Chapter Thirty-Six
Teddy was gone and in good hands. Aunt Courtney had surprised Jane with a request for one-on-one time with her nephew.
Courtney tried to do that as often as she could.
It amounted to every month or so, when she spent time at her beautiful Kalorama home in Washington, DC.
This time, her weekend itinerary included the National Zoo and Teddy’s choice of Smithsonians.
Dax and Gigi were gone before they knew of Aunt Courtney’s unscheduled visit.
They had left early in the morning, under the cover of darkness, on a romantic getaway to a spa in the Shenandoah Mountains, something that wasn’t that unusual for them.
Though the secretive part was odd. No matter.
The schedule changes meant Jane had free time.
She grabbed a paperback romance novel and went out on the porch of the pool house, ready to fall back into her favorite re-read, a second chance love story between a GI Joe type and a therapist.
She picked a spot under an umbrella that was close to the pool but out of the sun’s baking rays.
Jane put her ice water and cell phone on a side table and curled onto a lounge chair.
“Where was I?” She opened the book and enjoyed the soft breezes as she paged to the chapter where GI Joe tossed the therapist over his shoulder and hauled ass from a shootout.
“She’s gonna give you hell for that.” Talking to the characters had to be one of Jane’s favorite reasons not to use a bookmark.
When she flipped through pages, not knowing where she’d stop, she’d get a few extra seconds to relive what she’d already read.
Jane skipped a few more pages and found a good place to start reading again. “Here we go.” She let the words surround her—until her cell phone buzzed. It was a number she didn’t recognize, and she silenced it. “Not today, Satan.”
Answering unfamiliar numbers meant chatting with a gossip blogger or celebrity journalist who wanted the dirt on the Thane family and weren’t afraid to pay for it. The last time she answered, someone had offered her five thousand dollars for Dax’s calendar. Tempting, but she would never dish.
Jane read a few pages and then checked her phone. No voicemail. Of course the caller wouldn’t record their bribe.
A moment later, it rang again. Same number.
So much for having an unlisted number. It was going to be one of those days. What did they want? What would they offer? How often would they call until Jane picked up the phone and lost her temper.
She groaned, already imagining how the headline would read: “Insane Thane Nanny Loses Her Mind.” Of course, every gossip-covering website would have the audio file accessible for the world to hear her rage.
The notion of acting like the insane Thane nanny was almost amusing, or maybe she just liked how it rhymed.
Either way, Jane snickered and declined the call again, turning back to her book.
If this tough-guy hero didn’t fall to his knees and beg his smart, sassy lady for forgiveness, Jane wasn’t sure she’d take their happily ever after seriously.
Though she knew what would happen, having read this book a few dozen times.
Did that make her a literary sadist? Her brow scrunched, but she returned to the familiar chapter.
Jane couldn’t turn the page fast enough, sparing a momentary glance at her phone. No message. As always.
She started a new chapter when the phone rang again—unknown number. They might call all day. She decided to answer and have a little fun. Jane answered with her best game-show host voice, “Hello, caller, you’re on the air!”
After a pause, a low voice that she’d heard in both her nightmares and dreams said one word. “Jane.”
She couldn’t breathe. The phone nearly dropped from her hand. “Chance?”
“How’s your day off?” His voice was sure and steady.
This was another dream. Or a nightmare? Sometimes they seemed the same after she woke up. “What?”
“What are you doing on your day off?”
Dumbstruck, she blinked. “How do you know I have the day off?”
He chuckled. “I have my ways.”
“Uh…” Her breath shook, and she tried to hide her reaction. The simple act of breathing sounded as though her gasps danced in her chest. “How did you get this number?”
His quiet laughter continued. “I have my sources.”
“You have ways and sources,” she managed.
“And you have a few days off.”
Her senses jumped to full hyper-alert status. What was happening? Then her stomach plummeted. There was only one way to know she was alone. “Did you make friends with the paparazzi?”
“Ha. No. Come outside.”
“I am outside.” She sat up straighter, looking around, though she wasn’t sure what she was looking for.
Chance, staring at her through binoculars, from the canopy of a tree?
The estate was huge and bordered by a big metal fence.
Not to mention… he wasn’t in the United States.
He didn’t work on this side of the world.
He’d made that very, very clear. “I can’t see you. ”
“Let’s fix that problem.” His carefree laughter sent shivers down her neck. “Show yourself, or, I’m coming in.”
Jane fumbled to make sense of their phone call. “Where are you?”
“Waiting for you.”
Shivers cascaded over her skin. Jane didn’t have the words. She realized that her mouth hung slack and slapped it closed. Her fingers strangled her cell phone, and she pulled it from her ear and stared at the screen. The tips of her fingernails gripped the screen to the point that they were white.
She stood and sprinted to the front of the house. There he was. Chance leaned against a big, black, badass truck. His clothes were casual. Dark jeans and a light cotton T-shirt that stretched across his chest. And his smile? It made her knees weak.
“You’re slow,” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice. “How long does it take you to get out of that house?”
“I was in the backyard.”
His long strides closed their distance. Her breath shook and, eyes locked, her head tilted back to keep his gaze. He stopped, towering over her. “Nice to see you again, MP.”
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Surprise.”
Jane pushed her flyaway hair behind her ear and wanted to hug him. Instead, she crossed her arms, suddenly very aware of her appearance. She’d healed significantly since he last saw her, but as Gigi Thane had pointed out, Jane wasn’t a pretty sight.
“Damn, Jane. You’re so beautiful.”