Holiday at Magnolia Bay (Southern Born Christmas Book 1) (6 page)

“We don’t always get to a stranded turtle before other scavengers do,” she explained. “So these samples are helpful to the overall research that’s being done. They’ll be analyzed here locally, before I send them off to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who are responsible for compiling the data nationally.” She then pulled out a tape measure and used it to determine the turtle’s size before carefully checking its shell. “If this guy has been in a research lab or a rehab center like ours, he’ll have a tag on him, but I don’t see anything.”

Jenna was efficient in her work, keeping up a running dialog as though she were a professor and Drew a student. He found himself not only fascinated by her lecture, but impressed with her composure; she wasn’t the least bit squeamish or emotional.
She’d make one hell of a Navy SEAL
, he thought.

A strand of hair had escaped her ponytail and she pushed it off her face. “Okay, that’s everything, I guess.” She was solemn for a moment, the first trickle of emotion she’d shown all night evidenced by her rough intake of breath. Then she pulled a small canister of spray paint out of her backpack. Looking over at Drew as though she once again just realized he was with her, she extended the paint can. “Would you like to do the honors since you discovered him?”

Drew’s chest squeezed up. “We’re just gonna leave him here?”

He wasn’t sure why the thought unnerved him so much, but the roar of the ocean was suddenly ten decibels louder in his ears.
Never leave a man down
, the DI’s had screamed at them throughout months of BUD training. It was the Navy SEAL’s code. Except he had left a man behind. He’d left Atkins behind, his body resting in the sand just like this stinking turtle.

Suddenly Drew was on his ass on the beach, struggling to get air into his lungs as the memories of that night played in real time behind his eyes. Six years in special forces, and he’d never left a team member to the enemy. Sure, he’d lost guys from his unit before, but he hadn’t deserted their lifeless bodies in an Afghan desert.

“Commander, get in this chopper now! That’s an order!” The Army jockey piloting the helicopter shouted over the sound of the whirling blades punctuated by the scream of mortar shells coming from the foothills. “I need to take this bird up before we all end up as sand castles!”

He recalled his boots feeling as though they were filled with cement as he scrambled to the chopper, his mind warring with the anguish of leaving a fallen comrade or saving his own sorry ass. Drew’s sorry ass had won the round, but his mind wouldn’t let him forget. And he feared it never would.

“Hey,” Jenna’s soft voice permeated the fog of emotion threatening to overwhelm him.
It’s only a damn turtle
, he told himself, trying to regain his composure and not embarrass himself further. Her hand was on his back, gently rubbing between his shoulder blades. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Except he wasn’t, and he was scared shitless he’d never be okay again. She kept rubbing, and he felt like a total pervert as his heart slowed down and the rest of his body revved up. His buddies were right; sex was definitely the answer to his problems. All he needed to do was convince a certain goddess of the turtles to play along. Once he was right in the head again—both of them—his nightmares would be over, and he could get back to duty and the life he was best suited for.

He glanced over at Jenna. Concern clouded her eyes, but her hand never ceased its confident stroking.

“What can I do to help you?” she asked, her lips hypnotizing him as much as her rhythmic back rub. “My father is in the military, so I’m not a stranger to what combat can do to a person.”

Yeah, but did she know what her touch was doing to him? Or where he wanted those sinful lips to go? He needed to get both of them out of there before he did something stupid. Like take her right there in the sand.

“Drew, talk to me,” she pleaded as her hand slid over his back. “Tell me what to do.”

Ignoring the warning bells going off in his head, he reached out and cupped a sandy hand behind her neck pulling her in closer. The hand on his back stilled, but Jenna didn’t resist him, leaning in until her mouth was a fraction away from his. “You could kiss me,” he said, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

She arched a delicate eyebrow as their breath mingled in the salty night air.

“Think of it as your patriotic duty, seeing how you’re a military brat,” he urged her.

“Seriously? How many times have you used that line?”

Drew took it as a very good sign that she was still sitting so close to him with her hand now tangled in his hood. “Actually, you’re the first. Most women don’t take a lot of persuading once they see the uniform.”

She did roll her eyes at that but they were the only part of her that moved. “I don’t think I can kiss you after that sap,” those luscious lips finally said.

“No problem, I’ll do all the kissing. You just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

Mercifully, the sounds of battle had died down in his head and the only thing Drew heard was the sound of the ocean and Jenna’s soft sigh as he laid her down in the sand. He caught a brief glimpse of pity in her eyes before his mouth settled over the delicate skin on her neck, but he didn’t let her look stop him.

She tasted like summer: fruity and warm. Thankfully her hand had begun to move again, skimming the back of his head while her other one made its way beneath his sweatshirt. He swallowed a groan as her fingers met his bare skin. Jenna shifted her hips in the sand, rolling them forward when his lips found the shell of her ear. His jeans were now unbearably tight.

“Drew,” she sighed. “What are we doing?”

He knew what he wanted to be doing, but answering her question meant he needed to engage his brain. Instead he kissed his way along the soft line of her jaw towards her mouth.

“Do you want me to stop?” he murmured against the corner of her lips. She didn’t answer right away so he flexed his hips into hers. She let out a pleasant moan that he took as a green light, so he covered her mouth with his own.

His tongue slid past her lips and he tried his damnedest to take things slow but the taste and feel of her was driving him crazy. Drew feasted on her mouth for what seemed like hours, and Jenna returned his attention with playful abandon. A breathy sound escaped the back of her throat and he pulled back only to have her tug him closer. Wrapping her legs around his thighs, she trailed her tongue along his and all Drew could hear now was the roar of blood leaving his brain and heading for his crotch. Her fingertips breached the waistband of his jeans, and he cupped her face between his hands.

“Jenna,” he whispered, giving her head a slight shake.

Her eyes slowly opened and Drew forced his gaze upwards from her swollen lips.
Damn!
The pity was still there. As much he wanted this right now, even in the sand, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—use Jenna like that. She was a compassionate woman, who likely would consider a pity fuck her patriotic duty. Not that she’d agreed to anything more than a few kisses, but things were getting way out of hand on his side of the sand.

Drew swore savagely as he rolled off her. Grabbing the keys from the pocket of his painfully constricting jeans, he dropped them into Jenna’s stunned hand.

“Go home, Jenna,” he growled. “Take the Jeep.” He heard her sit up behind him as he leaped to his feet.

“Drew?” His name came out on what sounded like a sob that the night wind wasn’t strong enough to carry away and he felt like an even bigger ass.

“Go now, Jenna,” he commanded, the words rough in his throat. “Before we do something you’ll regret later.” He headed toward the surf and began walking toward the north. Drew listened until he heard the sound of the Jeep’s engine fire up before it disappeared in the other direction. Then, he pulled his T-shirt and sweatshirt off in one swift move, toeing off his sneakers before he climbed out of his underwear and jeans. Thankfully, the beach was dark and deserted, with no one to witness his striptease.

He shouldn’t have kissed her. He’d already resolved not to fool around with anyone in Magnolia Bay so as not to embarrass his godmother. And if the rest of the women in town were off limits, Jenna Huntley would be even more so given Aunt Evie’s fondness for her. Not to mention Jenna’s tender heart for all things, including, apparently, messed-up Navy SEALS. But he had kissed her and his body was screaming at him for ending it when he did. So he did the only thing he could think of; he waded up to his knees before diving into the ocean for a mind-numbing swim.

‡

J
enna sipped her
coffee as Miss Evie scanned the prospectus Dr. Scott had brought with her from Melbourne. The turtle hatchery was still Jenna’s top priority and nothing—not her boss, his stealthy fiancée or a sexy military man—was going to divert her from seeing it to fruition. Besides being an asset to a species facing extinction, the hatchery would bring business and notoriety to Magnolia Bay, her adopted home. It would also finally garner her some respect from her parents.

When she arrived for work earlier that morning Perry had been camped out in Jenna’s office. She hadn’t been surprised to see him, since the hatchery was obviously just as important to him that he’d lie and use people to get the funding for it. What she didn’t want was to listen to his groveling.

“Look, Jenna…” he’d begun before she’d cut him off.

“Don’t.” She’d held up her hand to deter whatever lame excuse he was about to offer. After the roller-coaster that she’d been on for the previous twenty-four hours, it took every ounce of self-confidence Jenna had to maintain her composure. “I made a serious lapse in judgment where you are concerned. It’s never wise to get involved with a colleague. My bad. But I want this hatchery as much as you do, so let’s just agree to maintain a respectful and professional distance and get this project rolling. Give me whatever it was you wanted to present to Miss Evie yesterday and I’ll take it over to her this morning.”

“It isn’t what you think.” Apparently, Perry was intent on groveling.

Jenna arched an eyebrow at him. “So, you’re not engaged?”

Perry rubbed the back of his neck. “No, technically, I am engaged—”

“Then ‘technically’ you were just messing with me to get an introduction to Evie Song?”

“I could have gotten ten different introductions to Ms. Song,” he said, his voice rising in the small office. “That is
not
why I pursued you.”

“So it was just because you’re a jerk?” Jenna had to grip the corner of the desk to keep from hitting something, quite possibly Perry.

His hand moved from his neck to his hair as he scrubbed his fingers through it. “Yes, but not quite as big of a jerk as you might think.”

Jenna didn’t bother responding; instead she wrapped her arms around her middle and waited.

“My relationship with Imogene has always been a bit…rocky. We’re extremely compatible where science is involved, but not so much in real life. We’ve been test driving our engagement for nearly two years.”

“Ahh, so you’ve also been ‘test driving’ multiple candidates?”

“No! Up until I came here and met you, I was faithful to Imogene. But then I met you…” His voice trailed off and she watched as the look she once found attractive radiated from his eyes. Too bad for him, it had lost its potency.

“And I was a convenient means to an end?”

“You were—are—a respected scientist with the same passion for this project as I have who also happens to be a woman I am attracted to.”

“The same could be said for Imogene.”

He had the decency to squirm at that one.

Jenna sighed. She had no right to be so upset—well, except about Perry kissing her while he was engaged to someone else. Jenna had already come to the realization that she hadn’t been all that serious about Perry. She’d proven that point when she kissed the first man who’d come along last night—a veritable stranger, for goodness sake. Her face became warm with the shame of it—or maybe that was just from thinking about the taste and feel of Drew’s lips on hers.

“Honestly, Perry, it wasn’t working for me, anyway,” she said a bit harshly, surprising even herself at the truth in her words. “I think we’re better off maintaining a working relationship and leaving it at that.”

“It’s the soldier, isn’t it? Miss Evie’s
convenient
godson,” Perry demanded and Jenna had to take a step back both mentally and physically. “There’s something going on between you two. Imogene picked up on it yesterday.”

There was nothing going on between Jenna and Drew—except for maybe a very hot lip lock on the beach last night. If Drew hadn’t ended it when he did, Jenna certainly would have. Eventually. Jenna may be a sucker for a pretty face lately, but that was all. She’d only allowed him to kiss her as comfort for whatever had shaken his macho being at the sight of the dead turtle.

Instead, she honed in on Perry’s use of the word ‘convenient’. Not surprising, he saw Drew as a threat. She’d been guilty of the same thoughts yesterday, however, so it was hard to fault Perry. But, after last night, she was fairly certain Miss Evie’s godson wasn’t in Magnolia Bay to scuttle the turtle hatchery. There were darker secrets within his eyes. A part of her ached for him, which meant Drew
was
a threat—just not in the way Perry thought.