Jessa

If it weren’t for the fact that Roman had brought me to his cabin to hide me from whoever was stalking me, the week we spent there would have been the perfect vacation. The security teams patrolled the area and pretty much stayed out of our way, so it felt like we were the only two people in our little neck of the woods. Roman checked in with them several times throughout the day and had a few conference calls with Xander for status updates on the search for my stalker, but other than that, he spent all of his time with me.

A lot of it was spent in bed together, but not just for sex. We talked a lot; about anything and everything. And I was surprised to learn that Roman liked to cuddle, at least with me. Anytime I was near; it seemed like his hands were on me or I was in his arms. Even now, when he was teaching me how to shoot a handgun, he was basically wrapped around me while he showed me the proper stance.

“I think I’ve got it.”

“Okay.” He gave me a quick kiss on the side of my neck before taking the gun out of my hands, removing the clip, setting it down in front of me, and backing away. “Show me.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to center myself. I’d never handled a gun before today. Even with everything Roman had taught me and knowing there weren’t any bullets in the clip or chamber, I was still a little anxious.

“You’ve got this, beautiful.”

With Roman’s encouragement, my nerves settled. I opened my eyes and reached for the gun. Picking it up in my right hand, I grabbed the clip in my left. I slid it in until I felt it click into place, and then I gave it an extra tap at the bottom with the palm of my hand for good measure. Then I cocked the gun, lifted my arms, and settled into the stance Roman had taught me. Lining up my shot at the target, I slid my finger onto the trigger and pulled. Exhaling a puff of air, I thumbed the button to eject the clip, caught it with my left hand to set it down, and then placed the gun next to it. Turning on my heel, I found Roman beaming a smile my way.

“I did okay?”

“Perfect,” he assured me. “You’re ready for live ammo next time around.”

I gulped at the idea, trying to swallow down the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat. “If you’re sure.”

“I wouldn’t let you do it if I wasn’t.”

“Alrighty then.”

That earned me a husky laugh as he pulled me into his arms. “I’ll show you how to load the clip until you’re comfortable with it. You can consider that your homework for the night.”

“Homework! Crap! I completely forgot!” I slapped my forehead, feeling like an idiot.

“Forgot what?”

“In all the craziness when we I packed up, I didn’t even bring my textbook with me. I think I stuffed my laptop into my bag, though. C’mon.” I tugged on his arm as I rambled aloud. “I need to go check and see if it’s there. Do you have wifi? I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without even thinking about going online. I blame it on all the orgasms you’ve given me. They’re like alcohol; they’ve killed a lot of my brain cells.”

“Jessa,” he snapped. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. What textbook and why do you need to go online? It better not be for email because that could be tracked, depending on what kind of skills this guy has. None of our leads have turned up anything yet, so we’re no closer to knowing who this guy is.”

“I’m taking a communications class online through Atlanta Metropolitan State College. It isn’t for a degree or anything,” I explained. “But I figured it’d help make me a better receptionist since I have to talk to clients all day, and sometimes that’s a problem when I get flustered because I—well, you know how I am since I used to get that way around you all the time.”

“When did you start taking the class?” he asked.

“About a month ago.” Otherwise known as about a week after he started working for Xander. I didn’t admit to the fact that I’d hoped the class would help me when it came to interacting with more than just clients—my main motivation was that I wanted an edge when it came to talking to Roman.

“And the first note showed up a little more than a week later?”

He picked up the pace as we neared the cabin. “Yeah.”

“How does the class work? Do you ever have to go to campus?”

“Only for my final exam,” I answered. “Well, except for when I went to the bookstore to buy a copy of the textbook. It had an online access code inside so I can do most of it on the internet, but I learn better when I can highlight on the page while I read.”

“What about your professor? Is he a guy?”

I shook my head. “Nope. She’s a woman.”

“Do you have any interaction with the other students?”

“This is starting to feel a little bit like an interrogation,” I complained. He turned to glare at me as we walked inside the cabin, and I sighed. “Yeah, we interact with each other. There’s a discussion thread each week, and we’re all supposed to comment on the posts of two other students. Luckily, I had mine done early last week and already made my comments or else I’d get marked down for skipping that step. If I can get online in the next couple of days, I’ll have enough time to make the due date for the next thread.”

“This could be the connection we were missing.” Roman dragged me into the kitchen and settled me onto a stool at the counter before he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call Xander. “You’ve got her laptop, right? Great. Pull up the browser.” He turned his attention to me. “Do you have the page you use to get into your class bookmarked?”

“Yeah, it should be listed there, and it’s probably in the ones I visit the most.”

Xander must have found it because he asked for my username and password. I rattled them off and tapped my fingers against the counter while I waited to see what they needed next. “Look into each of them and get back to me.”

Uh oh. That didn’t sound good.