Page 40 of Protecting Jess

Finn looked at Jess. It wasn’t his place to just blurt out what was happening to her. If she didn’t want him to say anything, he wouldn’t. After all, she hadn’t told her parents what she’d gone through.

She gave a slight nod.

He explained what they’d found in her hotel room and how the person managed to keep their face away from the cameras, as well as there being no trace of the person exiting the hotel.

Finn mentioned she’d previously had a stalker, but he was behind bars and didn’t seem to be involved in it. He wasn’t going to go into all the details of what Bartholomew had done.

“Have you contacted Tex to see if he can help?” Kevlar’s mention of the former SEAL, who’d made it his mission to keep the teams safe when they went on missions, didn’t surprise Finn.

It was because of Tex that Kevlar and Remi had been rescued in the middle of the ocean when they’d been dumped by a scuba tour captain off the coast of Hawaii.

“Yeah, we spoke to him today. House set it up.”

House looked up at hearing his name. “I did what?”

“Hooked us up with Tex.”

House threw a nod.

“Tex will get it sorted,” Kevlar said.

“Let’s hope so,” Finn muttered.

Were they expecting too much from Tex?

He hadn’t worked with the guy on something like this before, but everyone sitting at the table believed Tex would find out who was involved.

Finn didn’t like to put all his eggs in one basket, but he trusted his teammates and Kevlar’s team. If they said he could do it, then he’d believe it, too, and pray he hadn’t misplaced his trust.

Fourteen

Anticipation, nerves, and excitement bubbled around inside of Jess. The evening had been fun. After the heavy talk of what was happening with her had passed, everyone had chatted.

The guys on the other team were all friendly. Remi was fun. And when Jess had found out she was a cartoonist, she’d immediately searched for the Pecky the Traveling Taco cartoon Remi had created and fell down a rabbit hole of reading about his adventures.

Now she and Finn were walking across the lobby of the hotel, about to head upstairs. All night, Finn had remained close to her. His touches and caresses were totally innocent for the setting, but each one only increased her desire for him.

They got into the elevator, neither saying much, but the second the doors closed and they were locked inside the small compartment, Finn hauled Jess close and, without warning, slammed his lips down on hers.

She moaned. All night she’d wanted this. Wanted to have his mouth possess hers like he was doing.

Jess clutched at his shoulders, keeping his body aligned with hers. The faint ding of the bell announcing their arrival to their floor registered, and she groaned when he broke the kiss.

“I’ve wanted to do that all night,” he murmured before tugging her out of the elevator and all but dragging her down the hall to their suite.

Thank goodness the trip wasn’t long. In a few heartbeats, they were inside with the door clicking shut behind them.

Jess launched herself at Finn, needing the feel of his lips against hers again as much as she needed her next breath. Fortunately, his reflexes were on point, and he caught her without any issues, scooping her up in his arms.

She was aware they were moving, but all her attention was on the way his mouth moved against hers.

Finn broke their kiss as her back hit the mattress.

The reality of what they were about to do slammed into Jess, and the nerves from earlier disappeared. There was nothing wrong with the next step they were taking.

Or how right it felt to be in his arms at this moment.

How everything she’d gone through had been leading up to the two of them coming together.

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