Page 51 of Protection for Nichole

Rory laughed. “Oh, you’re blushing. Must be juicy.”

Mel snorted. “You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. She’s a product of our second date.”

Nichole didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t sure if they would think she was too loose for jumping on Jesse the night she met him.

“He’s a good guy,” Jessica said. “You picked well.”

She shrugged. “I think he’s good. Sometimes, I pinch myself because I can’t believe I found someone I really care about.”

Jesse had come over without her seeing him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Nice, you really care. That’s good because I love you.”

“Awww,” and, “So sweet,” went up around the group as Jesse pulled her into a heart-melting kiss.

“So you two are hot and heavy,” one of the guys said.

Nichole pulled out of the kiss, her cheeks heating as she glanced around, seeing that they had the group’s attention. She wasn’t used to standing out for something like this.

Danika reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “You two are way too cute.”

“How about food? Are you all ready to eat?” Bear held up the package of hot dogs, and she was glad for the distraction.

Jesse leaned in close. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yes. Really, these people are great. I’m good.”

“Awesome. They are good people. The women on Wild’s team are tight.”

She nodded, liking that there was a group of women around her who were good friends. Being in the news industry, good friends were hard to keep because there was so much competition. With these women, she wondered how it would play out. Surely, they all knew who she was.

Two guys watched the kids, playing ball with them while the other men worked on getting the food ready. She was surprised that none of the women went over to the table with all the food.

Ava came close and nodded at the guys. “They like taking care of us. They’re all doers. Wouldn’t have made it through BUDs class if they weren’t. We all do so much at home, making sure they have what they need, they like doing everything at outings. It’s nice.”

Worry filled her. “What all do you do at home?”

Ava’s lips turned up. “Well, since none of us are military, when they get called out, we make sure everything is taken care of here.”

She nodded. “Like when Jesse’s team came over to rescue the medical group.”

“Yep. Jay’s neighbors help him. Otherwise, I probably would have driven by and made sure everything was okay. We take turns helping the single guys out. But you’ll probably travel for work.”

“Yeah,” Jessica said as she came over. “How is that going?”

Unease slid through her. Was Jessica digging? What did she want to know about? “Um, okay.”

“I kind of knew Jax before we got together. I work as a nurse, and I was overseas when I was abducted. It was bad. They held me for what seemed like forever. When the SEALs came in to rescue a group of Marines, Jax found me.” Laughter spilled from Jessica’s mouth. “I looked and smelled like shit. But he got me out, and now we’re together.”

Awareness slid through Nichole, and she realized she’d read an account of what had happened to Jessica. She reached out and grabbed onto Jessica’s arm. “I think I read an account of what happened before I took on this project.”

“I’m glad you’re highlighting how dangerous it can be. We need more people helping, but they also need more protection.”

Nichole pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you were rescued.”

Jessica leaned back and met Nichole’s gaze. “I’m glad nothing more happened to you. I was worried when I heard what happened. Of course, it wasn’t until you’d already been rescued, but I was so worried about all of you.”

Jesse came over and put his arm around her shoulder. “Everything okay?”

Nichole wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yes. It’s all good. Just chatting with Jessica. She used to work for a medical group overseas, kind of like the group I interviewed.”

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