SEVEN
The following day, Jae tried to get a hold of Hannah, but she’d been working a double shift and no one was allowed to visit the neo-natal unit without permission. He could have pushed, even mentally changed the guard’s thoughts, but chose to wait instead.
Instead of taking his driver, he took one of his cars and drove all the way up to Westchester to find Hannah himself. He sat in his car, waiting for her to leave the hospital. Her shift ended soon.
His cell phone rang. Avery. He’d been dying to listen to her voice again, but promised himself he wouldn’t push her too fast.
“Hello?”
“Is this Jae Drachen?” she asked hesitantly.
“Avery. This is Jae.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “I didn’t realize my name would show when I called you.”
He didn’t bother telling her he’d found out her number from the application she’d filled out and saved it to his cell phone. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes. Sorry. I was calling because I think I want to work for you. But I don’t want any handouts. I want to earn whatever I get.”
A wide smile spread over his lips. He wanted her in his bed and he’d give her anything she wanted to be there, but he understood he couldn’t propose that or she’d be offended.
“Avery, I like you. I think you’re beautiful, spunky, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get you out of those clothes and into my bed, but I promise you I will control myself.”
She gulped on her side of the line. “You…you will? Why?”
“When you come to me, you’ll come to me because you want to. Not because of what I have done or given you. You’ll want me as much as I want you. The job is yours. Whenever you’re ready to take your place in my bed, that's yours, too.”
There was a moment of silence before she finally spoke. Jae didn’t like games. He knew he wanted Avery and he was going to let her know. Once he knew for sure what was going on with Hannah, then he’d let Avery know the mate situation.
“I should say no to the job and get away from you. You’re very…intense,” she breathed. “I can sense stuff and I know I can trust you, but that doesn’t take away from how overwhelming this is.
“You can sense things?”
“I’m sensitive to certain things, the term is empathic. I call it being able to tell when someone is a natural born dick or a nice person.”
“So you know you can trust me. You sensed it.”
“Yes, I know. I can’t say no to you forever, I know that, but I won’t rush into anything, Jae. Right now, I want to focus on taking this job.”
“That’s fair. I can understand that. Go to my building and meet with Charles. He’ll fill out all your paperwork tonight. We can get you started in a day or two.”
“That works. I need to hand in my resignation.” There was a shuffling noise. “I just wanted to thank you for the chance.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Oh, Jae?”
He loved hearing her say his name. The soft sound made his chest tighten. “Yes?”
“I…I like you, but I need time,” she whispered.
He grinned wider. “Relax, Avery. I know how to behave myself. Like I said, you’re in control. Things will happen whenever you want them to.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “Goodnight.”
There was so much he wanted to say. To ask. But he said goodbye and hung up the call. For hours he sat there, thinking of Avery and what they could be to each other. It was a long time before most of the cars were gone. All but one was left behind.
This wasn’t the hospital parking lot. This was another, further from the employee garage. He wondered why she parked so far, but the building next to it was hospital property so it was probably not a big deal.
He glanced at the parking lot he knew Hannah parked in. The outdoor lot was almost vacant and dark. A car pulled into the lot, lighting up the space. That’s when he noticed the woman walking to the end of the lot alone. He jumped out of his car. It was her. The red hair and scrubs gave her away. He was lucky he could see her so clearly in the dark, thanks to his night vision.
He rushed to where she was. In a heartbeat, two men showed up, grabbed Hannah and started dragging her off. She attempted a scream but one of the men had a hand over her mouth. She was kicking the one trying to grab her legs, getting a good hit to his chest while scratching at the guy with his hand on her face and torso. It was useless. She was overpowered.
Jae roared. He picked up speed and shoved the men away from her. She landed on her ass. Jae helped her up and thrust her toward her car. “Get in and lock the doors.”