Page 36 of Misunderstood Hacker

15

Brock

The timeon the clock was crawling. It read six in the morning. Jessica was sleeping with her head on my chest. We had finished making love a few hours ago. I couldn’t fall asleep. Ice’s message keep flashing through my brain. Would Jessica ever be free of her past? I needed to get her out of town. It wasn’t safe for her to go back to Shialia. I had zero intel on the new threat.

A thought popped into my brain. I did a calculation of time zones and knew she would be awake. I peeled Jessica’s arm off me and slowly got out of bed. I grabbed my cell from the nightstand and headed to my home office. Reclining back in my chair, I called the one person who would be up at this hour.

“About time you call me, young man.”

“Hello, Mother.”

I could hear the dishes clinking in the background. My mother would be baking the delicious desserts for the day. “Wait one second. I need to get the cookies in the oven.”

A few seconds later, I heard her voice come back over the phone. “How have you been, my boy?”

That was a loaded question. I didn’t want to worry my mother about the new threat. “I’m fine. I was wondering if Jessica and I could come out to visit.”

“I would love to meet her. When are you coming?”

“I was thinking today.” I wanted to get Jessica out of town as soon as possible. Ice had announced that the chatter was increasing and the price on Jessica’s head had gone up.

“That would be lovely. Do I need to pick you up?”

“No, we will arrive in time for dinner.”

My mother had raised my sister and me by herself since we were little. Our father had died in the Iraq war. She did the best she could. Phoebe and I had spent many hours helping her in the bakery.

I sent the team a quick note saying I was taking Jessica out of town for the weekend. Then I asked Brent, our pilot, to get the jet ready to head out west.

Once everything was set up for the day, I climbed back in bed.

Jessica woke to the movement. She stretched, causing the sheets to pull down and expose her chest. I pulled her into my body. “I was making plans for the weekend.”

She laid her head on my chest, and I reached up to stroke her hair. “What kind of plans did you make?”

“We’re heading to my mom’s today. The plane leaves at ten.” Before I had time to react, Jessica jumped out of bed.

She started to pace the length of the room. It was incredibly distracting since she was completely naked. “We’re what? You can’t spring that on me like we are going out for dinner!”

“Why not? I want to get out of town, and I want you to meet my mom.” The swaying of Jessica’s breasts as she walked back and forth, naked, was making it hard for me to listen to what she was saying. By her fifth lap of the bedroom, she noticed she was naked and grabbed the sheet from the bed.

“I can’t meet your mom. I haven’t prepared.”

I jumped out of bed and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed along the side of her neck, working my way up to her ear. “What do you have to prepare for?”

“Men!” Jessica threw her arms up in exasperation, and it caused the sheet to fall. I used it to my advantage. I bent down and took one nipple into my mouth. She jumped back. “No, I have to go research, pack, maybe leave the country. I’m not prepared.”

“Just let me take care of you. My mom will love you, so stop stressing. I wasn’t prepared for your dad, but I met him.”

Jessica was grabbing clothes out of the top drawer of the dresser. She turned and pointed at me. “No, you met my dad because he came to interrogate Sam. And we weren’t dating at the time. I would have given you more than a four-hour notice before meeting my dad. I would have given you at least a week. I need to go shower and then grab my laptop.”

“I can come join you in the shower.” I walked toward the master bathroom, but she slammed the door, and I heard the lock click. “Come on, Jessica. It won’t be that bad, and I’m sure we both can use a little stress relief.”

****Jessica****

I couldn’t believe I was on the corporate jet heading to Colorado. I’d never been so nervous to meet someone in my entire life. Doug’s parents had both passed away before we dated. Meeting Brock’s mom was everything.

In the research I did today, I found a case study where sixty percent of women felt that friction with their husband’s mother had caused their relationship long-term stress. I needed extra stress in my life like I needed a hole in my head. I wanted to find the magic talking points to get her to like me.

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