Bourne to Love Emma (RED-Stone Operatives Book 1) (5 page)

“I’ll walk you ladies back to your
place.  I’ve got to get moving anyway.” 

Emma smiled as we started walking
toward the street.  “It was nice running into you again today.  Maybe I’ll
start scheduling our trips to the park so we can catch you at the end of your
run.  It’s a nice way to end our day.”

I smiled back at her at the same time
that I hear alarm bells ringing in my head.  Warning!  Danger!  This is
becoming too much like dating.  I’m supposed to be backing off from Emma, not
getting closer, dammit.

As I’m trying to find a way to
discourage her without being an asshole, I noticed a dark sedan parked down the
street from our building.  The same dark sedan I saw last week.  And there’s
someone sitting in it today, too.

I glanced at the plates as we crossed
the street to go inside.  I needed to report this in case it’s tied to the
Patzkowsky case.  John has too many of us in this building to risk someone
hanging out down here.

As we walked into the lobby, Mrs.
Martinez was talking to Frank at the front desk.  I nodded and said hello, but
Emma stopped beside them.  I touched her shoulder to get her attention.

“I’ve gotta run.  I’ll see you later,
okay?”

She smiled up at me, “Okay.  Bye,
Jason.”

I took the stairs at a run.  Tex will
keep all the good toys for himself if I don’t hurry up and I still had to put
the make, model and plate number into the database on that suspicious vehicle
outside.  I needed to get my mind on something other than Emma, too.  Maybe I
just needed to get laid.  Tex had been a good wingman in the past – maybe we
needed to hit a bar when we’re done tonight….

~Emma~

As I was pulling everything out of
the diaper bag I took to the park, I noticed I had Jason’s arm band he uses for
his phone when he’s running.  I vaguely remember grabbing everything that was
on the park bench while trying not to focus too much on how sweet he was being
with Mia when we were leaving.  Running into him again had been fun.  More fun
that I’d had in a while, which probably said a lot about my social life.  He
was funny and smart and easy to talk to most of the time.  He was a friendly
guy. 

Friendly.  Looking back at our
interactions, he was very… friendly.  Like, ‘you are the girl next door and I
am playing nice because living next to someone you can’t stand sucks’ type of
friendly?  Dammit.  Since when did I start to care about how he sees me?

Mia was playing with her blocks while
PAW Patrol was playing on the television, so I grabbed the strap and jogged the
few steps down the hallway to Jason’s apartment and knocked on the door.  My
heart was pounding and I could feel my cheeks turning red while I stood there. 
Oh man, I have it bad for my hot neighbor! 

After waiting a minute, I figured he
hadn’t made it back from meeting up with his friend and walked back down the
hall.  I glanced back at his door, wondering if I can slide it under the door
itself, but it looked like it would be a tight fit and I don’t want to end up
messing it up trying to give it back.

Since I didn’t want him to come home
tomorrow and not have what he needs to go running, I’ll leave him a note that
I’m going to drop it at the front desk so that he can get it when he gets back.

I darted back into my own apartment,
scribbled the note about the arm band and signed it with my big loopy E.  I
paused for just a second and then I wrote my phone number beneath my initial.  Just
in case he ever needed it….  You know.  If another package of mine is delivered
to him or… whatever.  Meh.

“Mia, wanna go see Frank for a
minute?”

“Fank? Yeh.” Mia toddled over to me
and we made a slow trip downstairs to drop the arm band off at the desk.  Frank
had always been super sweet to us and went out of his way to make us feel
safe.  He snuck snacks to Mia when I checked the mail a few times and now she’s
a ruthless manipulator every time we see him.  But she’s adorable. 

Tonight, Mia discovered Frank’s stash
of pretzel sticks and was nice enough to share with the kind older man.  When I
gave the armband to Frank and asked if he could get it to Jason, he told me
that Jason is actually in the building if I wanted him to call and have him
come down.  Part of me wanted to say yes, but the other part of me knows how
desperate that would look.  I pass.  Frank and I argued over a few lines on his
crossword puzzle before I convinced Mia she’d had enough pretzels and it was
time for a bath and bedtime. 

“Bye, Fank!” she screeched as I ran
to the elevator carrying her on my shoulders.  Franks laughter followed us into
the elevator and I heard him wish us a good night, too.  I am so lucky we moved
into this building.  Seriously.

The next morning, as I was dropping
Mia off with Carla so I could head to a client meeting across town, my phone
beeped letting me know I had a new text message.

Em –
thanks for dropping my arm band at the front desk.  I would have missed it this
afternoon!   Jason

I have no idea how long I just stared
at that message…or how long I mentally ticked through options to find an
appropriate response before writing back.

                       
That’s what I thought. Glad it
made it back to you! E

Before I tucked my phone into my
purse, I saved his number in my contacts with a silly smile on my face, I’m
sure.  Then, I hurried out to my car.  I hated driving in rush hour traffic,
but I don’t get to set meeting times, so here we go!

~Emma~

Thank God this week was done!  And
thank Heather for hanging onto my Mia so I could clean house and get a few
sections of my next project started today instead of being rushed on Monday. 

I’m already halfway through what I
wanted to accomplish work-wise, so now I was tackling the house work.  My first
can of Diet Coke got me through scrubbing the kitchen floors and putting away
the dishes from the dishwasher.  Once the counters were organized, I ticked
that room off my to-do list.

I worked my way through my second can
of Diet Coke while I deep clean the bathroom.  I had pop music blaring from my
iPhone on the bathroom counter and I wiggle-danced my way through my task. 

Once the bathroom was finished, I
headed to my room to strip the bed.  As I was tugging the fitted sheet off my
mattress, my phone shrilled with a weather alert.  ‘Severe thunder storms
moving into the area’ – at least my car is in a parking garage and I’m inside
already.  I sent a quick text to Heather to check on Mia.

Bad
weather moving in – you okay keeping Mia until it passes?  I should be done
with my stuff in another couple hours. 
J

I plugged my phone in to charge and
turned on the radio on my alarm clock to my favorite station before Heather wrote
back.

Np. 
We’re painting nails.  Used ‘baby doll pink’ on your baby doll.  Putting ‘hooker
red’ on myself.  ;)  We’re good.  TTYL.

I laughed out loud and got back to my
chores.  Beyoncé, JT and Shakira kept me grooving while I got a load of laundry
started, put clean sheets on Mia’s bed and got chicken marinating for tonight. 
I was stretching the fitted sheet across my mattress when the lights flickered
once and then went out completely.  I waited for a second before grabbing my
phone and using its flashlight app to finish making my bed.  At least I was
pretty much done with what I need to do today.   

                        Me: 
Power out here.  You girls
okay?

Heather: 
Our
power is on.  Watching Dora and eating goldfish.

Me: 
Good
deal.  I’ll find some candles in case it’s off for a while.

Heather:
 
No worries.  Maybe you should join us for a slumber party.

                        Me:
  What about John?  ;)

Heather:
 
I don’t share that kind of party.  Sorry.  Find your own.

Me:
 
LMAO.  Not what I meant.  I’ll be over when storms pass.  TTFN

I turned the flashlight app back on
and went in search of the candles I know I have somewhere.  I have one that’s
just for decoration in the bathroom – I can use that if I need to.  What I
can’t find is the lighter.  I don’t even remember the last time I had matches,
so that’s a no go.  But I know we had one of those lighters for the grill at
our last place. 

After searching for a while longer, I
am still without a lighter.  Standing in my living room considering my options,
I think of Jason.  I bet he has a lighter or matches.  That whole ‘always be
prepared’ thing is a military thing, right?  Or is that the boy scouts?  Eh.  I
start to send him a text and then figure I’ll just go knock on his door.

Seconds after I knock on Jason’s
door, it opens. 

“Bwahahaha – welcome to my dungeon…”
he says in his best vampire impersonation.  I was so surprised that I actually
snorted when I laughed at him.  He laughed with me and invited me inside.  He
had a camping lantern on his coffee table in the living room.  I switched off
my phone’s flashlight and tucked it into my pocket.

“No Mia today?”

“My friend Heather was watching her
for me so I could get some stuff done.  She’s keeping her until the storms move
through.”

“That’s nice of her.” 

There’s a not-quite-uncomfortable pause
before I realized he must be wondering why I’m here. 

“It’s been so long since we’ve been
without power, I can’t find my lighter to light the candles.  I was hoping you
might have one….”

“Sure.  Let me go grab you one.”  He
disappeared into what looked like a home office and came back a few minutes
later with a long handled lighter. 

“Perfect.  Thanks!  I had a feeling
you’d know where yours was.” I moved toward the door to go.

“Hang on.  Let me grab you a
flashlight so you don’t run down your phone like that.”  He headed into his
bedroom. 

Without really thinking, I walked
toward his bedroom, too.  Curiosity is my only excuse.  He was going through a
drawer in his dresser and pulled out a flashlight at the same time that the
power came back on.

I blinked hard at how bright the
lights seemed after being used to the dark.  Jason gave a short laugh.  The
sound of Taylor Swift’s newest song filled the room. 

“Oh my gosh!  I am so sorry, Jason –
I had no idea my music was turned up that loud!” I felt so awful that he was
over here trying to work and I was being so loud.

“Not a big deal, Emma.  Apartment
walls aren’t very sound proof.  It’s fine.”

And then my brain started firing too
fast for me to keep up.  Because.  Thin walls.  His headboard shares a wall
with mine.  Moans at night.  Moans I assumed I heard only in my own head.  MY
moans that HE could probably hear.  Oh no.  No no no.  My eyes snapped to his
in panic. 

And then he was just there.  His
hands framed my face and his mouth was on my mouth.  His hands tipped my head a
little and he lightly licked along the curve of my bottom lip.  I heard myself
whimper as I parted my lips.  His tongue swept inside and ran along in soft
skin on the inside of my bottom lip before he sucked it into his mouth and
nibbled on it.  Heat flooded my body.  I stood on my toes to reach him better
and my right hand clenched his bicep, hanging on for dear life.

Every pulse in my body now throbbed
between my legs. 

Jason slid a hand down my neck and shoulder, leaving a wake
of fire and ice in its path.  His hand moved down my back to my waist and pulled
me closer.  His erection was hard against my middle.  His hand flexed on my
lower back and his other hand moves to join it before they both slid lower,
cupping my bottom.

I pulled my mouth from his and moaned
at the feel of his hands on me.  Every flex of his hands on me sent another
wave of heat straight to my core.  Jason’s hot mouth moved along my jaw to the
spot just below my ear that makes my whole body shiver with need.  His teeth
scrape over the sensitive skin before his tongue licks a path down my neck.  My
hips rocked against his thigh, desperately seeking friction where I need it
most.  He knew what I needed and slipped his thick thigh between my legs.  His
hands rocked me over his thigh as his mouth slid back to mine. 

His tongue rubbed along mine in time
to the rhythm of my hips.  The friction, the hot slide of his mouth on mine,
the realization that reality was so much better than the fantasizing I’d been
doing about him…all added up to an orgasm that hit me like a freight train in
no time.

I jerked my head away as I gasped and
moaned through the incredible pleasure coursing through my body, my head
tipping back as my body started to go slack.  Jason held me up, pressing me
firmly against his thigh as I rode out my orgasm, his erection pressed tight
against my belly.  He pressed his mouth to my neck, his breath coming hard and
fast.  I reached up to hold onto him and dropped the lighter I had been holding
with my left hand. 

The clatter as it hit the floor was
like an explosion, jerking me back into reality and I couldn’t get my brain to
catch up with my body.  I jerked away from Jason’s arms, breathing hard, my
heart pounding against my ribs.

“I - .  You - .  I…  Mia.  I have to
get Mia.  Uh.”  I stumbled to the door and escaped to my own apartment.

The radio was playing a song about
lost love and chasing dreams like there’s no tomorrow.  I slapped my hand down
to shut it off and saw how hard my hands are shaking.

What the heck just happened?