“Hey, baby! What does the birthday girl want to do today for her big eighteen?”
Lana turned as Jayson came up behind her, engulfing her in a big hug and nipped his favorite spot on her neck to get her revving. He did that during school knowing they couldn’t do anything about it until hours later.
“Um, actually I was thinking of asking you to take me to the Army recruiting office. I can now legally sign my name on that dotted line and not have to have my father’s permission to join.”
Lana watched as Jayson pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. She didn’t know what he was doing until he started speaking.
“Sgt. Perriman, this is Jayson Kenwood. Do you have an opening this afternoon after three to help sign someone up for the Army?”
Lana looked at Jayson in confusion at him making that call for her. She melted when he looked at her and winked.
The man made her insides melt. She was screwed when she went through basic.
“Awesome, thank you, sir. We will see you this afternoon around three-thirty.”
“Who was that?”
“That was Sgt. Perriman. He is the recruiter I used a couple of weeks ago when I did my paperwork to join the Army after high school. He’s a good guy, you’ll like him. I trust him to help you do what needs to be done. Ready to take the ASVAB, baby?”
“Yeah, I am. Let’s get this party started.”
The rest of the school day went by slowly for Lana. She really hated it.
She was ready to get to the recruiting office to take the ASVAB and sign the dotted line. Her father was putting more and more pressure on her about college.
When the final bell rang for the day, she was outside the door and waiting for Jayson at his car. When he spotted her, she could tell he was shaking his head and laughing.
Luckily for her, football season was over. She didn’t have to wait for him to finish practice anymore.
CHAPTER
TEN
Jayson waited with Sgt. Perriman while Lana went into the small room to take the ASVAB. He was nervous for her to take the test.
While he knew she would be ok, he was worried that no matter what her score was, she wouldn’t get the job she was dreaming of. Intelligence was a hard position in the military to get into.
But he knew his girl. She was smart as hell, and if anyone could do it, she could.
“All right, Ms. Pennington. I have your score here and you’re almost as good as this jock standing right here. You can have your pick of careers basically, minus Special Forces, of course.”
Jayson couldn’t help the glare that he sent Perriman’s way at his statement. While it was true, he didn’t like them telling his girl she couldn’t do something.
“Thanks. I already know what I want to do. I want to do military intelligence. I do believe they work in conjunction with the Special Forces, though.”
Jayson had to give his girl a mental high-five when she held her ground with Sgt. Perriman. His desire to punch Perrimanincreased when he saw the man smile at Lana because she put him in his place politely.
“Yep, I think you will do very well in that field, especially when dealing with the smartasses who can be part of Special Forces. Let’s get you set up!”
Jayson stood beside Lana and cheered her on as she did her paperwork and showed Perriman everything he needed. He had to do a surprise shake of his head when he found out that her mother had been Army Intelligence, and her father had been a Ranger.
He had to remind himself that his girl was strong when he found out that her mother had been killed in Afghanistan several years ago. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to his girl.
“You’re all set, Ms. Pennington. We’ll see you in a couple of weeks for MEPS. Once you’re done there, we’ll get you ready for basic. From what the schedule looks like, you’ll be leaving for Ft. Jackson, the same day as our buddy here. Now, while you will mainly be human intelligence, once you’re done with that, I’ve made a special request, because of your ASVAB scores, to have you dual trained once those twenty weeks are up to also do double training for an additional thirteen weeks as an intelligence analyst. Something that is rarely heard of or done. You will be the first female who has ever done this type of crossover. Only three men have done it in the history of the Army.”
“Told you she was special!” Jayson couldn’t help but boast about his girl.
“Where will AIT be done at?” Lana asked, looking between him and Sgt. Perriman.
