Rachel clawed at his back as she found her release, and he buried his head in her chest when he found his.
“You’re habit-forming,” she told him.
“Like chocolate?” he laughed.
“Without the calories.”
She looked at him, her eyes warm and sated.
When he slipped out of her, she pouted.
“We aren’t leaving until the morning.”
She grinned again. “And we can sleep on the plane.”
The look in her eyes told him they wouldn’t be sleeping that night.
“I don’t want to leave at all,” she said. “I could homeschool Owen.”
“You’re proficient in chemistry?”
She dropped her head onto his shoulder again. “That won’t work.”
“We’ll come back,” he promised.
Rachel kissed him again, and Jason wondered if the owners of the house would be interested in selling. A weekend a month on this beach would be worth whatever price they wanted.
Chapter Nineteen
Returning to the cold was like a slap in the face. To make it harder, there were three inches of snow on the ground.
“You sure I can’t stay the night?” Jason asked one last time as he said good-bye at her door.
“We agreed to weekends,” she told him again.
“You suggested weekends . . . I said every day that ends in y.”
“I will see you every day that ends in y and sleep over on the weekends.”
It was a compromise Rachel knew he didn’t want but agreed to anyway.
Besides, what he was suggesting sounded a whole lot like moving in together. And that was moving at warp speed and not something she’d ever done in her life. There was Owen to consider first. And the two of them hadn’t had a private conversation since before the new year.
“Am I picking you up in the morning?” he asked.
“Are you taking the train?”
“I’m thinking I’ll fly in.”
She shook her head. “I’ll take the train.”
“Why? Everyone knows you and I were together in Central America.”
“Fine, but I’m not ready to rub it in.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you always going to be this stubborn?”
“Probably.”
He turned to leave. “I’ve been warned.”
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“No kiss good-bye?”
He hooked an arm around her waist, pulled her in. “Stubborn and demanding.”
“Get used to it.”
He kissed her, hard, and then slapped her butt with his free hand. “See you tomorrow.”
When he walked out the door, she leaned against it and wrapped her arms around her waist with a grin. She glanced at the pile of mail that could wait until morning, and walked upstairs to chat with Owen.
Rachel felt a kinship to Moses as she walked into work the next morning. The sea of colleagues parted as she walked by, some ducked their heads and spoke to each other, some shifted their eyes away. When she made it to her desk, she’d felt the daggers from every angle of the building.
“Nice tan!” Julie hovered over her, extending a hand holding a cup of coffee.
“Thank God for coffee.”
Julie sat, wheeled her chair close. “You know everyone is talking.”
They weren’t within earshot of anyone, but they still kept their voices low.
“It isn’t what everyone is thinking.”
“Oh?”
“It’s different, Julie.”
Julie looked unconvinced. “Uh-huh.”
“It is!”
Julie slid her sleek black hair behind an ear. “We’re friends, right?”
“I like to think so.”
She glanced up, determined she could say more, and did. “What would you say to me if I told you I was sleeping with Gerald?”
“I’d remind you he’s married.”
“And if he wasn’t?”
“That he’s too old for you.”
Julie swatted her arm. “And if he wasn’t?”
Rachel didn’t like the advice swimming in her head.
“You’d remind me he was my boss!” came Julie’s horse whisper.
“I know . . . I know. But it isn’t like that. I assure you.”
Julie shook her head. “What is the company name on your check?”
“I know.” And she did.
“You might know, but you’ve forgotten. Be careful, Rachel.”
And Julie swiveled back to her cube and clicked away on her computer.
Then her voice interrupted Rachel’s self-argument. “So how was Costa Rica?”
“Spectacular. Once the investigation was over.”
Julie moaned. “I hate you a little right now.”
Rachel smiled, knowing they’d be just fine.
She attempted to stay at her desk most of the morning, but nature called, and she needed to stretch her legs. Silence followed her everywhere, and after ten minutes, she walked back to her desk.
Beside it, Gerald stood with two of New York’s finest and a woman she’d never seen before.
“Here she is now.”
Everyone turned to stare in Rachel’s direction. “What’s going on?”
“This is Ms. Brenner from the Department of Children and Families.”
Rachel’s heart plunged. “Is Owen okay?” She searched the faces of the police officers and didn’t see pity.
“Owen is fine,” Ms. Brenner told her.
As soon as the feeling of dread left, one of anxiety took over. “So what’s this about?”
Ms. Brenner wasn’t a lot older than Rachel, much shorter and wider, without a bit of kindness in her face. She stepped back, and the officers stepped forward.
“We’d like to have a talk with you, Miss Price.”
Rachel stepped back. “About what?”
“You took Owen Moreau out of the country, is that right?” Ms. Brenner asked.
“Yes. We just returned last night, why?”
“You’ve been specifically ordered not to take Owen out of the country or the immediate area of your residence and employment. Violation of that order could result in kidnapping charges, fines, and possible imprisonment,” Ms. Brenner said.
Air left her lungs. “What are you talking about? What order?”
“Do you really want to do this here, Miss Price?”
Rachel followed the gaze of Ms. Brenner to find a dozen coworkers watching.
She swiveled back to her accuser. “I have legal guardianship over Owen.”
The taller of the two police officers stepped forward. “Why don’t we talk about this at the station.”
Rachel was seeing stars. “Am I being arrested?”
“Kidnapping is a felony,” Ms. Brenner announced, louder than she needed to.
“I didn’t kidnap Owen!”
“Let’s talk at the station.”
Rachel stepped back again. “And if I refuse?”
The officer placed a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced at his badge. Officer Paton. “We’re not asking, Miss Price.”
This isn’t happening.
He turned her around, the other officer flanked her other side, and they started down the corridor that had parted a path for her only a few hours before.
Before they reached the elevator, Jason and Glen ran toward them, putting the police officers on guard.
“What the hell is going on here?”