Alluring (35 page)

The following Wednesday, a week and a half after the kidnapping, Alexis was in the kitchen rinsing the dinner dishes.  She had just wiped down the counter, when she felt Jack's arms encircle her waist and his chin rest on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"  His lips tickled the little hairs at her nape.

"Yes.  Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, putting the sponge down and drying her hands on a towel.

"We haven't really talked about what happened."

She turned in his arms.  He backed up a step, still holding her waist.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest.  "There's not much to talk about.  She's dead.  It's over."

Jack ran his hand through her hair to the back of her neck.  "Do you want to tell me why you don't want to be more than three feet away from me?"

Alexis tensed in his arms.  "I thought you were okay with that."

He started rubbing her neck.  "I am okay with that.  Hell, I would glue you to my side if I could, but it's not normal behavior for you.  You used to go out and do things.  You had a job you were good at and enjoyed."

Alexis looked up at him.  "I enjoy my new job."

Jack smiled down at her.  "I enjoy it, too, but that's not my point and you know it."

Alexis took a deep breath.  "I know.  I'm just ..."  She sighed and rested her head back on his chest.

"Just what, sweetheart?"

"Just scared of being separated from you.  I'm scared if I go somewhere by myself, if something happens to me, you'll be left behind.  Or something could happen to you, and I'll be left behind, but if we're always together then if something happens, we'll meet the same fate.  Neither of us will be left behind.  Crazy right?"

He hugged her close.  "No, not crazy.  Maybe you need time to heal.  Time to forget.  I just wasn't sure if you needed to talk to someone about it."

"What, like a shrink?"

"I was thinking more like a therapist."

"No.  Just give me some time.  If I feel as though I'm not getting better, we can talk about it again."

"Okay, but know, you can talk to me about anything.  I won't judge your feelings."

"I know.  And I love you for that."  She raised on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss.  "Let's go to bed."

Jack raised his eyebrows.  "It's early, yet."

Alexis gave him a seductive smile.  "Yes, I know."

"Then by all means, let's go to bed."  Jack swept her up and carried her to the bedroom.

The nightmares started a week later.

Alexis was jolted awake.  She sat up quickly, a sob lodged in her throat.  She glanced around frantically for Jack. 

He was beside her, up on an elbow.  "Everything okay?"  he asked in a sleep roughened voice.

Alexis launched herself at him, sending him to his back as she gripped him tight. 

He wrapped his arms around her.  "Baby, you're shaking.  What's wrong?"

"Nightmare," she gasped.  "I'll be okay in a minute."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Alexis shook her head but started speaking anyway.  "I was at your funeral.  Oh God, it was so realistic.  It felt so real, and the pain I felt.  I don't ever want to experience pain like that.  I now know how I'll feel if I lose you.  I just lived it.  I can't ever go through that."  She held on tighter, the sob finally dislodging.  She cried on his chest big wracking sobs.

"Shh.  I'm right here.  I'm not going anywhere." 

"I can't lose you Jack.  I can't."  She was hysterical.  She couldn't seem to get herself under control.  The memories of her grief were still too sharp in her mind.

Jack was whispering to her, things she couldn't hear nor understand.  But his voice was soothing, and soon she was able to calm herself.  She relaxed in his embrace.  She sniffed a few times.  She needed a tissue and she was pretty sure she made a mess on Jack's chest.

She loosened her hold and started to sit up.  Jack's arms tightened.  "Not yet.  I want to hold you a little longer."

"My nose is running all over you," she said with another sniff.

"I don't care."

"You will when it drys and you scratch yourself with it."

Jack chuckled.  "You feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I'm okay.  It was only a dream."

"Dreams can be scary."

"Have you had nightmares before?"

When you came home from the hospital, I had nightmares for a while.  I don't think you understand how close to death you were.  But, I was there.  I saw it."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."  She raised her head and looked at him.  "I didn't know."

Jack laughed, "Yeah, you'll pretty much sleep through anything."

Alexis smiled.  "Funny, I was never a heavy sleeper before.  When I lived alone, even the littlest things used to wake me up."

"That's because you know I'll protect you.  You don't have to be on your guard."

Alexis felt her anxiety building again.  "But what happens when you're not there to protect me."

"I'll always be there to protect you."

"Promise."

"Promise."

Alexis knew Jack couldn't actually promise her something like that, but for now, his promise made her feel better, and that's all that mattered. 

Two days later, Steph poked her head through the door of Jack's office.  "You two aren't doing anything kinky in here are you?"

Alexis looked up from the stack of papers she was sorting on Jack's desk.  Alexis started to laugh.  Steph stood, barely in the door, with a hand covering her eyes.  "Get in here."

Steph walked into the office, uncovering her eyes.  She blinked a few times, while looking around.  "This is some posh digs.  A little sparse though, could use a woman's touch."

Alexis nodded her agreement.  "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I worked the morning shift, so I thought I'd stop by to take you to lunch."

Alexis smiled.  "That sounds like fun.  Can we eat in the hotel?"

Steph gave her a frown.  "Sure.  Any particular reason why?"

Alexis looked down at the papers on the desk.  Um ... not really."

"Alexis look at me."  Alexis raised her head.  "What's going on?  And don't tell me, nothing.  I can read you like a book."

Alexis sighed, giving up.  "Come on.  I'll tell you at lunch.  Let me text Jack, real quick, to tell him where I'll be.  He's in a meeting right now."

They decided to eat at the hotel coffee shop.  They were seated in a booth in the back. 

"Okay spill," Steph said, after the waitress left.

Alexis explained her clinginess, how she didn't want to be separated from Jack and how she couldn't bring herself to leave the hotel without him.  "I even made him go to the grocery store with me yesterday.  I'm pathetic."

"You're not pathetic.  I think it's all perfectly natural after what you went through.  As a matter of fact, I'd be more worried if you didn't have some sort of a reaction."

"You think?" 

"Yeah.  Have you thought about talking to someone about this?
Alexis nodded her head.  "Jack wants me to see a therapist.  Especially now that the nightmares have started."

"Maybe it's something you should think about doing."

"Maybe."

The waitress came with their food.  They sat and talked about mundane things until she got a text from Jack.  "Jack's out of his meeting.  Do you want to come hangout in the office for a while?"

"Naw, I gotta get going.  I've been up since five this morning.  I need a nap."

Alexis laughed, "Okay, talk to you soon." 

Jack sat at his desk when Alexis arrived back at the office.  He smiled at her when she walked through the door.  "Did you have a nice lunch?"

"I did," she said, walking around the desk and planting herself in his lap.

"I have a wonderful idea," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I think we need to forget all our troubles for a while.  We need a change of scenery, so I booked us a two-week stay in a tiny bungalow on the island of Maui."

Alexis sat up straight.  "What?"

"Yep.  We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow morning."

Alexis laughed. "We aren't even married yet."

"Something I plan to rectify right now."

"Married.  Now.  Jack, we can't.  It needs planning."

"We're in Vegas.  What's to plan?  Chapels line the strip.  Hell, there's even one in this hotel."

"But, what about your parents?  They'll be so upset if they miss our wedding.  You're their only child."

"They'll get over it.  They can throw us a big party when we get back."

Alexis started to get excited.  She wiggled in Jack's lap.

He held her hips still.  "Careful, sweetheart.  The honeymoon hasn't started yet."

"I don't know what to wear."

"You have a hundred dresses in your closet."

"Okay, let's do this."  She jumped off his lap.  "I can't believe it.  In a few hours, I'm going to be Mrs. Alexis Cole."  A smile stretched her cheeks.

Jack stood and engulfed her in his arms.  He put his face in her neck and breathed in deep.  "I really like the sound of that."

She tilted her head back to look at him.  "What, my new name?"  she ask with a big smile.

"No.  Your happiness."

EPILOGUE

Alexis paced the living room, clutching her lower back.  She started her day feeling a little queasy.  The queasiness turned into a lower backache, and a few hours ago, the backache turned into stomach cramps.   Jack was asleep upstairs.  She didn't want to wake him with her restlessness. 

They had moved into their new house six months ago.  Jack had claimed he didn't want to start a family while living in a hotel.  Although much larger than the penthouse, their new house still felt homey.  Barb had helped her decorate, and Steph had stopped by many times to give her two-cents worth of advice.

Alexis stopped in front of the fireplace and looked above the mantel.  She smiled up at the obscenely large, framed, wedding photo.  It wasn't anywhere near a traditional pose.  The picture was a candid shot and she loved it. 

The minister had just pronounced them man and wife and instead of kissing her right away, Jack had cupped her face in his hands and whispered, "Now you are truly mine."  The intense look in his eyes and the predatory grin on his lips, bespoke his feelings more than his words had.  And that look would forever be on film, for it was at that moment that the photographer snapped their picture, and that's what Alexis blew up and hung on their wall. 

Mase was upset when he found out he missed out on being Jack's best man until he learned they were renewing their vows at the reception Barb had planned for them, and he would get to be the best man then.  That was a big to-do.  Everyone that anyone knew was invited.  She had heard it had lasted until dawn, but, of course, her and Jack had skipped out early.

  She lightly placed her hand on her protruding belly, and stared down at her wedding band, resting snugly under her engagement ring.  She felt the baby move and another pain gripped her middle.  She lightly rubbed her belly, giving reassuring words to the little person inside.

"Sweetheart, is everything okay?"  Jack asked, walking up beside her.

She looked over at him and gave him a weak smile.  "I think your daughter's ready to make her appearance."

Alexis laughed.  The look on Jack's face was priceless.  He turned pale and he had a pained expression as if he were just punched in the gut.  "Relax, everything's going to be okay.  Breathe, Jack."

He took a deep breath, then grabbed her arms.  "Why didn't you wake me up?  How far apart are the pains?  We need to get you to the hospital, now."  Jack pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.  "Call the hospital and tell them we're on our way."

"Jack!  It's one in the morning.  Why did you call poor Becky?" 

He started to lead her to the front door, but when she didn't walk fast enough, he picked her up and carried her to the car. 

"I'm not wearing any shoes, and you don't have a shirt on."  She started to protest, but a pain gripped her middle, stopping further objections.

Jack must have seen something on her face that he didn't like.  He shouted, "Fuck it."  Fastened her seat belt, slammed her door, jogged around to the driver's side, got in, slammed his door, then peeled out of the driveway.

Doctor Franks walked through the door of the hospital room.  For obvious reasons, Doctor Franks was a woman.  "So, I hear someone wants to make an appearance tonight," she said, stopping at the side of the bed.  "You're not looking so good, dad.  You're not going to faint on me, are you?"

Alexis looked over at Jack at giggled.  He was still pale, and he had a faint sheen of sweat along his forehead.  The doctor was right.  He wasn't looking good.