Trace of Fever - Lori Foster [134]
“Eight years younger, so that makes her…?”
“She recently turned twenty-three.” Too damn young for Jackson. Unless…unless Jackson was the one she wanted.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Priss told him. “But she’s not much younger than me. Definitely not a child.”
“No.” Losing both her parents had forced her to grow up quick. “She’s been throwing herself into her work. After what happened, with the abduction I mean, I wanted her to take some time off, but she said that she needed to stay busy.”
“That’s what I’d do.”
No. Priss would go after the one responsible. Trace had to give thanks that Alani had the good sense to leave the destruction of bad guys to him.
“She’s an interior decorator or something, right?”
“Yes.” Trace brushed his thumb over Priss’s knuckles. Other than Dare, he hadn’t talked with anyone about Alani. But talking to Priss felt right. “I backed her financially and helped her get set up, so she owns her own design business. She can set her own hours, but instead of taking it easy, she puts in fifty-hour weeks or more.”
That amused Priss. “So even though you’re rich, and even though you’ve probably done your best to spoil her, she still has a great work ethic.”
Pride swelled inside him. “I tried to give her every advantage, yeah. But she’s still grounded.” Still very sweet and unspoiled.
Like Priss. She’d never had anyone to spoil her, but that would change now. Her mother’s fear had handicapped her upbringing, depriving her of so much. Trace had the means to give her a taste of everything she’d missed, and then some.
He was due a little time off. Unless Dare or Jackson needed him, he’d be free to dedicate plenty of attention to Priss. That decision was as much for him as it was for her. Even in the middle of chaos, he wanted her. Maybe with enough alone time, he’d finally be able to blunt the sharp edge of need.
But probably not. And truthfully, he was starting to enjoy the way she made him feel.
AFTER DROPPING HER OFF to “visit with Molly and Dare” earlier that day, Trace had left her. He hadn’t specified where he was going, or when he’d be back, but he’d already been gone for hours.
Dare was working in the yard, and Molly got a phone call from her agent, so Priss decided to swim in the lake. Chris and Matt were already down there, and the animals—including Liger—had joined them. With the sun so bright and the sky so blue, a swim just might cool her temper.
It wasn’t that she needed Trace’s constant attention, but she resented the secrecy surrounding his absence today.
For two months now, they’d spent the better part of each day together. Trace woke her with kisses, held her while she slept, and between those times he alternately made love to her and treated her to one adventure after another.
She was happy. Happier than she’d ever known possible, and with every minute, she loved him more.
Normally she’d be worried about the shop after being away so long. But she and Trace had been there twice to check on things, and surprisingly, Gary did a great job running it. Once the responsibility fell to him, he’d stepped up and proven to be even more attentive to details than Priss herself. During each visit, she’d found the shop well organized, the stock in order, all the computer work up-to-date and not even a speck of dust marring the appearance.
It was nice not having to think about the shop.
In fact, she didn’t have to think about much of anything. Maybe that was part of the problem. She was so used to focusing on how she’d get to Murray, how she’d make him pay, and now…she felt in limbo.
Blast him. Where had Trace gone and why did he still not confide in her?
As Priss strode onto the sun-warmed dock, the dogs looked up at her, and Liger stirred. He tended to trail the dogs wherever they went, but he drew the line at actually getting in the water. He’d walk along the shore on the rock retaining wall, and the fish fascinated him. But most of all he’d taken to sunning himself. Now, with Priss smiling at him, he got up to wind in and around