Page 54 of Jack of Hearts
“I’m not old enough to be your grandfather,” he yelled as she disappeared down the hall.
When she returned, her phone was to her ear, and a frown was on her face. “This is Madison. Call me.” She picked her blouse up from the floor. “She’s not answering. I need to go home.”
“No problem. We’ll just move our next play session to your bed.”
She walked straight to him, put her hands around his neck, and pulled him to her, kissing him hard. “Thank you for understanding I need to go.”
“You meanweneed to go.”
Thirty minutes later, he parked on the street in front of High Tea and Black Cat Books. Court stood outside the door, leaning against the wall. He walked over, and Alex rolled down the window.
“She’s all yours. Stop making me responsible for her, bro.” Court glanced at Madison. “Nothing personal, but your roommate pushes all my buttons.” He stepped back. “You kids have fun.”
Alex lifted his hand in a wave as his brother headed across the street to his car. He wondered exactly whichbuttonsLauren pushed. There had to be more to it than he was seeing. It wasn’t like his brother to have such a strong reaction to a woman, especially one he’d just met.
“I think that’s Nelson’s car,” Madison said when a black BMW parked in front of them.
Alex whistled. The car was a BMW i8, price tag over a hundred grand. “What does he do for a living?”
“He’s a model. Lauren’s been seeing him for a few weeks now.”
The man got out, and when he reached the door, Lauren opened it, grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside. Alex glanced across the street to see his brother standing at his car, staring hard at the turquoise door of the bookstore. A few seconds later, Court got in his car, burning rubber as he sped away. Yeah, the lady was pushing his buttons all right.
Alex chuckled as he exited his BMW, an X6 model, half the price of the i8. It was fun seeing someone finally twisting Court’s boxers in a knot, and he planned to take full advantage of the knowledge to ruthlessly torment his brother.
“She must have called Nelson on her way home,” Madison said as they walked up the stairs.
If Lauren had called him to come over while returning home in Court’s car with his brother listening, then that was plain mean. Or she’d wanted Court to know she had a boyfriend. Either way, it wasn’t a cool thing to do. When he and Madison entered her apartment, Lauren and her boyfriend weren’t around.
“Wish we’d known he was going to be here,” Alex said. “We would still be in my bed where I’d be doing naughty things to you.”
“What? You don’t think my bed’s naughty worthy?” She took off down the hall, laughing as he chased her.
“Gotcha!” He pulled Madison to him, nuzzling her neck. “Take me to your bed, woman. Let’s see just how naughty we can get on it.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Madison rolled over, reaching for Alex. She opened her eyes when she realized he wasn’t there. The sheet was still warm from his body, and she assumed he’d gone to the bathroom. When he didn’t return after a few minutes, she glanced at the clock to see it was four in the morning. Had he left?
She switched on the lamp as she got out of bed. His shirt and shoes were on the chair where he’d left them, but his jeans were missing. The bathroom was empty, and she slipped on her robe before going to the bedroom door and peeking out. The hallway was dark, and she didn’t hear any noises. Where was he?
A search of the apartment turned up nothing, and now puzzled, she headed downstairs. Maybe he’d gone for an early run? Would he have done that barefoot, though? Doubtful. The deadbolts were still secure, so he hadn’t gone out, but then she noticed the door leading into the bookstore was open. She walked in and opened her mouth to call for Alex when a hand covered her mouth, and she was pulled against a male body. With her heart pounding in fear, she tried to bite the fingers of the man holding her.
“Shhh,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s me.”
Alex? What the hell was going on? She pressed her hand over her chest, against her hammering heart.
“Stay quiet,” he whispered, dropping his hand from her mouth.
Something furry brushed against her legs, and she almost screamed before she realized it was Hemingway.
“Shit,” Alex hissed.
His foot kicked against hers, and a hysterical giggle bubbled up. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Once she was sure she wasn’t going to laugh, she lifted onto her toes and whispered in his ear, “It’s my cat.”
Because of the streetlights shining through the windows, she was able to see him nod. He put his finger to his lips, telling her again to stay quiet, and then he took her hand, leading her down a row of bookcases. They were both barefoot, and she padded silently behind him. Hemingway brushed against her leg as he trailed alongside her, and nervous laughter threatened again. If she were an author, she’d write a scene where the hero and heroine crept through the night with their faithful sleuth cat, and the only one clueless about what was happening was the heroine.
When they reached the end of the bookcases, Alex stopped and again put his finger to his lips. He leaned his head around the shelf, then a few seconds later, pulled her in front of him. They had a perfect view of the bookstore’s office, and she gasped at seeing the light from a flashlight as someone rifled through the desk.
