Under Pressure(35)

She didn’t need a babysitter, but now she had a whole battalion of them.

Looking up at the entrance of the room, Bella let out a sigh as she watched Tony typing away on his computer. She had obviously lost that fight. Tony had been with her the entire day, extremely happy at the chance to taste everything that was being made, but watchful all the same. He continued working as Bella packed up the rest of her stuff. A noise had her turning around when the door opened.

And there he was.

Jason stood in the doorway. His eyes quickly surveyed the room then settled back on her face. She knew without a doubt those eyes never missed a thing. For a moment it was as if only the two of them existed. Her breath caught at the intensity of his expression as he looked at her. With a cry of joy, she ran and threw herself at him and he quickly opened his arms in welcome to embrace her. His face had lost its hard edge as surprised pleasure swamped him at her uninhibited show of affection. His arms closed tightly around her as he picked her slight body up against him to bury his face into her hair.

God, he had missed her.

“I’m so glad you’re back! I’ve missed you so much. Welcome home,” Bella whispered against his neck, and his arms tightened on her, holding her closer to him.

Jason couldn’t help himself as his hand tunneled into her hair, positioning her so he could smash his lips against hers in a searing kiss. His tongue pushed past her lips into her sweet heat. His normally rock-steady body shook slightly as waves of emotions crashed over him.

When he had opened the door to her classroom and saw her standing there, he had been overwhelmed with his need for her. He had simply stood there, drinking in the sight of her like a man dying of thirst.

Irritation ate at him during his short trip to Paris. He didn’t want to be there, not without Bella. A meeting had taken place to test potential candidates for directorship of another IAD division, and Jason had been on the board to oversee the results. Meetings were always in different locations, highly secretive and as secure as they could manage. Although successful, the meetings had taken too damn long, putting Jason on edge. He gave his report, concluded his business with a client of Mac Securities as cover, and was back on his plane as soon as he could manage it. He had been damn anxious to get back to Chicago.

Back to Bella.

He had felt unnerved at his need to be with her, but all of his tension had melted away as soon as she had flung herself into his arms. As soon as he touched her, everything seemed to click into place.

“Hello, darling.” He smiled down at her, pulling back.

“Get your hands off my sister,” Tony grumbled from the side of the room, without heat, as he continued to type with his head bowed over his computer.

Jason winked at Bella as he reluctantly let her go, placing her feet back on the ground, but couldn’t force himself to move away from her. She animatedly told him about her first day of teaching as she packed up her things. Even though his face remained impassive, his eyes were tender as he listened to her and watched her flutter around the room. Every once in a while she would reach out to touch him, and Jason found that he wanted that connection.

Damn it, who was he kidding. He needed her affectionate gestures like he needed air. It would have taken a nuclear explosion to take his focus off of her.

Tony packed up his stuff and waited for them at the door as they prepared to leave. Jason helped Bella into her jacket and ran his hands down her arms. She tried to insist on carrying her bag, but Jason simply looked at her, not saying a word until she relinquished it to him. His grunt of approval as she handed it over had her rolling her eyes.

Men.

They surrounded her, walking on either side of her as they left the building, making her roll her eyes again. The chilly September air had Bella zipping her jacket to ward off the chill, but neither man seemed bothered. Jason’s eyes were constantly moving, observing everything and everyone around them as they moved. It seemed to be as natural to him as breathing. As Bella continued to talk about her day excitedly, she heard him suck in a breath as they neared her car.

Before she knew it, Jason had swept her up into his arms and was flat out sprinting toward his car parked a few yards away. He disengaged the lock on the run and was shoving her into the driver’s side front seat before she could catch her breath.

She heard Tony let out a string of curses as he jumped into the back seat of Jason’s SUV. Jason pushed her over, and in the blink of an eye he had the car started and was peeling out of the parking lot before she could sit up. Shoving her head down again, Jason ordered her to stay with a tone that brooked no argument. He whipped out his cell phone and started barking instructions to whoever was at the other end in a sort of code that was difficult for her to understand.