Page 9 of Burning for Him

A trill filled the air, and Romeo pulled out a satellite phone from a side pocket of his cargo pants and looked at the screen. “Speak of the devil.” He answered the call, but barely got out “Hey, Ia—” before he was apparently cut off. He rolled his eyes at whatever her uncle said. “She’s standing right next to me, and she’s fine. Not a scratch on her.” After a short pause, he handed her the phone. “He wants to talk to you. He heard about the quake on the news and doesn’t believe me that you’re okay.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she brought the phone to her ear. “Uncle Ian, I’m fine. Like Romeo said, I don’t have a scratch on me.”

“You’re telling me the truth?”

“Of course. You know I would tell you if I were hurt, but I really am fine. Just a little shaken up. Excuse the pun.”

“Thank God.” The relief in his voice was palpable. “Is anyone else hurt?”

She glanced around. “Not here at the compound. We don’t know about any of the villagers in the area, though. The guards and some of the workers here are checking on them by radio or will drive out to see if they need help.”

“Pack up your things. I want you on the jet with Romeo and the others and back home as soon as possible.”

Her blood began to boil, and she saw red. Stepping away from the group, she emphasized her one-word response. “No.”

“What do you mean,no?” he shouted.

“Exactly what you think I mean.” Somehow, she kept her tone calm and firm as she paced back and forth. She had never defied her uncle before—he never gave her a reason to—but right then, she was putting her foot down. And to do that, she needed to speak like the intelligent adult she was, not a whiny preteen who wasn’t getting her way. Her godfather deserved respect, but she would demand the same from him in return. “I came here for a reason, Uncle Ian. To prove to myself and everyone else that I’m strong enough to stand on my own two feet and do something like this. My being here has helped a lot of people, and I’m not going to abandon them because of an earthquake that caused a little damage. If I were Nick, Jake, Brody, Marco, Devon, or anyone who works for you, this conversation would never happen. They would all stay and help, and you wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

She stopped treading and stared up at the sky, hoping she could convince him not to argue with her. “I can do this, Uncle Ian. Over the past six years, everyone has helped to train me how to protect myself in case something bad happens. Whether that’s being kidnapped again, God forbid, or getting accosted in a parking lot, getting lost in the woods, or ending up in a natural disaster. What I’m doing here makes a difference. Please don’t make me choose between obeying your order and doing what I know is right. You won’t like my answer.”

The prolonged silence on the other end of the call made her think she lost him, but then there was an exasperated sigh. “When did you grow up to be such an amazing young woman?”

“When you blinked?” The tension in her back and shoulders eased a bit, but he hadn’t given in yet.

He let out a wry chuckle. “I guess so.” Another sigh erupted from him. “Okay. I’m not going to be the ogre you think I am at the moment. I won’t demand you come home. On one condition.”

Relief coursed through her. “Anything.”

“There will probably be aftershocks, and some can be as strong as the six-point-four that already hit the area.” It didn’t surprise her that he already knew the strength of the quake before she did. The man could obtain any information he wanted within seconds from Brody and Nathan in their computer war-room. “I want Romeo, Lindsey, and Doug to stay there for a few more days to make sure everything is okay. They can help with whatever needs to be done.”

What? Oh, no. Anything but that!

Of course, that’s not what she said to him. He was letting her stay, trusting that she was making the right decision. If having the two Omega Team members andDougwith her for a few days made her uncle feel better, she would suck it up and accept it. “Okay. Thank you for not forcing me to go home.”

“I’m just worried about you, Baby-girl. It’s been my job to worry about you since the day your dad asked me to be your godfather. But it’s also my job to trust you and know when I need to let you go and be who you want to be. Just stay safe. Peyton will need her godmother to guide her when she gets older.”

She smiled. “I will. I promise.”

“Good. Let me talk to Romeo again.”

Rejoining the group, she handed off the phone but didn’t say anything. She wouldn’t be the one to break the news to Doug that he was stuck there with her for the next few days—especially when he probably wished he were anywhere else.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Doug had never been so relieved to see Jenn standing there in one piece, insisting she was okay. The fear that surged through him during the massive earthquake—while they were still miles from the commune—might have even outweighed what he’d felt when those two assholes tried to attack her in Donovan’s parking lot. It came damn close to what he’d experienced when she was kidnapped, but this time, he was still in a position to rescue her. Although as he studied her, he realized she didn’t need rescuing. She was unharmed and safe. Thank fuck.

His heart still galloped as if he were a racehorse coming down to the finish line at the Kentucky Derby, but the gripping fear that constricted his lungs slowly dissipated while he stared at her. Clearly, the quake had frightened her and everyone else, but she seemed to be holding it together—probably for the children’s sake. He glanced down at a little girl, around six or seven, who eased over and leaned against Jenn’s hip, wrapping her arm around the woman’s thigh like it was a security blanket. The girl’s cheeks were stained with tears that had stopped falling, but an occasional sob shuddered through her while Jenn petted her hair reassuringly.

As Romeo explained why they were there, it suddenly registered that Doug stood way too close to her and still had his hands on her shoulders. He quickly removed them and stepped back, giving them both space. He needed it because all he wanted to do was wrap her tightly in his arms and inhale her scent—just over three weeks without seeing her had felt like a lifetime.

Guilt over his lust for the younger woman flooded through his veins as she took the satellite phone from Romeo to talk to Ian. While she tried to reassure her godfather that she and everyone else were unharmed, she tapped the little girl’s shoulder to get her attention, then pointed toward a woman in her thirties exiting a nearby building. The girl ran over to the woman, presumably her mother.

Unexpectedly, Jenn moved away from the small group, but even with the short distance, Doug could still see and hear her. From her fiery exchange with Ian, he gathered that her boss had ordered her to get on the company jet and head back to Tampa as soon as possible. Doug wanted that, too, until her words sank in.

It suddenly hit him how much she’d grown and matured over the past four years, not just physically but emotionally, even though he still felt the significant age gap between them. Well, eight years wasn’t exactly major, but it was enough that he thought he was too old for her. Most twenty-three-year-olds were out partying with friends, traveling the world, and doing stuff they wouldn’t have time for in a few more years when careers, marriages, and kids took over their lives. Doug’s party days were long gone. Getting shot and almost dying tended to put one’s priorities into perspective. He dated here and there, spent time with friends and family at their homes more often than in bars, loved his job, and enjoyed some quiet downtime. His favorite thing to do on his off hours was fishing in the Gulfon the twenty-five-foot used boat he had bought the previous year.

He also wanted to settle down with the right woman and have kids someday. His three sisters, one older than him and two younger, were all married with children, which meant Doug had six nieces and nephews between the ages of four and thirteen, with another on the way. His youngest sister’s second child was due in six months. Rowan and her husband, Wes, wanted to be surprised, just as they were when their son, Cayden, was born, so they opted not to learn the baby’s sex.

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