Page 8 of Abigail
As she focuses back on the group, she can’t stop watching how the men are interacting with the women. The men keep a hand on their woman’s back or hold their hands. Abigail expects it to be a way of controlling them, but the gentleness of their interactions debunks that train of thought. Abi watches the women’s reactions to the touching. They don’t appear to be afraid or even surprised by the gentleness the men are showing them. Abi instinctively knows these women aren’t being abused like she was during her time with Todd. No, these women look relaxed, happy, and comfortable. Something Abi has never been. The way the women’s faces light up when one of the men speaks to them lets her know these women feel safe and secure. It’s almost enough to make Abigail wish she were one of them. The men seem protective and caring, not abusive or controlling.
As they approach the counter, Abi notices one of them holding back from the group. He is standing off to the side. His light blond hair and a strong chiseled jaw line draws her attention. There’s a familiarity to his profile that tugs at her heart. Suddenly he turns his head to look at her. Their eyes lock and his eyes seem to bore straight into her soul. It’s almost a cosmic experience. Something clicks inside her chest as if she has found her safe place: her home, her soulmate?Stop being ridiculous!Abi mentally scolds herself. However, she can’t deny the visceral reaction her body has to the stranger. Abi feels her nipples harden and moisture dampen her panties. Her breath catches, and her pulse rate spikes.
Abi’s arousal shocks her more than the feeling he is her soulmate. It’s been a very long time since she has even thought about being with a man, much less one in the service. Despite her vow to avoid servicemen, she can’t deny her reaction. She drags her eyes away from his and forces herself to breathe. After a couple of deep cleansing breathes, she’s finally able to get herself to focus on the group in front of her. She has to stay in control and do her job. She is going to need to be on her toes to get through the next week unscathed.
* * *
Straw’s teamhas arrived in San Diego. Well, most of the team. Worm is on temporary loan to another team for the next couple of months. He’ll be missed on this trip, but orders are orders. Once they have gotten everyone loaded up into the rental SUVs that Hawk and Charlotte had made arrangements for, they drive to their hotel that is to be home for the next few weeks. Everyone is worn out after the long flight especially the kids. Thankfully this hotel has valet parking so they can head in and get their rooms without figuring out parking and all that shit. Straw is ready for some solitude. He’s still trying to deal with the fallout from the team gathering.
Straw scans the hotel lobby as they enter. The place is very chic. The polished floors are shiny with heavy expensive looking furniture scattered around. It has been a long trip across the country. Thankfully none of the flights were delayed. He is tired and overly on edge. His guilt over his uncharacteristic behavior at Hawk’s last weekend has been weighing heavily on him. It hasn’t helped that his brothers on the team are pissed at him, and the women have been giving him a wide berth, which has made him feel even worse about being a monumental dick. He just wants to get his room so he can relax a little before they have to be at their first meeting on Monday.
He turns his attention to the check-in desk as they near the counter. Luckily there aren’t many people waiting in line. His eyes land on the woman behind the counter. He can barely see her face from this angle. She is petite only about 5’4” with light brown hair. Her hair is pulled up behind her head in a neat bun. The woman’s hotel uniform fits her form perfectly. She is a little curvy, but not overly so. He can’t help but feel like he has seen her somewhere before. Familiarity tugs at his memory. He is trying not to stare, but he can’t seem to force himself to take his eyes off her. Then it happens. She turns her gaze his way. Their eyes lock on one another, and if he believed in fate or destiny, he would swear it is working its magic in that moment. A feeling like none he’s ever felt before comes over him. Something snaps in his chest like a lock popping open to expose him. She is piercing him with her eyes, touching his soul. He doesn’t even want to contemplate the physical reaction his body is having to her. He can feel his dick twitch and begin to lengthen uncomfortably in the tight confines of his jeans. He can’t help but notice she has nice sized tits as they strain against the crisp white button up blouse she is wearing under her form fitting dark brown jacket. He can’t see her legs, and he is curious if she is wearing pants or a skirt. She has a pleasant smile on her face that lights up her chocolate brown eyes as she greets them.
“Welcome to the Sheraton San Diego.” The woman’s smooth, soft voice reaches Straw’s ears. It lights a fire in him, and like a moth to a flame, he is drawn to her. He steps closer to the counter so he can hear her better. “How may I help you?”
“Jordan Jackson, ma’am,” Hawk smiles at the woman. “We have a reservation.”
“Abigail,” she corrects him as her fingers fly across the keyboard in front of her.
“Excuse me?” Hawk asks.
“My name is Abigail.” She smiles. “Ma’am makes me feel like an old lady. Ah yes, I have your reservation right here, Mr. Jackson. Wow, you have ten rooms reserved for 14 days?” Her questioning gaze comes to Hawk’s.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Hawk confirms. “And just call me Hawk. Mr. Jackson make me feel like the old man that I am.” He chuckles and Charlotte proceeds to swat him on the arm. Abigail giggles, and it causes arousal to hit Straw like a two by four, closely followed by clarity.
Her name is Abigail.
Recognition hitting him like a rocket propelled grenade. The woman from the news report four years ago. The one who’s haunted his dreams many times over the years. He’d begun to think he was crazy for dreaming about a woman he’s never met. For many years, he’s felt compelled to find her, track her down, search near and far to find her, and bring her back home with him. He hasn’t acted on these deep-seated desires, however. Not even when they’d had Tex on the line looking for Charlotte, Elise, Daisy, and Emma. Tex is a super genius when it comes to all things tech. He can find the proverbial needle in a haystack without breaking a sweat. It would’ve been easy to ask Tex to look for the clandestine, disappearing woman. He had no doubt that Tex could find her, but he’d resisted for various reasons. One, everyone would think he is crazy to look for a stranger who’s on the run from the police for a violent crime. Two, she obviously didn’t want to be found since the police haven’t had any luck tracking her down.
How does he know this, you ask? He’s become acquainted with a detective on the case and checks in from time to time even after all these years. He’d actually checked in just before leaving on this trip because he’s begun dreaming of her again. The dreams had waned for a while to only a few times a month, but in the last three months, he’s begun dreaming about her much more frequently. To the point he is dreaming about her every night. So much so that he’s been losing sleep.
Honestly, he should have used his lack of good sleep on his inexcusable outburst at the weekend barbeque. The dreams have gotten so vivid it’s taken him several minutes to realize it isn’t real, once he’s woken. Often he is too shaken to seek sleep again. Therefore he’s been running on a few hours of sleep a night for over a month.
Finally the most important reason to Straw that he hasn’t acted on his desire to find her is: he can’t be the man she needs. He will do his best to protect her from whatever demons are chasing her, but he can’t protect her from himself. And he is likely much more dangerous than whatever situation she’d found herself in that drove her to run away in the first place. He is too jaded and his shit DNA will prevent him from being the kind of man who can give her what she needs. A knight in shining armor that will sweep her off her feet and give her a white picket fence and a house full of kids. As much as he wishes he could, he can’t be that man.
Straw continues to observe her as she is working her fingers over the keyboard of the computer in front of her. A shriek reverberates through the lobby drawing attention. Everyone, except Straw, jerks around to look in the direction of sound. He has faith in his teammates to handle any threat. He doesn’t take his eyes from the woman in front of him. She is a mystery that he needs desperately to figure out. He also wants to protect her if needed. He moves closer to the counter in an effort to cover her if there is an imminent threat.
Abigail’s head jerks up to look in the direction of the disturbance. An ugly looking scar stretches all the way across her neck. Straw involuntarily shudders as it looks like someone has tried to slit her throat with a dull object. Rage fumes as he contemplates the cause of that injury. He can’t imagine someone trying to hurt the beauty, but the scar is much too jagged and large to be from a surgical procedure. That is unless the surgeon was a butcher, and somehow, deep down, he knows that isn’t the case.
Abigail frowns at a woman on the balcony making a fuss as she greets a friend. Abi turns back toward her computer. As her gaze drops from the balcony toward the computer screen, she shivers as if she is cold. Her face pales and her eyes widen as she stares across the lobby. Straw tears his eyes away from her to follow her gaze. He sees Admiral Jenkins standing at the open door to the bar. There are a few other people milling about the lobby, but nothing that looks threatening. Admiral Jenkins is looking toward the front door of the hotel. Suddenly he takes off toward the entrance at a fast clip. For an old man he can really move, Straw thinks as he turns to look back at the mysterious Abigail, but she’s gone.What the fuck!
CHAPTEREIGHT
Unease washes over Abigail and it has nothing to do with the commotion on the balcony. A tall silver-haired man in white dress military uniform is standing in the doorway of the hotel bar. One of her worst nightmares is standing there in the flesh.OH MY GOD!How long has he been there? Did he see me?These fearful thoughts run through her mind as blind panic sets in and her pulse kicks into high gear.
“Excuse me,” Abi hurriedly says to the group in front of her. “Someone will be right back.”
She ducks down and crawls into the back office. Jumping to her feet once she is out of sight of the lobby, she sprints toward the staff lockers. She calls out to Brent as she passes his office.
“Hey Brent, something’s come up. I have to go. There’s a group waiting to finish checking in. I have most of it done. You just need to make their room keys and get them to sign.” Brent looks up at her with a confused look at first then his face contorts into rage.
“What the hell are you doing, Abigail? Get your ass back out there! It’s not time for you to go home yet. It’s your long day, remember?” Brent barks as he glares at her. Abi knows she will have to get back out there. She can’t afford to lose her job, but if her nightmare sees her, she has a lot more to lose than a job. Abi doesn’t want to move again, but she doesn’t have a choice. If she gets caught, Ellie will go to foster care. She will go to jail. She doesn’t have a choice. She has to get out of here.
“Brent, I have to go. I don’t have time to explain. This is an emergency!” Abigail throws over her shoulder as she grabs her purse. She hurries back to the door. She pauses to peek out so she can see if the man is still in the lobby. Suddenly rough hands are grabbing her from behind. Abi shrieks in fright, before realizing Brent is behind her. “Lord Brent, you scared me!” Abigail throws her hand over her heart.
“You are not going anywhere,” Brent growls at her. “Dammit Abigail, we have a hotel full of people. This is our busiest weekend of the year. You can’t just up and leave. This is the only emergency you need to be worrying about!” And with that, Brent jerks her purse from her hands and shoves her roughly toward the door.
Abigail stumbles forward, bent at the waist, while taking a few awkward steps in an effort to catch herself. Another loud shriek leaves her throat as her ankle rolls. She tumbles foreword. Her head collides with the check-in desk. The entire lobby turns to look her way. Terror sweeps through her. Abigail quickly looks toward the bar to see if he is still there, but the man is gone. She quickly scans the remainder of the lobby, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Abi is shaking like a leaf as relief begins to wash over her.Had she really seen him? Or is the stress of having so many servicemen in the hotel messing with her fears?
