Page 27 of Protecting Jess

“What? What do you mean?”

Jess shrugged and looked at the ocean. “I’m waiting on a new contract. My current one was up at the end of this tour. I don’t know if I’ll get another one or not.”

Finn stared, shocked that whoever was responsible for handing out contracts hadn’t already given her one. “That’s ridiculous. You’re the best dancer in the group. The solo you did last night was amazing. You were breathtaking, Jess.”

Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and captured her lips with his.

Now that he’d given himself permission to touch her—be with her, kiss her—he couldn’t stop doing it.

He wanted more, but he didn’t want to rush her. This situation they’d found themselves in was all too new for the both of them.

Finn hauled her across the blanket so she straddled his lap. Her hands cupped the back of his head, as if she didn’t want him to stop kissing her.

He didn’t want to, either, but the need to breathe had them breaking apart.

Finn hugged her tight against his chest and closed his eyes when she buried her face in his neck.

“What are we doing?” she muttered. “You live here, and I live in New York. This is never going to work.”

Jess’s words were like a bucket of cold ocean water tossed over his head, cooling his desire in seconds. The problem was, what she was saying wasn’t anything but the truth. “We’ll work something out.”

She pulled away and sat back down, putting more of a gap between them than had been there before. “How? Are you going to give up your career to follow me around the country? Or do you expect me to give up mine and sit here, twiddling my thumbs while you go off to who knows where, for who knows how long?”

How had their conversation got so serious so quickly?

Had Finn made a mistake showing her around?

Seeing where he worked and knowing what he did for a living could be hard for some people. Marrying anyone in the military was hard, but he’d known people who’d made it work.

Heck, her dad was a former firefighter. His job could be just as dangerous as Finn’s.

But he wasn’t going to ignore her concerns. They were as valid as his worries.

“I don’t know, Jess. I don’t even know what we’re doing here. All I know is I don’t want to let you go. Walking away from you in New York all those years ago was the hardest thing I ever did. I thought it was for the best I didn’t contact you after our kiss. But there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think of you.” Finn cupped her face. “Thoughts of you got me through BUD/S. When I thought about ringing that bell and quitting, I’d think about you. How you’d made it to the top of your class at Julliard. How you didn’t give up when you were injured. I may not have been there, but I heard about it because of Mom and Aunt Poppy. I know our situations are completely different, but I kept thinking, if Jess can do it, I can, too. So I’d push through the pain. Endure whatever crap was thrown at us. The taunts, because I wanted to succeed like you did.”

Finn held his breath, waiting to see her reaction.

He hadn’t meant to blurt all that out, but everything he said was the truth. Thoughts of Jess had gotten him through the hard times. When his muscles were screaming for him to let go of the pole he was hanging on. When his whole body was numb from being in the ocean for almost a whole day.

At the end, when he’d gotten his trident pin, Finn had wanted Jess in the audience to celebrate, but he’d joined the SEALs after their kiss in New York, and he hadn’t been brave enough to send her an invite. Even after all he’d endured, he hadn’t sent the invitation that still sat in one of his dresser drawers.

“Finn,” she whispered and launched herself at him.

He caught her as he fell back on the sand, her body on top of his.

“I know I keep saying it, but I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Jess breathed.

“There’s nothing wrong. A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours. And your concerns are valid. One thing I’ve learned from being a SEAL is we need to live in the moment. Will it be difficult? Sure, but now that we’re here, I don’t want to go back to what we were before.”

“I want that, too. I’ve got the next two months off. I’ll come back after I see Mom and Dad.”

Joy swept through him, and he pulled Jess down for another kiss. Finn had meant what he’d said about living in the moment. Before Jess came back, he’d better look at finding a place where she could stay with him. Because after last night and learning what had happened to her, he wanted her close by.

Ten

“You’re telling me that a Navy SEAL can afford this room?” Kaley asked as she gazed around the large hotel suite.

Jess frowned. How should she answer?

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