Page 4 of Rescuing Josiah
Waking him up from a nightmare had been a bad idea, but it had also been necessary. She’d spent enough time around special forces guys to know that you didn't touch them when they were dreaming, that if you did, it could end extremely badly.
Only this time she hadn't had a choice.
The justice of the peace was ready to sign their paperwork with them, and Josiah had dozed off in a chair in the hall while they were waiting. It wasn’t like she could just leave him there and do this herself.
Not that she would admit it to him, but her wrist throbbed from where he’d gripped it almost tight enough to crush bones. There would be bruises later, and she should probably ice it to help with the swelling, but she also didn't want to do anything that would draw attention to it because she didn't know how Josiah would react.
He’d never hurt her on purpose, that wasn't who he was. Angry at the world, yes. Closed off from everybody else, yes. But he wasn't a bad guy, he was just scared, and she tried to do everything within her power to show him that he didn't need to be scared around her. If he could just lower his guard the tiniest of bits, she could scale up it and scurry down the other side. That way, he’d never have to face anything alone again.
Too bad he didn't seem inclined to lower those barriers. Not even a millimeter.
“Uh, well, that didn't go too badly, I guess,” she said, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.
It didn’t work if the expression on Josiah’s face when he whirled around to glare down at her was anything to go by.“Don’tevertouch me again when I'm asleep,” he growled, his voice low enough that no one around them would hear it.
“I'm s-sorry,” she stammered. Again, she knew that Josiah would never deliberately hurt her, but that didn't mean that when he scowled like that, he wasn't a scary-looking guy. “I didn't know what else to do. I tried calling your name and it didn't wake you up. We had to go in there and sign the papers. I did what I thought was the right thing.”
“You thought wrong,” he snapped.
“Okay,” she agreed, mainly so they didn't have an argument right out here on the street. They had no idea if they were being followed, but if they were, they had to look somewhat believable as a couple.
The whole plan depended on the trafficking ring believing that she and Josiah had been secretly in love and dating for months, but were unable to be vocal about it because of Prey’s no fraternization policy. In reality, there was no such thing, after all, founder and CEO Eagle Oswald himself had fallen in love with an employee. Okay, so Olivia had taken the job under false pretenses, but she had been an employee, and everything had worked out in the end.
Still, that was a believable reason why they hadn't announced a relationship, and there were now fake medical records showing her kidneys were failing and she needed an urgent transplant. Their lie was that they’d married so that Josiah was legally allowed to make medical decisions for her as her next of kin.
If they could make the charade look believable, they would attend some fake medical appointments over the next few days and hopefully hook the trafficking ring. Then they just had to reel them in, and this would all be over.
As badly as she wanted this to be over so all her friends would be safe and free to move on with their lives and their new relationships, Chelsea couldn’t help but feel a little like she wasgoing to be left behind. Everyone else in Cyber Team, except her and Josiah, was now in love, and it was only this case and the threat hanging over their heads because of it that everything hadn't already completely changed.
It was coming, though.
Changes. Big ones.
And she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. Happy for her best friends, of course, Ava and Teresa deserved to be happy, and so did Tobias. But where did it all leave her?
“Let’s go,” Josiah snapped, turning on his heel and walking off without her.
She hurried to catch up with him, something that was hard to do without actually breaking into a run, because his legs were much longer than hers, his six-foot-four frame towering over her five-foot-two.
“You don’t look like someone who just married the woman they love,” she whispered when she managed to catch up to him.
“Because I'm not and I didn't,” he grumbled.
Although those words were true, Chelsea couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart. Everybody other than Josiah himself knew she was hopelessly in love with him. What she’d first thought was just a crush that would pass quickly had only grown over the years they'd known one another.
Some people might wonder what she could possibly see in the rude, grumpy man who had made it his life’s mission to keep everyone at a distance. But once you knew about his past, all he’d lost, the betrayal, it all made sense, and you couldn’t not feel sorry for him. That’s what kept her unreciprocated feelings alive. Josiah Fleet was hurting, and she wanted to take that pain for him, shoulder some of it so he didn't have to carry the heavy burden alone.
If she was being honest with herself, maybe she thought that this, playing at being a couple, spending one on one timetogether, might make her dreams a reality. Or at the very least, bring them a little closer to being real.
Now, though, it was painfully obvious that wasn't going to happen.
Not now, and likely not ever.
Only when she tried to convince herself to give up on the idea of Josiah never being more than a coworker, she couldn’t seem to do it. It felt wrong to give up on him. He didn't let himself have anyone, and while he might not want her presence in his life, she was here, and she wanted to help if he’d just let her in.
Giving up on Josiah would be dooming him to life of loneliness and pain.
She couldn’t do that. No matter how much he wanted her to.
