“Sure, man. Thanks.”
A little while later, as soon as we finished eating, Dylan announced that he only had fourteen hours left to show Juliette how much he loves her before returning to work, and they left. It was nauseatingly sweet, but I was happy for them.
There was still a room full of our friends left, but I was done. I’d waited long enough to get Jenna home. I also needed to go talk to the cops. “Ready to go?” I asked her.
“Sure, if you are.”
Nicky stood and waited to hug me and Jenna. She held onto Jenna for a long minute, before asking, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Jenna replied. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Call if you need me.”
“You’ll make sure she gets home safe?” I asked Ryan as Nicky slid back into the seat across from him. I knew it wasn’t necessary, but I said it for her benefit more than his. It wouldn’t hurt to give him a hand before she tried to refuse.
“Of course.”
Nicky snapped her eyes to him, and I laughed. He had his work cut out for him with her.
I was ready to get the hell out of there, but Jenna insisted on saying goodbye to everyone. She was friendly with more people than I’d expected, but that shouldn’t have surprised me. She was so sweet and kind. Of course, everyone who met her loved her.
When Jenna was finally done, I tucked her into my side before walking out. In the dimly lit parking lot, she plastered herself to me, gripping the back of my shirt. She felt tiny and fragile in my arms, and I fucking hated the fear I felt in her, but I was grateful she didn’t try to hide it from me. If this had been just a week earlier, I had no doubt she would’ve remained stoic, even if she was trembling inside.
The drive home was tense. I was on alert even though I didn’t see anyone outside the restaurant or following us. Jenna was on alert, too, looking out the windows and mirrors.
“No one’s there. I’ve been watching.”
“I know, I just can’t help it.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” I vowed.
Her tight smile told me she wanted to believe me but didn’t. She didn’t know yet that I’d do anything to keep her safe, but she would.
“I know rapes and all kinds of horrible things happen every day. It’s not really a big deal. It’s just weird finding out about it right after we were there.” Her tremulous voice belied her attempt to brush it off.
Her fake smile and paper-thin veneer of bravado slayed me. A small part of me wanted to agree with her. To tell her whatever she needed to hear to bring back the happy woman I’d spent the day with. She’d been glowing just a little while ago.
A bigger part of me wanted to beg her to be cautious and safe. To tell her that I saw someone watching her, and like a little pussy, I let him walk away. I wanted to lock her away in a safe house while I went back in time to interrogate the asswipe, and then kick my own ass for even considering ignoring a creep watching my woman.
And every single cell of my being wanted to glue myself to Jenna’s side. To be her bodyguard and protector. To stand between her and anyone or anything that could scare or hurt her. To be the first damn person in her entire fucking life to take care of her the way she should’ve always been. I wanted to surround her, to build a fucking force field around her so nothing bad could ever touch her. And inside that safe place, I wanted to show her that my touch would never hurt her.
If it made me an asshole to think about being intimate with her now, so be it. I wasn’t thinking about getting off. I wanted her to crave my touch the way I craved hers. I wanted to wrap her in my arms without worrying about my cock scaring her and kiss her until she was only thinking of me. I wanted to soothe herfears with my touch, to get her body so worked up that there was no room in her head to think about anything else.
But I couldn’t do that. I’d have to use my words to allay her fears, and I didn’t have nearly as much confidence I could do that.
“I hate that we were so close to it. You don’t have to justify how you feel. I’m upset too, Firefly. It’ll be okay, though. I’ll have you safely back home soon.” And then I’d have to leave. Fuck.
“Thank you for a lovely day,” she said as I parked, one hand already on her door handle.
“Jenna…”
She glanced at me with a determined lift of her chin, her shoulders back like a little pixie soldier.
Hell no. I had no doubt she was strong, and I loved that about her, but she had to learn that she could be strongandlean on me. “Wait for me to come around, my tough little Firefly.”
“I—”
I didn’t give her a chance to refuse. “Jenna. I’m going to walk you into your apartment, take Thor out with you, and make sure you’re okay. I’m not leaving until I know you’re safely settled inside.”