Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

R age didn’t begin to describe the emotion that coursed through Alexandra. She turned to Kendall and Brent, who’d come running at some point after the cops swarmed Russ. “Did you know about this?” she asked Brent.

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! Of course not!”

She turned her gaze on her best friend. “You spent two weeks hounding me to be his date.”

Kendall let out a shocked breath and took a step back. “I had no idea! I swear.”

Of the two denials, Kendall’s was the only one she believed. She turned to Brent. “You are not welcome in our apartment ever again.”

“No!” Kendall said, then she turned and must’ve seen something in Brent’s gaze because she took a step away from him.

“It’s him or me, Kendall.” She pulled the hotel room key that Russ had given her earlier and turned to one of the police officers. “He’ll be in jail tonight?”

The man nodded. “We can hold him while we test the drink and vial. It’s Friday night, so he won’t go before a judge until Monday morning. A prosecutor will file charges if the tests come out as we suspect they will.”

She turned back to Kendall. “Brent can take you home tonight. Pack up anything he left at our place. You can come back in the morning and pick me up. Alone.”

Kendall nodded.

The officers ushered people around so they could be questioned separately, Alexandra was escorted to a private corner of the ballroom. She saw Kendall and Brent leave while she was still being questioned.

As she spoke to the officers, she met the gaze of the hot man who’d been her rescuer. His eyes were intense as he watched her. She felt a strange burn in her belly.

She was thankful, angry, and attracted. A dangerous combination.

She still didn’t know his name, but now, she didn’t want to know. She liked the mystery of it. Did it matter who he was? Or who she was?

She spent her days studying the latest theories about the matter that made up the universe and the power of black holes. She knew exactly how insignificant she was on a cosmologic scale. But she mattered. To herself. To her parents and friends. And tonight, this man had cared enough about a stranger to protect her.

For all she knew, Russ was his boss. She wasn’t foolish enough to think prosecuting a man for a crime that had been prevented would result in much more than a slap on the wrist, even if it had been premeditated rape.

Everything would hinge on what they found in Russ’s home. It would be awful to discover he’d done this before, but at the same time, if they found evidence of other such assaults, he’d do serious time.

Finally, her interview was over. She scanned the room, seeing her rescuer in deep conversation with the tall man he’d indicated was family earlier.

The party had ended with the arrest, and the room was being broken down, but the dessert table still held a few treats. Alexandra crossed to the table. The fancier desserts had been consumed or cleared, but there was a tray of assorted muffins: cranberry, pumpkin chocolate chip, apple cinnamon, lemon blueberry.

There was nothing humble about these muffins. She felt bad for them that they’d been left behind. As if they couldn’t hold their own against a tart.

She grabbed a plate and loaded up, then headed for the door. She paused as she passed the two men who’d been instrumental in her rescue. The cop had told her that the tall man had gotten security and police involved while the shorter man kept an eye on Russ and the drink.

She felt all fluttery again.

She crossed to the two men. “Thank you. For everything.”

Both men nodded, faces solemn. “I’m sorry it was necessary,” the tall one said. “But glad we were there.” He then stepped back.

She was alone—sort of—with her savior. He studied her face, his brown eyes probing but warm. Heat shot through her. She held up the plate she’d loaded with desserts. “Do you like muffins?”

His mouth shifted in the slightest of smiles while his eyes lit with humor. “Yes. Some more than others.”

“Room 2204. Fifteen minutes. Don’t be late, or you’ll turn into a pumpkin.”

His smile deepened, and the sparks in her belly turned to a flame. “Yes, ma’am.”

She started to walk away, then turned. “One more thing. If you haven’t learned my name from the police…don’t.”

His face showed surprise, but he nodded. “Do you know mine?”

“No. And I intend to keep it that way.” She turned and headed to the hotel room that Russ Spaulding would pay for. Her first order of business was to place a room service order for the most expensive bottle of champagne she could get.

“ S he invited you to her room.” Lee gave JT a wry smile.

JT grimaced in response even though the invitation had pleased him. “I’d be thrilled, but it’s messed up how it came about. She’s got to be wrecked right now. And technically, it’s Spaulding’s room.”

“It’s the room where he would have raped her.”

“Yep.”

“Offer to take her home instead. Ask her out. Take her to dinner next week when she isn’t reeling from an assault.”

“I’ll offer, but from what she said earlier, Spaulding’s buddy Brent Forbes might be at her place tonight. She can’t go there.”

“There’s always the family home.”

He shook his head. “No way am I taking her to the senator’s estate. Or his townhouse.” JT’s dad was weeks from completing his first term as a US senator. He’d been referring to his father by his title or first name in work situations for years—it came with the territory of working for the family business—but this might be the first time he’d done it when speaking to his brother.

Former stepbrother, really, but it wasn’t just the brother bond that had lasted far longer than the marriage between JT’s dad and Lee’s mom. The paternal bond had remained as well. But ever since Joe entered politics, Lee had stepped back, wanting no part of living on the fringe of the spotlight that followed Senator Joseph Talon wherever he went.

Unlike Lee, JT had no choice. He was the senator’s only biological child and he’d taken the reins of the old man’s company, ensuring management caused no ethics violations for the junior senator from Maryland.

JT didn’t mind because he had his own political ambitions and was content in the reflective glow. He’d put in his time at Talon his suit pants would just have to be slept in. He actually had a hotel suite on the other end of this floor and considered going there to grab his toothbrush and a pair of sweatpants to sleep in, but he remembered the shiver that ran through her when she said she didn’t want to be alone.

She crawled into bed, and he took his turn in the bathroom. He didn’t have toothpaste or a toothbrush, but there was a hotel bottle of mouthwash on the counter, which he swished around after rinsing with water.

He turned off the lights, then crawled into the king-sized bed beside her. He reached for her, and she curled up on his lap. He held her in the dark, taking in her scent and enjoying the feel of her in his arms.

After a while, they shifted positions until they lay spooned together, and at last, her body relaxed. He had no clue how much time passed before her breathing evened out and he was certain she was asleep.

He lay with his arm around her waist, knees tucked up behind hers, and marveled at the events that had led to this moment. He’d known her for less than four hours and still didn’t know her name, but still, he felt certain this woman would change his life. Maybe she already had.