Page 39 of Last Chance

“Because I enjoy being with you.”

That brought a smile to her face. “Feeling’s mutual. That’s why I’m looking forward to an introduction to your mom and brothers.”

He gave her a long stare before saying, “If you change your mind when you’re safe again, let me know. I won’t hold you to it.”

“I won’t change my mind.” What woman in her right mind would give up a chance to meet such an extraordinary family like Sawyer’s?

He seemed surprised by her quick response. “Still, I will ask before I make plans.”

“Fair enough.”

For the next two hours, Sawyer and Jesse rotated in and out of the prep room. Each man asked Janie to teach him how to help. The prep went much faster than normal. Together, they created enough product to fill the shelves out front and the supply stock in the back.

Pleased with the early morning work, she finished the last of the bath salt batch just as the back door opened.

Sawyer’s weapon was in his hand in less than a second.

Janie laid her hand on his forearm. “It’s one of my clerks,” she murmured. “Good morning, Jada.”

Jada Michaels squealed and stumbled back against the closed door. “Janie, you scared me to death. I thought you would sleep in this morning after all the fun in Chile, plus a long flight back to the states.” She stared at Sawyer. “Who’s your friend?”

He slid his weapon back into his holster and stepped forward with his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Jada. I’m Sawyer, Janie’s boyfriend.”

Janie’s cheeks burned. She hadn’t given a second’s thought to how she would explain Sawyer’s presence in her shop. Apparently, Sawyer had.

“My friend Jesse and I convinced Janie to teach us how to make soap and bath salt. She agreed to teach us if we helped her prepare stock for the day.”

Jesse returned to the prep room, his hand resting on his weapon. “I’m Jesse.”

Jada’s gaze shifted from Sawyer to Jesse and back again. “Um, hi. Janie, is everything all right?”

If she wanted to protect her staff, Janie had to tell them some of the truth. No need to scare them to death, though. “Not really. I had some trouble on the plane.”

Her employee stashed her purse and jacket in her locker. “What happened?”

She gave a sanitized version of events, ending with, “Sawyer and his friends are going to monitor me for a few days in case trouble followed me back to Hartman.”

“Are you serious?”

“Afraid so. Look, these guys used to be police officers. Now they work for a private security firm. I’m lucky they were in the area when I was kidnapped from the plane, along with several other hostages.”

Jada gasped. “Wait. Are you talking about the fourteen hostages killed in Mexico? That was your group?”

Janie nodded. “I don’t want to worry you. The heightened security is a precaution.”

“This makes little sense,” her friend said. “Why would anyone come after you here?”

“We don’t know that they will,” Sawyer said. “Would you want me to let security slide and potentially risk Janie’s life if the hijackers tracked her down to finish the job?”

“Oh, no.” Jada sat on the nearest stool. “No way. I don’t care if you and a hundred other guys camp out in the shop as long as Janie is safe.”

“I feel the same way.”

“When did you two start dating?” she asked. “You’ve been keeping secrets, Janie. I did not know you were involved with someone.”

She hated to lie to her friend. Blowing a hole through Sawyer’s story was no good either. “It’s recent.” Janie couldn’t think of a better compromise.

Jada turned to Sawyer. “You better treat her like a princess, buddy. If you don’t, you’ll answer to all of her employees. Trust me when I say we won’t be kind if you screw up.”

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