Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
L ogan lay awake for a while afterward. He’d tucked Jess next to him as he lay on his back, saturated in her warmth and soft curves against him. It was the best feeling in the world and he drank in the moment like a man who hadn’t drank for days after being stranded in a desert. She fit him in every possible way. Tall, curvy, feminine and wild. A slight smile tugged at his mouth as he closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her hair. Where had Jess been all his life? His body felt a depth of satiation he’d never experienced before. Was it due to Survivor Sex? That he hadn’t had sex in six months, which was a damned long time for him? Or was it HER? Logan felt her breath go shallow and slow, indicating she was sleeping deeply. He held her, wanting to give her the protection she needed. Jess wore her vulnerability out on her sleeve. She didn’t play tough woman, nor did she have a game face to put in place. What had made her so natural? So confident in herself that she didn’t have to behave like other women? There was honesty in her at every turn, as he’d discovered tonight.
Moonlight filtered silently into their room. The storm had passed. They’d both been through their own ones, too: stormy, emotional hells. Now, in this calm afterward, it felt like a gift from the cosmos had been given to Logan for surviving it all. His mind moved to a thousand questions he had for Jess. But first, he had to get some decent sleep, or else.
***
Jess awoke slowly, feeling a languorous satisfaction thrumming quietly through her satiated body. As she turned over, she saw the morning sunlight made the room bright and cheery. She heard the birds singing out in trees nearby and rolled slowly onto her back. The covers had been drawn up over her, but she noticed the lack of Logan’s warmth. Opening her eyes, she saw he was gone. Swallowing, Jess sat up, her hair tumbling around her shoulders. He’d placed a robe, the women’s-sized one this time, at the end of the bed where she could easily pull it toward her. Rubbing her eyes, she saw a note on his pillow. Reaching for it, she saw, in a scrawl, “Out to get our breakfast. Be back soon. L”
Looking at the clock on the dresser, Jess saw it was 0700. She had a flight to catch at 1100. Moving slowly, feeling achy in all the right places from their lovemaking last night, she picked up the robe and walked to the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time Jess left the bathroom, wrapped in the now-fitting robe, the door opened. She looked up, seeing Logan enter with two sacks in his hand. He hadn’t shaved yet and the shadow of stubble accentuated his strong face. She smiled as she sat on the bed, legs crossed beneath the robe. He wore his Levi’s, the same red t-shirt that outlined that magnificent chest of his, and his old leather bomber jacket, that appeared to have dried now from its soaking in last night’s pouring rain.
“Hungry?” he asked, smiling hello to her as he shut the door. How did Jess get to look even more beautiful than before? Her cheeks were a soft pink below her flawless, green eyes with gold in their depths. Her black hair had been brushed and tamed, shining in the light from the window.
Jess grinned. “That’s a double-edged question if I ever heard one,” she murmured, taking the offered sack from him. She saw the glint come to his eyes and felt like she was being hunted by Logan’s primal side. It was a delicious feeling. Even her lower body, tired and achy as it was, flexed over the burning look he gave her.
“True,” he murmured, setting the other sack on the dresser. “I took a chance you like good, strong black coffee in the morning?” He handed her a paper cup and then shrugged out of his leather jacket.
“Mmmm, thank you,” Jess whispered, holding it with both hands. “How did you know?” She watched as he took his own coffee out of the sack on the dresser. No matter what the man did, it was sensual. The corded muscles in his forearms and biceps were hard.
“A wild woman who is as natural as you are, would like her coffee straight up.” He grabbed a wooden chair and brought it over to the bed. Jess had taken the paper plates, four croissants, and jam and butter from the paper sack he’d given her and spread them out on the mattress. That was a European continental breakfast.
She gave him a grateful look. Before Logan sat down, he came over and placed a warm kiss on her mouth. Her heart swelled with unexpected happiness. “You look better this morning,” she observed softly, taking the lid off her coffee.
“You look beautiful,” Logan countered, gratefully sipping his own coffee. “How long have you been up?”
“About forty minutes.” Jess pulled open the croissant. It was still warm and smelled wonderfully fragrant to her. She opened the strawberry jam, working some out onto the pastry with a plastic knife. He was watching her and she didn’t mind the attention. It struck her that he was mentally photographing her. Looking up, she said, “Tell me about yourself?”
“I was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. How about you?”
“I’ve led a twisted life.”
“Try me?” Logan liked the warmth in her eyes as she regarded him. The woman’s mouth was certifiable as she nibbled on the croissant. She made it look sexual. And yeah, he was getting hard all over again.
Shrugging, Jess said, “I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, but I’m a U.S. citizen. My mother and father were Navy Seabees for twenty years. She’s a civil engineer and my father is a geologist. They met in the Middle East, got married and they were transferred to Africa, where, ta-daaa , I was then born.”
“So, that’s where you got your wild-woman genes?”
Laughing, Jess said, “Is that how you see me?”
“Absolutely.” Logan kept his smokey tone. “Last night, you were wild, free and it was great for both of us.” He saw some shyness come to her eyes, a stain of pink flooding across her cheeks. For all her brazenness while making love, in the daylight, she was softer. Approachable. The confidence, however, was always there. “That was a compliment,” he added, becoming serious.
“Thanks,” Jess murmured, “you were wonderful, too.” She saw the pleasure in his expression as he absorbed her return compliment. Logan was utterly and truly confident, she thought. Not swaggering like those Army Rangers at the bar last night. Rather, he held a quiet self-assurance that broadcasted out to everyone who met him. Logan was a man among men. The type she silently thought of as a matriarchal male, not the toxically masculine kind of man she’d punched at that bar last night.
“We’re good together,” Logan agreed, wishing they had at least a week to share. One night was not enough.
“Yes,” she sighed. “I’ll never forget it.” Or you. Too soon, Jess knew they would separate and go their different ways. She didn’t want it to happen, but reality told her otherwise. Logan’s male smile warmed her. Her body remembered, and a deep glow beginning to throb in her once again.
“So, you were a military brat? Traveled the world?” Logan prodded.
“Yes. I grew up on just about every continent. My mom built bridges and highways. My dad did soil analysis, geology, and they worked as a team.”
“You were a wild, barefoot and carefree child. Weren’t you?” Logan swore he could see her as a child being just like that.
“I wasn’t brought up in the States,” she said wryly. “I know smatterings of a lot of languages because my parents were overseas most of the time. I always had a nanny and a teacher. I think I grew up lucky.” Jess licked off her fingers that still had jam on them.
Logan’s erection ached as he watched her tongue slide over her fingers. The woman didn’t even realize what it did to him. So natural. So unaware. Just HERSELF. His curiosity ate at him. “So, you spoke of that valley you and your team were working in…”
“We were up on the slopes of the Hindu Kush, near the villages I mentioned. We arrived a week ago. There’s five of them in the area and we’re doing some nation building by digging a well for each one.”
Logan shook his head. “That’s damned Taliban country. Big time. Who in their right mind sent you there?”
Shrugging, Jess said, “I don’t know. I just get told where to take my well-drilling team. We were briefed and informed it was a hotbed of tribal warfare, and the Taliban and Hill bands had a strong foothold in the mountains above us, as well.”
“A lot of American men and UN soldiers have poured their blood into the sand of that valley,” Logan warned, now worried for her. “Are you the only woman on your team?”
“Yes. I’m a Petty Officer First Class. I’m the boss, so to speak. I’ve got nine years in the Seabees and my claim to fame is well digging.”
“Do you have military protection, Jess?”
Nodding, she said, “We have a Special Forces A-team with us.”
“That’s a twelve-man unit. Is that all?”
“Yes.” She saw he was concerned. It wasn’t in his expression, but she could feel it. His eyes were dark looking. Last night, in the moonlight, his eyes had been stormy, like a thunderstorm moving across a valley.
“Do you have any snipers on overwatch?”
“No. We’ve never needed them before.”
“You’ve never been in that area, either,” Logan said grimly, finishing off one croissant and starting on the second one.
“With Dan dying in an attack,” she said softly, frowning, “I don’t know what kind of protection they’re going to give us now. We each wear a .45 pistol, but our job is drilling wells, not keeping watch for the Taliban.”
“I hope your superiors do something,” Logan said, scowling. It bothered the hell out of him. A twelve-man A-team wasn’t enough in that hotbed of enemy activity, but he didn’t say that to Jess.
“Where are you stationed, Logan?”
“Camp Bravo. It’s an FOB about thirty miles from the Pak-Afghan border.” He lifted his hand making and down motion. “We’re located almost exactly opposite of one another except for that mountain. It’s roughly fifty miles from Bravo to where you are doing the well drilling.”
“FOB Bravo isn’t far from where we’re drilling, then. How long have you been deployed there?”
“Six months. We got three more to go and then we’ll swing Stateside for eighteen months,” Logan said, then paused and asked, “What about you?”
“We spend a month more there, and then we’re heading down to the Kandahar area. There’re six villages there that are desperate need of a clean water source.”
“But,” he muttered, “don’t you get leave? Or do you get deployed Stateside?”
“We’re three months into a year-long deployment. Then, we go back to Port Hueneme Battalion, back in California. We’re a part of the 74th Water Well Detachment.”
“Then, you remain stateside for a year?”
“No. Six months, usually. This is a long deployment because the Pentagon wants as many wells as possible dug before the US pulls out completely someday. There’s no date on when, yet. It’s all political, of course. We both know there’s going to be at least a few black ops teams in the country even after the regular troops leave.”
“Yeah,” Logan said. “I’m with Seal Team3 and, I can guarantee you, I’ll be going back there long after this whole war is forgotten by the media and the American public.” He gave her a sour smile. She brightened. He liked the luminous quality in her eyes, that keen intelligence of hers showing through. In Logan’s mind, Jess was the whole package. “Is that why you aren’t married? Or engaged?” he teased.
Jess laughed a little. “My job sends me around the world. There aren’t many men who are willing to follow.”
“Look at your mother and father, though,” he pointed out.
“Yes, they are a great love story.” She sighed and gave him a shy look. “I’ve never seen two people more in love than them. I grew up thinking I’d find a man like my father, marry, and be happy like them.”
“Didn’t work out that way?”
“No. I married a man called Mark at twenty-four. He was a Seabee, too. I guess, in my romantic blindness, I didn’t really see HIM. For two years, he tried to control me. I grew up with parents who were equals, who respected one another. Mark wanted me under his thumb. I divorced him.”
Logan heard the pain in her voice. “Don’t lose your idealism, Jess. I like it.” He saw her respond with a small smile. “ I married at twenty-three. But SEAL life isn’t for most women. Maryann divorced me three years later because I was never home.”
“I’m sorry,” Jess said, meaning it. “Any children?”
Logan shook his head. “No. We both agreed to wait on that. I’d never be around to be a father. It would all fall on my wife. That wouldn’t be right.”
“When you went out earlier this morning? Were there still MPs crawling around looking for us?”
Logan grinned. “Nah. The village is quiet this morning.”
“Do you think we can get on base without causing a riot? A fight? Or having Rangers coming after us again?”
“We’ll take the bus back to Larmsee.”
“Larmsee?”
“Sorry, like I said, been here too many times. Where we were at yesterday was the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center or LRMC. You know how the military makes sounds out of acronyms? We call it Larmsee.”
“Good to know,” Jess said. “I NEVER want to be here again. Once is enough.”
“I hear you,” Logan said. He’d didn’t want to tell her he’d been flown here five years ago, badly wounded, and then sent off Stateside to recover. Or about coming here twice to be with a badly wounded team member. Too much, too soon.
Jess looked delicious in that white robe, a bare hint of her breast visible. He’d touched those breasts last night. And already, he wanted Jess again. But time wasn’t on their side. “I made a call to a friend of mine who mans the Operations desk at Ramstein. You and I are catching the same C-17 Globemaster flight back to Bagram. Our names are on the manifest.”
Sure, they’d fly back together, but what were the chances they’d ever get to meet in-country again? And their deployment schedule didn’t match up at all. Now, he felt a new kind of sadness. Like a knife slicing his heart open. Sonofabitch.
“Look,” he said, “I’d like to stay in touch with you, Jess. I want to give you my email address?” He wasn’t sure she wanted to continue any kind of on-again-off-again relationship with him. Logan had his answer when he saw her tear up. Oh, hell.
“I’m sorry,” Jess whispered, quickly wiping her tears away.
“Was my offer that bad?” he asked warily.
“No,” and she managed a watery smile. Taking a deep breath, Jess said, “You have no idea how much you helped me last night… this morning. I was so torn up inside, Logan. You were so steady. Quiet. Caring.” She held his dark gaze. “I can’t EVER thank you for what you did for me, how you loved me. It’s as if you realized how fragile I really was.” Jess reached out, touching his arm. “I would love to have your email address. But I don’t see how we’ll ever get together again…,” and she swallowed against her tightening throat.
“I’m a SEAL, Baby. No one knows black ops better than we do.” Logan gave her a confident smile. “You just hold onto that. Okay? We know how to work the system.” And he was thinking of Master Chief Ken Carter. He ruled a wide swathe of the military world and could pull strings no one else could. Logan slid his small notebook out from his Levi pocket and grabbed a pen, writing down his email address. Tearing the paper off, he folded it and handed it to Jess. “Your turn.”
Jess took the notebook and wrote down her address. She tore it off more daintily than he had and handed both back to Logan. “I’ve never been around SEALs,” she admitted. She saw the challenge in his dark blue eyes and the careless smile that came to his face. Was there really any hope for them? Even though she grew up reading all the classics, all of Aesop’s fables, all the fairy tales of Europe and America, which fed her dreamy and romantic side, Jess knew, in their line of work, hard, gritty reality ruled. “I don’t even know your last name,” she admitted lamely, giving him an apologetic look.
“Logan Randall, Petty Officer First Class. I’m a sniper with my platoon.” He saw her eyes widen over that statement.
“A sniper?”
“Yes, among other things.” He rose, taking the paper food sacks, wadding them up and tossing them into the wastebasket. He placed her address in his wallet for safekeeping. “If I can find a workaround to drop in sometime and see you, maybe meet you at Bagram for a day or two, I’ll do it,” and Logan gave her a serious look. Jess had to know he meant it. Because he did .
“I sometimes go to Bagram. But I know I’ll never be at FOB Bravo.”
“Let me worry about the logistics of us getting together again,” Logan said, seeing the worry, the sadness in her eyes. If they just had a little more time together, but it was already 0800. “We need to get going,” he said, hating to say it.
“Yes,” Jess whispered, uncrossing her legs, smoothing out the robe and standing up. Her heart ached. Did he feel as miserable as she did right now? As if to answer that unspoken question, Logan stepped forward, sliding his arms around her shoulders. She lifted her head, drowning in his stormy blue eyes. That was the way they’d looked last night as they’d made love with one another. He moved his thumb across her lower lip.
“You’re an incredible woman, Jessica Courtland. And if you think I’m letting you go, you’ve got another think coming…” He leaned down, gently taking her mouth. She tasted of strawberries, coffee and her own, sweet inner taste. One that he already craved. Her mouth opened, eagerly kissing him in return. He felt her arms slide around his shoulders, pressing herself wantonly up against him, her breasts against his chest, her hips moving seductively against his erection.
Jess broke the kiss, her voice uneven. “We’ve got maybe an hour, Logan, if we cut it closer. I don’t want to waste it. I want to love you again…”
He groaned, but a smile shadowed his mouth as he tucked some errant strands of hair behind her ear. “You’re reading my mind, Baby…” and he slid his hands beneath her robe, opening it, her naked body so lush and gorgeous in the morning light, her breasts full; those nipples begging to be touched and suckled once more. He ran his hands lightly across her shoulders, curving down around her breasts. She gasped softly, her eyes shuttering closed, leaning into his large palms.
“You are so incredibly beautiful,” he growled, leaning down, capturing a nipple between his lips.
Jess moaned, gripping his shoulder, her knees weakening. “Oh… Logan…,” she moaned straining forward into his hands.
He felt her tremble. Releasing the taut, pink nipple he lifted his head, kissing her swiftly, with the hunger he had inside for her. Picking her up, he placed Jess on the bed. And then he got out of his clothes. He rolled on the condom in record time. They had fifty minutes and, dammit, he was going to make every minute count.
The C-17 Globemaster took a spiraling, evasive pattern to land at Bagram air base. Logan was used to it, but Jess was not. They now sat in two of the nylon-webbed seats ranging along the sides of the fuselage, as they had since awakening.
Earlier, Logan had shown Jess how SEALs slept on long flights, bringing out two hammocks and stringing them between some of the huge metal containers strapped to the deck of the transport plane. It was a way to catch up on badly needed sleep, and they were both still owed payback for a deficit in that regard. She’d slept in hammocks many times as a child, but they got a lot of laughs out of her having to remember how to get into one without flipping out of the netting. Then, hijinks over, they had grabbed as much shuteye as possible.
Logan had awakened first, about an hour out from Bagram. He’d threaded between the two containers where Jess was sleeping deeply, despite the shaking and shivering of the aircraft, and the continual vibration and noise of the engines. Everyone wore helmets with ear protection built in on these flights, making sleep just barely possible.
Luckily, the transport crew hadn’t been around, and he’d been able to wake her up with a long, deep kiss. The radiance in her eyes as she’d awakened beneath his mouth had taken his breath away. He’d ached to love her again. Logan didn’t know what was going on between them. They shared an unshakable, inexplicable link. It made her one hell of a lover, that was for sure.
Back in the here and now, Jess gripped his hand, her knuckles white, as the C-17 groaned, the pitch of the engines changing as the plane spiraled in for landing. Such evasive maneuvers when approaching one of the many runways at Bagram kept the enemy guessing and stopped them from taking down an aircraft.
Logan glanced over at Jess. She was attempting a smile, but it was more a grimace, and her eyes were wide with fear. It was just one more thing to add to his growing mental list; He liked discovering small things about Jess, committing them all to memory and into his heart. She’d been friendly with the crew, he’d discovered; A warm smile for all, something kind to say to each of them, and meant with sincerity. She was an attentive listener, never interrupting the other person. The captain of the flight, a woman, was thrilled to see another female on board. It was like Old Home Week, a military reunion tradition, for them in a way, Logan thought with a grin.
In another thirty minutes, they’d be parting company. Logan scowled, his mind racing for a fix, but finding no purchase. It was no use. He had never worked with Seabees before and so he was going to rely on Master Chief Carter to see what could be done. Just holding Jess’s long, spare hand, remembering her fingers trailing over his body, he longed for her, and his body was being honest. Good thing he wore bulky cammies. They hid everything. Plus, it was dark. Landing in the dark had its advantages, it seemed. Speaking of which, Logan thought, his last change to take full advantage of the situation was rapidly approaching: He wasn’t going to let Jess escape without one last kiss.
Jess took a long, deep breath, feeling the tires of the C-17 screeching and hitting the runway. They were down! Her stomach was flipping nervously. That damned spiraling approach was like riding a roller coaster at Six Flags. All through the plunge, Logan’s large hand had been warm and comforting on her sweaty, damp one. She drilled wells for a living, her roots firmly in the earth. Flying wasn’t on her top ten list of favorite things to do. Still, Logan’s solid, quiet presence filtered into her and Jess had become calmer as a result.
Yes, thankfully, they were down and the taxiing was over. The rear ramp on the C-17 finally started grinding open. The noise was earsplitting even with the helmets on. There were no lights on anywhere because at night the Taliban would love to have a brightly lit target to shoot at. Jess relied on Logan’s experience as to when to get up and walk out of the rear of the huge plane. He also had a set of NVGs, night vision goggles, and she didn’t. When the ramp stopped grinding, Logan squeezed her hand and kept a hold on it. The military frowned on such things, but he could care less. He was in his SEAL gear, and everyone knew you left SEALs alone. They wrote their own rules. Jess probably was aware that romances were officially discouraged throughout the military, no matter which branch it was. Holding hands was a definite no-no, but he shrugged it off.
Logan led her off the ramp and, once they were on the tarmac, off loaders began to gather to remove the large containers still strapped down on board. Logan threaded her through the gathering men and machines, heading for Operations. He was due to fly out in just an hour on a medevac Black Hawk which was based at FOB Bravo. The wind was blowing warm and there was plenty of grit in the air, along with the smell of jet fuel everywhere. Jess held on to his hand and he shortened his stride for her sake.
Once inside the busy Ops building, he released her hand. Jess gawked around. Logan knew she hadn’t been here before and it was a big place with lots of pilots coming and going, everyone busy. He led her over to the briefing-room area. Checking the rooms out, he spotted one that wasn’t being used. Opening the door, Logan guided her in, shut and locked it behind them, and put up the sign that said the room was taken.
Jess turned and smiled. “You’re in stealth mode, I can tell.” She saw him grin and she opened her arms as Logan walked over to her. It was so easy to be wrapped into his powerful arms and swept, literally, off her feet for a moment as he plastered her against his body. Jess could feel his erection pressing against her belly. His mouth came down on hers, swift and hard. As he eased Jess’s feet back to the ground, Logan’s tender and welcoming kiss deepened, and he framed her face with his hands. She purred beneath his incredible male gentleness. Jess was sure few ever saw this side to Logan. Her body went hot with longing, and she felt achy just from his mouth softening hers, licking her lower lip, kissing the corners of her mouth, teasing her tongue. The man was so damned sensual! Jess had to give both of them some leeway; Logan hadn’t had sex in six months and she, in over a year. They were both a little needy and hungry.
Slowly, their lips separated. They were both breathing unevenly, their gazes locked. “Listen to me,” Logan rasped, “you HAVE to be alert out at your drilling site now, Jess. If the Taliban or anyone of those Hill chieftains got that close to you before, they’re going to try again to kill you.” Frustration lined his voice. “Can you talk to the A-team Special Forces captain? See what he can do to give you a better safety perimeter? I need you to be proactive about this, Baby.”
Jess compressed her lips and nodded. “I promise I will, Logan. I’ll go to him first thing tomorrow morning. Before I left, Captain Anderson said something was going to be done about it. I’ll find out what he’s decided.”
Logan eased his hands around her shoulders, feeling how strong and proud she was. “I want to take a photo of you with my phone.”
Startled, she smiled. “Okay. I’ll bet, as a SEAL, you don’t let anyone take your picture?” She saw Logan nod and pull out his cell. Jess sat on the edge of the briefing table while he backed up with his iPhone and snapped the photo.
“Something to remember you with until we can work things out to get together again,” he told her.
Jess felt her heart fall. Her smile disappeared as he pushed the iPhone back into his cargo-pants pocket. “Logan, you seem so sure, but I don’t see how we’ll be able to get back together.” Jess saw him give her a sly smile.
“You never tell a SEAL he can’t do something, Baby,” he murmured, sliding his fingers though her soft, black hair. Her eyes were the richest green Logan had ever seen. Their shade reminded him of the lush grass in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming in July.
Closing her eyes, Jess placed her hands on his biceps, feeling the muscles respond beneath her fingertips. “Thank you, Logan… for everything…” and she gazed up, studying him. His mouth was set, his eyes carried a determined look.
“This is NOT goodbye, Jess.” His voice was firm. Stubborn.
She frowned a little. “You operate in a world I know practically nothing about, Logan. I’m a worker of the earth. Not black ops.” Her throat tightened as she searched his deep blue eyes. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you either.”
“I know you don’t,” Logan rasped, kissing her gently. “But I’m going to make this work. That’s a promise.”
Her lips tingled in the wake of his tender kiss. She could feel how badly he wanted her to stay with him. It was mutual. “I feel like a lovesick teenage girl…” His smile at that sent sunshine pouring through her.
Logan smoothed some strands away from her face, drowning in her green gaze glimmering with tears. “Don’t cry, Jess,” he whispered. “It’s not goodbye. You’ll see…”
“You’ve done so much for me already, Logan. I arrived at Ramstein broken into so many emotional pieces.” Jess touched his jaw, near where the scar on it was, her voice trembling. “You’ve healed me on so many levels, Logan. I-I just can’t explain it. I don’t know how, but you have,” and she gave him a sad smile. “In my world of rock and dirt, I have to be practical. I’m grounded. I don’t see how we’ll see one another again for a long, long time.” If then…
“Baby, you just stay focused on staying safe out there.” His voice dropped and became a growl. “I need you, Jess. More than I can tell you right now. We just need a little patience… And I’m going to see what I can do for us.” Logan dug into his pocket. Inside a small plastic zip-lock bag was a four-leaf clover. “Here, I want you to promise me you’ll wear this on you every day. You don’t NOT wear it, Jess.”
She frowned, slowly turning over the small plastic bag and examining it. The dried green four-leaf clover was backed with some cardboard. “What is this?”
“My good luck charm,” he said, resting his hands on his hips. “Most SEALs have one they always carry with them. We are never without it on an op or mission. We really do believe it keeps us safe. Keeps us alive. And I want you to have mine.”
Deeply touched, Jess gave him an anguished look. “But… you need it, Logan. This thing looks so old and worn… like it’s been doing a good job for a long time. And you believe in it! I want you safe, too.”
“I’ll be fine.” Because I’ve found you. I’ve got something to live for as never before. He wasn’t about to tell Jess that. If she only knew how much she held his heart, it would probably frighten her off. Logan needed time to woo her, to get to know her, and vice-versa. They had to have time . He just had to figure out a way to carve it out of their schedules. He closed his hands over hers. “Promise me you’ll keep it in a pocket of your uniform every day, Jess?” and he dug into her widening eyes.
“Okay… I will.” She was so touched by his care. Jess could feel that protection radiating off Logan, wrapping around her, giving her such a strong sense of safety. She tucked the clover into her blouse pocket and Velcroed it shut. “I won’t leave home without it,” she promised him solemnly. Logan looked relieved. He must really believe in his lucky charm, she thought, and that was, after all, exactly why it kept him safe.
Glancing at his watch, Logan muttered respectfully, “I have to go, Jess. To get the bus over to the women’s barracks here on base, just walk straight out the main doors. There’s a bus stop to the right. You can’t miss it.”
Jess smiled tenderly, lifting her hand, smoothing his blouse across his chest. “Stay safe out there, Logan?”
“Count on it,” he growled, sliding his arms around her, drawing her against him, taking her mouth one last time. He poured every bit of emotion he held in his heart into this remarkable woman who had stunned him with her nurturing warmth. Her mouth was inviting, opening to him. Jess trusted him with her life. Logan could feel it. Reluctantly, he withdrew, memorizing the look in her druzy eyes, the love shining in them. Love? Yeah, love. And on his end, too. How the hell could this have happened to him? This quick? Logan’s head spun, but he didn’t try to explain away the unspoken look in Jess’s eyes. “I’ll see you sooner than you think,” he said, giving her a wink.
Jess stood in the briefing room, feeling the loss of Logan’s vital heat, the protectiveness he always embraced her with. She stood at the door, watching him trot across the shining floor, pushing open the doors that led back out to the tarmac. And then… he was gone. Gone.
Jess felt like she’d been hit by a Mack truck, stunned. She’d met Logan by accident less than two days ago. Now, as she absently touched her lower, tingling lip, still tasting him, she couldn’t live without him. Her heart felt like it was breaking.