Jake’s home became an operations center, with the team expanding when three more men arrived. Everyone made themselves at home. Even her.
At the end of each day, Jake’s kisses sent quakes straight to her core. But not much more happened than that. Was he giving her space to recover? Or keeping the focus on work?
He can’t possibly think I’m holding on to that ridiculous hard limit. Perhaps a casual sub-to-Dom talk is in order when he has time for a break.
Kathryn worked casually from the kitchen bar. No matter how dedicated these guys were, two destinations were inevitable: the bathroom and the kitchen.
Camping outside the bathroom might get her slapped with an ad hoc restraining order. But the kitchen was fair game. And one of her favorite places in any house.
The social butterfly side of her got the rare privilege of chatting it up with some of the finest minds in information technology. These guys were goofy and funny, bashful and brilliant. Lucky for her, a few of the guys seemed just as starved as she was for the day-to-day human contact that was missing in the isolated world of teleworking.
I miss this. Being part of a team.
The only man she hadn’t seen so far had been Jake. Most days he’d have taken a few breaks by now. But the lack of Russo sightings piqued her curiosity. Her legs were begging for a stretch, and no better time than the present.
Moseying throughout the various offices and rooms on the first floor came up Jake-less. She skipped up the stairs, finding him in the hall, dressed down more than usual in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and running shoes.
“Heading to the gym?” she asked.
He swept his hand around the small of her back, pulling her in for a warm kiss. “Just want to get a quick run before the sun goes down. I need to clear my head.”
His subtle thumb strokes along her spine were enticement enough for her body to press against him harder. Her eyes closed as another kiss descended on her lips.
“Hey,” he murmured against her mouth, “do you run?”
* * *
Kathryn was a decent endurance runner. But as their feet pounded along the dirt trail that wrapped through the woods on his property, she could hear the obvious difference in their steps. “You don’t have to do that,” she panted out as she wiped sweat from her brow.
“Do what?” he said with a chuckle.
“It’s like you’re a cheetah pacing itself with a gimpy zebra. Seriously, I’d love to see you take off.”
“No way,” he said, barely huffing or breaking a sweat. “I have to keep an eye on my gimpy zebra. Make sure no one feasts on her before I do. Besides, I’m dying to know what you’ve figured out.”
What are you, a mind reader too? That would explain a few things.
“What makes you think I’ve figured anything out?”
“You came looking for me.”
“Maybe I missed you.”
“No doubt about that, kitten. But I get the sense you wanted to share something with me. Or bounce something off of me. If it’s the latter, fingers crossed it’s your breasts.”
She laughed at the middle-school remark. “You’re right.”
“It is your breasts? Yes! The fellas might be watching, but I know a little spot right behind those pines.” He nudged her elbow and winked.
“Seriously, I’ve got something else to bounce off you.” Her voice trailed off.
“Look, you can lay it on me. And that’s a standing invitation for your breasts too.”
Kathryn stopped running, planting her hands on her hips and bending over slightly as she caught her breath. “What I’m about to say might sound crazy . . .”
“Crazy sounds interesting,” he said, encouraging her to walk so she could cool down.
As they strolled, her mind spun.
“I was thinking about motive. The UMO would have no advantage. At all. But then I started to think of this like insider trading. When people know what’s going to happen to a stock before the rest of the world does, they can bet big and rake in the winnings. What if the UMO had their own insider trading?”
Jake shook his head. “I’m not following.”
“Bear with me. What if the UMO knew a soldier was having issues with their spouse. Some spouses will do almost anything to get out of their marriage.”
“Okay, so they file for divorce.”
“Yes, they file for divorce. But in some states, filing for divorce becomes a long, drawn-out process, extending to an exhaustive level if the service member deploys. Most courts will automatically freeze the proceedings. So, instead of filing for divorce, they—”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “They take out a major life insurance policy and the soldier gets sent to a high-risk deployment. Everyone rolls the dice on the poor bastard dying.”
“I don’t know for sure this is the situation. It’s just—”
“A hunch. I know.”
He stared off in the distance, turning away from her. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, hugging hard, and he stacked his warm hands over hers.
“Kathryn, you’re hesitating again. Must be something you know I won’t want to hear.”
Swallowing hard, she sighed. “Dominguez.”
Releasing his hands, Jake tried to step away, but she held him tighter. His head tilted toward her, but his body didn’t move.
His voice turned cold. “What did you find?”
“Just his name. And a loose association. And . . .” She couldn't say the words. When his body tensed in her hold, she released him. “Jake—”
“You’re right.” He took a few steps away. “I need a run. I’ll meet you back at the house.”
Without another word, he dashed down a trail and into the thick cluster of trees, disappearing into the woods.