Chapter Two
Oscar and Rudy heard her before they saw her. Jaime was angry, and wanted everyone to know it. "I am perfectly capable of walking the last six feet and opening the door all by my helpless little self!" she ranted at her escorts, proving it by nearly tearing the door off the hinges as she stormed into Oscar's office. "Oscar, what the hell? You know how I feel about these NSB Goons – you couldn't just pick up the phone and say 'Jaime, I need to see you'?" She froze in her tracks when she saw Rudy, and paled at the looks on Oscar and Rudy's faces. "What's...going on?" she asked, much more quietly.
Oscar nodded to the NSB team, and they quietly (and gratefully) left, closing the inner office door on their way out. Rudy got up and placed a gentle hand on Jaime's back, guiding her to a chair. "Sit down, Honey," he suggested.
"Alright," Jaime went on, swallowing hard. "I'm here, I'm sitting and I am officially scared. What's going on?"
"Lisa Galloway escaped from custody this morning," Oscar announced in a grim voice.
Jaime's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "She's...loose?"
"Yes," Oscar confirmed. "I've got every available team out looking for her. We'll find her; I promise you that."
"Might as well get this outta the way," Jaime sighed, reaching across Oscar's desk and grabbing a scissors. Before either man could stop her, she made a small cut on the tip of her right index finger, and held her hand out to Rudy. "I'm me – ok?"
Rudy and Oscar exchanged quick glances. They hadn't intended to go that far, but at least now they knew for certain. "What about Steve?" Jaime asked as she removed a band-aid from her purse and covered the fingertip. "Is he coming here, or is he already out looking?" Neither man answered her at first. "You...did call him...didn't you?"
"We've been trying," Oscar finally told her, "but Steve isn't home. We're looking for him, too."
- - - - - -
Steve couldn't believe his good fortune. Having Jaime back in his arms was a bliss that he hadn't dared hope for, and yet – here she was. His head reeled with a giddiness that didn't come from the second glass of wine...or the third. They'd always been very close, physically, before Jaime's accident, and while she seemed even more of a fireball than usual today, Steve reasoned it had been a long time for both of them. Their kisses ignited a spontaneous combustion hotter than the beakers in Rudy's lab as they began to eagerly explore each other.
Lisa was feeling very giddy herself. Steve's eyes were no longer the only proof that her deception was working. She unbuttoned his shirt, drawing it back over his shoulders, and began kneading the strong, expansive muscles of his chest. She moaned softly as Steve's lips made their way down her neck to the hollow at the base of her throat. Her halter top fell away and she melted toward him as his soft, tender kisses replaced the light, cotton fabric.
"I love you, Jaime," Steve whispered in Lisa's ear.
"I love you, too," she told him, reaching for his belt buckle.
- - - - - -
Oscar and Rudy had wanted her to stay at the office; Oscar had, in fact, ordered her not to leave, for her own safety, but Jaime's every instinct told her Steve was in trouble, and she was on a personal mission to find him. She had her own key to his house – in case of emergencies – and was headed there first, to leave him a note and look for any appointment cards or indications of where he might've gone. She reasoned that if she didn't find him soon, this would very likely turn into a true emergency, and she had every intention of preventing that.
She wished his garage door had a window in it. Was his car there? Jaime fumbled for the key as she hurried up the sidewalk.
- - - - - -
Steve had considered sweeping Jaime into his arms and carrying her to his bed, but things had escalated far too quickly for that, and they found themselves on the floor in front of the fireplace, the thick, furry rug causing their bare skin to tingle. There were very few words now; there didn't need to be. Their bodies reunited, catching them both in a wave of passion that was so strong that the rest of the world simply disappeared for them both.
Steve was the first to look up and see the stunned figure in the hallway. As he watched tears of anguish and horror begin to pearl on the newcomer's face, he uttered exactly the same words she did, in near-perfect unison.
"Oh. My. God."
- - - - - -