Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Jaxon watched as the weariness in Adalyn's eyes turned to outright suspicion. His hand still rested on the back of her neck, and he slid his thumb along the cord of her throat. “You’ve had a rough morning. I thought I would call in some reinforcements.”
Her head tipped to one side. “What does that mean exactly?”
He lifted one shoulder. “They’re good people, and I would trust Luke with my life. He works for Vantage also, and Hannah is a psychologist downtown.”
Adalyn gave a jerky nod, still looking unsure. She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from foot to foot. With a gentle tug, Jaxon pulled her closer until she was flush against him. Her hands moved so that one rested on his chest, the other on Jaclyn’s back.
For a long moment, he stared down at the two of them. He had a daughter. A wife. A family. It made him more determined than ever to fix whatever had happened that morning and take the worry and tension from Adalyn’s shoulders.
“You’ve been up for hours,” he explained gently.
“You have to be exhausted.” Adalyn made a little face, but she didn’t disagree with him.
He took that as a good sign as he continued.
“Luke is going to help me set up some security cameras, and I thought Hannah could watch Jaclyn for a while. Maybe take her to the park and play for a bit, so you can go home and get some sleep.”
Her eyes widened. “Cameras?”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “So this won’t happen again. And if it does—”
She was already shaking her head. “Jaxon, I can’t afford that.”
“Hey.” He bent his knees until he was eye level with her. “Don’t worry about it. Vantage had some extras in their stock, and Knox was more than happy to help.”
He knew her security system was pretty basic, intended to go off only if someone breached the premises. But the cameras would come in handy to help identify the perpetrator if it ever happened again, which he hoped it didn’t. Still, better safe than sorry.
She bit her lip and her gaze moved toward the salon. “I don’t know. I mean, Jaclyn doesn’t know Hannah, and—”
“Addy.” He captured her gaze again. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Her head tipped up, those pretty gray eyes staring into his. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips across hers. “I can see how exhausted you are. Let us take care of the baby for a few hours, then I’ll bring her home for naptime once we’re done here.”
Adalyn practically melted against him, burying her head against his chest. “Thank you.”
He’d been in the salon before, but he wasn’t sure where everything was located. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Can you show me where your hookups are before you head out?”
“Sure. I have to get my purse anyway.”
With Jaclyn still cuddled high on his chest, he slipped an arm around Adalyn’s shoulders and together they headed inside.
She spoke as they walked. “The electrical box is in my office.” She paused to pick a couple stray dresses off the floor and draped them over her forearm. “What all do you need access to?”
He gestured at the drop-tile ceiling. “Actually, that should be good. We can run the wiring right over the tiles. My plan was to put a camera at each entrance outside and one at the front of the store near the register. Any problem with that?”
“No, that sounds great.”
Adalyn stepped into the alterations room to deposit the gowns on a worktable. “I’m not looking forward to fixing all those,” she noted with dismay.
He rubbed a hand over her back. “Sorry, babe. I know it’s been a shi—” He caught himself before he swore in front of Jaclyn. “Crappy morning.”
“Yeah.” She exhaled heavily. “It has. But I really appreciate your help,” she added softly.
Sliding his hand up her back, he cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close. “Anything for you.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Now let’s get to that fuse box so you can get home.”
She held out her arms for the baby, and he handed Jaclyn over, knowing that Adalyn needed the physical reassurance right now. She made her way through the attached door to her office and pointed to a white door recessed along the back wall. “Right over there.”
He poked around for a second. “Good deal. I’ll take it from here.”
Her lips turned up in a tight smile, and she hugged Jaclyn closer. “Okay. Well…”
He knew if Jaclyn started crying, Adalyn would never leave. The dark circles beneath her eyes had intensified, her exhaustion apparent. “Let’s get you home, sweetheart.”
He followed her out to her car and kissed her goodbye, promising once more that everything would be fine. Juggling Jaclyn in his arms, they waved goodbye and watched Adalyn’s tail lights disappear around the corner. He turned to his daughter. “Want to go to the park?”
He smiled as her little head bobbed enthusiastically. Back inside the salon, Luke and Hannah were seated in the chairs near the front desk. He introduced Hannah and Jaclyn and, after a few tears, they headed out the front door.
He’d met Hannah for the first time that morning, but he knew Jaclyn was in good hands.
He’d called Luke just after seven o’clock and asked them to run to the twenty-four-hour department store to grab a car seat for Jaclyn.
Sweet and subdued, Hannah was Luke’s opposite in almost every way.
Despite her obvious exasperation at his overprotectiveness, they fit like two pieces of a puzzle.
Although, if he were Luke, he’d be overprotective too. The man who’d attacked her was dead, but he was sure that was a small consolation after everything she’d been through. He tossed a look at Luke now that they were alone. “She doing okay?”
He lifted one shoulder. “She says yes, but she’s still having nightmares.”
“Hopefully time will fix that.” Luke just nodded, and he changed the subject. “She’s good with kids. You guys have any?”
He pulled out a spool of wire. “Not sure she’s ready for that yet.”
He let out a short laugh. “I understand that. Heck, I didn’t know I had a kid until last week.”
Luke’s hazel eyes met his. “Looks like it agrees with you.”
“Scared the crap out of me at first, but now…” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Luke hitched a thumb over his shoulder in the direction Hannah had wandered off. “Gotta talk this one into moving in with me first.”
For the next half hour, Luke and he worked in companionable silence, running the wiring so they could affix the cameras to the walls. Deciding to tackle the outside first, they focused on the front and rear doors and getting the wires run across the building.
He was standing beside the front door when a compact maroon sedan pulled up to the curb outside and parked.
A young woman stepped out and glanced around before making her way toward the salon.
She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her.
Her short dark hair swung just above her shoulders as she approached the front door.
In an attempt to cut her off, he stepped outside and greeted her. “Sorry, we’re closed today.”
The girl paused on the third step and met his gaze with a shy smile. “I know, Adalyn sent me a message a few hours ago. I felt bad and thought maybe you guys could use some help.”
As he studied the girl, it finally hit him who she was—Jenn, Adalyn’s assistant. He held the door wide and allowed her to enter. “Adalyn headed home to get some sleep. You just missed her.”
“That’s okay,” Jenn replied as she stepped further into the salon. “I know she said there was a lot of damage, so maybe I can get a head start on the repairs.”
He was grateful for anything that would help Adalyn at this point. “That would be great,” he replied honestly. “It’s really nice of you to offer, thank you.” He led her to the back room where he’d seen Adalyn stacking some dresses.
Jenn took a look at the white mound of fabric in the middle of the table and made a small sound of dismay. “Goodness.”
“I know,” he commiserated. “You don’t have to do this.”
Her eyes cut to him. “Oh no, I want to,” she reassured him.
He offered her a smile. “Well, thank you. It means a lot.”
Leaving Jenn to deal with that, he started back toward Luke.
He scanned the salon, absorbing everything still in disarray.
It was normally so neat and tidy, and even after several hours of cleaning that morning, things still looked out of place.
Adalyn hadn’t told him much, other than that the place had been wrecked.
Luke threw a look at him as he propped his hands on his hips and glanced around.
“What are you thinking?”
He wasn’t honestly sure. “I kind of want to see a copy of the police report.”
Luke lifted a brow. “Why’s that?”
He shook his head. “I can’t figure out why they didn’t seem to take anything. And like Adalyn said, that was an awful lot of damage in a very short amount of time. Any idea what response time was?”
“No, but I can find out.” Luke pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times, and he assumed he was shooting off a text to their boss, Knox.
“It seems strange to me,” he remarked. “Even the costume jewelry. It’s not worth much, but it’s still something.
This just seems like somebody wanted to make a mess for the sake of makin’ a mess. Somebody upset with her?”
He lifted his hands in a shrugging motion. “She didn’t seem to think so. I’ll run it by her again and see if she remembers anything else. According to Adalyn, the only person she’s had trouble with recently was a girl she fired a few weeks ago.”
Luke nodded. “Maybe she held a grudge and wanted to get back at her?”
It was possible, though she’d be stupid to do so. She wouldn’t have to worry about getting another job if she ended up serving time for a breaking and entering.
His phone beeped an alert, and he lifted a brow in Jaxon’s direction. “Response time was six minutes.”
He surveyed the mess again. That was a lot of destruction with only six minutes to work with, plus time to get away. “Maybe multiple people?”
“Possible,” Luke agreed. “Guess we’ll see what turns up.”
A couple hours later, Jaxon thanked Luke and Hannah for their help, as well as Jenn, then carried Jaclyn to his truck. By the time he got to Adalyn’s, she was fast asleep. He carefully carried her inside and tucked her into her crib before making his way down the hall to Adalyn’s room.
He smiled at the image that greeted him.
She lay in the middle of the bed under a pile of blankets, wrapped up like a burrito.
She shifted slightly as he settled on the edge of the bed, the dip of his weight causing her to roll toward him the tiniest bit.
He could feel the body heat rising off her where she lay bundled up in the thick comforter.
Stretching out on his side, he propped his head on one hand and studied her. Her mouth was parted slightly, cheeks flushed a pale rose. Thick, dark lashes fluttered as he stroked his thumb over her cheek. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of looking at her.
It hit him then just how much he craved her—he wanted her beautiful face to be the last thing he saw every night before he closed his eyes, and the first thing he saw each morning when he woke.
He wanted her curled into his arms, her body fitted to his.
He still remembered the way she felt against him—and he was desperate for more of it.