Chapter 17 #2
Archer leaned back in his seat, arms folded, entirely too handsome for someone who so thoroughly ruined her concentration. “Jolie’s called a base meeting.”
Cannon snorted. “Unsanctioned, but I’ll play along.” He leaned in the doorway. “What’s up?”
She folded her hands, feeling the twinge in her shoulder at the movement. Drawing a deep breath, she prepared her first speech for the Sierra team.
“I need a job.”
Her announcement was met with silence.
Archer inflated his lungs so much that his whole chest swelled. “Your job for another week is resting.”
“I reject that assignment.”
Rome laughed into his coffee and Townie sprayed pastry crumbs as he chuckled.
Archer gave her a direct look. “You’re supposed to rest.”
She met his stare. “I rested. It was boring.”
“Well, you can cook. We need a cook.” Younger didn’t even have the grace to appear bothered by his suggestion.
She closed her eyes, searching for patience on the inside of her eyelids. “And the patriarchy is alive and well.”
“What year do you think this is, Younger?” Rome ribbed him. “Oh wait, you were born in the era when a woman’s place was in the kitchen.”
He rolled his eyes. “I might have a few years on you, but I’m still stronger and faster.”
Jolie spoke up. “I can grow fresh food in the greenhouse.”
O wagged his head as if Archer let the whole team down. “You took her to the greenhouse?”
“You mean took her in the greenhouse,” Rome said to several chuckles that heated Jolie’s cheeks with a blush.
As if seeing the room was getting out of hand, Cannon took control. “What are you trained for?”
She blinked at the question. “What do you mean?”
“What skills do you have besides managing a restaurant and wrangling teenagers?”
She sat straighter. “I can do other things.”
Cannon’s lips twitched. “No, you can’t help with the aliens. So what is it you’re thinking of doing?”
Her stare landed on Archer, and in the second that their gazes connected, she drew more strength from him.
“I was thinking about doing college courses online.”
No one spoke over her or shot down her idea, so she went on. “I could learn things that would help Sierra. Forensic science. Computers.”
O looked offended. “You comin’ for my job, woman?”
“Hey, have some respect,” Archer shot out.
“Fine—Mrs. Monk.”
His name for her knocked her off-balance but also warmed her inside in ways she didn’t expect. And Archer’s eyelids drooped a little more when he stared at her.
She swept a glance around the table, taking in expressions ranging from amusement to respect. “Look, I survived my first kidnapping. That has to count for experience.”
Rome choked on his coffee and grins flashed around the table one by one.
“That’s not a qualification,” Cannon said.
“It shows resilience,” Archer stood up for her.
Heat spread low through her stomach. She didn’t dare meet his eyes or the flush would creep into her cheeks.
“Jolie. What did you want to do before you had to become an adult too soon?” he asked.
The atmosphere changed. Several of the guys looked at her with open admiration, and a hush of respect settled through the room.
She looked down at the table and peeled back layers of time. Before bills. Before school lunches. Before becoming the one who always knew what everyone needed.
“I wanted to be a psychologist.”
Archer’s eyes gleamed with a smile that only toyed with the corners of his hard lips. “You’d be terrifyingly good at it.”
A laugh bubbled out of her. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re already great at reading people.”
She shared a smile with him, but the glimmer in the depths of his blue eyes made her think of just how good he was at reading her. With his hands, his lips…his tongue.
Cannon took a drink of coffee. “Then study psychology. We’ll hook you up with an online college.”
Excitement soared through her like a star shooting through the sky. “Just like that? I have permission to stay here and study?”
“Since you can’t leave yet anyway, I think it’s a good idea for you to stay busy. Keep your mind off things.”
She compressed her lips. “Like the fact that I can’t see my sister and brothers.”
Archer nodded. “Like that. But you’re not losing your siblings, Jolie.”
A knot formed in her throat. “And if I don’t want to leave…ever?” She didn’t shift her gaze from Archer.
No one spoke at first. After several seconds, Cannon set his cup on the table. “There are rules that come with staying.”
“I accept them,” she said without a millisecond of hesitation or even knowing what they were.
Though they’d only just begun to explore a relationship, she went with her gut, and her gut said she needed to stay with him.
And just maybe she could find her place among this military family who might have need of her skills.
The room blurred as her eyes swam with happy tears. She turned to him and their gazes locked.
Townie scraped his chair back. “Meeting adjourned before there’s any declarations of love.”
Rome shot to his feet. “I’m out.”
Jolie tossed her head with a laugh and Archer’s grin was unstoppable.
Cannon cleared his throat. “Any other requests before the meeting ends?”
Rome stopped halfway to the door. “Yeah. I’m sick of hearing scurrying feet in the night while these two sneak between bedrooms.”
Archer gave him a nonplussed glance. “That’s easy to settle—Jolie and I share a room.”
Heat scorched her cheeks and had the guys all laughing and teasing her on the way out.
When the space was empty and only she and Archer were left, she stood and walked into his arms. She tipped her head up and searched his face. “I never thought I’d have something like this.”
“Like a team of assholes?” He smiled down at her.
She giggled. “That.” Sobering, she said, “And you.”
He claimed her mouth in a soft kiss, lips moving in a tender brush. Her body responded with a bolt of desire, swaying into his chiseled form.
With a low growl, he deepened the kiss, tongue swishing over hers with more insistence that she’d never deny as long as she lived.
She felt so right in his arms. She wanted to wake to him and fall asleep with him. Wanted to live whatever life they could carve out together.
Breaking apart, he swept a hand up her nape to cradle her head. “Are you up for another adventure?”
She eyed him. “Does it involve a hood?”
He shook his head.
“Then I’m in!”
With a laugh, he took her hand. First, he stopped in their room to grab their coats before he led her to the end of the hallway leading… Well, she wasn’t exactly sure where it led except out.
She bounced a little with excitement. “Where are we going? Back to the greenhouse?”
“Another time. This is just as good.”
When they exited into brilliant sunlight, she blinked. The world was blanketed with thick, fresh snow, but the sun felt good on her face.
Archer led her across a low slope. She stopped in her tracks, staring in surprise at the ski lift.
“You can’t be serious.”
“You did come here for adventure.”
“Adventure doesn’t mean dangling from a defunct ski lift that hasn’t worked since the…” She cocked a brow. “Eighties?”
He grunted. “It’s safe.”
“How can your base stay hidden if someone sees the lift operating?”
“I got some of the guys on the lookout for anyone in the vicinity, and this side of the slope isn’t visible from any road. The mountain peak provides cover too.” He held out a hand. “Do you trust me?”
She looked between his handsome face and his hand. Her heart had already made up its mind the minute she set eyes on him standing at the bottom of the tower in the middle of the storm.
He leaned in and stamped a kiss on her lips, and her smile spread under his.
He walked over to a small hut where an operator would control the ski lift. He flipped the lift on and the low hum of the motor that moved people up the mountain filled the air.
When he returned to Jolie’s side, her eyes were wide with awe.
They climbed into the chair together, and it lifted with a smooth swing that made her grab his arm. A laugh burst out of her as the snowy slopes spread beneath them. Pines stood dark against fields of white.
Archer slid an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against him. She breathed in his scent snuggled close. The lift carried them higher, and the world fell away beneath them.
For a while, they said nothing.
He brushed his knuckles under her chin, drawing her gaze to his. “I got so damn lucky the day you got stuck on that tower.”
“Oh, Archer.”
His breath plumed out in a rush. “Captivity taught me how to survive alone.
You… You taught me surviving isn’t the same as living.”
She let out a soft sob and gripped him tight. “This feels too good to be real.”
He stared into her eyes with an intensity that stole her breath.
She stroked her fingers over his stubbled jaw. “I love you, Archer.”
The lift kept gliding upward through the brilliant blue sky.
His arm tightened around her until she could feel the tremor of emotion run through him. He lowered his forehead to hers.
“I love you too, Jolie.”
He kissed her slow and deep while the mountain opened beneath them, and for the first time in what felt like a very long life, Jolie knew she was exactly where she was meant to be.