Page 56 of Stranded with the SEAL

She raised her eyebrows. “Get out of my house.”

“I don’t understand. I thought you’d be happy.”

She pointed to the door with her whole arm. “Take your sorry, cowardly ass, and get the fuck out of my house, now.”

He’d never heard her swear, never seen her angry at anyone, and he wondered where the baby was that she would use language like that without concern.

She was always so gentle, so kind.

She hates me.

That much was clear.

He nodded. He walked to the door, then met her eyes one last time. “I’m sorry, Jessa. I really am. If you knew how often I think about you and the baby…”

She stood up and stormed to the door. “Just go!”

It was then that he really saw the pain, the tears waiting to burst from her eyes and the tightness she held in her shoulders. He stepped out into the sunny day, his eyes catching again on the pink and purple flowers that hinted at happiness inside, and turned back to her. “What happened?” he asked.

Her face crumpled and she slammed the door between them.

36

Jessa stared criticallyat herself in the mirror and took a sip of wine.

Her silver tank came together just beneath her neck, leaving the tanned skin of her collarbones exposed on either side. She wore no bra for the straps to show, her pert breasts tenting the fabric of her shirt suggestively.

She turned to the side, a swath of golden skin showing between her top and her white jeans, the tiniest strip of hot pink panties visible at her waist.

Her makeup accentuated her best features. Gray eyes, full lips, shapely brows.

She was ready.

Unless time had changed the leader of HERO Force, Jax would be easier to find than a toucan on a sandy beach. Summerville had exactly one hotel, which just happened to be situated directly across the street from its only bar.

He was exhausted and it was over two hours to Dallas, so he’d be staying the night in town. But right about now, he would be at the bar drinking whiskey. If she was lucky, he’d been there for a while.

The slightest jangle of nerves rattled in her stomach as she pulled out of the drive, but she never wavered in her intention. Jax Andersson had taken away the only two things that mattered in her life — Ralph, and the baby she’d miscarried when Ralph died.

No one could bring her husband back, but in the hours since Jax left her house, she’d realized he could give her the only other thing she wanted.

Jax Andersson owed her a child, and it was time for him to pay the piper.

37

Jax Andersson pacedaround the conference table. “You used HERO Force intelligence and weapons to fulfill a personal vendetta.”

“Ralph had a right to justice,” said Hawk.

“I have a right to know what the fuck is going on in my unit.”

“You’d have told me not to go.”

“Damn straight I’d have told you not to go. You’d be sitting in a federal prison right now if Steele hadn’t been involved in human trafficking.”

But he was, and Trevor and his fellow HERO Force members were being lauded as real heroes by every major media outlet in the land. Steele had more than a hundred people locked up in his compound. If that bridge hadn’t blown, he wouldn’t have gotten caught at all.

Jax braced himself on the table. “I’ve got to know that you’re being honest with me. That this team is your first priority.”