Breaking Free: Breaking Free Duet Book #1

by JL Davis

  She looks up, hope now in her eyes. “That will be nice.” She lingers.

  I lean in and playfully nibble her bottom lip. “We’d better go.” I squeeze her ass, and she finally smiles softly.

  I close the bedroom door behind us and wrap my arm around her waist as we walk to the door. I want to be as close to her for as long as I possibly can, until I have to finally let her go. I don’t know what I’ll do with myself without her. I know it was only a weekend, but I got so used to her being with me. I’d much rather be with her than by myself. I’m not any fun alone.

  Brooke locks the door. “You okay with coming back next weekend if we can?”

  “Hell yes.” I beam and almost trip down the stairs, but it gets me another smile, so it was worth it.

  As we walk to her SUV, Brooke turns to me, “I’ll talk with Mya tonight. I’m sure she will call soon anyway.” Brooke rolls her eyes.

  I can’t help but worry what that conversation could be like. I’m hoping when I meet with Mya this week, it will be our last. I hope I’ll be given a new counselor and preferably a man this time. I wonder if it’s too late to request that, or if I even could.

  “Will you also remind her about my new transfer? That would be great.” I chuckle.

  “On it,” she says softly and wraps her arms around my neck and looks up at me adoringly.

  “Thank you.” I bring my hand up, cup her cheek, and kiss her tenderly.

  As our lips part, Brooke grips my neck, and her eyes are still closed. “Kiss me like you’ll never kiss me again,” she breathes.

  My lips first brush over hers before I thrust my tongue into her mouth. She deepens the kiss with such passion before she breaks away, panting.

  “If we continue, we’ll never leave,” she breathes. “I’ll give you my house number so we can talk at night.” She grins. That could be fun actually.

  “Be careful.” I kiss her once more before she gets into her SUV and I close the door.

  She rolls the window down. “You too. I’ll be waiting for your call.” She winks and pulls away.

  As she slowly disappears in the distance, I get into my truck and my heart begins to ache. I don’t like being away from her. I want her with me always. I need her and she’s worth every bit of pain I feel, because shortly after the pain arrives it’s replaced with happiness being with her again. I need to remind myself of the fun we’ve had and the fun we will have. Brooke is worth all of it.

  I tried to be strong. I really did. I didn’t want to leave Cole or for him to see me upset. I know we haven’t known each other for years, or even that many months for that matter, but this weekend sure felt like we have. We had so many laughs and I got to know him a lot better. It was nice to be myself with him, turn the parole officer off, but turn me on, and that he did. I think I may have even seen stars at one point.

  I call Mya before I get home and fill her in on our weekend just a bit. I know Cole’s uncomfortable with me discussing our relationship, with her still being his therapist. She has already put in for a transfer. He will be glad to hear that and also that we can go back to the lake house next weekend. I’ll call him later from my house phone after I get settled in. My cell is a work cell and they could screen the calls. It would be odd if they found us conversing so late at night and so much. It would throw some major red flags.

  After a shower, I unpack and wash a load of laundry before I get ready for bed. I can’t wait to call Cole. I feel like a teenager with a crush. I have butterflies in my stomach and my heart is racing as I dial his number. It rings several times before someone finally answers. I wasn’t expecting anyone other than Cole. I sure as hell wasn’t expecting a woman to answer.

  “Hello.” The mystery woman giggles through the phone. Her voice, like daggers in my ear.

  I’m thrown off completely. “Uh, is Cole there?”

  “He is, one sec.” She yells his name and I hear a little scuffling before he finally picks up.

  “Hello.” His voice deep, thick, and so sexy. No. I am pissed.

  “Who was that?” I’m not even going to attempt to wait, but I try to stay calm. We said no one else.

  “That was Jim’s wife. He’s my boss remember? They just happened to stop by to say hello. Wasn’t that nice of them?” he asks sarcastically. “I was outside with Jim while he smoked, and I guess she thought it was okay to answer my phone. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Call me when they leave, okay?” I try to be happy. I want to be happy, but I want to be there with him.

  “Actually, I’m going to get them to leave now. This call is very important to me and I need to take it,” Cole whispers, and I hear him set the phone down.

  I can’t believe that I even allowed those thoughts into my head. Cole’s been nothing but honest with me. I have no reason not to trust him. I feel a little guilty for reacting the way that I did. I need to relax. I could if he were here, in bed with me.

  “Okay, are you still there?” Cole asks. He sounds like him, only warmer and more enticing.

  “I am. You’re welcome.” I giggle.

  “Thank you. I’d much rather be talking to you,” he promises. “I already miss you,” he admits.

  “Me too. I couldn’t wait to call you, actually.” I didn’t mean to give away that little tidbit, but I don’t care. It’s too late to guard my heart. It’s beating again because of him. After dating so many assholes and seeing them on a daily basis, I’d pretty much given up on men for a while, until Cole came along.

  “What are you doing?” he asks, doing something. I’m not sure what.

  “I’m lying in bed. I wish you were here with me.”

  “Are you trying to kill me?” he huffs. “I wish I was too, so much.” He sighs.

  “What are you doing?” I try to change the subject.

  “I’m also in bed and now fighting a boner. What are you wearing?”

  “A white t-shirt. That’s it.” I bite my lip to keep from laughing. This is exciting.

  “I’m about to come sneak through your window,” he whines.

  “Could you imagine if you did, and you got caught?” I laugh. “Oh. My. God. It’s not funny, but it is. We’d both be screwed.”

  “I’d never hear the end of it ‘inside’. I wonder what would happen?”

  “We’re not going to find out.” I laugh and roll over onto my stomach to get more comfortable.

  “I’m only joking. I don’t want to find out. I’ll never go back.” He assures me. “I wish I could talk all night with you, but we have inventory in the morning. I have to be in at five o’clock. I’m already regretting volunteering to help Jim with it.” He sighs.

  “Don’t. You are showing initiative, responsibility, and I bet you’ll be happy when you get paid.” I giggle.

  “You’re right. I’d much rather talk to you, though,” he grumbles.

  “Me too, but when we go to sleep and wake up, there will only be one day before we see each other. Maybe I can make a surprise visit, just to see you’re doing okay.”

  “I think I might make a bad decision between now and our meeting, so it might be a good thing that you stop by. I may need your guidance, your expertise.” He yawns.

  “I can’t have that when you’re in my care. You could even call me tomorrow during the day, just to make it look a little better. I’ll let you go to sleep now. Dream of me.”

  “I sure hope so,” he says tiredly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  I’ve waited to hear from Cole all morning and nothing yet. I can’t cling to him saying he’d call. He could’ve gotten busy at work. I need to quit being so needy. There was life before Cole. But I must admit, life’s better with him in it.

  I focus on a file for a new parolee whom I have a meeting with shortly. I open it and am shocked to see that it’s an old college friend. I haven’t seen him in a long time. He seems to have made some bad decisions the last couple of years. I’m sure he’ll be surprised to see me.

  About an hour lat
er, Taylor is knocking on my door and I walk over to open it.

  To say he’s shocked is an understatement. The way he’s staring at me makes me a little uncomfortable. “Taylor,” I say firmly, grabbing his attention. He was so focused on my body, even though it’s covered in this damn pantsuit.

  “Brooke. It’s been a while.” He nods and lowers his head as he walks past me.

  I close the door, walk over to my desk, and take a seat. “Take a seat, Taylor.”

  “Yeah, sorry.” He sits down in front of me. His eyes dance about the top of my desk nervously.

  “Relax, Taylor. Let’s start with what got you here and we can move on to your parole plan.” I nod and give a tight-lipped smile.

  Taylor explains that his wife was a manipulative, repetitive cheater, and the last one was a friend of his. Taylor snapped when she wasn’t worth any of what he ended up getting. I feel bad for him, to a point. I get giving her one chance, but again. Poor Taylor is an enabler in a fantasy world thinking she’d change after the third chance. Women like that don’t change and I’m glad Taylor realized that and filed for divorce before he went to prison.

  Taylor, like Cole, is the type of parolee who makes me love what I do. I can see the potential that they have forgotten about while being locked up. I see that they can be better people. They are good people; they’ve just made mistakes because of horrible people. With myself, and my coworkers’ behind them, supporting them, we can get them on a path for success.

  It’s nearly four o’clock and the fact that I still haven’t heard from him has me a bit concerned. When we spoke last night, I was under the assumption that he would be calling while I was at work. Maybe I misunderstood. I was tired. Maybe he forgot. He had to get up super early. I think I’ll call his job, just to check in. No harm in that at all.

  Today has been the day from hell. I guess that’s not entirely true. The day I was sentenced was the day from hell. I can’t believe Brooke hasn’t showed up yet. The officer who took my statement said that she would be notified of the incident.

  So, today was inventory day. It wasn’t mandatory, but I need the money and wasn’t going to turn it down. I didn’t know when I volunteered and arrived this morning that Maggie would be overseeing the process. She was here first thing this morning, getting everything ready for us. I wasn’t happy about it at all, but she was ecstatic.

  I did the best I could. I really did, until I didn’t. I was busy counting a case of larger glass vases on a top shelf. I was trying to be as careful as I could, considering how I’ve been having so many accidents lately.

  Fucking Maggie slithered over between me and the shelf without me knowing. I couldn’t see her because I had the box partially pulled out to see inside better. The next thing I knew, I’m being groped and it’s gross. She’s so desperate and disgusting. I’m sure some poor, weak-ass man will fall for that nasty, loose, bitch, but it won’t be me. I started to lose my balance, the box crashed to the floor, and I followed a moment later. My legs went flying and kicked her upside the head on my way down. Karma’s a bitch. I love it.

  Now all I have left to do is press charges on her for what she did. The officers are currently watching the security footage to see if it caught her grabbing on me. With my luck it didn’t.

  “Cole!” I hear my name in the distance and I’ve never been so glad to hear that voice.

  I lift my head from my hands and stand. “Brooke, I can explain. It wasn’t my fault. I promise. You have to believe me.” I panic.

  Brooke reaches for me and quickly diverts. “Cole, calm down. I’ve spoken to the officers. I also watched the tape with them. You are fine. You were completely honest, and Maggie is going to jail for sexual assault. Are you okay?” she asks, her eyes misty as she searches my face.

  “I’m fine, really. But Jim was so embarrassed by his sister’s behavior. A news reporter even came by, but Jim had an officer escort him off the property. I’m waiting for the go-ahead from the officers, so I can get back to work.”

  Brooke looks at me like I have a second head. “You aren’t working after this incident. I’ve spoken with Jim already. I told him that you would need to speak with your therapist because this could affect your progress. He completely understood and agreed. I hope you don’t mind.” She smiles mischievously, extremely proud of herself.

  I shake my head in shock. She swooped in and made it all better. “You’re amazing,” I whisper.

  “Oh, did I forget to mention with pay, for the rest of the week? Consider it pain and suffering in exchange for not suing the shit out of the company. There will be a restraining order in place. She will do her job from video chat and that’s if she needs to communicate with anyone other than Jim. You won’t see her again.” She nods matter of factly.

  “I guess I should come right in then for a meeting.” I assume from what she’d just said. I honestly do need to talk about it. I’ve never been put in a situation like that, that I didn’t want first. I was violated and it was disgusting. Just thinking of her nasty hands touching me makes me want to puke.

  “I think that would be best. Are you okay? You look you’re going to be sick.” She hesitates and takes a step back.

  “I have never had a woman be so persistent, so desperate, and not care that I didn’t want it. She didn’t care the first time I met her and not this time either. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was taken or not. She never even bothered to ask. She would have never given up. Such a disturbed person.” I sigh.

  I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with her again because I really enjoy working at the glass company. I ‘ve learned so much since I started, I’ve just been a bit clumsy at times. Most aren’t my fault. My mind wanders and I start daydreaming about Brooke.

  “We can talk about it in my office. I’ll need documentation as well,” Brooke says professionally. I realize why as a police officer walks up.

  “It’s pretty straight forward with the evidence and your statement. We can wrap this up now, Mr. Ferguson,” the officer nods.

  “I’ll see you in my office, Mr. Ferguson,” Brooke says and walks away.

  That hurt. I could see the pain in her eyes just before she turned away from me. That at least gave me reassurance knowing it was an act. I hate to see her this way. I’ll be with her shortly to make her feel better. I need a hug, myself, and from someone I actually want touching me. I still can’t believe the nerve of that woman. I hope her husband gets her the help she needs after all her skeletons come falling out in his lap after this fiasco. I’m sure he’ll sweep it all under the rug, though. He’s a sad man to settle and think she’ll ever change for good. She won’t and their poor children are the ones who will suffer.

  I should have been more careful. I drove way over the speed limit to get to Brooke’s office. I felt as if I was losing time with her with each passing second without her. I hurry into the building that I’ve been to so many times now, I could do it blindfolded.

  The elevator seems to take forever until it finally dings, and I bolt out like my life depends on it. I pass Mya in the hall.

  “I have your transfer request in and it shouldn’t be but a few days. We have a session on Thursday, and you can’t miss that. I promise it will be strictly professional and with the utmost confidentiality.” She nods and walks away before I can respond. She has a habit of that. She comes off as if she doesn’t have time for anyone, or that she’s better than everyone. It’s one of the two.

  I knock on Brooke’s door and she answers quickly. “Took you long enough,” she says, as she pulls me inside and closes the door. “Are you really okay, Cole?” She holds my shoulders, waiting for me to crack, maybe. I’m not sure, but I really am fine. I’m over it already. If I weren’t, I’d have gotten sick several times by now. No one in their right mind would waste their time on that woman.

  “I’m much better now.” I pull her close and inhale deeply. Her scent relaxes me. I’m not sure what she uses but it intoxicates me.

  “I�
��m glad. Now kiss me before we get caught.” She lifts up to meet my lips. She kisses me possessively. I’m not sure if it’s because of what happened earlier at work or because she just missed me, either way I’ll take it.

  I reach under her blouse, barely skim her stomach, and she grabs my hand, stopping me. I let out a little whimper and lower my head like a sad puppy.

  She’s tough. It did nothing for her other than make her giggle. “Patience, Cole. Patience.”

  “Patience is a virtue, haven’t you heard?” I grin. “I have none. That’s why I’m in anger management. Oh, that reminds me. I saw Mya in the hall. I have one more session with her on Thursday. I’ll need to stop by to show you my progress reports.” I wink. “This is working out in our benefit so far.”

  Brooke frowns. “What are you trying to do to us? Don’t jinx us before we’ve had a real chance, Cole,” she whispers softly.

  I know I shouldn’t say it. “You’re just so sexy when you’re trying to be mad.” I smile, bracing myself. When a woman’s mad, she’s mad and doesn’t want to be told she’s anything else.

  Her frown deepens the lines in her forehead. “No, I’m not. I’m scary and I’ll kick your ass for saying so.” She stares hard at me from across the desk.

  “I’d love to wipe this desk off and fuck you right now,” I say from low in my throat. My mouth fills with saliva at the thought of tasting her and I swallow hard.

  Brooke’s stare has gone from daring to hungry in a matter of seconds. “You’re an asshole. I’d like you to leave now,” Brooke says flatly and looks away, her face now red with anger.

  “Wait. What? You can’t be serious?” I gawk at her, now completely confused.

  Without another glance, Brooke points to the door. “Go. Now.”

  I stand, trying to think how this went utterly wrong so quickly. “Brooke, please. What just happened?”