“It’s been a pleasure meeting you,” Ian said, covering her hand with both of his own warm, larger ones. “You’ll find my private number in your new phone. Call me if you have any problems, okay?”
She nodded. “I will.”
“Goodbye, for now, then.” He waved a hand at Cathy.
And it was all kind of strange suddenly. It was such an abrupt ending. The next thing Jada knew, Cathy was ushering her toward the door. Jada hardly had time to turn briefly in the doorway before she was swept away into the outer offices.
Her last sight of Ian was of him standing, backlit by the huge windows. He was looking straight at her and was wearing that odd expression again. What was it, anyway? What did it mean? It was wistful, maybe. Lonely? No, that couldn’t be it.
Billionaires couldn’t possibly be wistful or lonely.
Before she could get examine him further, Cathy moved her onward, shutting the door behind them.
Jada wondered if she’d ever see Ian again.
Chapter Five
IAN WATCHED JADA GO. HE wanted to call her back, ask her to hang out, have some lunch. Impossible. He didn’t know what he was thinking.
“I like her,” Sullivan said, “although she’s completely wrong about Miss Kitty. Outrageous. It was all I could do not to argue. I hope you appreciate the deference I gave her as your wife.”
Ian snorted, then strolled over to the windows. “When do you think we’ll get some answers on this thing?”
“I don’t know. It’s the weekend, and government doesn’t do weekends like we civilians do. I’m thinking the earliest would be sometime Monday, and that’s if we’re lucky.”
Ian didn’t respond, simply stared off toward the small bend of the river that was in sight. He found himself watching the river more and more these days, considering how the water moved, traveling incessantly, ever in motion.
“We don’t need you around to take care of this, you know,” Sullivan said.
“What?”
“Why don’t you head out to the lake cabin yourself? Relax for a few days. You won’t be able to go out in public, anyway, not with this story having everyone lathered up. It’d be nice to get a breather. You work too hard, my friend.”
Ian perked up. It was an appealing idea. It would be nice to have a few days to fish and relax, eat some of Mrs. Best’s home cooking.
And spend some time with one Jada Howarth.
That was it, wasn’t it? He really just wanted to go because she would be there. She intrigued him. It didn’t hurt that she was achingly attractive. He thought his brain had stopped working when she walked into his office. The television certainly hadn’t done her justice.
She’d worn her hair in a simple, sleek ponytail. Her makeup was light, serving as accent and not distracting from her elegant features. She had on a simple, lovely spring dress that showed off her bare, slender arms. The skirt was demurely cut, just below her knees, and she had the most shapely, delicate calves and ankles that begged to be stroked. Her small feet nestled in classic, low heels.
And she smelled like flowers.
Jada was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and he’d seen a lot of beautiful women in his time. Hell, he’d dated a lot of them. And slept with most.
None of them matched Jada. It wasn’t simply that she had lovely features and flawless, glowing coffee skin. It was her as a whole. It was like she had an aura or an inner magnet that drew him to her.
The idea of spending time at the lake cabin with her was tempting. He shouldn’t do it. She was a small-town girl, pulled into something out of her control. She was probably scared and worried, though she didn’t show it. She was brave that way.
He should stay away, for her own good if not for his. Good, brave girls didn’t belong in his world. He should do the right thing and save her. He should.
He turned back to Sullivan. “I have been wanting to get in some fishing.”
Sullivan smiled. “Yeah. Fishing. That’s it.”
“And it wouldn’t be a bad thing to suss Ms. Howarth out a little more, make sure she’s not behind any of this. I can’t leave until later today though. And I can’t stay long. I’ll come back here tomorrow afternoon. Things to do.”
“If you say so. If it was me, I’d take a nice long break.”
Ian felt buoyed up. He turned and clapped Sullivan on the shoulder. “That’s because you lawyers don’t have much of a work ethic. It comes from charging clients by the billable hour, instead of an actual working hour.”
Sullivan rolled his eyes. “Hold on.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “What the — why is Agatha Brimgore texting me? Oh hell no. God, look at all those exclamation points.”
Ian grinned. Yep, this was turning out to be not so bad a day after all.
THE HELICOPTER DOVE TOWARD THE ground and Jada dug her fingernails into the cushioned arm rest. The pilot could be more cautious in his approach, she thought, but this was her first trip in a helicopter so what did she know?
She did know that it was horribly loud even with headphones on. And she knew that they appeared to be landing on the front lawn of a fancy resort. A large white structure resembling a vastly overgrown lake house, complete with green shutters and wrap-around porch, loomed ahead.
She yelled into her mic. “You’ve gone to the wrong place, Raul. I’m staying at a cabin. A caaa-biiin. Not a resort.”
The pilot shot her a glance and nodded. “That’s right,” came his crackly reply in her headphones.
That wasn’t any kind of answer. She would have asked again, but he’d pulled up the copter and was settling into a slow descent. Whether this was the right place or not, they were landing.
Jada had a sudden fear that perhaps Raul didn’t really work for Ian after all, that Cathy had put her on the wrong helicopter and Jada was in the hands of a rogue reporter. Determined to get the scoop on her story no matter the cost, he’d hold her up in this fancy-pants hotel until she gave him an exclusive.
Of course, that was utter nonsense. Jada had been picked up on the roof of the Buckley Tower itself, and Cathy had introduced her to Raul. Jada wondered if she’d been spending too much time with her sister and some of her fancifulness was rubbing off.
Raul set them down smoothly on a pad of stone pavers with hardly a bump. He powered down the rotors and Jada noted a tall, older man standing beyond the edge of the landing site. His silver hair sparkled in the sunlight. He waved at her and jogged toward them.
“Here you are ma’am,” Raul said. “Mr. Forest will take care of you. Have a nice stay.”
Jada stared him down. “But this isn’t a cabin.”
“Of course not, ma’am.”
Her door opened and she turned to see the waving man, Mr. Forest she presumed, smiling at her. He held out his hand.
Jada felt she had no choice. She took off her headphones, gathered up her small bag and purse and let Mr. Forest help her down to the ground. He closed the door behind her then touching her arm, escorted her away from the God-awful noise and wind.
By the time Jada was in the clear, she thought her hearing would never be the same, and she was glad she’d worn her hair in a ponytail that day though she wasn’t thrilled about having chosen a dress to wear.
Before she could clear any of the misunderstanding up about where she was, the helicopter lifted up off the pad. Raul was leaving already.
She waved at him wildly, knowing he couldn’t hear, but thinking she had to try. “Don’t go! I’m not supposed to be here!”