Sealed With a Kiss (27 page)

She blew the candles out and waved the thin
line of black smoke away from the table. The rest of the room
looked normal. The cushions were in the right place, sneakers were
at the front door and not under the sofa, and all of the magazines
were where they should be.

She ran her hands through her hair and tried
to look as though she hadn’t just gotten out of bed. She glanced at
her watch and the grandfather clock in the living room. They were
two minutes apart. John should be here soon.

She wondered if putting a plate of cookies on
the table would be a normal thing to do. Bringing over her
Christmas present from Bella didn’t exactly mean he wanted to say
or do anything more than give her the present. But a plate of
cookies was fairly neutral. It was good manners to offer your guest
something to eat and drink. Except he wasn’t her guest. He was her
boss. Ex-boss. The man who’d fired her.

What was she doing?

The doorbell rang and Rachel leaped out of
the chair. Tanner would have stopped whoever was there if it wasn’t
John. She wiped her hands down the side of her skirt, hoping the
dress she was wearing wasn’t too revealing. She’d worn it to her
parents’ house for lunch, so it should have been exactly right for
John’s unexpected visit. She tweaked the bodice before opening the
door. It was better to be safe than sorry. Or maybe not.

She opened the door. John stood on the front
porch in his thick woolen jacket. He looked incredibly sexy in the
mountain man versus James Bond way that he had about him. Her
imagination was rambling. She needed to say something intelligent
instead of ogling him like a sex-starved jellyfish.

She squared her shoulders, opened her mouth,
and said, “Hi.”

John smiled, and the sex-starved jellyfish
inside of her quivered. She had no shame, no moral compass that
would guide her in her hour of need. Or five-minute need. This was
so bad.

She stomped down on her hormones for long
enough to realize that John looked cold. They’d both turn into
Popsicles if she left him standing on the porch, so she opened the
door wider. “Do you want to come inside?”

“Thanks. I appreciate you seeing me so late
in the day. I mean…it’s not that late, but I tend to go to…”

Rachel stared at him. He was nervous. John
Fletcher, the man most likely to be poised and confident in front
of any movie star or president, was nervous. Of her. Of being
here.

She shouldn’t have left their Christmas
presents under the tree.

“It’s okay. I was still awake.” Not quite a
lie, but enough to make her blush as red as Rudolph’s nose. “Do you
want a cup of coffee? We’ve got hot chocolate or juice if you want
something different?”

John looked relieved. “Coffee would be great.
Where’s Tess and Logan?”

“They went to visit Logan’s mom for
Christmas. They won’t be back for a few days.”

“Oh.” He looked at her dress and frowned.

She glanced down at the red cross-over bodice
and full skirt. It was too much. She should have worn her jeans,
pretended that this wasn’t a big deal.

“I like your dress.”

Rachel cleared her throat. “Thanks. I don’t
often wear dresses, but I thought, seen as it’s Christmas, that I
might…” She stopped in mid-sentence.

“…wear one?” John finished.

Rachel took a deep breath. “I’m nervous. I
didn’t want you to think that I did anything special for…”

“I changed five times before I came here. My
brother skim-read the first chapter of the book you gave me and
summarized it so that I don’t mess this up. I nearly turned around
twice before ringing the doorbell.” John took a deep breath. “I’m
nervous, too.”

“You are? Why?”

“I said things that I didn’t mean. It wasn’t
your fault that Bella ran away. She shouldn’t have done that and
she knows she made a mistake. You were only trying to make her
happy and I guess that’s as good a reason as any to be spontaneous.
In case that all came out in a garbled rambling, what I’m trying to
say is that I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Apology accepted.” Rachel grinned
at her ex-boss. Ever since Bella had gone missing she’d been so
worried that she’d felt sick to her stomach. In one long sentence,
John had made her the happiest person alive. “You can take your
coat off and come into the kitchen. I’ll make us coffee.”

John shrugged out of his coat and hung it on
the stand.

“I like what you’re wearing,” she teased.

John looked down at his jeans and white
button-down shirt. “Grant told me it looked casual without being
sloppy. The white shirt is supposed to make my chest look wider
and, therefore, more appealing to the feminine eye.”

Rachel’s gaze shot to his face. “Did Grant
really say that?”

“No. I made it up. But if you like my white
shirt, I’m happy.”

Rachel looked at his white shirt again. It
did make his chest look wider. It defined his muscles and left her
drooling on the spot. “Are you flirting with me, John
Fletcher?”

He took a step forward. “It was the third
bullet point in the book you gave me. Is it working?”

Rachel moved a step closer. She ran her hand
down the front of his shirt and saw his pulse leap in his throat.
“It’s working. What were the other two bullet points?”

“Ring the doorbell and don’t fall flat on
your face when you see the beautiful woman waiting for you.”

“Wow. The cover said it was a bestseller, but
I didn’t know it was that good.”

John rubbed his nose against the side of her
face. “Do you want to know what the fourth bullet point said?”

Rachel was more impressed that he could
remember what bullet point they were up to. Her brain had gone into
melt-down mode when he’d mentioned his shirt. She licked her lips
and let her imagination wander through different bullet point
options.

John muttered something under his breath,
then plastered his amazing mouth against hers. She wrapped her arms
around his shoulders, pulled him close, and felt a rush of heat
melt her common sense away.

John’s tongue slid along the seam of her
mouth, dipped between her lips, and teased her until she didn’t
care what bullet point four, five, or six, said.

He lifted her into his arms and she wound her
legs around his waist. “I think we’re skipping chapter one,” he
whispered against her ear.

Rachel nibbled on the sensitive skin under
his jaw. She smiled at the groan rumbling out of his chest. “Do you
want to call Grant and ask him to summarize chapter two? He did a
pretty good job of chapter one.”

John walked across to the sofa and sat down
with her in his lap. “We could make it up as we go along?”

“You want to be spontaneous?” Rachel felt the
smile on John’s face as she kissed him.

“I have been known to act first and think
later.”

She leaned back. “You have?”

“Once or twice.” He closed his eyes and
moaned as she wiggled against him.

“Show me…”

“Are you sure?”

Rachel nodded. “I’ve never been more sure
about anything in my life.”

“It will change our relationship.” He tugged
at the zip on the back of her dress and ran his hand along her
spine.

Her breath came out in little pants of need.
“We could start a new one.” He undid her bra and she nearly fainted
with the heat building inside of her. “Can we talk about this
later?”

John lifted her off his lap and smiled at her
confused frown. “I’m going to show you how spontaneous I can
be.”

And he did. More than once.

And she wasn’t disappointed.

CHAPTER TWELVE

John stopped in the middle of the kitchen doorway.
Grant was sitting at the table, munching his way through a gigantic
bowl of cereal.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to wake
up. Late night?”

John wasn’t going to get sucked in by the
gleam in his brother’s eyes. “I was home by four o’clock.”

“So early? Must have been a good night. How’s
Rachel?”

John poured himself a hot coffee and leaned
against the counter. “Good.”

Grant’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth.
“How did chapter one work out for you?”

“Good.”

“I suppose the smile on your face means that
you had a good night’s sleep, too?”

John sipped his coffee.

“The silent treatment doesn’t work
anymore.”

Bella ran into the kitchen. “Hi, dad. Have
you seen the snow outside? Tank’s going to build a snowman with
me.”

Tank walked into the kitchen behind Bella.
“We’ll build the snowman after breakfast.” He helped himself to a
coffee and looked closely at John. “Tough night at work, boss?”

Grant choked on his cereal. Tank looked
suspiciously between the two brothers.

There was a reason John hired top ex-military
staff, only now he was regretting it.

Tank’s eyes narrowed. “Tanner called. Said
you were at Tess and Logan’s house when he finished for the night.
Is everything all right?”

Bella put two slices of bread in the toaster.
“You saw Rachel? Did she like my Christmas present?”

A smile pulled at Grant’s lips. “Good
question, Bella.”

John ignored his brother. “She didn’t open
it. She wanted you to be there, too.”

Bella looked suitably impressed at Rachel’s
thoughtfulness. John felt slightly guilty about stretching the
truth for his daughter.

Grant wasn’t fooled.

Tank touched the microphone on his headset.
“A police car’s coming through the front gates, boss. Connor said
it’s the Chief of Police.”

Bella’s toast popped. She opened the fridge
door and found the butter. “Mrs. Daniels has some cake and cookies
in the pantry.”

John poured the rest of his coffee down the
sink and rinsed his mug. “It’s probably too early for cake, but
thanks for the reminder. Make sure you eat your toast before going
outside.”

John looked at Tank before he left the
kitchen. He knew that Tank wouldn’t let Bella outside until they’d
all heard what Dan had to say. It was too early for a social call.
Whatever the Chief of Police had to say was either related to
Bella’s runaway antics or part of their ongoing investigation into
the Oracom Corporation.

John stood on the front porch and watched Dan
park close to the house.

He got out of the vehicle and shook John’s
hand. “I’ve got news about the Oracom investigation. Is there
somewhere we can talk?”

“Sure, follow me.”

John led the way into his office. “Have a
seat.”

“Thanks.” Dan sat in one of the leather
chairs and took his hat off. “We’ve just heard from the CIA. At
six-thirty local time, four top-ranking Oracom officials were
arrested in Prague. They’ve been charged with conspiracy to murder,
fraud, international espionage, money-laundering, and intent to
harm. Your case isn’t the only one that the CIA has been
investigating.”

“What’s going to happen to them?”

“The US Department of Justice has filed
extradition papers with the Prague High Court. It’s too early to
know whether they’ll be brought back to the United States for a
trial, but that’s the plan.”

“Who has the final say in extraditing
them?”

“The final consent can only be authorized by
the Czech Justice Minister. The officials that spoke to us don’t
think it’s going to take long to sort out, but we don’t have a very
precise time line to work with.”

John took a deep breath and tried to think
rationally. “Are the US officials sure that the people they’ve
arrested are the same ones that sent me death threats?”

“Positive. They have evidence that links
three of the four people to your company. You don’t need to worry
about extra bodyguards. You’re safe.”

John leaned back and closed his eyes. After
more than a month of thinking every second person was about to kill
him, he could finally relax. Sam and her Technical Development Team
wouldn’t have to live in fear of their lives, and Rachel could go
back to her teaching job without Tanner following her
everywhere.

It was the kind of outcome he’d dreamed
about, but now that it was a reality he was having a hard time
believing it.

Dan stood up. “It’s going to take a while to
sink in. You can go about your normal business and not worry about
Oracom. The Managing Director of their company is going to release
a statement this afternoon. As soon as I have a copy, I’ll email it
through to you.”

“Thanks. I appreciate everything you’ve done
for us.”

Dan shook John’s hand. “That’s what we’re
here for. It’s not often we get to work with the FBI and the CIA on
the same case. It’s been an interesting few weeks.”

They might have been interesting for the
Chief of Police, but John never wanted to repeat them again.

Dan put his hat on his head. “Are you
comfortable updating your staff about the arrests?”

John nodded. “I’ll do it now.”

“What about Rachel McReedy? Would you like me
to head over to Tess and Logan’s home and tell her?”

“I can do that.”

“Well, in that case, my job here is done.
I’ll send that email through from Oracom when I get a copy. The CIA
will contact both of us when and if the extradition is
confirmed.”

After Dan had left, John sank back into his
chair. The people that had threatened to kill his family were
finally behind bars. He could breathe a little easier, and not
worry about midnight kidnapping attempts, or carjackings that could
go wrong.

He picked up the phone and called Rachel’s
number. She could go back to living a normal life. She wouldn’t
have to check every detail with Tank or Tanner.

She wouldn’t have to spend time with him.

***

Rachel turned the timer off and pulled
another batch of shortbread out of the oven. She’d been making all
kinds of cookies for the first drama club program of the new year.
Not that it was exactly the new year. Christmas day had officially
ended nine hours ago and she’d been baking for the last three of
them.