The time on the clock was crawling. It read six in the morning. Jessica was sleeping with her head on my chest. We had finished making love a few hours ago. I couldn’t fall asleep. Ice’s message keep flashing through my brain. Would Jessica ever be free of her past? I needed to get her out of town. It wasn’t safe for her to go back to Shialia. I had zero intel on the new threat.

A thought popped into my brain. I did a calculation of time zones and knew she would be awake. I peeled Jessica’s arm off me and slowly got out of bed. I grabbed my cell from the nightstand and headed to my home office. Reclining back in my chair, I called the one person who would be up at this hour.

“About time you call me, young man.”

“Hello, Mother.”

I could hear the dishes clinking in the background. My mother would be baking the delicious desserts for the day. “Wait one second. I need to get the cookies in the oven.”

A few seconds later, I heard her voice come back over the phone. “How have you been, my boy?”

That was a loaded question. I didn’t want to worry my mother about the new threat. “I’m fine. I was wondering if Jessica and I could come out to visit.”

“I would love to meet her. When are you coming?”

“I was thinking today.” I wanted to get Jessica out of town as soon as possible. Ice had announced that the chatter was increasing and the price on Jessica’s head had gone up.

“That would be lovely. Do I need to pick you up?”

“No, we will arrive in time for dinner.”

My mother had raised my sister and me by herself since we were little. Our father had died in the Iraq war. She did the best she could. Phoebe and I had spent many hours helping her in the bakery.

I sent the team a quick note saying I was taking Jessica out of town for the weekend. Then I asked Brent, our pilot, to get the jet ready to head out west.

Once everything was set up for the day, I climbed back in bed.

Jessica woke to the movement. She stretched, causing the sheets to pull down and expose her chest. I pulled her into my body. “I was making plans for the weekend.”

She laid her head on my chest, and I reached up to stroke her hair. “What kind of plans did you make?”

“We’re heading to my mom’s today. The plane leaves at ten.” Before I had time to react, Jessica jumped out of bed.

She started to pace the length of the room. It was incredibly distracting since she was completely naked. “We’re what? You can’t spring that on me like we are going out for dinner!”

“Why not? I want to get out of town, and I want you to meet my mom.” The swaying of Jessica’s breasts as she walked back and forth, naked, was making it hard for me to listen to what she was saying. By her fifth lap of the bedroom, she noticed she was naked and grabbed the sheet from the bed.

“I can’t meet your mom. I haven’t prepared.”

I jumped out of bed and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed along the side of her neck, working my way up to her ear. “What do you have to prepare for?”

“Men!” Jessica threw her arms up in exasperation, and it caused the sheet to fall. I used it to my advantage. I bent down and took one nipple into my mouth. She jumped back. “No, I have to go research, pack, maybe leave the country. I’m not prepared.”

“Just let me take care of you. My mom will love you, so stop stressing. I wasn’t prepared for your dad, but I met him.”

Jessica was grabbing clothes out of the top drawer of the dresser. She turned and pointed at me. “No, you met my dad because he came to interrogate Sam. And we weren’t dating at the time. I would have given you more than a four-hour notice before meeting my dad. I would have given you at least a week. I need to go shower and then grab my laptop.”

“I can come join you in the shower.” I walked toward the master bathroom, but she slammed the door, and I heard the lock click. “Come on, Jessica. It won’t be that bad, and I’m sure we both can use a little stress relief.”

****Jessica****

I couldn’t believe I was on the corporate jet heading to Colorado. I’d never been so nervous to meet someone in my entire life. Doug’s parents had both passed away before we dated. Meeting Brock’s mom was everything.

In the research I did today, I found a case study where sixty percent of women felt that friction with their husband’s mother had caused their relationship long-term stress. I needed extra stress in my life like I needed a hole in my head. I wanted to find the magic talking points to get her to like me.

Once the airline pilot turned off the Fasten Seatbelt sign, Brock removed my laptop from my lap and pulled me onto his.

“Stop worrying. She will love you.” His fingers trailing up and down my spine took some of the worries away.

I went to reach for my laptop, but Brock wrapped his arms around me, making it difficult to move. “Brock, I found a study that said sixty percent of women experienced friction in their relationships with their mothers-in-law, and only fifteen percent of the men believed that their mother had caused it. I need to make sure she likes me.”

Isabella, the flight attendant, walked over with a glass of Moscato for me and a cherry Coke with whiskey for Brock. “Are you guys hungry?” she asked. Her wavy red hair was cut to shoulder length. She had on a navy blue suit with a white blouse. She was exotic looking. I liked that she was always professional and never hit on any of the men.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” There was no way I could keep any food in my stomach with the stress of meeting Suzy for the first time.

She reached down and patted me on the forearm. “Don’t worry. Suzy will love you. I’ve never met a person she didn’t like.” With that, she turned around and headed back to the kitchen.

Great. I’d probably be the first person Brock’s mom didn’t like.

“Jessica, if you don’t snap out of this, I will take you over my knee and make your ass red. My mother will love you as much as I do.”

At his words, I turned my head to look into his eyes. “You can’t redden my ass before I meet your mother,” I whispered back.

He leaned in and claimed my lips. I was lost in the sensation of his hand running up and down my body. When he pulled away, I was panting and ready for more. “Do you think I would take you to see my mom if I didn’t think she would love you?”

I spent the next two hours sitting on Brock’s lap while he told me stories about times in the bakery with his mom.

* * *

Brock’s family home wasn’t far from the airport. When we landed, a black Navigator was waiting for us on the runway, and we headed toward his mom’s house. The fields had a light dusting of fresh snow. The air held a cold, crisp bite. It had been a few years since I had seen snow. After living in Florida for so long, I forgot how cold it could get in other parts of the country.

“It’s beautiful here.”

Brock reached over and grabbed my hand. “I like coming here to visit. I think all my years overseas in the desert made my blood thin, because I could never live here. If we turned right back there, it would take us into town. I’ll take you for a tour of town tomorrow.”

All the nervousness came back in full force when we parked in front of Brock’s childhood home. It was a cute white farmhouse with a porch that wrapped around the front. An older woman was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. When she saw the car stop, she stood.

Brock’s mom had to be only five feet tall and fit the description of a pastry baker perfectly. I wanted to pick her up and eat her.

She had already walked over to the truck by the time we exited. She wrapped her arms around Brock’s waist and rested her head on his chest. “You need to come visit more often.” She patted his chest a couple times before turning her sights on me. “You come over here and give me a hug.”

I walked over to her, and she engulfed me in a hug. She smelled like chocolate chip cookies. She pulled back from the hug but kept a hand on each of my arms.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. McKenzie.”

“Oh, no you don’t. It’s Mom. She’s pretty, Brock. You did well. Don’t let her get away.”

I was left speechless by her statement. Suzy turned around and headed toward the house. My mouth was still hanging open from shock.

“I told you she would like you. Now, let’s get some hot chocolate and cookies.” Brock grabbed my hand, and we headed up to the house.

The inside of Suzy’s home was cozy and warm. Wood was burning in the white stone fireplace. Pictures of Brock and his sister at all ages were displayed all over the walls. But there were no recent photos of either of them. I wondered what Brock’s sister looked like. The sound of pans clinking together drew my attention to the back of the house.

Brock led me to the kitchen. Suzy was taking a fresh batch of cookies from the stove. She laid the sheet pan on the stovetop and turned toward the fridge. “Ms. McKenzie, do you need help with anything?”

“No, dear. Have a seat, and I told you to call me Mom.” I went to sit on the open chair, and Brock pulled me into his lap. His gesture made my skin ignite. I blushed at the display of public affection in front of his mom.

“How is work going? Have you found that awful man yet?”

Before Brock had time to answer, I spoke up. “They found him a few months ago.”

Suzy leveled a look at Brock. “Really? So, Brock, this spur-of-the-moment trip has nothing to do with Jessica’s safety?”

I turned my head to see Brock’s face. “What is she talking about?”

He wrapped his arms around me before I had time to stand up. “I was going to tell you tonight. One of my friends in the CIA saw chatter about a new bounty on your head.”

This could be a low-level guy. “How much?”

“I like her. She gets right to the point. I would appreciate knowing the same thing.” Suzy had set a plate of warm cookies in front of us along with a couple glasses of milk.

Brock grabbed a cookie, enjoying the delicious morsel and ignoring our question.

“How much, Brock?” I demanded.

He leaned his head back and mumbled through his cookie, “One million dollars.”

A million dollars? This person wasn’t playing around. My presence was putting Brock’s mother in danger. “We have to go. I can’t have your mom in the crosshairs with me.”

“I have a gun, security cameras, and alarms set up around here. Don’t worry about me.”

“Mom has a top-of-the-line security system. She also knows how to shoot a gun.” Brock shrugged. “We’re fine. I changed the flight information en route. I made it look like we continued on to California.”

“You didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell me what was going on?” I pointed at Brock. “This should have been talked about before we left. Is the team working on this? Why aren’t we helping?”

I tried to stand up again, but Brock held me tight. Suzy exited out the rear door of the kitchen.

“Jessica, I would have told you on the way here, but you were so worried about meeting my mom that I didn’t want to add to your stress. I had planned to tell you tonight. The team is working on it right—”

We heard multiple gunshots coming from outside.