Aiden stood and pulled out her chair. “Then let me get you home.”
I did the same for Megan.
“Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash go off, but Megan didn’t even react. She linked her fingers with mine as we followed Aiden and Christine out front to the valet.
Once Aiden’s car arrived we said our goodbyes, Megan and Christine promising to have dinner again another time without us guys. We waved goodbye as they climbed into the car. The valet pulled up with my car a few moments later and handed me the keys.
“You could’ve told me we were meeting Aiden and Christine tonight,” she said, clicking her seat belt into place.
“I didn’t want you to get worked up before we got there. I knew Aiden would be happy to see you.” I pulled out of the lot and headed toward the highway.
“Tonight was nice. Aiden still knows how to make me laugh and I really liked getting to know Christine.”
I entwined our hands on the center console. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” she said, her voice growing raspy.
My foot pushed down a little harder on the accelerator. Things had never been so right and I hadn’t been this happy since my time together with Megan in college.
Thank God for second chances.
30
Megan
Shutting the shower off, I stepped out and grabbed the towel from the rack. My ringtone filled the air. Jackson promised to call when he was on his way back from the studio. Not wanting to miss it, I wrapped the towel around my waist and went in search of my phone. I found it exactly where I left it when I’d gotten home from work. On the kitchen counter.
I picked it up and hit answer without even looking at the number.
“Hello.”
“Lt. Commander Randall?”
My blood ran cold. I’d done my monthly training the weekend prior, leaving with the details of next month’s training. No one calling me Lt. Commander Randall had any reason to call me. Except…
“This is she.”
“Ma’am, Sgt. Dwyer from Captain Crawford’s office calling to inform you that you’ve been called up for active duty. You have sixty days to arrive on base, prepared for deployment.”
“Okay,” I breathed, unable to force anything else out past the lump in my throat.
“You should've received a certified letter in the mail with all the information you need.”
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak. “Is there anything else?”
“No, ma’am. That was all.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
The words were bitter on my tongue as I disconnected the call. The two sides of me warred with each other. Things with Jackson had just begun falling into place. The past had been erased and we’d found our way back to each other, even with as different as we’d become during our time apart. The other part of me recognized I was a lieutenant in the United States Army. A position I’d worked hard for. The moment I’d agreed to stay in the reserves, I knew the possibility existed of me being deployed again. The timing sucked.
Unable to wrap my head around any of it, I dropped the phone onto the counter and walked backward until my ass hit the couch.
Sitting so I could face the window, I drew my knees up to my chest and watched the clouds in the sky, hoping for some type of guidance.
Not that I had a choice on whether or not to show up. Avoid deployment and end up in jail. What I didn’t know was how to tell Jackson I would be leaving him all over again.
A bit later my phone rang, but this time I didn’t have it in me to get up and answer it. I’d already had one dose of bad news. I didn’t want to be faced with another. Not over the phone. I had to tell him face-to-face, and if I picked up that phone, he’d hear it in my voice in a second.
Eventually when I didn’t answer, I knew he’d come here. Then I would tell him.
I didn’t know how long I sat there when a knock sounded at the door. My phone had gone off a few more times since then. Each time I willed it to silence itself.
“Come in,” I called, too emotionally exhausted to get up and answer the door myself.
“Megan?” His voice floated through me, settling the shaking in my hands. If only it could’ve stopped the racing of my heart.
“Megan?” He appeared at the end of the hallway, his eyes searching the room until they landed on me. Jackson’s brows were drawn together in confusion. The room stayed silent as he walked toward me, stopping only to pick up my phone from the counter.
“Is your phone dead? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last forty-five minutes.”
He glanced at it the same time I shook my head. It wasn’t dead. For a moment I wished it had been. Not that it would have stopped anything from falling into motion.
Messages would have been left. Letters delivered. Whether it was today or a few days from now, I’d still be in the horrible situation of having to tell Jackson I’d be gone for a minimum of six months, maybe even twelve. Nothing would change that now.
When he reached my side, he really looked at me from head to toe, finally realizing something wasn’t right. He dropped down onto the edge of the couch and disengaged my hands from the death grip they had around my knees, holding them and gently rubbing his thumbs over the back of them.
“Megan, what happened? Why are you sitting in your living room wrapped in a towel, ignoring your phone?”
“’Cause my phone only delivers bad news.”
His brows drew down. “Bad news? What bad news?”
I lifted my gaze. His image started to shimmer before me. “I’m being deployed.”
He froze, his hands still gripping mine tightly, but the light brush across my skin disappeared. For a moment I thought he stopped breathing.
“What did you say?” His voice was so low I had to strain to hear it.
A tear slipped down my cheek. “I’m being called in for active duty. I got the phone call an hour ago.”
“No.” He shook his head rapidly. “They can’t do this. They can’t take you away from me again.”
I tightened my grip on his hands. “I knew this could happen. We knew this could happen.”
He took his hands from mine and stood, his feet moving rapidly back and forth across the floor. “But you have a little over eight months left on your contract. Why wouldn’t they call someone up who’s just starting theirs? It doesn’t make sense. Why you? Is it because of me? Because the public knows your face? Did they see you somewhere and remembered you were still eligible to be called up?”
He continued to fire off questions, none of which made sense, and he gave me no time to answer. I couldn’t take it anymore. I tightened the knot in the towel and stepped into his path. He skidded to a stop, almost as if he hadn’t seen me until the last second.
“Jackson,” I commanded. “Listen to me.”
Stress lines had formed at the corner of his eyes. I wanted to touch him, to hold him. To have him comfort me and me comfort him, but first I had to get through his ramblings.
I gripped his hands in mine, keeping him in the moment with me. “This has nothing to do with you. It doesn’t work that way. It’s most likely they have a head nurse who is reaching the end of her deployment and the new unit isn’t ready to ship out. That’s why the army has reserves. They use us as replacements until the next unit arrives.”
He yanked me forward into a crushing embrace. “I can’t let anything happen to you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
He leaned back to gaze down at me. “How can you be so sure?”
I tried for a smile, but I knew he could see right through it. “Remember, I’ve done this before.”
“Yes, once. Before we were together again.”
The back of my throat burned. “The timing sucks. Trust me, I know. There’s just nothing I can do about it. If I don’t report
in sixty days, they show up and throw me in a military prison.”
“I don’t think I can be away from you that long.”
“You were going to be away from me that long anyway. You leave in three months to go on tour.”
A small smirk lifted the corner of his lips, but the light never reached his eyes. “Yeah, I was still hoping you’d change your mind and come with me.”
“We already knew that wasn’t going to happen. I still have to report one weekend every month and I can’t just up and leave my job.”
He bent down and pressed his lips to mine. “I would have flown you back those weekends.”
“And my job?”
“Get another one when we get back.”
I yanked out of his arms and stepped away, annoyance overtaking any other emotion. Did he forget the last time he mentioned that? I crossed my arms over my chest, realizing I was still in the towel. This conversation required clothes. Without another word, I pushed past him and slammed the bedroom door in his face, locking it behind me.
Fucking Jackson.
“Megan. Please come out. I didn’t mean it that way.”
I threw the towel across the end of the bed and grabbed the clothes I’d gotten out before I stepped in the shower.
“Megan…” A loud thud sounded against the door. Likely his head.
I pulled the T-shirt over my head. The drips of water down my back made me aware of my still wet hair. Jackson could wait. I stepped into the bathroom and picked up the hair dryer and brush. The knocking and pleading were drowned out by the sounds of the dryer.
I yanked the brush through my hair, trying to figure out where this Jackson had come from. The one who would throw his money around to get his way. He’d only appeared twice and both times it had to do with me leaving my job for him. A job I’d given up four years of my life to get. A job he cheered me on for when school overwhelmed me in the beginning.
Had his celebrity status gone to his head? Did he think he could just throw his money around and get whatever he wanted?
I shut off the dryer, silence filling the space. The banging and yelling from earlier was gone. I started to wonder if he left. It would give us both a chance to cool down, because I wasn’t backing down about this. If we were going to be together, it had to include my job, even if that meant I couldn’t always be on the road with him.
I finished brushing my hair and went to unlock the bedroom door. Expecting an empty apartment, I was surprised to find Jackson sitting against the wall right next to the door with his knees drawn up to his chest. He jumped to his feet as soon as he realized I was standing there.
“Megan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, lifting a brow. He sure as shit meant it. The better question was why he said it in the first place. It pissed me off the first time, so of course it was going to piss me off the second one.
He lifted his hands. “Let me explain ’cause I can see the way you’re glaring daggers at me.”
I waved my own hand in a go-ahead gesture. “I’m waiting.”
“Can we sit down and—”
“No. I want to hear your answer before I send you home alone tonight.”
He ran a hand down his face and sighed. “You’re right, I meant what I said earlier.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to go the hell home. I had enough on my plate at the moment without having to deal with all of this, but then he continued.
“It’s the why that matters.”
“Okay.” I hadn’t moved from my spot. “Then tell me why you would say something like that to me knowing it’s going to piss me off. You know I worked my ass off for this job and from the very beginning you told me you don’t throw your money around, but that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
“You’re right. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
I threw my hands up in the air and stormed farther into the living room, praying for patience. “I know I’m right, that’s not what I need to know. Why did you say it?”
“Because I don’t want to risk losing you again.”
I stopped and whirled around to face him. “Why would you lose me again? College is over. I have a steady job here. Besides being deployed, I have no reason to leave.”
He walked over and cupped my face in his hands. “You have absolutely no idea how amazing you are, do you?”
My heart sped up at his words and the feel of his fingers on my face.
“I’m not—”
He moved his thumb over my lips. “Yes, you are. You don’t see it. You never have. From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I’ve been drawn to you. You’re beautiful. You go out of your way to help others and have one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen. Any man would be lucky to have you by his side for the rest of his life.”
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep standing with each shock Jackson delivered to my heart. Each one better than the one before.
“Jackson,” I whispered against his thumb.
“I want you to come with me, not ’cause I need to throw around money, or don’t want to keep your job. I’m afraid if I leave you alone too long, some other guy is going to swoop in and steal you away from me.”
My eyes widened. “That could never happen.”
“See, you don’t know how wonderful you are.”
I scoffed. “It’s more like some woman at one of your shows will sweep you off your feet and you’ll forget about me.”
He leaned down closer to me. “I haven’t forgotten about you since I laid eyes on you nine years ago.” He captured my lips in a kiss, stealing my breath. The kiss was so sweet it made my toes curl.
He lifted his head, a smile forming on his lips. “And no one in this world could make me forget about you now.”
I leaned my head against his chest, taking the comfort I hoped for earlier. We stood there for a few minutes, letting the silence settle everything around us.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
I shook my head. “No. There should be a letter arriving at some point with more details. Like where to report, but I won’t get a location until I arrive on base.”
He pulled back to look down at me. “Wait, you have to stay on base?”
I opened my mouth to answer when my stomach growled.
Jackson narrowed his eyes. “When was the last time you ate?”
I shrugged. “Earlier today on my lunch break.”
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and keeping one arm wrapped tight around me. “Let’s order you some food, then we can talk and you can explain all of this to me.”
He called and ordered a pizza while I grabbed two beers from the fridge. I had a feeling we were both going to need one for this conversation.
I popped the top and sat down on the couch, watching as he gave them my address. Not exactly what we had planned for the night, but there was nothing we could do to avoid it. Jackson shoved his phone back in his pocket and took the seat next to me. Without a word, I handed over the beer.
“Thanks.” He twisted over the cap and took his own long sip. “All right, let’s start from the beginning because my mind is running in a million different directions right now. When do you have to report?”
“In sixty days. That’s when I have to arrive on base, but that’s not when I’ll ship out.”
“Okay, so when does that happen?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re being very calm about this all of a sudden.”
He took another sip of his beer. “I’m far from calm at the moment. I just want all the information before I flip the fuck out.”
“Jackson.” I sighed.
He rested his hand on my thigh. “I know there’s nothing we can do about any of this. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be worried as hell while you’re gone. And the more I know the more I’ll be able to focus while I’m on the road when the only place my mind will want to be is on you.”
“Okay,
I can’t really argue about that.”
“Nope. Now, when will you ship out?”
“About a week after I report. They’ll send me through some training classes, but since I’ve already been overseas, there’ll only be a few before I go.”
“How long will you be gone and where are you going?”
I leaned my head against the back of the couch. “Those are answers I won’t have until I get there.”
31
Jackson
“Marry me.”
Megan whirled around, her long blond hair flying over her shoulder. “What?”
The words that had slipped out before started to make more sense the more I rolled them around my head. They were awkward coming off my tongue, but I knew they were right.
“I said, marry me.”
“Have you lost your mind? I’m getting deployed and you want to talk about getting married?”
I slipped my hand into hers, interlacing our fingers. “No, I haven’t lost my mind. I want to get married before you leave.” I brought her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about getting married. What’s changed since then?”
“Umm…how about seven years of you hating me between now and then.”
“And that was a misunderstanding.” I took her chin in my fingers, lifting her gaze to mine. “Can you say you don’t love me?”
Her eyes dropped to the floor and she shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
“And I still love you.”
Her gaze snapped to mine. “You do?”
I pressed my lips to hers. “Of course I do. I wouldn’t suggest us getting married if I didn’t.”
Two small hands landed on my chest, her fingers digging into the skin there. “I love you, Jackson. I never stopped loving you.”
Moisture filled her eyes. I bent my head, kissing away the tear that slipped free. ‘Then let’s get married.”
“I only have sixty days until I have to report. That’s not enough time to plan a wedding. Unless you want to take the Monty route.”
Play Me (Jaded Ivory Book 5) Page 21