One More Day (17 page)

She marched down the stairs, still wearing Jackson’s shirt and her terry cloth shorts. Her bare feet barely made any noise on the carpeted stairs. Once she reached the bottom she looked both ways. Nothing seemed amiss. The family room looked undisturbed. The only thing that was different was the can of unopened paint next to the front door.

“Who’s painting at this hour?”

WHIRRRRRRRR.

She jumped, the noise so much louder now that she was downstairs. It had come from behind her, so she spun on her heels and went into the formal living room. It was done all in white with accents of Wedgwood blue. It didn’t look like Jackson’s style at all, but now that she saw how snooty his ex-girlfriend was, she had to wonder if this room reflected
her
taste.
 

She bent to look out the window. Matt was kneeling in the front yard next to something that looked like a big piece of white cardboard. A cloud of white dust flew around him. A second later, the noise started again.

WHIRRRRRRRR.

Ridley shook her head. She’d heard Matt when he said he would fix the hole in the wall, but she hadn’t thought he’d come over at the butt crack of dawn to do it. Just when she was about to pull the window up and tell him what she thought of his timing, he stood and pulled his shirt up to wipe his face, exposing a perfect six pack.

“Wow.”

“I’ll let him know you think so.”

Ridley turned slowly to face Jackson. “Oh, um, hi. I came downstairs to see what was making so much noise.”
 

Not to ogle your best friend’s insanely ripped abs.
 

Neither of them said anything for a moment and Ridley could only stare at him greedily. He looked just as good wearing slacks and a dress shirt as he had the previous night in nothing but sweatpants. And without sweatpants.

It doesn’t count, remember?

She was the one who’d come up with the stupid idea to keep their sex-a-thon to just one night, but she was already wishing she’d kept her big mouth shut. How was she supposed to pretend she didn’t know what he looked like under his clothes? That his skin was smooth and warm and tasted like wet silk. She shivered and crossed her arms.
 

Just then the door opened and Matt stepped in carrying a piece of the white cardboard. Jackson rushed over to help him.
 

“I needed to replace more than I thought,” Matt said. When he saw Ridley, he raised his chin in greeting. “Morning. Sorry for all the noise. I didn’t even think about it since Jackson sleeps like the dead.”

“Well, I won’t deny I was ready to give you a piece of my mind when that sawing noise woke me up. What were you doing, anyway?”

Jackson pointed to the cardboard that Matt had propped against the wall. “Since he punched out a section of the wall, he had to cut another piece of drywall to replace it. Then we’ll spackle and sand it. After that, we’ll paint over it so it all matches.”

“Oh. I was wondering if you were redecorating or something.”

“Well, it was a forced redecoration.” He smirked at Matt.
 

“I’ll get out of the way. I’m sure you guys have a lot of work to do.” She walked back to the stairs.

“Hey, wait.” Jackson jogged over to stand next to her. Since she was on the second stair she was able to look him right in the eye. The perfect height so that she couldn’t avoid his whisky brown gaze.

Geez.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay after last night.” He stepped closer until he brushed up against her. “I wish I could have kept you in my bed all night.”

Pleasure spread through her at his words. “I understand. I wouldn’t want the boys to come running in and see me there. Plus, we did say just one night.”

His eyes searched hers. “Yeah, just one night.” Then he looked away and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I hate to do this but I need a favor.”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

“The babysitter my mom recommended is coming over this morning. Her name is Bessie Johnson. The thing is, I have an early meeting with a director about my group’s first music video that I don’t want to miss. If it was anyone else, I would cancel but it’s not like I really need to meet her since I’ve known her for years. Would you mind letting her in?”

“Of course. After everything you’ve done for me, I’d love to be able to return the favor.”

He let out a breath. “Oh, good. I hate to ask but I really don’t want to cancel on this director. He’s our first choice and hard to pin down. So, ok. Um, Chris is old enough to pour cereal; they just need help with the milk. Once Miss Bessie arrives, she can take it from there.”

Ridley put her hands on his shoulders. “It’s going to be fine. Breathe!”

“It’s been kind of stressful. The boys’ grandmother used to watch them four days out of the week and then my mom would take them on Fridays. But now that Cynthia’s mom has moved away, I’m really struggling. It’s harder than I thought to find a childcare provider that you trust.”

“Of course it is. After all, this isn’t something you can afford to get wrong. I totally understand.”

“Thank you. Hey, you should come with me sometime. I’m working on something a little different and I’d love to get your take on it. I’m trying to branch out into pop music and I’ve found this girl group that I think could be the next big thing.”

“I would love to see what you do.” Ridley hadn’t given much thought to how music was produced previously. Like most people, her impressions were mainly what she’d seen on television and in movies.

“Tomorrow, then. I’ll show you around the studio and maybe you could even watch the group record a session.”

“Okay. Now, go! You don’t want to be late. We’ll be fine here.” She pushed him toward the door.
 

“Thank you, Ridley. I’ll owe you one.”
 

Their eyes met and she gulped. Jackson might not want to start making her promises because if he owed her one, she had a pretty good idea of how to collect.

*
 
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*

“JACK? HAVE YOU heard a word I’ve said?”

Jackson turned to his left and raised his eyebrows at his assistant’s scowl. “What?”
 

He’d arrived at the office just in time for the video conference with the director they’d been eyeing to do the group’s first video. He was known for dance videos, which was exactly what they wanted. If they were going to make an entry into the pop world, they needed a club-worthy hit. Too bad he hadn’t been able to keep his mind on anything the guy said.

Mac crossed his arms. “You never told me what you thought of his idea. As a matter of fact, I’d bet you don’t even remember the guy’s idea. You keep spacing out on me. What’s the deal?”

“Sorry, I’m really distracted today. I’ve just got some stuff going on at home.”
 

Just one night. It doesn’t count.
 

Right.

Any chance he’d had of being a gentleman, and not seducing her, had died an instant death the moment he’d climbed into bed with her. Ridley had been like a dream. It had been just as hot as he’d thought it would be and twice as memorable.

He had a feeling the night that didn’t count was going to cost him more than just a few hours of lost productivity. If he couldn’t get a handle on his crazy emotions, it might cost him his sanity.

“Jackson?” This time Mac was watching him with open amusement. He wondered how long his friend had been calling him this time.

“Huh?”
 

“I said, is everything all right with the kids?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, they’re fine. I just have a guest this week.”

“Oh right. Your hot neighbor. Matt already has a betting pool going on how long before you nail this one,” Mac chuckled.

The thought that his friends were thinking anything sexual about Ridley was enough to make his blood boil. Any man actually.
No one
should see her the way he’d seen her last night or think about the things she could do with that lush mouth.
 

"It's not like that. So keep her name out of your filthy mouth.” Jackson growled.
 

“Whoa! Take it easy, man.” Mac backed up a few steps and then cleared his throat. “Damn, Matt was right. You’ve really got it bad.”

Jackson flexed his fists. “I’m serious, Mac. She’s my neighbor and I’m just trying to help her out. Don’t turn it into something dirty.”

Mac tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his smile. “Okay, okay. Sorry. No disrespect intended.”

Jackson walked over to his office and closed the door. He dropped down into his desk chair and looked around his crowded workspace. He hadn’t gotten much of anything done all day.

His inability to concentrate was part of the problem. Ridley was sneaking into his thoughts wherever he was, no matter how inappropriate. He ignored the inner voice that called him a coward. Ridley affected him more than any woman he had ever met. A man had the right to be a little freaked out.

But now, he was being forced to admit that close proximity wasn’t the only reason he was fascinated with her. Ridley was nowhere near him now, yet he couldn’t seem to think of anything else.

He had to get a handle on his feelings or he wasn’t going to be getting any work done. The way he saw it, he had two choices. He could abide by the rules of their one-night deal or he could spend some time with her and let his fascination run its course.
 

 
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Of course he was fascinated with Ridley. She was beautiful, and what red-blooded man wouldn’t be affected by a beautiful woman who offered him a night of hot, no-strings sex? But if he spent more time with her, he’d start to see her flaws. It would at least take some of the fascination away. Then he could get back to work, no harm, no foul.

Either way, he wasn’t going to hide his attraction to her any longer. She was a grown woman and he would leave the decision in her hands. They’d agreed on one night but if she gave him even the slightest indication that she’d welcome a little quality time before she left town again, he was more than ready to deliver.

He swiveled in his chair and pulled up his email. When he saw there was an email from Elliot, he smiled.
 

He opened the message and then double-clicked on the attachment. The top page was a blown up copy of a Florida driver’s license.
David Randall Finemore.

“Elliott, you always come through for me.”

He’d just wanted to find out a little about the guy but it looked like Eli had done a full-scale background check. He scrolled through the file. There were several more photographs. They were candid shots, most taken from far away.
 

Surveillance photos
.
 

The first one was of two men sitting at an outdoor restaurant. Upon closer inspection he could see that one of the men was David.
 

David Finemore meeting Alberto Moreno.
 

He recognized his brother’s handwriting scrawled across the image. He’d also written the date the photo was taken.
 

“This was taken over a year ago.”

Hadn’t Ridley said she’d only just met the guy? He scrolled through the rest of the photos quickly. Most were just of David but Moreno appeared in a few other shots. Some of them were dated even further back than the first one. His brow furrowed as he came to the last picture. Whoever had been following the guy had been thorough.
 

He flipped through the rest of his mail. There wasn’t anything else that couldn’t wait. He hurriedly signed his approval on a few bills and then put them back in his inbox for Mac to pick up. He might as well finish up early so they could go out to dinner. He could show Ridley what Elliott had found and see how she felt about an encore of the previous night’s festivities. The sooner he got his fascination with Ridley out of his system, the sooner he could get back to normal.

This was a business decision, even if it felt better than anything he had done for a while.

RIDLEY PULLED AN Adirondack chair into a shady part of the lawn. She glanced back at the house before settling down with a paperback book she’d found in the family room. Miss Bessie had arrived at precisely 9:29 am and had seemed more than a little surprised to see her.
 

When he’d introduced her to his parents he hadn’t mentioned where she was staying so, of course, his mother’s friend wouldn’t expect a woman to open the door.
 

Talk about awkward.

After her initial fumbling introduction, she’d spent the next few hours puttering around in her room. Things seemed to be going well other than a few loud crashes and what sounded like a full-scale tantrum. She’d finally come down to investigate only to find the boys eating sandwiches at the kitchen table, ominously quiet.
 

She’d made herself a quick turkey and cheese sandwich before deciding to eat outside. Right before she’d left, she’d heard Miss Bessie telling Jase to take his thumb out of his mouth.
 

She hadn’t sucked her thumb but she’d been a quiet, introverted child much like Jase. It hadn’t been easy growing up around adults who constantly told her to “speak up” or “just smile, honey!” Hopefully, the trio would get along once they got to know each other. She hoped so, anyway. Otherwise Jackson would be searching for yet another nanny.

After reading several pages, she put the book aside. Perhaps, a murder mystery hadn’t been the best choice. Not when she was smack in the middle of her own unsolved murder case. How could she relax as if she was on vacation when someone she thought of as a friend was probably dead because of her? She thought of the jeweled necklace she’d given Jackson to put in his safe.