Page 33 of Hooked on Marshall (Hooked #9)

I’m pacing again when Marshall walks back into the office with Chief Flood right behind him. Neither of them looks happy. So, I know that something has happened.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Marshall shuts the office door as Brian approaches me.

“Did you and Jonas know each other before you worked together?”

“No,” I say.

Marshall curses under his breath as Brian’s brow furrows.

“What is going on?” I demand.

Marshall pulls me into his side while Brian explains.

“We’re not sure yet, but Jonas has a picture on his phone of him and a woman who looks very much like you,” he says.

“What?”

“Yeah,” Marshall sighs. “For a second, I actually thought it was you.”

“But…but what does this mean?”

“He’s now saying that the two of you are old high school flames who lost touch and he’s trying to find you because he heard you’d come back home,” Marshall says.

“Oh, my God, that’s not true,” I snap. “He’s not even from here!”

“We know,” Brian says calmly. “But my concern is that picture and how much you look like the woman who is in it with a very young Jonas Freeman. I’m going to do some digging and I’ll get back to you about what I discover.

In the meantime, you stay out of sight, Lana.

And when it’s time for you two to leave, make sure Jonas isn’t around. Got it?”

Marshall and I nod. Then Brian pats my shoulder gently and walks out. I groan and flop down on the couch.

“This is ridiculous,” I groan. “Why is he making up stories, now?”

“I don’t know,” Marshall sighs as he sits beside me. “But I’m going to trust Brian to do his job, okay? Until then, you’re safe back here.”

I nod and lean into him when he pulls me into his side. We stay this way until Jace walks in with a plate of food and sets it on the table. We rise and thank him. Then I question the single plate.

“Honestly, my appetite isn’t the greatest right now either,” he admits. “So, we’ll just eat what we can, okay? As long as we eat something.”

I smile and kiss him. Then we settle and pick at the plate while we talk about what’s left to do for the rebranding of the pub.

If all goes well, we should be set by Thanksgiving, just a month away.

And we should only have to close for three days to make all of the cosmetic changes.

The cook staff is amazing and shouldn’t have any problems learning the few new menu items. And Marshall will train the bartenders on the new drinks as well.

“I can’t wait,” he says with a bright smile. “This is going to be even better than I thought.”

“I’m glad you think so,” I say shyly.

“I couldn’t have done this without you,” he says. “You know that, right?”

“I’m sure you would have come up with something,” I shrug.

“Don’t downplay this, Lana,” he says sharply. “You’re amazing at what you do. And as soon as the rest of the businesses in this town see it, they’ll be knocking down your door to get your help.”

I giggle at this. Then tease him.

“I don’t exactly have a door for anyone to knock down, you know.”

He stills, and I immediately regret my words.

“Lana,” he starts.

“I’m sorry,” I say quickly. “I was teasing.”

“I know the reason you’re staying with me was initially so Jonas couldn’t find you, but I don’t want you to leave when this situation is sorted out,” he says softly. “I want you to move in with me. Officially.”

My eyes prick with tears, and I just nod my head.

“Okay,” I whisper. “I think I’d like that.”

“I’ll love it,” he smiles. “Like I love you.”

With that, he kisses me, and we manage to finish the plate of food. After another kiss, Marshall takes the plate away and I get back into my work. When he walks back in, he happily informs me that Jonas has left the building.

“Thank God,” I sigh.

He agrees and then takes another ten minutes to finish his inventory order before heading out to tend bar for a bit.

I smile when he walks out, loving that he likes to be hands on in his business.

Then my thoughts take a nosedive as I remember how hands on he was with me last night.

I shiver as my body warms at the memory.

Then I shake it off and get back to work.

Marshall checks on me periodically until it’s time for us to leave for the day.

Tomorrow, there’s an Oktoberfest festival at a local park, so we’ll come in for the closing shift.

I had initially agreed to help wait tables, but with Jonas in town, I’m not sure that would be a good idea.

More than likely, Marshall will refuse to let me do it anyway.

When we get to his house, I pull out what’s necessary to make dinner while he still works on settling his things into the house. I help him while dinner cooks in the oven and just before its done, things look to be almost finished.

“Not bad for a weeks’ worth of work,” he smiles.

“I guess,” I sigh. “But I think it needs a bit more of a woman’s touch.”

His eyes darken at my words. Then I find myself pinned against the wall as he presses his growing arousal against me.

“You know I’ll never refuse a woman’s touch,” he growls.

“Just any woman?” I quip.

“No,” he rasps. “You. You’re the only woman I want touching me.”

“Good to know,” I smile.

He leans in to kiss me but the timer on the oven stops him.

“I better get that,” I pant.

“Fine,” he grumbles. “But we’ll pick this up for dessert.”

“Perfect.”