Protecting Melissa (Holiday Cove 4)

Chase and I jerked away from one another and turned to find Jackson running, hobbling, up the sand. He was crying and the sight of his tear-stained cheeks broke my heart. “Baby, what happened?”

He collapsed before me and Chase and we both squatted beside him. “Something pinched you?” Chase repeated.

Jackson nodded, sucking in a hard, labored breath as more tears wiggled free.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him close.

“Where?” Chase asked.

Jackson held up his foot and showed a small cut on his foot. Chase inspected the cut while I patted Jackson’s sweat soaked hair away from his eyes and hugged him into my chest as his tears subsided. Chase stood and went inside, returning minutes later with a first aid kit. “Here, buddy. It looks like you might’ve stepped on a seashell or a piece of glass. I don’t think it’s a jelly sting.”

Chase took out a wipe and went to work, clearing the area and putting some antibiotics on the area, followed by a large band-aid and piece of waterproof tape. He talked Jackson through the whole thing and even though there were a few more tears, Jackson took it like a champ.

When he was patched up, Chase took him inside and we got him settled in his room with a cartoon movie on TV. Once I made sure he was all right, I left him alone to watch the TV and calm down. It had been a long few days and I knew he was exhausted.

“Whew. Thanks for helping. I hate when he’s in pain like that.” I pushed my hair back.

“No problem,” Chase said. “You want me to freshen up our drinks?”

“Sure.” I followed him into the kitchen and waited while he grabbed the glasses from the patio table. He threw everything back in the blender, added some fresh ice, and a liberal splash of tequila from the bar. When he pressed the fresh drink into my hand, his fingertips brushed the back of my hand, and even when I had a firm grip on the stem of the margarita glass, he stayed close by.

My eyes dropped to his lips as he sipped the top of his drink. “Damn!” he sputtered. He picked up the bottle of tequila and read the label.

I laughed. “Too much for the big, strong SEAL?”

“Hardly!” he retorted, grinning at me. “It’s just been a while.”

“Do tell,” I said, smirking at him. “I’m sure you have some amazing drunk and stupid stories. I could use a laugh these days.”

He chuckled. “I suppose it’s the least I could do…”

“It really is.”

“All right.” He reclined back against the counter and my breath got caught in my throat as I moved my eyes up to take in his lean body. He was…simply yummy. Everything about him was elegant and strong, like a jungle cat. Deliberate movements but silky smooth and fluid. “I got a doozy.”

“I can’t wait.” I sipped at my drink.

“I was in Thailand, on a base, but I had some time off. So, a few of my buddies and I packed up and went sightseeing through the country. Raise a little hell, blow off a little steam.”

“Only fair.”

“Right.” He laughed and gulped at his drink. “So, we went out, got a little—okay, a lot—shit faced. I don’t even know how many beers I had. And there were some shots of something thrown in there too. What the hell did they call it…?” He trailed off, searching for the answer. “Fireballs? Firepits? I have no idea. Fire something. Anyway, those things will fuck you up.”

I laughed, wondering what drunk, out of control, unbuttoned Chase would look like.

Mostly the unbuttoned part…

He grinned at me. “So, at some point, we all headed back to the hotel we’d been staying at. Only problem, I couldn’t find my room key. And the desk clerk knew maybe three words of English and at that point I only knew three words of English!”

“So what did you do?”

“The only logical thing I could do!” Chase exclaimed, hands animating his story. “I went to my buddy’s room, climbed out the window, and tried to maneuver this ten-inch ledge to the room next door—my room—that had an open window ‘cause it was hot as hell over there.”

“Wait, so you were drunk off your ass and scaling a ledge to your room?” I laughed nervously. Obviously, he’d made it out okay, but I was waiting for him to tell me about the numerous broken bones he’d suffered. “Why not just stay with your buddy?”

Chase grinned. “Let’s just say that he had company…and they weren’t interested in having one more.”

I laughed. “Got it.”

“Anyways, I’m out there, struggling to stay upright. Needless to say, I didn’t make it. I fell and ended up landing—rather roughly I should say—on a table down below that the hotel maids were using to fold laundry.”