Free Full Bloom by Jayne Ann Krentz Page A

tough to be patient. The dull, restless aching sensation in his lower body made him vividly aware of just how tough. He did not want to give himself cheerful little lectures on how much progress he was making with Emily. What he really wanted to do was spend the night in Emily's bed. Five years was a long time to wait for a woman.
    She apparently thought of him as a muscle-brained hit man, but he thought of her as an intriguing, exotic flower that had blossomed from the sweet little bud he had first met five years ago.
    Jacob was tormenting himself with more fantasies and a lot of hard-edged plans when he walked out of the empty lobby and onto the sidewalk. Preoccupied with his thoughts, he climbed into his car and automatically turned the key in the ignition.
    He would not have noticed the dark car that had been parked behind his own vehicle if it had not pulled away from the curb at the same time he did. But bright headlights flared briefly in his rearview mirror for an instant, and Jacob instinctively noted them.
    Three blocks later the dark car was still behind him. It had fallen behind two other vehicles but it was still there.
    Jacob looked for it again when he eased into the hotel parking garage. This time when he glanced into the mirror, there was no sign of the other car.
    A coincidence, he told himself calmly. But he made a mental note and filed it away in the corner of his brain he reserved for just such coincidences.
    Good professional "enforcers" needed such internal filing systems, he thought
wryly. Emily would nod understandingly if she knew about his personal records storage and retrieval mechanism.
    It bothered Jacob that there might have been an element of truth in her mental image of him. But he remembered the gentle light of empathy in her eyes tonight and decided that he would work with that. One of these days she would be his.
FOUR
    « ^ »
    S omewhat to her surprise, Emily enjoyed the next few days. She began anticipating Jacob's arrival at the shop at lunch and again after work. He seemed contented to occupy himself during the hours when she was busy and eager to spend every available minute with her when she was not. He even offered to give her and Diane a hand around the shop and showed a surprising interest in the flowers being arranged and sold.
    On at least two occasions during a customer rush, Jacob made cross-town deliveries using Emily's little station wagon. The first time he returned to the shop with a huge grin on his face. It was so strange to see him with such an expression that Emily stared at him in utter confusion.
    "What happened?" she demanded.
    He pulled two dollar bills out of his pocket and proudly displayed them on the counter. "I got a tip. The lady was so thrilled that someone had sent her flowers that she tipped the guy who delivered them. By the time I realized what was happening, she'd already closed the door."
    Emily echoed his grin. "You see, not everyone wants to kill the messenger. The trick is to bring flowers instead of depressing news."
    Jacob looked down at her. "I'll remember that." It was a promise.
    Before Emily could think of a response, Jacob had walked into the small room at the back of the shop where boxes of fresh-cut flowers had recently been stacked by the wholesaler. He was familiar with the routine now, and Emily heard him go to work unpacking the flowers. She smiled to herself, thinking of how carefully he handled the delicate product she sold. There was no danger to the blooms when they were in Jacob's strong hands.
    She had a fleeting image of him holding a baby as tenderly as he held a bunch of orchids and quickly put the picture out of her mind. The last thing she wanted to do at this stage was to look into the future.
    Diane found Jacob and his steady pursuit of Emily vastly amusing.
    "The man's falling all over himself trying to please you," she told Emily one morning before Jacob arrived. "It's so sweet. And such an excellent position in which to