Run from Fear

by Jami Alden

  “Unless you want to go into hiding with her,” Jack said.

  Everything inside her rebelled at the thought. “I’m not going to let some asshole take away my life again,” she said fiercely.

  “Exactly,” Jack said. “And you shouldn’t let him. And you shouldn’t let him take Rosie’s either.”

  “I just want her to be safe,” Talia said, and didn’t resist when Jack pulled her into his arms.

  “I know. And she will be. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll take care of both of you.”

  The statement should have made her want to flee for the foothills in the distance. But instead the idea that Jack was here, ready and willing to protect them, to take care of them, wrapped around her like a warm fleecy sweater that she never wanted to take off.

  “Umm, will we be able to come back in the morning to get my stuff?”

  Rosie’s voice had her jumping from Jack’s arms, and the night air did nothing to cool the embarrassed heat that rushed to her face.

  They drove home in silence. Jack moved his stuff out of the guest room to make room for Rosario and taped a plastic garbage bag over the hole in the kitchen window and double-checked the alarm.

  As Rosario got herself a glass of water from the kitchen sink, Jack settled onto the couch and pulled out his laptop.

  “You’re not going to sleep?” Talia asked uncertainly.

  “I’m going to take a look at the camera feeds,” Jack said, barely sparing her a glance over the top of his laptop. “See if we managed to get a look at this guy. I’ll be okay on the couch.”

  “Oh,” Talia said lamely as she returned Rosie’s sleepy hug. “So… I guess… see you in the morning.”

  “Good night.”

  Talia climbed the stairs, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in her stomach. Stupid really, with everything going on, to dwell on the fact that Jack had bid her good night with barely a second glance. But as she climbed into bed—alone—all she could think was, so that’s it? After all of his I want yous and I need yous, he finally got what he was after and now he could move on like nothing had happened?

  She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep when she awoke to the sound of her door clicking open and the heavy creak of footsteps. Anticipation sizzled in her blood as the covers were lifted back and a heavy weight settled on the mattress beside her.

  Jack pulled Talia against him. “I hope this is okay, but I couldn’t stay away,” he said huskily.

  His hand slid up the back of her tank top, and she felt the hard ridge of his erection against her stomach. Her mouth found his, her lips parted as she breathed him in. In the dark, every sense was heightened; every sound, every touch seemed amplified. Jack quickly stripped off their clothes, the rustle of fabric sending hot need shooting to her core.

  Then he was there, between her legs, sliding inside her as his mouth came down over hers to muffle their cries. Talia wrapped her arms and legs around him, taking him deep, holding him as close as she possibly could.

  Despite the drama of the fear-soaked night, right here, right now, everything was finally right with her world.

  Chapter 17

  You know you guys aren’t fooling anyone, right?” Rosario said.

  Jack looked up quizzically as he picked up the strategically rumpled comforter from the couch. “What do you mean?” he asked as he folded the comforter and placed it on the end of the couch.

  “I know you guys are totally doing it,” Rosario said.

  Jack heard a clatter in the kitchen and something sounding like Talia choking.

  “What?” Talia came out of the kitchen, blotting at the front of her T-shirt with a towel. Her cheeks were flushed.

  Rosario was gathering up her books as though nothing was amiss. “It’s stupid, making Jack sneak down at the crack of dawn and pretend to sleep on the couch.”

  “I’m not… we’re not…” She looked helplessly at Jack, but he was enjoying her discomfort too much to come to her rescue.

  The first morning after Rosie came to stay with them, Talia had poked him awake before the sun came up and sent him back down to the couch.

  “She’s eighteen,” Jack had grumbled as he pulled on his jeans. “We found her at her boyfriend’s, for Christ’s sake—”

  “God, don’t even remind me,” Talia had groaned. “I’m trying to set a good example for her, and I’m not comfortable brazenly sharing a room with you like it’s no big deal.”

  Irritated but too tired to argue, Jack had crept down the stairs like a sixteen-year-old trying to avoid his girlfriend’s father and curled his too-big frame onto the too-small couch.

  And it had been the same for the last three nights, waiting for Rosie to go settle in her room after they got back from the restaurant and then giving her a good hour, sometimes two, to actually turn out the lights and go to sleep. While he liked Rosie and enjoyed her company, he was looking forward to the day when their living arrangements could go back to normal.

  A day that was still no closer to arriving. As expected, the footage from the security cameras didn’t give any clue to the identity of the stalker, and the next-door neighbor hadn’t seen or heard a thing until Talia’s alarm went off.

  So every night for the past three, Jack would creep upstairs like a thief in the night and slide into bed next to a usually sleeping Talia.

  And okay, that next part didn’t suck, the way she turned to him in the dark, her soft hands sliding over his skin and pulling him close. In the past three nights, Jack had explored every patch of skin on her body, discovered all the secret places that would make her shiver.

  Kissing, licking, touching her until she had to clap her hand over her mouth or bite his shoulder to muffle her moans. Driving them both crazy until he felt as if he would spontaneously combust if he didn’t have her again.

  Clearly the subterfuge wasn’t working, he thought as he met Rosie’s all-too-knowing look.

  “Give me a break,” Rosie said as she shoved her laptop into her bag. “I came out the other night to get a drink of water and Jack wasn’t on the couch. And, Jack, you might want to shave, because Talia has whisker burn all over her neck.”

  Talia snatched her hand to her neck and went to examine herself in the hall mirror. Jack’s hand automatically went to his chin and he felt the wiry rasp of his beard coming in. He couldn’t stop the involuntary smile from spreading across his face. He hadn’t noticed the whisker burn on her neck because he’d been too concerned about the other places that were getting a little chafed from his attention.

  Places like her smooth inner thigh and the inside curves of her breasts. Places he’d tried to soothe last night by massaging them with cream from Talia’s medicine cabinet. He felt a heavy rush between his legs at the memory. And like every morning for the past three, he wondered how the hell he was going to make it through the day.

  “Get that smirk off your face,” Talia snapped.

  “And even without that, it’s totally obvious the way you guys are together,” Rosie said. “You’re always smiling and touching each other when you think no one’s looking. And no offense, Talia, but you’re in a really good mood for someone who has a stalker.”

  “I… we…,” Talia sputtered, but she couldn’t seem to get the words out.

  Rosie went over and gave her sister a little hug. “Stop freaking out. I’m not upset about it.” She cocked an eyebrow and shot Jack an arch look. “No offense, but I’m surprised it took you this long to make a move.”

  Jack slid his arms around Talia’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She stiffened but didn’t pull away. “Your sister has some pretty elaborate defensive countermeasures in place.”

  “You didn’t need to hide it,” Rosie said with a pointed look to her sister. “It’s good you found someone to make you happy, Talia. It’s not like I’m going to be bummed you guys are together.”

  Together.

  The word rocketed through him and he unconsciously tightened his arm around
her.

  “You are together, right? This isn’t just some casual hookup?”

  He could feel Talia stiffening up again beside him. He looked down and met her tense, anxious look. They hadn’t talked about any of this, and knowing how skittish Talia was about everything, he’d been reluctant to push it.

  He hadn’t planned on declaring his intentions in front of her younger sister. “Trust me,” he said finally, “the way I feel about Talia is anything but casual.”

  He could feel the tremble in her lips as he bent to kiss her. “If you feel differently, it’s probably best to tell me now,” he said fiercely, his breath catching as he waited for Talia’s answer.

  “I don’t think it’s possible to be casual with you, Jack,” she said with a soft smile that made it impossible for him not to kiss her again. The tightness in his chest loosened at the warmth of her response. It was no grand declaration, but it was a baby step in the right direction. Maybe for once his relationship wasn’t doomed to failure after all.

  “Ugh, get a room, you guys,” Rosario said, her grin overshadowing the mock disgust in her voice. Then the smile disappeared as she raised a finger of warning at Jack, her expression grave. “But just so you know, you break her heart, I’ll kick your ass.”

  Jack wasn’t sure it was Talia’s heart they should be worried about.

  Once she got over her embarrassment, Talia embraced the novelty of being part of a real, out-in-public couple. It had been so long, she’d forgotten how good it felt to walk down the street holding someone’s hand, to have a man casually put his arm around her and tuck her close to his side.

  Not just any man.

  Jack.

  Going back, way back, to the day they had met, it was hard not to marvel at the idea that they were walking hand in hand across the Stanford campus, enjoying the spring sunshine and each other’s company as though they didn’t have a care in the world.

  Of course, the only reason they were on campus today was to escort Rosie to her world civilization exam because they were still no closer to finding out who was harassing her, but at the moment she chose not to dwell on it. Jack was by her side, keeping them safe. With him around, she didn’t need to worry about constantly looking over her shoulder.

  Jack did the job for her, constantly on alert, his gaze never ceasing its relentless sweep of their surroundings. Knowing Jack, Talia would lay money that he could give a detailed description of every person who had passed within ten feet of them.

  They walked Rosario to her exam room, stopping along the way for coffee and snacks to sustain them through the wait. The room was crowded full of students whose faces bore the proof of late-night cram sessions. Jack did a quick check of the room and, satisfied there were no easy access points other than the main door, pulled up a couple chairs for them to sit in.

  Talia took out a book and sipped at her coffee while Jack flipped open his laptop. After several minutes of working in silence, she heard Jack mutter, “Son of a bitch,” under his breath.

  “What?” Talia snapped to attention. “Did you find something?”

  “Maybe,” Jack said. “We’ve been going through Margaret’s finances and Toni just pulled a whole batch of accounts we didn’t know about before.”

  He motioned her over and Talia scooted her chair close enough to see the screen. It was all a blur of numbers and codes she couldn’t make sense of.

  “Jesus, they have money hidden everywhere,” Jack said. “The Caymans, Belize, Panama, for Christ’s sake. Most of it hasn’t been touched, but in the past several weeks there have been several transfers from this account,” he said, indicating with his finger a string of transactions that showed nearly a hundred thousand dollars moving out of the account in the space of a week.

  “Any way to figure out where it’s going?”

  “Not yet.” Jack sighed. “But don’t worry. The money always leads somewhere. If Margaret is somehow connected, we’ll figure out who she’s working with soon enough.”

  Talia nodded and tried to take comfort, have faith that all of this would eventually lead them to the bad guys.

  And Jack would no longer have a reason to be by her side 24-7.

  “What happens then?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

  Jack’s fingers froze on the keyboard and his ice-blue gaze locked on hers, steady and unwavering.

  He didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. “I guess you’ll have to decide what you want from me once you don’t need me around to protect you anymore.”

  Talia swallowed hard. No, she wouldn’t need him around to keep her safe, but she was afraid she already needed him in her life on a much deeper, fundamental level. “What about you, Jack? What do you want?”

  He flipped his computer closed and placed it on the floor next to him. He covered her hands where they were twisted together in her lap, a little half smile pulling at his lips. “I want the same thing I’ve always wanted. For you to want me the way I want you.”

  Heat flooded her cheeks and she dropped her gaze at the intensity of his stare. “I think we’ve already established that,” she said, her face and body getting hotter by the second as her mind flashed on all of the ways she’d shown Jack in the past few days that her passion for him matched his for her.

  “I’m not just talking about sex, Talia.”

  She looked up at the sudden note of intensity in his voice. It was matched by the look in his eyes, burning icy hot with desire and conviction and something else she wasn’t quite ready to put a name on even though she was pretty sure it was mirrored in her own gaze.

  “I want everything.”

  I want everything.

  Jack’s words echoed through her brain later that night as she struggled to keep pace with the uncharacteristically heavy Tuesday night crowd at Suzette’s.

  Everything. What did that even mean?

  She hadn’t had a chance to explore that bombshell since shortly after Jack made the declaration, the door opened and Rosie and her classmates came spilling out, alternately exclaiming that they kicked the exam’s ass or groaning that the exam had kicked theirs.

  From there they’d followed Rosie to the coffeehouse for a study group and then it was time to head to the restaurant for work, with no real chance to dissect that comment and have any kind of meaningful discussion about their relationship going forward.

  Relationship. Commitment. Giving someone a say in her life. For the first time in two years the idea of opening herself up, giving part of herself over and trusting it in someone’s care, didn’t send her into a panic.

  Because it was Jack, she thought as she put sugar and mint into a cocktail shaker and muddled them together for a customer’s mojito. She snuck a glance at him. He’d taken up his usual post at one end of the bar, his gaze constantly sweeping the crowd.

  It no longer made her uncomfortable to have him here, watching her every move and those of everyone around here.

  Now it made her feel safe, cared for.

  She handed over the mojito with a smile and gave Jack a quick signal that she needed to go to the storage room to restock. He gave her a curt nod and started to follow.

  “You have to stay with her,” she said, indicating Rosie, who was sitting at a table in a far corner with Gene the physics TA, who had generously agreed to meet Rosie at the restaurant tonight for a last-minute cram session before her physics final tomorrow.

  Jack’s mouth pulled into a grim line, and the man waiting next to him took one look at his harsh expression and took a startled step back. It wasn’t like anything was likely to happen, but Talia made the trip to the storage room in record time, knowing Jack would sweat every second he didn’t have her in view.

  As she rounded the corner back to the bar, she saw Susie and Jack in what was obviously a tense discussion.

  “Seriously, you need to tone it down a notch,” Susie was saying.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said impatien
tly as he looked over Susie’s head so he could keep Rosie in sight.

  “I’ve had several customers ask me about you this week, wondering if there’s a problem.”

  Talia’s stomach sank and the bottle of vodka gained about twenty pounds in her hand. The knot in her stomach grew worse as her gaze snagged on Susie, the irritation and exasperation unmistakable. Pitching her voice low, Susie said, “It’s one thing for him to hang out like another customer, but standing at the end of the bar like you’re waiting for someone to make a move—”

  “Which is exactly what I’m doing—” Jack snapped.

  “Well, thanks to you, people are scared to go to the bathroom,” she said, indicating the hallway behind him.

  “Sorry,” Talia said. “He needs to see me and Rosie too.”

  “Right, and she and her study partner are taking up a table that could be used for paying customers.”

  Talia bit the insides of her cheeks. It wasn’t Susie’s fault that any of this was happening. “Do you want us to go? I would hate for the business to be affected because of me.”

  Susie and Jack exchanged a long look that Talia couldn’t decipher but made her uneasy just the same. Then Susie took a slightly panicked look at the crowd growing at the bar. “God, no, not tonight anyway,” she said, and sent Jack another sharp look. “But seriously, Jack, you look like you’re about to kick the crap out of someone if they make one wrong move.”

  Susie wasn’t far off in her assessment. Something was up tonight, something he couldn’t put his finger on. But from the moment they’d left the house earlier this evening and headed to the restaurant, Jack couldn’t shake the tight, tingly feeling between his shoulders.

  Call it intuition, a sixth sense, whatever you want, but shit was about to go down. It was just a question of when and how. He was on high alert, trying to keep tabs on everyone in the restaurant and bar. But it was nearly impossible with a crowd this size and the dim lighting and constant movement.

  He itched to get Talia out of there but knew there was no way she’d go for it. No way would she leave Susie in a lurch short-staffed on what turned out to be a busier-than-usual night. Plus, it was only eight-thirty and she was already on track to double her usual amount of tips, and she’d made a big production this morning about paying him another installment on what she thought she owed him.