Pyramids and Promises (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 2) (22 page)

She blushed, but laid her head on his shoulder. He tactfully slid his arm from her thigh up her back and around her shoulders.

“I was curious about your day. Before I found him in my apartment.”

“Ah, you mean did I get fired for nearly beating up the boss’s drunk son?” Conner snorted. He kicked off his shoes and propped his feet up on the coffee table. She did the same.

“I did not, but I am being sent to Dubai to speak with a new division head. Instead of drilling, looks like the head of Land Procurement has expressed some interest in having me on his team.” Conner sighed. He didn’t know much about George Turner, but a couple of his frat brothers were pretty good with real estate. At least he could pick up a few pointers.

“Would you move to Dubai?” Jessica snapped her head up.

“Would you miss me?” Conner couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” He kissed her nose.

“Conner.” She swatted him on the shoulder.

“No, I’m not leaving Egypt. I explained that to George on the phone today. I’d run things in the office for him here while he was out in the field. I guess. I don’t really know all the ins and outs of it yet.”

Jessica melted into his side once more.

“I couldn’t leave. I just got this transfer and have to be here for a while,” she said.

“We could always go back to the whole ‘quit and live with me’ idea. We didn’t really give that much thought.”

“Conner,” she warned again.

“I know, I know. Too fast.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head. However, it didn’t mean he was ever going to stop asking.

T
he next morning Jessica wanted to go straight to the housing office, but she checked her calendar and saw she had an eight o’clock appointment. Normally her appointments weren’t scheduled until after ten. That gave her the morning to take care of paperwork, and it usually meant she didn’t have to rush to get to work on time. It was a good thing she checked her calendar.

She sent off a quick email to her lawyer asking for help and hurried into her office. Conner had left for work long before her.

“Good morning, Miss, your appointment is waiting for you in your office.”

“Dammit, really? It’s fifteen minutes early.”

Her secretary shrugged.

She raced into the office and found her client sitting not in the chair across from her desk, but at her computer.

Rick looked up. “Jessica, so nice to see you.”

His nose was taped up, and his left eye was black and swollen. Ahmed and the boabs had gotten more than a few hits in themselves.

She didn’t even give him a response. She turned on her heel and escaped out of the office. She shut the door and thought for a few seconds. She didn’t have long before he’d come after her. What she needed was another professional opinion. Someone who would go to bat for her.

She approached her secretary. “Is Dr. Michaels in his office?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Does he have a client?”

“No, Miss.”

She poked her head into Dr. Michael’s office. “You busy?”

He shook his head. “How can I help you?”

“I don’t have much time to explain, but my crazy ex-husband is waiting in my office. He’s throwing around his weight to get keys to my apartment and priority appointments. Would you be willing to do a session with the both of us? Best case scenario, you can convince him that I’m not going back to Russia with him. Worst case, you can attest to the fact that he is crazy and sign an affidavit for me for a restraining order case.”

Dr. Michael’s eyes were wide, but he nodded. “Sure. This should be interesting.”

He followed her back into her office.

Jessica introduced him to Rick, who was still sitting at her computer doing who knows what. She hoped he wasn’t downloading porn or something to get her in trouble. She wouldn’t put it past him.

“Rick, Dr. Michaels agreed to do a counseling session with us.”

Rick jumped up. “Really? You mean you’ve come to your senses? Finally.”

She waited for Rick to find a seat so she could sit as far away from him as possible. He chose the couch so she picked another chair. Dr. Michaels sat at her desk. He raised his eyebrows at whatever was on the screen and turned off the monitor. Damn Rick. At least Dr. Michaels would back her up for whatever damage Rick just did.

“Rick, why don’t you tell me why you and Jessica got divorced in the first place.”

Rick grinned at her. “The Russian winters were too hard for Jessica. She had a mental break and requested a transfer to a warmer climate. We talked about just flying back and forth at least one weekend a month. I was crushed when the divorce papers arrived.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah and the divorce papers had nothing to do with the fact that you were sleeping with my partner.”

Dr. Michaels stayed cool. “Is this true, Rick? Were you sleeping with her partner?”

She fully expected Rick to lie. She was surprised as hell when he admitted it. “Of course I was. But that doesn’t mean we should get divorced.”

Jessica decided to keep her mouth shut. Rick would hang himself.

“Have you stopped sleeping with her partner?”

Rick shook his head. “No. I don’t see any reason to.”

Dr. Michaels pursed his lips. “Because of the divorce?”

“No, because I have an unusually high sex drive. Jessica can’t take care of all of my needs on her own. She needs a little help.” Rick looked pretty well satisfied with that answer.

“Tell me, do you want to save your marriage?”

“Yeah, but I don’t see what saving my marriage has to do with Tara. Tara and I had a long talk about it, and she’s fine with me being married as long as I spend weekends with her.”

Dr. Michaels looked like he didn’t know quite how to respond. “You do realize that being married means you can’t be unfaithful.”

“I know. Which is why I’m mad as hell that Jessica is sleeping with that oil guy who did this.” Rick gestured at his busted up face. “She needs to come back to Russia with me so I can keep an eye on her.”

Jessica felt she needed to make sure her name was clear. “Just for the record, I met Conner after our divorce was final.”

Dr. Michaels nodded. “Noted. Rick, you do understand that you are being unfaithful when you sleep with Tara.”

Rick shook his head. “No, I’m not. Everyone knows that men can’t be monogamous.”

Dr. Michaels sat up a little taller. “Excuse me, son. My wife and I have been married for thirty years, and I’ve never once slept with another woman.”

Rick waved his hand toward me. “Then she must be better in the sack then this one.”

Rick’s crazy was coming out all over the place. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. She was surprised she’d stayed with him as long as she had. She needed Dr. Michaels to attest. His testimony would depend on him fully understanding all that Rick had put her through. Even though, she hated to spell everything out to a colleague, she pressed forward.

“How often did we have sex when we were married?” Jessica asked.

Rick shrugged. “Two, sometimes three times a day.”

Dr. Michaels’s eyes went wide.

“What if I didn’t want to do it?” Jessica asked.

“Too bad. It’s your duty as my wife.”

Jessica could see all of Dr. Michael’s hackles going up. She didn’t want him to fight with Rick, but she did want him to agree to help her.

“Dr. Michaels, we need to wrap this up. We both have clients coming in soon.”

He looked at her. “Of course, you’re right.” Then he looked at Rick. “Son, you have a problem. You need to go back to Moscow and find yourself a good therapist to help you with your sex addiction and twisted opinions on women and duty. Jessica and I will continue to have sessions so that she can get over the damage you have inflicted on her.”

“I’m not leaving without my wife.” Rick was starting to get agitated. Jessica had seen this side before, but it was usually only in the confines of their home. She knew he was about to explode. One look at Dr. Michaels and she saw that he understood.

“Jessica, I have a book in my office that might help.” He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Why don’t you go get it?”

She didn’t look at Rick as she raced from her own office. She opened the paper and read.

Alert security. Don’t come back in here. Please go into my office while they escort him out.

Jessica had their secretary call the security office, and then she waited in Dr. Michael’s office. Ten minutes later he came back in and threw his notebook on his desk.

“I think I need a drink. I haven’t seen that kind of crazy since I left the States. Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“Will you help me make sure they don’t give him keys to my apartment again?”

“My dear, I’m going to do more than that. On one condition. Two, actually.”

She sighed. “What’s that?”

“One, I want you to agree to see me once a week. Your relationship with him was not healthy.”

She nodded. “Of course. What’s the second condition?”

“It’s about Conner.”

She squirmed. “What about him?”

“I want to see him too. Does he know about Rick and your history with him?”

“Yes. I’ve told him everything.”

“Good, then he probably won’t have a problem agreeing to meet with me every once in a while. I just want to make sure you aren’t getting into the same situation. Sometimes people will go from one bad relationship to another.”

“I don’t see that being a problem.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

“I asked for an RSO to escort Rick to the airport. The sooner he’s back in Russia the better.” Dr. Michaels sat behind his desk.

By the end of the day, Dr. Michaels had not only spoken with Jessica’s attorney, but also with Rick’s superiors in the State Department. They would conduct a psych eval on him before they allowed him to resume his duties, and Jessica was granted an emergency restraining order. The Housing Authority changed her locks again before she got home that afternoon. They apologized greatly for the mix up. No one would have access to her key again unless Jessica put in a request herself.

She told Conner all about it over the phone that night.

“You had a crazy day, babe,” he said.

“I did, but I’m locked up tight and very safe.” She was curled up on the couch with Octo, whom she had volunteered to keep while he was gone.

“And you have Ahmed’s number if you need anything.”

“I do.” She hesitated, but pushed forward. Today had been all about taking control and being bold. She couldn’t stop now. “So what do you think?”

“About what? I think I’m gonna like Dr. Michaels.”

“Yeah, he’s great.” She sighed.

“I think he’s perfectly right, a little therapy would be good for you after all that Rick has put you through.”

“Will you talk to him too?” She wrapped her arm around Octo’s neck and closed her eyes. If he said no….

“Of course I will. I don’t know what I can offer. But if he wants to chat, I’ll tell him you’re ticklish behind the knees.” Conner teased.

Jessica let out a sigh of relief and giggled.

O
n Friday afternoon, Conner dropped his keys on his counter and sank on the couch. Octo was still over at Jessica’s. It was lonely around here without the lazy beast. Quiet at the very least. There were no loud snores coming from the bedroom.

Conner looked at the clock. It was two. In exactly six hours he was scheduled to meet Nour at the Marriott. His one time every year he would actually get to talk to her. Though, if he was being honest with himself, they hadn’t talked much in the last few years. It was too painful. Mostly it was just sex.

His phone buzzed, and he looked at it. Jessica.

He hesitated for a just a split second before answering.

“Guess what showed up today?” she asked. She sounded excited, and he couldn’t help but smile. Octo barked in the background.

“What?”

“My stuff. You want to come help me unpack? Yes, I’m talking to your daddy. Someone has missed you.”

“Just the rover?” he faked sounding hurt.

“Well.…” She giggled.

“So, tell me, what’s the point when you are just going to pack it up again in a few weeks.”