Middle of Knight (31 page)

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.

He slid his glasses down to mirror her serious look. “Yes. My mom gave me one.”

She smirked. “It’s probably the same one she and your dad wrapped around their wet naked bodies last night.”

He wrinkled his nose.

“Time to swap.” She leaned over and kissed him, running her tongue along the seam of his lips. “You suck at this,” she mumbled against his mouth. Then she pushed her gum into his mouth.

“What are you—”

“Give me your gum.” She teased his upper lip with the tip of her tongue, beckoning him to give it to her.

He shoved it in her mouth. The nasty watermelon taste almost ruined his favorite flavor—Jessica Day.

“You never swapped gum with a girl, did you?”

“Sorry.” He shrugged as she sat back in her seat.

Jessica sighed. “The first time I swapped gum was with a girl in fourth grade.”

Luke almost choked on his gum. “What?”

“Tina Reeves. She was “going with” a fifth grade boy. A rumor had been floating around that he was planning on French kissing Tina after school. She freaked out because she hadn’t ever kissed a boy, let alone French kissed. So I offered to teach her.”

Luke raised his usual skeptical brow. “You’d French kissed someone by the fourth grade?”

“No … not until Tina.”

Jessica’s unpredictability never ceased to amaze him.

“But I’d seen it in the movies. It basically looked like two people trying to swap gum. Fifteen minutes in my bedroom with a Madonna CD and two pieces of grape Hubba Bubba later, Tina was quite the French kisser.”

“How generous of you.”

“Anything to help out a friend.”

The woman before him had singlehandedly taken the life of a serial killer one unforgiving cut at a time. Even on their blind date when she bit him in the closet, she wasn’t a killer. He never knew that Jessica. All she had ever wanted to be with him was the Hubba Bubba girl who liked skinny dipping, wet dog kisses, and apparently Staples. Luke knew he would spend the rest of his life, giving her that life—giving her back her innocence.

“I’m starving.”

He nodded, not realizing how long he’d been staring at her. “Let’s eat.”

They spread out the blanket on a large boulder with a beautiful panoramic view of the lake.

“Which part of the blanket do you think hugged your dad’s balls?”

“Probably two inches from the part that flossed his crack.”

“Oh my God!” Her eyes grew wide. “I can’t believe you said that. How very un-Jones of you.” She laughed. “I fear I’ve tainted you.”

They sat side by side on the rock with their legs dangling off the edge, sandwiches in hand. Jessica nudged his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Skinny dipping, waiting by the register at Staples, swapping gum … letting me experience life with you.”

“The experience is mine.”