50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Eighty

    This wasn't the first time Destiny had knocked on Brian's bedroom door in the middle of the night. The first time, she'd kissed him, thinking that he was Aubrey. That was then...and this was now. When Brian cracked open his eyes, she was already awake, staring at him and caressing his cheek. She was fully aware that he was Brian, and she was still looking at him with love in her eyes.

    It was at this point that he realized, she may know that he felt strongly about her...but she most likely didn't know just how big of an effect she had on him. Something as simple as the touch of her hand on his cheek was enough to make him want to gather her up and smother her with kisses. Something as simple as the caring look she was giving him was enough to make him want to vow to love her and be with her for the rest of their lives. A touch from her, a look from her, was the very undoing of him.

    He knew that she wasn't trying to torture him. In some ways she was so worldly, so wise, and so cultured. In other ways, she was still a naive, doe-eyed ingenue. Although he knew that she wasn't trying to hurt him any more than she had to, that didn't make it any easier to hold back his urges and feelings when she touched him this way. This was most likely the last night he'd get to sleep beside her like this. With a sigh, he raised his hand and returned the gesture, brushing his knuckles against her cheek.

    She closed her eyes, then opened them against and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Unintentionally seductive, unintentionally sexy.

    So lost in her eyes, that he didn't even think to check the time. So lost in her eyes, that it took him several moments to remember that they had a flight to catch. "We should really get up."

    "You're right," she said, but didn't budge.

    He could have easily stayed in bed with her all day, but he'd purchased two extremely expensive plane tickets to Washington, D.C. so they could attempt to rescue someone both of them cared about. Someone whose life could be in danger. With great reluctance, he removed his hand from her cheek and sat up, ruffling his hair. He leaned over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. "We have to get moving," he told her. "I'm going to hop in the shower and get changed. You can set your suitcase in the hall outside your room, and I'll take it down for you."

    "Okay," she said, following suit and sitting up.

    "I'm going to check to see if that cop car is still out front," he told her as he walked around the bed. The upstairs room that would provide the perfect vantage point of the front yard and street beyond was her bedroom. He pushed the door open and strode inside of it, bypassing the unmade bed and heading straight for the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, but after sliding one of the blind slats down, he was able to clearly see that a cop car was still parked outside. When Destiny and I leave, I will be asking him what he's doing here, he thought to himself as he left her bedroom and returned to his own.

    She was standing beside the bed, pulling her hair up into a topknot. "Is the cop still out there?"

    He nodded, trying desperately to ignore the fact that by stretching her arms upward, the hem of her t-shirt had risen a good two or three inches up a creamy, shapely thigh. "Yeah. I'll ask what he's doing here on our way out. You need to jump in the shower so we can get a move on. We both do."

    "Okay."

    "Don't forget to set your suitcase out in the hall," he reminded her, walking over to his bureau dresser and pulling out a drawer.

    After showering, dressing, and shoveling a bagel into his mouth, he was carting both of their luggage downstairs and into the trunk of the car.

    Fresh-faced and dressed in a violet t-shirt, jeans, and Nikes, Destiny rummaged through her purse and pulled out her wallet.

    "You're checking to make sure you have your IDs and everything?" he asked her, closing the trunk.

    "Yeah, just double-checking."

    "You have your cell phone?" he asked, checking his pocket to make sure he had his own.

    "Yup," she told him. Then she snapped her fingers. "Your briefcase...the one that has the flash in it. Did you pack that? Are you bringing it?"

    He shook his head. "It's still in the house, but good thinking. I'm going to run in and get it." He cast a glance over his shoulder, staring at the cop car. He could just barely make out a figure seated in the front seat. "Why don't you...come inside with me?" he asked her. Since leaving her alone at Graham Enterprises had resulted in Jeremiah Tiggs attacking her, he wasn't eager to repeat the same mistake.

    "We need to call Sandi to tell her where we're going...shouldn't we?" she asked him.

    "We'd be getting her hopes up, without knowing if we should be getting her hopes up," he mumbled while checking his briefcase to make sure the flash drive was still secure in its hidden pocket. "I'd rather check in with her after we touch down in D.C., and after we've had our chance to poke our nose around."

    "Which day did you pick for us to come back to Toronto?" she asked, trailing behind him as he walked out of the house.

    He waited for her to step out onto the porch, then turned and locked the door. "The tickets are one-way. I didn't know how long we'd need to stay."

    "So...are we calling into work tomorrow, then?" she asked him. "And more importantly, will we have jobs when we come back?"

    He laughed. "Valid question. Tomorrow, we'll most likely have to call in, yes. Beyond that, I'm not sure. It depends on what happens while we're in D.C. But it would be beneficial for both of us to get to the bottom of everything as quickly as possible."

    "People in the office have to be talking by now," she muttered, tugging on her ponytail. "We keep taking the same days off, the same hours off."

    "We both went through a very traumatic event together," he told her. "We can blame it on that."

    "It wouldn't be a lie," she said. "Most nights when I go to sleep, I have at least one nightmare about Jeremiah. I'm right back there with him in the office, standing at the copier."

    He rubbed her back and stared off towards the police car across the street. "Are you sure you have everything you need?"

    She nodded. "Yeah. Do you? ID? Phone?"

    He laughed and gestured towards the car, following her lead this time. "I've checked and double-checked and triple-checked, yeah. But thanks for mentioning the flash drive...I didn't even think about it."

    "If things get messy down there, it would be nice for us to have it on us," she said. "And with that cop sitting out here, I don't trust leaving it in the house."

    "Me neither."

    She walked down the short walkway leading to the driveway and opened the passenger side door.

    He strolled towards the driver side door and looked across the top of the car at her.

    "Here's to hoping that all of this is almost over."

    Offering her a smile, he echoed, "Here's to hoping."