11. Jaime
Chapter 11
Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me!
He’d been silently begging Finn to close the distance between them, standing so close in the parking lot outside of Andi’s, the place where they were always meant to start.
Where they should have started a year ago.
Jaime had really thought Finn was about to do it, but then the bubble they were in popped, and they realized that they shouldn’t be starting this, whatever this was, out in the open.
Finn had been right about it being a gorgeous day outside; it seemed like everything was waking up from a long winter slumber. Jaime had remembered his own coat, even though he’d heavily debated “forgetting” it to see if Finn’s offer to wear his was genuine, but he ended up setting it aside in the truck anyway to feel the fresh breeze on his skin.
They drove around Silver Rapids for a while, occasionally getting out to pop into a shop or two that Finn said he thought Jaime might like. He was always right.
The first they went into was a bookstore, and Jaime blushed when, after wandering around for a while, Finn found him scanning the back of a very smutty queer romance novel.
He smirked at Jaime, a knowing look in his eye. “Haven’t read that one, yet?”
Jaime squawked, fumbling for something to say as Finn’s rumbling laughter made his stomach do funny things.
Finn stepped up behind him, all heat and desire at Jaime’s back, and leaned over to prop an arm up against the bookshelf. He whispered, “Do you think I haven’t noticed what you’re reading, baby? When you tuck yourself into that giant man-eating couch of yours by the fire? You’ll have to tell me which ones you like best, and maybe I’ll give it a try.”
Finn winked, stepping back, and sauntered around the corner toward the mysteries and thrillers section, leaving Jaime gaping. And so fucking horny.
Finn had winked at him. And offered to read a romance novel with him. He’d called him baby—twice!
In a daze, Jaime picked up a few paperbacks that looked interesting, and took them to the front, smiling at the cashier who gave him a funny look. Was he one of those book snobs who turned their nose up at romances? Jaime ignored it until Finn stepped up to the counter with him.
“Jared, good to see you. This is Jaime.” He was hovering close behind again, the warmth of his chest nearly touching Jaime’s back, teasing him. It was an effort not to lean further into him—he ached to feel Finn pressed up against him fully.
Jared merely nodded, dense white hair falling into his face as he did so. Actually, the man was sort of covered in white hair, his forearms thick with it. He almost seemed reassured at Finn’s introduction, features softening as he bagged up Jaime’s books. Odd. Jaime finished paying and noted that Finn had grabbed a couple of thrillers for himself.
After the bookshop, they walked a little ways until Finn turned them into another store. This one seemed to be some combination of a hardware store, grocery store, and a knickknack stand, selling everything from ice-melt, cereal, and little handmade wooden figurines.
“Do you know that guy? Jared?” Jaime asked as they perused the aisles, unable to shake the odd feeling the interaction had given him.
It was like Finn had needed to make it known that they were there together. Not like, together together, even though the thought of Finn being territorial made him flush and his cock chub up, but more like he was vouching for Jaime’s good intentions.
“Not really, not very well. He’s been around Silver Rapids for a long time, longer than I have. You know how small towns can be, people don’t like strangers.”
The tense moment from earlier when Finn had crowded Jaime up against the truck had dissipated a little, but not entirely. There was still something charged between them—something that had stirred awake during their shared meal at Andi’s, and Jaime couldn’t shake the feeling.
While their conversation never veered into the heady place it had in that adorable little booth over truly the best food of Jaime’s life, it was still more open than it had been in the past few days. Jaime wasn’t so afraid to reveal things about himself, and Finn seemed at ease knowing Jaime’s distance had been out of respect for the miscommunication over Silas, and not out of a desire to be distant from him.
You’re not now, nor have you ever been, a burden.
I want more with you, if that’s what you want.
The real version of you, the one sitting in front of me. Please don’t diminish that.
Jaime had been in a year’s worth of therapy working through his feelings of self-loathing and unworthiness, and he still had a long way to go. One conversation with a man he had a crush on wasn’t going to fix that.
But it sure fucking helped.
Parts of him whispered that Finn didn’t mean it; that he just needed to wait until Jaime had another bout of anxiety, or someone came to hurt him and he needed Finn to protect him, and then Finn would see how much of a burden he really was.
But there was a lightness in him that wasn’t there before today, and it helped as he used the exercises he’d learned in therapy to set those thoughts aside. To rationalize that they weren’t real; it was just his own self-loathing and doubt at work.
Finn had only ever been honest with him—had only ever helped him, been kind to him, and pulled him back into himself. Not because he needed Finn to fix him, but because sometimes you needed someone you could count on, who saw you from the outside, and who could support you as you healed yourself.
Someone to tell you that you’re worth healing.
Fuck, that was deep. How long had they known each other? In reality, only a few days. But they had been circling each other for weeks last year, and Finn hadn’t ever fully left Jaime’s thoughts. It seemed to be the same for Finn.
Finn grabbed a few items that he said he needed for the house, some caulking and a sander to patch up some of the work from the security tech install. As they paid and walked back to the truck together, idly chatting, Jaime had the fleeting thought that this was what he wanted.
How beautiful would it be, to spend his days running errands and finishing up domestic chores with a man who thought he was strong, and beautiful, and worth fighting for?
He wanted to find out.
Their drive home was uneventful and quiet, but in the comforting way of two people who enjoyed being in one another’s company. When they pulled into Jaime’s driveway, Finn cut the engine and they sat there, listening to each other breathe.
Finn’s profile was beautiful in the afternoon light, and when he turned toward Jaime that crease between his eyebrows relaxed, eyes going soft. Jaime couldn’t help but glance down at his mouth again, couldn’t help but imagine what Finn’s lips would feel like on his.
Would Finn lead the kiss? Guide Jaime through it with soft dominance and a demanding tongue, like that tone of voice he sometimes used would suggest? Or, would he melt under Jaime’s touch?
Slowly, Jaime leaned toward Finn over the armrest and opened his mouth to say something—maybe to thank him for getting him out of the house today, or maybe to beg him to push Jaime into the back seat and take him right there in the goddamn truck cab—but Finn’s eyes caught on something over his shoulder, and Jaime’s words died in his throat at the look that came over his face.
Finn’s lips pulled back almost like a snarl, and soil-brown eyes turned dark and molten, flickering in anger. Whipping his head around to see what Finn was looking at, he saw two men casually walking toward their vehicle, having circled around from behind his cabin.
“Call Silas.”
Jaime didn’t even recognize Finn’s voice, rough and thick with anger. He handed Jaime his phone without taking his eyes off the two approaching men.
“Crawl into the driver’s seat once I get out. Whatever happens, do not leave the truck. If this goes badly, drive to your brother’s apartment, and call the police.”
Finn stepped out and slammed the door behind him, headed straight for where the two men stood, smirking, having stopped their approach about ten feet away. Activating the door locks, Jaime crawled over to the driver’s side and prayed he wouldn’t need to follow through on Finn’s orders.
He wouldn’t leave him. He couldn’t.
But he also wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he’d be able to do much if they were somehow able to overpower Finn. Watching as he stopped halfway between the truck and the two men, feet planted and arms crossed, Jaime found Silas’s number saved in Finn’s favorites and called him.
“Finny! You guys get back from Silver Rapids ok?”
“Silas? It’s Jaime. Lamont. You’ve got to get over here, people are here. Finn said to call you. He’s outside talking to them now.”
“Fuck, ok. I’m on my way. Where are you?”
“My house. We just pulled into the drive. I’m inside the truck. He told me not to get out.”
“Good. Do not get out of the truck, Jaime. Be ready to leave if you need to. How many of them are there? Is it the media, or someone else?”
“There’s two of them, and I don’t know. They were behind the house when we got here; Finn saw them walking up to the truck when we pulled in. They don’t look like the media, but I can’t hear what they are saying.”
Please, don’t let them hurt Finn.
He had to remind himself this was why Finn was here. He was good at this. Finn did this for a living. He was a professional, capable of handling two trespassers.
“I’m ten minutes away. Sheppard will be there in fifteen. Do not get out of the truck, Jaime. Leave, if you need to. Finn will be fine.”
“I won’t leave him.” Jaime was shocked by his own conviction.
“Ten minutes, Jaime. It will be fine.” Then Silas hung up.
Distantly, he thought Silas must have been on his way over already if he was only ten minutes away. Finn and the two strangers were still standing there, and seemed to be having some kind of conversation. Not wanting to risk Silas or Sheppard arriving too late, Jaime pulled out his own phone and called the first person who came to mind.
Sam didn’t pick up.
He tried several more times—no answer.
Furious at himself for reaching out again, and getting ignored again, Jaime gave up and dialed Detective Sutton’s number.
She picked up on the second ring, and he explained the situation a little more steadily than he had with Silas. The detective said she was on her way, and she’d inform DA Rivera. Jaime briefly thought about calling Dana Chase, but decided that could wait. He wanted to know what they were saying to each other.
He hit the button to roll down the window just a crack, both so he could hear what they were saying to Finn and so he could get a bit of fresh air to calm his nerves.
“…want to know what he knows, that’s all,” said the stranger on the right.
Finn rumbled, “You were ordered here to fucking threaten him, dog. Let’s all stop pretending otherwise. Tell Jeffrey to back the fuck off—he’s under our protection, now.”
Jeffrey? Jeffrey Dugan, Vera Novikova-Dugan’s husband? How does Finn know him?
The stranger sneered. “For now, maybe. But if he tells his cop friend to back off Second Dugan, then maybe we can come to an agreement.”
Suddenly, Silas strode out from the tree line, shirtless and sweaty. Had he run all the way here? Where the hell was his car? In a few long strides he was shoulder to shoulder with Finn, both of them now standing between the intruders and Jaime.
“Hello, Silas. It’s been awhile, how’ve you been?” the one on the left asked.
Silas only growled. Growled.
What the actual fuck is going on?
How did he end up with bodyguards who seemed to know Vera’s husband? And why was he the one that was apparently threatening Jaime? Unless…
Oh.
Jaime’s ears started ringing. Unless Jeffrey Dugan was the one threatening him, because he was the one who had ordered Vera’s death. How stupid was he? Of course it was the husband, it’s always the fucking husband.
But Jaime didn’t know that, not in any way that mattered. He had no way of proving that in court—all he’d heard was the other end of a phone call. It must have been enough for Jeffrey Dugan to want him out of the picture, though. Or dead.
Still, that didn’t explain why these two clearly knew Finn and Silas, and how his bodyguards knew that Jeffrey Dugan was involved.
Had this all been a setup?
Jaime slammed the lid shut on that train of thought, trying to slow his erratic breathing. No. Finn wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t lie to him, not about that. He wanted Jaime to stay safe, he wanted to know Jaime—that’s what he’d said.
Unless he’s lying to you. You don’t really know him that well at all.
He knows Jeffrey Dugan. What are the chances that you were meant to meet up with him on the same night Jeffrey’s wife was murdered?
Before his thoughts could spiral anymore, or he did something rash like sprint out the other side of the truck and take off into the trees before any of them turned and noticed he was gone, two vehicles pulled into the drive, boxing everyone else in.
DA Rivera and Detective Sutton stepped out of the first, striding toward Finn and Silas where they were gathered around the trespassers.
Cameron Sheppard, all wiry muscle and a ball cap pulled low over his brow, stepped out of the other car, first looking to Jaime where he sat in the truck, and then locking eyes with DA Rivera, who’d halted his approach at Sheppard’s appearance. Even though they weren’t speaking to each other, something about the way they were staring made Jaime look away. Like it was too intimate for anyone else to witness.
Apparently, everybody knew everybody here except for him, and he was goddamn tired of it. He was tired of running, and being helpless, and kept out of everything.
Yanking open the door, he stepped outside as Finn whipped his head around. “Jaime, please. Get back in the truck until they leave.”
Jaime didn’t even look at him, just strode up to stand with the rest of them. “No.”
Opening and closing his mouth before apparently deciding that arguing would be fruitless, Finn sidled closer, partially blocking him from the now very outnumbered intruders.
“Ah, hello, Jaime Lamont.”
“Don’t speak to him,” Finn snarled.
“Relax, and stop growling at us. He can speak to us if he wishes.”
Detective Sutton bodied her way between them all, her short, round form cutting through the crowd of overly large men. “No, actually, he can’t. Because I’m instating an emergency protective order, ceasing all contact between the two of you and Jaime Lamont. You’ll be required to appear in court in a few days to finalize the order. Now, seeing as you’re now both trespassing and violating a protective order, I’m required to escort you off the property. Get into the back of the car, now.”
Jaime had never seen this side of Detective Sutton. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck, and her blue eyes were piercing as she took control of the stand-off that seemed to be one wrong move away from turning into complete mayhem.
Jaime was suddenly very glad to have never been on the receiving end of the look she was now leveling at the two trespassers.
DA Rivera and Sheppard had apparently moved past their stare-off, because Sheppard was now pulling Silas off to the side, casting a wary glance around before handing him a bundle of cloth. Silas shook it out, and swung the offered shirt over his head.
Still unsettled by the whole exchange, and unsure what to think regarding the way they all clearly knew each other, or that Finn had been keeping things from him, Jaime turned away from him and that confrontation for right now and found DA Rivera striding over. “Jaime. I’m sorry for the way all of this has happened. Are you ok?”
Jaime hadn’t ever met DA Rivera in person, he’d only heard his voice over the phone. So he was absolutely not prepared for just how beautiful he was. If Jaime wasn’t so caught up on Finn, he’d want to spend more time taking in this man’s stunning hazel eyes, shockingly bright against his deep russet skin.
“I’m fine. I was in the truck for most of the conversation, anyway.”
“Good, good.” The DA cast a glance around at everyone else, eyes catching on Sheppard where he stood off to the side, speaking quietly with Silas and Finn. Detective Sutton was not quite shoving the two smirking trespassers into the back of the police vehicle. “Can I have a word with you, privately?”
Jaime nodded, and motioned the DA up toward his house, crossing his arms and waiting for him to speak. “Do you feel safe, Jaime? Here, with Cameron Sheppard’s team?”
That set off the warning bells in his head even louder. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
The DA didn’t answer his question, instead asking another of his own. “Have you had any contact at all with Jeffrey Dugan?”
So, they do think her husband had something to do with it.
“No. I haven’t. But that’s who sent those men, isn’t it? I heard them speaking about him. Is that who Bishop was on the phone with? Is he the one who ordered Vera’s murder?”
DA Rivera paused, and glanced back toward Sheppard. A muscle in his jaw clenched, and he seemed to come to some sort of decision. “We can’t prove it yet, but yes. We think so. We are having him tailed, which is probably why he sent those two to scare you instead of coming himself. He’s a very dangerous man, Jaime. If he or anyone claiming any affiliation with him approaches you, you need to get away from them immediately. I don’t want you to be hurt because you’ve been caught up in all of this.”
Jaime’s breaths came faster, and he slowly counted backward from ten until he felt a bit steadier. “What does all of that have to do with me feeling safe with the security team?”
DA Rivera studied him. “I’m not sure. I was more wondering what your thoughts were on that.”
Is he trying to get me to spy on them or something?
Apparently that thought was written all over Jaime’s face, because DA Rivera waved his hands in a placating gesture. “I don’t believe they had anything to do with Vera’s murder, or that they would ever hurt you, Jaime. If I thought that, I would intervene immediately.”
The DA’s eyes were drawn back over to where Sheppard was standing, almost like he couldn’t help it. “I knew Cameron Sheppard a very long time ago. And while I’m not sure how they are involved in all of this, I am confident that he wouldn’t put someone like you in danger. I don’t believe him or his team to be bad people, Jaime. But I want you to know you can call me, anytime.”
DA Rivera focused back on him, and passed Jaime a business card with a scribbled phone number on the back. “That’s my personal phone. Please, if anything seems off to you, I’ll make sure you’re looked after. In the meantime, stay safe, yeah?”
Jaime didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded. DA Rivera clapped him on the shoulder and stepped off the porch, heading back to where Finn, Silas, and Sheppard were all gathered together, three pairs of sharp eyes all focused on the two of them.
He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t told the DA that he’d overheard Finn and Silas confirm that they knew Jeffrey Dugan. Well, yes he was. He wanted to confront Finn about it himself, first. Maybe that was the stupidest, most reckless thing he’d ever considered, but he wanted to give Finn the chance to tell him what was going on.
He wanted to hear Finn explain everything, and for it all to make sense, and then they could continue whatever they had started today at Andi’s—whatever had almost happened in the bookstore, and in the truck before Finn noticed the trespassers.
That all felt like a lifetime ago, already.
Detective Sutton was waiting in the cruiser with the two detained intruders inside, and after one last lingering look shared between them, DA Rivera and Sheppard each stepped into their own vehicles and departed one after the other, Silas piled into the passenger seat of the latter’s SUV.
He watched them go, standing shoulder to shoulder with Finn.
Jaime turned toward him, looking him in the eye for the first time since they’d arrived. He wasn’t sure what to make of what he saw. There was guilt and wariness in Finn’s eyes, yes, but also longing and want. And tenderness, too.
It settled him.
Yes, Jaime would confront him about what he’d overheard. And whatever that led to, whatever lies it exposed, he was certain about one thing.
Finn would never hurt him.