it so he could see her eyes.  When she saw the seriousness in his, that laughing brown flickered into hesitation.  “Is that what you want, Ava?”  

  “If I didn’t want you, you wouldn’t be here.  And we certainly wouldn’t have done what we did last night.”

“You know what I’m talking about.  I meant it when I said it was more than sex.”

Flustered, Ava turned to fiddle with the shower fixtures.  “Water’s getting cold.”

“Ava –”

She jerked the knob toward hot. “You don’t even know me, Jordan, not really.  How can you know it’s more?  Let’s just agree that we enjoy each other, and see where that takes us for now.”

“Because I’m trying to be upfront about my intentions.  I’m not above herding you, Ava.  We’ve already establis
hed that
. But I’d prefer to just point out the direction I’m headed and see how you feel about heading there with me.  Maybe you need a nudge or two to get going, and I might be willing to adjust my pace.  But the point is, we’re going to end up there all the same.”

“YOU’RE
unbelievable, you know that?”  Ava stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.  Rubbed it viciously over her skin. Why did this have to be so complicated?  “I finally have sex with you, and you have to talk the thing to death.  We’ve known each other a couple of weeks.  What man in his right mind hears I enjoy you, I’d like to keep enjoying you and starts bringing out maps and life plans? For God’s sake, I –”

“I’m in love with you.”

Ava lowered the towel from her face, slowly.  “What?” She met his reflected gaze in the mirror.  “What? Are you crazy?  Are you nuts?”

“There’s a better than middling chance.”  He wrapped his own towel around his waist.  And his eyes, heartbreakingly blue, softened as he came up behind her.

“I don’t know what you’re afraid of.  I can’t know, if you won’t tell me.”  He pressed his lips to the top of her head.  “Maybe your ex-fiancé hurt you a lot worse than you’re willing to admit.  Maybe you’ve got some other kind of trouble.  But I’m not going anywhere, Ava.  All this hiding, circling and stomping around you’ve been doing, seems to me you’re just wearing yourself out.”  

The towel slid out of her numb fingers.

“Jordan –”

“It’s okay, Ava.”  He took her shoulders, turned her into his chest.  “I know you’ve got to get into work, and fact is, so do I. This isn’t the best time to discuss this, and I let you put it off last night.  But I want you to understand,” he cupped her chin again, tilted it up.  “Want you to understand that I’m here for you.  Whether you think you need me or not.”

His cell phone rang, and Jordan dropped a quick kiss on her lips.  “I need to get that.”

Ava stood, rooted, and watched him stroll easily from the room.

And felt herself tumble helplessly, hopelessly into love.

He thought he was in love with her.  And to give the man credit, well, maybe he was.  She knew her heart, didn’t she?  He could just be the rare kind of man who knew his as well, without having to be beaten over the head with it.

But how would he feel about her when he realized what she actually was?

The daughter, the niece of violent criminals.  And a woman who’d known about his own brush with violence, but neglected to come forward.

She had a feeling Jordan just might change his stance when that particular fact came to light.

“Shit.”  She sat down on the edge of the bathtub.

Despite the hiding, the circling, and the damn stomping around, Ava realized that she still didn’t have a clue what to tell him.

JORDAN grabbed his pants off the bedroom floor and dug his cell phone out of the pocket.  The number on the screen showed his boss’s personal cell.  Irritation flared.  Despite Jordan’s misgivings, he’d been pushing forward with the Fuller trial. He’d honed Daniel Hatcher’s testimony until it shone like polished stone, stone that would withstand the inevitable chipping away from the defense.  He’d strategized with Clay to apply the salient points of the profile to Elijah Fuller, had poured over the implications and applications of what physical evidence they had.  

He’d set aside his own doubts.