Defender (Navy SEALS Romance Book 4) (6 page)

“
W
hat did you say
?” Jake asked, lowering his voice and stepping closer. “Why does the Navy want to know what we’re up to?”

Veronica shook her head, her hands still covering her mouth. “No, that was a mistake. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s a matter of national security.”

“Too late, you said it,” Jake growled, stepping closer and putting his hands on Veronica’s shoulders. He held her in a grasp that was almost painful, but she didn’t notice. All she noticed was the intense look in his eye, a look that was halfway between wanting to rip her clothes off and wanting to rip her head off.

Veronica sighed, then looked away tearfully. “I’m not supposed to say anything,” she repeated tearfully. Jake lifted her chin to meet his gaze, his anger evaporating at the sight of her moist eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s me, remember? Just tell me what it is.”

“I’m not a reporter,” she began, “I’m an officer in the United States Navy.”

“Yeah, I figured you were some kind of officer when you opened your mouth. You act like you have a stick up your ass all the time, so ergo… officer,” Jake teased.

“Cute,” Veronica answered with a snarl. “This is less funny though… I’m your new commanding officer.”

Jake stared at her, trying to decide if this was some kind of joke. When he realized she wasn’t playing games with him, he dropped his hands immediately, taking a step back to put some distance between himself and a superior officer.

“Are you serious?” he whispered.

“Lieutenant Commander Veronica Thompson, reporting for duty,” she answered in a teary voice.

“I don’t get it, this has to be some kind of joke. Why would a commanding officer sneak around and follow us, taking our pictures. Hell, why would my new commanding officer take me to bed?”

“Yeah, that last part wasn’t in the plan. I don’t know, I just… I just felt something special,” Veronica explained. “I know it was wrong, but… I couldn’t help myself.”

“That’s just great,” Jake fumed, kicking at the ground with his boot. “So it goes on my record that I was fraternizing with my superior officer, while you get to explain to an advisory board somewhere that you just couldn’t help yourself!”

“It’s not like that. I don’t have to report it to anyone,” she insisted, but the fight went out of her. She knew that Jake’s worry was all too real.

“So what exactly is this about? You’re not a reporter, you’re a superior officer who somehow didn’t just land in a giant crap pile for sleeping with another member of the US Navy. Thanks for that, by the way. But it’s time you drop the act and tell me the truth.”

Jake struggled to contain his rage as he stared at her. Veronica trembled, wondering how all of this had gone so horribly wrong. What had she done? How had she come to this point? Jake was… everything she never wanted in a man, but something about him—whether it was his tough exterior that hid a soul that would melt the hardest of hearts, or the fact that he put his life on the line whenever someone was in need…or both—something about him was too hard to ignore.

“The truth?” she finally said, looking down and laughing softly. “The truth… SEAL Team 11 is being considered for active duty.”

“What did you say?” he whispered, the blood in his veins turning to ice water.

“You heard me. I was sent to evaluate your team and keep tabs on you, to see if you’re all fit to return to service.”

“I don’t get it… how were you supposed to decide that? By following us? Going out for a beer with us? What?” Jake demanded, not ready to let himself hope that this was real.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to all be together. Whoever issued my orders didn’t, either. I thought I’d have to drag myself all over the fifty states, spending a little time in each of your home towns, getting to know you and see how well you were fitting in. It was sheer dumb luck that you guys decided to stick together, and even open this business.”

“That’s why we did it. We started SEArch&Rescue to keep up our skills, hoping they would bring us back. But now, you’re saying… they are?”

“No, I’m saying they’re thinking about it. I have to submit my report, but I’m just one small piece of a really big puzzle. There’s still the matter of clearing up the… never mind,” she said, cutting herself off.

“Oh no, you don’t! You were gonna tell me what happened. You can’t just leave me hanging and not tell me why we were taken off the front lines,” Jake insisted, grabbing Veronica by the shoulders roughly before remembering that he had his hands on a lieutenant commander. He pulled his hands away like she was on fire, then mumbled an apology.

“I really can’t tell you, it’s classified. I mean, I don’t even have access to that information. I promise.”

“Fine, then what are we supposed to do now? You turn in your report, and casually mention that ‘oops, by the way, I screwed one of the team member’s brains out?’ Because that will look just super on your report.” Jake crossed his arms, his anger flaring up again in light of knowing they had been so close to being recommissioned.

“Of course not. That’s not the kind of thing you share with anyone. It was a mistake that won’t be repeated, and never needs to be spoken of again,” Veronica promised him with a business-like nod.

“Oh, a mistake? Nice. Which mistake, the part where I undressed you, or the part where you ripped my pants off? Are the nail marks down my back the mistake, ‘cause they did kind of hurt but they were totally worth it. Or maybe you’re referring to the second time we made love—or was it the third, I can’t remember—when you were riding me so hard the neighbors in the apartment next door banged on the wall to complain…” Jake wrinkled his brow in mock confusion.

“Would you keep your voice down?” she hissed, looking around to see if any of Jake’s team members had heard him. “I didn’t mean having sex with you was a mistake, I meant… I don’t know, I meant we shouldn’t have done it.”

“No, you mean YOU shouldn’t have done it. YOU knew you were a Navy officer. I thought you were just a really beautiful, really horny reporter,” he answered, doing his best to look innocent and uninterested.

“Oh my god, could you shut up? You’re so irritating, I swear—”

“I’m irritating? That’s funny. I’m not the one who chases people down until they sleep with me.”

“You’re an infuriating jerk!” Veronica screamed, shoving at Jake’s chest with her fists. The movement threw him off guard and he landed against the door behind him, only to be bounced forward into Veronica’s arms when the door opened. Madison stuck her head out in time to see Jake land face-first against Veronica’s chest. He struggled to right himself while Veronica adjusted her shirt.

“Um, guys? It’s gotten pretty loud. Could you take it outside?” Madison asked pointedly.

“
We are outside
!” Jake and Veronica bellowed at exactly the same time. Madison blinked in surprise.

“Uh, yeah. Then maybe you should take it inside, and the rest of us should come outside.”

“There’s no need,” Jake said, a low growl in his voice. “There’s nothing else to say. We’re done here.” He stared at Veronica for a second, then stalked over to his bike and climbed on. He took off out of the parking lot without another word.

“Well?” Madison said, crossing her arms and staring at Veronica.

“Well what?”

“Well… are you just gonna let him leave like that, or are you gonna go after him?”

“There’s nothing for me to say to him. He has no reason for me to follow him.”

“It’s not whether he wants you to follow him or not… he needs you to follow him. And I think you kind of need to follow him too, am I right?” Madison asked, a knowing smile on her face.

Veronica shook her head. “It’s the worst mistake I could make.”

“Somehow, I don’t think so. I think the ‘worst mistake’ ship sailed last night… Commander.”

Veronica wheeled around in shock just as Madison turned and headed back inside. She looked from the door to the parking lot to the street in front of her, wondering what to do. Finally, with a resolve she didn’t know she felt, she gritted her teeth and walked to her car. Jake wasn’t the only one who could follow someone home.

“
W
hat are you doing
?” Jake asked as he turned off the ignition and stared at Veronica through the driver’s side window. She smiled at him like a cat about to devour a mouse.

“I’m showing you that I don’t make mistakes. I make choices, and if those choices have consequences, then I face them like a soldier.” She rolled up the window and got out of the car, closing it firmly behind her as she came to stand next to Jake’s bike. “And this is no mistake.”

She reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, feeling the rock solid muscles underneath his thin t-shirt. She couldn’t help but look at his chest, admiring the way he was built.

Before he knew it, her lips were pressed to his, her mouth moving beneath his until her tongue darted between his lips and met his. The corners of her mouth twitched triumphantly when she heard him sigh, then felt his hands at her waist. He tugged her closer until she was as close to him as she could be, then she stepped one leg over the bike to sit facing him, never breaking their kiss.

The same feeling he’d had the day before came over Jake, the feeling of peace and release that he hadn’t experienced in months, at least not until he met Veronica. As their mouths hungered for each other, Jake felt free.

He lifted Veronica under the arms as he stood, guiding her off the bike until she could wrap her legs around him. With a single stride he was at his apartment door, opening the lock without ever taking his mouth from hers. He carried her inside, closing the door behind him, and crossed the small living room and into his bedroom to place her tenderly on the bed.

He broke their kiss long enough to look at her, brushing a strand of her black hair out of her face. “So it’s not a mistake… but that doesn’t mean it will work.”

“You let me worry about that. I’ve seen you in action; you’ve got far too much on your mind as it is,” she answered, reaching up and cradling his face, bringing his lips back to hers.

* * *

“
T
here’s
no way she said that,” Tanner argued, looking around at his team members for confirmation. “She wouldn’t have just blurted that out right there on the sidewalk.”

“I know what heard,” Madison said feebly. This might be awesome news to SEAL Team 11, but to her, it was devastating. Angel had just come back into her life after all those lonely years, and now she stood to lose him to the one thing he—and the others—wanted more than anything else.

“You’re sure? You actually heard her say that they were reconsidering Eleven for active duty?” Mike asked, afraid to let himself hope over a half-muffled rumor.

Madison nodded somberly, and Angel took her hand, giving it a hard squeeze. He leaned closer and whispered quietly so no one else would hear, “It doesn’t mean anything, you and me… we’re all that matter.”

She looked at him hopefully and smiled weakly. Sure, he could say that now in the face of a random comment, but she knew him better than that. When the time came and the call came down, he would go. And she would be left in the same position that had broken them up in the first place.

“Okay, look. We don’t know anything solid. And you know how the brass operates. It may be months before we’re ever even told we’re being considered. Didn’t you say Veronica thought it would take months just to track us all down?” Knox asked, and Madison nodded again. “See, this doesn’t mean anything’s changing anytime soon. That means we still have a company to run and lives to save. Until we get some kind of official orders, this company is still in operation and we still have a job to do.”

He clapped his hands once and pushed himself up off the edge of the desk. He walked around behind it to the task board and began calling out the duties, one by one. Everyone mumbled their acknowledgement of their assigned jobs, then slowly drifted away to get to work. The air in the room was a strange mixture of apprehension and excitement, and Knox knew that wasn’t a good mixture for saving lives.

Just as he thought of telling everyone to clear out, take the day off, and spend some time not thinking about the Navy or their futures, an alert came across the scanner. Knox fell into his chair and typed a few commands on the computer closest to him, watching the screen illuminate with new information.

“Suit up, guys, we gotta call!” he shouted, then listened for the sounds of hurried activity to make sure everyone had heard him. “And we’re back to square one… has ANYONE heard from Jake?”

“Got it, texting him now,” Tanner called back, stopping midway while pulling up his flight suit.

“Whoa, dude. Nice abs, but keep ‘em covered,” Angel joked, physically turning Madison around and covering her eyes.

“Sorry, but I can’t be held responsible if she dumps you for these,” Tanner joked back, gesturing to his ripped stomach with his phone while still typing out a message to Jake. “Okay, Knox, I sent it. I’ll let you know when I hear from him.”

“Great, in the meantime, get out the door and be safe, guys!”

* * *

J
ake slept soundly
for the first time in ages, the scent of Veronica’s perfume wrapping around him like a blanket. He woke when the direct afternoon sun lit up the room, happy to find her still in his arms, her eyes open and peaceful.

“I’ve thought about it,” she said quietly, not having to tell him what it was she’d been thinking over. “I know what to do.”

“Yeah? Do tell,” Jake answered, turning Veronica onto her side and pulling her against his chest, closing his eyes again and enjoying the way she felt.

“I was offered a different placement when I picked up my orders. That’s all I have to do. I submit my report, the job is done, and I get my new orders. There’s no reason SEAL Team 11 should have to report to me. I have no field experience with that kind of activity.”

“So, you’re just gonna leave?” he asked, his eyes flying open.

“It’s the only way we get to keep our careers, soldier,” she answered kindly.

“Yeah, but there’s no way you could stick around? Do something outside my chain of command?”

“Would you want me to? That’s a lot of hard work to go throwing away for someone you met four days ago. And two of those days, you thought I was a giant pain in the ass. What was the word, ‘entitled,’ I think it was?” Veronica couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.

“Yeah, but you’ve grown on me since then,” Jake argued, kissing her neck hungrily. Veronica arched her back so he could reach, shivering as he trailed kisses down to her bare shoulder.

“We have a few days to figure it out. We don’t have to decide anything right now. But Jake, I want you to know that I will leave if it means costing you or your friends their assignment. You were right - I knew what I was doing, even if I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. If our fling or relationship or whatever this becomes hurts any of you, I will take the fall for it.”