Soul Possession(21)

Shit. There was nothing he could say because they hadn’t asked. They’d been too wrapped up in their anger over thinking they’d been used.

“I know you had a job to do, but would it have killed you to have said I know it looks bad, Jessie, but tell me what happened? Would it have killed you to ask me if I did it? You never asked. No one did! You assumed you had all the facts and you looked right through me and basically agreed with the assumption that I was some whore who used sex with you to cover up a crime.”

The misery and humiliation on her face gutted Truitt. Rick didn’t look any better.

“I need to go,” she muttered. She reached down for her suitcase and started down the steps toward her car.

When she got to the bottom, her knee buckled and she went down, clutching at the suitcase for leverage.

“Damn it, Jessie,” Rick said as he hurried down to help her. “At least let me get your suitcase. You need to stay off that knee.”

“Just let me go,” Jessie said quietly, her voice laced with pain. “I honestly can’t do this with you right now. I’m tired. I haven’t slept in days.”

Truitt walked up behind her and slid a hand over her shoulder. He squeezed and kneaded, lightly stroking in a comforting manner. She tensed but didn’t pull away.

“I’m sorry, Jessie. I misjudged you. You’re right. I should have asked you. I should have done a lot of things. I don’t want this to be it for us.”

Jessie turned those soulful brown eyes on him, eyes that dripped with fatigue. “Who’s us, Truitt? Me? You? Rick?” She shook her head. “It was a nice night. A lot of fun. The sex was great. I’m not sure what more you’re wanting here.”

“A hell of a lot more,” Rick growled.

Startled, she turned to look at Rick as he wrested the suitcase from her grasp.

“We want you, Jessie,” Truitt said. “We both want you. Not just for one night. Definitely not for just one night. We f**ked up. We know that. But I’m hoping like hell you’ll give us another chance here.”

Jessie brought her hand up to her forehead and it was then he could see the very real pain she was in. Something came loose in his chest as he watched her grapple with her anger and also the sadness that tinged her every word.

“I can’t do this now,” she said again in a soft whisper. “I need to go.”

She started for her car, but she took it slow this time. Rick followed with her suitcase and silently stowed it in her trunk.

“Don’t carry that in wherever you’re going,” Rick said gruffly. “Get someone to help you.”

She nodded and started to get back into her car.

“When will you be back?” Truitt rushed to say, because hell if he was just going to let her walk away.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Things have changed. I need a few days to figure out what I’m going to do now.”

“Don’t take too long, Jessie,” Rick added quietly. “We’ll be waiting.”

Chapter 9

So you told them what?” Kirsten asked as she licked the ice cream off her spoon.

In what was fast becoming a nightly—and fattening—ritual, the two women were seated on the couch devouring a pint of Blue Bell ice cream.

“You realize it would be cheaper if we just bought a gallon,” Jessie pointed out.

“It’s all about intentions,” Kirsten said. “If I buy a gallon, my intention is to eat the whole gallon. Whereas I buy a pint, I’m only committing to a pint.”

Jessie laughed. “Your logic is flawed! We eat a pint every night. The same amount of ice cream is being consumed.”

Kirsten wrinkled her nose. “I don’t feel as guilty buying a pint.”

Jessie sucked another creamy spoonful into her mouth and sighed. Some of the panic had abated but her anxiety level was still through the roof. She had to pay rent in three days and she still didn’t have a job. So she had a decision to make. She couldn’t make the rent and pay her utilities. Kirsten had offered to let her stay until she could get another job and get another place to live. Which meant if she did that, she had three days to be out of her apartment.

And then she laughed because really, apart from dishes and clothes and a few items like the TV she rarely watched, there wasn’t anything to move.

“So?” Kirsten prompted. “What exactly did you say to your cops? You avoided my question a while ago.”

Jessie sighed. “They aren’t my cops. And I didn’t tell them much. I was upset. A little shell-shocked. They didn’t want me to go, but what else was I going to do?”

“Were they properly contrite?”

“Define properly.”

“Did they beg?” Kirsten asked with a mischievous grin.

Jessie frowned. “Well, no. I wouldn’t have wanted that. They just looked and sounded…sorry. I don’t know. Honestly at the moment I wasn’t too worried about how messed up they were. Not to be rude but I was dealing with my own issues and it wasn’t about them. They hadn’t been accused of murder. They hadn’t had their picture all over the news while it being broadly hinted that they were going to be arrested and charged with a crime.”

“Preach it sister. So what are you going to do?”

Jessie blew out her breath. “Hell if I know. I don’t even understand what they want from this. I mean it was supposed to be a fling. Now they’re acting like they want more. Both of them. How the hell is that supposed to work?”