that was a tricky and somewhat uncomfortable question for me.
I wasn’t sure there would ever be a day when Dr. Harlow Lewis wouldn’t get my dick hard whenever I saw her, but I knew it was more than lust that had made me volunteer. I didn’t have a problem getting laid, and I wasn’t a total prick. Even though I was physically attracted to her, there was no fucking way I would be hitting on a woman when she was as low as Harlow was right now.
I cleared my throat. “She’s a beautiful, highly intelligent, blue-eyed, blonde female, Marshall. Is that really a fair question? There aren’t many guys who wouldn’t find her attractive. But I didn’t offer to help her just because I wouldn’t mind fucking her. I hope you know me better than that.”
“I do,” he said gruffly. “I just wanted to know what your motives were when you offered to be her advisor. It’s not exactly comforting that you’re not sure why you’re doing it yourself. But just the fact that you’ve noticed that she desperately needs help is good enough for me. However, I do wish you would have shared that you had a history with her.”
“We don’t have any history,” I scoffed. “Honestly, other than the fact that I did ask her to have dinner with me a long time ago, I hardly know her. Most of what I know about Harlow is through her work in the lab. The woman gets completely obsessed about her projects. She’s motivated. She’s curious. She’s driven to find the solutions to problems no one else has even noticed yet. Her behavior isn’t normal right now. She looks like she no longer gives a fuck about much of anything. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that whatever treatment she’s getting isn’t working.”
“I don’t think she’s sleeping much,” Marshall shared unhappily. “I think she’s probably having nightmares, even though she hasn’t mentioned it. Harlow has finally agreed to see one of the psychologists who we recommend, so I set her up with Dr. Romero. She’s one of the best in the field for post-trauma anxiety and stress.”
“Agreed,” I said, surprised that Marshall knew so much about what was happening with her right now. “Are you still in contact with Harlow?”
“Never stopped making contact with her,” he answered. “I was the only one from Last Hope who she’d trust enough to let through her door. She needed someone, Jax. Her mother would be extremely supportive, but Harlow doesn’t want to tell her that she’s anything other than completely healed. Besides, it’s not like she can tell her mother all about Last Hope, so I thought it was a good idea for me to keep checking on her.”
I nodded. Nobody knew about Last Hope unless it was absolutely necessary that we tell them, and our rescues were asked never to out us. Luckily, none of them ever had…yet.
There wasn’t a single volunteer for Last Hope who didn’t know that we could end up being front-page news someday, and that the publicity would make it hell for us to fly under the radar. For the most part, we didn’t dwell on that possibility. We’d deal with it when and if it happened.
“So if her mom doesn’t know about Last Hope, who does she think you are?” I asked curiously.
“I keep it vague,” Marshall replied. “She assumed I was some kind of government employee assigned to help Harlow after what happened. I’ve never disputed that assumption.”
I grinned, knowing Marshall was probably a lot more comfortable in that role than one of the usual made-up identities we used as advisors. “You didn’t want to pretend to be Harlow’s latest love interest?”
“Hell, no,” he grumbled. “I’m old enough to be her damn father.”
“Probably just barely,” I mused.
None of us knew exactly how old Marshall was, but my best guess was early to mid-fifties. Even though I trusted and respected him completely, he wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who spilled much personal information about himself.
“I’m old enough,” Marshall responded in a clipped voice. He was quiet for a minute before he spoke in a more solemn tone. “I guess I’ve let Harlow’s situation get to me. I like her, and I like her mother. It’s not like I, of all people, don’t know better than to get personally involved with a rescue, but I fucking hate what’s happening to her. She busted her ass to get through all those college degrees of hers, and