I'll Come Running

Chapter 15

Rafe and Jessie drove back to the mansion after their less than stellar evening. The food was great, the company not so much. Rafe had his hand on Jessie's thigh the whole way back to the house, Jessie couldn't think straight because of it. Not a word was said on the way back, yet the message was clear.

"Stay there." Rafe demanded when the car came to stop at the steps she had walked up by herself just hours ago. He exited on his side and Jessie caught a glimpse of him unbuttoning his blazer as he walked around to her side only to open her door. Smooth move, Mr. Cameron Jessie thought, but she wasn't falling for it. Rafe didn't say a word, only looking at his wife with a clenched jaw and sharp eyes as he held the door for her and held his hand out for her to take, to which she hesitantly obliged. 

Rafe walked Jessie up the marble steps, every step seeming heavier than the last as Jessie's mind raced trying to determine what was happening next. Still, no words from Rafe, only him opening one of the double wooden doors to let Jessie in the main entryway. Jessie heard the heavy door creak to an ominous close behind her. 

"I'll let you go change into some more comfortable clothes, I'm going to do the same myself. Meet me in the living room." Rafe said rather pleasantly for a change. He didn't sound intimidating or condescending, almost kind of sweet to Jessie. What really were his plans for the rest of the night?

Jessie went quickly up to her room, only having one thing on her mind: calling JJ back.

She put him on speaker phone as she frantically changed out of her dress.

"Hello?" She heard JJ, he sounded less than thrilled.

"JJ! Hey, look, I'm really sorry about earlier, I didn't mean anything that I said, I was just stressed and nervous and- anyways, I've gotta get back down there with Rafe but I need you guys to be sure you're listening to these conversations. I don't know what Rafe is trying to pull but-"

"We've got you, Jess." JJ said assuredly through a clear sigh. That was all the assurance she needed to know that JJ really had forgiven and forgotten earlier. The pogues always had her back.

She sighed. "Thank you, I love you." And with that, she hung up.

Jessie looked in the mirror, observing her plaid pajama shorts and her oversized white t-shirt. She wondered what Rafe was up to. What did he mean by his words at dinner? She hoped he wasn't going to overstep, because she sure wasn't going to go down without a fight. She was his wife by legal document only. She tiptoed down the stairs to catch a glimpse of Rafe in the kitchen looking in the fridge.

"You can come all the way down here, no need to spy on me, Jess." Rafe explained, not once looking away from the fridge. He knew she was there the whole time. He knew his Jessie. She did the walk of shame into the large white kitchen, with only warm stove light to illuminate it. Rafe slid her a long, skinny aluminum can— a high noon, her favorite.

"You remembered." Jessie smiled.

"Yeah, well, you're my wife so." Rafe smiled back knowingly.

She melted into the thought of him still paying so much attention to her. She tried to snap herself out of those butterflies but she couldn't, much like four years ago. Damn it.

"Thanks but I'm not drinking." She replied as she slid the can back to him. He caught it.

"Sure you aren't." Rafe sassed, taking one drink in each hand and walking towards the living room. She followed suit. She plopped herself down on the large white couch and watched as Rafe set the cans in front of them. 

"It's unopened. I'm not going to poison you." He said with a flirty tone. Jessie just laughed, he could see right through her sometimes. She finally took it off the coffee table and cracked it open. As she did so, she watched Rafe fiddle with something on his phone, she heard the Bluetooth connect with what were apparently speakers all throughout the house. Surround sound. That was a new one for Jessie.