Falling For Her Navy Seal…Again (9 page)

“How many times do I have to warn you about sneaking up on people?” He nipped her ear.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “If you weren’t so focused on whatever you were doing, you would have heard me knock.”

“You didn’t knock.”

She spun around. “I did. What were you doing?” She went to peek around him, but he quickly blocked her view.

“Just going through mail.” He reached behind him and moved some papers farther away.

She frowned. “Anything interesting?”

He shrugged. “No. Just the usual junk.”

“Oh.” She shoved her hands into her jeans back pockets and waited for him to say more. Silence filled the air. He stared back, expressionless. “Well, I just came over to say hi.”

“Hi.” He bent to brush his lips over hers, but she took a step away.

“I’d better get back to my class.”

He drew her against him before she could walk off. “What’s the rush?”

“You looked like you were in the middle of something. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Now that sounds like you’re mad.” He picked up a white envelope and pulled out the card. “It’s Wendy’s invite to her party this weekend.”

Jenesi took the invitation and read it over. “You’re going, right?”

“As long as you’re going with me.”

She kept her laugh to herself, recalling her conversation with Liz about the mayor’s wife’s surprise. “I suppose I can sacrifice myself to go with you.”

“I’m so grateful for that.” He plucked the invite out of her hands and threw it over his shoulder then pulled her back into his arms. “Hopefully, I won’t have to worry about you standing me up, either.”

“As if I could stand you up. It’ll be fun. You’ll get to dress up in a tux and I’ll dig out one of the bridesmaid’s dresses I own—we’ll relive prom!”

He brushed a thumb over her brow. “Hmmmm…I remember your prom. You went with that quarterback who got drunk, and Jared and I had to come pick you up.”

She shuddered at the memory. Her senior prom had been a disaster. If Matthew and her brother hadn’t been hanging out together that night, she would probably had to call her dad to come pick her up, and it would have been a nightmare. “Don’t remind me. I’d better get back to the kids so they don’t think their teacher disappeared or got eaten by a pumpkin.”

Matthew gave her a quick kiss before releasing her. “Dinner tonight?”

“Depends.” She stopped at the doorway. “What are you planning on cooking?”

He laughed. “I guess burgers on the grill, it is.”

She winked and made her way out. As she walked down the porch stairs, she couldn’t help but notice the knot in her stomach. Matthew was hiding something, and she didn’t like it.

***

Matt watched as Jenesi reached the pumpkin patch and picked up one of her students who came running toward her. She smiled and gave the child a hug before releasing her. His chest tightened at the image.

Stepping over to the kitchen table, he swiped up the missive his commander had sent over.

He had exactly one week to report back to duty.

Part of him jumped at the excitement of being back in action, but the other part filled with remorse at the thought of leaving Jenesi.

He’d gotten shot from thinking of her, missing her, and longing for her. Now that he had her, he didn’t want to let her go.

Where did this leave them if he told her he had to go back to work?

No doubt, she’d smile and send him off, telling him to have a safe journey, but he wanted more than that.

He dropped into one of the chairs and shoved his fingers through his hair. Fear ate at him. They’d finally taken the risk of being together, and no doubt Jenesi wouldn’t stop him from leaving. Not that she had a choice, but how would she truly take it when he gave her the news?

Would she go back to seeing her boss after he left? Meet some other man who could be here for her at all times?

He slammed his fist on the table. The thought of her with anyone else didn’t sit well with him. She’d always belonged to him. But did she know that?

With a frustrated grunt, Matt stood up and tucked the missive into his pocket.

No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to let her go.

***

Matt felt his heart slam into his throat. He watched the beauty descend the stairs. In a gold, shimmery dress, she looked like an angel. Minus the wings, of course.

“Don’t you look handsome.” Jenesi reached the last step and smiled up at him.

“Not as pretty as you do right now.” He trailed a finger over the material, and heat coursed through his body. What he’d give to not go to the party and just carry Jenesi up to the bedroom and strip her of the gown. He swallowed hard. “I can’t wait till I get to take this off.”

She chuckled. “You’re going to have to behave, because it wasn’t easy getting into this dress.” She spun around. Her back was bare. Creamy white skin tempted him to press his lips over it. His gaze zeroed in on her waist.

“Are you wearing underwear?”

With a laugh, she leaned a hand on the banister to fix her shoe strap. The four-inch white heels added to her height. Her forehead reached his chin. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would. Like right now. Do we really have to go to this party?”

She switched feet. “Yes. Everyone is expecting you and from what I hear, Wendy has a big surprise for you.”

He groaned. “I can only imagine what it is.”

She gave him a mischievous smile and settled her palms against his white shirt. “It’s definitely a surprise.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you.” She picked up her clutch and moved to the door. “We need to go, or we’ll be late.”

He followed her out. Leading her to the Porsche, he helped her into the car, making sure the door wouldn’t catch the end of her dress, and then he settled into the driver’s side.

It didn’t take too long to get to the mayor’s estate. Driving through the metal gates, they followed the line of cars to where a valet let them out and directed them to the front door.

Catching Jenesi’s hand, he tucked it into the crook of his arm. With a nervous breath, he swallowed hard. He hated public outings, but not as much as he hated becoming the center of attention. It was one thing to lead his men into the line of fire, but another to dress up in a monkey suit and face public embarrassment.

She patted his jacket and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”

“What if it’s not?” He coughed to hide the vulnerable twitch in his voice.

Jenesi pivoted to face him and fixed his bow tie. “No matter what happens tonight, just remember that the town loves you, your family loves you….”

But did she love him?”

“And you get to take me home after this.”

He slipped an arm around her waist. “Or we can go now….”

She laughed. “Not on your life. I’m here and I expect to fill up on a few glasses of champagne and eat to my heart’s content, but only as much as this dress will allow.”

His heartbeat escalated. “Then you’d better be prepared when I’m ready to leave later.”

“Everything will be fine.” She tugged him toward the entrance.

A rock sat in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to tell her their time together was limited. He’d been too much of a chickenshit to admit the truth, even though they’d spent the past couple of days together and he’d had numerous chances. How would she take his departure? Would she go back to her routine, as if nothing had happened between them? Would she meet someone else while he was gone? Would she fall for some other man? The doubts kept him awake at night, even when he held her asleep in his arms.

They entered the foyer and Wendy, with Momo, rushed up to greet them.

“You’re here! I was wondering when my guest of honor would arrive!” She hugged Matt and pushed Momo into his face.

Taken back, he looked at the dog, who bared its sharp teeth. How could something so cute look so mean? With a quick pat to the mutt’s head, he pulled Jenesi to stand in front of him.

“We’re very excited to be here.” Jenesi quickly hugged Wendy and stepped back.

“I have everything all set. Everyone is waiting for you, Matt. You two make such a handsome couple.”

He noted the slight flush over Jenesi’s cheeks and felt his palms sweat. The mayor’s wife led them down the hall to the ballroom. Jenesi gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He drew in a deep breath. He could do this. It was just another mission he had to tackle, and he came out the victor each time. Well, except for the last time when he carelessly got shot, but….

His heart jumped out of his chest the moment he entered the ballroom. Directly in front of him, across the room, hung a picture from his photo shoot with the damn mutt in his arms, his chest naked for all women to see—along with the scars he’d gotten in battle.

All eyes turned toward him, and cheers rose.

I am in Hell
.

Jenesi watched Matthew across the room as he signed calendar after calendar and posed for more pictures with the women who promised large donations to the charitable foundation. Jealousy rose in her chest with each fondle she witnessed, but then, he didn’t belong to her. He was his own man and had made no promises to her whatsoever.

In the past few days, she’d found him acting weird and every time she’d questioned him, he’d blown her off and said nothing was wrong. He was hiding something. But what?

“What you doing in this lonely corner?”

Liz, in a gorgeous teal gown, held a flute of champagne out to her.

She took the glass and turned her attention back to the spectacle Matthew made across the room. “Nothing much. Just watching Mr. October get pawed by every woman in this place.”

Her friend chuckled. “Yeah, but you know your Navy SEAL man has eyes only for you. He’s been watching you when you’re not by his side.”

Warmth grew in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to believe her friend, but seeing him soak up the attention had been hard on her. He’d threatened to run the moment they’d entered the ballroom, but once the mayor’s wife dragged him into the middle of the crowd, he became his charming self, amusing all the females with his looks and charisma. “I doubt it.”

“You’re pitiful. You sound like a jealous shrew.”

“And why aren’t you over there getting a
signed
copy of the calendar?” Jenesi sipped her drink.

Liz shrugged. “I figured I’d wait. The long line isn’t worth my time. Besides, have you tried the caviar? It’s amazing.”

“Gross.” She made a face but continued to watch Matthew closely. He smiled down at Mrs. Weston, one of Wendy’s best friends. “Do you think he likes all that attention?”

“What man doesn’t?”

Her spirits dropped. Now she wished they hadn’t come. But then what right did she have to keep him to herself? They were happy together for the moment, but when he had to leave, what was going to happen? They had one more month together, and she refused to give him up. She could only imagine their parting…. A lump formed in her chest, making it hard to swallow. Once he left, no doubt it was over between them. With his mother leaving him and his father, Matthew had never been one to commit. She could recall the short length of each of his relationships—what made her any different from the other women, besides the two of them being good friends?

“Hey, don’t look like that.”

Jenesi glanced at her friend. “Like what?”

“Like your dog just died.”

“I don’t have a dog.”

“Thank God. I think Momo almost tried to bite my hand off when I went to fix the bow in his hair.”

Jenesi chuckled. “That’s what you get for trying to mess with people’s hair.”

“I can’t help it.” Her friend grinned. “How is everything going with you and Matt?”

“Everything’s fine. He didn’t want to come tonight, and now look at him.” She waved a hand in his direction.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like he’s sleeping with any of those women.”

“No, he’s not.” She didn’t know what she would have done without Liz, while growing up. They depended on each other when times became tough, or even when one of them needed to vent over the stupidest thing. “No, I’m happy for him. The town loves him. He’s a hero. And his time here is so limited.”

Liz frowned. “Don’t think too much. You know you have to accept him for everything he is. He comes back here after every mission, Jen.”

“Yeah, but what if he gets hurt again? Or what if he doesn’t want me the next time.”

Her friend laid a hand on Jenesi’s arm. “Don’t think like that. You never know.”

“You know about his mom.”

“But you can’t let that keep you from being together. Has he said anything about how he feels?”

Jenesi shook her head, the knot in her throat expanding. “No. I don’t think he ever will. We’re fine right now spending time together. No promises.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll all work out.”

“And how do you know?”

Liz shrugged. “Call it instinct. You have to stop letting things get in the way of the future. You have him now. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

“Maybe.” She gave her friend a teary smile and held up her glass. “To whatever happens to the both of us.”

Liz clinked her glass against hers. “To us girls for finding the right guy.”

“Yeah, we’ll see when that one comes along.”

“You have him. Just need to figure out how to keep him.”

Jenesi sighed. What did it matter if she’d already found the right guy when there wasn’t a future for them? “What about the guy you were dating last week?”

Liz groaned. “Don’t mention Chris. He’s a freak.”

“Why?”

“He took me out to dinner and then brought me home to show me his stamp collection.”

Mirth flowed. It was just like Liz to make her laugh at unexpected times. “So, I guess he wasn’t the right guy?”

“Hell, no. I’ll let you know when Mr. Right does walk into my salon.”

“Maybe you should stop dating your clients.”

“Not my clients. I just rate them as they walk through my door. Like I told you, I don’t cut hair or do spa treatments for just anyone.”