Page 21 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
When they finally broke apart, her head was spinning, her pulse pounding.
Jesse rested his forehead against hers, his breath brushing against her lips. “Why didn’t we do that when we were in high school?”
“It was hard to catch you in between girlfriends,” she muttered. “Plus, I was the nerd. You were the hot jock.”
Jesse grinned. “You were thehotnerd. It’s why I finally came to my senses and asked you out.”
Her stomach flipped at the way he said it, at the way he was looking at her now, like he was seeing everything she’d once convinced herself he never had.
She slid her hands up to his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingertips. “Maybe we were just waiting for the right time.”
Jesse’s smile faded, and something more serious passed through his expression. “And is this the right time?”
He winced at his own question and grumbled an apology. What he didn’t have to spell out was this was very much the wrong time. They had a killer to catch, and they both knew it.
And that’s why they stepped back from each other.
Jesse groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to wipe away the frustration or the fatigue. Or both.
“Look, this might sound like a dick move no matter how I say it, so let me just get this out there,” he told her. “I have a go-bag in my truck and want to stay the night. Not so I can keep kissing you. And just don’t give me that hot brainy look you’re giving me right now, okay?”
After the ordeal they’d been through, it surprised her to be amused at that last part. Then again, part of her “ordeal” tonight had been her first kiss from Jesse. Something she’d fantasized about for a long, long time.
“Hot brainy look?” she questioned.
“Sounds better than nerd,” he clarified. “So, are you going to give me a hassle about staying the night if I agree to whatever rules you lay out for me?”
Lauren sighed and wanted to hang onto this light mood a bit longer. But couldn’t. “I won’t give you a hassle,” Lauren assured him. “I don’t want to be alone in the house tonight.”
And because she did need to dole out one rule, she motioned toward the hall. “The guestroom is the first on the right.”
Jesse’s next long breath seemed to be one of relief. “Do the thing with security so I don’t set off the alarm when I go to my truck.”
She did, and then Lauren stood in the open doorway after he rushed outside and into the night. Part of her wondered if it was a mistake to be under the same roof as Jesse. Especially with her emotions running high.
Especially after that amazing, scalding, unforgettable kiss.
Yes, it probably was a mistake, but she was going to make it anyway.
It took Jesse less than a minute to get his bag and hurry back inside. Lauren locked up, resecured the place and then turnedexpecting there might be an awkward moment, or even another kiss. But neither happened because Jesse’s phone rang.
“It’s Griff,” he said, setting his bag on the floor. “You’re on speaker and Lauren is with me,” he added when he took the call.
“Good. Because this is something she’ll want to hear. And see,” Griff tacked onto that, and she could hear something in his voice that filled her with dread. “The CSIs went through Abilene’s house in Austin, and they found a room filled with photos and articles about Lauren’s abduction sixteen years ago.”
Lauren’s throat clenched as Griff’s words sank in. She could feel Jesse watching her, waiting, but her mind was spinning too fast to react.
“A room filled with photos and articles?” she echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yep,” Griff verified. “Abilene seemed obsessed with your case, Lauren. There were old news clippings, printouts from archived reports, even notes written in the margins. It’s like she was studying you.”
Lauren thought her heart had dropped to the floor. Sixteen years ago, her kidnapping had been splashed across every news outlet in Texas. Her escape. The years of therapy that followed. Even now, reporters occasionally revisited her case, the girl who had survived when maybe others hadn’t.
Jesse frowned. “Why, though? Why would Abilene be so fixated on Lauren’s case?”
“I don’t know,” Griff admitted. “I’m sending you the photos now. It’s all mapped out, everything that was made public. Your escape, personal details about you. Whatever her reasons were, she was deep into it.”
Lauren swallowed hard, glancing at Jesse as his phone buzzed with the incoming images. And she soon saw that Griff was right. Everything from sixteen years ago and beyond wasthere. Her own life dissected and pinned to the walls like a case study.
