found herself hesitating.
"It's, you know, like the Facebook status. Complicated."
"I did check your Facebook status. It said single. But you don't update often."
"So you thought you'd swing by on a Sunday morning just in case it was true and I was desperate to get laid?"
"Hey, I missed you!" he protested, laughing, and he squeezed her tighter.
At times like these, Emmy entertained brief fantasies of coupledom with Jake — which only lasted as long as she conveniently forgot that he spent nine months a year traveling the world on insane reporting assignments. And that he probably had a girl in every port, although she was likely the most serious relationship he'd ever had with a woman. Which in itself was another red flag.
"So?" he asked, tenacious journalist that he was, never one to let go of a bone he was worrying, and Emmy sighed.
"It's not anything."
"It's enough to put you into a funk. Daytime TV, hot chocolate and pajamas on a Sunday morning? That's not you."
"It is me, too," she protested, but he was right. It was only her when she was down.
"There's this guy," she volunteered after a pause. "He's... I don't know if he's a good idea, there's some really complicated issues around dating him. We had this date a few nights ago which went well and then he behaved like a jerk and..."
She trailed off, aware that she sounded like a whining teen.
"What, he hasn't called you?"
"Oh, forget it. It's not like anything much happened, anyhow."
"Hey, it's okay," Jake said, one hand stroking her shoulder. "Guys can be assholes sometimes."
She just snorted in answer to that.
"You know, if he really is an asshole, I'm happy to go and kick his ass for you?"
The thought of Jake getting into a fight with Eric was both hilarious and slightly disturbing. Also, despite Jake's greater bulk and size, she wasn't entirely sure who'd win.
"No, thank you — he's not that kind of guy," she said with a smile. "I mean, I don't think he'd be easy to scare off."
Jake raised an eyebrow.
"You sure? I'm good at scary."
"I bet you are, wannabe Marine boy. But yes, I'm sure." Even if the thought of the two of them fighting over her was kind of hot, now that she thought about it.
"Okay. But be honest — is that why you slept with me? Because you were pissed off with him?"
"What? No."
She twisted in his arms until they were facing each other — Jake was wearing a wry smile, like he'd been in that situation before (which wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest).
"I slept with you because I like you, because you're hot, because it's something we do together, and we're good at," she said with as much emphasis as she could muster. "And if it made me feel better about myself, that's just a bonus. I didn't use you."
The wry smile stretched into a broad grin.
"Hey, feel free to use me for your sexual gratification. No, seriously, I'm all for it. Especially if it involves blowjobs."
That earned him a swift elbow jab to the gut before they both started giggling, and Emmy burrowed under the blankets against his side. This was actually the perfect antidote to Eric-generated blues, and she felt much better than she had a couple of hours earlier.
“Enough about me, sport. Tell me what you've been doing with those crazy Marines, apart from honing your abs.”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Stories about how they came to end up in a dusty camp in the Hindu Kush, and about the guys who didn’t make it. And there was a really promising lead one of my military sources mentioned — something about an undercover team being kidnapped by a renegade Taliban faction, but I couldn’t find a way of standing it up.”
“Really? How do you mean?” Emmy asked, genuinely curious.
“There were tantalizing glimpses of something there, but the more I kept digging, the more people clammed up. I’m not giving up, though, but it’s going to be hard to get anywhere. I’m sure some guys have gone missing, but they must’ve been black ops or something because no one is talking about them.”
“Doesn’t that mean nobody’s trying to free them?”
Jake shrugged.
“I’m not sure. Officially the US government doesn’t pay ransom for anyone, and it’s very difficult to organize rescue missions in Taliban-controlled areas. Besides, if it’s a black ops team, Washington might deny all knowledge of them.”
“That sounds harsh.”
“These guys are hardcore, Emmy. They go in knowing the risks. You don't travel