I got up as he limped past my chair. “Thank you, Marshall,” I said softly and impulsively kissed him on the cheek.
This man had been one of the most constant, reliable people in my life over the last several months.
“No need to get all sappy on me, missy,” he said, sounding slightly embarrassed. “It’s all part of the job.”
I rolled my eyes. None of what Marshall did was a job, and he certainly didn’t get paid for it. He did it because the man had more conviction in a single day about doing what was right than most people would ever feel in a lifetime.
I followed him to the door, but he turned before he departed and nodded toward my leg. “You need more treatment on that knee. Obviously, the physical therapy you had in Carlsbad didn’t cut it. Being inactive allows that healing knee to stay weak.”
Yeah, my knee was bothering me, but… “How did you know?”
“I’m a man who’s lived with a leg injury for years now,” he answered drily. “I pick up the subtleties.”
“Please don’t tell Mom about any of this,” I pleaded. “She worries.”
He shot me a sympathetic glance. “You’ve done a damn good job of convincing your mother that you’re okay, Harlow. I’m not about to crush her illusions, but I will make sure that those illusions become a reality. You deserve a hell of a lot better than this.”
I didn’t have a chance to respond before Marshall walked out the door.
I sighed as I closed the door behind him, wishing I could believe that I was entitled to anything better than the life I was living right now, too.
Jax
“Why in the hell didn’t you tell me that you had a romantic interest in Harlow Lewis?” Marshall asked irritably the moment I walked into his office.
“Nice to see you, too, Commander,” I answered drily. “Could you at least give me a chance to sit down before we start this inquisition?”
I was stalling because I hadn’t quite seen that question coming.
Maybe I should have been prepared for something unusual. Marshall’s request that I stop by his office sometime this week wasn’t exactly normal. Usually, Hudson, Cooper, and I all met up with Marshall when we had Last Hope business to discuss.
“Cut the sarcasm and just answer my question,” Marshall demanded.
I dropped into the comfortable chair near his desk. “Does it really matter? I asked her out one time two years ago, Marshall. She turned me down flat. End of story.”
He shot me a dubious look. “Is that the end of the story? Why did you really come to me about being Harlow’s advisor, Jax? And don’t bullshit me. There’s always a reason for doing something out of the ordinary, and you’ve never showed any interest in being an advisor in the past.”
I had way too much respect for Marshall not to try to answer as honestly as possible. “I’m not exactly sure why I did it,” I confessed. “I’ve been following Harlow’s progress since she was released as a hostage, and she’s not doing well, Marshall. She’s had very little counseling, and she’s been refusing to talk to an advisor. When I saw her last week to try to convince her to let me be her advisor, she still looked like she’d been dragged through hell and back. Whatever she’s been doing, it’s obviously not working.”
Marshal nodded sharply. “You’re right. She’s not well, and she needs someone to turn to right now who has her best interests at heart. I trust you. Always have, Jax. But I want to know that you’re going into this advisor role for the right reasons. She has refused every time I’ve offered her an advisor. I need one who won’t take no for an answer, and who will stick to her like glue and not give up on her.”
“I want to help her,” I replied shortly. “Isn’t that reason enough?”
“You still attracted to her?” Marshall asked suspiciously.
Okay, so that was a tricky and somewhat uncomfortable question for me.
I wasn’t sure there would ever be a day when Dr. Harlow Lewis wouldn’t get my dick hard whenever I saw her, but I knew it was more than lust that had made me volunteer. I didn’t have a problem getting laid, and I wasn’t a total prick. Even though I was physically attracted to her, there was no fucking way I would be hitting on a woman when she was as low as Harlow was right now.
I cleared my throat. “She’s a beautiful, highly intelligent, blue-eyed, blonde female, Marshall. Is that really a fair question? There aren’t many guys who wouldn’t find her attractive. But I didn’t offer to help her just because I wouldn’t mind fucking her. I hope you know me better than that.”
“I do,” he said gruffly. “I just wanted to know what your motives were when you offered to be her advisor. It’s not exactly comforting that you’re not sure why you’re doing it yourself. But just the fact that you’ve noticed that she desperately needs help is good enough for me. However, I do wish you would have shared that you had a history with her.”
“We don’t have any history,” I scoffed. “Honestly, other than the fact that I did ask her to have dinner with me a long time ago, I hardly know her. Most of what I know about Harlow is through her work in the lab. The woman gets completely obsessed about her projects. She’s motivated. She’s curious. She’s driven to find the solutions to problems no one else has even noticed yet. Her behavior isn’t normal right now. She looks like she no longer gives a fuck about much of anything. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that whatever treatment she’s getting isn’t working.”
“I don’t think she’s sleeping much,” Marshall shared unhappily. “I think she’s probably having nightmares, even though she hasn’t mentioned it. Harlow has finally agreed to see one of the psychologists who we recommend, so I set her up with Dr. Romero. She’s one of the best in the field for post-trauma anxiety and stress.”
“Agreed,” I said, surprised that Marshall knew so much about what was happening with her right now. “Are you still in contact with Harlow?”
“Never stopped making contact with her,” he answered. “I was the only one from Last Hope who she’d trust enough to let through her door. She needed someone, Jax. Her mother would be extremely supportive, but Harlow doesn’t want to tell her that she’s anything other than completely healed. Besides, it’s not like she can tell her mother all about Last Hope, so I thought it was a good idea for me to keep checking on her.”
I nodded. Nobody knew about Last Hope unless it was absolutely necessary that we tell them, and our rescues were asked never to out us. Luckily, none of them ever had…yet.
There wasn’t a single volunteer for Last Hope who didn’t know that we could end up being front-page news someday, and that the publicity would make it hell for us to fly under the radar. For the most part, we didn’t dwell on that possibility. We’d deal with it when and if it happened.