He slipped on his socks, pants and shoes and grabbed his shirt and put it on, then headed into the hallway.He hesitated for a minute and heard Axel laughing saying something about getting her back.
Axel sounded so playful.The sound was almost jarring.Axel hadn’t laughed like that behind bars.Hearing it now felt like witnessing a man reclaim pieces of himself.He was glad Axel was happy, and that he was reconnecting with Jenna.
As he strolled down the hallway he heard Daisy begin a mad bark.The sudden bark jolted him.It was a sharp reminder that a world outside their fragile bubble still existed.
He frowned and entered the kitchen just in time to see a flash of light cross the kitchen wall.His pulse kicked.He glanced out the kitchen window and froze.
A familiar dark car was pulling up into the parking lot.His stomach dropped and his ankle monitor suddenly felt way too heavy and uncomfortable beneath his prison issue sock.
That car meant complications, questions, and the end of the quiet moment they’d carved out.
Shit.
Cyn was here.
* * * * *
“You ambushed me, Cyn,” Jenna complained.
The words came out sharper than she intended.Not because she wanted to hurt Cyn, but because she’d been carrying fear and confusion alone for days.
She and Cyn were alone in the kitchen.She’d had to dress quickly when Nick had burst in saying Cyn was here.
She had asked Axel and Nick to head out the back so she could be alone with Cyn.She didn’t want them hearing the woman getting fired.
She’d reached the kitchen door the instant Cyn had knocked, knowing that if the woman had arrived minutes earlier she probably would have come inside after no one answered the door because the guys had left the kitchen door open and the screen door unlocked.Her heart gave a little aftershock thud.The kind that comes when you realize how close you came to disaster.
Cyn would have found out what was going on in the shower.It would have been mortifying having her privacy compromised like that.Not that she regretted having had sex with two men at the same time.
Mercy, she’d loved it.Wanted more of it.Much more.
But it was her business and nobody else’s.
Man, talk about dodging a bullet!
After inviting the new acting director of Cowboys Online inside her home, Jenna had immediately lit onto her.
“You didn’t even bother telling me they were coming, Cyn.I practically had a heart attack when I saw Axel.That was not appropriate conduct to just dump them and drive away.You know it and I know it.And you didn’t even bother to reply to my many panicked phone calls.Again, not appropriate conduct.”Jenna wanted to say more, like she was fired, but the devastated look on Cyn’s face stopped her cold.
“I’ve been so busy, I hadn’t checked your calls.I figured you were just touching base.But I don’t understand?I left all the details for you in an email with copies of all the signed forms, the bank where their pay would go.I sent everything you needed a few days before Axel and Nick arrived,” Cyn said.
Her perfectly manicured brow was creased in concern.
Jenna breathed out slowly, uncertainty prickling at her.Was Cyn genuinely confused, or was she acting just because she suspected Jenna was going to take away her job?
“I never got the email, Cyn.”Jenna tried to keep her voice steady, but doubt began to linger in her chest.Maybe Cynhadsent her an email.
Cyn’s eyes widened with surprise.Okay, if she was acting, she deserved an award.But it was possible the email had vanished somewhere in cyberspace.
“That’s strange.Let me check the day and time I sent it.You can check your spam folder.I’m sure that’s what must have happened,” Cyn murmured, already digging through her purse for her phone.She scooped it out, and the screen’s glow cast faint shadows across her anxious face as she began to scroll, her fingers trembling.
Her frown deepened, and her mouth fell open in shock.
“Oh, Jenna, I am so sorry.The email never went out.I forgot to hit send.It’s still in draft mode.I must have been distracted and just left it there.I swear, this has never happened to me before.”
The explanation hit Jenna like a soft exhale.Not absolution, but understanding, the kind that loosens the tightness in your chest.
Cyn’s cheeks flushed red as she hurried to correct her mistake, tapping the screen.
