Temptation - Brenda Jackson [16]
At one point he’d almost killed the ignition and walked up to her door to see if she needed any more help, but figured he’d worn out his welcome already that day. Hell, at least he’d gotten a kiss out of the deal. And what a kiss he’d had. Thinking about that kiss had made it very difficult to fall asleep and kept him tossing and turning all night long.
His day would be full. Although Brad was his best friend, he was also a client; a client who’d come to him for help. Zeke wanted to solve this case quickly. Doing so would definitely be a feather in his cap. It would also further improve his reputation and boost the prospects of his new partner, Darius.
He eased out of bed and was about to slide his feet into his slippers, when the phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Zeke. I just want to make sure the baby is okay.”
He smiled at the sound of Darius’s wife, Summer’s, voice. Darius was presently in D.C. doing antiterrorism consulting work. “She’s fine, Summer. The nurse who’s going to be taking care of her for the next two weeks took her home from the hospital last night.”
“What’s the nurse’s name?”
“Sheila Hopkins.”
“I know Sheila.”
He lifted a brow. “You do?”
“Yes… She and I worked together on a domestic-abuse case six months ago. The woman made it to the hospital while Sheila was working E.R. I was called in because the woman needed a place to stay.”
Summer was the director of Helping Hands Women’s Shelter in Somerset, their twin city. “I hope things turned out well for the woman,” he said.
“It did, thanks to Sheila. She’s a real professional.”
He agreed. And he thought she was also a real woman. Before they’d gone to pick up the baby and while he was putting up the crib, she had showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a top. He wasn’t aware that many curves could be on a woman’s body. And he practically caught his breath each and every time he looked at her.
Moments later, after ending his call with Summer, Zeke drew in a deep breath and shook his head. He needed to focus on the case at hand and not the curvaceous Sheila Hopkins, or her sleep-stealing kisses.
The first thing he needed to do was to check the video cameras around the TCC. According to Brad, there were several, and Zeke was hoping that at least one of them had picked something up.
Then he intended to question the gardeners who were in charge of TCC’s immaculate lawns to see if they’d seen or heard anything yesterday around the time the baby had been left on the doorstep.
And he had to meet up with Brad to make sure he’d taken the paternity test. The sooner they could prove that Brad wasn’t Sunnie’s father, the better.
As he made his way into the bathroom, he wondered how the baby was doing. Mainly he wondered how Sheila had fared. Last night, it had been evident after taking several naps that Sunnie was all bright-eyed and ready to play. At midnight. He wondered if Sheila got any sleep.
He rubbed his hands down his face. The thought of her in jammies beneath the covers had his gut stirring. Perhaps she didn’t sleep under the covers. She might sleep on top of them the way he did sometimes. Then there was the possibility that she didn’t wear jammies, but slept in the nude as he preferred doing at times, as well.
He could imagine her in the nude. For a moment he’d envisioned her that way last night when he’d heard the shower going and knew she was across the hall from where he was putting the crib together, and taking a shower and changing clothes. Strong desire had kicked him so hard he’d almost dropped his screwdriver.
And there was the scent he’d inhaled all through her house. It was a scent he now associated with her. Jasmine. He hadn’t known what the aroma was until he’d asked. It