Casanova In Training (13 page)

He leaned against the wall and waited. Sure enough, they soon walked out, talking quietly between themselves. He almost managed to not say a word. Almost. Then that man put his hand on Jaydee’s lower back in a highly familiar way.

“Hey!” he shouted and pushed away from the wall.

Jaydee and her date paused and faced him. He recognised the surprise on her face. When he watched the man reach across her body and touch her hip, the rest of his control snapped.

“Don’t you fuckin’ touch her!” he hollered in warning.

The doctor narrowed his gaze, one hand lifted, and Gio reacted. There was no thinking it through, he just struck out. A sickening grin lifted his lips as the crunch of a busted nose could be felt. He countered a return punch but got hit under the eye regardless. The sting from the ring cutting into his skin made his eyes water.

“Gio!” Jaydee cried. “Stop this!” She immediately inserted herself between them. He halted his next strike—he’d never hurt her.

The world shifted and spun around him. He was slow to react when two others jumped in and restrained him. He struggled but was too damn drunk to fend them off with any favourable outcome for him. Eyes locked on Jaydee, he tried to get to her. She glared at him in the parking lot light, before she turned her back on him to tend to the man with the bloody nose.

He wanted to get to her side. Tell her that she meant more to him than any woman he’d ever met before. He couldn’t get the words out. He tried, but no one seemed to be listening.

Time blurred and, when he blinked away another round of the spins, he was in the back of a squad car.
What the fuck?
He shifted and winced at the feel of the flex cuffs tight against his wrists. His right eye stung like hell and his head still swam. Nausea rode him hard and he swallowed to keep it down. After the car stopped, he found himself being led into the station by a burly officer with a scowl on his face.

He didn’t put up any resistance when they booked him and put him in holding. Scowling at the numerous men in with him, he stumbled to the back and secured himself a seat in the darkest corner.

Christ, what did I do to get put here?
He recalled… “Ahh, shit.” A crystalline recollection of his fist connecting with Dr Thompson’s nose flashed. He dropped his head into his hands with a groan.
I am so screwed.

How was he going to explain to Captain Fentress that he’d got drunk and punched a man who was a visitor to their test facility? And as to
why
he did it? Well, that was easy. The man had touched Jaydee in an overly familiar manner. Yes, the same Jaydee who was actually Lieutenant Commander Amos whom he worked with, and yes, he was well aware of the impropriety of having any personal relationship with her.

Yep, should go over real well. Maybe they’d keep him locked up in here for a while. Just until his CO calmed down a bit.

“Hey, man!”

He lifted his head slowly. A trio of men stood there and he cocked a brow. “What?” he snapped. Apparently, he wasn’t sober enough to remain quiet and stay out of trouble, not even in jail.

“You’re in our seat.”

He leaned back against the wall and stretched his legs out before him. “All three of you in this one seat? Must be so cosy. Fuck off! I’m sitting here.” He didn’t rise, not even when they growled and stepped closer.

“Who do you think you are?” the middle man demanded.

“The one sitting here who wishes you’d shut up.”

“We’re gonna bust you up,” the skinny man growled.

This time he got to his feet, the alcohol still powerful enough to goad him into another confrontation. “Really? You wanna do this? Let’s.” He stepped flush to the man in the middle who looked like the leader and grabbed his shirt. “You go around challenging people, jackass, you’d better be prepared to fight. Well, I am.”

“Knock it off!” a deep voice barked.

Gio released him with a growl and a shove. He watched them slink away. Then he focused on where the other voice had come from. He was still spoiling for a fight. A cop stood there and beside him…Jaydee.

She no longer wore the blue dress that had moulded to her like a lover. Now she wore white hip-hugger jeans, a blue T-shirt, and blue shoes. Sobriety slammed into him and he moved towards her as if on a thread. She tossed him a quick glance but it was enough to share the rage she felt for him.

“He’s the one,” she said in an inflectionless tone.

“I’ll be the one,” a guy hollered from the other side of her and he bit back his possessive growl.

Jaydee never even cracked a smile. As he was released from the cell, she ran another disapproving gaze over him. He gave her a sheepish grin that had no effect on the ice surrounding her.

Without a word, she walked off, leaving him to follow. Shortly after, they were treading down the precinct’s steps. At her bike, he reached out and touched her arm. Her stare slashed to him and froze him it was so cold. Arctic would be a better word.

“Jaydee—”

“Shut up, Gio.”

He tightened his grip on her and tried again.

“No,” she interrupted. “You zip it and get on the bike or I call you a taxi.”

He released her and swung a leg over her bike. The muscles in her jaw flexed a few times before she climbed on in front of him. His gut clenched as her evocative scent filled him and, true to form, his body responded.

When she frowned at him over her shoulder, he got the message and gratefully wrapped his arms around her waist. His cock got even harder than when he’d first seen her there at the jail. The rumble of the engine prompted him to slide even closer. They wore no helmets and he sniffed her hair while struggling against the urge to nuzzle it along with the back of her neck.

She rolled them towards the exit only to pause. “Where do you live?”

“My car’s at Garrett’s.”

“I figured that, considering you got arrested. You’re still too drunk to drive. What’s your address?”

He murmured it in her ear, revelling in the way her breath seemed to catch. She didn’t ask him anything else, nor did she say another word as she drove to his house.

Jaydee handled the bike like a pro and he had no problem with the fact that he rode on the back. She was in his arms again, that was all that mattered to him. They slowed before she turned into his driveway. He climbed off and moved to the front.

“Come inside,” he said over the engine.

He honestly expected an argument but she didn’t give one. She glanced pointedly at his garage and she backed her bike in once he’d opened it. A light illuminated the way as he led her to the kitchen. With the press of a button, he lowered the garage door then gestured her inside his house.

She stood in the middle of his nickel-blue kitchen, hands shoved in her back pockets. When he looked at her face he realised she was no less angry.

“Thank you,” he said.

“How dare you!” she seethed. “How fucking dare you! What were you doing?” She paced in his kitchen and raked her hands through her windblown hair. “What were you
thinking?
”

He hadn’t been. After receiving Lizard’s call, all rational thought had vanished like water in a desert. All he’d been able to see and focus on was that
man
—if he could be called that—touching her.

A fresh wave of raw jealousy overtook him. He stalked her until the clean countertop stopped her retreat. Her amazing eyes met his and were filled with anger and challenge. He crossed his arms so he wouldn’t break down and touch her.

“Who is he?”

She narrowed her gaze. “None of your business.”

“You’re wrong, Jaydee. Now tell me who the fuck that professor-doctor dick is to you.”

“Fuck off, Giovanni Cassano. You don’t own me and you have no say over who I spend time with. I can’t believe you punched him.”

“He was lucky I only hit him once for putting his hands on you. Isn’t he a bit old for you or is that what you—”

Crack!

The stinging pain from her palm made him blink rapidly. Lightning flashed in her eyes and he realised just how furious she was.

“You’re drunk and I shouldn’t have even wasted my time getting your ass out of jail.”

“And yet you did.” Realisation set in and began to soothe his out-of-control anger. He stepped closer, eyes boring into hers. “You left him after I punched him and came to me. Me, Jaydee.”

His voice deepened as he ran a knuckle down the side of her face. Her skin was so soft, he had no idea how she managed to keep it that way. She didn’t smell like any scented lotions, no, not his Jaydee. She smelt fresh and clean. And tasted like mint.

She trailed her tongue over her full lips and his cock thrust against his zipper. Jaydee exhaled noisily and shook her head. He watched in absolute silence as she struggled to regain her composure. She was rattled, he knew that. Jaydee didn’t curse like that.

“Do anything like that again and I’ll leave your ass in jail. And encourage him to press charges.”

He grinned as he brushed against her. One thigh settled between her slightly spread legs. “You convinced him to let it go.” A pause. “And you left him to come to me.” He positioned his hands on either side of her. “I happen to find that very telling.”

“I don’t care how you see it,” she snapped. “Why?”

Her refusal to accept—much less acknowledge—what existed between them tipped him right back to the pissed-off side of the scale.

“Why?” She nodded. “Because he dared…” he raked his gaze over her in a proprietary way, “touch you.”

Lightning returned this time, accompanied by thunderous clouds that swirled with ominous conditions. Her nose flared and he knew she was losing the battle of control.

“You. Do. Not. Own. Me.” She bit each word out and they were coated in ice. “What I do is my business.”

“Not when it comes to another male touching you, Jaydee. Now tell me who he is.”

She squeezed her hands into fists before relaxing them.

“Dr Thompson. Surely, you remember. He was introduced this morning.”

He ground his jaw. “Who is he to
you
?” he demanded, his face directly in front of hers. Her gaze shifted and he knew she was about to lie. “Don’t lie to me, sweets.”

“Get out of my way,” she said, her voice cold and professional.

He pressed closer, ensuring to rub his hard length against her. Her eyes shifted again, this time going molten. In that second, his anger slid away. All that mattered was that she was here, with him and no one else.

Lowering one hand, he cupped and manoeuvred her leg so it rested along his hips. Content being back between her legs, he flexed his hips, rubbing against her core. Her soft whimper shot fire through his veins.

“Jaydee,” he whispered.

Her desire overflowed from her alluring eyes but she shook her head.

“No.” The word sounded tortured.

He licked his lips and backed off. Disappointed as he was, he’d never forced a woman. He palmed her leg and slowly pushed it down so her feet were both on the ground. Then he stepped back and tried to ignore the steel rod in his pants.

“Come on,” she said, slipping by him and heading further into his home.

Hell yeah! His eagerness faded when she led him to the bathroom.

“Sit.”

He sat on the edge of the counter. “Wanna shower together?”

Her growl only made him smile. The next second it got wiped from his face as she slammed the bottle of peroxide down beside him.

“Clean it yourself,” she snarled before vanishing from view.

He rose too fast and stumbled. By the time he had righted himself he heard her Ninja as it left his driveway. Once he made his way to the connecting door between the garage and the kitchen, he stared out of the raised garage door.

“Way to go, Giovanni,” he muttered before slapping a hand over the button to shut out the night.

He made it to his couch before he crashed. When he woke the next morning, he got ready for work, only to swear up a storm at the realisation that his vehicle resided in the Garrett’s Place parking lot.

With a glance at his watch, he strode to his front door with the intention of getting a ride from his neighbour to Lizard’s. He jerked open the door and halted in his step. In his driveway sat his vehicle, just as pristine as she’d been last night.

“I’m such an ass,” he commented as he grabbed his keys and hurried down to his car.

He hadn’t a clue how but he knew who had done this. For him.

Jaydee sat on her motorcycle in the lot at work. She didn’t want to go in. Unfortunately, she had no choice. With a self-deprecating sigh, she climbed off and headed inside, her bag over one shoulder.

Having changed into her flight suit, she made her way over to the individual shelter her plane was housed in. Both front and rear doors were open. The hangars were built this way to allow the engines to be run up inside. Other necessary items—fuel, electrical, air services, and other fluids—ran in tunnels beneath the floor.

Upon her entrance, she found her plane’s mechanic waiting for her as he’d said he would. Sedin had called her at home and said she should come see what he’d found. Given last night’s fiasco, she’d arranged to meet him here, this morning. After all, she needed some sleep and last night had taken it all out of her.

“Morning, ma’am.”

“Morning, Sedin. Thanks for meeting me here.”

He flashed a smile before heading to a workstation he had set up his computer on.

“What’d you find?” she asked moving up behind him.

“You were right to check it, ma’am. It had inverted.”

She massaged her temples and sighed. “Nothing showed on our end to even indicate such a thing.”

Sedin reached to the laptop and pressed a button that started a sequence on the seventeen-inch screen. She watched, frowned, then watched it run again.

“It’s the numerous landings and take-offs. Like we’d do on a carrier.” She still didn’t understand why they needed to test that way—these bombers didn’t belong on carriers.

“Yes, ma’am.” He rubbed his hands along his thighs. “I ran it twice just to be sure and…well…”

She grabbed a stool and sat beside him. Petty Officer Sedin had never been at a loss for words before. So she waited. It took him a few minutes to find a way to say what he needed to.