Текст книги "Middle of Knight"

Автор книги: Jewel E. Ann

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

“And you thought I couldn’t cook.”

AJ shoved half of it into his mouth, leaving a mess of chocolate and marshmallow smeared along his lips.

“Good?” Jillian chuckled, taking a much smaller bite of hers.

“So good.” Graham cracker crumbs shot out from his over-stuffed mouth.

“How can you even taste it with your mouth so jam-packed?”

After some lion-sized chews and a few big swallows he could talk without spitting all over her. “I can’t remember the last thing that tasted this good.”

Every smile felt like the last, like watching the finale to a fireworks display. Jillian captured each one, letting it make a slow burn into her memory.

“You’re staring. My face is a mess, isn’t it?” He brushed his fingers over his lips.

Jillian moved over to his lap. “I’ve met two-year-olds that eat neater than you.” She ran her thumb along his bottom lip then sucked the tip of her thumb.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her thumb from her lips back to his.

“You should take your pills,” she whispered, feeling a sudden wave of nerves from the intimacy of his touch.

Leaning forward, he rested his forehead on her chest, his hands on her hips. “I’m not ready to stop feeling yet.”

Drawing in a shaky breath, fighting a lifetime of emotions, she kissed the top of his head, pressing her palms to his cheeks.

He looked up at her. “Missing you hurt worse than anything they did to me.”

Biting her lips together, she shook her head. “Loving you feels like torture.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I’m not.” She kissed him, welcoming every emotion: the pain, the breath of life, the uncertainty, the fear, the love. So. Much. Love.

“Aric James … I need us.”

He carried her into the tent and set her down, kneeling at her feet. Their eyes stayed locked the whole time. Jillian didn’t even want to blink, fearing he’d vanish. Life always changed in that one. Single. Blink.

They undressed each other with a slow reverence, letting every touch, every look, every second … every blink matter. With Luke every moment felt like the first, with AJ every moment felt like the last. As AJ moved inside her, she let it be the moment, because it was the only one she had.

“Jillian?” He kissed her neck, rocking his body against hers with agonizing patience.

“Yes,” she whispered, feeling as if her body could float away.

“From this point forward…” he squeezed her breast until she let out a small cry “…every breath I take belongs to you … only you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as close as possible to her. “I hate you … I fucking hate you for leaving me.” A strangled sob released into his neck while she continued to find her release. Her entire body wanted to let go of everything, everything except the beautifully broken man in her arms. How was she ever going to let him go?

“I hate me too.” He fisted her hair with both hands and smashed his lips to hers as he released inside her.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jackson demolished any time record he had ever set running, and then tore through an abs, pushup, and pull-up workout like his whole body defied gravity. Living under the mercy of two women—one infuriating, one frustrating—paid a mental toll on his sanity, and the only way to keep everything in check was to make his body burn until his mind could no longer conjure a worthwhile thought.

Meredith Baker, his ten o’clock lesson arrived an hour early. Most of his students knew each other or were somehow connected because they’d all been referred to him by word of mouth. Meredith said she couldn’t remember who gave her his name and it didn’t matter how they “found each other” all that mattered is they were “together.”

“Jackson.” She batted her fake eyelashes.

“Mrs. Baker, you’re early … like an hour early.” He shoved the last bite of his toast into his mouth as she wormed her way inside without being invited.

“Oh, am I?” The large-busted woman ran her fake nails through her wiry black hair and smiled, revealing red lipstick smudged along her slightly crooked white teeth.

His lungs begged for air as her toxic perfume diffused into the entryway. “Yes.” He coughed. “It’s only nine.”

“Oh, silly me. I still haven’t changed all my clocks since the time change.”

“I see. Well, I haven’t finished my breakfast and I still need to shower so maybe you could come back—”

“I don’t mind waiting. Just pretend I’m not here.” She adjusted her tight top that seemed to be in a wrestling match with her large breasts.

Jackson rolled his eyes behind her back then grabbed his last piece of toast while she surveyed the room as if she hadn’t seen it numerous times before.

“It’s odd that you don’t have any personal pictures on the wall or fireplace mantel. Don’t you think?”

He didn’t respond. After all, she said to pretend she wasn’t there.

“Did you hear me, Jackson?”

“I did, but I don’t really have an answer for you.”

“Where’s Jillian?”

Jackson paused, mid-gulp of his Redbull. “What did you just say?”

“Your sister. I asked where she is.”

“What does your husband do, Mrs. Baker?”

A nervous smile tugged at her thin lips as she ran her fingers over the top of the piano. “He … he died.”

“Oh? Sorry to hear that. When did he die?”

Fiddling with her earring, she cleared her throat. “Two years ago. It was a heart attack.”

“You haven’t remarried?”

Relief washed over her face when a knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Jackson kept his eyes on her until he opened the front door.

“Ryn.”

She smiled but it quickly faded. “Hey, is everything okay. You look—”

“Everything’s fine.” He grinned, hoping she wouldn’t see through it. “Come in.”

“Thanks, I can’t stay long I have an appointment in forty-five minutes. Oh …” She stopped. “Sorry, I thought your first lesson was at ten.”

“Crazy time change.” Mrs. Baker offered her hand. “Meredith.”

Ryn nodded, shaking her hand. “Ryn.”

“Student? Friend?” Mrs. Baker questioned.

Jackson grabbed Ryn’s arms and pushed her toward the bedroom. “She’s nobody. Have a seat, Mrs. Baker. I’ll be right out.”

Ryn jerked out of his grasp the moment he shut his bedroom door behind them. “Nobody?”

“Shh …” He reached for her but she stepped back.

“Are you screwing her?” She gritted her teeth.

“What? No, God no.” Jackson tried to keep his voice low but still get his point across. “Would you just listen?”

Ryn folded her arms over her chest.

“I don’t trust Mrs. Baker.”

“Mrs. Baker?”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Meredith.”

“I’m not following.”

“Just … it’s complicated. But if there’s any chance that she’s …” he circled his finger in the cuckoo sign “…then I don’t want her anywhere near you or knowing anything about you.”

“You think she’s stalking you?”

More like spying, he thought. The incredulity in her voice and expression held plenty of merit. It did sound crazy. But crazy was his life.

“At very least she’s been lying to me, and until I figure out why, I can’t trust her.”

“Lying to you about what?”

Jackson sighed. He couldn’t have that conversation with her, but the way she kept a safe distance from him led him to think he couldn’t not have that conversation with her either.

“A couple weeks ago she told me about this great restaurant her husband took her to.”

“So …”

“So, today she told me her husband died two years ago.”

Ryn shrugged. “He probably took her there while he was still alive.”

Jackson rested his hands on his hips and leaned forward. “It was the Mexican restaurant we ate at last week.”

“So … oh shit.”

Jackson nodded.

“That restaurant opened like … two months ago.”

“Exactly.” He gave her a see-I’m-not-paranoid look.

She pursed her lips, brow drawn tight.

“I have to take a quick shower.” He kissed her forehead. “Don’t stress. I’ll handle it.”

Jackson hurried through his shower, mind reeling with the mystery of Mrs. Baker. What he didn’t share with Ryn was Mrs. Baker’s knowledge of Jillian … specifically her name. It’s not that it was a secret, he just instinctually felt protective of her so when students asked about her he simply referred to her as his sister—never Jillian.

“Aren’t you worried about her being out there unsupervised, snooping through your personal stuff?”

Jackson dropped the towel from his waist. Ryn’s gaze slipped straight to his cock then it made a lazy ascent back to his face. She blushed a little at the realization that he’d been watching her ogle him. He loved it.

“Done, hot pants?”

“Shut up.” She moved to the window, finding a sudden fascination in the dirty pond out back. “Did you hear what I said about her going through your stuff?”

He pulled on his briefs and his jeans. “I did. She’s not going to find anything.” His phone and computer were in the bedroom. The Knights didn’t exist beyond their address and a few online utility bills. There was nothing for Mrs. Baker to find, which made her presence in his life that much more disturbing.

“I’m always happy to see you, but if you didn’t stop by to look at my cock, then to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure.”

Ryn turned as he pulled on his T-shirt. “I talked to Maddie last night. I told her about Preston and the abuse.”

“Good for you. How did she take it?”

Ryn frowned. “She didn’t believe me. Preston beat me to it. Apparently two years ago he told her I went through a ‘mentally’ unstable time when she was younger. He even told her I tried to commit suicide by over-dosing on anti-depressants and when he tried to help me, I accused him of abusing me. He told her it was best to never mention it unless I brought it up to her.”

Jackson pulled her into his arms.

“It gets worse. Now that she doesn’t have to ‘worry about my reaction’ she’s given me this ridiculous ultimatum that I know her father is behind.”

“Which is?”

“She’s refusing to see me or talk to me again until I drop the restraining order against Preston.”

He held her back at arms’ length. “But you’re not going to, right?”

She shrugged. “She’s my daughter, my only child. I can’t just sever all ties with her.”

“She thinks you’re lying about her father. He has her so fucking brainwashed it won’t matter what you do, she’ll never believe you. But giving into this is going to put you in danger and it will be like admitting you were lying or overreacting about the whole situation in the first place.”

“It’s ten o’clock.” Mrs. Baker knocked at the bedroom door.

Ryn pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. “I’m running late.”

Jackson cradled her face. “Being an example of a strong woman is the best way to love your daughter.”

She nodded, ever so slightly.

He kissed her until her body went limp in his grasp. “See you later, hot pants. Training, dinner, fucking.” He smacked her ass.

She rubbed her hand over it like it stung, and he hoped it did. He wanted her thinking of him the rest of the day.

“Fucking?”

“Sorry. Sexual intercourse? Coitus? The union and rhythm of our genitals?”

“I-I’ve got to get out of here.”

He loved pushing all her buttons, playing her with the ease of Black Beauty. Ryn reacted with her whole body and Jackson couldn’t get enough.

*

Gunner greeted Ryn with a few sloppy kisses after her long day of crawling around on her knees cleaning other people’s homes while hers collected a nice layer of dust. She packed her bag, what she assumed would need to be an overnight bag, then loaded her dog and his food in the back of her RAV4.

“Haven’t seen you around much.”

Ryn turned, an instant smile graced her face. “Drew. How have you been?”

He smiled that crooked smile that eased the stress from her asshole of an ex-husband and her young, naive daughter.

“I’m good, thank you.” His expression sobered. “I know we don’t have an official neighborhood watch, but I’ve noticed someone snooping around your place on more than one occasion. It’s always been when you’re not home and he never got that close to the house thanks to Gunner. I said something to him when he went through your mail the other day.”

She fought to keep her panic hidden. “And?”

“He said he was your brother. When I told him your brother died, he told me to mind my own fucking business, got in his black Escalade, and I haven’t seen him around since.”

“Thank you.” She gripped her keys.

“Do you know who it could have been?”

“Preston,” she whispered.

“Your ex with a restraining order against him?”

“Copper blond hair mixed with a little gray, always in an expensive suit, gold Rolex?”

Drew nodded. “What’s he want?”

“Me always on edge, looking over my shoulder, shunned by my own daughter, and completely miserable.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m going to practice some self-defense, have dinner, and then …” With a shrug she bit her lips together. Drew didn’t need to know about the “fucking.”

“Be safe. I’ll keep an eye out and call the police if I see him again.”

Ryn nodded. “Thanks, Drew.”

Somehow her car made it to Jackson’s, even if she couldn’t remember a single turn or stoplight. The question was whether or not to say anything to Jackson about the information Drew shared. Their first meeting ended in Preston going to the hospital via an ambulance. She could only imagine what Jackson might try to do if he knew Preston had been snooping around her place. He had his own issues with his peculiar and suspect piano student.

“That’s a big bag,” Jackson smirked as she stepped inside the front door. “You moving in?”

“Oh … um, no, it’s just a change of clothes…” she stammered her words “…to wear to dinner.”

He grabbed her bag and tossed it in his bedroom then kissed her so hard she questioned the whereabouts of her tonsils. “I’m just messing with you. My future wife can stay with me for as long as she wants. Forever would be ideal.”

Her heart needed to know why he kept doing that. It was fun until she actually wanted him to mean every word. Even in that moment she shocked herself by thinking that. Did she want him to mean every word?

His smile faltered, perhaps because of the way her jaw hung to her feet. “Ready to kick my ass?”

Regaining control of her mandibular function, she nodded. Ryn assumed he’d teach her more moves, life-saving skills. Instead he had her demonstrate her pathetic endurance through a cardio and strength-training workout. People spent hundreds of dollars on fancy equipment and gym memberships and he brought her to his mercy with a jump rope and pull-up bar. Everything else didn’t require anything: squats, pushups, dips, planks, burpees. The pinnacle of her embarrassment came when she couldn’t even do one pull-up without him helping her by lifting up on her hips. Val would get an ass-chewing for letting Ryn think she was in good shape.

Sagging in the corner, sucking down water like oxygen, she watched him do one-arm pull-ups. Admiring his firm planes of muscles flex in waves along his back, arms, and legs, she became primed and so very ready for their post dinner plans. The chances of him feeling the same way after watching her die before his eyes seemed unlikely. Sweaty old lady nose-planting after seven pushups had to have been anti-climatic for his sex drive.

“Ready to shower, hot pants?” Jackson wiped his face and chest with a white towel.

“Just be honest with me. Am I your beard?”

He chuckled. “My beard?”

“Yes, as in you’re gay but you don’t want people to know so you have a woman with whom—”

“I know what the term beard means. You think I’m gay?”

“No. I think you could be having sex with women so hot even I’d consider a night of lesbian love if they offered. Instead you’re with me and I’m certain I don’t look like those fitness models after a workout. I can just feel how my hair surely resembles a drowned rat, and my face beams with heat so I know I must still be red even after twenty minutes of recovery.”

Jackson hooked his towel around her neck and pulled her against him. “Are you done?”

Ryn gave it another moment of thought then nodded once.

“Good. So let’s take my penis and your vagina upstairs and see what trouble they can get into in the shower.”

Ryn rolled her eyes. “When you say it like that it sounds ridiculous.”

“You think?” He lifted her over his shoulder and carried her upstairs. “In that case, maybe I’ll just bury my cock so deep in your pussy you’ll be tasting me every time you swallow. Better?”

“Yes, utterly poetic.”

*

Withholding pleasure as a form of torture? Ryn found out the hard way it’s a real thing. They monkey fucked in the shower in every position possible, stopping each time to find a new position a breath before Ryn climaxed. At first it seemed like a coincidence, after all he couldn’t have known that she was about to orgasm.

Wrong.

By the fourth time she really began to suspect something, but before she could get the words out he whispered in her ear, buried balls deep from behind, “I’ll let you come if you promise to never mention our age difference and always … and I mean always act like the fucking goddess you are, making me barely worthy of even looking at you.”

“Jackson … please.” She reached behind her head and clawed at his hair as he trapped her earlobe between his teeth.

“Tell me you’re a fucking goddess,” he growled, pumping into her a few more times just to keep her on the brink.

Sliding one hand from his hair she moved it toward her clitoris.

“No.” He grabbed both of her hands and pressed them flat to the tile wall beneath his. “Say. It.”

“Yes.” She ground back against him.

“Yes what?”

“I’m … I’m a goddess,” she whispered.

He covered her clitoris with two fingers but didn’t press down or move them a millimeter. “So close … last chance.” His hips rammed into her, pushing the slight ebb right back to the very edge.

“I’m a fucking goddess!” With the slip of his hand, she saw stars behind her eyes explode so bright she couldn’t see anything else, but she felt absolutely everything.

“Damn right you are.” He pulled out and guided her to sit on the bench in the corner. She happily sat down, her orgasm had turned her legs into Jell-O.

Jackson pumped himself a couple of times and then he spewed his semen all over her breasts—chin down, eyes hooded. Ryn stared at him wide eyed and then at her breasts dripping with water and semen. Admittedly, watching him grasping his penis turned her on more than she ever could have imagined. The unexpected mess left her confused. If his fascination with older women had anything to do with their experience, then she had to be a huge disappointment. He was clearly the more sexually experienced one in their relationship.

He continued to look at her breasts with pleasure and lust painted on his face. He seemed to wait for her to respond. Ryn had no idea what that response should be. She should have watched more porn over the years.

Mental note: Google semen on breasts.

What would a “fucking goddess” do? Gather it in her hands and slurp it up? Smear it all over like lotion or an expensive moisturizer? Too weird.

“Clean up your mess … now.” She tipped her chin up and gave him a stern look while holding her breath. Breathing would have turned into laughing, at herself of course, because it took forty years for a man to jerk off on her breasts and when it finally happened she had no clue how to react. Her words were effortless even instinctual. She’d said the same thing to Maddie over the years about her bedroom.

Jackson raised a single brow, one side of his mouth curling into a sexy smile. Keeping his eyes locked to hers as if he could break her façade, he grabbed a bottle of shower gel and squirted it onto her breasts much like he did with his semen. Ryn gritted her teeth, holding strong. He smeared the soap over her chest, giving extra attention to her nipples. It felt good, too good, trying-to-make-her-break good.

Like the fucking goddess she was, Ryn held strong and made it out of the shower without begging for anything else, but just barely.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Day

Watching Jessica sleep had become Luke’s favorite part of every morning. He loved the way her lips twitched into a smile and each breath sounded like a sigh of contentment. Did she dream of him?

His heart rate increased as she stretched her naked body like a cat across the bed. When her eyes fluttered open he smiled a big, goofy clown smile, but he couldn’t help it.

“I probably should be creeped out…” she yawned through her words “…that you’re always standing in the doorway staring at me when I wake.” Scooting to a sitting position, she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “But then I realize … you’re standing in a doorway—an exit—in case you have to flee from the monster, and that’s the biggest downer ever.”

Luke pushed off the door frame and moved to the bed. Without hesitation she pulled him back into bed and straddled his body.

“Stop calling the woman I love a monster.”

She licked up his neck, another cat-like move.

“I’m sweaty.”

“Mmm … I see you went for a run without me again.”

Luke palmed her bare ass, squeezing her tight glutes. “You slow me down.”

She dug her teeth into his neck over his carotid and growled. “You’re so full of shit. Just admit it … I’m bad for your ego.”

He chuckled. “Aside from your brother, I don’t think there’s a male ego in existence that stands a chance around you. You are a true man-eater.”

“Did you take our baby with you?”

“About that … it’s possible Jones might not be coming home with us.”

Jessica sat up. “Say what?”

“My mom said he slept in bed with them, wedged in the middle like the spot had his name on it.”

“He’d sleep with us if you’d let him.”

A true statement. Another truth they both knew but never discussed was the real reason Jones didn’t sleep with them. It would have destroyed Jessica to snap out of a morning attack only to discover that her “baby” was dead from a broken neck because he brought her out of a deep sleep with a sloppy, wet kiss. Even before they moved in with Luke, Jones slept in his kennel. Jessica claimed it was because he wasn’t completely housebroken yet—a half-truth.

“I don’t love rolling in dog hair and turning over in the middle of the night to a wet nose in my face.” Another half-truth.

“Well, they can’t have my Jonesy. I don’t care how cool they are.” She grinned. “Because they are … they are the absolute coolest people I have ever known.”

“Please don’t.” Luke grimaced.

“What? How can you say that? Last night made it into my top ten best memories of all time—maybe even the top five. I can’t wait to tell Kelly.”

“No. What happened last night … did not happen. Do you understand? Everyone drank way too much, and as far as I can or ever want to remember, we ate, sat by the fire, then went to bed.”

“Sorry, babe. We both know the only memory from last night is the way the icy water sucked the air from our lungs, the adrenaline rush, and the way your dad wiggled his ass like a duck when he climbed out of the lake.”

As he watched her giggle like a twelve-year-old, messy dark hair veiling her perfect breasts, amber eyes bursting with life, he felt the crushing reality of loving her so much. In that moment he knew all reason was gone and his instinct for self-preservation had vanished. He’d never survive her, not for one second.

She twisted his nipple, not like a doting lover, more like a frat brother asking for an ass whooping. Then she circled her tongue around it before pressing her lips to it. “So what’s the plan for the day?” Hopping out of bed she swayed her sexy hips toward the bathroom.

“I’m thinking a scenic drive. If it warms up enough we could squeeze in a picnic somewhere. Oh, and my mom asked if we could find our way to Staples for printer ink.”

Jessica peeked her head around the corner. “Staples?”

“Yeah, it’s a little out of our way but—”

“No … I mean yes, we should definitely go to Staples. Is there anything else she needs from there? You know they have everything.” She turned on the shower.

“Well, I don’t know about everything.” Luke chuckled to himself.

*

The GTO game proved to be a fun way to toy with Luke. He thought he had control, crazy guy. Jessica specialized in control, specifically giving other people the illusion they had it. She always asked to drive. He always said no. Tactics she felt certain would guarantee her time in the driver’s seat included physical manipulation, withholding sex, and blackmail with what had become a growing amount of information provided by Tom and Felicity.

Games had to be fun. Jessica grinned thinking of how much fun she would have with Luke … right after they checked out Staples.

“I’ll just run in and grab the cartridges.”

“No. I mean … maybe I should go too. Can you really trust me to not steal your car?”

Luke dangled the keys in front of her face.

“That’s sweet.” She batted her eye lashes. “I love that after all you’ve learned about me, you still think of me as an innocent damsel and not someone who could have this baby hot-wired and tearing down the road in under thirty seconds.”

He frowned. “Get out.”

Jessica skipped into Staples. Instantly her lungs filled with that smell she’d missed—the off gassing—it had been too long since she indulged in a good old office supply trip.

“Stinks in here, huh?”

She lifted her shoulders. “Depends on what you like.”

“Well I don’t know anyone who likes such a strong chemical smell.”

Of course he did, he just didn’t know it.

“Ink is this way. Oh, we won’t need a basket. It’s just two small boxes.”

Jessica stared at the plastic basket she’d hooked over her arm. Two boxes? He surely had to be mistaken.

“I might need to grab a few essentials. I’ll meet you back here at the register.”

Luke quirked a brow. “A few essentials?”

“Did I stutter?” She traipsed off with her head held high. No one would make her feel guilty for having a slight office supply store addiction. After all, it had been months since she’d had a fix.

She may or may not have hid from him when she saw him looking for her. Mr. Antsy Pants wasted no time getting the ink. He probably didn’t even take the time to compare Staple’s compatible ink to the more expensive Canon ink.

Jones: Where are you?”

Jessica: Bathroom. Thought I told U to wait upfront for me.

Staples may or may not have turned her into a crazier version of her already insane self.

Jones: Did you start?”

Typical guy.

Jessica: I use the restroom even when I’m not having my period!

Jones: O—K

Peeking around an end display of the most dazzling assortment of spiral notebooks, she watched and waited for him to head back toward the front of the store.

Another deep inhale. There was no way of knowing how long it could take for her to splurge on another trip to Staples. She had to get as much of everything as she could. Ten minutes later … possibly twenty—it was easy to lose track of time with so many distractions—she smiled at Luke as he spotted her walking toward him.

“You dropped something.”

She looked behind her then bent down to grab the box that had fallen out of her overflowing basket.

“Powder-Free Disposable Nitrile Gloves?”

“Don’t judge me, Jones.” She brushed past him to the checkout.

Pink razors. Mouthwash. Three-pack Remote Controlled Pillar Candles. Retractable Pens. Sticky Tac. Post-it notes. Watermelon Bubblicious. Dragonfly Cotton Shower Cap …

“I’ll get the ink for your mom too.” She motioned for him to set the two Canon ink cartridges on the counter.

His eyes flitted between her and her “essentials” the store clerk scanned and deposited into plastic bags. When he didn’t say anything, she grabbed the boxes from him and handed them to the clerk.

“Two twenty-five thirty-nine.”

Before Jessica could retrieve her money from her bag, Luke handed over his credit card.

“No, just wait I’ve got it.”

By the time she found her wallet he’d already signed for the purchase. He grabbed the two bags of essentials and nodded for her to head toward the car. After they were both fastened in, he started the car and looked over at her. She kept her eyes trained ahead to the gray stone siding of the store.

“If you need me to be Dr. Jones for an emergency session I can do that for you.”

“Two words … argyle socks. So just put the car in gear and let’s go.”

They stopped by a deli and picked up sandwiches and chips for their picnic. As they wormed their way through hills blanketed in trees, Jessica slipped her hand into her purse, retrieving her watermelon Bubblicious she snagged before the clerk could put it in the sack. Saliva flooded her mouth just from the smell after she unwrapped a piece. She popped it in her mouth and moaned with the first chew.

The party pooper shook his head in her peripheral vision.

“Open.” She held a piece to his lips.

Luke shook his head.

“You have to.”

Another shake.

“How are we going to swap gum in a few minutes if you don’t have a piece?”

“We’re not going—”

She shoved it in his mouth.

“You’re going to make me drive off the road.”

She grinned. “Then you should have let me drive. I’m an excellent driver.”

“Okay, Rain Man.” His response mumbled over the huge wad of gum.

“It’s true. It’s even possible that I was trained by a professional stuntman and former sprint car driver in the uh … art of high-speed chasing.”

Luke shot a quick sideways glance and several seconds later he shot her another with a look that fell somewhere between shock and horror. Jessica shrugged.

“I’m not sure I can marry you and not know everything about you.”

“Only if you marry me will you ever know everything about me. Think of it as a wedding gift.” She laughed, but it was a painful laugh. Nothing about G.A.I.L felt like a gift. It was a curse, one that not even death could destroy.

*

Only death would keep Luke from Jessica. One day he would marry her. One day he would know everything. Until then it didn’t matter. A feeling deep in his gut told him her secrets were so much bigger than either one of them. He saw it in the way her eyes pleaded with him to trust her.

However, they had much bigger issues to deal with at the moment. The love of his life had a serious addiction to Staples, which resulted in him being force-fed watermelon bubblegum—the worst possible flavor.

“Right here.” She pointed to a deserted scenic overlook.

He pulled into the gravel parking area.

“Did you bring a picnic blanket?” She peered at him over the frames of her glasses that sat low on her nose.