Tempt Me (Semper Fi Marines)(13)

She walked into the bathroom and found it. Just like that. She set the  coffee cup down and picked up the toothbrush, when she saw her  reflection smiling back.

Lord, there was something wrong with her when she was getting giddy over a toothbrush.

She finished freshening up and wandered out to the kitchen. Jesse had a carton of eggs out on the counter and some bacon.

"So, please tell me you have no problem with bacon."

"The more, the better."

"Have a seat," he said, waving to the table.

She normally would get irritated with the orders, but the man was  cooking for her again. There was one thing a Jones sister understood.  Never argue with a man who cooks for you. After refreshing her coffee,  she settled at the table.

"How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled."

He smiled at her. "Good. My favorite too."

"I could get used to this, Jesse."

"Yeah? How about another day out in DC?"

She leaned back in her chair. "I have no clothes."

"You have something to wear from last night."

If he didn't care, she didn't either. "Okay."

And just like that, she enjoyed the morning watching a Marine cook her bacon and eggs.





Chapter Eleven



Three weeks later, Zoe found herself in Joey's art studio working. Since  getting her cast off, she had no problem jumping back into sculpting,  but today … she was painting. The jolt of creativity had caught her off  guard. She had expected it to hit, but it had sustained her for three  weeks, and she was afraid of what it meant.

Setting down her paintbrush, she looked out the window at the dogwoods  now blooming in the Santinis' back yard. Papa and Joey had gone off to  see Vince for lunch and she had opted to stay behind. Her feelings over  Jesse were starting to get to her and she needed to sort them out.

Of course, she had started painting. She glanced at the painting. It was  Jesse. He seemed to occupy all of her thoughts lately. It wasn't like  her to get this giddy over a man so fast.

She needed to talk to someone, but talking to Joey would be a mistake.  She would go all gung ho on the getting serious with the Marine.

Like kismet, her phone rang with Kee's ringtone. She hesitated, then picked it up.

"Hey, Kianna."

"Hey there. How are things going?"

"I've been painting."

A beat of silence. "You're worried about something."

Of course Kee picked up on that. Out of her two sisters, Kianna  understood her the best, which wasn't saying much. But, then, she let  her be who she wanted to be. Retta was always trying to get her to go  more commercial with her art to make money.

"Yeah, I am."

"Would that something wear a uniform to work every day?"                       
       
           



       

She sighed of course Joey had probably been tattling to her sister about  her. "I really like Jesse, but I'm not built for this life."

"Oh, sweetie, the woman who thinks she is built to be a military wife will be sorely disappointed with her life after marriage."

Zoe heard the humor in her sister's voice and smiled.

"He hasn't said anything about getting serious."

Another beat of silence. "Let me guess. You told him you didn't want to get serious because of what happened."

It was irritating just how much her sister knew about her. "Yep."

"And now you wish you hadn't."

"Kind of. I don't know. Dammit."

"Oh, he has you cussing. That means you're in love."

She chuckled. "I guess I have to decide something or I will be living with the Santinis permanently."

"Why didn't you talk to Joey about this?"

"You know how she is. She wants everyone married."

"That's true."

"And, well, I know you'll tell it to me straight."

Her sister sighed. "I'm not saying it is an ideal life. It kind of sucks  a lot of times. I mean, how can I be bitchy about him being home late  from work because he was training-especially when that training could  save lives someday."

Gianni, the youngest Santini, worked as a Parachute Jumper, which meant  that he jumped into dangerous situations to save lives with his medical  training.

"Yeah, that's true."

"But, if you are falling for Jesse, let yourself do it. Play with the  idea for a while. I would hate for you to miss out on something  wonderful. Because I am pretty sure he has to be wonderful to make you  second guess your views on serious relationships."

"Okay."

"Call if you need to talk again. I have a class in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Kianna. What made you call?"

"I just wanted to hear my baby sister's voice. Remember that."

She hung up and left Zoe to her thoughts. There was something about  Jesse, something that pulled at her. She would catch him watching her do  something and it would make her insides turn to mush. The man was  turning her to mush with just freaking looks.

She closed her eyes, then opened them to look at the painting. He  centered her in a lot of ways. Even discussing her career, he gave her  ideas on where to go, what to do. Not in a bossy kind of way. No, he  just listened to her thoughts, only then giving his opinions.

She sighed again. There was no getting around it. He was really starting  to mean something to her. Kianna was right. She just needed to open  herself up to the possibility and maybe she would find her answer.

* * * *

Jesse was trying to finish off work so he could get out the door on time. "Johnson."

He looked up to find McWilliams standing in his doorway. Jesse wasn't in  the mood for him this afternoon. He was still on a high since his time  with Zoe the night before.

"I just got notice on some orders for you."

It took him a second to bring his brain back down. "What?"

"Orders. You're heading off to NATO."

The colonel didn't look happy about it. Of course he wasn't. He had  thought getting General Johnson's kid working for him would help his  career. If Jesse were heading off to another assignment, access to the  General would be out of the question. Not that it was even on the table  to begin with.

"Are you sure?"

"You don't look surprised."

"My father heard some rumors that I had been put in for the job."

"It might have been his doing."

"No. We have a strict no intermingling with work and family thing."

"Sure." Although, he didn't sound like he believed Jesse. "From what I heard, you have less than sixty days to get over there."

"What?" he asked. That caught him off guard. Overseas orders usually came with more time for the service member to get ready.

"They aren't giving you a lot of time to get your affairs in order and  get over there. Really, I can't understand why they would even give it  to you. With your combat experience, you would be more useful on another  committee."

But it was something he wanted. When his father had told him about the  job, he had looked it up. A new committee had been formed as an outreach  to countries outside of NATO. Helping avoid conflicts had become  something he really wanted to do since he returned from Afghanistan. It  might not help him with gaining rank, but he knew he would enjoy the  work. The Colonel cleared his throat and Jesse realized he was still  standing there.                       
       
           



       

"Sorry, went off into thinking about everything that had to be done. And I have to tell my family."

And Zoe. Shit. He hadn't thought about what this would mean for that relationship.

"I think I'm going to take off now, sir, if that's okay with you. If the  job is coming down, I want to prepare my family for it."

McWilliams nodded and headed off to his office, thankfully leaving Jesse  alone. As he gathered up his things, he realized he had lost her.

He sat down for a second to think about it. She did not want to get  serious. To move to Belgium with him … that would be serious. Of course it  was. He wanted to marry her.

The moment he thought the words, he realized they were true. He had been  thinking in abstract terms of staying together for a long time, but  now … marriage.

And she didn't want strings. She had been very clear about it from the  beginning. If he had a little time, he could convince her differently.

He shook his head. He was fooling himself and he couldn't even blame  her. She had been truthful from the very start. Now he had to decide if  he should push her for an answer, or just walk away. He didn't want her  to hate him, didn't want their time to be marred by a breakup. He knew  he couldn't pretend everything was okay. Maybe it made him a coward, but  he couldn't do it. It would end badly because he would come to resent  her rules … and possibly her.

With a heavy heart, he gathered up his things. Now he had to tell her he  was moving across the world and to say goodbye. He could still see her  up until he left. She would probably have no problem with that. But for  him … it would be painful.