Page 34 of CJ

“You were so young,” said Jill.

“We were but we knew. Luke went off to Annapolis, and I decided to go to nursing school in the area. We overlapped for about eighteen months, then, he was sent to his team in Virginia.”

“Still not very far,” smiled Kate.

“Nope. We saw one another whenever we could. I knew we were going to be married. I think I might have been one of the few wives who experienced being a military wife full-on. He was with the Teams for the first eight years of our marriage. Garrett was just a little guy, and he was missing his daddy big time.”

“It must have been so difficult,” said Jill.

“It was and it wasn’t. Look around you. I had dozens of amazing women to help me. Plus, I was always busy at the clinic. It seemed to never stop around here. What you’ll find, Jill, is that no matter where the men go, how long they’re gone, the wives here support one another. We stick together, we’re safe, and we always find ways to stay busy.”

“I love that,” she smiled. “I didn’t have a lot of female influence in my life. Mrs. Clausen was great, but she was old before I even knew her. She had very conservative ideas of what women should do and not do, wear and not wear. It influenced me a great deal.”

“As it should have,” said Kate. “You’re a beautiful woman, Jill. You’ll find what excites you and what makes you feel good about yourself. The great news is, you’ve got more than a hundred women who will always be willing to talk to you, help you, guide you.”

“Do you like to read?” asked Winnie with a smile.

“Read? I mean, I guess so. I never had much time for reading anything except legal journals. I like a good romance novel now and then,” she smiled.

“Perfect,” said Ajei. “Have you ever read anything by CC Robat?”

“Everything! I love his books.”

“Her books,” smiled Kate. “CC Robat is the pen name for Charlie. Ace’s wife, AJ’s mom.”

“Wait. She lives here?”

“Yep. She writes from here, runs her lingerie business from here, all of it. She’s even started doing podcasts. They’re very exciting. I think we should do some shopping in her store and see what we can find for your wedding night.”

“Holy cow, I can’t wait to show CJ what I buy,” she laughed. “He got excited with my plain old cotton bra and panties.”

“Men are simple creatures,” frowned Gwen. “Women tend to get all nervous about how a man might react to her when she’s naked. Never in the history of mankind has a man run away from a naked woman.”

“That’s true,” smiled Ajei. “I remember Luke and I when we first spent the night together. He was twenty-four, I was twenty-two. We were so awkward, and I was a nurse, for goodness sake. But he was so beautiful and perfect. I was incredibly nervous.”

“You? But you’re beautiful,” said Jill.

“We’re all beautiful,” said Ajei. “That’s what we need to learn. Men like the female form. Yes, they like certain female forms better than others, thank goodness. But they like our bodies, our shapes, what we have that they don’t have.”

“I guess that’s true,” she smiled. “Don’t tell CJ, but Tim and I didn’t have the best sex life. I guess maybe because it wasn’t real for him.”

“Or because it wasn’t right for you,” said Winnie. “Believe me, if it’s not right for you, the sex sucks. But when it’s perfect, when he’s perfect for you, goodness, it all aligns.” She fanned herself, and the other women laughed.

“Well, I think I have a dress, shoes, some sexy items for my wedding night, and Claudette’s taking care of the flowers and the food. I’ve got my escort down the aisle. I’m ready to be Mrs. CJ Abbott.”

“Then I’d say it’s time for dinner,” smiled Ajei. “Besides, now that you have some new things from Charlie, you can really make CJ’s head spin.” Jill laughed at the women, nodding.

“I cannot wait!”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“What do you have?” asked Cam, walking into the conference room. AJ and Hiro were at the front of the room, ready to show the team the details of the video.

“We’ll get to the faces in the background in a minute,” said AJ, “but Adam turned to tell Tim something. I’m not sure if he heard him, but if we slow the video down, you can see his lips moving very clearly.Get back – it’s her.Keith helped me with this just to be sure I wasn’t misreading something. He said it was very clear for him.”

“They both knew something was wrong,” said Cam. “If he was telling him to get back, it’s her, he knew who ‘her’ was.”

“You see him waving the team back. It didn’t look like it initially, but he raised his hand and waved back and forth. The minute he got out the word ‘her,’ he was shot.” AJ turned the controls to Hiro, who flipped to a different screen.

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