He was exhausted.
He got little sleep the night before. Thoughts of Gia kept prancing through his tired mind, doing things to his body they had no right to. It had been difficult to sleep with a hard-on. He had to take matters into his own hands to get some relief. Memories of their last time together flitted through his mind. While fantasizing about Gia was nothing new, what changed was the picture in his mind of her. Gone was the eighteen-year-old of his memories, and in its place was the grown-up version.
Her once-baby face had slimmed down, making her look more mature. More like a woman. Her pouty lips and her expressive eyes hadn’t changed. He’d brought himself to climax with thoughts of her lips wrapped around him. The relief was brief, but it had been enough for him to relax and fall asleep.
He should have known Gia would follow him into his dreams. Only instead of pleasant dreams following his orgasm, it was a much different version of Gia visiting him.
The bruises he’d seen on her body only seemed starker and harsher in his nightmares. She appeared to him like a mirage he tried to follow. After what felt like hours, he caught up with her, only for her to turn her sad brown eyes on him. She’d looked at him with such devastation, he could have sworn his own heart broke in his dreams.
He heard her voice in his head, even though her mouth didn’t move.
“Jake, where were you? I needed you.”
The excuses lodged in his throat, strangling him with their inadequacy. He had no answer to give her. He hadn’t been there for her when she needed him the most.
He’d reached for her, but she slipped right through his hands like sand. Even in his own dreams, he couldn’t protect her from whatever haunted her. Black vines materialized around her and dragged her away from him, kicking and screaming. Jake woke with a shout in the early morning hours.
In the hours before dawn, he’d made a promise.
It will be different this time.
This time around, he was older and wiser. He knew what he wanted, and what he’d always wanted was Gia. Safe and in his arms every night. He’d shower her with love and affection until she finally admitted she was worthy of it.
And this time, he wouldn’t be doing it alone. He had Marley. Not for the first time, he thought about how thankful he was to have Marley in his life.
“Hmm… What if we named it, like, Operation Kitty? No, that’s stupid.”
Jake smiled during her monologue. Marley usually talked out loud when she was trying to work through her thoughts. He found it endearing.
“Oh, I got it! What if we called it Operation Tuna Melt? It’s perfect!” Marley punched the air in excitement and leaped out of her seat.
“Where are you going now?” he asked cautiously.
“I need to go talk to Miss Diem and get the ball rolling. We don’t have much time to put things in motion. What if she leaves tomorrow?”
Fear like he’d never felt before seized him. He hadn’t really thought too far ahead, but Marley was right. There was always the risk that Gia would disappear into the night like she had all those years ago, and he’d lose his only shot at winning her back.
“You want me to come with you?”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Yes, but this is more important.”
“Okay, then let’s go!”
Not wasting another moment, Jake followed an eager Marley out of his office, gathering his belongings on his way out.
“Julie, we have a mission to complete. Hold all the calls,” Marley instructed the shocked Julie, who stared open-mouthed at the bossy teenager.
“Yes, Julie, what Marley said.” Jake tossed a wink at Julie, who blushed.
“Yes, sir. I mean, miss.”
“All right, let’s start phase one of Operation Tuna Melt.”
“Lead the way.”
Jake followed a bouncing Marley out the door and to his parked car, where they both climbed in.
