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

house with her. She told him she was leaving and packed up some things for her and the kids. Hawke was apparently calm while she was there and then began screaming at her as she left. He threw some things out into the yard, and then started texting her abusively two minutes later.”

Shayla sighed. “I feel so bad for her.”

“I know.”

Another text came in and Jake flinched. “Shit.”

Shayla tipped her head so she could see what Marilyn said next, but froze when she saw the text that had come from Hawke instead.

You fucking cunt. You’re going to pay.

Jake stiffened. “I think we should call the police. File a restraining order at the very least.”

Shayla nodded. “You’re right.”

And so the rest of their evening ended up being consumed with filing a police report and ordering a restraining order. At least they had a contact at the police department now in case things escalated. Detective Rick Stallman.

After that, they checked in with the other three women to make sure no one else had received threatening texts or calls. Thank God Raeann was out of town for the night, otherwise, they wouldn’t have felt safe leaving her alone in the condo.

It was late when Jake ran Shayla a bath and turned on the jets. He stood, tipped her chin back, and kissed her. “I’ll leave you alone to soak for a while. Want a glass of wine?”

“That sounds perfect.” While he was gone, she slid under the water and let her muscles relax. Somehow, she had to pull her shit together because tomorrow she had to work in the afternoon, an overnight that would keep her out of town until Monday afternoon. At least being out of town she wouldn’t have to worry about Hawke hunting her down for the next two days.

Jake returned with her wine and sat on the edge of the tub. “You sure you don’t want to take a few days off work? I’m sure people will understand if you call in.”

She shook her head. “I won’t let him disturb my job. He wins if I start hiding to the extent that I’m afraid to work. And besides, who exactly would understand? I haven’t told anyone about this shitshow.”

“Okay. I get it. I just want to make sure you’re not pushing yourself to do something you don’t have to do.”

She lifted a hand out of the water and reached for his, getting his jeans wet. “I’ll be fine. Promise. I can compartmentalize. As soon as I’m in my element at work, I’ll be able to ignore all of this.”

He lifted her hand to his lips, kissed her fingers, and then leaned over and kissed her lips too. “I’ll be in the bedroom. Yell if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

When she came out of the bathroom half an hour later, wrapped in a towel, Jake was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, his computer on his lap. He set it aside and came to her.

She didn’t question him as he took the towel away and tugged one of his T-shirts over her head. He pulled back the covers next. “Climb in.”

“You don’t like what I normally wear to bed?” she teased.

He lifted a brow, smirking. “Which would be nothing or those tiny tank tops?”

She chuckled.

“I like you in my shirts better.”

“Because they cover more skin?”

He laughed as he pulled the covers over her.

“I like them better too. They smell like you. I think I’ll take this one on my trip tomorrow.”

“Good. We can video chat when you get to the hotel.”

She rolled onto her side to face him as he climbed into the other side of the bed. “I hate that our plans for the day got ruined.”

“Me too, but there’s no rush. I know your attention is focused on other things. There’s no way to avoid it. We’ll take a rain check. I promise I’ll have you pinned under me the moment I know we can enjoy ourselves fully without outside shit hanging over us.”

She scooted closer to his side of the bed. “Would you mind holding me?”

He closed his laptop, turned out the light, and came to her. “Any time.” He pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead.

For the first time in her life, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace. Despite Hawke’s attempts to ruin her life and the fact that she hadn’t had sex all day as planned, she was beyond comfortable and relaxed in Jake’s arms. Hawke couldn’t take this away from her.

All she could do was pray once again that the foundation she’d laid with Jake was solid enough to keep its momentum when things in her life calmed down. She trusted him. She knew he cared about her. But she didn’t trust the universe to give her this.

Chapter 19

Shayla was working with Heather the next night. Interesting coincidence since the two of them hadn’t worked together very often. She was beyond grateful too because she didn’t have to fake like her life was all roses and butterflies with a stranger. Or worse—someone from the rumor mill glaring daggers at her for seven hours.

Heather knew everything. What little she had missed, Shayla caught her up on before the flight took off.

Luckily, it was uneventful. They arrived in Seattle on time, and Shayla was looking forward to a quiet dinner with Heather and then a good night’s rest about as far from Dallas as she could get.

After checking in to the hotel, Shayla turned to Heather. “So, I’ll meet you back down here in thirty and we’ll go to dinner?”

“Sounds good. See you then.”

Since Heather’s room was in a different tower of the hotel, they went to separate elevators, and Shayla rode to the sixth floor. As soon as she was in her room, she kicked off her shoes. She decided to call Jake and put him on speaker while she finished undressing.

He answered on the second ring. “Hey. You make it okay?”

“Yep. I was stressed, but I survived the day.