N. Walters - Jackson’s Jewel

“I don’t have anything new to show you.” Her smile faded and she looked pensive. “I’ve been in a bit of a creative slump the past three or four months. It’s been especially hard the last two.”

He sensed that they were starting to get to the crux of the problem. He wanted to ask her about her work, but there would be time for that later. Right now, he needed to know why she’d felt the need to leave the job she adored and the sisters she loved and run all the way to an apple farm in Maine. “What happened in your life, Emerald?”

His heart skipped a beat when she looked up at him. Her dark brown eyes were filled with worry and fear. “Someone is stalking me.”

Jackson was out of his chair in a flash. Emerald jerked back and knocked over her mug. Coffee spilled over the deck and she jumped up to keep it from seeping into her jeans.

He grabbed her arm to keep her from toppling off the steps. Her skin was soft beneath his hand, but he could feel the slight trembling that engulfed her. He drew her slowly into his arms and wrapped them around her. Her heart was thudding so hard he could feel it against his chest. “You’re safe here.”

She gave a bitter laugh that made his heart twist. “I’m not sure I’m safe anywhere.”

As much as he wanted to go on holding her in his arms, he needed to find out exactly what was going on. Why this woman had become so important to him in such a short time, he didn’t know. She just was.

Settling back onto the chair, he eased Emerald down on his lap. Instead of trying to get away, she snuggled closer. That alone told him that she was more than a little upset and distracted. He might not have known her for long, but one thing he did know for sure was that she had an independent streak a mile wide. Otherwise, she’d be tucked away on her parents’ estate with a ton of bodyguards rather than leaving her family and heading out on her own. “Your parents don’t know about this?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted her to tell him everything.

When she shook her head, her hair brushed against his face. He wanted to bury his face in the thick mass and just inhale her sweet scent. Tucking a stray lock behind her ear, he waited as she marshaled her thoughts. “No, they don’t know. They’re traveling in Europe right now and I didn’t want to bother them.” She rubbed her hands over her jeans in a nervous gesture as she gave a rueful laugh. “That’s not totally true. If Daddy knew, he’d lock all of us up on the estate and we might never get out again.” Emerald tipped her head up so that she was looking straight at him. “Daddy’s a mite protective at times.”

Jackson found himself drowning in her liquid brown eyes. He cleared his throat. “I don’t blame him for that.”

She laughed. “Thankfully, Momma is there to keep a tight rein on him. Otherwise we might all still be living at home.”

He could tell she was trying to work up to the issue at hand. “Tell me what happened.”

She sighed. “It started out innocently enough.” As she sat there on his lap, the entire story spilled out of her. The flood of presents that gradually escalated from the harmless to the perverse. The tampering with her e-mail account and the problems it caused for Sisters’ Jewels. And finally, the wedding dress and black cuffs that had been delivered to her apartment and the note that had been tucked in with it.

She shivered and he wrapped his arm tighter around her. “What do the police say?”

Emerald shrugged. “They’re looking into it and checking leads, but there really isn’t much to investigate. This guy hasn’t given them much to go on. They’re leaning toward the theory that it’s a crazed fan of my parents.”

“What do you think?” He rubbed his hand over her back, doing his best to comfort and soothe her.

She scrubbed her hand over her forehead. “I honestly don’t know. I guess it’s easier to believe that it’s some crazy stranger rather than someone I actually know. But…” She bit her lip and turned her head away.

He captured her jaw in his hand and gently turned her face back toward him. “But?”

“But it seems more personal than that.” She peered out over the yard. “It’s so quiet here.”

“Yes, it is.”

“I like it. You can really see the moon coming up in the sky. The air is fresh and clean and you can hear yourself think.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jackson’s mind was mulling over what she’d told him and what she hadn’t.

“He called me.”

Jackson took a deep breath, biting back the surge of anger that shot through him. “Since you got here?”

She shook her head. “No. When I was on the road. He called me on my cell phone. It was a new phone I’d just gotten before I left the city. Only Topaz and Sapphire were supposed to have the number.”

It was a battle, but Jackson forced his body to stay relaxed when he felt anything but. The urge to find this guy and beat him to a pulp was almost more than he could stand. But right now, Emerald needed him to be calm. “So this guy knows his way around computers and electronic equipment.”

“Yeah. He also knew where I’d stayed the night before. I knew then that he was tracking my credit cards.”

Knowledge flooded through Jackson. “That’s why you took this job.”

Emerald glanced up at him and nodded. “I needed a safe place to stay, where no one could find me while the investigator I hired looks into things.”

“This investigator any good?” Jackson was filled with the unreasonable urge to go to New York and check things out for himself. Which was totally crazy. He wasn’t an investigator. He was a farmer. But he did know several people who might be able to help him.

Emerald nibbled on her bottom lip. Jackson realized that it was a nervous habit. He smoothed his thumb over her lip, soothing the abused bottom lip. She jerked but didn’t pull away from the small caress. “He’s very good. My father has used him in the past for other things. I figured my sisters would be safer if I left town. I mean, this person seems to be fixated on me, not them.”

He realized that she was looking for some kind of reassurance that she’d done the right thing. “You said that they have a bodyguard?”

“Yes, one each. And they’re keeping their activities to a minimum.”

“Then they should be fine.”

Emerald sighed, her warm breath brushing across his face. “That’s what I thought too.”

Jackson shifted, trying to get more comfortable. Having Emerald in his lap was having a predictable effect on his body. He did his best to ignore the erection pressing against the zipper of his jeans. “Have you made a list of men you know for the police to check out?”

She stiffened in his arms, but he continued to rub her back and arms and she gradually settled back. “Yeah. It was hard though. I mean, I know these people. Or at least, I think I do.” She buried her face in her hands and took a deep breath. “I don’t know anymore.”

“What about that Derek guy you mentioned on the phone?”

Emerald shook her head. “He’s a friend—the son of my parents’ former manager. No, that’s not quite true. He’s more like an overbearing older brother. I’ve known Derek since we were both kids. He’s a successful promoter for big-time musicians and movie stars. Appearance and success mean a lot to him. He’d never do anything to jeopardize what he has.”

“What about the rest of them?”

His anger built slowly as she told him about her ex-boyfriend, Beau Vater, who just happened to run his own computer software company. Then there was Fred Kirby, who was a delivery guy by day and computer geek by night. Finally, there was the odd assortment of acquaintances, people she came in contact with through work and friends of her sisters.

“What about the investigator?”

“Dane Hatcher? What about him?” Her brows were drawn together as she frowned. “He’s not very happy that I disappeared without telling him. Apparently he raked both Sapphire and Topaz over the coals for not contacting him immediately.”

Jackson’s hackles rose immediately. “He knows your father, your family. It would be easy for someone like that to trace phone records and credit cards, maybe hack into your e-mail account.” He shrugged when she continued to frown, his mind working furiously. “Makes sense that if you were having trouble you’d turn to an investigator you knew and trusted.”

“I never thought of that.” She chewed on her bottom lip and Jackson barely swallowed back a groan. The urge to sooth the small hurt with his tongue was almost overwhelming. “He’s probably just worried about me.”

“How old is this guy?”

“Mid to late thirties, I think. Maybe a bit older.” Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath.

“What?” He continued to smooth his palm up and down her spine, as much to relax himself as to soothe her.

“I just thought of something.” She rubbed her hands against her jean-clad thighs. “He asked me out about a year ago, more than once. I turned him down.”

Jackson swore under his breath. “Tomorrow, I want you to sit down and write out all you know about these guys, including Hatcher, and if you can think of any reason why any, or all, of them would be angry with you or possibly hold a grudge of some kind.”

“I already did that for the police.” She stared at him, slightly bewildered by his request. “Well, I included everyone except Dane.”

“Yes, but I know some people who can do a bit of poking around as well. Very discreetly.” Jackson was already planning to call Nathan and Abel tomorrow morning as soon as Emerald left to go shopping with Erin.

“Who? And why would you bother?” Her innocent question stopped him cold.

He cupped her face in his hands and gently skimmed his thumbs over her cheeks. He’d known her less than twenty-four hours, but already it was as if she were a part of him, a part of his existence.

One section of his mind was yelling at him to walk away, to protect himself from the hurt that was bound to come by getting involved with her. Emerald would be going back to her life as soon as the stalker was caught. New York, her sisters and their company were her life.

Another part of him already knew it was too late. He was already involved. Emerald was special and he knew that if he walked away from what might happen between them, he would always regret it.

And yet another piece of him knew that he could never walk away from her, knowing that she was in danger. His overriding instinct was to protect her at all cost.

She was shifting restlessly in his arms and he knew he’d been silent for way too long. “Who? My brother and brother-in-law. Nathan is in law enforcement and Abel has contacts everywhere from his years as a crime writer.” He paused, trying to find the words to make her understand. “Why? There is something between us, Emerald. Something I can’t explain, but I can’t deny it either. Whether it goes anywhere or not, it’s there. I could no more walk away from you now than I could walk away from Erin.”

“But I’m not your sister. I’m not related to you at all.”

Jackson barely swallowed a groan as her hip pressed against his throbbing erection. “Believe me,” he gritted out between his clenched teeth. “I know.”

Emerald was still trying to digest the fact that this virtual stranger not only was willing, but seemed adamantly determined to help her when he bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. Soft yet firm, they skimmed her bottom and then her top lip. Her mouth parted on a moan and his tongue slipped inside. He tasted of coffee and some hot, male essence that enticed her to give more.

Her fingers crept up the front of his shirt, digging into his wide shoulders for support. She felt lightheaded, as if she were floating on air as she returned his kiss.

His hand stroked over her hip and belly, coming to rest on her torso just beneath her breast. She sucked in a breath, willing his hand to move higher, but he just rested it there as he continued to plunder her mouth. It got harder to breathe, so she tore her lips from his, gasping for air.

Jackson nibbled a path down the line of her jaw and neck. She groaned when he nipped the sensitive skin at the base of her neck where it met her shoulder. The edge of his hand barely grazed the bottom of her breast, but her nipple puckered tight in anticipation. She shifted restlessly, her fingers opening and closing over the firm muscles of his shoulders. She wanted more. Much more. But it was way too soon for that. Wasn’t it?

As if he could read her thoughts, Jackson raised his head, his blue eyes smoldering with desire. “If you don’t want this, then now is the time to go inside.” She could feel the pulse of his erection beating against her hip. “We can forget that this ever happened.”