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20
Jake
After I make my calls, I head back down to see Isabelle, not wanting to leave her alone for too long, having been gone for half an hour already. But as I reach the top of the stairs, I stop.
I watch her from where I am standing. She is sleeping, curled up in my blanket, on my sofa, in my living room, in my house, and I never want her to leave. She is picture perfect and exactly where I want her to be.
The inner turmoil I am fighting when it comes to Isabelle is exhausting. Both mentally, because she is constantly on my mind, but also physically, because I don’t think I have jerked off so much in my entire life. Has anyone actually bruised their cock from excessive masturbation? Because I think I am close.
When she walked down after her shower earlier today with damp hair, wearing nothing but my t-shirt, it took every ounce of willpower for me not to grab her and take her right there on the steps. Looking down at the stairs, I can nearly visualize it, and my heart races at the thought.
Then patching her up in the kitchen, I was gripping the bench with my hand so strongly so as not to touch her, that I think I pulled a muscle in my arm. If it wasn’t for the painful bump on her head that was bleeding, I might have, because as strong as I am, my willpower is stretched to the absolute limit when it comes to her.
Now, seeing her snuggled on the sofa, I am wondering what I can do to keep her here. What would it take for the darling of D.C. to stay in Hancock with me? The thought startles me a little because I know I will need to go back to Boston soon, and so although I wish she would stay here, I know that I can’t.
Fuck, I also need to remember that I am a generation older than her. I was fighting in a war in Afghanistan alongside her father while she was busy learning the times tables in elementary school. Her dad was my closest friend, so getting her body under mine is the last thing I should be considering.
Thinking of Danny, my eyes leave Isabelle and flick to the letter sitting on the kitchen bench.
It now burns a hole in my heart, and I get a pain in my chest. I miss him. I really do.
He was such a solid leader and parental figure in my life. There is no doubt in my mind that many of my attributes are because of him. Both the good and the bad ones. The things he taught me, the life lessons I learned because of his guidance. I guess because he was away from his own family so much on deployment, I became like his son in a way.
Isabelle has his temper, that is for sure, and it is probably the one thing that has kept her at the top of the D.C. scene. She is feisty and knows what she wants, having achieved so much at her age is admirable. Given her work and her reputation, she must know some influential people, and I wonder what numbers she has on speed dial. Given the events she runs, I have no doubt that she could even be close to senior white house officials because I think she is extremely well connected. And that just doesn’t happen if you are a good event planner, that happens because you are a good businessperson, a good networker; genuine, smart, sassy, and her stunning good looks would play a part in it all too.
I pull my eyes away from her and walk slowly back to my office. Now that I know she is asleep, I need to call Jai and Stephen to update them on the late night my team and I had where we found absolutely nothing.
Fucking nothing. These guys are like ghosts. They left Boston over a year ago without a trace, and we have been trying to find them ever since. It is driving both Stephen and I insane. It is constantly on our minds.
I’m pissed off at myself for not catching them the first time, we were literally only an hour too late, and they had disappeared on us before we could get them. There are not many points throughout my career where I look back and wish I had done things differently, but this is certainly one of them.
It is one of those events that will stick with me forever. I have to find them, it is the last unsolved piece, and I know Molly and Stephen won't rest easy until we get them. I won’t either.
I put calls in to my team and ensure that they are still working on it again today. I should be helping them, but they are capable, and with my house visitor downstairs, I can’t get too involved and have her come to look for me. If she sees some of the things on my screen that pop up on the dark web, she will run a mile. It is all I can do to hold in the vomit at some of the disgusting things I have seen when searching for these guys online.
I finish my calls and check my emails. It is Saturday afternoon, but given the club is at its busiest on the weekend, the security reports need to be done from last night, so I go through each one and sign them off. I cross-check what team is on duty tonight and ensure everyone is rostered on where they need to be. Soon I realize that I have been sitting here for hours.
Pushing away from my desk, I rub my eyes from staring at the screen. Damn, I need to get my eyes checked. I am getting too old for this shit.
I jog down the stairs, pass the letter that calls to me from the kitchen bench, and walk into the living room. I stop short, and I can’t help but stare. She is still asleep, wrapped up in my blanket, tucked in tight in the corner of my sofa. All I can see is her head poking out from the billowing softness of the blanket, and I admire her.
She is breathing softly, her lips soft pink, and totally kissable. Her hair is long, full, and wavy after her shower. Her cheeks are pink from the heat of the fire, and I am glad she is now warm again.
I will admit, I got scared when I first spotted her at the edge of the woods. The winds were so strong, she was thoroughly wet and bleeding. I couldn’t help but just go and scoop her up and bring her here. She is the first woman to ever be in this cabin, and I like her here. She fits, like she is meant to be here.
Flicking my eyes to the windows, the storm is now subsiding, and looking at the weather forecast on my cell, it appears the worst of it is over. I am slightly disappointed as there is nothing keeping Isabelle here once the storm ends, and that thought doesn’t sit well with me.
I see her wake up, stretching her arms out above her head and her eyes open and she takes in the room and then me. Realizing where she is, she slowly smiles and rubs her face.
“Sorry, I fell asleep.”
“No problem. I think after the morning you had, some shut eye was probably good. How are you feeling?”
“Good, fine. My head is a little sore, but I will live. Thank you, Jake. Thank you for taking care of me.”
I nod silently, not trusting the words that might spill from my mouth.
“The storm has calmed down now, so I think I should get back to my place,” she says, sitting up and tugging the blanket off her, and I get a glimpse of her long legs. Before I act on my desires, I turn and grab my coat from the cupboard.
