Chapter Twenty #2
“Okay. I’m heading to the warehouse to organize supplies and load the truck.” Mandy closed the lid on her laptop. “Let me know the second you have information about the space and weight that’s available to us in the airplane hold. I’ll get the truck headed to the right hangar.”
“Thanks, Mandy,” Rylee said. “And I’ll have the cash in my bag with me.”
“Logistics is already rocking and rolling,” Neesa said. “But we’ll head to the office to lend them support. We’ll stay in close communication.”
Mandy headed out the door.
“I don’t love the idea of walking around with fifty grand in my backpack,” Rylee said.
“As long as you treat your backpack like it’s full of plane snacks and nothing more interesting, you’re golden. Or you could go the other route. You could get security to handcuff it to your left wrist. If they want the money, they’d have to chop your hand off to get it.”
“Gross. And also, no,” Rylee said. “They could simply unzip it, take the money, and leave me holding the bag.”
“Ha, I see what you did there. Very clever. I’d be clever, too, but your boyfriend doesn’t know how to make his coffee thick enough for my taste.”
“Not boyfriend. But if there’s ever a next time, I’ll make the coffee. I’m sorry you suffered.”
“You need to take a shower. That’s his shirt, isn’t it? So you did the dirty with Dakota, huh?
Rylee walked back to the bathroom, leaving the door open so she could talk to Neesa while the water warmed up. “Jasper?”
“Not yet. He’s acting the gentleman, and I both like it and don’t like it. Slow is probably for the best.” Neesa pulled Rylee’s armchair around to face the bathroom and sat. “So give me the low-down on Mr. Dakota Kayne. Oh, hey, did you know what his call sign was in the military? Raisin.”
Rylee pulled the T-shirt over her head and held it to her nose to smell Dakota’s clean scent. The smell of spices and soap. “Raisin? What? Why?”
“Raisin Kayne. Jasper’s call sign was ghost.”
“Okay, because?” She folded the T-shirt and put it on her shelf, then tugged her sweatpants off and dumped them in the hamper.
“Jasper sounds like Casper?” There was a shrug in Neesa’s voice. “I got distracted and never asked. Okay, so spill. To me, Dakota seems like a good guy. You can see it on his face. Easy going, friendly, kind.”
Pulling on her shower cap, Rylee stepped into a cloud of fog and turned the showerhead to massage so she could lean into the wall, and it could pelt her butt and thighs that were sore from yesterday’s crawl across the Iniquus field.
“Yeah. I like his ready smile and that his smile hits his eyes, not just his mouth.”
“Genuine,” Neesa said.
“Sincere without the weight that word usually carries. I like that his dog is so thoroughly devoted to him.” She poured some liquid soap onto her palm.
“I’m told that one should always trust a dog. Dogs hate me, so I’m assuming that saying is accurate. Why am I hearing hesitation?”
“Yeah, well, good guy. He’s different. Forthright, no games, seemingly no agendas.” Rylee worked the soap over her skin, wishing that this morning had been slower and that she had woken in Dakota’s arms, they had another tumble, then they were showering together.
“Now, I hear a ‘but?’” Neesa said.
“But I’m not used to that. I don’t like to expose so much of myself to a stranger.”
“This is when you reflect on the conversation, right?” Neesa asked. “At the time, it’s good?”
“Very comfortable, zero red flags.” Rylee adjusted the water stream to something gentler so she could rinse. “He just throws me off a bit.”
“Pulling damned teeth, here. How so?”
“It was maybe too comfortable? It was maybe too much like we were already friends?”
“So you’ve friend-zoned the guy and slept with him anyway?”
“Not at all. Nope. Quite the opposite. He’s … that was … I had an exceptional time last night. I was relaxed. My brain was stimulated. And things moved naturally forward.”
“Well, shit, girl, he stimulated your brain.” Neesa cackled. “I bet you threw him down and jumped his bones.”
“Exactly what happened. Look, Neesa, it’s just bad timing.
There’s a lot on my plate, figuring out the attrition at work, this new horrific shadow with the counterfeit money and all the ramifications there, and with my upcoming diagnosis.
I might be undergoing treatment or participating in a medical trial.
Yeah, bad timing for a new relationship.
In their newness, relationships take up headspace and emotions, energy that I don’t have to spare. ”
“Not sleeping?”
Rylee turned off the water, reached for a towel, and dried herself. “According to my watch, yes, some, but it seems to me that all I can do is relax my body into a restful state and try to distract myself from the going-to-sleep sensations in my hands and feet.”
“But other than your life is chaotic right now, what do you think?”
Rylee, wrapped in the towel, moved over to her underwear drawer and plucked out a pair of hip-huggers. “He’s a fully actualized grown-up, which is nice. I can’t remember feeling this safe.”
“Bad timing, though.” Neesa turned the chair to face Rylee as she dug out a tactical outfit for the day. “When would the good timing be?”
“Oh, let’s see. I have a diagnosis. I’ve been someone’s guinea pig, and everything bad is reversed, so I’m not constantly distracted by my body.
WorldCares isn’t in danger of losing its integrity, so we don’t risk thousands, if not millions, of lives over the next decade.
And we have a solid group of people who aren’t floating job to job but learning, growing, then teaching the next generation. ”
“So what you’re saying is that you can have love and happiness when all the world is utopia. That sounds like something to take up with a counselor. People deserve love and happiness.” Neesa turned away so Rylee could drop her towel.
“Intimacy.” Rylee stepped into her panties, which rolled annoyingly against her damp skin.
“How’s that?”
“We were talking about how Dakota discovered there was a big difference between sex and intimacy, and intimacy comes from close, caring relationships.”
“He told you that on the first date?”
Rylee leaned over so her boobs could fall into the cups of her bra. “Was it a date? Yeah, I guess it was. Yes, then not the first date that was scampi.” She hooked the band and adjusted the straps. “Second date was pizza.”
“Oh, girlfriend, he is head over heels for you.”
“You think?” Rylee tugged on a WorldCares T-shirt. “I’m decent, you can spin back around. Flipping this around on you. Jasper?” She shook out her pants, then stepped a foot into the leg.
“In love!” Neesa dunked her head back and raised her hands toward the ceiling in a move that shouted hallelujah.
“Ha.” Rylee jumped the waist over her butt and buttoned the top.
“I’m not kidding,” Neesa said, looking Rylee straight in the eye. “I’m going to marry that man.