He didn't respond immediately. Not until he was certain that Belle was truly alone. There didn't appear to be anyone following her and, as far as Jefferson could tell, Belle wasn't in any sort of immediate danger. He had no reason to hang back and observe her any longer. Fingers untangling from his pockets, Jefferson stepped out into the open and lifted his hand in greeting. He knew that Belle probably wasn't going to like that he had decided to hide from her, but he believed that she would understand why he chose to. It wasn't safe for anyone right now. Displaying caution was expected of everyone with so much as half a brain.
"Me," Jefferson answered plainly. "And just you, I see." It seemed unusual that Rumpelstiltskin wasn't with Belle. She was precious to him; to think that his former business associate would let someone so valuable to himself slip off at such a time without protection...
"I heard you from around the corner," he explained with a gesture of his hand. "You seemed..." Scared. Worried. Jefferson twisted his mouth to the side. "Distressed. I wanted to be sure everything was all right." By staying out of sight and well out of harms way. Would he have helped Belle if she had been under attack? Probably. Would he have rushed out with a battle cry to defend her? Only if he wanted to get them both killed. Subtlety had always been more his style.