Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Dalton “Jag” Jaeger kept one eye fixed on where Steff was seated with Teresa. He hadn’t expected when he saw her fleeing that he would be able to encourage her to stay.
He hadn’t forgotten the night they’d rescued her and her friend Cynthia. She’d been a quivering mess curled into the corner of the dank, smelly room, as if she was wanting to melt into the walls.
It had taken some convincing for her to allow him to lift her. Her whimpers had cut him and fueled his anger to hurt the men who had taken the liberties of all the people they’d rescued. Hound and Deal had been the ones who’d rounded up those assholes.
Seeing how Steff had looked as if those very people were chasing her and were going to take her at a little girl’s birthday party had him wishing all over again that he could pound the shit out of them.
“Whoa, who peed on your cake?” Fox, his team leader and best friend, teased him.
“No one.” He grabbed a bottle of sparkling water for Steff. His hand hovered over the bottles of beer nestled in the ice but grabbed a can of soda instead.
“Are you sure? Because I’m thinking if you had your weapon in your hand, you’d be caressing the trigger, itching to depress it. Talk to me, Jag.”
Jag glanced over to where he’d left Steff with Teresa. Even from where he was, the rigidness of her shoulders, the way her lips were pressed together, and the way she kept digging her fingers into her legs, showed she was still struggling.
For a few moments, while they’d been talking, her panic had receded. He thought she’d be okay with Teresa, it looked as though he’d been wrong.
“I’m okay, I need to get back to Steff.”
Fox looked at where he indicated. He turned pensive and glanced between him and Steff a couple more times before he nodded as if he understood what was going on without Jag having to say a word.
“Got it. Whatever you’re thinking, tread lightly.” Fox grabbed a beer and headed over to where Deal and Hound stood, along with Isaac and his partner Marie, and Julian and his wife Lilith.
Out of everyone at the party, Dalton and his team were the only single guys. But that was okay, it made doing what they did a little easier knowing that if something happened to them, they wouldn’t be leaving a broken heart behind.
Yet, the way the guys who were with the loves of their lives had someone to come home to, he had to wonder if risking his heart again was worth it or not.
Once had been traumatic enough. When he’d been a SEAL, the tears from his former girlfriend every time he told her he was being deployed had always messed with his head his first day on a mission. In the end, breaking up with her had been the hardest and easiest thing he’d done.
Today wasn’t the time to be thinking about something that had happened years ago. It was the past, and that was where it needed to stay.
He grabbed a plastic glass and scooped some ice in it, in case Steff wanted her water to be icy cold.
“Here you go, one sparkling water.” He placed the bottle and cup on the table. “Shit, Teresa, I didn’t think to ask if you wanted anything. Can I get you something?”
Teresa shook her head. “I’m good. I need to go check to see if the food is ready, then it will be time for cake. Wait until you taste it, it’s divine and the frosting, chef’s kiss, which it should be considering Astrid made it.” She laughed at her own joke and got up to head into the house.
Jag sat. “I guess the cake is that good.”
Like the other time he talked about the cake, Steff’s lips twitched, but this time a little laugh burst out of her. Her shadowed blue eyes widened as if the sound shocked her. “I guess so.”
A spark of pleasure ignited within him at the joy showing on Steff’s face. “Teresa’s right though, everything Astrid makes is amazing. Did you watch her show? She’s taking a break because of the twins. I think she only does half the amount of shows she used to do before having the kids.”
“I haven’t, but I’m sure I can find reruns somewhere.” Steff ducked her head, and her blonde hair fell across her face, as if she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen Astrid on TV.
He wanted to brush it back so he could see her face, but he kept his hands firmly around his soda can. He didn’t have to have a degree in rocket science to know that she’d endured something horrible at the hands of her kidnappers.
He made a mental note to find out what he could about her friend, Cynthia, who’d been taken with her.
Were they still friends?
Had Teresa invited her today and she hadn’t been able to come because she didn’t like being around groups of people, like Steff?
As much as he wanted to ask Steff about her, he didn’t. She was starting to look relaxed, and he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize the peace that she was feeling. Instead, he’d stick to what they’d been talking about.
“If you can’t find reruns of her show on one of the food networks, there are plenty of videos on You Tube, that’s where she got started. I think if Growler had his way, he’d like her to stop doing the show.”
“That’s a bit sexist and old fashioned, isn’t it? She shouldn’t have to give up her career just because she had kids.”
If Growler heard what he’d said, his friend and colleague would slap the back of his head for being a jerk.
“No, I don’t mean it that way. He’s very proud of her and the show, but he knows the toll it takes on her.
It’s arduous shooting the show, even with the reduced amount of episodes.
Because of contract commitments, she had to do the show while she was pregnant with the twins.
There was one time when she slipped and fell.
The babies were fine, but it turned Growler even more protective of his wife.
Like me, he’s…” Jag swallowed the rest of his words.
No way did Steff need to hear about how, with their past and current jobs, they’d seen the scum of the earth and the horrible things they could do.
Steff had first-hand knowledge.
“You’ve what?” Steff canted her head to the side in interest.
“We’ve seen shit.” It was the closest thing he could say without going into too much detail, and he hoped it wouldn’t trigger another attack for her.
Fuck, how could he have let his mouth run off like that? She was beginning to look comfortable, and he had to go and talk about Growler and his protective instincts.
“Oh. Yeah.” She sipped her drink, but he didn’t miss the slight tremor of her hand.
“Food’s ready. Come and get it while it’s hot,” Angelo hollered, and Jag grasped at the unwitting lifeline his friend had thrown.
“Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll fix you a plate?” Jag suggested.
“You think I can’t do it myself? That I’m going to collapse in a heap?” Steff’s anger was justified.
“No, I don’t think that at all, and I’m sorry. You’re right, I should’ve asked if you wanted to join me and not assume that you couldn’t. Can I try that again?” He smiled in what he hoped was an endearing way.
He was doing a great job of putting his foot in his mouth.
Her shoulders slumped a little. “I’m sorry too.
I shouldn’t have flown off the handle.” He opened his mouth to protest that she had every right to, but Steff held up her hand.
“Given what happened earlier, it’s totally reasonable for you to want to try and keep me safe.
I appreciate it, but I need to do this.”
“Then I will be right by your side as you do it. Shall we go see what delights Astrid has cooked up?” He stood and crooked his arm, giving Steff the option to either link her arm with his, or to rest her hand on it.
Or ignore it totally. He relaxed when she chose the second option.
It was a touch, and that’s all that mattered to him.
“I hope she made some of her stuffed mushrooms, they’re so good.
I don’t know what she does to the ground beef she fills them with, but it’s flavorful.
They’re a meal in themselves. If she’s trying a new recipe out, sometimes Growler will bring in samples for us.
Those are the best days in the office, and it’s lucky we keep up a strict workout regime, otherwise we wouldn’t be effective with our jobs. ”
Jag was aware that he was rambling, but if his chatter helped to keep Steff’s mind off being amongst a group of people, albeit a small group, then that’s what he’d do.
By the time they’d reached the table inside, the chatter amongst his friends was loud, and Steff tensed beside him.
He curled his hand over hers where it rested on his arm.
He leaned down, hoping that he didn’t freak her out too much when he spoke in her ear.
He caught the faint scent of cherry blossom, something he hadn’t noticed before.
“If you need to head back out, we’ll do that, and wait until everyone has got their fill and then come back,” he offered as they entered the house where all the food was laid out.
“No, it’s fine.” She may have said the words, but her body language was saying something completely different, but he didn’t question it. If she said she was okay, then he would trust her.
Jag grabbed a plate and held it out toward her. “Yes! There are still some mushrooms. You want to try one?”
He probably sounded like a kid on Christmas morning, but they were that good.
A small smile played across her mouth, he wanted to hear her laugh again, but he suspected she didn’t laugh easily.
If he could get another one out of her today, then he’d consider that a victory.
The fact Steff was still at the party was a win as well.
“With the way you’ve been talking about them, I’d be a fool not to. ”
“You won’t regret it.” Jag placed one on Steff’s plate and then added two to his.
“There might be a container in Teresa’s fridge with your name on it.” Astrid came up to where he was deciding if he wanted to be healthy and add some salad to his plate. Steff had already done so.
“Don’t be playing with me, Astrid.”
She laughed. “As if I’d do that. I know how much you love my stuffed mushrooms, so I made sure I kept some of them aside, just for you.”
“If you weren’t already married, I’d marry you myself.”
“Keep your hands off my wife.” Growler came up, pulling Astrid close while piercing Jag with a look that would have most people trembling in their boots.
Astrid rolled her eyes and patted her husband on the belly. “Stand down, sailor. You know I only have eyes for you.” As if to prove her point, she pulled his head down for a kiss that had Jag looking away.
“Right, well, Steff you good?” The love between Growler and Astrid was palpable, just like what the other guys who were married or in a serious relationship shared with their significant others.
There was a true sense of family in the Alliez offices, and Jag was glad he and his former SEAL team had landed there after they’d chaptered out.
The fact Alliez had an arrangement with the FBI, which allowed them to go on missions and do some of the things they’d done as a SEAL, made it even better.
Once they were seated at the small table they’d been sitting at earlier, Jag waited for Steff to take her first bite of Astrid’s mushroom. Satisfaction filled him when her eyes widened. “Wow, they are good.”
“Told you.” Jag tucked into his food. This party was turning out better than he thought it would.
When it came time to head home, he’d leave it up to fate to decide what happened next. Even if it let to nothing, he was glad he had this time with Steff.