Chapter 18

Dayton

"You really gave them their marching orders?" Mike raised his glass of beer, crashed it against mine, and then ordered another round from the bartender. "That's got to make you feel good."

I nodded and finished my beer in one long guzzle. The truth was nothing made me feel good. Not since I had lost Jessa. Every day the thought of what could have happened if I hadn't lied ate away at me.

I closed my eyes, shutting out the noisy dive bar and Mike's wide grin. It didn't matter where I was, all I could see was Jessa.

Sometimes I saw her all haughty and perfect, the way she had looked on the first day we met. Other times she was tousled, so relaxed and sexy in my bed. I wish I could have lingered on the memories there, but my mind always circled back to the last time I had seen her.

That ridiculous ring was still on her finger, and I couldn't help but think it tarnished her. Jessa had stood in the corner of her father's penthouse office and looked so small, so hurt. I had wanted her to stand up, to walk out on her father with me, but that was too much to ask.

I grabbed my second beer and turned my attention to the television. Mike was starting a heated debate on the best ways to paint a ceiling, and all I wanted to do was lose myself in the useless waves of media.

"Is that Jessa?" Mike asked. His attention had strayed to the television above the bar.

I grounded my teeth as the local news came on. Hundreds of the wealthiest families in San Francisco had gathered at the Presidio for a giant lawn party charity bash. Jessa was right in the middle of the action, hand in hand with Robert.

"You could talk to her," Mike suggested.

I slammed my beer stein on the bar in response. "I think you're right about using a sprayer to paint ceilings. In fact, I might consider it for those upstairs offices."

Mike groaned. "Tell me you aren't going back there. Man, you're like a junkie needing a fix. Do you seriously think you might run into Jessa at the office at this time of night?"

I patted my friend on the shoulder. "No, but it sure beats seeing her everywhere else."

Jessa had become a one-woman public relations campaign to save her family's reputation. She had been at the forefront of every fashionable event, and the city was chock full of them in the run-up to Christmas.

And the problem wasn't seeing her; it was when I saw how miserable she looked.

I walked the long blocks back to the Miller Building, and every sighting of Jessa ran through my head. Her body language around Robert would have been laughable if she wasn't still wearing his ring. Jessa leaned away from him at every opportunity and often turned her back as if she couldn't bear to look at him.

Other people just looked at the surface and declared them a happy couple.

I stopped and kicked the base of a stop sign just to let out my frustration. Why was I so weak? Why couldn't I go fifteen minutes without thinking about Jessa and wishing I could just swoop in and save her?

Mike had tried every tactic to pull me out of my funk. After all his pep-talks about confronting Jessa and making her listen to my reasons failed, Mike had decided on two courses of action: drinking heavily and getting me hooked up with some other woman.

Every time he tried, I left early and ended up back at the Miller Building.

Work was the only productive thing in my life. All my other tasks stalled out when my thoughts returned to Jessa. At least at work, there was always something else to do. It didn't even matter that the police detectives were still there watching my every move; it just felt better to be busy.

I smirked as I strolled up the back alley to my building. It was a lot later than I had thought and the police detectives were gone. It made me laugh thinking of them camped outside of the dive bar. Mike would be sure to make fun of them to their faces when he emerged and saw them watching my empty truck.

It was past midnight, but the security guard didn't even bat an eye when I walked into the gleaming lobby. The replacement chandelier Jessa had found glittered at all times of the day. Now it was the only light on and cast a soft, warm glow over everything.

I scowled at it because all I could see was Jessa's delighted face the first time I had lit it up.

Then a faint whirring sound caught my attention. "Hey, Marcus, is anyone else around?"

The security guard looked up and shook his head. "I haven't seen or heard anything all night."

I ambled across the lobby and tried to pinpoint the sound. It was the soft turning of the elevator indicator. I watched as it moved from the fifth floor all the way up to the penthouse.

"Someone's on the elevator. You got eyes on the top floor?" I called.

Marcus eyed his monitors carefully and then nodded. "Yes, sir. Jessa Lauren just stepped off the elevator. I have no idea how I missed her down here."

"No problem. I'll just go check in with her." I headed for the stairwell to check a hunch.

The fifth floor used to be a restaurant and as I sprinted up the stairs, I knew why Jessa had jumped on the elevator from there. It had a separate stairwell that led to the dumpsters. She must have entered the building there to avoid the security guard.

I took the elevator from the fifth floor myself and was surprised to find the penthouse offices plunged into darkness. Why hadn't Jessa turned on a single light?

I stepped cautiously off the elevator and swept the dim floor. Her father's office was the obvious choice, but something told me that Jessa wasn't there for work. She wasn't even there just to hide out and relax otherwise she would have said hello to Marcus and turned on the lights.

There was slight rustling sound from the copy room, and I headed in that direction, my feet quiet on the plush carpeting. File drawers were sliding open, and someone was thumbing through the paperwork stashed away inside.

I slipped around the corner and reached for the light switch.

"Dayton?"

I whirled around and almost shouted out loud. "Jessa. I thought you were in there."

Jessa stood in the hallway, her eyes wide in the dark. "Is there someone in there?"

I glanced in and saw nothing but a few papers being ruffled by a fan. "No. Are you looking for someone?"

Jessa hugged herself, unsure how to answer. "I don't know what I was looking for. A person, a name, some kind of clue."

I stepped forward. "A clue?"

Her eyes welled up. "Oh, Dayton, I've been trying all week to find out who really took that software. I know it wasn't you, but the only way to clear your name is to catch the actual thief."

I wanted to hug her and hold her close, but I settled for a relieved chuckle. "I suppose finding me sneaking around in the dark isn't really going to help your cause."

Jessa smiled. "It doesn't count when you were only trying to sneak up on me. I don't know why I didn't turn on the lights."

She flinched, and I rushed forward to put my arms around her. "What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jessa whispered. "I just get the feeling that we're not alone up here."

I chuckled again and pulled her closer. "I can tell you for certain the building is not haunted. I checked it thoroughly when I was a kid."

Jessa looked up at me, going a little stiff in my arms. I should have let her go but I couldn't. Instead, I held on and held her gaze.

"I'm so sorry I lied about who I am," I said.

She shook her head and reached up a hand to caress my cheek. "No. No need to apologize. I know exactly why you did it. You wanted me to get to know the real you, not the rich heir your family created."

I kissed her.

It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to lean down and claim her lips. Jessa's taste was so familiar, so delicious that I couldn't have stopped myself.

And then she kissed me back.

The whole building could have dissolved under our feet, and I wouldn't have noticed. Every curve of her body fitted against me, and I just couldn't get enough.

It took all my willpower to step back and end the kiss. She was still engaged to another man, after all.

"Dayton, please. We have to talk," Jessa said.

I knew if I took her hand and led her to her father's office that we would talk, but only for a very little before I had to make love to her again.

"Not here," I said. "Let's go somewhere private."

Jessa smiled. "What could be more private than an empty office building?"

"Are you kidding? This place has cameras all over. More since the software theft," I reminded her.

Jessa shook her head. "The tech lab doesn't. My father was adamant that it not have any cameras. He wanted his work there to be top secret."

"And that's why there's no security footage of the thief."

"We can talk there, in private." Jessa took my hand and led me down the hallway.

I was so busy lecturing myself in my head over the moral implications of making love to Jessa that I didn't hear anything until she froze.

"That's the sound I heard earlier," she whispered.

I pulled Jessa behind me and proceeded down the hallway towards the sound. It was a strange, rhythmic sound, soft but insistent.

"It's coming from the tech lab," I whispered. "Who did your father give access to after the theft?"

Jessa pulled me back. "I'm the only other one he gave the code to."

She pressed it quietly into the glowing keypad, and the door lock clicked open. The sound inside paused then started again. There was definitely someone there. I could hear them breathing.

"If it isn't you or your father, who would it be?" I asked, inching forward.

"My mother is the only other one."

I held up a hand to stop Jessa before I leaned around the hallway corner to look. Then I stood up, whirled around, and tried to push her back towards the door.

"What? What is it?" she whispered.

"Nothing. I'll tell you outside. Let's just go."

Jessa dug her heels in and refused to move. "Who's there?" she called out loudly.

There was a scramble of noises from around the corner, and I couldn't have stopped Jessa if I tried. She shoved me aside and rushed to see her father yanking his pants up.

There behind the first desk, a tall busty woman with smeared lipstick pulled down her shirt and flipped her hair. "So much for privacy, Maxie."

"Father?" Jessa's voice was high and brittle.

"Jessa! What on earth are you doing here at this time of night!"

I was glad that I was out of sight. I backed up just in time for Jessa to run by me and then followed her to the elevator. We were safe inside before her father had enough clothes on to follow us.

"I'm sorry, Jessa. You didn't need to see that," I sighed.

She shook her head. "No. I think that's exactly what I needed to see. Now I know the truth."