He flashed her a grin, his teeth white against his brown skin. “I guess I should keep doing it then.”
Selena returned his smile. “I won’t stop you. But before you start buttering me up with more compliments, maybe I should be polite and ask how your day went. You catch any bad guys?”
Jayden grimaced. “Unfortunately, my day wasn’t so good.”
“What happened?” she asked.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, her fingertips began tingling like they had today in that empty lot on Ferguson. It felt like her fingernails were on fire.
“One of my teammates and I were down at Coffield Prison today to talk to a prisoner,” he explained. “There was a jail break, and that prisoner, along with several others my SWAT team put in there, escaped. We tried to stop them, and we failed.”
Selena blinked. With everything going on, she hadn’t paid a lot of attention, but it had been impossible to miss the alerts about the half dozen psychotic killers who’d escaped and the men who’d almost died trying to stop them from getting away. She’d known there were some cops involved, but Coffield was so far away, she’d never dreamed it was anyone from Dallas, much less Jayden.
“You were the one trying to chase down the getaway vehicle? While they were shooting at you?” she asked, remembering that particular detail from the reports.
“My teammate and I,” he said calmly, as if it was something he did every day. “Those men who escaped are dangerous and have a personal beef with the Dallas SWAT team. We had good reason to do everything we could to stop them, and they still got away.”
Selena couldn’t imagine trying to run down a vehicle full of escaped convicts, but Jayden talked about it like it wasn’t even a big deal. “Are you in danger?” Her heart thudded unexpectedly hard at the thought. “Do you think they’ll come after you?”
He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped himself. Selena could almost see the private battle happening in his smoky blue eyes, and she knew he was fighting over whether to tell her the truth or not.
“They probably won’t come after me, but there are certain members of my team—and their loved ones—who are more likely targets,” he finally said. “That really isn’t important though, since a threat to any member of my Pack is a threat to me. We take care of our own, and nothing is going to get in the way of that.”
Selena gazed at him, fascinated as much by the determination she heard in his voice as she was at the way the club’s colorful lights reflected almost gold in his expressive eyes. She wondered at the choice of words he’d used to describe his SWAT teammates as a pack, though. Regardless, there was no doubting the sentiment behind the term. Jayden and his team would do anything to protect the people they cared about. That resonated with her on a level deeper than she could have ever imagined.
Jayden took a long draught of beer, then looked at her. “This is probably going to seem like it’s coming out of left field, but speaking of people who are important to me, one of the guys from the team is getting married on Saturday. I was hoping maybe you’d like to come?”
The question caught her off guard, and for a moment, she wasn’t sure what to say. Ten seconds ago, Jayden had been talking about escaped prisoners possibly coming after the SWAT team. Now, he was asking her to be his plus one at a wedding. Selena was usually quick on her feet, but she hadn’t seen this one coming. That didn’t mean she didn’t want to go with him.
“Are you sure it would be okay?” she asked hesitantly. “I’ve never met the bride or groom.”
Jayden chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. You’ll be more than welcome. Max and Lana are really cool. They’d like nothing better than for you to be there, simply because it would mean a lot to me. Like I said, we’re like a big family that takes care of each other.”
Selena didn’t have any experience with a big family, but she suddenly found herself wanting to be part of this one, as long as it meant being closer to Jayden.
“Okay.” She smiled. “If you’re sure. I’d love to come. Besides, I’ve been wanting to meet the other officers involved in my rescue, so I can thank them in person. This should be a perfect time.”
His smile broadened. “Good.”
Selena glanced at Becca and Scott again, who were deep in conversation. Glad to see that Scott was actually talking now, Selena turned her attention back to Jayden, but not before her gaze lingered on the crowded dance floor for a moment. Even though it was ’80s theme night, most people were wearing black leather, heavy boots, and trench coats, or some combination thereof. To say they made an interesting dichotomy was putting it mildly.
“Do you mind if I ask you something personal?” she said to Jayden.
His mouth quirked. “Even if we don’t count the neck nibbling, I think we’ve been getting personal for a while now.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “True, but this is a different kind of personal.”
“Okay,” he said. “Go for it.”
“Have you ever been in a serious relationship? I mean one where you thought you might end up with the other person forever?”
He didn’t say anything for so long that Selena got concerned she’d pushed too far too fast, but then he spoke.
“I dated a girl in college,” he said slowly, his expression introspective. “For a long time, I thought it was real. I thought I was in love.”
“What happened?” Even though Jayden was talking in the past tense, it bothered her that he’d been with someone. Which was silly as hell. They both had pasts. But she couldn’t deny it or explain it. She’d never thought of herself as possessive, but when it came to him, she was.
“I met Sheri freshman year,” he continued. “She came to every game, and we hung out all the time. When I blew out my knee and learned I wouldn’t be able to play ball anymore, she was right there at my side. When I made the decision to become a cop after graduation, she moved to Gulfport with me. I thought we’d get married soon after that, but one day, I came home from a late shift and found her gone, along with most of my LSU collectibles.”
