by Lexi Ostrow
She followed, placing her palm against it as well. It was an excellent, if not ridiculous, sentiment.
“I have to go now, someone else’s turn to see the one they care about.” Slowly, he pulled his hand down the screen. “Have a good day, Adrianna, and don’t be afraid to walk alone any longer.”
She looked down, a flush creeping up her neck. “Have good dreams, Jaxon.” With a small wave, the video went black, leaving him staring at just the Skype message center.
Chapter Nine
“So, what do you think of him? Now that you’re really getting to know him?” Kailey asked around a sip of her protein shake.
“I think he’s so much different than the prick of a boy that went away to join the Marines.”
Kailey lowered the shake’s straw and looked at her from across the table, eyes opened wide in mock shock. “You mean to say there’s more to my brother than arrogance?”
Shaking her head she smiled. “You know what I mean. Jaxon was always more than just a jock, but joining the military seems to have made him a better person than he would have been if he’d gone into the NFL.”
“Minus the scads of money he would made and typically safe situations at work.” Kailey replied haughtily, letting out a sign that she wasn’t thrilled with her brother’s career for the very first time.
Sipping her smoothie she couldn’t help but pry. “You don’t like him being in the Marines then?”
“I don’t. Dad doesn’t either.” Kailey sucked hard on the straw, that annoying slurping sound at the end of a drink following it. “I don’t disagree that it didn’t take him from an annoying older brother to someone I admire, even when he’s pissing me off, but I just don’t like thinking about him out there. There’s only been the one attack reported, but who knows how many more haven’t been.”
Adrianna paused, realizing that she had no idea things like that could go unreported. “How often do things like that happen? On other deployments I mean?”
“It’s always different. When he was there during the war time frame it was almost certainly weekly. Most times nothing happened aside from a few shots popped off, but that didn’t make it less dangerous. When he’s gone on other missions they’re normally in and out, so I know there’s danger there, but not how much.” She looked down at the straw. “I just hope that this is the last one. I know he has another year in, but I hope . . . I just really want him to have something to leave it all for.” Kailey’s eyes met hers on the last part.
The weight of it was nearly crushing. “I don’t want to be that for him. We both have careers, and yes, one of us is going to have to give it up if we do get serious but I don’t want him stopping because he feels like he has to with me here.” She took a sip, trying to wet her drying mouth.
“So what you’re saying is if you two become the real deal, you’d walkaway from everything for him?”
She’d never thought about it in such black and white terms, not because she didn’t want a lifetime with Jaxon, but because she wasn’t one to dwell on the negative. Could you give up everything you’ve worked so hard for, for a man? The thought weighed on her like a barbell and she didn’t know how to respond.
“See, you wouldn’t. Which means he will come home and find some nice boring job.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t. I just hadn’t thought that far in advance. Though, I have a feeling your brother would join the police if he left. I’ve heard the way he talks about helping people. There are nightmares in his words, but there is also fierce dedication in his tone. Him leaving the service wouldn’t mean he’d be safe.”
Kailey crossed her arms and frowned. “You ruined that, you know that, don’t you?” Kailey looked around her kitchen, huffing as she did.
Her cell phone rang, which was odd on a Saturday afternoon, but she picked it up off the table. A smile spread across her lips as she hastened to answer the call.
“Jaxon?”
Kailey’s head whipped around at her brother’s name.
“Do you have a moment?” He asked gruffly through the phone.
Lowering it so she wouldn’t be speaking too loudly into it she looked at Kailey.
“Whatever, I’ll just do some laundry while you talk dirty or something with my brother.” She was teasing, but someone who’d known her less than their whole life might not have none that because of the way she stalked off.
“Are you with my sister?”
“I am. Jim went out to some company basketball thing, so I came over to hang out because it’s been awhile. Hard to separate her from her husband and all.” She grinned as she thought about how happy her best friend was.
Jaxon chortled. “I can image. Am I interrupting?”
“Yes,” she said playfully. “But I’ll take this interruption literally every day of the week – even on air.”
“There’s been more unrest with the locals.”
Her blood froze with the short sentence. Obviously he was alive or they wouldn’t be talking, but he could have easily been laying in a bed clinging to life and that was why he’d sounded so bad.
“Are you- ”
“I’m fine. Problem is they feel it’s unsafe for us to stay now. We’ll be pulling out within the week, just shy of a month early.”
She couldn’t help the bubble of elation that burst within her.
“That’s amazing. Are you coming home? I mean, to New Orleans?”
She didn’t know what she would do if he said no; going to Germany just wasn’t an option at the moment and she hadn’t realized how much she’d wanted to see him until it had become a possibility.
“I have that option. It’s standard to have leave time after a deployment. I’d use it to come there, if you were okay with that.”
“I would absolutely be okay with that. I know you probably can’t say for sure when, but if there’s a way for me to meet you at the airport, I’ll be there with bells on.”
She heard a small, gruff laugh.
“I can’t think of a better coming home party – and once I reach Germany I will book the first flight out and you’ll be the first to know.”
“I know it’s for the wrong reasons, but I’m glad to be seeing you sooner.” She looked around for Kailey. “I’ve missed your touch.” She shuddered as an unbidden streak of desire raced through her.
“I promise you, there will be plenty of it so you won’t ever miss it again.” He sounded like a cat purring as he spoke.
She strained to fight off the wave of desire that coursed through her. For weeks she’d gone to sleep only to dream of him and the sensual promise was almost more than she could bear.
“It will be nice to not talk to you through technology too,” she joked, forcing herself to calm down.
“I look forward to that almost more than anything else.”
She heard noises in the background.
“I’m keeping people up. We just heard and everyone wants a chance to call home and get back to sleep.”
She wanted to ask what had happened that the decision seemed to have been announced in the middle of the night, but she knew it was likely nothing that could be shared with her.
“Thank you for thinking of – of coming here I mean.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now. These past three months have been dragging on as I’ve waited to see you again. I won’t lie and say I’m not a little happy things have changed on this deployment.”
She smiled, knowing he must be as well. “Go, let someone else make their call. I’m guessing your email will be taken down to pull apart the equipment soon, so just let me know when you get home. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Bye, Aid.” He hung up right after.
“My brother’s coming home?” Kailey called from the top of the staircase.
“You listened?” She wasn’t shocked in the slightest.
“Only when I realized you weren’t going to have phone sex,” Kailey said as she plopped back down in the chair. “Do
I get to be ridiculously excited that he called you before anyone else? Because you know I am, right?”
Laughing, she shook her head. “This is not us getting married, Kailey. It’s us having a few more dates.”
“Yea, yea,. Whatever, Aid. Trust me. I know you and I know my brother. If he called you and volunteered, no asked, to come here on his leave, he’s in it for the ring. One day soon you’re going to finally be my sister.”
“You’re certifiable.” She laughed anyway. “I do think I’m falling in love with him though. Every time I see his email I get these stupid butterflies. I don’t dwell on him being gone a lot, but I do think about him right before bed almost every night. It doesn’t feel like some vapid childhood fantasy, it feels like I’m in love.”
Kailey squealed and turned a few shades of red as she neglected to breathe during the length of her noise. “I’m telling you, just you wait and see.”
“Are you ready to go jog or what?” She asked, deflecting the comment even though she really did want far more than she should with Jaxon.
“Fine. Fine,” Kailey tossed her hands up in the air. “Let’s go walk. Just tell me you think you’re falling in love with my brother and then not let me talk to you about it.”
Grinning, she stood up. “Good. Because I’m not going to. It’s just wrong now that it’s your brother. Come on, let’s go.”
Kailey uttered something that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a snort and she just smiled. She was falling in love with Jaxon, and he made it easier to do with every communication they had – she just hoped those feelings remained when they had the chance to be more like a normal couple.
Chapter Ten
Standing in the crowded terminal baggage claim, Adrianna’s muscles were as loose as Jell-o. In less than ten minutes her phone would ring, and Jaxon would be telling her he was off the plane. The past week had easily been the longest of her life, and she wasn’t certain how much longer her nerves would hold out.
With a quick glance around she tugged at the raincoat. To the average person, it likely looked like she was planning for the typical flash rainstorm that passed through New Orleans damn near every day in summer. However, she was doing something incredibly unlike her and had nothing more than a lacy black bra and matching g-string on underneath. She’d never done anything even remotely risqué before falling into bed with Jaxon, but she couldn’t think of a better way to welcome him home than with the clique image.
Just breathe. Just breathe. She chanted over and over in her head as she watched the electronic board shift and add new flight numbers and where the luggage could be claimed. Jaxon’s flight had been up for nearly fifteen minutes – which was what had her on edge. He hadn’t reached out to her. So naturally, her mind began to wonder if he’d changed his mind at the last minute and was just going to sneak by and get back to his dad’s without bumping into her.
“I’ve missed you,” Jaxon whispered into her ear as his arms slipped around her waist from behind.
“Jaxon!” She shrieked, more in shock than joy. Immediately, she blushed as a few heads turned to look at her. Spinning in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, lingering longer than she should have in public. Tingles raced along every nerve ending when she finally pulled back from the kiss.
Her eyes lingered over him, taking in every detail she could see without stepping out of his embrace. Everything looked exactly as it had five weeks ago when they’d Skyped, but it still made her smile. She’d wished they’d video called more after their serious conversation, but now that he was home there was something even better about seeing him for the first time in so many weeks. His glass-blue eyes shined with happiness and the wicked smile on his lips could only mean he was pleased with himself for sneaking up on her.
“I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind.” She punched him playfully in the shoulder. “Not nice, Mr. Donovan.” Her eyes lingered on his uniform, and she couldn’t help but sigh. He didn’t look any better in it than he did in regular clothes, but there was something undeniably sexy about the way the camo made him look.
“I like surprises better.” He winked and unwrapped his arms from hers, quickly twining their hands together.
That brought a sly grin to her face. “Well then, I think you’ll be quite happy to hear I have a surprise of my own planned for you.” A wave of desire washed over at the mere implication of showing him what was under her coat . . . or rather, what wasn’t under it.
His eyes narrowed, and she could almost feel his desire colliding with her own.
“My baggage better get here quick if that look in your eyes means even half of what I think it does.”
She chuckled and tugged him toward carousel three, reveling in how wonderful it felt to finally have him back, even if it was only for a short time. Her nerves vanished, leaving her feeling nothing but the surge of lust and happiness that had come after she’d recovered from him sneaking up on her.
“How was your trip?” she asked, not taking her eyes off him even though the buzz of the baggage claim boomed in the large room.
“Long. I slept through most of it and all I could think about was you.” He ran his thumb over her palm. “That sounded far naughtier than I had meant for it too.”
Chuckling, she saw him move toward the carousel and let go of his hand. There was no helping the way her head tipped slightly to the side to watch as he bent over to grab a long duffel bag. When she was with him, it was as if her inhibitions vanished.
Turning back to her he grinned as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “Shall we get out of here?”
“I thought you’d never be ready.” Slipping her hand into his waiting one, she smiled to herself. “I didn’t believe it would be possible to miss someone you’ve only just begun seeing.”
“Well, to be fair, we’ve actually been dating threeish months now.” He smirked as the airport door slid open, dumping the August humidity over them. “Now this is something I did not miss. Ugh.”
“Not too far to the parking lot at least!” She wasn’t cheerful because she hated the climate, but because the sooner they got to the car, the sooner they would be at her home. They made quick work of crossing the drop lanes and heading into the parking structure. “You’re certain you don’t want to see your dad first?”
“This your car?” he asked as they walked near it.
“Yup,” she nodded, walking up to the door and pushing the unlock button on the handle without taking the key from her purse. Pulling open the bag door she unlinked her hand from his and then opened the front door, getting in while he dropped his luggage in the back.
“Do you know what the hardest part of being deployed is?” Jaxon asked
“No, tell me.” She said, not looking at him as she backed out.
“Not driving. We’re not trapped where we are, but in most cases, you don’t step foot in a vehicle.”
Lifting a brow, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Why is that bad?”
“No independence. We give up more than we realize when we sign up to serve and for me, that’s the one thing I never thought of.”
Snorting, she started to merge onto the 90 east. “Is that your less than subtle way of asking me to pull over so you can drive?”
“Not in the least – though next time I’d love to drive.”
“Next time it is, you can chauffeur me around anywhere.”
They fell into a comfortable silence, with only the radio providing noise. It was nice, the way they could simply be together without needing anything else. She couldn’t remember the last time she dated a man and didn’t need to fill every second of time with conversation to not feel awkward. With Jaxon, there wasn’t need. Just sitting with him was pleasant.
“All my friends are heathens, take it slow. Wait for them to ask you who you know. Please don't make any sudden moves. You don't know the half of the abuse,” Jaxon sang quietly beside her, his voice far more on key than she
would have expected.
“I didn’t know you could sing.”
She saw him grin at her when she turned quickly to look at him.
“Like you said, there’s a lot of things still to learn about each other.”
“Smartass.” She retorted.
“Sometimes,” he chimed back.
Again they drifted into silence, though Jaxon continued to sing along to the music. Traffic was lighter than usual for a Tuesday, and she pulled onto Woodland Drive far sooner than she’d anticipated. Her house slowly appeared in front of them and with it, the return of her nerves – this time at how he would react to seeing her dressed the way she was.
His hand slipped over hers on the gearshift, and a flood of warmth went through her. Looking over at him as she pulled into the garage she wasn’t certain which was stronger – her fear he’d respond somehow other than the way she expected, or her wish to have him sinking into her body.
“You okay?” he asked, his eyes narrowing with concern.
“Just fine.” She said, not trusting herself to say anything else.
Getting out of the car she realized she hadn’t thought it through of just when she’d reveal her outfit choice to him. Should I let him see me drop the coat? Or is it sexier to just suddenly be in my underwear? She wanted to smack her head into the wall. Being sexy shouldn’t have been so difficult, yet here she was, worried about what to do.
She watched as he set the duffle bag down at the bottom of the staircase and turned to smile at her. Heat radiated out of his eyes, and she suddenly knew exactly what to do.
“I’ve been thinking about this all fucking summer,” he growled as he started to walk toward her.
Holding up her hand she felt her lips curve into a large smile. “I said I had a surprise for you,” slowly, she slid the zipper down on the navy blue raincoat, feeling the cold from the air conditioner kiss her skin as it was exposed.
“Dear God,” Jaxon murmured, his eyes following the white zipper until it finally unhooked just between her thighs.