Chapter 53
STEPHANIE
If I kept pacing, I was going to put the theory that you could burn a hole in your floor by doing so to the test. I kept at it anyway. I couldn’t stop.
Adrenaline from finding Jeremiah safe and sound and rescuing him was coursing through my veins as was the insatiable need to see him. To hold him. To assure myself once again that he really was fine.
After everything went down at the Julian, Jeremiah was taken to the hospital to get checked out. Then he had to talk to the police to give his statement.
He’d kissed me deeply before the ambulance took him away, promising me he would come straight to my apartment when he was done. He texted ten minutes ago to say he was on his way.
Waiting for him, I replayed the crazy events of the day in my head. Shawn had showed up at my apartment like he said he would, but he wasn’t alone. He brought Bart and Tanner with him.
Together we raced to the hotel where the guys charmed the receptionist on duty into talking to us. She had been on duty since early morning and recalled a woman coming in with a man who appeared to be really drunk. She told us the woman rented two rooms months ago and had been paying for them ever since, but she hadn’t really seen her around much.
Tanner had asked Neil to send us a picture of Jannie from the Williams Inc. database on our way to the hotel. He showed it to the receptionist, who identified Jannie as the woman she’d seen coming in with the man earlier.
After that, it was all a blur. Bart gave the receptionist a run-down of the situation and convinced her to take us to the room Jannie rented. Only one of the two rooms had a “Do Not Disturb” sign hanging on the door, and we correctly guessed that was the room she had Jeremiah in.
My emotions had been all over the place, but as soon as I saw Jeremiah alive, everything inside me quieted. He was okay. Jannie was taken into custody, and now he was on his way to me.
It felt like I’d spent the day in a parallel universe or an alternate reality. Jeremiah knocked on my door, pulling me from my surreal thoughts.
I rushed to the door, yanked it open, and wound my arms around his neck. Jeremiah reacted immediately, pulling me close to his chest and kissing the top of my head. “I’m fine. The doctors gave me the all clear. I’m fine.”
He whispered the soothing words repeatedly, assuring me Jannie was locked away and that everything would be fine now. When I finally pulled away from him, I threaded our fingers together and led him into my apartment.
“Do you still have a headache?” I asked, locking the door behind us. I had a feeling I would be doing that automatically for a long time to come. Tiana would be proud, given we’d both been trying to teach ourselves to remember to lock it behind us for ages. A feat we didn’t always manage.
Jeremiah sat next to me in our living room, his arms across my shoulders as he kept me close by his side. “The doc says it might take a couple of days for the headache to go away entirely, but he’s given me some painkillers. I’ll be fine. It’s not that bad.”
I’d seen the way he winced when we took him outside to wait for the police at the hotel. He was hurting big time. “You don’t have to act so brave, you know? A crazy woman plowed into your car this morning and kidnapped you. You’re allowed to admit that you’re in pain.”
“If I do, will you dress up and be my nurse?” he asked teasingly, his eyes lighting up as the brown hues warmed. Whatever Jannie had done to him clearly hadn’t broken his spirit.
“Sure, let me just go grab some scrubs,” I said joking back, pretending to scoot away from him to go to my closet.
He grabbed me around my waist and held me next to him, lowering his head to nuzzle my neck. “I was thinking more like a naughty nurse than an actual scrubs-wearing one. Those things cover up too much.”
“I don’t think naughty nurses are much good at administering shots, which you might need if you don’t take the painkillers the doctor prescribed.” He nipped lightly at my throat, drawing out a low moan from me.
His voice was husky in my ear. “I can handle a headache. It could’ve been much worse if you hadn’t come when you did.”
Trepidation settled like a rock in my stomach. I crawled onto his lap, burying my face in his neck. “Thank god you told your friends about your shag pads.”
His chest vibrated against mine as he laughed. “Shag pads?”
I looked up into his eyes, happy he went with my attempt to distract from the serious conversation we almost had. I’d had enough of serious today. I couldn’t hear what else Jannie had planned for him right now. “What else do you call them?”
Eyes boring into mine, he touched our noses together. “Part of my history.”
Please excuse me while I melt into a puddle. I burrowed deeper into his arms, not able to get enough of him. Everything felt right between us, but I knew I had to talk to him about one more thing that happened today.
“Have you spoken to your father yet?”
Surprised by the question, he frowned. “Not yet. I was going to give him a call earlier, but then I spoke to Neil. He told me speaking to my dad might be a bad idea right now.”
“Oh,” I said, guilt taking up a giant space on my shoulders. “Did he tell you why?”