He didn’t look at her. “Let’s just say I haven’t been in the safest of jobs this past five years.”
“Oh,” she said.
He responded to her tone. “Jenn, it’s not that I’m shutting you out.” He looked at her and the road, back and forth, several times. “A lot of my missions were top secret, overseas stuff. The stuff I can tell you, I will.” He paused. ”Okay?”
“Okay,” she said in as even a tone as she could muster.
Her stomach felt sick and nervous. He would leave again soon. It was part of his job. She couldn’t smile. But she wanted him safe. Would she know if something happened to him? She didn’t know about his past injuries.
He had said he wanted her back in his life, but what exactly did that mean?
He changed the subject, his tone saying he was shooting for a different mood. “I bet you didn’t know I read your column all the time, did you?”
That got her attention. “You do? How?”
He was watching the road. “Marcie clips it and sends me a month at a time.”
“You’re kidding?” she asked in complete surprise. Her mind was racing. Marcie had been keeping him up to date? God, she loved that woman. Half to herself, she murmured, “She never told me.”
“I know, I asked her not to.” Then he said the name of her column, pride in his voice. “Single in San Fran, by Jennifer Cavender. Pretty impressive stuff.”
She shrugged. “It’s nothing world-shattering. It’s just, you know, entertainment.” He risked his life, she gave dating advice.
There was no comparison.
During the rest of the drive, they talked about old times. The subject of his departure seemed to be in the air, but never spoken about.
An hour later, they pulled into the driveway of a small airfield. “Where are we?” she asked, watching one of the planes take off.
Bobby grinned. “I thought it would be fun to show you what I love about my job.”
Jennifer tried to smile, but she couldn’t. ”Oh,” she said, wishing she could find other words.
But she was lost in the future. He was talking about the job he loved, which he would be going back to—and leaving her behind.
It was hard to be excited.
“Skydiving,” he said, and pushed open his door and stepped outside. In a matter of seconds, he was opening her door, helping her out of the vehicle. “And you’re going to jump with me.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not jumping. Are you crazy?”
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Trust me, baby, you’ll love it. I’ll keep you safe.”
She opened her mouth to protest louder, but he bent his head and stopped her with his lips. Dipping his tongue into her mouth and taking his time to kiss her quite thoroughly, she soon forgot what she was arguing about.
When he ended the kiss, the sound of airplanes jolted her out of her just kissed mode. No way was she jumping out of a plane. “That was an unfair negotiation tactic.”
He smiled. “All’s fair in love and war.”
Jennifer's eyes narrowed. Was this love or war? She wasn’t sure, but she had the distinct impression his words had a hidden meaning of some sort. Before she could challenge him, a voice drew her attention.
“Hey, Bobby, you back already?”
Bobby turned and raised his hand in greeting. “You know I can’t stay away.” Bobby looked at Jennifer. “Jenn, this is Jason Brady. He’s an ex-Special Ops guy I used to work with. He owns this place.”
Jennifer eyed Jason. Military-style short hair told her he hadn’t been out of the Army long. And he was huge, like Bobby. “All you Special Ops guys are giants,” she said, thinking out loud.
Jason laughed. “Special Ops will do that to a guy.” He eyed Bobby. “You’re right, she’s something.” He shook his head and smiled. “See you two later. Gotta get back inside.”
As Jason turned and headed back to the building, Jennifer shot Bobby a look. “She’s really something?”
“Something special,” he said brushing hair from her eyes, and then kissing her forehead. “That’s what I meant, and that’s what he meant.”
“Sweet talk won’t get me into that plane,” having a thought, she added, “or out of it, for that matter,” another thought, “especially not out of it.”
He took her hand and pulled her forward. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
* * *
Jennifer had been put through all kinds of classroom instruction, including videos, testing, and a lot of reading.
Now, hours later, she stood in the equipment room of the jump school wondering how she had gotten talked into this skydiving thing. Bobby was determined to personally help her dress and prepare to jump to her death.
He was always considerate like that. Pressing her hand to her stomach, she tried to calm down. She wouldn’t die. She hoped.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she mumbled, looking down as she sucked in a nervous breath.
He touched her cheek, and she looked up at him. “I know you,” he said with a hint of something she couldn’t identify in his voice. “You’ll love jumping. It's a pure adrenaline rush.”
“I don’t think it’s safe to have this much rush in such a short amount of time,” she commented, averting her gaze from his. Emotionally he was overloading her, but it wasn’t easy to admit that, so she didn’t.
Let him think what he wanted about her words.
He laughed and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. The intimacy of the action made her heart flip-flop. He always had to have his hands in her hair. And she liked it.
“I’m quite certain you can handle anything thrown at you, Jennifer Cavender.” There was a deep, husky quality to his voice that made her search his face.
She stared into his eyes, trying to read what she saw in them. “You have more confidence in me than I do, apparently.” But she wasn’t talking about the jump. She was referring to her ability to handle him leaving her again. Apparently, he thought she would be fine.
She wasn’t so sure.
His response seemed directed at her unsaid words. “You're safe with me, Jenn, and deep down you know it.”
Suddenly the supply room felt very small. The last thing she wanted to do was to be weak and cry, but her eyes burned with unshed tears. She didn’t want Bobby to know how horribly she was handling all of this.
Making him feel guilty for leaving her again wasn’t what she wanted. He clearly loved his job. Why else would he be showing her a part of it he loved?
Deep down, what she did indeed know was that she loved him. And she knew that meant letting him go again.
Intentionally, she changed the subject, diverting her gaze to look around the room. “You aren’t treated like a customer here.”
“Jason and I go way back,” he said, and then handed her a flight suit to put on. “Slip this on over your clothes.”
Jennifer stepped into the suit as she leaned on Bobby for balance. Once it was on, he zipped it up the front. “You’ll tandem jump with me, and only me. None of these other guys get the honor.” He leaned forward close to her ear. “It means I’m on top,” he whispered in her ear, and she heard the smile in his voice.
“You’re being very bad, Bobby Evans,” she scolded as she leaned back to look at him.
He winked. “And you love it.”
Jason walked by with equipment in his hands. He, very nicely, pretended not to notice what was going on between her and Bobby. But Jennifer saw the smile hinting at the corners of his mouth that said differently.
“Behave,” she said to Bobby as he nibbled at her ear. “Not here, in public, with a bunch of guys running around.” Her reprimand was a whisper near his ear.
He grinned. “Okay, but first admit you like it when I’m bad.” A wicked gleam shined in his eyes.
She made a little growling noise, and said, “Yes! Now shut up!”
He tilted his head back and laughed.
* * *<
br />
Jennifer stood in the plane, air pressing through the open door in fierce gusts. Her stomach was in knots. No way was she jumping out into that wind and falling to her death.
“I can’t do this, Bobby,” she yelled, because it was so noisy. She pressed her back to his front, trying to get away from the door.
His hands settled on her shoulders. “Yes, you can. Trust me.”
She shook her head, staring at the door. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and looked up at him. Bobby kissed her, and then pushed her glasses onto her eyes.
“Please,” he mouthed soundlessly.
He was already attached to her for the jump. If he wanted to push her out of that door, she couldn’t stop him. But he wouldn’t, and she knew it.
Bobby would never force her to do anything.
She took a deep breath. This was a part of his life. Something he loved. And damn it, she wanted to hold onto any part of him she could.
At that moment, she decided to do it. She was going to jump. She wanted to know Bobby again, and understand his life as it was now.
She mouthed, “Okay,” and nodded. He smiled.
She prayed.
Chapter Twelve
Jennifer jumped.
The wind whipping around her body proved it.
Really, Bobby jumped and took her with him, but only after she said he could. Her feet had been planted inside the plane, and somehow wouldn’t move. She had tried. It was as if they were cemented. Rooted. Unmovable.
Bobby had jumped. And now she was along for the ride.
Her stomach was in her throat, and she was holding her breath. Do not hyperventilate, she reminded herself.
Just breathe. In, out. In, out.
Slowly she began to settle down a fraction. She felt like she had been shot from a cannon as she moved through the air at one hundred and eighty miles per hour, wind biting at her skin with pressure like force.
Bobby pulled her arms out to her sides like they were wings. Only she wasn’t a bird, and she couldn’t fly, and she didn’t really see the point.
Oh, yeah, balance. The instructor said balance. She lifted her arms a bit more. Balance sounded good.
She reminded herself that Bobby would take care of her. He had said he would be there—on top of her—and he was.
If she had to die, she couldn’t think of a better way than having him in top of her, unless it was her on top of him.
She did, however, prefer the bedroom to the sky.
Bobby released a small chute. Remembering her training, she was pretty certain it was supposed to keep them from tumbling. She tried to take comfort in the fact that everything was going as she was told it would.
The little device thingy the instructor had given her to tell her when to pull her chute became her focal point. Watching for the moment to pull the parachute had her freaking out. Watching, watching, wanting.
What if the chute didn’t open?
The meter registered time to pull. Bobby motioned to go ahead.
She pulled the string, and then braced herself for the jerk they said would follow. Sure enough they lifted up with a leap, and a jolt.
It worked! It worked! Her chute opened. Yes!
Suddenly, they were floating, and it didn’t feel like they were about crash into the ground anymore. Everything was much slower.
She began to relax. She even looked around a bit. Down came last. To her surprise, down was okay. She wasn’t so scared anymore. To her surprise, skydiving was a fascinating way to look at the world. The scenery was amazing. San Francisco seemed so spectacular from above. The colors of the season were so alive, and vibrant. To see things get bigger and bigger as she floated downward was an unexpected adrenaline rush.
Just as Bobby said it would be.
Now that she knew she was safe, she had a crazy, kind of on-top-of-the-world feeling.
Bobby pointed at the mountains, and spoke near her ear. “Everything looks better from up here.”
She doubted if he could hear her because of the way she was position, so she just nodded. He was right, it was amazing.
When they landed, she wished it wasn’t over. She tumbled forward as they touched ground. Bobby followed, coming down on top of her.
He braced his weight on his hands so she wouldn’t get hurt, but still she managed to get a mouthful of dirt. She was trying to spit it out when she felt Bobby unhook their belts.
Then, without warning, he lifted her to her feet, and turned her to face him. He lifted his goggles, placing them on his head, as she used her hand to brush dirt from her lips.
He lifted her goggles for her, laughing. “Dirt sandwich, huh?”
“Yeah,” she said and then flung her arms around his neck. “It was amazing up there. Can we go again?”
He laughed. “Of course we can.” His voice showed his pleasure. “I knew you’d like it. There is something so free and wild about the experience.”
She nodded in agreement. “I was scared at first,” she admitted talking quickly, “but then the chute was out, and I knew I wasn’t going to die,” she was so excited she could hardly grasp words, “then, well…it was a rush. You were ri—”
He cut her off with a kiss. His mouth was hot and demanding. And boy, did it light her up and on fire in a whole different kind of rush. Maybe it was the adventurous nature of the jump, but she wanted him right there in the middle of a nowhere.
She wrapped her leg around his and pressed closer to his body. He moaned, low and hungry. “I missed you,” he said against her mouth.
“Show me how much,” she challenged, but the sound of a Jeep approaching from behind her told her no such thing was going to happen.
He grabbed her butt and cupped it, successfully easing her into his now-aroused body. “Later,” he said hoarsely. “And that’s a promise.”
A slow smile slid onto her lips. Slowly, he moved his hands to her waist and setting her away from him.
“One I don’t intend to let you out of,” she said playfully.
Jason parked right in front of them, smiling like the cat that had eaten the canary. Clearly he had seen their display.
* * *
Hours later Jennifer found herself sitting around a table in the back of the equipment room listening to stories about Bobby. She had been shocked to find out that Jason wasn’t Bobby’s only Army friend working at the jump school.
Ray Walker, who she hadn’t met until late in the day, was also an ex-Special Ops guy who clearly knew Bobby quite well.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Ray said setting down his beer can. “Tell her about the drinking bet Bobby used to do in the bars.”
Jason started laughing, and Bobby looked at Jennifer. “Don’t believe a word these guys tell you.”
Jason slapped the table. “You have to hear this one. He would go up to some guy, any guy, in a bar. He’d ask if the poor unsuspecting dude wanted to make a bet. The guy would ask what kind of bet.”
Ray laughed. “A sucker’s bet.”
Bobby laughed, and Jennifer smiled. “I told them, a good bet.”
Jason ignored them all. “The guy would fall for this every single damn time. Bobby would make it seem so easy for the guy to win.”
Now Jennifer was curious. “What was the bet?” she asked, eager to hear.
“He’d tell the guy he could drink four tall glasses of beer before the guy could drink one shot. The only catch was neither of them could touch each others' glasses, and Bobby got a one-beer start.”
Jennifer looked at Bobby who grinned with guilt. “And?” she said looking at Bobby, not Jason. “Where’s the catch?”
“They were drunk, for one thing. Bobby always picked the drunk ones,” Ray inserted. “And every damn time, the stupid sons-a-bitches bit.”
Jason elbowed him. “Watch your language.”
Jennifer laughed. “What the hell for?”
Ray’s eyes widened, and then everyone laughed. Bobby leaned down and kissed her temple. “Finish the s
tory,” she told Jason.
“Okay,” he said. “Bobby would drink the first beer and then flip it over the top of one of the shots. The guy couldn’t touch Bobby’s glass, so he couldn’t get to his shot. All he could do was pay up and watch Bobby enjoy his beers.”
Jennifer’s mouth dropped open as she turned to shake a finger at Bobby. “That’s horrible, Bobby Evans.” Then she laughed. “Not that it surprises me. He used to tell all my boyfriends I didn’t like sex. Told them he was like a brother to me, and I’d confessed to him.”
Jason spit out his beer, almost choking, and splattering Ray in the process. “Jeez, man,” Ray said wiping off his arm.
“Sorry,” Jason said. “Why’d he do that?”
Bobby answered. “Because I didn’t want anyone else to have her but me.”
His tone was so serious, the room fell silent. Jennifer looked at Bobby, surprise in her eyes. “Ready to go?” he asked quietly.
Jennifer tilted her head to the side studying him. “If you want,” she answered just as quietly.
He stood and took her with him. “I want.”
Thunder rumbled above, shaking the walls with its depth. “I guess that storm's here,” Ray said.
“Then we better hit it before it gets worse,” Bobby said still looking at Jennifer.
She wondered if he was thinking of their goodbye and regretting that moment. She was. Before she could read his expression, he turned to his friends. “See you guys later.”
* * *
As they stepped out of the building, darkness enveloped them. Thunder again rumbled overhead, and little droplets of rain pelted down on them.
“Come on,” Bobby said pulling her with him as he took off running.
As if the rain was plotting against them, it suddenly came down harder, and faster. When they got to the car, Jennifer anxiously waited for Bobby to unlock the door, planning to climb in quickly. Instead, she found herself plastered against the car with Bobby’s mouth covering hers.
He kissed her with intensity, raw and possessive, and utterly consuming. She quickly forgot the cold night air, and the rain that was now plastering her hair to the sides of her face.