Page 40 of Jobe

Laughing, he got out of the truck and with a wave to his friends, he rounded to her side and opened her door, plucking her out. His eyes scanned the sky-blue t-shirt she wore down to the jeans that fit just right. Her long, thick hair was secured in a low ponytail with the breeze lifting the loose tendrils about her face. Setting her down on the ground, he leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Remember, you’re with friends here.”

She gifted him with her brilliant smile as she linked her fingers with his. He stared down at the public announcement she was making and smiled back as they made their way over to the picnic tables. Both noticed the huge grins on the women’s faces and the nods of approval from the men. He felt her fingers tighten on his and he gave a reassuring squeeze.

They quickly joined the others, where she was engulfed in hugs from Jennifer, Sherrie, and Lily, before being introduced to the rest of the women. BJ’s wife, Suzanne, was there with their toddler twins, as well as Annie, a local veterinarian who was married to Shane. Both Annie and Lily were feeding their babies. Last, a beautiful woman approached offering her a hug as well. Vinny’s fiancé, Annalissa, was a shy musician and MacKenna instantly felt a rapport with each of the women.

The men manned the grills while the women set the rest of the food out. Jennifer had already filled in the others about Mackenna’s work with the women from gangs, and the questions flowed. Mackenna had no problem talking about her job and found the others to be comfortable to talk to. Several questioned her badass attempt to handle the threats with a baseball bat.

Mackenna blushed. “Yeah, not my finest moment,” she admitted.

“Well, I think you’re incredibly brave,” Annalissa said softly, with a smile.

Jobe overheard and shouted, “Don’t encourage her!” as the other men nodded, no smiles on their faces.

“You just keep grilling over there and stop eavesdropping,” Sherrie yelled back. The women laughed and continued their conversations.

Annie said, “If you ever have someone interested in working part time at my vet clinic, let me know. Since Suzanne here,” she shoulder-bumped her friend, “had twins, she’s cut her hours way back and I can always use some help.”

Mackenna’s eyes grew round at the generous offer. “That’d be amazing. Thank you!” Just then, a bee buzzed around her head and she shrieked, throwing her arms into the air, waving them about her head as she ran in a circle, screaming, “Beeeeeeee!”

One of the women quickly swatted it away, leaving Mackenna nervously looking around, feeling ridiculous.

“So much for the badass,” Jennifer laughed. Much to Mackenna’s embarrassment, the others could not contain their mirth either.

Jobe had started to run toward her when he heard her scream, but stopped in place as he realized what had happened. His heart pounded as he shook his head incredulously at the women all bent over in laughter. The other men, equally startled, had to chuckle at Jobe.

Vinny patted him on the back. “Your girl charges after gang members with a baseball bat and yet is afraid of a bee?”

Jobe, hand over his pounding heart, smirked. “Now, I just need to get her as afraid of the gangs as she is a fuckin’ insect!”

The conversations began again, all talk of gangs put aside. The group sat at two picnic tables pushed together as they ate while keeping an eye on the children.

Jobe, looking over at Mackenna, felt at ease. For the first time in a long time…serenity. This beautiful woman was giving him a chance. At forgiveness. At love. At a future. Reaching over, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, taking her weight as she leaned into him.

She smiled up at him, her hand going over her mouth as she tried to swallow her bite of hamburger. He kissed her forehead as he whispered, “Love you, baby doll.”

Swallowing hard, her eyes sparkled as she realized what a gift she had received. Giving forgiveness to this man had taken nothing away from her. Instead, it allowed her to move forward. With him. With them. Face planting into his chest, she felt his steady heartbeat against her cheek.

His eyes wandered over the group, noticing that they had become the center of attention and was glad that her eyes were on him and not the others, to save her from embarrassment. But for him, it was everything. Smiling, he gave a slight nod in acceptance of their silent approval and continued to hold her as the conversations flowed once again.

* * *

That night Jobe showed Mackenna the indoor pool in his apartment building. Dipping into the warm water, she watched him as he swam a lap from the deep end to where she was standing. Long, sure strokes of his arms brought him closer and closer until he broke the surface right in front of her. Rising from the depths, like Neptune, he shook his head sending water droplets from his hair flying in all directions as others slid down his torso.

She watched the trail of water as it made it way over his pecs and abs, licking her lips as she thought of running her tongue along the same path.

“Baby?” he said with a growl, moving closer, eyeing her bikini clad body. The scraps of material barely covered her tits as the hankie-sized bottoms covered the treasure he intended to explore later.

Her eyes jumped to his, a guilty blush moving from her chest up her face.

“You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll be obliged to fuck you right here in the water.”

Her mouth formed an “O”, but no words came out. He chuckled as her light blush darkened to a deeper red.

“I don’t think the management would like that very much,” she finally said with a grin.

“Vinny taught Annalissa how to swim in this pool. Somehow I can’t see him not giving her some business right here.”

Mackenna gave him a push, just enough to off-balance him, saying, “But I can swim and you’d have to catch me first.” Then she quickly dove under the water and kicked off, swimming with all of her strength.

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