Chapter 14

Nichole couldn’t believe Jesse was here with her on this ship. Why had she ever let him walk away from her? It was one regret that hadn’t dimmed with time.

“How did you know I was here?”

He reached up and scratched his chin, his lips twisting to the side. “Um, about that. I’ve had a change in jobs since then. When we met, I was driving a ship. Well, there were times I was training on how to be a boatswain. It was the path I was on at the time.”

She shook her head. “So what are you doing now?”

He glanced over at the ensign and saw her eyes dart away. “I was on the team that was sent over to rescue you.”

“Wait, you were…” She drew in a sharp breath as the thought of the man who’d stared at her in the helicopter flashed in her mind. Panic rose, but she pushed it down. “You should have said something.”

He shrugged. “I couldn’t, and then there wasn’t time. We were a little busy.”

The rush of emotions had her pulling him close and hugging him even tighter. He was right. He hadn’t come over just to rescue her. He’d been there for all of them, making sure every single person being held captive had come home safely.

Tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry. His arms tightened around her, and that did her in. She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks, and that pissed her off. She wanted to talk to Jesse, not cry on his shoulder.

His voice was low, but she could hear him as he spoke. “I’ll reply to your email. And yes, I want to see you again. We should have—never mind what we should have done. I want to see you.”

She nodded, still clinging to him. All the fear she’d felt while being held captive rose to the surface, making her shake. The heightened emotions and fear response was because she felt safe with Jesse. She wanted to tell him as much, but she heard multiple people coming closer, and Jesse untangled himself from her and stepped back.

She watched as Jesse changed in front of her eyes and saluted the man approaching. The new person returned the salute and stopped in front of Jesse.

“Petty Officer Moore, I wasn’t expecting you here.”

“Yes, sir. I was acquainted with Miss Brenton and wanted to make sure she was okay.”

“Ah.” The man turned and flashed her a smile. “Miss Brenton, the journalist. I’m glad to see you’re okay. That must have been a harrowing experience. I’m Captain Emiteria. We’re glad to have you aboard.”

“Thank you, Captain Emiteria. I’m happy to no longer be held captive.”

“We have some questions for the group. Perhaps you’d like to go first.”

Nichole nodded and glanced over her shoulder. Four more people had arrived. Sadness filled her. She would have to say goodbye to Jesse.

“I’ll chat with you later,” Jesse said before turning to face the captain and saluting.

Her gaze stayed on Jesse until he disappeared around a corner. Everything inside her wanted to follow after him, but he had his job to do, and she needed to figure out how to write this article. She was sure there were rules about what she could write and what would get her in trouble. She didn’t want to spill any secrets that would harm future Navy operations, but she wasn’t going to bury this story just because she’d been rescued by the Navy.

As she moved back into the conference room, all she could think about was Jesse and how she would get in contact with him again. Her computer was probably trashed, but she constantly updated to the cloud. Hopefully, she would be able to track him down and get in contact because whatever she’d felt about Jesse way back when they’d spent a week together in a Caribbean resort hadn’t died. Instead, that feeling had grown stronger, and she didn’t want to let him go this time.