“Everything okay?” I take his wet coat and hang it on the hook by the door.
“I had to walk up the hill to get signal. But I managed to speak to Grant. I told him our situation, and he advised me to stay put if we can. They’re working to clear the road, but until the rain stops, it’s not safe to do so.”
“So we’ve got another night here?” My stomach flutters, and I will myself to keep calm.
“There are folks that need help more than us. We have shelter and food.” He grins, but it’s brief. “You’re stuck with me for another night, sweetheart.”
He pulls out another protein bar from his pack and hands it to me. I’ve eaten all the nut snacks I brought with me, and my stomach growls.
He rummages through his pack and pulls out a MRE. “It’s chicken, but it’s yours if you want it.”
He holds it out, but I shake my head. “If it was a matter of survival, then sure. But I can live on protein bars and dried fruit for another twenty-four hours. Some people live on a lot less.”
He tears open the pack and eats it cold, which can’t be nice.
I long to ask him what he’s thinking, but I don’t dare to go there. Instead, we eat in silence. Once our meager meals are finished, I pull the cupcake box out of my pack. It’s squashed, but the cupcake inside it survived.
“You want dessert?”
He gives me a half-smile. “I’m honored you’re willing to share your cupcake with me.”
I break it in half and hand him some, then bite into my half. The cupcake is fluffy and the chocolate topping is gooey.
“Hmm, this is good.” Jace nods appreciatively. “For a vegan cake,” he adds with a grin.
I slap him playfully on the shoulder.
But his smile disappears too soon. He finishes his cupcake, and I feel like there’s something he wants to say.
I’m sitting on the bedroll, and he sits down next to me and lets out a long sigh. “When did you really realize it was time to leave your corporate job?”
He looks the most serious I’ve ever seen him.
“I told you last night, when I was so stressed that I ended up in hospital.”
“It took something that serious, huh?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t really in tune with what was happening around me. I was so far in denial that it took a health scare for me to see what needed to change.”
“Huh.” He shakes the crumbs off his fingers. “I’ve been ignoring what the doctors have said about my injury.”
I turn to him, and he’s staring straight ahead. “When you become an Army Ranger, the selection and training is so intense that when you finish, you believe you’re invincible. That nothing will stop you. But I realized last night that the doctors might be right. I might never serve again. And without the military, I’m nothing. I have no purpose, and that scares the shit out of me.”
He’s staring straight ahead, and I take the packet from his hands and clasp them in mine. I kneel before him so he has no choice but to look me in the eye.
“Maybe there’s some other purpose for you.”
He snorts. “Don’t give me that fate bullshit. Our choices in life determine our fate.”
“Then maybe it’s time to make a different choice.”
He stares at me for a long moment, and for the first time, I see the vulnerable side of Jace. Behind the cockiness and the smart remarks is a man who has lost his purpose. And I ache for him.
I want to ease that ache, if only for a little while.
Keeping my gaze on him, I lean forward and press my lips to his. He closes his eyes as he draws me to him, deepening the kiss. His hand snakes to the back of my neck, and he pulls me onto his lap.
“Right now…” I kiss his neck and whisper in his ear, “my purpose is to please you.”
