Tempt Me (Semper Fi Marines)(15)

* * * *

Jesse knocked on the front door and found himself facing a very angry  Joey Santini. The smile she always offered him was nowhere to be found.

"You have some nerve."

"Josephina, settle down," Papa said from behind her. "Why don't you let the boy inside? It's late."

She pursed her lips. She did not look like she was going to agree with  her husband, but then she stepped aside. "Let's go in the kitchen."

"No. There's knives in there. Why don't you let me handle this?"

He chuckled, but Papa shook his head. Apparently, he worried about Jesse's life if he let Joey near a knife.

"Okay. But if he doesn't fix this, I get a run at him."

With that, she stomped off. Papa sighed. "Artists."

"I hear that, Stewart."

He said nothing about that and led Jesse into the kitchen. "Kind of late for a visit."

"I made a decision and I wanted to handle it right now."

Papa shook his head. "I should beat the shit out of you. That girl has  been hurting for days now. Every night she's out there working and  nothing much comes of it."

That gave him a little kernel of hope. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He gave Jesse a narrowed look. "I didn't have a girl, so I'm not used to this."

Jesse nodded. "The first time MJ had her heart broken, you would have  thought the world ended. And not just for her. All of us suffered."

"Yeah, well, you know and so you'll understand this. If you don't fix  it, I'll let Joey loose on you. And believe me, she'll hurt you a lot  worse than I could."

He nodded knowing it was true.

"Make her happy, Jesse. That's all any good woman wants."

"Yes, sir."

Papa left him alone at that point, so Jesse girded his loins and headed  out to the studio, hoping that he could live up to that promise.

* * * *

She heard the door creep open. It wasn't Papa, who had been avoiding her  for days. She didn't blame him. All she had been doing since that night  was crying. And then raging. Then crying some more. For a man who had  only raised boys, Papa had panicked each and every time.

Joey, on the other hand, had understood. She had let Zoe cry, dried her tears and fed her chocolate.

When she turned around expecting Joey, she was surprised to find Jesse  standing there. He looked … wonderful. Damn the man. He looked like he  hadn't had any trouble sleeping like she had. It made her want to throw  things at him.

"What are you doing here?" She shook her head. "Never mind, I don't care what you are doing here. Go away."

"No."

His reasonable tone had her temper simmering. "I swear if you don't leave, I'll tell Joey."

"She knows."

Well, that took some of the wind out of her sails. She sighed and walked  over to the sink. She'd been trying to sculpt, but nothing had been  working. Except for when she had her arm broken, she had always been  able to use art to work through her issues. Sculpting had soothed her.

Since that night he'd dumped her, she hadn't been able to do anything.

"What do you want?"

"I've been kind of busy."

She looked at him over her shoulder, then went back to cleaning off her tools. "I didn't ask. I want to know what you want."

"I kind of have to explain myself to you."

"Yeah. You're a putz. Go away."                       
       
           



       

He chuckled. "I officially got my orders today."

She turned to face him. "So, you're taking the job."

He nodded, but he watched her warily. "First, I don't have a choice. I  have to take it or get out. Secondly, it's something I really want to  do. "

"And that is?"

"It's got a big fancy job title, but basically, I will be working with  other countries in an outreach kind of way. It's new, so it might not  last, but I want to help."

Her heart sank a little more. Of course he did. It was in his DNA to  help others, to be of public service. Which made her like him even more.  "Oh. I guess it's something that will help you with that star."

He shrugged as he continued to watch her. She looked away and pretended  to be cleaning off her instruments again, but her hands were shaking so  hard that she couldn't control them.

He walked closer to the side of the sink. "Actually, the General says it  won't help or hurt, and to tell you the truth, I don't care about  making a star."

She glanced up at him quickly. "What?"

"I don't care about being a general. I never really did. At least, not recently."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me it's because of me that you don't want to be a general?"

"You're not the reason."

Zoe looked at him. "What?"

"I decided several years ago I didn't think it was for me. Or, at least,  if I can't get it on my terms, I don't want it. And it wasn't really  you, but the thought of you."

Maybe crying for days on end had made her an idiot because he wasn't making any sense. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I wanted a family, a wife, and I wanted to be part of their  lives. Being military, I'm going to have to go away at times, but if I  was going for a star, I knew I would have to give up more. I don't want  to."

"Your father did it."

"And he regrets it. But after Mom died, part of him died with her. Kind  of corny, but now, I see that. He threw himself into work because then  he didn't have to think about losing Mom."

"You two talked?"

He smiled. "Yeah, we talked. In fact, we cleared the air and he did help me decide about things."

"About what? Me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Well, great. If the dad didn't want her, then there was no need to  go on. This was like pulling a Band-Aid off, one centimeter at a time.  It would have never worked anyway. Military guys like him didn't get  married to women like her.

"Do you want to know what he said?"

She shook her head.

"Really? I thought you would enjoy it."

She fought the urge to glance at him. "What did he say?"

"He said if I let you get away, I was a dumbass."

Zoe looked at him to see if he was joking. "What?"

"Exact words, I swear."

She blinked and realized the tears had started to fall again. Good lord,  she was crying again. She wasn't a woman who cried and here she was  blubbering again.

"Oh, don't do that, Zoe. I'm no good with a crying woman."

She shook her head, trying her best to figure out what he was saying.

"What?"

"I said, I'm no good with a crying woman."

"No. What are you talking about? You're not making any sense. Your father called you a dumbass. Why?"

Jesse drew in a deep breath, then stepped forward. When he cupped her  face with his hands, he brushed away the tears she had barely noticed.  He was no longer smiling.

"He said if I let someone like you disappear from my life, then I was a dumbass. I agreed with him, and that's why I'm here."

"But, I'm not who he would pick for you."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm an artist. I'm not officer wife material."

He snorted. "Dad seemed to think you would. Said I needed someone who would keep me on my toes. And you do that, babe."

"You're going to NATO."

"Doesn't mean you can't come with me."

She pulled away from him and stepped back from him-away from the  temptation he presented. Hadn't she learned anything from her  experience? Sure, Jesse was a good guy. A man who stood for honor and  integrity. Hated his boss because he cheated on his wife, for cripes  sake. But dammit, just because she loved him …

Shit, she loved him.

"Zoe, are you okay? You look a little pale."

She swallowed but found her throat dry. She loved him so much. The idea  of moving to Europe with him sparkled in front of her but she couldn't  do it. Wouldn't. It would be insane to give up her life here just for a  guy she was involved with.                       
       
           



       

"I'm not moving half way around the world for some guy."

"How about your husband?"

She blinked. "What?"

"I'm asking you to marry me."

"But … you barely know me."

He shook his head. "I know you, Zoe. I might not know everything there  is to know about you. Hell, do most couples know before they get  married?"

"Well, that's a fine argument."

"Seriously, getting married isn't about how much I know about you. It's  about how much I love you. And I do love you, Zoe. I can't think of  making that trip to Belgium without you."

He pulled her into his arms before she could come to terms with what he was saying. "Marry me, Zoe."

"Marry you?"

He nibbled on her bottom lip. "Yeah, make me legitimate. Otherwise, I am going to have to convince you to live in sin with me."