Like the one that had been around Kara's neck when they'd pulled her out of the water.
How had it gotten there?
Maksim wasn't surprised to see Jo walk into the daycare room, clearly looking for him. After all, she'd been a very satisfied lady last night, and he knew she'd be back for more.
Of course, he wasn't going to analyze why he'd been checking the door every five minutes since he arrived here an hour ago. He also wouldn't analyze why he'd shown up so early this morning. He avoided the topic when Cherise asked him about his premature arrival.
But now that Jo beelined straight to him, he waited with a wide, contented smile on his face, showing no signs that he'd been waiting.
"Hey," he said easily, walking over to meet her.
"Hello. Did you drop this?"
Maksim blinked as something swung back and forth inches from his face. Well, that wasn't the greeting he expected.
"What?" He frowned, not able to make out the item, because it dangled so close to him.
"Did you drop this?" she asked again impatiently. She shook the swinging thing closer to him. He stepped back and took the item from her hand. He stared at it.
"I don't even know that the hell it is."
She studied him, her eyes narrowing. "Are you sure?"
He looked at the blue rubber strap with a clip at one end. Then he smiled. "Is this a sex toy?"
Jo glanced around them, clearly concerned the kids or Cherise had heard him.
Not likely. Nothing could be heard over the constant jabbering.
Jo glared at him. "No, it is not a sex toy." Her voice dropped to a whisper on the last two words.
Maksim shrugged. "Well, I've never seen it. Why?"
He held it back out to her, and for a second, he got the feeling she didn't want it back. She eventually took the odd little strap and tucked it into the pocket of her black capris.
Clearly, whatever that thing was, she found it upsetting in some way.
He studied her, wanting to understand. He also wanted to know how she felt about last night, but her gaze wasn't on him anymore. She was distant, her thoughts clearly not on him or last night.
"Are you okay?" he asked. What was that innocuous little thing and what did it mean to her? Aside from her agitation about that, she looked better than she had in days.
Of course, he knew when he left her, she'd been sleeping soundly. Which he knew she needed. He'd been tempted to stay, but decided waking up together might imply more than he was willing to give.
Jo frowned now, her mind miles away from this room, from the kids chattering around her. From him.
"Jo?"
Her attention didn't return to him immediately, but after a moment, she shook her head as if physically casting off whatever was plaguing her.
"What?" She blinked, clearly confused by his question.
"What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Yes. I—yes."
He couldn't help himself. He touched her, his hand coming in contact with the warm skin of her bare arm. A charge of electricity shot through him. Just from that innocent touch. She met his gaze, and he could tell she felt the energy, too.
"I'm fine," she assured him, offering him a tentative smile. Then, surprisingly, she touched him back, moving her arm out from under his hand to catch his fingers, squeezing them.
For a moment, their eyes locked. More energy passed between them.
He smiled. "Good."
She stared at him for a moment longer, as if she wanted to say something more. He wanted to say more as well, to question her about her obvious anxiety, but he didn't. In part because he didn't quite know what he wanted to say, and in part because he was afraid if he did know what to say, it wouldn't be the words she needed or wanted.
"I should go to work," she finally said.
He nodded. "Okay."
She walked back toward the hallway, and he remained in the center of the room, watching her go. That was until a tug came on the back of his shirt.
He turned to see Damon regarding him with those wide dark eyes.
"Mr. Maksim, is you a player?"
Maksim frowned, wondering where a kid that age even learned such a word, much less the proper usage of it. And apparently, the kid hadn't missed the interaction between him and Jo.
"Is you?" he asked again when Maksim didn't answer.
Maksim glanced back at the doorway to the hall, now empty. Jo shut away, out of sight, in her office. And again, he wondered what he'd wanted to say to her.
Something too personal. Something that he normally wouldn't even think of saying. Which was ludicrous. The ground rules of "just sex" were perfect. Exactly what he wanted. He couldn't ask for a better arrangement.
He looked down at the four-year-old who was an odd combination of innocence and savvy.
"Yeah, Damon, I'm a player."
The boy nodded, his reaction holding no disappointment, no approval. No judgment at all. Then he scampered back to the table to work on his coloring.
And Maksim looked back to the empty doorway.
Jo closed her office door and moved around her desk to her chair. Sitting carefully, she leaned back a little, rooted around in her pocket, and pulled out the nose plug. She dropped it on the desk and it naturally coiled like a pale blue snake ready to strike. At least that's how she stared at it.
It was just a strange coincidence. Not anything scary. Not anything paranormal. Just a weird…
She shook her head, unable to find any legitimate, plausible explanation for that nose clip being in her bathroom. And unlike the glimpses she'd had of the girl in the rainbow bathing suit, she couldn't write this off to her imagination. If it was her imagination, then Maksim had just held the figment in his hand and denied knowing anything about it. He didn't even know what it was.
She opened her desk drawer and brushed the clip inside, closing the touchable figment out of sight, praying it went back to wherever it came from.
To Jo's surprise, she managed to push the strange discovery on her bathroom floor out of her mind. She'd like to say it was because she was so busy working, but that would have been a lie. Instead she'd spent the morning alternating between trying to work and fixating on Maksim. Another typical day.
Last night had been…
Well, it had been wonderful. And that was so very dangerous. It was especially precarious, because not only did what happened between them make her skin tingle—along with other parts of her body—but also she found herself wanting to confide in him.
She'd actually considered telling him what she thought she'd seen over the past few days. But she couldn't do that. She couldn't get close to him in that way. That reaction was, in many ways, more risky for her than just straight lust.
And frankly, he was more likely to accept that she thought she was seeing her dead sister than the other truths she was hiding about herself.
She had to play it cool. But several times, when she heard the kids' laughter, or the rumble of a male voice, which she knew could be no one else's but Maksim, she had to fight the urge to go see him.
Dangerous. Dangerous. Maybe she should just call off the physical thing with him, too. It was too risky.
Just then her cell phone rang, forcing her to focus on business. A woman wanted to set up a course teaching quilting. Jo leapt at more chance to get people into the center.
After she agreed to meet with the woman later that afternoon, she flipped her phone shut, only to realize she had a voice mail.
"Hey girl," Erika's voice greeted her, "I've been trying to call you all evening. I hope you are okay. I wanted to see if you'd like to come over tonight. Maggie's taking the night off from playing with The Impalers, and we thought we could have a little impromptu get-together. Hope you are okay, and you feel up to coming over. Call even if you can't come, I'm worried about you. Talk to you soon. Bye."