Page 11 of Impulse (Infinitus Billionaire #1)
Lex woke up to the scent of freshly brewed coffee, bacon, and eggs. His eyes went to the clock by the bed. Nine o’clock. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d overslept after sex. Maybe a few times after binge drinking with his brothers and at Sloan’s parties, but never after sex. Then again, last night had been exceptional.
Morning sun seeped through the edges of the curtains, adding a golden glow to an already gold and red room. He hadn’t noticed the heavier curtains last night. His attention had been on Jillian—the woman who’d shown him what he’d been missing all of his life.
Images of her from last night drifted through his head.
Jillian on her bed with her legs spread, daring him to indulge himself.
Jillian on her knees, her perfect backside in the air as she offered herself to him.
Jillian sitting astride him, her breasts bouncing as she rode him hard. She’d shown no embarrassment or regrets for enjoying him. It was refreshing.
He’d wanted to own her before they had sex. Now that she’d shown him what a real lover could do, he was never letting her go. The trick was finding a way to reel her in and make her realize that what they had was special.
He slid to the edge of the bed and stood, his feet landing on the wooden floor. Why in God’s name would she want a wooden floor in her bedroom? It was fucking cold.
He padded out of the bedroom and followed the scents to the kitchen where Jillian stood in front of a stove in an oversized T-shirt that barely covered her perfectly shaped ass. Lex stored that image along with the ones from last night. Yet the image she made right now, standing in front of the stove humming a tune under her breath and stirring eggs was so potent. Something warm expanded in his chest, causing him to catch his breath.
The S-shape of her back was so enticing he wanted to scoop her up and carry her back to bed so he could kiss her all over again. No, he wanted to take her right here on the kitchen counter. Her hair hung wet on her shoulders, which meant she’d showered. Without him. The one they’d had last night was still fresh in his mind. She had a beautiful and talented mouth, and an eagerness that had driven him out of his mind.
She bent over to remove something from the oven, giving him a view of lacy panties and a tight ass. His cock responded. He crossed the floor as she straightened and slid his arms around her waist.
She looked over her shoulder at him and laughed.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Lex.”
“Good morning to you, too,”
he whispered, lowering his head to nuzzle her neck and inhale her scent.
She turned off the stove, turned her head, and smiled up at him over her right shoulder.
“Breakfast is ready. I have coffee over there and—”
He angled his head and cut her off with a kiss, savoring the heady scents that were uniquely hers mixed with coffee and mint. When he gave her breathing space, she turned around in his arms to face him, put her arms around his neck, and proceeded to kiss him back. She didn’t pull any punches. When she stopped, his hard-on throbbed mercilessly. She shimmied and rubbed against him.
“Behave or we’ll never leave this house,”
he warned, running his knuckles along her jaw. Her skin was so soft and flawless. She looked even more beautiful without makeup.
“When are you heading to the studio?”
She glanced at the clock on the microwave oven.
“In the next thirty minutes. It’s not far.”
She slid out of his arms and reached inside a cupboard for two plates. The T-shirt rode up, and he smothered a groan. She threw him a naughty smile. Now she was deliberately screwing with him.
“Can you call in sick?”
A chuckle escaped her. “Can you?”
She had a point. He had to see his mother this afternoon. “No.”
“Neither can I. Let’s eat and hit the road.”
He propped his hip against the counter and crossed his arms.
“I could give you a ride. That way, when I pick you up for lunch, you won’t have to worry about your bike.”
Jillian tilted her head to the side and chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated his offer. Her hesitation didn’t bother him. He knew how fiercely independent she was. He might want her to bow to his will, but he wasn’t holding his breath.
“It’s a yes or no answer, sweetheart,” he added.
She pouted.
“Don’t rush me. I’m weighing the pros and cons.”
She offered him a plate.
“Be careful, the pan’s hot, and you…”
She gave him a once over, eyes lingering on his crotch, where he was still sporting a partial hard on.
“You are perfect the way you are.”
He grinned.
“So you don’t want me to put on something?”
She shook her head.
“Nah-ah. As long as you’re comfortable.”
Her T-shirt dwarfed her and had two handprints on the chest just above her boobs and an arrow with the letters TLC pointed toward her crotch. He frowned. He’d tried to be gentle, but considering the number of times they’d reached for each other, she must be sore. She cocked her eyebrows when he continued to stare.
“I think you’re worried that riding your bike might prove to be a problem after last night,” he said.
Her cheeks grew pink.
“No, that’s not it.”
The blush gave her away.
“I can kiss it better.”
She chuckled and pointed at the food on the stove.
“That’s your breakfast, not me.”
He’d have no problem having her first. He turned to serve himself while she poured him coffee. Black, just the way he liked it. He thanked her and followed her to the counter. Great sex always made him ravenous. He didn’t slow down until he got his second helping. Jillian was halfway through hers and watched him with a half-smile. He didn’t mind. He liked having her eyes on him.
“You drained all my energy,”
he said.
“Waking me at four in the morning, climbing on top of me at six.”
Pink tinged her cheeks.
“I had nightmares, and you hog the bed.”
He frowned. The way she’d crawled on top of him, it was possible she’d seen him as a safe harbor, which in itself pleased him.
“Nightmares about?”
“Bad guys out to get me.”
She sounded so much like his niece he almost laughed, but he recalled the three hundred and fifty grand burning holes in his briefcase. She could actually have bad guys after her.
“I can take care of them for you. Just say the word.”
She laughed.
“You’re a real estate developer, Lex, not a thug.”
“We all have a bit of thuggery in our system.”
He studied her, wishing she would confide in him.
“Any time you want to talk, I’m available.”
She wrapped her fingers around her mug as though warming her hands, but her eyes stayed on him.
“So what’s happening in the Caribbean? Douglas was so vague about it I was convinced you were on a secret mission. He couldn’t even tell me which island you were visiting.”
The change in subject didn’t surprise him. She wasn’t ready to trust him yet. He would wait. No matter how long it took.
“He was just being discrete. Real estate developing is a cutthroat business. A competitor can swoop in and outbid me, or in this case, use the fact that I’m about to develop a property to buy land around it and force me to buy it from them at an outrageous sum. Douglas knows the peril of insider trading.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“So he’s never used the information he gets from you to invest in a deal?”
Lex chuckled.
“Of course he has. I encourage my employees to invest in whatever project I’m working on. Douglas could have retired comfortably years ago if he wanted to, but he chooses to stay with me.”
Jillian grinned.
“No wonder his daughter is at a private school. He told me.”
“He can afford it.”
Lex stood, forgetting he was still naked, and chuckled when her eyes were drawn lower. He couldn’t help the way his body responded.
“So, do you need a ride to the studio?”
Jillian looked her watch and nodded.
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Trouble? Not when it comes to you.”
He collected their plates and utensils, and carried them to the sink, fully aware she was watching him. He offered to get her more coffee, but she declined. He poured himself a second cup.
“Where are you filming?”
“At the studio.”
She gave him the address.
“That should be easy to find. Thanks for breakfast.”
He tilted his head and studied her face. She hadn’t put on any makeup, yet she’d never looked sexier.
“Next time, I’ll cook.”
She cocked her eyebrows.
“Who said there was going to be a next time?”
Lex laughed. Did she really think she could walk away from his bed after last night? He leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“You’re adorable, and I need to make a call.”
“I will need a separate bedroom when we get married,”
she called after him.
And he’d make sure she didn’t sleep in it.
“At the mansion, yes. At the penthouse, not possible. Douglas would know.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the floor in your bedroom.”
She was being difficult. Why? He paused and studied her mutinous expression. Had last night scared her? If she wanted to sleep on the floor, he’d join her. “Okay.”
She eyed him suspiciously, but he didn’t let her mistrust worry him. He had a year to chip at that wall. He went back to the bedroom, pulled on his pants, and made a call as he headed outside to the Rolls. He came back with the fruit basket. In the middle was a small jewelry box, which he plucked and placed in front of Jillian.
“I meant to give you this last night.”
She looked at the white box with gold trimming, then him, then back at the box.
“You shouldn’t buy me gifts, Lex.”
“Showering you with gifts is part of our contract,”
he said, mentioning one thing she couldn’t argue about.
“Mathews should be here in thirty minutes to take you to the studio.”
She picked up the box and plucked at the bow. He was disappearing into the hallway when she looked and asked, “Mathews?”
He grinned.
“As in your pilot Mathews?”
she asked, running after him.
“Lex, I told you I can’t arrive at the studio in a helicopter or—”
He disappeared inside her bathroom. By the time she reached him, he was stepping into the shower. He closed the door on her indignant face and started to sing Springsteen’s Born to Be Wild to block her out.
*
Jillian studied the people scurrying around the set and sighed. Two hours later, and people at the set were still talking and giving her furtive looks.
Yeah, I came in a helicopter with Fitz Enterprise written all over it. Get over it. Sheesh.
You’d think she’d broken some code. Mathews had dropped her off at the helipad by the studio’s executive offices. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time he’d dropped off a Fitzgerald. She’d hitched a ride with the security guards in one of their carts, but her mind had been too preoccupied with Lex to notice the staring.
She couldn’t explain what had happened last night. The images of Lex touching her, kissing her, asking her what she wanted, and giving it to her in ways that had her screaming his name was imbedded in her brain. She’d never had orgasms like that. Never craved for more. She wasn’t the kind to let a man tell her what to do, yet she had followed his every command.
Jillian closed her eyes, and images of them came back to tease her. Wetness pooled between her legs. He’d marked her in more ways that he’d ever know. Must never know. All she had to do was close her eyes and she’d relive his touch, his tongue, and the intense pleasure as he moved in and out of her.
“Hey,”
Chris said, grabbing the seat beside her.
“You seem to be all everyone is talking about these days.”
She smiled at him.
“Yeah, lucky me.”
“Especially now that he is here.”
Jillian sat up and searched the set, her stomach doing flips. She couldn’t see him. “Where?”
“He was talking to Barbs and her husband near the entrance. I think I have the solution to your father’s problem.”
Her heart pounded with excitement, and her mouth became dry. She couldn’t begin to explain why was she was becoming a cliché. Ever since she’d woken up this morning and watched Lex asleep on her bed, her insides had been churning. She was twenty-nine for crying out loud, and she’d had her share of lovers. Men who hadn’t lasted long because they bored her. One night with Lex and she was whipped? Seriously? He was creative. She’d give him that. He knew how to keep her off balance in and out of bed. Maybe once she learned all his sexual tricks, he would cease to be a novelty.
Feeling better, Jillian stopped searching for him and focused on Chris, who was scowling. “What?”
“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
She gave him a sweet smile.
“I just had a revelation.”
“About?”
“Me. So?”
She cocked her eyebrows.
“What’s the solution?”
Chris sighed.
“You’re getting in too deep with Fitzgerald, aren’t you?”
Jillian’s face warmed.
“Because his pilot brought me to work?”
“Because of the look in your eyes when I said he was here.”
He glanced around, and leaned forward.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Please.”
Jillian tilted her head to the side.
“Aren’t you the one who saw him first and told me to go for it.”
“This is not a joke, Jill. Any man who would pay for a…”
He glanced around again.
“You know, do what he’s doing, is not right for you. Don’t fall for the guy.”
“This is a job, Chris. Nothing more. So what’s the solution?”
He shook his head.
“It’s not important now. It was ridiculous to begin with. I need to talk to the guys.”
“The guys”
were his special effects team. Jillian jumped up and followed him.
“Just tell me. I need to close the door on this, and I can’t think of anything. I’m tempted to drop off the money myself and get it over with.”
He whipped around.
“No. Petrosian Hookah Lounge is not for you. Greg and I went there last weekend and no”—he shook his head—“not for you or me.”
His protective instinct was cute sometimes.
“Then tell me. I’ll decide whether it’s ridiculous or not.”
He stopped walking.
“It has to do with Fitzgerald.”
“Yes?”
“Tell him the truth and ask him to hire the troupe for a few gigs. Corporations hire troupes all the time for their employees. His friends can do it, too. Your brothers can charge whatever they want per event. They can sign for several events in the coming year and pay up front. Your father saves face and no one knows the truth except the two of you.”
Jillian followed his eyes to where Lex was talking to Barbs and her husband. Warmth unfurled deep inside her. His back was to them, and she found herself following his broad shoulders, remembering biting him there. He was back in his leather jacket and scruffy boots, worn-out jeans hugging his powerful thighs. The warmth in her belly became molten heat and shot straight to the throbbing sensation between her legs.
Focus, Jillian. It was just sex. Maybe the best you’ve ever had, but sex nevertheless.
Chris’ idea was brilliant, but would Lex go for it? She hoped so. He ran a huge corporation with hundreds of workers who wouldn’t mind the best circus performance this side of the Rockies. The best part was her father would not feel like a charity case.
Lex looked over his shoulder and straight at her. The wraparound sunglasses blocked his eyes, but she felt their effect down to her core. It was as though he was touching her with his eyes. She couldn’t look away.
A bolt of arousal rippled through her, causing her stomach to tighten and her nipples to pucker. Of course, with all the padding she had on for her next scene, she alone was privy to her traitorous response. His lips lifted in a sexy, half smile. He knew.
Some men drew attention by the sensuality of their smiles. Others let the wicked twinkle in their eyes speak for them. Lex’s sheer magnificent presence was the first lure. The roguish smile came later. Even now Jillian wasn’t the only female on the set watching him. Watching and lusting. It didn’t matter what he wore. He exuded a potent sensuality women couldn’t ignore.
Chris blocked Jillian’s line of vision and peered into her eyes. She’d completely forgotten his presence. What had they been discussing? Oh, yeah, her father’s financial woes.
“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s a brilliant idea.”
“I’m going to say it again. Be careful with him.”
He frowned.
“Powerful men like him get away with a lot.”
She watched Chris walk away, then glanced at Lex. He was getting the grand tour from Michaels, Barbs’ husband. Jillian’s eyes followed them to the storyboard. Lex glanced her way again, and she imagined his eyes flashing with heat.
He would never hurt her. She’d have to give him the power to do that. That could only happen if she allowed herself to be vulnerable. If she dropped her guard and fell in love with him. She had no intention of doing that. Theirs was a sexual attraction. She would enjoy the ride, then walk away with her heart intact.
Jillian frowned when she noticed the odd behavior of the females around the set. Some had found a reason to do things or talk to others near his vicinity.
What the hell was their problem? They’d never seen a hot guy before, or was it his pockets that had them acting like vultures? Shameless bitches! Lex was hers. Temporarily, but still hers. Hadn’t she arrived in his chopper this morning? And wasn’t he here for their lunch date?
Jillian was about to cross the set to claim him in front of everyone when she remembered she was wearing the ugly wig and the clown makeup from their first meeting. He hated both. Not a morale booster. On top of that, she had on a padded suit for her jump.
“Does he have a brother? Please tell me he has one, or a distant cousin who looks just like him.”
Shay. Jillian turned and hugged the actress. Shay hadn’t been at the set since the night of the party at Mrs. Fitzgerald’s. Jillian didn’t have a copy of the script and wasn’t sure whether Shay was done with her scenes or not. In this business, sudden disappearance usually meant your character had been written off.
“Where have you been?”
Jillian asked.
“Filming a sitcom. I don’t have a big part here, so I only come in for my scenes. So, you and the billionaire have started your rounds in the tabloids.”
She made a face, green eyes twinkling.
“Sorry I played a part in that, but I didn’t like the things”—she glanced around for eavesdroppers and whispered—“the Wicked Witch of the West was saying. The pool incident aside, you upstaged her that evening.”
Shay had made it obvious from day one she wasn’t on Team Margo, but Jillian had no idea her feelings were this strong.
“As long as I continue being the mystery woman, I’m okay.”
“Oh, honey.”
Shay laughed out loud, drawing the attention of the people around the set, including Lex.
“You can’t escape the paparazzi forever. This morning’s paper proves that.”
She glanced at the group around Lex.
“I like how he looks over here every few minutes as though checking on you. You need to tell me your secret, because he’s smitten.”
Jillian smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it.
“This morning’s paper?”
She took Jillian’s arm.
“Chris is signaling you.”
“What paper, Shay?”
“One of the tabloids. The National Observer. Haven’t you seen it? One had a picture of the two of you at the airport, kissing. From the looks of things, you picked him up last night. Another showed you driving away, but the last one...”
Shay fanned her face.
“You must have pulled up on the side of the road to make out because you were steaming up the windows.”
Jillian’s face burned. Her stomach had dropped to the bottom of her shoes, and now it churned. The stares from people around the set had nothing to do with her arrival this morning. But pictures of her in some stupid magazine, having an orgasm by the roadside... She wanted to crawl somewhere and never show her face again.
She glanced across the set at Lex, wondering if he knew. The only person who’d known she’d gone to pick him up was Douglas. After Lex’s speech on loyalty, Jillian doubted he’d called the paparazzi. Now that her name and her association with Lex were out in the open, her feud with Margo could take on a new meaning.
Jillian focused on Shay, who was waving at another actress.
“You, uh, don’t happen to have a copy, do you?”
“No, but there are few around the set.”
Chris appeared beside them.
“Excuse us, Shay,”
he said, then cupped Jillian’s elbow.
“It’s time for your scene.”
Jillian fought nausea as Chris led her toward the building. She was about to fly through a glass window while a rigged charge exploded behind her, but all she could think about was stupid tabloid pictures. She started to sweat. The protective gear she wore felt like a furnace. Underneath her costume were a thin Nomex suit soaked in fire retardant gel, a second suit to keep the retardant from evaporating, and spinal and body padding to protect her when she fell.
“You okay?”
Chris asked.
She nodded.
“I know Shay is your friend, but the woman gossips too much.”
Jillian opened her mouth to ask him if he’d seen the papers, but she clammed up. She tried to focus on the task at hand. She looked up at the makeshift two-story building she was about to jump from. Kenny Mittack waved down at them. As usual, his curly blonde hair was unruly and his clothes a little wrinkled, but all she could think about was whether or not he’d seen the papers.
Stop it. Your head should be on the stunt.
She blew out air, and Chris misunderstood.
“It’s okay to be nervous. Just stick to what you did with Kenny during the dry run and everything will go smoothly.”
Jillian nodded and gave Kenny a thumps-up signal. Kenneth “Kenny”
Mittack was Chris’ right hand. Chris usually hired several assistant stunt coordinators, stuntmen, and stuntwomen for each film. Most were new, but a few, like Kenny, were regulars. While Chris was in charge of everyone, Kenny often worked one-on-one with Jillian. He made the tedious preparation bearable by talking about their favorite subject, extreme sports.
The entire team, which included the pyrotechnicians and the director, had done a detailed briefing of the stunt and rehearsed the scene several times. They’d narrowed the timing between Jillian being pushed off the air ramp platform to simulate the aftershock and the explosive charges detonating down to milliseconds. Still, things could wrong. She shouldn’t be distracted by what she couldn’t control.
Focus, stay in control, and when in trouble, improvise, she chanted under her breath.
“Make a clean jump,”
Chris said when they reached upstairs.
“And, Jillian?”
She glanced at him.
“You’ll be fine.”
“I know.”
His faith in her was never misplaced, but this time… Stupid paparazzi.
Still chanting her rules, Jillian walked to the window and checked on the ground crew. They were inflating the air bag. Her eyes found Lex where everyone was gathered. The director must have told them to clear the set. He touched a finger to his lips. Jillian blushed and turned to face the others.
*
“What’s going on?”
Lex asked as they approached the crowd.
“Jillian is about to jump through that window,”
Michaels said.
Something cold clutched Lex’s gut. “What?”
“It’s perfectly safe,”
Michaels said.
“They’re using sugar glass, which looks like real glass but is fragile and breaks easily, and rarely causes injuries. An air bag will break her fall. She’s also wearing a padded bodysuit to protect her from scrapes.”
None of what Michaels listed made Lex feel better. He looked at the window and felt a little sick imagining her jumping from it. Through the crowd gathering near the building, he could see a team of crewmen and women adjusting a giant blue airbag.
“She’s an amazing stuntwoman, Lex, and Chris is a meticulous stunt coordinator. He goes over scenes, double and triple-checking everything. The detonation will happen after she jumps.”
Hell.
“What detonation?”
As Michaels explained, Lex started to sweat. If he’d been shitting bricks before, they were now boulders. His chest hurt and sweat pooled on his forehead. He’d braved the Himalayan summit, surfed giant waves in Tasmania, kayaked Siberia’s Bashkaus River, and swam with the great white sharks in South Africa, but none compared to standing at a damned set in Burbank waiting for his woman to jump.
Lex swallowed, the waiting making him antsy. He didn’t give a rat’s ass that the window was made of sugar glass and that the broken pieces probably wouldn’t cut her. He didn’t like this. He was a businessman and knew that nothing ever went according to plan. Odds shifted. Equipment failed.
“Does she have protection against fire in case something goes wrong?”
“There’s fire retardant in her suit, hair, wig… Everything she’s wearing is doused with it.”
Which meant there was a chance she could catch fire. Fuck. This was worse than he’d thought. Lex tried to focus on the images of Jillian from last night and this morning. The taste of her, the feel of her skin, the sounds she made…
What the hell was keeping her? The ground crew had stopped fiddling with the air bag. Two teams appeared to be ready with their wide-lens cameras, one on a crane above the building and another below it. Like the first camera crew, Barbs was elevated on a crane and was talking to someone on an ear walkie-talkie, her eyes on the window. He followed her gaze.
Jillian will be okay. She must. This was her job. He was sure she’d done this countless times. If he panicked every time he thought about what she did for a living, he’d go crazy. It might take a year, ten, or until she stopped doing stunts, but he was going to learn to suck it up and do what he did best—eliminate chances of anything going wrong.
From his adventures, using top-notch gear and the best equipment money could buy always tilted the odds in his favor. The rest depended on his willpower and the innate need to beat the odds and win. Jillian was a natural fighter, and her confidence said she was good at what she did. That eased his worries somewhat, but he didn’t know what Lander’s budget was or how efficient his equipment was. Now that Lex was in Jillian’s life, he planned to make sure she used the best of everything in her field. Keeping her safe was his priority.
His phone buzzed. Lex pulled it from its clip, saw the number, and frowned. He’d told his office he didn’t want to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. He walked away from the throng of people and brought the phone to his ear.
“Paula?”
“Are you coming into the office soon?”
“This afternoon. What’s going on?”
“Call Mr. Roderick, please. He threatened to call every five minutes until you returned his calls.”
Screw Rod and his tabloids. They had a pact, but he’d broken it. Even in college, Rod would go out of his way to piss everyone off for shits and giggles. He hadn’t changed. He still got bored and found amusement at other people’s expense. If he weren’t a friend, Lex would drag his ass to court.
The problem was a court battle wouldn’t break Rod. Like Cade and Sloan, Roderick Thorne was a dot-com boomer with way too much money and time on his hands. Worse, battling Lex might just amuse Rod. He might even benefit if his tabloids and online sites got the inside scoop on the hearing.
“Lex, are you still there?”
A ripple of anticipation ran through the crew, causing Lex to turn his attention to the scene about to be shot. The people pressed closer, eyes on the window from which Jillian was supposed to be hurtled.
“I’ll call him as soon as this scene is done.”
“Scene? Where are you?”
“I’ll see you this afternoon, Paula.”
Everything Michaels had told him zipped through Lex’s head, but it didn’t ease his worries.
What if something went wrong? What if the background fire got out of control? What if the compressed air piston below the air ram failed and the explosives went off while she was still on the platform? What if she got thrown too far and missed the air bag? He hated feeling helpless. It wasn’t in his nature to stand on the sideline and do nothing. Where the hell was she? Any more delays and he’d go up there to investigate.
Seconds crawled by. Hell! He needed a distraction.
Lex punched a number on his phone and brought it to his ear.
“Who is this? How did you get this number?”
Rod barked.
“What the hell are you doing publishing my pictures in your paper?”
Rod laughed.
“Hey, Fitz. I knew you’d eventually call back. On an unlisted cell no less. How come I don’t have this number?”
“Because you’re an ass. Call your people, Rod, and tell them to call the vendors. I want every last piece of rag you call a magazine off the racks now.”
Rod laughed.
“Rag? I make my living giving people what they want.”
“Fix this. I’m not joking.”
“Come on, big guy. Cade didn’t go ballistic last month when—”
“I’m not Cade. How the hell did your people know I was arriving last night?”
Then he remembered his conversation with Sloan.
“Sloan called you?”
There was silence, then.
“Now we’re conspiring against you? You’ve hurt my feelings.”
“Screw your feelings, Rod. Tell your people to remove them, then call and apologize to Jillian. And whoever told your people about my arrival last night had better be ready for me on Saturday.”
Lex hung up, expecting to feel better, but the knot in his gut had only tightened. Jillian still hadn’t jumped.
Of course, Rod wasn’t going to recall The National Observer from vendors, but he’d feel guilty for a few weeks before going back to being a jackass. Unlike most weekly tabloids, he chose to publish his bi-weekly, giving gossip-happy readers something to read mid-week.
Lex moved closer to the crowd, noticing it had become quiet. He saw why. Smoke billowed from the windows of the building. Fire leaped and licked the ledges. Each breath hurt as memories from the past flashed in his head. He’d almost lost his brother and sister in two separate fires.
His hands clenched. Stomach heaved. The urge to close his eyes and shut out what was to follow became overwhelming, but he kept them fixed on the building and held his breath.
Just when the waiting became unbearable, Jillian came crashing through the window as an explosion rocked the building. The fire shot after her as she hovered in the air. Then he realized something. She was on fire.
Lex’s heart stopped. The next second, he was bulldozing his way through the onlookers, his eyes on Jillian as she fell. A few people protested. Others saw him coming and moved out of the way.
“You can’t go beyond this point, sir,”
a security guard ordered him and stood in his way.
“You want to try to stop me?”
he snapped, his eyes on the people converging on Jillian with fire extinguishers. The guard was scrawny and several inches shorter than he. Lex could lift him out of the way with one arm and not break a sweat. A second guard appeared. This one looked like he bench-pressed the Rock of Gibraltar. He would take them both to get to Jillian.
“She’s okay, Lex,”
Barb’s husband said from behind him.
“How can she be okay? She’s on fire.”
He looked above the head of the scrawny guard and tried to find Jillian. The crew had her surrounded, which wasn’t reassuring.
“Did you know this would happen?”
“Yes, but she’ll be fine.”
“How the hell can you guarantee that? Anything could go… wrong.”
His eyes found her as she stood. Her wig was messy and partially singed, her outer suit was ripped and had dark smudges, and her clown makeup seemed greasier than when they’d first met, but he’d never seen a more precious sight in his entire life. The best part was her smile.
She was okay.
Relief washed over him. The security guards stepped aside to let Lex through. He closed the gap between them, wanting to check every inch of her body and make sure there were no burn marks. Wrap his arms around her and never let go.
She looked up, saw him, and the smile disappeared from her face.