Page 11 of Savannah Heat
Jenna kept stealing glances at Dan to make sure he was still there. To be this close to him again was something she thought would never happen. She didn’t know how she felt about it yet.
After settling on a few preliminary plans, Dan put his hand on Jenna’s back as they walked back to the hotel. As they entered the hotel lobby doors, Dan stopped only a few feet inside. “Stop, turn around. Hurry.”
“What…?”
“Come on, I’ll tell you in a minute.” Dan pulled her back out through the main doors and practically pushed her down the street and around the corner.
“That was her. That was Gail Wells checking in. The insurance investigator.”
“What is she doing here?”
Dan steered Jenna farther down the sidewalk. “She must think I, we, are back in action again and have come to take advantage of the gathering of the rich and the much talked about jewels, what else? Just what we were thinking this new Red Cat might do. Gail is smart and relentless, and she went away thinking you were as involved with everything as I was, but there was no proof. Hunting you was not worth her time when she had me in her sights. I would lead her to you if she could just nail me first. That might be a different story now.”
Jenna looked at Dan and said the words she knew she shouldn’t. “So, what next?”
Dan smiled. “Okay, let’s think it through. Together, there’s not much we can’t do.”
Jenna looked up and down the street. “We can’t do it out here on the street. Let’s go sit in that little ice cream shop and give Miss Wells plenty of time to check in and get to her room.” With every step they took down the street, Jenna could hear her brain asking her what the heck she was doing. But her heart overruled her head—again. A familiar theme when Dan was involved.
Sitting in the ice cream parlor with two dishes of ice cream, they looked not at all like former international jewel thieves. Dan ran his fingers through his hair. “Gail does know what you look like, but it’s been five years. It’s not as if she wouldn’t find you easily enough. You have a public profile.”
Jenna paused, a spoon full of ice cream halfway to her mouth. “Oh damn. She’s been keeping track of me for years I’d bet.”
“That’s a good bet. But if she does see and recognize you, she will be watching you to see if I show up. But there’s nothing she can do for now. At least, you’re safe to go with your plans. You have a legitimate reason to be here, covering the event for your magazine. That’s something she can verify.”
“How can we find out what she knows for sure or exactly why she is here? Or should I be asking, what does she think she knows and what does she plan to do about it?”
Dan put his hand on Jenna’s arm and leaned in to whisper, “Do you think you can get into her room to do a search if I keep her occupied?”
Jenna’s stomach flipped. “But wait, I thought you wanted to avoid her. Now, you’re going to walk up and say, oh, hello. Are you tracking me, Miss Wells?”
“I’m having second thoughts about all that now. Trying to avoid her too much, although my first choice, makes me look suspicious. Since no charges were ever brought, and I have an invitation to these parties, I have an excuse to be here. In no way can she prove I’m here for any other reason. Besides, I’d bet she knows I’m here already, or I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be here. She must have party invitations, too, and I’ll have to see her. Might as well use this to our advantage. But if she sees us together, that will ring all her bells, and there you go, you will be on her radar, one of the things I left you and this country to prevent.”
“Okay, I suppose it’s best we’re not seen together then, right?”
Dan pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll find another place to stay so you and I can meet there and not be seen together in this hotel. Speaking of being together, when is your Mr. GQ coming back?”
“He has a business dinner tonight and will be in all the golf tournaments this weekend. He is scheduled to go to Atlanta on his way back to New York. He’s mainly here for the golf and to make contacts, and, of course, to be my escort to the parties. He didn’t want to stay for all the parties until he saw the guest list. A businessman’s dream.”
Dan grinned. “So, he has a real job, huh? And I thought he might be a model or hairdresser.”
“He’s a real estate broker, as you well know, and he has his own international firm. He can’t help it that he’s handsome, Dan.”
“Oh, I see. So, you think he’s handsome. Since when do you go for the pretty boys, Jenn?”
Dan’s stare and his tone, halfway between kidding and serious, made her uneasy. “We’ve been dating for about a year, but it’s never—it’s not exactly…well, it’s not that serious. Besides you were a pretty boy…once.”
“Once? I’m not sure if I should be offended, pleased, or maybe book a spa vacation.”
Jenna reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Oh, don’t worry, you weren’t that pretty.” She let out a long breath, abandoning the hope she ever erased Dan from her life. “But okay, I’ll admit it, you’re still pretty sexy.”
“I’ll take any compliment you can spare. I’m feeling kind of vulnerable where you are concerned. Or haven’t you noticed?”
“Dan Kelly, vulnerable? Now when did that happen?”
“About five years ago.”
Jenna’s heart skipped a beat. Yes, she lost Dan, but he lost her, too, and his brother’s life was forever changed. She looked at Dan’s face and saw the pain, and she also saw the truth. He was a changed man. He was allowing himself to appear vulnerable, imperfect, and capable of mistakes.