Jon’s response was to Alex. “I whole-heartedly agree. We’ll be in touch.”
“Gentlemen,” Lilia said on a sigh.
Jon reached again for the door, this time pulling it open as Alex said, “I actually do have an answer for your question, off the record.”
Jon eased the door closed at their backs and dipped down to press a kiss to Jenna’s temple. “I know your friend works here, baby, but I’m feeling a little sick of hospitals. Let’s get some air.”
She laughed quietly. “I was only in the hospital for a few hours. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Hours, Jen.” His arm tightened somehow as they walked. “If I’d at least still been active duty, I could have had you taken to a military hospital and demanded they—”
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed with another, louder laugh. “It’s not like I had surgery! They shut you out so they could ask me to verify that you weren’t abusing me. Because I look like a battered woman. It was humiliating. And it was, like, ten minutes.” She actually loved that he’d hated it so much he was still bothered by it a whole day later.
Jon grumbled something she couldn’t quite hear but let it drop.
They were all the way to his truck before she asked, “Shouldn’t we meet up with the guys?”
His friends were staying in a local hotel, and had also been called to speak with Lilia. She was pretty sure one of them had caved and rented a car, given the adjustment to the plans. Not to mention she actually had no idea where Lance was, though she was fairly sure he’d been discharged.
Jon helped her into the truck before answering. “Nah. There’s something else I want to do before I get stuck spending my time in dugouts with their asses.”
Jenna raised a brow, but all he did was flash her a grin and jog around to his side. She knew he wasn’t satisfied leaving things be. They hadn’t excised the threat of the Veracruz Cartel. If anything, they’d made an enemy of it. That wasn’t the sort of thing Jon was capable of tolerating. Jenna knew that.
She was a little scared thinking about what it meant, though. Because it meant Jon still intended to go hunting.
“You’re going after them, aren’t you?” she asked softly while he drove.
“Yeah, I will be.” Jon reached over and held out his hand. “They’re hurting people, Jen. Even if they don’t try coming forme or you anymore, they’ll keep hurting innocent women until they’re stopped.”
She laid her hand in his and let him thread their fingers together.
“Truth is, they’re not the only ones. They’re just the big ones right now. That’s why I want to establish a rescue business here, where it can do some good.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “That, and once it’s up, I’ll be better able to provide for you.”
Her lips lifted in a silent laugh. “I provide for myself just fine.”When my bakery is running.
“Maybe I’m hoping someday you’ll be at a level where you can work better hours,” Jon said. “Or maybe I’m thinking two incomes is better than one.”
Jenna blinked, the blur of colors and shapes she wasn’t paying attention to beyond the glass suddenly coming into focus. He’d driven them to a small lake outside of the city. It was a little out of the way for the direction they needed to take to get home, and she definitely didn’t have a suit with her. “Jon…”
He squeezed her hand again before releasing it to cut the engine. “Save the worries for tomorrow, Jen. Today, I have something for you.” He slipped from the truck before she could respond, leaving her dumbfounded.
What in the heck was he doing?
He pulled open her door, and as soon as she released her seatbelt, he lifted her from the truck. She was set on her feet, but he kept both hands on her hips and leaned close, running his nose along her jawline. “You do not look like a battered woman,” he murmured against her skin. “You look like a survivor. Like a woman who went through something hard, and didn’t let it break her.” He pressed a featherlight kiss to her larger bruise before easing back to meet her watering gaze. “I hate that he put his hands on you—thatanyoneput their hands on you—but I’m so fucking glad you stayed strong, Jen. I’m so proud of you.”
She fought the tears. She’d cried enough the previous day. It was done, it was behind her, and all-in-all the assault and kidnapping weren’t the worst she’d endured. Though the gunfight had been scary. Jenna twisted her fingers in Jon’s shirt. “I knew you would come,” she whispered. “It was easy to be strong this time, because I knew you would come. Even before I knew he’d baited you.”
Jon dipped his chin in a short nod and kissed her forehead. “Always,” he said against her skin. “I’ll always come.”
They stood like that for a moment before he pulled back and finally moved her away from the truck. With his arm again around her waist, under the guise of helping take her weight off her ankle, Jon led them toward the shore.
Jenna couldn’t help but smile. It really wasn’t even lake season. “Jon, honestly, what are we doing here? Did you feel like a swim?”
His torso vibrated in time with his low, rumbling chuckle. “Nope. The lake’s just for scenery.”
She eyed the water as it glistened under the afternoon sun, the waves rolling almost lazily back and forth against the mud and rock-strewn beach. They lived in dense forest, which made a lake—with forest and mountain views as a backdrop—a rare kind of view. For that, and because she did like lakes, it was nice to look at.
“Someone else lives in your old house, it turns out,” Jon said as he brought them to a stop a few yards shy of the water, where it was still mostly grass.
