Jake (California Dreamy) - By Rian Kelley Page 0,63

now, even though Jake knew there were armed guards in an interior room and two posted outside, one at the front door, the other at the side door. The hostages had been chained to a metal post and there had been little chance of them escaping on their own; the guards had grown complacent and it had worked to Jake’s advantage. Not a single shot had been fired yet.

He saw a shadowy movement behind the third screen—the one they hadn’t removed. Jake felt his heart kick into high gear. Had they forgotten someone? Intelligence reported and confirmed three hostages. The two men and the single woman they had recovered matched their physical descriptions, the photos they were given, and each had confirmed their identities to Jake as they were pulled from the structure.

The figure in the window was female. He could tell from the delicate features otherwise obscured by the mesh screening. He saw a waving motion, and the glint of metal around her wrists. Yes, another hostage. Jake didn’t know who, only that he couldn’t leave her behind. He alerted his men by radio and ordered them to continue onto rendezvous. He was going back alone. With each step toward the structure, dread grew heavier in his gut. He was struck by the shape of her body, what little was visible, and realized a familiarity. By the time he ripped away the screening he’d already known—it was Ivy and she was calmly waiting for him, believing he would save her. He holstered his pistol and grabbed her with both hands, but before he could lift her through the window, he heard the air burning with gun fire and felt the searing blitz of a bullet burrowing into his skull.

He woke with a startled cry. Knew immediately that he was in Ivy’s apartment, in her bed, and she was still cradled against his body, warm and secure. He stared at the ceiling and breathed deeply through his nose, willing his heart to steady, the tension to release his muscles.

The mission hadn’t gone down like that. Not at all. It had been by the book, except for Arturo taking gunfire. Two men had slipped through the windows, cut through the chains securing the hostages to the post, and had lifted each of them to freedom. Jake had helped them to their feet, sought confirmation of their names, and passed them onto each of three waiting soldiers who guided them to rendezvous. Then Jake had taken the hand of the last man inside in order to pull him to safety—Arturo. Thirty seconds inside the building. Jake had stood post while his men scattered into the hills, a crab-like scuttle that increased their safety. Jake had followed, but by that time, the escape had been discovered, the alarm sounded, and Jake had trouble shaking the insurgents. They had fired in a haphazard pattern, not having a single, sure target, and Arturo had been picked out randomly. It could have been any of them. Training had made the mission a success. Luck had kept all of them, except Arturo, alive.

Could Jake ask Ivy to buy into that? The always not knowing if he’d come back to her? It wasn’t a matter of whether Ivy was strong enough for that kind of life; she was a woman of

courage. But was it fair?

He felt her hand flutter against his chest. She lifted her head from his shoulder and gazed into his eyes, hers still soft with sleep.

“Bad dream?”

She trusted him when she had plenty of reason not to. An ex-husband who beat her, a father who’d left her. Could he put her though a service chaplain arriving on their doorstep and a flag-draped coffin? It pained him to even think about it. He felt himself wince and Ivy’s hand came up, her delicate fingers soothing his brow.

Jake folded her hand into his and held her gaze.

“There are no promises when you’re military,” he said. He watched awareness grow on her face, sharpening her features.

“There are no promises in life period,” she told him.

“I’m a greater risk,” he pointed out.

“I knew that going in.”

And maybe she did, but it took on bigger significance when the military moved into your life. It wasn’t something that could be explained. It had to be lived to understand it completely.

Jake cupped her head and drew her close for a kiss and then he settled her in his arms and stroked her hair back from her face. Her eyelids fluttered and she