Page 105 of Second Act
The banter was interrupted by a waiter serving appetizers of trout pâté. Jessica had just picked up her fork when a shrill, insistent alarm shrieked from her tiny clutch, sending her fork clattering onto the plate and her heart into a spasm of dread.
The sound was the clinic’s emergency notification. That meant fire, flood, or burglary.
She fumbled open the jeweled purse and grabbed her phone to check the cause. Pure horror ripped the air out of her lungs on a gasp. “Oh dear God, it’sfire!” She leaped up from her chair, somehow managing to keep her balance on the ridiculous heels she was wearing.
“Fire? Where?” Hugh stood up, too.
“The clinic. I have to go.”
“Just a moment,” Hugh said, seizing her wrist to hold her beside him. “Gavin, we need your limo. My apologies...I won’t be able to present the award to you.”
“Go!” Gavin said, his cell phone already in his hand.
“Wait,we?” Jessica said to Hugh.
“I’m coming with you,” he said.
She didn’t have time to argue with him, so when he released her wrist, she started toward the exit door, dodging between tables and chairs as fast as she could go, yet always aware of his presence behind her.
Just as she reached the door, her phone began pinging with text messages from Tiana and Caleb, the two vet techs who lived closest to the clinic and were on their way there. They would probably beat the fire trucks, even though the clinic’s alarm was connected to the fire station, too. Of course, Jessica had expected to be within ten blocks herself. She hated for the techs to be the ones who got to the scene first.
Hugh rested his hand on the small of her back as they strode through the lobby, guiding and balancing her with his touch. She heaved a sigh of gratitude when she saw the limo waiting at the hotel entrance. Hugh snarled at the paps who scrambled to snap their pictures while he helped her in. The big car glided away from the curb, and Jessica began pulling up the clinic records on her phone, checking to see how many patients were boarding that night. Eight. She winced and sent the information to the two techs, praying the fire wasn’t so bad they couldn’t rescue the boarders.
Don’t go in to get the animals unless the firemen say it’s safe. Fill me in on the situation when you can, she texted.
Now all she could do was worry and wish the driver would go faster.
“You might want to remove the diamonds, since they’re borrowed,” Hugh said.
“Oh, right!” She unfastened the dangling earrings. “You didn’t have to come. Now Gavin won’t have your whiz-bang introduction.”
“I couldn’t let you face a fire alone.” An undercurrent of anger ran through his voice.
“My techs will be there. We’ve prepped for this.” She fumbled with the catch of the necklace.
“Let me help you,” Hugh said, indicating she should turn on the seat. She swiveled and bent her neck to give him better access. The brush of his fingertips against the sensitive nape of her neck sent a tingle dancing over her skin. She closed her eyes against the thought that she wasn’t sure if she would ever feel his touch again.
Then the heavy diamond necklace slipped off and fell into her waiting hands, adding to her burden of responsibility.
She cupped the glittering diamonds, staring down at the million-dollar pile in dismay. “What the hell do I do with these to keep them safe?”
“Put them in your purse, and we’ll give it to Jaros, the driver, to take care of. He works for Gavin, so he’s very trustworthy.”
She opened the clutch and tipped the diamonds into the satin-lined interior before handing it to Hugh with a surge of relief. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Hugh had always thought the sweetest words he’d ever hear from Jessica wereI love you, but strangely,I’m so glad you’re heresounded even better, especially after the sucker punch when she’d said he didn’t need to come with her when her clinic was burning down. After what she’d told him earlier, he couldn’t believe she would expect him to stand by and let her face it alone.
As he watched her tapping away at her phone with calm efficiency, awe bloomed in his chest and powerlessness twisted through his gut.The only concrete help he could give her so far was handing over her jewels to the chauffeur.
“Have you ever had a fire before?” he asked.
“No, but we have an emergency plan, and the fire department gets the alarm at the same time I do. It’s just that I expected to be there first, since I live the closest.”
“Your staff members strike me as quite competent.” Jess would hire only people she could trust in a crisis.
Her hands twisted together on her lap. “I don’t want them putting themselves at risk. I’ve told them that, but I’m afraid they won’t listen.”
Because she cared about her people, and taking the risk washerjob, of course. He caught a glimpse of the steel under her warm, compassionate persona, and her earlier words about her strength echoed through his mind.
