Filthy Desires: A Romantic Suspense Collection

by Parker, Kylie

  “I’m always dead-serious when it comes to work, Mr. Isaacs,” she flatly replied; her answer fueling his frustration even further. “Is 2:15 ok with you?”

  “It’s fine,” he croaked.

  “Okay,” she nodded, hopping off the stool. “Thanks for the soda. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Jake couldn’t help but smile to himself. Jennifer did not act at all like the woman who had allegedly threatened her boyfriend that she would cheat with him. On the contrary, she looked more like a cold, unsentimental geek who took real pleasure in her work. Apparently, Clay had been kidding him the entire time.

  “She doesn’t talk like the wild girl Clay said she was. She doesn’t smile, she doesn’t laugh… She doesn’t even flinch, for crying out loud. If I hadn’t seen her with Tom, I wouldn’t believe she used to date him. I mean, what’s a tall nerd like her doing with a fat biker like him? Women…”

  25

  As Jake soon discovered, Jennifer’s guess was proven woefully wrong. It was a Tuesday night and, although a few people did visit his bar, it was much slower than usual. He would love to preoccupy himself with work; it was the only way for him to take his mind off his painful breakup with Holly, but he could not do so that night. The bar itself added to his sadness. Days ago, she had worked with him. Jake was unable to prevent himself from picturing her there: taking orders; pouring drinks; or gracefully dancing around. Much to his relief, Clay and his crew showed up, just as he was about to close. Their loud mannerisms gave him a necessary distraction. Not only did he stop thinking about Holly, but he actually had some fun.

  Tired, but also eager to find out the results of Jennifer’s work, he quickly drove back to his house. It was 2:20am and there was no sign of her yet. Too tense and dizzy to go inside, he decided to go to his backyard. Jake gazed up into the starry sky, feeling a chilly breeze blowing through his hair. He closed his eyes, as the memory of her blissful face filled his mind.

  “Where are you, Holly? Nah, who am I kidding? You’re far, baby: really far away. You live five minutes from here and I feel as though we’re oceans apart. We have to deal with all of this pain, just because you didn’t want to take a closer look at a couple of pictures. It drives me crazy when I think about it. What a shame. What a big, goddamn shame. I was starting to have dreams for us. But now, they’re all up in flames. I wish you could see me now, Holly. You’ve seen me crying again, but not for you. It’s ironic, isn’t it? The woman I thought was dead destroyed the one good relationship I’ve had in three years. Where are you, my little angel? Why did you believe her lie? Why did you leave me?”

  The click-clacking of high heels on the pathway acted like a wakeup call. Jake wiped the tears off his face, trying to control his breath.

  “I was right.” Jennifer’s voice tore the silence. “There are four separate segments. Your front door was open. I left the picture with my report on the table.”

  “Thanks,” Jake replied in a low tone, as he gazed out at the horizon. “What do I owe you?”

  “The aggressive bartender has a romantic side.” All of a sudden, her voice changed. It assumed a mellow, friendly tone. “Who would have thought?”

  “What do you know…? It talks like a real person,” he said in sarcastic tones, turning his head to the left to face her.

  “It,” Jennifer questioned with a raised eyebrow, as her slow, confident footsteps closed the distance between them. “Did you just refer to me as ‘it’?”

  “Yes, I did,” Jake admitted. “That’s what I call all…” he paused, “expressionless people.”

  “I just take my job seriously.” The firm tone in her voice returned. “Maybe too seriously sometimes, but that’s just because I love it so much.”

  “You seem like a smart girl, Jennifer.” He remarked, turning his attention back to the dozens of town lights that lay out before him. “Why did you get involved with a guy like Tom? I’ve heard him talk. He doesn’t sound so charming if you ask me.”

  “I was about to ask you the exact same thing,” she confessed. “Why did a man like you get in a relationship with a woman as gullible as her?”

  “Hey!” he yelled, returning his gaze to her face. “How…”

  “Clay told me about you two.” Jennifer interrupted, as a sweet smile spread across her face. “It slipped his tongue, sort of.”

  “I wish she wasn’t.” Jake whispered, as a tear rolled out of his eye.

  “Oh, my God…” She spoke too fast, her voice filled with panic. “You’re crying?”

  “What’s your fee, Jennifer? Don’t make me ask again.” He said, his voice thick with emotion, as he tore his gaze away from her.

  “One,” she answered as she raised her index finger in the air.

  “One hundred?”

  “No,” Jennifer shook her head lightly, her voice a raspy whisper, as she tipped his chin up. “Kiss.”

  She didn’t give him any time to react. Cupping his face, she pressed her lips against his mouth. Jake did not stop her. Too vulnerable to say “no” to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Jennifer’s passionate kiss soothed him, as she ran her thumbs across his cheekbones. His tears soaked her fingers, as their kiss deepened, making his heart pound in his chest. Savoring the moment, he ignored everything that his friend had told him to avoid. Her kiss was the only thing that could make him feel a little better. He would enjoy every second of it. Jake explored her mouth with his tongue, as her hands crept around his face. A strong gust of wind whipped her hair about, as she stroked the back of his neck. Jennifer planted a firm kiss on his mouth, before leaning back.

  “Wow…” she gasped, opening her eyes. “What a reward.”

  “Don’t be stupid, red,” he said, his voice calm. Jake removed his right hand from her waist and pulled a thick wad of cash out of his pocket. He counted five hundred dollars and offered it to her.

  “Take it,” he urged, narrowing his eyes. “No one works for free.”

  “Five hundred is too much, Jake.” She whispered, as a small smile formed on her face. “I can’t take it.”

  “I insist,” he raised his tone, slightly. “Come on.”

  “Thank you.” Jennifer smiled once more, taking her hands off his neck. She took the money and put it in her pocket, as he dropped his arm. His short laugh grabbed her attention.

  “What?” She inquired, looking up at him.

  “I just remembered something Clay said to me, a few days ago: a threat of some sort.” He explained.

  “The fucking,” Jennifer chuckled. “Yeah, that was a good one. Trust me, Mr. Isaacs. If I wanted to cheat on that prick, I would have fucked you a long time ago. But, I’m not a whore. And, in case you’re wondering, the reason why we’re not in bed right now is your friendship with Clay. You’re a decent man. You’ll tell him all about it. I don’t want them to call me a ‘slut’. You could be in trouble, too.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Jake said with feeling, “for everything.”

  “You’re being too kind,” she laughed. “I just made five hundred bucks and got a great kiss. Best reward ever for three hours of work. Thanks again. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Jennifer.”

  Upon picking up her report from the living room table, he marveled at how thorough she had been. The young redhead explained everything, even the smallest technical detail. Jennifer mentioned that the colors in all four photograph segments were consistent with one another, which meant that the person who had taken those four pictures had used the same camera. But, it only told him something he already knew: Allison was behind all this.

  “If you were here, I’d pay you a visit, darling. But you stayed in DC. I don’t know if I should go after you. The last thing I want to see right now is that smirk on your face. But I know what I’m going to do, first thing tomorrow morning…”

  26

  Desperate to prove his innocence to Holly, Jake drove up to her house the following morning and slipped Jennifer’s report under her
door. He wasn’t seeking an apology. More than anything, she had doubted his loyalty and his honor. He could not tolerate that.

  Afterwards, he went to his – neglected – bar. With everything that had been happening lately, he had failed to notice that he was running low on whiskey, vodka, and a number of other staple spirits. Jake had to place a number of orders into his supplier extremely fast. As he counted the remaining boxes in his storage room though, his ears picked up Clay’s voice echoing in the bar.

  “Hey, pretty boy!” He shouted. “Where are you?”

  “I’m right here, man.” Jake said, joining him in the large main barroom. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing much,” Clay shrugged. “I was just wondering about that picture. What did Jennifer say?”

  “She pretty much confirmed your suspicions,” Jake stated. “She did a great job.”

  “I’m guessing she wrote a report. Where is it?” Clay asked.

  “Well…” Jake started. “It’s not here. She came by my house last night. I was going to talk to you about this, but…”

  “You fucked her.” Clay tried to finish his sentence.

  “What? No.” Jake waved his hand in front of his face. “I was going to say ‘it’s still a little early to call you.’ We had a nice talk. One thing led to another and…” He drew in a sharp breath. “We kissed.”

  “Just kissed? That’s it?” Clay’s voice became high-pitched.

  “Yeah,” Jake affirmed, watching as relief flashed in his friend’s eyes. “She started it. I didn’t stop it, but that’s as far as it goes. She’s not the crazy girl you thought she was. In fact, I think she’s quite nice.”

  “I’m just glad you didn’t nail her,” Clay maintained with a grin on his face as he patted his friend on the back. “You didn’t do exactly what I said, but it’s ok.”

  “It’s not ‘ok’,” Jake disagreed. “I should have stopped her. I wasn’t thinking right.”

  “It was just a kiss.” Clay smirked. “You’re hurting so much you would have let a freaking monkey kiss you. I got to go. Later.”

  “See you, Clay,” Jake said, making his way back to his storage room. As he stepped onto the narrow corridor that led to it, however, he laid his eyes on a familiar face. He recognized her at once. It was Holly. Her sight brought back the painful scene of their breakup in an instant. He shut his eyes, dropping his gaze from her face as he bit his lower lip, in an obvious attempt to prevent himself from speaking, as he heaved a long, deep sigh.

  “Um, hi,” She waved, hesitantly. “I still have the key to this door.”

  “What are you doing here, Holly?” He asked her, his voice cracking as he started towards the door of his storage room.

  “I read that report you left me,” Holly said, her own voice getting lower by the second, as she followed him.

  “Good for you,” he muttered, staring down at the floor. “I’m pretty busy right now.”

  “Jake, I’m sorry,” she whispered brokenly, melting his heart, as he felt her hand on his right shoulder. Still, he would not face her. “I should have let you explain.”

  “Yeah…” he whispered with a bitter smile on his face as he blinked back his tears.

  “Please, look at me,” Holly urged, her voice a tender, almost inaudible, whisper. “Please.”

  A tear streamed down his face as he obliged. The sight that greeted him made his heart sink. Holly’s lips were trembling. Thick tears had pooled in her big, playful eyes and her face was twisted in fear and pain.

  “I lost my faith in you, baby,” she whispered, raising her hands to his face. “God, I’m so sorry…”

  “Did you ever believe in me?” He asked in a shattered voice as he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Did you ever trust me?” His questions put her in a difficult position. She wouldn’t speak; Holly squeezed two tears out of her eyes, caressing his face. Closing his own eyes, he savored her featherlike touch, knowing in his heart that he would not feel it again. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” he answered himself quietly, his voice thick with emotion, as his tears soaked her thumbs.

  “Please, don’t be mad at me,” Holly whispered once more, as a tear rolled off her face. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “Mad at you?” Jake’s voice went up an octave, as he leaned over her. “I’m disappointed in you. The little…” he paused and bit his lower lip; “the little angel on my shoulder turned against me.”

  “I didn’t mean to.” She sighed, shaking her head sideways. “I love you, Jake. I miss you…”

  “No, Holly.” He forced an emphatic tone into his voice. “You don’t. If you love someone, you trust him. You just admitted you never did.”

  “I can’t imagine my life without you,” she sniffled, as her right hand slid down his face and his chest, “without this face; without this heart; your kind heart, Jake.”

  “You failed me.” He let out a deep, painful whisper, as more tears streamed down his face. “You thought I was false.”

  “Don’t take this away from me.” Holly’s pleading voice flooded his heart with sorrow. “Don’t throw away something you know is so good.”

  “You did that the other night.” Jake responded, his voice wobbly, as she stroked his cheeks.

  “Baby, please don’t…” He didn’t allow her to finish her sentence. Overwhelmed with emotion, he lifted his hand and put his fingers over her moist lips. Then, he bent his head down towards her and pushed his forehead onto hers.

  “Goodbye, Holly.” He whispered, squeezing his eyes shut, as he laid a soft kiss on her forehead. Her grip loosened, before she dropped her arms. Jake moved around her and walked out of the storage room, her painful screams echoing back at the walls of the hallway. Part of him wanted to go to her, hug her, kiss her and tell her everything was fine between them. But he would do no such thing. Her lack of faith had broken his heart. To him, she was now a completely different person than the girl who had captured his heart. The Holly he had fallen in love with had protected him from himself, helped and supported him. She had nothing to do with the enraged woman who had accused him of being unfaithful to her.

  “Don’t say that word, girl. You never loved me. I can see that now. If you did, you’d have given me a chance to defend myself. But, you didn’t. You never trusted me, not even when I said I would never get back together with her. I’m sorry, Holly. You let your insecurities wreck what we had…”

  27

  Jake’s emotional scene with Holly filled him with an uncontrollable urge to confront the person responsible for the end of their relationship. He contacted Logan International Airport but, sadly for him, all the flights to Washington for the next two days had been booked. He couldn’t wait that long. If he wanted to come face-to-face with Allison, he would have to endure an exhausting, nine-hour drive. In spite of that inconvenience, though, his desire to have some sense of closure prevailed. Jake was desperate to humiliate his ex-girlfriend in front of her colleagues at the Pentagon. For him, it was an ideal revenge for what she had done to him. It didn’t matter to him that he would have to drive through the night or that he would most likely have to keep his bar closed the next day. The idea of paying Allison back dominated his mind.

  So, later that night, he left the small town of Adams behind him, with a heavy heart and the taste of his tears still strong in his mouth.

  “It’s time you paid for what you did, Allie. Damn… There’s something I never thought I would think. But, you left me no choice. You’re not the woman I remember, Allison. You were kind, sweet, sensitive… Now, you’ve turned into a manipulative bitch, which has no problem pretending everything’s fine. I mean, you acted as if you had done nothing wrong, but, all this time, you’ve been plotting on how to break me up with her. Congratulations. Holly was gullible enough to believe that crap.”

  The long drive took its toll on him. Jake was very tired, but he was so determined to confront Allison that he would not stop. Almost nine hours later, as the massive structure of the Pent
agon came into view, a rush of adrenaline forced his drowsy eyes open. The long identification process annoyed him, but he wouldn’t let that deter him. Finding himself on the second-floor C ring, he felt his pulse rising. Jake strode quickly past quite a few offices, before noticing the young blonde, sitting at her desk. Unfortunately, however, she was all alone.

  “Jake!” She exclaimed, surprise written all over her face, as she jumped from her seat. “What a pleasant surprise!”

  “Really?” He said sarcastically, slamming the door behind him.

  “Of course it is!” Allison chirped, smiling up at him as he sauntered towards her. “What brings you over here?”

  “Did you take up acting while you were in Iraq?” Jake raised his tone, stopping in front of her. “Because I’ve got to tell you, I’m impressed, I really am.”

  “I’m not following you,” she claimed, as her smile disappeared. Her response made his blood boil in his veins. Still, as exhausted and frustrated as he was, he could not even yell at her.

  “The pictures, Allie,” he said, his tone firm. “The pictures you sent to Holly.”

  “What pictures?” She asked as she squinted at him.

  “Look, I’m a little too tired to play games.” He made his voice sound sweeter, as the stiffness of his face vanished. “Did you send her any pictures of us having sex or not?”

  “No!” Allison yelled, looking deep into his eyes; “Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?”

  His initial thought was to insist, but the fact that she had maintained eye contact and her tone of outrage were enough to convince him. However, her negative response puzzled him. Now, he had no idea who had sent those pictures to Holly.

  “I’d rather not answer that.” Sadness lingered in his voice.

  “Please take a moment and think about how absurd this sounds.” She maintained her presentation voice. “I apologize to you for all the crazy things I did in Adams on our flight home, and then I do something so hideous?”