Looking across the room at her, watching her hold and coo over her nephew, he didn’t think she would mind. She had said she wanted family, the house with the white picket fence, babies. He wanted to make those dreams come true. He vowed he would. She was his life now. The hope for their future stood brightly before them.
He was so lost in that reverie, and in the dream, he didn’t see the Senator approach him once more. “Again, thank you, Jack. Dawn means the world to all of us. I wanted to take a moment of your time though for a question. If you don’t mind?”
“No. Not at all. What is it, sir?” Jack faced the distinguished man with silver at the temples. The man was in his fifties but was extremely fit. They stood eye to eye though Jack probably had forty pounds on the man. “I hear from Tawny that you want a future with Dawn.”
“I do, very much.”
The Senator looked him over. Smiled. “I can see how much she means to you. This evening was quite terrifying for us all. I know the family will come around, but I think your career will always put you in danger. I hate to ask this of you, but would you consider working for me?”
“For you, sir?” The proposition surprised him.
The Senator nodded solemnly before speaking. “I’m thinking of making a run for office. I have been asked to run for the vice-presidency.”
“Washington, sir?” Jack’s eyes widened.
Again, the Senator nodded. “I would need a security detail. But during the campaign and afterwards, for when I am home, I would like to hire someone I know and trust. It’s not as exciting as the FBI, I know, but I think it would be far less dangerous. I would need top-notch security at my private residence, at my offices. Do you think this is something you could handle?”
He was flabbergasted. But yes. He could handle something like that. That would be perfect. “Yes, sir.”
The Senator smiled broadly. Then he winked. “Come see me next week then.” He handed Jack a card with his business office. “Call my secretary. I can see you on Wednesday, and we can discuss my needs.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The Senator clapped him on the back. “No, thank you, son. You will be doing me a favor, and I’m sure the family would breathe easier knowing you weren’t always in danger.”
Jack shook the man’s hand heartily and then caught Dawn’s questioning look from across the room. Senator Silver saw it, too. “Go. Be with her. I’ll talk to you later in the week, son.”
“Thank you again, Senator. I will tell her tonight.”
“You do that, son. Say my goodbyes to her.” They shook hands one final time before the Senator moved back to Tawny and her circle of friends.
Jack saw Tawny walk him to the door, leaving Tom and Chief Daniels to confer alone for a moment. What a stroke of luck for him. Private security for the Senator while at home and on the campaign trail. He knew plenty of people, former Navy SEALs, who did this type of work now and loved it. He knew it was something he would enjoy as well.
Seeing Dawn smiling at him, he crossed the room toward her, but Joseph stopped him and offered his thanks again for bringing Dawn home safe. Then they parted. When he went to stand beside her, she handed the baby back to his mother, but Aliya stopped her. “Jack, would you like to hold him?”
Jack nodded and took the now sleeping baby from Dawn’s arms. “Hi, little Jonathan,” Jack whispered to the sleeping baby. “I’m going to be your uncle someday.”
Jonathan’s eyebrow quirked, and Lucas and Eve laughed before they said their goodbyes and slipped out. Aliya began to gather up the baby’s things when Jonathan indicated they would head back to their own suite. He gathered Dawn to him as the room began to thin out.
Tom and Chief Daniels left next; and when it was just Tawny, Jack and Dawn in the room, they shared one last drink with her before they called it a night.
When Dawn finished her glass of wine, Jack wondered, “Shall we go to?”
He looked to the matriarch of the family for her permission.
“Just let me hold my baby one more time,” she asked as Dawn slipped into her mother’s arms.
He stood back to watch the two together. Mother and daughter. “You are so precious to me, my love. I can see in Jack’s eyes you are precious to him, too. I’m so happy for both of you. You have my blessing.” She opened her arms, and Jack slipped into them with Dawn.
Chapter 21
‡
By the time they slipped into bed it was extremely late. Jack had felt nothing but love surrounding Dawn and knew without a doubt in his mind he wanted to be a part of this wonderful family. He also knew he could never put Dawn in that kind of danger again.
As Dawn rolled into the crook of his arm, he softly kissed the top of her head. “I love you, kitten.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered sleepily.
“The Senator offered me a job tonight.” He told her the news.
“Really?” her eyes widened a bit. What kind of job could the Senator have for Jack?
“Yes. He wants me to lead his security team.”
“Security team?” she looked at Jack closely. The Senator didn’t need a security team. Everyone loved him.
Jack smiled down upon Dawn. “Yes. He told me he will be running for the vice-presidency and wants me to head up his security during the campaign and here in Connecticut on his property.”
Dawn’s heart beat faster. She had been thinking of all her nights alone, worrying while he did his job with the FBI, but knew she would never be able to ask him to leave it. It was his career. “He did mention he was thinking about running.”
“I am going to take the job,” he told her.
“You are!” she exclaimed, in surprise, and sat up straighter.
He smiled, hearing the joy in her voice. “Yes, my love. I don’t want you worrying about my coming home to you every night after we get married.”
“After we get married?” she gulped.
He nodded and kissed her. “Yes, and the sooner the better, I’m thinking.”
“My sister is getting married in April; we could plan for something after that.”
“How about a double wedding?” he suggested and saw her eyes light up. “I mean, of course we would have to ask, but tomorrow let’s choose an engagement ring, so I can propose properly. But if your sister and Lucas don’t mind sharing their special day, I’d be okay with it.”
“Oh, my goodness, that would be wonderful. As girls we always talked about getting married together.” And they had. They were more than sisters. They were twins and best friends.
“After we give our statements to the FBI and I give my notice, let’s go ring shopping and then we will ask your sister and Lucas.”
“Oh, Jack,” Dawn said as she threw herself back into Jack’s waiting arms. “I love you so much. You are the most amazing man. I can’t believe you are giving up so much for me.”
“Kitten, I am not giving up anything for you. I am getting the world.” He took her into his arms to seal their love.
With a sigh of contentment purring from her lips, all thoughts of their ordeal slipped from his mind. His only thoughts now were of making love to his kitten.
The End
But Keep Reading for a Sneak Peek at Chapter 1 of Playing For Keeps
Chapter 1 of Playing for Keeps
May 1983
She met him at a coffee shop on campus. He was tall, dark and handsome, and checked off all the boxes. But Tawny knew he was way out of her league. Way out! She’d been crushing on him for six months until one of the girls she worked with caught her ogling him and told her he was recently married. Just her luck. He’d always been so nice and polite. She had not noticed a ring until now. She’d looked. And she’d never seen him with a girl before in the shop or on campus.
Lately he had been coming to the shop more frequently, and she’d noticed a change in him. He looked disheveled, confused. He was no longer so chatty. She knew he was in his final year of law school and assumed he w
as frazzled over finals and taking the bar exam. But it seemed like it might be more.
He ordered a coffee, took the cup from her, and went to sit at his usual table in the corner piled with his books. She glanced down at her hand and noticed the two dollars. He always tipped generously. Coffee was fifty cents. Putting herself through college was not easy, and she always appreciated how generous JJ was. That’s what everyone called him, JJ.
She watched him as he walked slowly toward his table and put his cup down on the very edge away from the pile of books and papers he dropped on it earlier. His shoulders sagged as he slid into the booth. He hadn’t nodded or smiled at anyone on his way to his table like he usually did. He was usually so friendly, but the last two months must be taking their toll. Exams were next week, and the bar exam the week after that. A lot of the upper classmen looked frazzled, too, but she couldn’t help but worry about JJ. The girls who worked with her at the student union talked. They gossiped, and she knew JJ was facing much more than simply the crunch of finals and the pressure of passing the bar. She felt concerned for him; and when he bumped the table with his hip as he slid in and his coffee toppled over, she rushed over to help him mop up the mess before his books and notes were destroyed.
“Thanks,” he muttered, taking some of the towels she handed him after moving the books away from the spilled coffee. He smiled at her, too, and his straight row of even white teeth made butterflies dance in her stomach. The man was drop dead gorgeous. She pinched her forearm to remind herself that he had a wife as she stooped to mop up the coffee that had spilled onto the floor. A very sick wife, if the rumors were true.
They finished cleaning up the mess simultaneously, and he handed her the wet rags and Styrofoam container. “I’ll bring you another cup, JJ.”
“Thanks, Tawny. I’ll be more careful,” he murmured as he slid back into his booth. Hearing him say her name made her stomach ache for what she did not know. As a freshman working her way through college, she had not socialized much this year. And in high school, she had focused on her studies so she could get into Yale. Not that she hadn’t dreamt of meeting someone handsome and tall who would sweep her off her feet. But she was young, just nineteen. She had time for that later, she mused wryly as she headed to the kitchen to dump the wet towels.
She washed her hands quickly and then grabbed another Styrofoam container and filled it for JJ. She emptied the contents of two packets of sugar in it. He liked it sweet and black.
He was already reading a brief as she approached. His hair disheveled from running his hands through it. The new gold band on his finger glinted from the halogen light bulbs overhead. She sighed as she weaved her way through the tables and chairs to him. JJ was probably 23 or 24. He was an up and coming lawyer, to be sure. Finishing his law degree. Over the holidays he’d married the daughter of the prominent Smith family of Old Saybrook. That’s what the girls told her. They also said he had to marry. His wife, Elizabeth, had been expecting. Had been. She’d lost the baby last month and had apparently gone mad with grief. It was so sad.
She put the coffee down on his table carefully along with a muffin beside it. She’d grabbed it at the last minute on a whim.
“I didn’t order a muffin.” He looked up at her over his papers, blank grey eyes staring at her. His eyes sparkled just a few weeks ago. He’d had the world at his feet.
“It’s okay.” She stopped him from reaching into his pocket to pay. “This one’s on me. You look like you need it.”
*
JJ smiled. Tentatively. Or tried to. The last month had been hell, and focusing on finals was all he could do now. He knew he had decisions to make, but those could wait until he had his degree and passed the bar.
He appreciated the muffin. He was hungry, but as of late he had been too busy to cook or even think about eating. Tawny was sweet. He had always been friendly with the beautiful girl who worked the night shift at the student union café. She was quiet, efficient, perceptive, and never bothered him like most girls did. He knew from her coloring she was Native, probably here at Yale on a scholarship and working to make ends meet. Knowing how hard it must be for her with the rates on tuition these days, and the soaring inflation that had not been fully addressed yet by the current president, he tipped her well. He had been lucky to have a trust fund established by his parents a long time ago that paid for his schooling. Death claimed them both in a car accident when he was four, and he’d been raised by his aunt Lisa who had never married or had kids of her own.
“Thanks, Tawny.”
His saying her name so forlornly made her force a smile and back away. The poor guy. Yesterday, Patty and Cecelia mentioned that they heard Dan Smith say that his sister Elizabeth was being committed to Briarwood. Briarwood was a long-term mental health hospital. The loss of her baby had caused her to have a nervous breakdown and attempt suicide. Twice! The Smiths were bluebloods in Connecticut. Having to commit one of their own to the sanitarium must have been incredibly difficult. JJ had lost a child and now his wife of just five months. The scandal to the Smith family over Elizabeth’s out of wedlock pregnancy had caused the quick wedding, but this was something else altogether. As much as he tried to hide it, grief was written all over his face.
Tawny could not imagine what she would do if she ever lost a child. No mother deserves to have that happen to her. She wanted kids someday. The more the merrier. She loved her brother and her new niece and hoped to have her own family. But first law school, and then of course finding the right guy. That was the trickiest part.
“I’m sorry about Elizabeth and the baby.” She offered the apology knowing he was probably getting tired of hearing other people’s platitudes, but not knowing what else to say. It had been the first time she had seen him since the horrible tragedy. She made to back away, but he stopped her.
“Can you sit with me for a bit?” he asked. The question caught her by surprise. He’d never asked her to sit with him before. He was usually joined by other law students and together they crammed. But he had come in late tonight. Probably to avoid the crowds. Tawny looked around and saw a group of girls sitting a few tables away, but no one else was in the small café. It was eleven and most students were in their dorms studying. The café closed in an hour.
“Sure,” she nodded, still wondering why he asked her to sit with him but slid into the booth across from him.
After a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat, pulled a book to him, and opened it. Constitutional Law. She planned to take that course as well.
“Sorry, I just don’t want to be alone, don’t want anyone else bothering me. The girls a few tables over looked like they were going to pounce, and I just can’t take another ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ today.”
Tawny took a sharp breath. She’d just offered her condolences. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry for saying sorry.”
He saw the sincerity in her eyes when she spoke and gave her a sheepish grin, curling his lips. One that made the dimples in his cheeks more pronounced. “I didn’t mean you, Tawny. I know you actually meant it. They knew Elizabeth. You didn’t.” His last statement was tinged with bitterness. Maybe even a hint of anger.
She didn’t know how to take his comment. What did he mean? She didn’t ask. It wasn’t her place.
“How do you like Yale?” he asked as he flipped pages in the massive textbook to one that was marked by a folded ear of paper.
“You fold down the corners!” She gasped in mock horror.
JJ laughed. “Yes, and I make no apologies for it.”
She smiled. From the corner of his eye he saw the group of three girls begin to pack up their belongings and start to leave. “Thank you for making me laugh.”
“No problem.”
The girls left the hall and the security guard opened the door for them and followed the trio out. Now, they were alone in the deserted café with just Raymond working in the kitchen prepping for the breakfast crowd tomorrow.
�
��Can you quiz me on some of these case studies?” he asked, handing her a stack of papers.
It was slow, so she nodded, happy to help him. “Sure. I plan on taking Constitutional Law next year. It won’t hurt to get a head start.”
“Impressive,” he commented. It was an upper level course she planned to take as a sophomore.
She smiled and began to quiz him. Many of the cases she had heard about before, but as JJ explained them to her and she checked his facts, she found it fascinating how he knew the law so well. After an hour of quizzing him, she reluctantly got up. Raymond had come out of the kitchen and was dumping the trash cans into a larger receptacle on wheels to take to the dumpster out back.
“I need to wipe down all the tables now. Except yours. You can stay until closing.”
“Thanks, and especially for keeping Elizabeth’s friends at bay. I really did need to study.”
“You’re welcome, JJ, anytime, and call me over if you need a refill on that coffee.”
“Will do.” He watched her walk away and wipe down several tables before a thought struck him. “Tawny?”
Tawny stood up from her bent position over one of the longer tables. “Yes, more coffee?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. But will you help me study tomorrow night? I mean if it’s slow, and I come in late.”
He saw her head tilt to the side as if she were thinking about it. A long wave a black hair fell forward. “Sure, JJ. I’d be happy to help you.”
“Thank you.” He sighed. “I really appreciated your help tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” She spoke the words softly as she backed away toward the kitchen. She didn’t mind helping him at all. He had gone through, correction, was going through so much. If sitting with him and helping him focus on his studies was something she could easily offer the poor, distraught man, it was the least she could do. Her people believed in the power of community. The power of supporting each other through any crisis.
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