Mystery Lover(15)

"No problem," she said with a smile. "Where is he, by the way?" She glanced down the hallway.

"Straight ahead." He motioned for her to go ahead of him.

The hallway led into a large room that overlooked the city. Max was  already standing there, waiting for them, when they walked in. So was  Chad.

He strode over to Jennifer and looked down at her. "You okay?"

She nodded.

He glanced up. "If it's all the same to you two, we're leaving."

"Sure, no problem," Tony responded. "Max and I will probably be tied up for some time."

Max looked stunned to see the woman he had assumed belonged to Tony  walking out with another man. Jennifer guessed that he was probably  coming to the conclusion that he hadn't figured things out quite right,  after all.

Chad didn't say anything all the way down in the elevator. Neither did  Jennifer. When they reached the street, Jennifer looked up and said,  "Now, what?"

He motioned to her car. When they got inside, he said, "I don't think  it's a good idea to stay in town any longer. Would you mind driving home  tonight?"

She smiled. "Not at all."

"I'm staying here. I've still got to find my car. Tony said he could probably find out from Max where it is."

He began to drive toward the Strip.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Tony's been filling me in, but there's no sense in getting you involved  any more than you already are. That's why I want you to return home."  He glanced at her. "Will you do that for me?"

She nodded. "Whatever you say."

"I'd looked forward to taking you out tonight. Maybe we can do it some other time."                       
       
           



       

"Maybe we can."

"Jennifer?"

She continued to stare straight ahead. "Yes?"

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Just let down, I guess. I don't know."

"A lot of things have happened in the past forty-eight hours."

"Yes."

"You still aren't sure about me, either, are you?"

She glanced at him in surprise. "Of course I'm sure of you. I would trust you with my life."

"Thank you. But how are you going to feel about working with me now that you know who I am?"

"I'm not sure."

"We've got to take this one step at a time. Can you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe me when I tell you I love you?"

How could she not believe him when her mind was filled with his images, his feelings and thoughts? "1 believe you."

He was quiet for many long minutes. "You need time to think it through."

She couldn't disagree. Jennifer no longer knew what to think or feel. She was confused, and being around

Chad at the moment was only contributing to the problem.

Chad pulled up in front of the Lucky Lady and got out of the car,  leaving it running. She got out and walked around to the driver's side.  He stopped her before she sat down. She stood by the door, leaning  against the car. He leaned over and kissed her very softly on her lips.  "Drive carefully."

"I will."

"Let me know when you get home."

"Okay."

"Tell Sam hello for me."

She groaned. She'd forgotten about Sam. "If he's speaking to me by then.''

Chad touched her cheek with his forefinger, tracing an imaginary line  along her jaw, then up to her lips. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Jennifer suddenly remembered all the work waiting for him when he  returned. It was hard to remember that when she'd left the office on  Friday her boss had been a distant and aloof employer to whom she gave  little thought after office hours. She shook her head, bewildered at the  changes that had come about so quickly.

As though he could no longer help himself Chad drew her closer and  kissed her. She could feel his heart's heavy rhythm in his chest.  Jennifer realized that he didn't want her to leave him. She got a brief  flash of them in bed together, and she could feel her body beginning to  respond.

Chad abruptly let go of her and stepped away, his eyes refusing to meet  hers, but not before his body, as well as his thoughts, had given him  away.

Jennifer slid into the car and closed the door.

"Don't forget, Sunshine. I want to know the minute you get home."

She nodded, refusing to look at him. One more look and she would wrap  herself around him and beg to stay with him that night. Yet, that was  what they were afraid of. What would happen once they made love to each  other? Would it destroy the closeness they shared? Did they dare find  out?

She knew Chad wasn't ready to test that part of their relationship. She wondered if he ever would be.

While Jennifer made the long, lonely drive back to Los Angeles, she  finally recognized what she should have seen sooner. Chad had no  intention of letting their relationship go any further. If he had, he  would have told her who he was before now. She was beginning to  understand why he had tried to talk her out of finding out who he was.

Chad had felt safe in the role he was playing in her life. He knew what  she did in her time away from the office. He worked with her during the  day, so was able to spend time with her.

If Chad had his way, they would continue their relationship as it now was, with her added knowledge of who he was.

Could she be content with a life like that? Not knowing the full  physical intimacy of a relationship? Granted she hadn't been tempted to  explore much before now, partly because she had never felt that pull  with anyone. However, now that Chad had kissed her, had held her and had  allowed her to discover how much he wanted her, Jennifer knew she was  going to have difficulty coming to terms with not being able to fully  share her life with him.

By the time Jennifer reached her apartment she was exhausted. She had  only a few hours to sleep before it was time to get up and go to the  office. There was no question but that she had to be there, now that she  knew he wasn't going to be.

She barely got into the apartment before a flying ball of fur landed on  her shoulder. "Sam! You scared me." He began to nuzzle her cheek and  neck, telling her how miserable he'd been without her. He had begun to  feel abandoned and was too pleased to see her to be upset.

Jennifer carried him into the bedroom along with her small bag. "I'm home, Chad."                       
       
           



       

The reply came back immediately. "Thank God. Any problems?"

"Not a one."

"Sam okay?"

"He seems fine. Very glad to see me, as a matter of fact."

"Probably did him good to be on his own for a while. He'll appreciate you more."

"Could be."

"Try to get some sleep now, Sunshine."

"When do you think you'll be back to the office?"

"I'll have to call you when I know something definite."

"Love you, Chad," she said sleepily as she climbed into bed and curled into her pillow.

"Sleep well, Sunshine. You've had a rough weekend."

When the alarm went off Monday morning, Jennifer had the curious  sensation that she had dreamed her entire weekend. Was it really  possible that C. W. Cameron was also her friend Chad?

By the time she had been at the office for a few hours the events of the  weekend had been shoved to the back of her mind, and she found herself  racing to stay abreast of the new paperwork and phone calls that came  through with persistent regularity.

It was sometime after four o'clock and Jennifer had long since lost  track of the number of calls she'd answered when the phone rang once  again.

"Mr. Cameron's office."

"Ms. Chisholm?"

Jennifer's heart seemed to leap out of her chest. She had no trouble  recognizing the deep voice on the other end. Nor did she miss the aloof  tone and the name he had used. "Yes, Mr. Cameron?" She couldn't control  the slight quiver in her voice.

"Is there anything happening that I need to know about?"

Funny you should ask, she thought dryly. "Several things came in the  mail today that will prove helpful with some of your investigations." As  she had done so often in the past years, Jennifer quickly summarized  phone messages, information from the mail and interoffice  communications. He gave her instructions, delegated some of the work,  took down some numbers and told her he would be in touch.

"Uh, Mr. Cameron-?"

"Yes?" There was nothing but professional politeness in the tone.

"When do you expect to be in the office?"

"Hopefully the latter part of the week."

"Have they recovered your car?"

There was a moment of electrified silence, as though she had said  something shockingly intimate. She waited, not knowing what else to do,  but she got the definite impression that she was infringing on his  privacy.