Chapter Thirteen

Jason couldn’t help but smile while he watched Mae humming to herself as she straightened her desk for the night. The lights on the floor were dimmed, but the bulb in the lamp at her cubicle gave off a soft glow which haloed her head beautifully.

She’d given up the promotion as soon as they’d gotten back from the oil rig and all the madness from the blowback after the explosion. He’d felt awful about Mae having to go through the whole thing. He, at least, was trained for it. She was just a civilian, an innocent bystander, and thankfully, the Deltas had treated her as such. But it was still a lot for her to go through. And that wasn’t including the bomb.

But the Delta guys had been nice with her, showing a tenderness Jason hadn’t expected.

His eyes were focused on the curve of her neck as she worked. He’d announced his presence by kissing that curve, with the soft tendrils of hair that had come loose from her bun tickling his nose. She was more relaxed now, and that made him feel like the most awesome person on the planet. Because he made her feel safe.

“I’m ready,” Mae announced as she retrieved her purse from the drawer.

Jason looked at his phone and didn’t see the text he was expecting.

“We need to wait just a bit. There’s someone coming who wants to see you.” He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her, relishing her sweet curves under his hands. The way she melted into him sent flutters through his body, tingles of sensations sweeping through him like wildfire.

Jason tamped down the lusty feelings he always had around her and pasted a warm smile on his face at her questioning look.

“It’s a surprise.”

Mae had nightmares, and he hated that. As soon as her body relaxed enough for sleep, they invaded her subconscious, showing her in vivid detail all the what ifs of that day. What if he never came back? What if she hadn’t gotten away? What if the Deltas hadn’t shown up? What if?

He made her talk about the nightmares, having seen PTSD in the Marines. Each time she did, his gut shriveled and he wanted to kill his sperm donor for putting her through it. But he knew holding that shit inside only gave it more power. Each nightmare she revealed made him love her strength and endurance even more.

Jason had never thought it possible, but he loved her more and more every day. He’d wake up in the morning loving her, then she did something that made him love her more. It was impossible, but it was happening.

Yeah, he’d talked to his mom about “Edgar” or whatever his name was. She’d been clueless as to his true nature. She’d known he was bad but not how bad. She’d shed tears when Jason took Mae over to meet her, and Jason had stood there, helpless, as the two women he loved the most bawled their eyes out and held each other like lifelines. He was completely superfluous in the situation.

As he knew he would be tonight. He had a plan for her to heal a bit more and knew he would be an extra on the scene. But he’d make it up to her somehow.

In the month since the explosion, Jason had thrived in his new security position, and when he got the call from the guard at the front desk, announcing the guest’s arrival, he beamed at Mae.

“Our visitor is here.”

Eyebrows raised, she turned in his arms and watched the door. He lifted his hands to her shoulders to rub out the tension and was rewarded with a long exhale as her muscles eased under his touch.

Only to stiffen when the guest came out of the elevator.

“Fletch?” Mae turned to look at Jason. “Why is he here?”

“I’ll let him tell you,” Jason murmured.

He tightened his grip on her, hopefully reassuring her. Some of Mae’s nightmares had involved Fletch not fulfilling his promise to wake her, and Jason had called the guy on a whim one morning.

Weaving his way through all the cubicles, Fletch wore a pair of fatigue pants and a t-shirt showing off his tattoos. The façade was just that, though. Jason knew Fletch was a good guy, and he’d felt awful for scaring Mae.

Taking his ball cap off, he stopped in front of them. “Miss Torma.” He nodded awkwardly and stretched out a hand to bump fists with Jason. Then he stood there and twisted the cap in his hands, which was odd for anybody of the Delta caliber, dudes who were all so self-assured, being taught they were the best of the best. Clearly, Fletch knew he’d done wrong here.

“You doing alright?” Mae’s voice was light, but it was forced. Maybe Fletch couldn’t hear that, but Jason certainly could.

“I was, until Jason called me and reminded me of what I did that day.” Eyes on Mae, he was earnest and sincere. “I’m sorry I didn’t wake you. I can give you a ton of reasons why, but the truth is, none of them matter. I made a promise, and I broke it. I feel awful about it, and I wanted to make it up to you somehow.”

“How? You don’t have to. I was being needy. It’s okay. You were clearly busy, saving the day and all.” Her voice broke. “Saving Jason.”

Fletch looked at her. “Well, I did you wrong. And if anybody had done what they did to you, to my girls, I’d have done something about it. I scared you. Needlessly. I came to apologize, so I’m sorry.”

“Forgiven. Truly.”

“There’s more.” Fletch smiled as he looked at his feet. Looking back up at Mae, he asked, “You ever swap licks?”

“What?”

“Licks. Punches. Slaps. Whatever you want. I hurt you, now it’s your turn.” His smile was still there, easygoing. Jason knew there was no way punching Fletch would hurt him, but it might be a physical thing to bring closure to whatever he had done to Mae’s psyche.

But she let out a bark of laughter. It was so different from her usual tinkly laugh, Jason did a doubletake.

“You don’t want to beat his ass for scaring you like that?” Jason knew women were wired differently but thought that would surely make her feel better.

“Well … I do, but what good would it do? I can’t hurt him. Look at him. He’s all muscly and stuff, and it would probably hurt my hand more than it would ever phase him.”

Fletch chuckled at that, but Jason narrowed his eyes at Mae, turning her in his arms so he could see her face.

“Look. It may not be the best way ever, but I can tell you it will make you feel better. There’s a certain sense of satisfaction involved.”

She chewed her bottom lip in thought, as if uncertain of his words.

“I’m not sure that would make me feel better.”

“Give it a shot. If it doesn’t make you feel better, I’ll make him buy us dinner somewhere really fancy and expensive.” Fletch let out a groan at that, but it was good-natured.

Mae released a sigh, and Jason realized she would do it, probably to save Fletch from having to buy them dinner, to get Jason off her back, and to appease everyone because she would see this as something she had brought upon herself.

“Look, Edgar isn’t here to beat up. You might as well take advantage,” Jason prompted.

“Now that’s someone whose ass I could kick.”

Fletch grinned. “Then pretend I’m him.”

Nobody saw what came next. Mae didn’t even take another breath before she let fly with her fists, hitting Fletch’s torso and abs with a volley of punches. As if telling her to pretend he was Edgar was all it took, she did as commanded. Her first punch hit Fletch with an “uhf” but her next punches just made him deflate in a slow wheeze.

She wasn’t hurting him, but he was making a good show of it. Not too much to make her feel patronized but enough there was a question as to whether or not she’d really knocked the air out of him.

Mae went on for a couple of minutes, punching him and slapping his chest, her arms flying awkwardly. Jason watched her face morph into a mask of concentration as she went somewhere deep inside herself to let out her aggression on this veritable stranger.

And then the mask broke and the tears came, and Mae threw herself into Fletch’s arms.

“I’m sorry.”

He rubbed her back, sending Jason an apologetic look. “Not a problem.” His breathing was ragged, and Jason didn’t know if it was for show or if her display of emotion and aggression had affected him, too. Jason simply stood there, awkwardly, waiting for his girl to get hold of herself.

When she did, she blindly turned from Fletch to him, and he held his arms out for her. With a loud sniff, she said, “Thank you.”

With Mae in his arms, everything was right.

Fletch gave them a moment of silence for Mae to get herself under control again, and then he started talking. “I wanted to let you guys know Harper has been taken care of.” He threw Jason a wink so he knew exactly what “taken care of” meant. A wave of gratuity flushed Jason, and he flashed a smile at Fletch as he wrapped his arms around Mae.

“Thanks, man. That’s appreciated.”

Fletch started backing away. “I know.” He reached into his back pocket and withdrew his wallet. “And dinner is on me. Find a fancy place.” He dropped some bills on a nearby desk and strutted away, whistling a tune.

**

Mae watched Fletch walk away, still breathless with exertion from pummeling him with her fists. At least the guy had the decency to pretend to be winded. A vague limp verified her theory he was faking it, since she hadn’t touched his legs.

Still, she smiled to herself, feeling a little better as she watched him walk away. There might be something to the whole aggression thing, but she didn’t want to do it again.

A soft murmur by her ear sent a wave of goose bumps through her body. Jason’s lips brushed her ear as he said, “Alone at last.”

She giggled as she turned in her arms. “It sort of reminds me of the night we met, without the explosions.”

Mae watched with fascination as his eyes darkened to an impossible color. “Me, too. You didn’t have a clue what you were doing to me, flashing me like that.”

Feeling one corner of her lips upturn, she retorted. “What if I did?”

His grip on her waist tightened. “What does that mean?”

“That means, I was going for a seduction of epic proportions.”

Jason’s face lowered to hers until he was less than an inch away from her lips. “Seduction to what end, Mae?” Her name from his mouth sounded like a delicious promise.

“I fantasized about you and me and my desk.”

Not letting go of her, Jason pressed against Mae until she walked backward to where her desk was. When the backs of her thighs pressed against the desk in question, Jason’s lips quirked into a devilish smirk. “This desk?”

She nodded, swallowing past a lump in her throat. He wouldn’t.

He did.

##