Page 60 of Alluring

"I will."

"Drive safe."

"Okay."

He kissed her one more time. "Love you."

She smiled up at him. "I love you, too."

Alexis waved and greeted a few people she knew on the way to her car. The June heat was already brutal at 8:30 in the morning. Thankfully, she thought to wear a cream silk shell under her light-pink skirt suit. She had a feeling the jacket would be removed by midday.

She turned a corner and spied her car next to Jack's Rover. She stopped and stood in stunned amazement at first not fully comprehending the sight before her.

The back window was bashed in, and both back tires were flat She started slowly inching her way forward to get a better view of the front, when the squeal of tires sounded, startling her.

Heart pumping, Alexis turned her head to see a car bearing down on her, seemingly driving at top speed. She was frozen in place for several precious seconds before her feet got the memo from her brain and started running. She dove out of the way at the last moment to avoid being hit.

She followed the car with her eyes as it quickly sped away, but she couldn't read the license plate nor could she tell the make and model. She crawled to her purse that was a few feet away and with shaky hands, pulled out her phone.

Someone from security saw her and came rushing over. "Young lady, are you alright?"

Jack had answered on his end. "Sweetheart, that was fast. Miss me already?"

She breathed heavily into the phone as the adrenaline rush wore off. Her whole body started shaking, her teeth clattering, and she couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Alexis, are you alright? Where are you?" he paused a moment. "Speak."

His sharp tone seem to snap her out of her funk. "Gar ... garage," she stuttered.

"I'm on my way. Don't move."

The security guard helped her to her feet. She looked down. She was a mess. She had lost one shoe and blood dotted both knees. She smoothed down her skirt and left a trail of blood behind. She looked at her palms. Those had scrapes, too.

"Lady what happened? Is this your car? Were you attacked?" The guard said something into his walkie-talkie, talking in some kind of code. Something garbled came back out.

She heard footsteps running and lifted her head to see Jack, then promptly burst into tears. Guess the adrenaline had finally worn off. She was a hot mess.

He cradled her in his arms. "Sweetheart, are you okay? What happened?"

She stutter-sobbed the whole story making a mess of his shirt. Mascara, lipstick, tears, and snot littered the front of it. She stepped back and wiped her face, wincing when her raw palms hit her salty tears.

Jacked cradled her hands. "Let's get you cleaned up." He reached down, picked up her purse, found her shoe and helped her slide it on.

Stan was investigating her car. He had his phone out, taking pictures. "I'll give you a minute to compose yourself, Ms. Taft, then I need to ask you some questions."

"Come with us up to the penthouse. You can speak with her after I clean her up." He scooped her up and started walking.

"I can walk," she said, clinging to his neck.

"I want to hold you."

They got some strange looks on the way to the elevator, but no one said anything. Stan trailed behind them but stopped at some point to talk to a security guard.

As they waited in the elevator for Stan to catch up, Jack buried his face in Alexis's neck and breathed deep. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I was a little shook up, but I'm feeling better now. I'm glad you were so close, though. I don't know how I would have coped without you with me. You're like my security blanket and that kind of scares me."

Jacked picked his head up and looked at her. "Why's that?"

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