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JACOB DROPPED TO THE ground a few days later, doing another set of push-ups in the training room. He grunted as his biceps burned, but he forced himself to count up to twenty once more. To focus on nothing but the reps he was doing.
Colton counted out from across the room, doing pull-ups on the bars. A few of the other guys were gathered around the weights, spotting one another as they lifted. After training all day out on the water yesterday, a day where they remained on base for PT and briefings was a change of pace.
Jacob preferred being out on the open sea, training for action, rather than sitting through various intel sessions—and knew that the rest of his buddies did as well.
There were still no updates on the missing American official, and he hoped that they deployed again soon to rescue her. The alternative was unthinkable.
“How’s your new lady?” Hunter asked as Jacob stood up, grabbing a towel to wipe the beads of sweat off his forehead. “You seeing her soon?”
“Fantastic,” Jacob said. “I’m taking her out again this weekend.”
“Again? Wait, you already saw her since we got back?” Hunter asked, cocking his head as he watched Jacob.
“Affirmative. The day after we returned stateside,” he added with a chuckle. “Why wait around when there’s a good thing right in front of me? I can’t have some other dude swoop in. I snuck up and surprised her after the debrief.”
“Man, she’s already got you by the balls,” Hunter said with a chuckle.
“You’re one to talk, Hook,” Mason said as he walked over, calling Hunter by his nickname. “You moved in with Emma as soon as she came to the U.S. I mean, did you even date her first or just start shacking up together right away?”
“You just moved too slowly, Romeo,” Hunter said with a smirk. “That could’ve been you and Taylor, too, if you’d gotten off of your ass sooner.”
Jacob’s lips quirked. Mason and Taylor had flirted for a month before finally starting to date. She’d been hesitant to date one of the SEALs who frequented Anchors, but once Mason had convinced her to go out with him, they’d been inseparable ever since. Funny that every man on the team had a woman now—well, except Ryker. And not that Jessica was really Jacob’s woman. They were dating. Taking it slow.
It’s not like anything serious would happen with her leaving at the end of the summer anyway.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mason said. “You and Emma hit it off the second you met. I was there, remember?”
Jacob shook his head, walking over to take a long pull of water from his bottle. “It’s not like anything serious is going to happen with Jess—she’s only here for a couple of months. Hell yeah, I plan to date her while she’s in town. She’s fun and smart—not to mention gorgeous. But she’s got a teaching job in Blacksburg.”
“They’ve got schools here, too,” Colton said sarcastically as he dropped down from the bars.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Jacob said. “I’m just saying, we both know what this is and what it isn’t. Even if things are fucking fantastic all summer, I can’t see a long-distance relationship working out. Hell, they never do.”
“Did you tell her that?” Hunter asked.
“We’ve been on one date. It seems a bit premature for that kind of talk. I had enough trouble just convincing her to go out with me in the first place,” he added with a chuckle. “I’m taking things one step at a time.”
As the other guys continued with their workouts, Jacob felt a stirring of uneasiness beginning to rise inside of him. He was just planning to see her this summer—take her to dinner on the weekends, hang out on the beach. Hopefully start spending the night.
Obviously, nothing would happen after that with her leaving, and at the rate they were going, she clearly wasn’t looking to rush into anything either.
They’d barely even kissed at this point.
He and Jessica would have fun together. Enjoy each other’s company. And when August ended, she’d go back to her home and career. Funny that it felt like when she eventually left, she’d be taking a little piece of his heart with her.
***
JESSICA POURED BOILING water into the kitchen sink, straining the spaghetti noodles as her phone buzzed on the counter. Amy glanced over at it from where she was chopping vegetables for a salad. “It’s lover boy,” she teased. “Should I answer it?”
“We’re not lovers,” Jessica protested, edging back from the sink as the steam rose.
“Bet Jacob wishes you were,” Michelle joked, crossing the kitchen to pull a pitcher of iced tea from the fridge.
Jessica rolled her eyes, setting the empty pot back on the stove. “Go ahead and eat without me,” she said, grabbing her phone and walking out onto the deck as she answered.
“Hey,” Jacob’s deep voice said as she sank down into an Adirondack chair, curling her legs up beneath her. Her hot pink nail polish stood out against the dark wood, and she remembered Jacob briefly running his hands up her legs the other day as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her goodnight.
Her skin heated just thinking about it. They’d only sat out on the deck a few minutes before he’d had to go, but the memory of his big hands on her skin was enough to leave her flushed and aroused just thinking about it.
“Hey yourself,” she said. “What’s up? Are you back at your apartment?”
“Just leaving base,” he said. “It was a hell of a long day. I’m totally wiped.”
“Yeah, it’s seven at night. Don’t you get on base really early in the morning?”
“We do,” he said. “I’ve been here over twelve hours. I’m starving.”
“Well, the girls and I are making spaghetti if you want to come over and join us. You’ll probably get asked a zillion questions though since they both now seem to think we’re getting married and having ten kids or something.”
Jacob chuckled. “Only ten? Why stop there?”
“Right?” she asked. “Michelle’s seen Ryker almost every night—you’d think they’d be the first to be popping out babies. Apparently, we’re more interesting to discuss though.”
“Every night, huh?”
“Well, he comes over late every night. I mean, they’re not exactly sitting in Michelle’s room knitting or something.”
Jacob chuffed out a laugh. “I’m going to tell the other guys you said that, angel. Ryker, knitting? They’ll love that.”
“Tell them whatever you want. I’m kind of worried about Michelle actually,” she said, lowering her voice. “I mean, she acts like it’s nothing, but they’re not exactly dating.”
“More like fuck buddies.”
“Ewwww,” she said, shuddering. “I just don’t want her to get burned.”
“Sorry, angel. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I’ll make sure he’s not leading her on or something.”
“You will?”
“Of course, I will,” he assured her. “If you’re worried about Michelle, I’ll tell him to back off. Or to let her know exactly where he stands. I mean, I assume she’d kick him out if she didn’t want him there though, right? They’re grown-ups and can make their own decisions.”
Jessica sighed. “Yeah, she would. I just worry, you know?”
“I know. I like that about you. But the good news is there’s only one more day until the weekend. Tomorrow should be crazy for me again, but are we still on for Saturday?”
“Absolutely,” she assured him. “What’s the plan?”
“We’ll hang at the beach with everyone in the afternoon. But then I’ll take you out to dinner. I play a mean game of putt-putt,” he added.
“Putt-putt?” she asked with a laugh.
“Hell yeah. If we’re still doing touristy things, putt-putt golf tops the list. Haven’t you seen all the courses around here?”
“I have, I just haven’t been to any yet.”
“Perfect,” Jacob said. “Hey, didn’t you say you and your roommates were making spaghetti?”
“I did,” she said with a laugh, glancing back inside through the sliding glass doors. “Actually, it looks like Michelle is burning something,” she said with a frown. “I better get going. I can call you later if you want.”
“Sure thing, angel. Call me before you go to bed.”
“All right, bye Jacob.”
“Bye sweetheart.”
The call ended, and she stared at her phone a minute. He’d been calling her angel since she first met him. ‘Sweetheart’ seemed more intimate somehow. Maybe just because he’d never said it before. She smiled to herself as she stood up.
As much as she was trying to avoid getting closer to Jacob, he was getting harder and harder to resist.
