Page 44 of SEAL's Tempest
“It will go quickly. Besides it will give you some time with your neighbor. Now I’ll take another hug. We have many years to make up for.” Pavel chuckled.
“How? Wait. Are you spying on me?” Tempest asked as he hugged her gently one more time.
“Do you think I would have let you make another mistake like thatasileSinbad?What kind of a name is that anyway?”
“I guess not. I wasn’t sure you knew about that either.” The car ride had been full of epiphanies. It would take time for her to process everything he’d said. But it was a start—an amazing one. The future for her family suddenly looked a lot brighter.
“But Josh and I barely got along,” Tempest murmured.
“Yes, it was the same with your mother and me, and you are so like her, mykatyneli.Now go, I’m sure he’s waiting for you.”
Tempest nodded and climbed out of the car. The driver walked her pack to the front door. But she stood on the sidewalk and watched her father drive off. So much had happened in the last few days, it was probably a good thing she’d have desk duty for a few weeks.
For now, it was late or early really, and she needed a shower. Deciding to get clean then text Josh, she turned toward her house to find Josh standing behind her, a tentative smile on his face.
“Hi. I take it that was your father. I’m surprised he didn’t visit for a while,” he said.
“He had to get back to DC with the package.” They were outside and it was zero four hundred so the chances of anyone hearing their discussion was nil, but chips were top-secret.
“Gotcha. Did you get to see the doctor?”
“Yes, I’m only a little banged up,” Tempest answered. More than anything she wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her, no matter how painful, she needed the connection. She owed him an explanation first. “I was going to grab a quick shower and then text you. You can come in and wait for me. Unless you are too tired? What did the doctor tell you?”
“Six weeks of desk duty.”
“I win. I only got four.”
“You suck,” he teased.
“Not yet, but I can,” she answered. It was worth it for the look on his face when he realized what she’d said.
“Tempest, I’ll aways wait for you.” Josh held out his hand and she took it.
A feeling of finally being home consumed her. Tears pricked Tempest’s eyes again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this weepy. She’d have to stop it, it would ruin her badass rep.
She handed Josh the remote and ran to take a shower. As much as the heat from the water soothed her muscles, the shower itself was painful, especially when she washed her hair. It took longer than she wanted, but it was worth it to feel clean and not smell like a sweaty sock.
Dressing in her favorite soft gray sweatpants and a Navy T-shirt, she took a deep breath and went to find Josh.
He looked up as she walked into the room. “There’s my badass woman.” As he slowly got up, he grimaced.
Tempest couldn’t help her giggle. She knew his pain and matched it. “We’re a pair, huh?”
“Yeah, it sucks. It’s going to hurt like hell when I take you to bed.” Josh grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
“Whoa there, cowboy. We had an agreement,” Tempest reminded him. She was ready to toss that out of the window, but he didn’t know it yet.
“You were serious?”
“Mmm hmm, I was. But we need to talk.”
“Wait, you said was. Does that mean—” The hopeful expression on Josh’s face was her undoing.
She walked up to him and softly wrapped her arms around his waist. He held her back as gently. “I had a lot of time to think on the plane ride back. And I realized I had held onto a lot of hurt and anger about my mother. But you showed me that I was wrong. And not just about you, but so many things. I’m going to do better.”
“Baby, you’re already perfect in my eyes. And I hope that I get to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives.” Josh lowered his head, his lips barely caressing hers. “Will you let me?”
“Yes, I want that too. Though I can’t say you won’t see bitchy Tempest on occasion. She’s still in there.”
