Mending Hearts (The American Soldier Collection 11)

“She could hurt herself.”

“Not likely considering what Wes told me.”

“Which was what?”

“She told him she was trained by a Marine.”

“Gabe,” Jaxon whispered and then looked to see where he was, but he had disappeared.

“Nope. Her father.”

“Her dad was a jarhead?” Jaxon asked, both surprised and intrigued.

“Sure was. But I still called it into the department in Tranquility. Deputy Peters said he’d personally look into it.”

“Fuck. I bet he will. He’ll call his cousin, Vincent. He, Haslow, Tito, and the bunch will be knocking on Alana’s door volunteering to be her personal bodyguards.” That just concerned Jaxon more, especially since Gator had told him how Haslow and his team were flirting with Alana.

“We plan on walking her inside tonight and checking things out before we leave her alone there for the night.”

“We can do that. I won’t be able to rest tonight unless I know personally that she’s okay.”

“Understandable. But that’s only if Alana says she’s okay with it. Deanna would have my ass if I didn’t look out for her with all this shit Alana’s going through. Deanna still hasn’t informed Gabe’s parents that he’s alive and well.”

“Hopefully, he’ll get over that and tell them himself one day real soon.”

“Hopefully.”

Jaxon heard Gia call his name, and then she waved for him to come on over and join them. Jaxon watched as

Alana locked gazes with Jaxon and then turned away. She jumped as Jeb snuck up behind her, smiling.

Now he would worry about some Peeping Tom watching Alana. There was no way she was going home alone. In fact, she might just have an overnight guest, even if he had to sleep on her couch.

* * * *

“You scared me.” Alana told Jeb as he appeared out of nowhere. He held her arms and rubbed them. “Sorry, doll. I didn’t mean to.”

She gulped as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“Are you having fun?” he asked then ran one hand down her arm to her hand and clasped their fingers together.

At first she felt as though she should pull away. She was still feeling edgy from earlier at her cottage. But now, with the feel of Jeb’s much-larger hand holding her small one, she felt instantly safe.

As they walked around the fair looking at different items the vendors were selling, she leaned closer. She missed holding hands with a man and just walking around enjoying the time together. But her insecurities and her concern over Gabe’s reaction had her putting on the brakes.

She stopped and pulled from Jeb and walked closer to one of the vendor tables. She reached for the first thing she saw, a series of bracelets, some with charms and others just plain silver or gold.

The warm, male hand on her waist made her begin to shake. There were so many nights she longed to be held in bed. Longed for Gabe, for that ability a man had to make a woman feel safe, content, and loved. But it was wrong to have an attraction to the men in Gabe’s team, his roommates, his fellow Marines. Besides, she never really saw herself getting involved in a ménage relationship. Not that she was against them. She just never expected to have such a reaction to multiple men at once. She was so afraid of getting close to anyone out of the fear of losing them that it seemed safer, and wiser, to keep her distance.

Jeb’s hand caressed down her wrist and over the bracelet she held in her hand. He whispered over her shoulder, pressing his body closer to hers. “That one is pretty.”

She eased back to feel him snuggle against her body. His hand on her waist slid along to her belly in a possessive manner. She felt feminine, petite, and most definitely aroused.

Alana warned herself to gain some control here. She was just thinking how wrong this was to like Gabe’s friends, perhaps even lust for them, and now she was taking every opportunity to feel Jeb against her.

“I don’t know,” she whispered as she continued to look at the bracelets. She could feel his hips against her ass. Their significant difference in sizes was arousing too. She felt oversensitive to everything, including the rough texture of his jeans, the hardness of his thighs, the thick, masculinity of his hands on her body. It was all hitting her, making her palms sweat, her heart race, and anxiety fill her belly.

“What do you think about this one?” Jeb asked, holding up a nice silver bracelet with a dangling angel charm surrounded by three silver balls on each side.