Standby (Open Skies Book 4) by Becca Jameson (popular e readers .TXT) 📕

Renee looked down at her mug and ran her finger around the rim. “Heather Kotter.”

“Yes.”

Renee lifted her gaze. “I assume you’re the next flavor of the year?”

“Yes.” Shayla let out a breath.

“Man’s an asshole. Dump him fast.”

“Already did. It’s been three months.”

Renee cringed. “Let me guess. He hasn’t found his next victim yet.”

“Correct.”

Her cringe turned into a sympathetic sigh. “That’s the hard part. Waiting for him to find someone else to harass.”

“So he harassed you too after you broke up with him?”

“Yes. For months. There must be at least one person between you and me because it ended about a year ago.”

Shayla sighed, her shoulders dropping. She rubbed her temples to ease the tension. What a mess. “Did you tell anyone?”

“No. Not even my family. I was too embarrassed.”

“Me too. And what good would it do? I told Heather, even if we found twenty women, no one would believe us over him. That isn’t the kind of world we live in.”

“Exactly. So I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell anyone. I’m finally pulling my life back together. I’m not mentally healthy enough to endure the public scrutiny.”

Shayla nodded. “I won’t say a word. Heather won’t either. She agrees with us.”

“I hate feeling that way. What if he really hurts someone and I didn’t say anything? But I can’t let myself worry about other people right now. I just don’t have it in me.”

Shayla reached over and gave Renee’s hand a squeeze. “You’re not alone. That matters a lot. We can swap phone numbers. Call me if you ever need someone to dump on. I have learned since meeting Heather that it helps to not feel as isolated anymore. For a while, I worried I was crazy.”

Renee squeezed Heather’s hand in return and smiled. “You’ll get through this. I did. He’ll find someone else soon.”

Shayla signed. “I’m not sure my current boyfriend is going to let this go.” It felt weird using the word boyfriend to describe Jake, but it also felt kind of right.

Renee laughed. “I’m glad you’ve found someone else. Why does he care so much?”

Shayla shrugged. “He’s kind of macho. The alpha type, I guess. He can’t stand the idea of any woman being abused. I think he’d like to nail Hawke to the wall for some other infraction just to put the asshole in his place, but so far Hawke is squeaky clean.”

“That sucks.”

“Except…” Shayla grinned conspiratorially. “He’s married.”

“What?” Renee nearly shouted.

Shayla nodded. “I think he keeps that detail very quiet. Jake discovered it by accident. He has two kids too.”

“No shit? I bet his wife would love to hear about all the women he keeps on the side.”

“Right? Though I worry that she’s abused too, perhaps even worse than any of us. We got out. She’s been with him for years.”

Renee cringed. “He’s probably gaslighting her.”

“I agree.”

Renee drew in a long breath and looked at her phone. “Shit. I gotta go. Told my mom I would come by for dinner after I got off. She’s probably wondering where I am.”

Shayla scribbled her number on a piece of paper and handed it to Renee. “Call me if you want.”

“I’ll text you now so you’ll have my number too. And let me know if anything happens. Even though I don’t have the balls to come forward, I would sleep better at night if I knew that asshole couldn’t hurt anyone else.”

“I will.”

Chapter 13

Jake spun around from where he stood at the stove when Shayla walked in. He’d been worried about her but didn’t want to seem overbearing by calling her. “Hey. How was work?”

“Fine. I found Renee Delgado and met her for coffee after work. That’s why I’m so late. Sorry. I should have texted you. When I decided to hunt her down, I was expecting to simply get a visual. Turned out she was just getting off her shift, so we talked for a while.”

Jake leaned against the counter. This relationship he had with Shayla was the weirdest one of his life. On the one hand, they often acted like an established couple, coming in from work, sharing about their day. On the other hand, they didn’t touch. Which in a way made them more like an old married couple. Not a newly formed unit.

The urge to reach out and pull her into his arms, kiss her senseless, and let dinner burn while he stripped her down and fucked her on the table was strong. It had grown stronger by the hour since her striptease the other night.

Now that he’d seen her fucking amazing body, he wanted to smooth his hands all over her skin. Feel her. Taste her. Inhale her scent until it was embedded in him.

“Did she add anything we didn’t already know?” he asked, restraining himself as Shayla removed her shoes and hopped onto a bar stool. As usual, he found her uniform sexy. Or maybe he was simply growing desperate.

“Not really. Same thing happened to her. She believes there must have been at least one woman between us because he stopped harassing her about a year ago.”

Jake nodded slowly. “Did she know he was married?”

“Nope.”

“Then he definitely keeps that under wraps. How many times did he text you today?”

“Three, but I didn’t read them.” She reached into her purse, grabbed her phone, and handed it to Jake.

He opened it, scanned the texts, and closed it. “Nothing new. That’s good. As long as he’s not escalating.” The words he’d read made him cringe even today, but he didn’t flinch outwardly. No need to upset Shayla.

She glanced over his shoulder and drew in a slow breath. “Smells good. You’re spoiling me. What are you cooking?”

“Spaghetti. Nothing fancy. Don’t start thinking I can cook. You’ve only been here a week. It’s more of a bait and switch. I’m running out of my specialties.” He wiggled his brows.

She chuckled. “Noted. And just for the record, you didn’t have to lure me in with your cooking. I’m a sure thing. I’d be