Carolina by Laura Simcox

Author:Laura Simcox [Simcox, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

* * *

THEY SAID A watched pot never boils, but Jake had never put much stock in old sayings. The saucepan he was standing over had come to a boil in about three minutes, and he had been watching it the entire time.

As he stared down into the bubbling water, he realized that his need for Carolina had surfaced the same way—coming to a rapid boil a few days ago at the moment he realized that he was going to be alone with her for days. They’d been at the cabin a full week, though it seemed much longer than that. Now, counting today, there were only two full days left before Courtney showed up.

One weekend. Two days. Forty-eight hours. He would calculate the minutes, but he was too distracted to do the math. All he knew was that no matter how he counted it, it would be the same. Time didn’t change, but Jake suspected with a sinking feeling that he would never be the same.

Earlier this morning when Carolina had been in the shower, he’d made the call to his boss and asked for reassignment. It had been awkward since he hadn’t been on her detail for long, but he’d made it clear that Carolina was not at fault. No, she hadn’t been eluding protection. No, she hadn’t been hard to get along with. He simply wanted to be back in civilization, and there were several other agents on Virginia’s and Georgia’s details who would appreciate the change of pace, weren’t there? The answer had been yes, and the wheels were already in motion. It was as good as done. The thought should have brought him relief since leaving her was the only way to protect her from future scandal, but all he felt was a spreading sadness and a weight of guilt. He’d done the right thing, so why didn’t he feel justified.

“Are you going to throw those in or just squeeze them to death?”

Carolina’s amused voice broke into his thoughts and he looked down at the package of hot dogs in his hand. Two of them were mangled, and the plastic had burst open on one end; hot dog juice dripped onto the kitchen floor.

“Shit,” he muttered. Throwing the package into the sink, he grabbed a paper towel from a roll on the counter and squatting, began cleaning up the mess.

“I wasn’t really in the mood for processed tube meat, anyway,” Carolina said leaning against the counter and handing down another paper towel.

“You’re not interested in . . . tube meat?”

She blushed. “I wasn’t thinking about . . . you know.”

“I was.” He turned his attention back to the floor, smiled, and waited for her response. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Do you think about anything else?”

Of course he did. His conscience had been driving him crazy because he’d been thinking about all kinds of things since yesterday evening—like what if he really did do the unthinkable and quit the Secret Service? He’d given up a lot when he’d turned his back on a career in the Major Leagues to be an agent.

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