by M. Malone
"I don't know if this is gonna stick. Right now it's good sex. And good food. Two of my favorite things. And obviously you know what he looks like, so huge ego boost."
"You're being ridiculous. He's the lucky one. Okay, so he made you dinner and then you guys ... "
"Well, it's very hard to keep my hands off that man. I'll just say that."
"Oh boy, you guys are gonna fall in love. I can tell. I can feel it."
JJ wanted to be excited. But she knew Lucia didn't have all the details. Lucia didn't know why she kept herself at arms length from most men. Lucia didn't know why Jonas wouldn't be sticking around forever. Lucia didn't know her deep and dark hidden secrets. So all her best friend could see was the happiness and potential. The problem was, on the course she was on, either she was going to get hurt or Jonas was. And Lucia and the rest of the team were going to get caught in the middle.
He was nervous.
You have no reason to be nervous. You've already slept with her. Twice. This is just a date.
Except this wasn't just a date. He liked her. You've always liked her. Yeah, he had always liked her. Well, mostly he had wanted to shake her and sleep with her. But liked her? Not exactly. He’d always respected the fuck out of her. She was strong. Sexy. Smart. Kept him on his toes, which was awesome and annoying all at the same time.
Yeah, he'd always liked her. But somehow, it felt like he needed to do this right. Because there were so many ways that this could go wrong. And he didn't want it to go wrong.
And now, everyone knew. Mostly because you can't help but stare at her. Yeah, that was it. Twice during their debriefing meeting this morning, he'd been so busy staring out the glass window at JJ walking by that Noah had to snap his fingers in front of his face. When Jonas had snapped out of it, all the guys had been looking at him with shit-eating grins on their faces. Fuck them all. He didn't care.
Yeah you do. Because you know how this will affect everyone if this shit goes wrong.
This was true. But given that they were grown-ups they could probably manage it. Who the hell are you kidding? You'll go back to fighting like cats and dogs and actually hate each other. Fuck, he really hoped that didn't happen. Because he had a feeling he'd be thinking about tasting her for the rest of his damn life.
He knocked on her door and she opened it with a wide smile. "What is all this?"
"This," he spun around adjusting his jacket and deliberately showing off, "is your date for the evening. Go get changed. Something sexy and flirty. You look gorgeous in red."
She paled. What was that about? Then just as quickly, she shook her head and smiled slightly. Jonas wasn’t sure what he’d said that could cause that reaction. Maybe she was feeling a little bashful remembering wearing nothing but his red tie last night.
"And just where would I be going in this red, sexy, flirty dress?"
"Can't tell you that. It's a surprise. Come on, get changed. We're going to be late."
He loved that happy, surprised grin that flashed over her face. He wanted to put that grin there all the time. Fuck, he had it so bad. This was going to end in disaster if he wasn't careful. Slow it down. Don't overwhelm her. This was supposed to be easy, fun, not too serious. He had to repeat that over and over again until his brain started to remember.
When she came back out, she'd opted for red and black. Fine by him. She still looked amazing; the dress tied at her neck, leaving most of her back exposed. Which meant he could touch as much as he wanted.
"You look—wow."
She grinned. "Oh, this old thing?"
"Come on. Let's go before everyone notices we’re all dressed up."
With a giggle, she followed him through the path of least resistance, which meant from her bedroom, through the kitchen, completely avoiding the living room, gym area, and conference room. They snuck out the door, but not before Oskar called out, "You two kids have fun now. Jonas, remember to bring her back at a reasonable hour. And if you two are gonna get up to extracurricular activities, please warn the rest of us so we can wear our earmuffs. I don't think Matthias has recovered after the other day."
Jonas groaned. He was going to fucking kill the German.
But JJ didn't miss a beat. "You guys can go eat a bowl of dicks, you hear me?"
A bark of laughter choked out of Jonas and he stared at her. "A bowl of dicks?"
She nodded "Yep, I'm going with it."
"Woman, you are ridiculous."
She danced into the elevator. "Yep, but that's why you love me."
He knew she was kidding. She was being flippant. She did not mean that. But it's not untrue. Oh shit. He was tripping over the landmines of his feelings. Because he was falling for her. Even though he could see the collision toward disaster. He didn't care.
Once they were in the car heading toward the Met, she turned to face him. "A car service? My, my, Jonas Castillo giving over control? I must ask what is happening here."
"You and I both know I give you control. But I figured this way we could have some fun, and be irresponsible and not have to worry about driving anywhere. So relax. We're on a date."
"I love how all our dates thus far consist of you telling me what we're going to be doing."
He shrugged. "I see no problem with this."
"Well, hold onto your britches because I will plan a date for you, and it's going to be something you don't expect."
"I look forward to it."
He took her to a show at the Met. And admittedly the show wasn't all pleasure. It was also to do a check-in on a client whose husband had been more paranoid as of late. She'd come into the office to ask for additional protection and the team set up surveillance on her. But last week she called asking them to call it off. The event at the Met was mostly a welfare check on a would-have-been client. But after that, everything was all JJ.
The Met was featuring a lesser-known opera. And it was short; only an exhibition to get everyone to buy tickets to the big show. And of course there was the party after. But they weren’t staying for that.
Mrs. Elliot Anderson looked none too pleased to see him. But still, she was cordial and introduced him and JJ around. When he managed to get her alone for a moment, she said, "I told you; I made a mistake coming to Blake Security. I'm not in danger."
"I understand what you're saying. At the same time, I just want to be sure. Sometimes people say things on the phone if they’re being coerced. So we like to do a welfare check in an environment where they don't expect us. More difficult to lie this way. But you’re fine?"
She nodded. “Yes, absolutely." Jonas could see the lines of tension around her mouth. This woman was not okay. But he was learning to maybe let go a little bit. Of course he'd send Dylan or Ryan to follow her and sit on her place. But he couldn't force her to want their protection.
Once he was done with her, he found JJ chatting with an artist near the bar. The guy was laughing, reaching out a hand and caressing JJ's arm. That had Jonas frowning immediately. Mine. Yeah, that constant thought, that was gonna have to stop, too. She would not like being referred to as his. Still, he had to maneuver her away from the handsy artist.
He strode right up to her, leaned down, and nuzzled her neck. "You ready to go sweetheart? I want to feed you."
She turned into him with a happy smile. "You said my favorite words. When she’d bid the guy goodbye and they were halfway to the door, she turned to him. "Don't think I don't know what you were doing."
"And don't think I won't stake my claim. I want you. He was trying to poach. I didn't appreciate it."
"So you peed all over me?"
Again, the unexpected laugh. "Seriously? I mean, if you're into that … ”
"Eww. I am not. But someone's feeling very territorial tonight."
“Of course I am. I'm here with the most beautiful woman in the room."
The rest of the night, Jonas couldn't remember when he'd had this much fun. He took her dancing. A little salsa, a little merengue. They were a little over
dressed, but man, was it fun. And true to his word, he kept her well fed. The classic Mediterranean place he'd taken her to had a Michelin starred chef. And JJ squealed when she saw where they were going.
"I've been trying to get a table here for a year."
"I aim to please."
After dinner, once they were headed back to the car, he slid an arm around her before leaning down to gently brush his lips over hers. "So princess, your place or mine?"
"Aren't you being a little presumptuous?"
He laughed. "Hell yes. And I promise you sweetheart, I'm a sure thing."
"In that case, I’m yours."
chapter 16
“All right. Get your asses in gear. We have a lot to do today.” Noah rubbed his hands together and the room quieted.
Jonas, however, had his eyes on the man sitting on Noah’s left. It wasn’t unusual for them to have outsiders in the office, but considering who the guests were, they were all on edge. He could see it in the hard set of Oskar’s shoulders and the tense lines around Matthias’s mouth. Ryan and Dylan didn’t know the history Noah and the others had with ORUS, but even they could tell something was up. It wasn’t often they had Ian, the head of ORUS, sitting in on their meetings.
“First up, lets do a status check on our current clients. Jonas, how are things with Lindsey Meyers?”
While he went over the details of his last check-in with Lindsey, Jonas kept one eye on the man who’d accompanied Ian. David. The guy was pretending to pay attention, but every so often, his eyes would slip to the windows leading out into the main office area. What the hell was he looking at? Jonas coughed and turned discreetly, checking to see if Lucia was walking around or something. Hell, if the dude got caught checking out Lucia they wouldn’t have to worry about a probationary period. Noah would take him out before he even got started.
“Also Rafe is coming in a little later.”
“Excellent. We need all the help we can get. Ok, I’ll turn the floor over to Ian. He and one of his best agents have been working on a case for the past few months that they need assistance with.”
As Ian stood to speak, Jonas kept his eyes on the man still sitting. What was it about the guy that rubbed him the wrong way? Maybe it was the shit-eating smirk on his face, like he knew something they didn’t, or was just tolerating being here.
When Noah had told them about Ian’s unusual request for them to assist on a case, he hadn’t minced words. He didn’t like the idea of getting into bed with ORUS, even if it was only temporary. Also, the agent assigned to this particular case, David West, code name Chamaeleon, had been a little too trigger happy back in the day, in Noah’s opinion. Matthias hadn’t said anything, but Jonas definitely got the impression he didn’t like the guy either. Still, considering how valuable it could to be to have the head of ORUS owing them a favor, he couldn’t blame Noah for taking the case.
“Thanks for the help, Noah. This is a time sensitive situation. We might need significant technical assistance on this one.” Ian glanced over at Matthias, who didn’t move.
Movement behind him caught Jonas’s eye again. David had shifted in his seat slightly and was staring out into the main living area. Jonas barely heard Ian droning on about rebel strongholds in Colombia because his senses were tingling. Something was up with this David guy, and he was going to figure out what it was.
Noah dropped into the seat next to him. “What’s your take on this?”
He was used to Noah asking for his read on all types of situations. Coming from law enforcement, he had the training to detect liars and the general gut instinct to tell when shit was about to get real. But he wasn’t entirely sure what to tell his old friend. Ian was Ian, no surprise there. The real wild card was David West, who was only here to assist Ian. So why did the guy make Jonas so anxious?
“What’s the deal with that guy?” He inclined his head slightly in David’s direction.
Noah snorted under his breath. “Your typical over-confident ORUS agent. I remember him. He was always hanging around me and Rafe, trying to one-up us. Not exactly a team player. I don’t know why Ian brought him in on this.”
“Is he always this twitchy? He acts like anything could set him off.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed as he took in David’s rapt attention to something outside the room. Finally Jonas turned again. Lucia stood right outside in full view, laughing at something. The room was soundproofed so they couldn’t hear her, but it was pretty obvious what David was staring at.
“Motherfucker.” Noah stood, his chair scraping back from the table loudly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Jonas figured he had about two seconds to defuse the situation before Noah went nuclear.
“Gentlemen, we’ve just gotten word of an emergency situation. Apologies, but we’re going to have to cut this short.”
Without waiting for another word, Matthias stood and walked toward the door. Ryan and Dylan glanced around in confusion.
“This is time sensitive,” Ian began.
Noah held up his hand. “Let’s go to my office. Ian, why don’t you and David come with me? Jonas can handle this situation while we finish up.”
Jonas smirked. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle getting Lucia out of sight, but he’d have to think of something. Hell, maybe he’d just tell her the truth. She knew better than anyone how jealous Noah could be. Luckily she loved him madly and put up with him and his crazy ways.
“That’s fine.” Ian looked confused but followed Noah’s lead. David walked up right behind him. To Jonas’s surprise, Noah stuck out his hand.
“David. It’s been a long time. How long have you been back stateside?”
The other man winced slightly, and Jonas looked down to where Noah had his hand locked in a vice grip. “About six months,” David finally ground out.
Jesus. He needed to get them out of there before Noah decided to go all He-Man and challenge the guy to a duel or something.
“I’ll start handling the emergency situation,” Jonas said.
Noah smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you. I’ll call you when we’re done.”
Translation: Don’t bring Lucia back here until this motherfucker is gone.
Jonas smiled. “Got it, boss.”
He walked out of the office and was immediately able to see what Lucia had been laughing at. JJ was in the kitchen, just out of view, holding up a picture of something on her phone. His heart sped up when he saw her.
“Hey baby. I didn’t even know you were back yet. That didn’t take long.”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything. Shopping isn’t as much fun without Lucia. So I figured I’d wait until you guys could watch the baby so we can go. I need her to tell me which tops make my boobs look the best.”
“I can do that,” Jonas promised.
“Yeah, I bet you can.”
Damn, this was fun. As much fun as their bickering had always been, it had partially been born of sexual frustration. How amazing was it to have this back and forth chemistry with a woman who satisfied him completely in every way? Jessica Jones was truly his perfect match.
It hit him like a lightning bolt. She was the one. His future. His destiny.
His wife.
Jonas almost fell to his knees at the intensity of the thought. Marriage had always been something that he figured he’d avoid. It wasn’t as if he’d had the best exposure to the institution, and truthfully, he’d never understood the point of a piece of paper when you could just live with whomever you wanted. It wasn’t like it was the 1950s and you’d get run out of town for living in sin.
But in that moment, Jonas got it. He understood Noah’s obsession with having Lucia as his wife. He wanted the same things with JJ. He wanted her to be his. To carry his name. To be filled with his child. He wanted them merged and blended in every way possible because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was meant to be with this woman forever.
“I can so do that,” he mumble
d, reeling from the life-altering thoughts going through his head. The entire landscape of his future had just realigned in the space of a heartbeat, but the rest of the world went on unaware.
JJ smiled at him gently. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
“No,” he answered truthfully. “I was too busy wondering how I got so lucky that you’re mine.”
She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Everything became background noise. Lucia telling them how sweet they were, the rumble of Noah’s voice, and even the sound of her feet on the floor as she walked over to Jonas. None of it registered in light of the heart-stopping look on his face.
“I feel exactly the same way.”
The way his eyes crinkled as he smiled made her so warm inside. It was amazing how making him happy could complete her. But over the last few weeks, she’d slowly discovered that the formula for her ultimate happiness lay in Jonas smiling at her exactly like that.
“I love you, Jonas.”
His arms opened automatically and she cuddled into his embrace. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his. He swallowed the little whimper she made and cupped her cheek to hold her still as he devoured her lips.
This was home, coming into his arms and knowing that she’d always be welcome there. It was more than she’d ever dared to hope for, but here it was. Living proof that dreams could come true.
Then, right before her eyes, it all turned to dust.
Because standing right behind the living embodiment of her dreams, was the ghost of the man who’d once torn them all down.
“No. It’s not possible. No. No. No.”
With a cry, JJ spun on her heel and ran from the room, dropping her phone in the process. She heard a chorus of voices calling after her but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. His face swam in her mind, and she ran faster. She had to get to safety.
Where the hell could she go? Then she noticed the door to Noah and Lucia’s room was ajar. She pushed it open, her eyes sweeping the room. Her gaze landed on the flat wall across from the door.
