Page 41 of Found By Him

I spend the rest of the evening occupying myself by cleaning out and reorganizing my entire closet.

I’m waitingfor him to pick me up, and the nerves are flaring. This party will be filled with the most importantpeople in Jack’s life. I want to make a good impression, but what if they don’t like me? What if I say or do something stupid?

Going out in public also makes me nervous. Besides the day at the senior center, the last time we were in public, I got a text. There’s no telling where my stalker is at this point, and he has been quiet, but the last thing I want is for that to ruin tonight.

I stand in front of my mirror, taking myself in from every angle. I curled my hair and left it down. My makeup is carefully applied and slightly bolder than my everyday look. The ruched satin black purse matches the dress perfectly, and the shoes are black patent leather and surprisingly comfortable. Though they probably won’t be comfortable if I stand all night. I’m glad the heel isn’t overly high.

I take one last look at myself in the mirror.Even if I make an ass of myself, at least I’ll look good while doing it.

My phone dings from the living room and has my heart racing, knowing who that is.

Opening my new purse, I double check I have everything I need, then walk into the living room.

I made Alice two different types of cookies and some truffles as a retirement present and even convinced Tyler to bring me a gift bag for it yesterday. I retrieve the gift bag from my dining room table and grab my phone.

Jack: I’m here.

One more deep breath to settle my nerves isn’t enough. I lock my apartment behind me and walk to the elevator, telling myself it’ll be fine and I’ll have fun.

When I step out the door onto the sidewalk, my eyes widen. Jack’s dressed in a fitted black suit, leaning againstthe G-Wagon with his hands in his pockets. He has a black tie to match his black suit, dark sunglasses, and his ever-present short dark beard finishing off the look. He’s like a bad boy who’s trying to appear respectable but with just enough danger to melt panties everywhere.

Smiling, I swallow hard as I take a shaky step toward him. I give myself a little pep talk about not making a fool of myself this early in the evening by doing something like tripping. As I get closer, Jack pushes himself off the car to approach me.

“You look amazing,” I tell him, the words falling from my lips in greeting.

He smirks. “That’s my line.”

Jack reaches around me as he shifts to my side, placing his hand on my lower back and guiding me to the passenger door. He pulls the door open and helps me into the seat. Grabbing the seatbelt like he usually does, he stretches it across me. His hand brushes slowly over my hip, causing my core to clench. When he steps back and closes the door with a soft click, he looks around at our surroundings before walking around the car and climbing in beside me, further reminding me of the protection he provides with his careful vigilance.

I study his profile as he pulls into the sparse traffic. His neatly trimmed beard is perfectly in place and his buzzed hair is a little shorter than a few days ago. He’s too severe to be model handsome, but that adds to the appeal.

I glance around the G-Wagon. Since I’m no longer driving myself anywhere, Jack took the car back. I also got my car back a few days ago, fully repaired, and not just the damage from the accident. Not that it matters with my Jack-mandated chauffeur service until we catch whoever is stalking me. “Do you always drive a company car?”

Jack slides his eyes to me before they shift back to the road. “This isn’t a company car.”

I tilt my head, baffled by that statement. “What do you mean? You let me borrow this car after the accident.”

“Yes, I did.” He clears his throat. “It’s mine.”

My jaw drops open slightly, stomach swooping. “You let me borrow your very expensive G-Wagon? What did you drive if you let me drive your vehicle?”

“I have another one.”

“And what is that one?”

“It’s the one I had before I bought this.”

“Okay, and that was a…”

“An ’05 Toyota Tacoma.”

I cackle out an unladylike laugh. “Are you freaking kidding me? Why the hell did you let me drive this? I would have happily driven your Tacoma.” I cut my eyes over to him. “Or a car from a rental company.”

“The Tacoma is worse than the death trap you were already driving. I wanted you in something safer and more reliable.”

I gawk at the side of his face. He’s watching the traffic intently while clenching and unclenching his jaw. My brain is taking its sweet time processing what Jack just told me. He preferred to put me in a new vehicle that costs six figures rather than a car that might put me in a dangerous, at worst, inconvenient, at best situation.

My face tingles with unexpected emotions. I lean across the middle console and kiss his cheek, lingering momentarily to get my fill of his spicy, masculine scent. As I settle back in my seat, I gently grip his forearm where it rests on the console. “I said this the day you dropped this off, and I still think you are insane for letting me drive this, but thank you for taking care of me. Not just with this sexy-ass car, butwith everything.” I suck in an uneven breath. “I honestly can’t imagine going through all this without you. Or really any of the guys.”

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