Chapter 4 #3
He looked at her for a moment, then said with a rueful smile, “The more time I spend with you, the more comfortable I am. It’s kind of crazy.”
“I feel the same,” she reassured him.
He brought his hand up to her face and ran his thumb under her eye. “They’re still a little red. Can you see all right? Nothing’s blurry?”
Jane’s heart melted at his concern. “I’m okay. The doc said the redness should go away in a day or so.”
“I hate that it happened to you,” Storm said softly. “I can’t stand bullies. And the asshole who didn’t have the balls to take his grievances to Dag directly is nothing but a bully.”
For just a second, Jane saw the badass SEAL that Storm must’ve been. His eyes got hard, and if she’d been the target of his ire, she would’ve pissed her pants, but almost as soon as the fury and danger showed in his eyes, it disappeared. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“It’s fine. And if I’m ever the target of something like that again, I’d want you on my side, that’s for sure. You’re kinda badass, Storm.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Hopefully, you’ll never see that part of me. I’ve done things I’m not exactly proud of in my lifetime. Killed a lot of people. I’ve done my best to put it behind me.”
“I’m not sure it’s healthy to forget what you’ve done.
You have to learn to live with it and move on.
For what it’s worth, you’re extremely respected…
at least in my little corner of the world.
You’re never a dick to my employees and you never talk down to them even though they’re just mail clerks.
That means a lot. I mean, it has nothing to do with you killing people, people who I’m sure deserved to die because they were asshole terrorists, but the kind of person you are, a good one, shines through no matter what you’ve done in the past.”
“Thank you,” he told her. “And you and your employees aren’t ‘just’ anything. You work hard and do your part to keep the base running smoothly.”
“See? You’re a nice guy.”
“Except when someone I like and respect is threatened.”
“Obviously,” she told him with a smile. “Then I’d expect you to be a hardass and to kick some bad-guy butt.”
Storm laughed, and Jane was glad to see some of the tension dissipate from his eyes.
“You said you couldn’t cook, but how are you at chopping?”
“You mean other than that time I almost cut off the tip of my finger?” Jane asked. She couldn’t help but laugh at the look of horror that entered his eyes. “Kidding! I’m kidding!” she reassured him. “I’m a pro at chopping.”
“Maybe I’ll let you tear the lettuce for the salad instead,” Storm told her as he wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a small hug before tugging her toward his kitchen.
As she chuckled, Jane realized that she hadn’t laughed as much in the last year as she had in the last day and a half. Even with being sprayed with tear gas, she’d been happier than she’d been in a very long time.
Simply being around Storm made her smile.
Please don’t be playing me, she pleaded silently as Storm got her situated on a barstool and headed for the refrigerator to get her a head of lettuce to prepare their salad.
Storm looked down at the woman sleeping against his side, and smiled.
He’d had more fun tonight than he’d had in a very long time.
She’d prepared the salad while he’d prepped the steaks he’d bought on his way home before picking her up.
While they were cooking, they’d talked about everything from where they’d grown up to their loathing of the traffic in the Southern California area.
Conversation flowed easily, and not once did things feel awkward. She didn’t hesitate to help with the dishes and laughed when she’d seen his collection of funny mugs he’d acquired over the years.
After dinner had been cleared away, they’d settled on his couch to watch—what else—Shawshank Redemption, and she’d fallen asleep within minutes.
Storm knew he should wake her up and take her home, but he was enjoying holding her as she slept.
She’d put her head on his shoulder when they’d sat down and hadn’t protested when he’d wrapped an arm around her.
Storm had no idea what it was about Jane that felt so right.
He’d been on a lot of first dates, and none had been as satisfying as this one.
Maybe it was because the pressure of sex was off the table.
She’d made her stance more than clear on that, and honestly, it was a relief.
Storm craved a deeper connection with someone, and with Jane, he was getting just that.
On the television screen, the part in Shawshank where Andy Dufresne put on the Italian opera started, and the music was loud in the room around them. Jane stirred and opened her eyes.
“Crap, I fell asleep,” she muttered.
Storm couldn’t help but smile again. “You did,” he agreed.
“It’s rude. You should’ve nudged me.”
“No way in hell was that gonna happen. You’ve had a hard couple of days. Besides, it’s not a hardship holding you,” Storm told her.
He loved how she blushed.
“You want me to take you home?” he asked.
He was thrilled when she shook her head. “Not yet…if that’s okay. I’m really comfortable. And we haven’t gotten to the good part in the movie yet. I love the ending when Red narrates and wraps everything up.”
“It’s more than okay,” Storm reassured her.
“Can you tell me about your teams?” she asked.
“Wow, that was out of the blue,” he teased.
Jane chuckled. “Yeah, my mind works in weird ways. Earlier, you said something about your men managing to have loving relationships while being on a SEAL team. That got me to thinking about what happened recently in the parking lot of our building, with that crazy woman trying to shoot that SEAL, and how his girlfriend crawled under the cars to grab her ankles. And that got me thinking about how hard it must’ve been for you to have to punish Phantom for disobeying your order and going overseas to rescue his girlfriend, even though they weren’t dating at the time.
And that got me thinking about how difficult it must be to balance being their boss and their friend. ”
Storm chuckled. He loved getting an insight to the way her mind worked. He scooted down a bit on the couch and sighed in contentment when Jane snuggled deeper into him. “I’m not sure where to start,” he admitted.
“How many teams are you working with?”
“Three. And that might not sound like a lot, but it’s important to me to investigate everything about where they might be sent so they aren’t heading into a situation with incomplete information.
It’s a lot of work. And when one team is deployed on a mission, I’m still researching other areas of the world where the other two might be sent.
Not to mention assisting their families with anything that might come up, as well as the government red tape. It keeps me busy.”
Jane snorted. “Understatement of the year,” she said under her breath. “Tell me about the team who was involved in the parking lot incident.”
“You already know Phantom was the one who was targeted. A woman he dated became obsessed with him and decided if she couldn’t have him, no one could. As you know, it was handled quickly, and luckily without anyone getting hurt.”
“I heard you basically gave him a slap on the wrist for disobeying your orders…was that a hard decision?”
“Not at all,” Storm told her. “What he did was stupid, simply because he could’ve gotten hurt.
He went in to get Kalee without any backup, which could’ve ended very badly.
But here’s the thing…it’s exactly the kind of action I would’ve taken when I was his age.
The thought of that young woman being stranded overseas was horrifying, but without the approval of the Timor-Leste government to go back in, our hands were tied. ”
“She’s okay though?” Jane asked.
Storm nodded. “She is. She’s amazing. And I’m proud as hell of Phantom.
I’m glad things are working out between him and Kalee.
He deserves to have someone as strong as she is by his side.
They all do. Rocco, Gumby, Ace, Bubba, and Rex…
they’re good men who do whatever is asked of them without complaint.
I’m glad they each have someone to come home to. ”
“Was anyone there for you when you came home from missions?” she asked.
Storm sighed. “Not really. There were women here and there, but none could handle the secrecy that came along with my job. They didn’t like not knowing where I was or when I would be home.
And they really didn’t like that I couldn’t tell them anything about the missions when I returned.
Some assumed I was cheating on them because of all the secrecy, and others just got fed up with me not being around. ”
“That wasn’t fair,” Jane said softly.
“It was what it was,” Storm said matter-of-factly.
“Honestly, most of the time it was a relief when they called it off. I can’t say I was the best boyfriend, and like I mentioned, I didn’t think it was fair to put someone through the heartache and worry that comes with being the partner of a SEAL.
I’m proud as hell of my men. It’s not easy to be a SEAL and have a family. ”
Storm looked down to find Jane studying him intently. “What?” he asked.
“I just…you sound like you’re resigned to being single.”
Storm thought about that for a second. “I guess I kinda am. I mean, I’m not on a SEAL team anymore, but I’m just as busy now as I was when I was younger.
I might not be on the front line fighting, but I’m just as invested as I was then.
I work long hours, and I’m not sure anyone would want to put up with that. ”
He wanted to take the words back as soon as he said them, but they were already out there.