Worth Fighting For (Warrior Fight Club 2.50)

Jesse nodded. “From Montana, originally, so I’m used to winters, too. But, yeah, I’m not sure anywhere can beat San Diego’s weather.”

Jud wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So what was your rating?”

“SPECWAR,” Jesse said, referring to the Special Warfare community that had a lot of its commands at the Coronado base. “Started out ND and then moved on to EOD.” It was his experience in those jobs as a navy diver and explosives and ordnance disposal technician that had landed him this job. This chance to do better.

Jud’s eyebrows rose. “EOD? Damn. So if I see you running, I guess I better catch up.”

Jesse grinned. “Roger that.”

Jud nodded at Tara. “T and I were both SEABEEs. I was at Gulfport, but she was at Little Creek.”

Jesse’s gaze cut to Tara, surprise filling his gut. The SEABEEs were the navy’s construction force, which sounded way more mundane than it was, by a lot. They were responsible for a whole host of dangerous jobs, including building forward operating bases in unstable areas, handling rescue and salvage operations, and supporting civilian authorities during natural disasters. And those stationed at Little Creek, the nickname for the Joint Expeditionary Base in Virginia Beach, provided combat and logistics support to the SPECWAR and SPECOPS communities there, including the SEALs. He’d worked with some of the SEABEEs stationed likewise at Coronado, and he knew they were badass and often scary brilliant to boot.

Tara arched a single brow, not much, but just enough that he noticed. And something in those blue eyes seemed to be asking him if he had something to say.

Hell, yeah, he did. Many things. Starting with, How can you think you’re not interesting? Like he’d been able to get her off his mind before learning all of this.

She looked down at her plate when she grabbed some chips, but Jesse had the distinct feeling that her intent had been more about breaking the way he’d held her gaze.

And it made his desire to feel her eyes on him that much stronger.

Damn it all to hell.

And even though he joined in the rest of the conversation—learning that Boone and Delores had worked together as long as they’d known one another, and that Bobby was from Boston, and that Mike was still in the Coast Guard reserves—part of Jesse’s brain remained fixated on Tara.

Her pretty face. Her gorgeous body. Her intriguing past.

He wanted it all.

But now that they would be working together—two members on a team of seven—he had no idea how that was going to be possible.

* * * *

Tara knew hiding out in the women’s locker room long enough to ensure that Jesse had left was a chickenshit move, but she did it anyway. Because bockbockbock.

All day, she’d caught him sneaking glances her way, and the expressions he’d worn had ranged from merely curious to clearly unhappy to, on at least one occasion, downright hungry. None of which she wanted to further explore while she was at work. For crap’s sake.

And her cowardice had paid off, apparently, because Boone and Mama D were the only ones still there when she came into the reception area.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tara said, catching the older couple in a kiss.

“Don’t be,” Mama D said with a sassy wink. “We’ve been married forever and a day, but we still can’t get enough of each other. Isn’t that right, Boone?”

Her boss looked significantly less comfortable with the turn of the conversation. “Sure, Dee.”

Tara chuckled, her feelings more in line with Boone on this one. “Well, I’ll just say good night, then.”

“Be careful in all that rain,” Mama D said, throwing Tara a wave as she made for the front door.

The rainfall on the warehouse’s metal roof had been obvious for the past hour, but Tara didn’t realize just how hard it was coming down until she peered outside. Huge puddles had absorbed the last of the snow and now covered the ground. She hesitated on the threshold for just a minute, then made a run for it. She was drenched by the time she closed herself inside her car, and her shoes were soaked through to her feet.

The weather was supposed to be crappy most of this week, which was going to wreak havoc on their schedule if it stayed this bad, all of which was just part of the reality of doing work outside and underwater.

Pushing wet tendrils of hair back from her face, she started the car and eased out of the lot. Even set on high, her windshield wipers barely kept up with the deluge as she drove down the marina’s service road for the main entrance. Luckily, it was only about a fifteen-minute drive back to her place, though rush hour was undoubtedly going to be a mucked-up mess.

The only saving grace was that she hadn’t taken the Metro this morning. Normally, she didn’t mind the walk between the closest stop and CMDS, but in this it would’ve been miserable.

She grimaced when she passed someone walking along the marina’s main drive in the rain, head and shoulders hunched. Poor guy. And then she realized who it was.