by Alex Riordan
“Well, that’s good to know,” Theresa said, coming around the table and hugging Jessie. “I’m glad you’re ready to give this relationship a chance, Jessie. It’s about time.”
“Thanks, T,” Jessie hugged her back. “Now, let me get out of here and get this run over with.”
“All right, all right. Go on,” Theresa said, pushing Jessie toward the door. “If she comes out here before you get back, I’ll entertain her.”
“Just don’t show her pictures of us as kids. I don’t think she could handle the shock,” Jessie said, laughing as she closed the front door.
* * * *
Jessie finished her run and made it back by eleven, just like she’d said. Theresa was on the phone with her friend in the police department when she got back, so she headed on to the guest room to check on Stephanie. Opening the door carefully, she was glad to see that she’d been right. The redhead was still asleep.
Smiling at the cute way Stephanie was curled up under the covers, she leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Then she headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Ten minutes later, she was finished with her shower and had returned to the bedroom. Stephanie still hadn’t woken up, so Jessie finished drying off and crawled back in under the covers.
She had no sooner spooned up against Stephanie from behind, when the redhead began to wake up. “Jessie?” Stephanie said quietly.
“Yeah, Sweetheart?” Jessie answered just as quietly. She hadn’t meant to wake Steph up.
Rolling over, Stephanie opened her eyes and looked at her, smiling sadly. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost noon,” Jessie answered, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead. “Did you sleep okay?”
Stephanie nodded. “Yeah, I did. Have you been up long?”
“How did you…?” Jessie began to ask, but Stephanie cut her off.
“You’re still damp from the shower,” she said by way of explanation.
Jessie smiled. “Oh. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Sorry.”
“You didn’t,” Stephanie assured her. “I just couldn’t sleep anymore. Besides, I need to get up and make some calls. If what happened last night hits the news, my manager and family are going to be worried sick. I need to talk to them.”
Of course, Jessie thought to herself. It hadn’t even occurred to her that news of Stephanie’s attack might end up on the evening news last night. “Well, before you get up…I kind of wanted to talk to you. If you don’t mind?” Jessie asked, hesitantly.
Her brows furrowing at Jessie’s sudden bout of nervousness, Stephanie said, “I don’t mind, Jess. What did you want to talk about?”
“Well…” Jessie could feel her cheeks turning red. She’d never been good at the ‘feelings’ thing, and now was no exception. Still, she needed to talk to Stephanie…to tell her how she felt. She knew after hearing what Stephanie said last night that it couldn’t wait much longer. And, thinking about it during her run had helped to solidify her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she jumped right in. “Last night…when I was…making love to you…” She paused briefly to blow out a breath. “You um…you said that…that you…love me?”
Oh crap! Stephanie felt her heart drop to her stomach. Damn it! Had she just scared Jessie off? She hadn’t meant to say the words out loud last night, but apparently she had anyway. Taking a deep breath, she looked directly into Jessie’s blue eyes. Expecting to see abject terror, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Jessie was smiling at her. “I um…I did say that,” she whispered. Reaching up, she caressed the brunette’s cheek. “I meant it, Jessie. I meant every word. I do love you.” She rolled her eyes. “What I mean is...I’m in love, with you.”
Jessie smiled and leaned down to kiss her. “I know. And I need to tell you…um…” She took another deep breath, chewing on her lower lip. “Well, what happened last night at the hotel…it scared me, Steph. It scared me so bad. I was so afraid I was gonna lose you.”
“Oh, Jessie,” Stephanie whispered, “you’re not gonna lose me.”
“If we hadn’t come back, I could have,” Jessie said matter-of-factly. “That’s why I need to tell you now…before I never get another chance.”
“Tell me what, Jessie?” Stephanie was beginning to worry. Maybe she had scared her off?
“That I love you, too” Jessie whispered. “I love you so much, Stephanie. I can’t even begin to imagine my life without you in it, now. When we’re apart, all I can think about is getting back so I can feel you in my arms.”
Stephanie smiled up at the brunette. “Jessie,” she said quietly as she reached up to kiss her. “I didn’t scare you off?”
Jessie shook her head. “No, sweetheart, you didn’t scare me off. As a matter of fact, I was kind of planning on sticking around for a while. If you don’t mind, that is?”
Stephanie pushed Jessie onto her back and rolled over until she was on top of her. Smiling down at the brunette, she said, “I think I like that, Jess. I think I like that a lot.”
Feeling Stephanie’s gloriously smooth naked skin against her own, Jessie smiled up at her. “Glad to hear it. Now, shut up and kiss me.”
Happy to oblige, Stephanie leaned down and kissed Jessie softly on the lips. “I love you, Jessie Drake. And I swear, as soon as my lip’s healed, I’m going to kiss you until you’re begging me to stop. For now, this will have to do.”
Jessie reached up and cupped her cheek, running her thumb lightly over her lower lip. “I could never want you to stop kissing me, Steph. I love you.”
* * * *
An hour and a half later, showered and ready for the day, Jessie and Stephanie walked out to the kitchen. As Stephanie helped herself to something to eat and drink, Jessie wandered off to find Theresa.
“Hey, T,” Jessie said, finally finding the blond in the living room. She had just hung up the phone and was still writing some things down on a legal pad.
“Hey, Jess,” she said, looking up as the brunette entered the room. “You guys finally decide to join the living?”
Jessie laughed. “Yeah. Steph’s in the kitchen getting something to eat. Then, she’s got to call her agent and her family.”
“That would probably be a good idea,” Theresa agreed. “They mentioned the attack on the news this morning and it’s in the paper. An attack on a celebrity will hit the national news agencies pretty quick.”
“That’s what she was afraid of,” Jessie said, sighing and sitting down. “What are you working on?” she asked, noticing the notes Theresa was writing down.
“Oh. I just got off the phone with my friend in the police department. He called back when they finished going through Bob’s apartment. The good news is they didn’t find any evidence of him stalking Stephanie. There were no pictures, no news articles…nothing. He did have all her movies, but so do you, so that’s not damning.”
“So he can’t prove that she and I were dating?” Jessie said, coming to the obvious conclusion.
Theresa nodded. “Right. But…there has been an interesting development.”
“And that would be…?”
“After the initial reports aired on the news last night, the police department got a bunch of phone calls from other women. They were all claiming to have been raped or attacked by Bob.”
Jessie’s brows rose into her hairline in surprise. “You’re kidding? Bob attacked other women? Why didn’t they come forward before this?”
“He was apparently blackmailing them. Some of them used to work at the office,” Theresa answered. “You’d probably remember at least one of them. Her name’s Janelle. She was a paralegal in Don Sloan’s office?”
Jessie nodded. “Yeah, I remember her.”
“Well, apparently, Bob found out that she worked her way through college as a stripper. He threatened to tell everyone at the office if she didn’t give him what he wanted.”
“So why come forward now, if she’s waited this long?” Jessie asked.
“When she heard he’d
attacked someone as well-known as Stephanie, she said she just didn’t care if people knew anymore,” Theresa answered, shrugging.
“Well, better late than never,” Jessie said, getting up and heading back to the kitchen with her empty Diet Coke can. Still, if any of those other women had said something before this, Bob may never have had the chance to attack Stephanie.
When Jessie walked into the kitchen, Stephanie was still sitting at the counter, cell phone in hand. Rinsing the can out, she turned it upside down in the drainer to dry and sat down next to Stephanie. “You call your Mom yet?” she asked quietly, since Stephanie was still holding the phone to her ear.
Stephanie nodded. “It’s ringing now,” she answered back.
Just then, someone picked up. “Mom?” Stephanie said, when she heard her mother’s voice on the other end.
“Stephanie?” Nancy said, surprised that her oldest daughter was calling her again so soon. Then, sensing that something wasn’t quite right, she asked, “Stephanie? Is everything okay? You and Jessie aren’t fighting are you?”
Stephanie sniffed. Damn! She was hoping to make it through this conversation without crying, but it appeared her body had other ideas. “No Mom, we’re not fighting. As a matter of fact, Jessie’s been really great,” she answered, looking over at the brunette. Reaching out, she caught Jessie’s hand and clung to it.
“Well, something’s wrong. I can tell. Why are you crying?” She was beginning to worry. Stephanie didn’t usually cry without good reason.
Stephanie swallowed, and sniffed again. “Dad’s not there, is he? I don’t want him to hear this and be upset,” she said, knowing that her father would be too worried about her to hear when she said she was okay.
“No, he’s at work,” Nancy answered her. “Stephanie, what’s going on?”
“Mom, something happened, and I need to tell you before you read it in the papers,” Stephanie said quietly. “What I mean is…I don’t want you to worry…if you hear anything.”
“Stephanie, for God’s sake, tell me what’s going on,” Nancy said, getting more upset by the minute.
Stephanie was shaking, and tears were rolling down her face. She thought she’d dealt with this last night, but apparently, she wasn’t ready to talk to her mother yet. Shaking her head, she handed the phone to Jessie. “I…I can’t do this,” she said, dropping her head down onto her arms and starting to cry even harder.
Jessie, torn between comforting Stephanie and not leaving her mother hanging on the phone, finally put the phone to her ear. Putting on her professional voice, she said, “Mrs. Winters? This is Jessica Drake.”
“Ms. Drake? Is Stephanie okay? What’s happening?” Nancy asked, panic starting to take over.
“She’s okay, Mrs. Winters…just upset,” Jessie said, scrambling to give Stephanie’s mother an explanation. “Um, last night, Stephanie was…attacked, in her hotel room…”
“Attacked!” Nancy screamed. “Oh my God! Is she okay? She wasn’t hurt, was she? Should we come…?”
“Mrs. Winters, please…she’s okay. She has a small gash on her head, a split lip and some bruises, but other than that, she’s fine,” Jessie said, attempting to calm her down. “You don’t need to come, but if you’d like to, you’re more than welcome. I’m sure she’d love to see you.”
Calming down as she listened to Jessie’s explanation, voice still shaking, Nancy was able to ask, “Can you tell me what happened? How was she attacked?”
“Well,” Jessie said, “I’m not sure how much you know…”
“I know about you already, Jessie. Stephanie tells me everything,” Nancy said kindly, understanding that Jessie would probably prefer that they spoke for the first time under different circumstances.
Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t a surprise to Steph’s mother. Launching into the story, she explained as briefly as she could. When she was finished, she looked over at Stephanie. The redhead still had tears rolling down her cheeks, but she appeared to have calmed down some. “Steph…can you talk?” she asked quietly. When Stephanie nodded, she said, “Mrs. Winters, Steph’s coming back to the phone.”
“Thank you, Jessie,” Nancy said. “Thank you so much.”
“Any time, Mrs. Winters,” she answered, handing the phone back to Stephanie.
“Mom?” she sniffed again. “Sorry, I thought I was ready to talk about it.”
“Stephanie…are you sure you’re okay? I can catch a plane today, if you’d like?”
Stephanie shook her head, saying, “Mom, that’s really not necessary. Theresa and Jessie have been great. Really. They’re taking good care of me.”
“I’d feel better if I could see you,” Nancy said, trying not to guilt Stephanie into agreeing.
“I know,” Stephanie sighed. “Mom, if you want to come, I’d like to see you. It’s been a while, and you could meet Jessie and Theresa.”
“Okay then, I’ll call you when I have the details,” Nancy said. She was relieved to hear Stephanie’s voice, even if she did still sound upset. And, who could blame her? Still, it appeared that Jessie had everything under control for the moment, and she felt good knowing that Stephanie wasn’t alone.
Hanging up the phone, Stephanie dropped her head back into her hands and sighed. “I hope you don’t mind, Jessie. Mom wants to come here and make sure I’m okay.”
“Why would I mind?” Jessie asked, confused. Moving from the chair to stand behind her, she reached out and began slowly massaging Stephanie’s shoulders.
“I don’t know…” she said sadly.
“Would you feel better with her here?” Jessie asked, hoping to make Stephanie feel better.
Stephanie nodded. “Yeah, I think I would.”
Jessie smiled and leaned down, kissing her on top of the head. “Then it’s a good thing she’s coming. There’s nothing better than Mom when you’re feeling bad,” Jessie said.
Stephanie smiled. “Thank you, Jess.”
“You’re welcome.” Jessie wrapped her in a hug and held her, closing her eyes. “I’m glad she’s coming, Steph. Anything that will help you move past this is a good thing.”
Stephanie leaned back into the embrace. “Mmm. You helped me move past it last night, Jess. Just loving me the way you do…It makes me feel safe.”
Just then, Theresa walked into the kitchen. “Whoa…you two get a room, why don’t ya?” she said, walking around and grabbing the other chair and sitting down. She was smiling as she did, teasing them.
“Very funny, T,” Jessie said, resting her chin on Stephanie’s shoulder and looking over at the blond. “Guess who’s coming to dinner?”
“Umm…I don’t know. Who?” Theresa joked, playing along.
“Stephanie’s mom is coming into town. She’s calling back to let us know when,” Jessie told her.
“Mmm, meeting the in-laws already?” Theresa teased.
Stephanie couldn’t help it. Despite everything, she started laughing at the way the two women were teasing each other. “You guys are awful,” she said, grinning.
“At least we got you to smile,” Theresa said, grinning back at her. After what had happened, she was worried that Stephanie might fall into some sort of depression and withdraw into herself. Her sister had, after she was raped. It had taken months, before she would smile or laugh. She didn’t like thinking that the redhead might do the same.
Stephanie’s cell phone rang, interrupting them. “Hello?”
“Stephanie? I’m just calling to tell you that I got the next flight out. I should be arriving there at 6:30, Gate 7,” Nancy told her.
“Okay, Mom. We’ll be there to pick you up,” Stephanie said. “And Mom? I love you.”
“I love you too, Sweetheart. I’ll see you in a few hours,” Nancy said, hanging up. She had to hurry if she was going to catch that flight. She only had two hours to get packed and get to the airport.
Stephanie set the phone down on the counter after hanging up. “Her plane’s arriving at 6:
30, Gate 7. Jessie, would you mind…?”
“Picking her up?” Jessie finished for her. Shaking her head, she said, “No, not at all. I’ll tell you what. Let’s get ready and head over to the hotel. We’ll pick up your things and bring them back here. By then, it should be time to head out to the airport.”
Stephanie nodded her agreement. “Okay. I need to make some calls first, though. Mom’s going to need a place to stay.”
Jessie shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, Steph. She can stay at my place.”
“Your place? But where…?” Stephanie started to ask, only to have Jessie cut her off.