by Laney Kay
After he’d caught his breath, Jake raised his head. He stared solemnly at Lola, as if trying to figure out what to say, and he finally just smiled and shook his head, as if amazed. “Holy shit, Lola.”
She smiled back. “Right?! What the hell was that?”
He pulled himself to his feet, and then pulled her up beside him. They staggered together to the bathroom, both of them laughing at their shaky legs. Jake took care of the condom, washed his hands, and hugged Lola. “If you want to take a quick shower, there are fresh towels and I’ll bring your clothes in here for you.”
Lola thought a hot shower sounded great. “I’ll be super quick.” She smiled. “Want to join me?”
For about a second he was tempted, but then he thought better of it. He mock frowned at her. “Hell, no. If we get in that shower together, you know what’s going to happen.”
She shrugged. “So?”
He thought about it for a second. “Good question.” He shrugged, too. “We’re grown. I’m the boss here, and I can do what I want.” He started toward the shower, then hesitated. “Although I am kind of hungry.”
At the thought of food, Lola’s eyes lit up and all thoughts of shower sex flew out of her mind. “Ohmygawd, Jake, I’m so hungry, too.” She put up a hand and pushed him away from the shower. “Just give me two seconds to wash up and you can hop in and then we can go eat.” She wrapped a towel around her head to keep her hair dry and jumped in the shower.
Jake laughed at her enthusiasm. As she took an extremely quick shower, he went in and picked up their clothes and put them on the bathroom counter. By the time he was back, she was hopping out of the shower and hustling him in so they could go find something to eat.
Lola called to Jake as she jerked on her jeans. “Where are we going?”
Jake turned the water off, stepped out, and grabbed a towel. Lola admired her close up view of a naked Jake as she pulled on her bra and shirt, momentarily distracted from the thought of lunch. Jake grinned as he answered. “We’ve got a full restaurant downstairs, and you can order whatever you want.”
Ten minutes later, they were on their way down to the office bistro, and five minutes after that, Lola managed to order just about one of everything on the menu and piled it onto four trays. When they went to pay, Jake just shrugged at the cashier’s wide eyes. “Miss Clara, just put all this on my tab, please.” She nodded and Jake and Lola picked up their trays and headed to a table near the window. As they crossed the dining area, it was obvious that people were staring at them and whispering, and Jake sighed and tried to ignore it.
Lola thought the attention, and Jake’s reaction to it, was hilarious. “So boss man, it’s pretty obvious that everyone is checking out the fact that you have a lunch date.”
Jake smiled as she pulled three of the four trays to her side of the table. “Maybe they were amazed at how much you can eat.”
Lola shrugged, unconcerned. “Could be.” She dipped a french fry in ketchup and waved it at him. “But if I were to guess, I’d guess they were excited that the boss was finally able to convince some poor woman that he’s not a total loser when it comes to women.”
She popped the fry in her mouth and grinned as Jake gritted his teeth as he muttered to himself. “Damn Jerry Jeff has probably told everyone in the building, by now.” He took a bite of his chicken sandwich and shook his head as he chewed, still mumbling under his breath. “I swear, this office is nothing but a bunch of gossipy busybodies.”
Lola started laughing but stopped teasing him as she started working her way through lunch. They had almost finished, until Lola saw someone walk by with banana pudding. She was outraged. “Seriously, there was banana pudding and no one told me?” and he just laughed and told her to have at it. She came back to the table with a double order of banana pudding and a refill on both of their drinks.
She sat down, ate a huge bite of pudding and moaned at the taste. Jake smiled as she held out a spoonful for him. “Come on Jake, it’s delicious.” She winked. “I swear it’s the second best thing I’ve had in my mouth all day.” That made him laugh so he quickly took the bite and then kissed her. She nodded as she chewed and then swallowed. “Mmm, mmm, good.”
Jake and Lola were laughing as she finished up the last of her pudding when his phone signified an incoming text. When he saw who it was, he smiled, and when Lola lifted her eyebrows in question, Jake nodded and put his phone back in his pocket. He held out his hand. “Come on Ms. Lola. Let me introduce you to my business partner and then we’re going to get out of here and head up to my house.” Lola grabbed his hand and followed him out the door toward the elevator.
They stepped into the elevator and Jake pushed the button for the top floor. He turned to her. “Let me tell you something real quick. My partner, Kent Babbitt, is one of my best friends. We were roommates at Alabama, while I was in grad school and he was in law school, we went to the FBI Academy together, and we both ended up here in the Atlanta office, but in different divisions. Anyway, to make a long story short, he was shot during the same bank robbery that I got shot in, but he was much more severely injured and is now in a wheelchair. I just didn’t want you to be surprised when you met him.”
“That totally sucks.” Lola shook her head. “How many agents were hurt that day?”
“Three, but Kent was the most seriously injured.”
“He’s a quadriplegic, or paraplegic?”
“He’s a paraplegic.”
Lola nodded. “That happened to a member of Mikey’s team in the same incident that injured Mikey and Matt. He was actually pretty lucky because his injury didn’t actually sever the spinal cord, plus it was so low on his spinal cord that he still has sensory function. He has control of his bladder and bowels, and he still has sexual function, but he can’t walk.”
“That’s the same kind of injury Kent has. He’s actually started getting a little movement in his feet and toes over the past couple of years. He’s so damn hard-headed, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not walking again at some point.”
Lola smiled at that. “That would be great.” The elevator doors opened and they walked toward Kent’s office.
Before they could get there, his office door banged open and a blond man in a racing wheelchair flew out the door, coming toward them in a high rate of speed. Before he hit them, he reached forward and pulled a lever and spun around, stopping inches from Jake’s leg. The man grinned up at him. “Holy shit, Jake, check out the new wheels. I’m going to smoke those guys this summer.” He saw Lola standing on the other side of Jake, grinning at him. He peeled off his racing glove and held out a hand. “Kent Babbitt, soon to be kicking ass in the Boston Marathon, if I have anything to do with it.”
Lola walked closer, grabbed his hand and shook it. “Lola Prentiss. Would love to see you kick ass in the Boston Marathon, Kent Babbitt.” She admired his chair. “I take it that’s a new chair?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Not just a new chair, but the same one that BMW designed for team USA at the Rio Paralympic Games. All carbon fiber, freak fast, super light. I’m going to try it out at the Peachtree this year, then I’m shooting to qualify for Boston at the Atlanta Marathon later this fall.”
“Between the chair and the fact that Jake says you never give up, I’m sure you’ll do it. I’ll be looking forward to watching you, Kent.”
He glanced approvingly at Jake. “Hey Jake, I like this one.” He turned back to Lola. “Look, Lola, I need to tell you a couple of things about Jake. I know he seems like he’s got some major issues with women, and I can’t even remember the last time he had a date besides his sister’s friend who just goes out with him so he doesn’t look like a total loser at charity events, but give him a chance. He apparently sucks at dating, but I swear, he’s generally a good guy.”
Jake’s mouth dropped open as he stared at his friend, and Lola burst out laughing. “Thanks, Kent. Jerry Jeff and Jake’s brother already warned me about his history with women, so I’ll k
eep all that in mind.”
As Jake glared at Kent, his friend smiled innocently. “What?” Kent spun the chair around and went back into his office, with Jake and Lola following him. “Hey Jake, if you get a chance, take a look at this new proposal. There’s a nuclear facility that needs updated computer and facility security, and I need your input for the computer security side of the proposal. All the facility info and the due date for the proposal are in there.” As Jake and Lola sat in the seats across from Kent’s desk, Kent grabbed the proposal and handed it to Jake.
Jake nodded. “I’ll take care of it. We’re heading to my place for the next couple of days, so I’m working from there if you need me.”
Kent nodded. “Great.” He narrowed his eyes and stared at Lola. “I talked to Jerry Jeff about your situation, Lola. We’ve got some great people working on your problem, but you need to be careful till we figure out what’s going on.” He looked at Jake. “Who’s on your surveillance?”
“B-Ray and Logan for now, and Matt said he’d set up teams after tomorrow. We’re going to my house, so we should be fine there until we figure this out.”
“Good.” Kent went around his desk and transferred from his racing chair to his desk chair. He leaned back and studied both of them. “Y’all need anything else?”
Jake shook his head. “Nope. For now, we’re going to see what move, if any, they’re going to make and we’ll go from there. We’ll keep you posted.”
“Great. Lola, I hear from several of the guys that work here, plus a couple of cop friends of mine, that you’re quite a lawyer.” He winked at her. “Maybe you could use some of those skills for good, instead of evil, and figure out the best way to get these corporate assholes off your back. You got any media contacts, if it comes to that? If not, I have a few we could access if we need them.”
Lola nodded. “I have a few. Hopefully, we’ll have an idea of how to progress after the next few days.”
“I hope so.” He smiled at both of them. Y’all heading out now?”
Jake and Lola stood up and Jake grabbed Lola’s hand. “Yep. Call me if you need anything. We’ll be back in the morning to meet with a friend of Jerry Jeff’s then we’ll probably go back to my house until we decide what we need to do.”
Kent nodded. “Just keep me in the loop and we’ll figure this out.”
“Thanks for all your help, Kent, and glad to meet you. Enjoy your new chair.” Lola smiled at Kent, and she and Jake waved as they headed out.
They took the elevator to the garage, got into Jake’s truck, and headed to his house. Jake’s office was located on the north side of Roswell, so it only took them about twenty minutes to get to his house. They pulled up to a gate at the end of a narrow road, and Jake punched in a code and sat there until the gate opened.
Lola looked disappointed, so Jake asked, “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “You said your place had great security. That was kind of a letdown. All you did was pull up and punch in a code. I expected something kickass, like trained attack weasels or maybe some kind of gator-filled moat.”
Jake pulled through the gate and smirked at her. “Don’t let appearances fool you. When I punched in that code, it also ran me through a series of biometric recognition scans, so it was much more complicated than it looked.” He waved his hands to the thick woods surrounding his driveway. “We’re about a quarter of a mile from the house, and this entire area is completely covered. There are sensors in the road that can detect weight and motion, cameras all over, heat sensors, motion detectors, drones, all kinds of fun toys. You name it, and it’s monitoring this piece of property. No one can approach the house without us knowing about it. We rarely need a safe house, but when we do, this is it.”
Lola squinted through the trees, but she couldn’t spot any of the devices, he’d named, not that she’d know what they looked like anyway. “Are these some more of Jerry Jeff’s wizardry?”
“Some of them. But most are just great pieces of equipment that were originally designed for use in the military or for NSA surveillance.” Jake grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “When we get to the house, I’ll show you how the system works and we’ll take a walk and look around.”
Lola raised her eyebrows. “Do you have a Batcave that’s as cool as mine?”
Jake grinned at her. “Of course, I do. But it’s different. Mine is a bunker under the garage, and we can access if from the house, the woods, the boathouse, or the garage.”
“Awesome.” They came around the final bend in the driveway, and pulled up behind a nice-sized house with a metal roof. The house was single story with a screened porch all the way around it and it faced the lake, and there was a large, free-standing garage connected to the house with a big carport. Lola sucked in a breath. “Holy shit, Jake, what a beautiful house. I love the way it’s seated on the property and I love the fact it’s not some huge monstrosity. What is it, about three thousand square feet?”
They both opened their doors and got out. “Yep. Including the basement. Thanks, wait until you see the inside. One of my cousins is a builder and the living room and master bedroom are timber-framed, using wood from trees we cut down on the property. It’s really beautiful.” Jake opened the hatchback and grabbed Lola’s bag. “Come on in and I’ll show you around.”
Jake let them inside, and he watched Lola’s face as she walked into the great room. She sucked in a breath as she looked up at the fourteen-foot beamed ceilings and the polished wooden floors. The room was comfortably sized, with plenty of space for the living room area and the kitchen with an island and a built-in banquette. “OhmyGawd, Jake, this is stunning.” She glanced at a large wall of windows that overlooked the lake. “Can you see the lake from every room in the house?”
He nodded. “Pretty much. The master bedroom, my office, and the great room and kitchen combo are on this floor and they all face the lake, and there are four small bedrooms and a room with a huge TV, a workout area, and a pool table downstairs. The bedrooms all face the lake, but the TV room and rec room are on the side and back of the house.” He walked her over to the windows and pointed toward the lake. “That’s my boathouse and dock, and on the other side of it, down by the lake, I just put in an outdoor kitchen and a screened porch with a huge dining table and a living area with a huge TV. It’ll be great for parties and football games.”
Lola agreed. “It is absolutely gorgeous.” She looked around. “So why don’t we go fix us a drink and you can show me around?”
“You got it.” Jake poured them both a glass of tea and walked them through the house. When they got to his bedroom, Jake propped himself in the doorway and waved his hand. “Here’s my room.”
Lola stuck her head in, and whistled long and low. “Wow, Jake, this is a nice room.” The ceiling had thick beams, like the great room, and there was a twelve foot high wall of windows that showed a stunning view of the lake from one end of the room to the other. There was plenty of room for Jake’s king-sized bed, a dresser, and a seating area with a couple of comfortable-looking leather chairs surrounding a big ottoman. The bed and the chairs all faced the lake, and when Lola looked to the left, she could see a bathroom. She wandered over. “Hot damn, Jake, you may never get me out of this bathroom.”
There was a six-foot soaking tub, big enough for two, overlooking the lake, a huge tiled shower with a big seat, a couple of shower heads, including a rain shower overhead and a handheld shower to the side, a double vanity, and behind a partially opened door, there was a full-sized laundry room. Lola grinned at Jake. “We definitely need to try out that tub tonight, big guy.”
He snorted. “If you think we can make it till tonight.”
She turned her wrist to check out the time. “It’s after four. I’m sure I can hold out till tonight. Show me the rest of the house.”
They went back into his room, and walked through a door on the other side. A hallway was flanked by two huge, walk-in closets, one on each side, and at the end of the hallway
was his office. He had a big desk facing the lake, with another seating area with the same style of chairs as the ones in his bedroom facing the lake and a big ottoman between them. Lola pointed to the chairs. “These look familiar.” When Lola grinned at him, he shrugged. “I’m not a particularly innovative decorator. I liked those chairs so I bought four of them.”
She laughed. “I like them, too.”
“Here’s something I want to show you.” He walked over to a built-in bookcase beside his desk, fiddled with something on a shelf, and a panel slid up. He put his face up to the panel, and suddenly, the section of bookcase next to where he was standing, slid open. He bowed and waved her in front of him. “Come check out my version of the Batcave, sugar.”
As soon as they stepped in, Jake hit another button and the door slid shut silently behind them. He grabbed her hand, and they walked down a long hallway that was brightly lit with fluorescent lights. Lola was confused. “Are we going down?”
Jake nodded. “Yep. It’s gradual, but it goes down a total of about thirty feet. It’s directly underneath the garage, and the concrete is reinforced and blast-proof. We had to make it that deep to be able to do everything we needed to do to it and to make it so it’s undetectable from above.”
The hallway opened into what looked like a large apartment. The living room had a desk area with monitors on the wall showing different areas of the house and property. Jake pulled up a chair for Lola and then sat down and logged into the computer. When the screen he wanted came up, he dragged her chair closer. “Okay, let’s get you set up with the biometrics on my security system. Once that’s done, you’ll be able to get into the Batcave, you can get into the gate here, my house, my office and you can start any of the cars owned by our company. Anywhere there’s security, you’ll have unlimited access.”
