“I hadn’t decided whether or not I was going to take the job last night.”
The elevator reached the bottom floor, and they crossed the lobby and passed through the large revolving doors. Once out on the street, they began to jog alongside each other.
“How’d you get the scar on your left shoulder?” she asked, never taking her eyes off what was ahead of her.
“You don’t miss a thing, do you? I was in a car accident a year ago.”
“Your fault?”
“No, I was rammed by another driver who ran a red light. My door caved inward and broke my arm and a few ribs. The glass cut me up pretty bad, but it was all fixable. It took me a while to get back in shape, though. I used to compete in triathlons, but now I’m just in training.”
“You seem like an exercise nut.”
“I just like staying healthy.”
They jogged a block or two, then Jocelyn said, “Let’s talk about the contract now, and what level of protection you want from me.”
Donovan settled into a comfortable pace, his breathing controlled. “Since you’re going to be in my house anyway, we might as well go for the highest level.”
“It’ll cost you.”
“Not a problem.”
They jogged down to the lights and crossed the street.
“First,” she said, “let’s start with your penthouse. Do you want me to arrange every improvement possible? Or stick with just the alarm system? Either way, I’ll need to see your deed to ascertain if there are any conditions of occupancy that might limit what we do.”
“I’ll get you the deed right away, and if we can, let’s go the whole nine yards. The only thing I ask is that you keep the improvements from standing out too much. I don’t want my home to look like Fort Knox.”
“That can be arranged. I already put together some ideas last night with that in mind, since I figured cosmetics would be important to you.”
Donovan swerved around a spilled ice-cream cone on the sidewalk. “There you go again.”
“What do you mean, ‘there I go again’?” Her voice got a little haughty, and Donovan couldn’t deny that he liked it. She was inching off that rock of indifference.
“The way you figured cosmetics would be important to me. Now you’re implying that I’m shallow.”
She laughed out loud, and it was everything he had hoped it would be—throaty, from the heart and unbelievably sexy. “I implied no such thing!”
They crossed the street and headed toward Lincoln Park, their running shoes tapping the ground in perfect unison. Donovan had to admit he enjoyed needling her to open up a little, and he wasn’t sure why. He never felt the urge to prod the women he usually dated and get to know more about what they were like deep down. It was usually the other way around.
She was quiet for a moment. “Can we get back to the contract now?”
They jogged onto the running track in the park, and passed other runners along the way. “Sure. You were talking about the penthouse.”
“Yes. I’ll act as your contractor, hiring the appropriate experts to install a new alarm system, as well as to come in and make your doors and windows more secure. As far as personal protection, I’ll accompany you everywhere for a daily fee, which will be payable every thirty days.”
“Even to work?”
“You said you wanted the highest level of protection.”
“I do, but I’m a heart surgeon. You’ll have to sit in the waiting room all day. You won’t find that tiresome?”
“It’s my job, Dr. Knight.”
“What about days off? Surely you’ll need holidays.”
“I take holidays between jobs.”
“What if you get sick?”
“I have colleagues I trust with my life, and we spell each other off in emergencies like that.”
Donovan felt sweat cooling his back between his shoulder blades. Jocelyn had a healthy glow on her face, too, but she wasn’t working too hard, not by a long shot. She was clearly in great shape. “I thought you worked alone.”
“I do, but I didn’t always.”
“These colleagues…buddies from the Secret Service?”
“You got it. There are a number of us who work privately now. We contract each other out whenever we require team details.”
They jogged in silence along the water, in perfect sync with each other, enjoying the fresh, early morning air. For a long time neither of them said anything, until they came to the end of the park.
“Ready to turn back?” Jocelyn asked.
“Yeah, I usually go that way.” He pointed.
She stopped and bent forward, her hands on her knees as she tried to talk through deep breaths. “Really? We should go a different way then, and run somewhere else tomorrow.”
He understood what she was getting at—it was a security thing—and nodded in the other direction. “That way through the park’ll take a little longer, but we’ll end up back where we started.”
“Great.” They began to run again, both of them covered in a shiny film of perspiration, but still keeping perfect pace. When they arrived back on Donovan’s street, they walked for a bit to cool down before going inside. They passed by the security guard, who politely waved.
Jocelyn got on the elevator first, and like before, checked the ceiling before letting him get on.
“What are you checking for?” he asked, as he stepped inside.
“If the hatch is ajar, there could be someone up there.”
On the way up to his penthouse, Donovan was intensely aware of the silence between them, and had to stop himself from gazing down at her just for the sheer pleasure of it.
God, she smelled good. Like the outdoors and fresh, clean sweat. What he wouldn’t give to touch her now. To rub his fingers along her slick, bare shoulder.
His blood began to pulse in his veins, and for the first time in years, he felt nervous around a woman.
“Maybe on the way to your office this morning,” she said, “we could talk about suspects.”
He tried to imagine that. “We could, if you don’t mind people listening in.”
“What do you mean? What people?”
“The people on the El.”
The doors opened, and he stepped off, but Jocelyn stayed on the elevator. Donovan had to put his arm in front of the door to keep it from closing while she was still inside.
“You take the train to your office?” she asked, sounding more than a little shocked.
Donovan couldn’t help smiling, and this time, she smiled back.
“I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” she asked.
“Yes, you are. I suppose you expected me to drive a Jag? Or maybe have a limo and driver?”
At last she stepped off the elevator and held her hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m guilty this time.”
Donovan paused in the vestibule. “Why do you have those impressions of me, anyway? Is it because I was wearing a tux last night? Do you think my life is one big cocktail party?”
She shrugged. “Something like that. You