What The Heart Wants

“Very good then. Nicholas was right about you.” The man holstered his gun. “You are a standup guy. Make sure to keep him that way, Ms. Maxwell, or next time you won’t hear us coming.”

The threat sent chills down Paula’s spine. She waited for the two men to leave before collapsing into Jackson’s arms. This case went much deeper than she anticipated. Now she wasn’t sure if there was an easy way out.

“I’m sorry about that.” Jackson held her up as he walked her to her car. “You were never supposed to be involved in this. I have to find Nick to tell him about this.”

“Wait!” Paula cried. “Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to go home alone.”

Jackson knew that he couldn’t go out searching for vengeance when this poor woman was put in the line of fire because of him. He offered to take her to a safe spot that he was sure no one knew about. Paula agreed as she let him drive her car to a place where no one would find them.

The house was about an hour outside of the city along an old dirt road far off the main highway. Paula scanned the pitch-black surroundings in search of something familiar but saw nothing.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“It’s best I not tell you,” Jackson admitted. “What I can say is that I bought this house as a teenager. I paid all cash and have been using it as a getaway ever since. I only get to come out here once a year or so, but a maid comes by weekly to keep it clean. No one knows that I own it, so it’s a safe place.”

Paula trusted him. After he stayed behind to make sure those goons didn’t harm her, she felt deep inside that she could trust him. He pulled the car into the barn behind the house and locked it inside. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her, but Jackson was moving around like he had built-in night vision.

“I can’t see anything out here,” Paula whispered.

“You don’t have to whisper,” he laughed. “Nobody’s out here but us for right now and don’t worry. You don’t need to see. Just don’t let go of my hand.”

Paula held his hand and wrapped herself around his arm as he led her through the darkness to the door of fairly small house. The motion sensitive light turned on forcing them both to squint as it illuminated the back porch. She used it to scan her surroundings once again, but still she recognized nothing. There were open fields for miles with trees along the backdrop but nothing she could point out on a map. He was right. They were definitely alone out there.

Jackson turned on all the lights so she could get a feel of the house’s layout. It was quaint. It was just enough for one. The kitchen opened up into the living room. The bedroom was down a hallway behind a closed door next to a beautiful bathroom. She was in awe at the space.

“This is beautiful,” she murmured to herself as she walked through.

“Thank you. It took me a while but I finally remodeled everything and got it exactly how I want it. I’ll get you some towels and pajamas for you to sleep in,” Jackson spoke kindly as he left her side to get her a few toiletries. He didn’t have much as he never expected guests at this place, but he gave her enough to clean up.

“I can take you home in the morning if you want to grab some clothes and go to work,” Jackson offered as he handed her some linens.

“I don’t know how I feel about that yet.” She felt silly that her fear was determining whether she went to work or not.

“Okay, well, you don’t have to decide anything tonight,” he reassured her. “You can stay here as long as you like. However much time you need, but please remember your life won’t stop because you had a run in with a not-so-nice guy’s goons.”

“Huh?” Paula wasn’t sure what he was saying to her. Her mind was still fixated on the men who were following her. She couldn’t erase their faces from her memory.

“You’re a little shaken up, and that’s okay.” Jackson pulled her into a warm hug. “But you can’t let what happened tonight scare you away from your job. You still have that meeting with the DA tomorrow. Thanks for telling me by the way. And whatever you’re working on outside of my case at work has to be handled as well. Your life and the responsibilities you’ve taken on will not stop because you are out here.”

Paula inhaled his scent as she understood what he was saying. Jackson was right. She couldn’t stay out there forever. She had to keep going. No law firm of hers would be built out in the country. She looked up into Jackson’s brown eyes. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He stared at her with perplexed expression.

“You’ve been so protective of me, and you’ve motivated me so much since the day we met. I don’t know what this is between us, but it just feels so comfortable. It’s almost like we’ve known each other for a dozen lifetimes.” She giggled to herself.

“It does feel like that, doesn’t it?” he agreed. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and led her to the bathroom. After both of them showered, Paula sat on the edge of the bed while Jackson grabbed a few pillows and the top sheet to go sleep out on the couch.

“You can sleep in here with me,” Paula offered as she felt bad putting him out of his own bed.

“No, thank you.” He smiled. “I promised you that I’d be on my best behavior while you were still my lawyer. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to lie in that bed next to and keep that promise.”

“What if I told you, you could break that promise?” Paula hesitantly whispered to him.

Jackson swallowed hard. He didn’t want to take advantage of her. She was scared and it was affecting her better judgement, but rejection on top of fear wouldn’t make the situation any better. He stared at Paula sitting on the edge of his bed with her tightly coiled curls cascading down her back, while she wore one of his long t-shirts and a pair of his boxers. He took a deep breath and sat on the opposite side of the bed from her.

“Okay, I’ll sleep in here tonight, but I won’t start anything. I know you’re scared because of what happened. So, I’ll stay near so you can feel safe and get some rest,” he told her, placing the pillows back in their place and the top sheet down as divider between them. “Now go to sleep.”