Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,54
fast decision for me,” she said, “and I didn’t really care either way at the time.”
“You don’t appear to have much stuff.”
“No, I don’t,” she said. “Less than you think, because I rented the apartment furnished.”
As they walked, he paused for a moment and turned to look at her. “Really?”
She shrugged. “I just came with what I could fit in my car.”
“Well, that makes it easier, as long as you don’t have a long lease.”
“No, I’m month-to-month. I’ll have to pay for another month obviously, if I give notice, but there’s nothing else keeping me here, except for my job, and you’ve seen how that’s going.”
“There could be heavy fallout after the media gets hold of the news about Barlow.”
“I was checking to see if they had already gotten it, but, so far, there’s been no announcement.”
“I was checking too,” he said. “I’m surprised at that. But it is the weekend, and sometimes the news is a bit behind on business things like this.”
“Most of the time it seems like they’re right there on the spot,” she said.
“I’m sure it’ll be out tomorrow.”
They walked comfortably together, their fingers linked.
He thought about her moving closer to him and Kai and really liked the idea. “We could see a lot more of each other if you moved closer to the compound,” he said suddenly.
“We could,” she said, “but I don’t want to make a move based on that potential,” she said. “I have to be happy in Houston’s outskirts, even if we don’t spend any more time together. The Houston area is potentially only a short-term answer for you too.”
They had reached the main entrance to her building. He opened the door and let her in first. “You’re right.” He nodded. “Pick a spot where you want to live,” he said. “And, if we choose to, we’ll make it happen.”
“True,” she said with a bright smile. “I’m still not sure exactly how this is happening though.”
“Well, I could admit that I saw something I liked, and I wanted it, so I went after it.”
“And yet you said yourself that you were surprised by the kiss.”
“I was,” he said. “Delightfully surprised. But I was also surprised at the instinct to kiss you because it was not planned.” They walked down the main hallway toward the elevators.
“Well, that makes me feel better,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t really want to be targeted.”
“Never targeted,” he assured her. He tugged her into his arms. “We could repeat the kiss just to make sure it was the real thing.”
She smiled up at him, looped her arms around his neck, and whispered, “Well, we could,” she said, “particularly if nobody will see us.”
“The hallway’s empty right now.” He lowered his head and kissed her thoroughly. She responded, feeling the exact same surge of passion that had happened before. When they broke apart, their chests were heaving, and her breasts were heavy.
“Well,” she said, “we definitely need to dole that out in small doses.”
He hit the button for the elevator. “True enough,” he agreed, as he snatched her hand and walked her inside the elevator. “Either that or we need to set aside some scheduled time and let the inferno blaze away.”
She smiled as they exited the elevator and walked to her apartment. “I might be up for that too,” she said, “but not until this mess is over with.”
He smiled, dropped down to check the hair he’d left in the door, and froze. “Well, you won’t be away from me for any time in the near future,” he said, “because that hair is gone.”
Chapter 12
Joy stared down at him in horror. He held up a finger to his lips. “We don’t know if they’re inside or not,” he whispered as he stood.
She shook her head in disbelief. “Couldn’t he have come and gone? Couldn’t that be just because the others are ahead of us?”
He shook his head. “They aren’t ahead of us,” he said. “They’re behind us.”
She frowned. “No,” she said, “they left before us.”
“Yes, but I took a shortcut,” he explained.
Just behind them the elevator doors opened, and the other three walked out, talking. When they saw them, Kai raised her hand, preparing to call out.
Johan immediately held up a hand and pointed at the door. Silence ensued as the others strode toward them. It wasn’t lost on Joy that Kai immediately complied with the unspoken signal without argument or question.