Free A Hero In Uniform - The Complete Series by Savannah DelGardo

her.
     
    “ You ...” He paused, not really sure how to tell her. When she kept looking at him, an expectant look on her face, he just came out and said it. “You were knocked out and almost raped.”
     
    She drew in a quick breath and nodded before asking, “Almost?”
     
    “ I interrupted him.” Ric said.
     
    Jessi smiled and stuck her hands into the front pockets of her jeans as she said, “Thank you.”
     
    “ Don't mention it.” He replied, captivated by that smile. It made her look very youthful and beautiful. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Can I give you a ride someplace?”
     
    She bit her lip and looked in the direction of the rodeo-after-party, making Ric think she might have come with someone – boyfriend, fiance, lover, husband – and he was stepping on toes.
     
    But then she looked back at him and said, “I guess that'd be okay. If it's not too much trouble.”
     
    “ Absolutely not. I don't have to be back at the ship until eleven.”
     
    “ Ship?” She looked at him. “Oh. You're with the Navy.”
     
    Ric grinned and said, “Uniform kinda gives it away, right?”
     
    Jessi laughed, a warm rich sound that washed over him and made him want to hear it more.
     
    He didn't know Jessi. They'd only just met and all he knew about her was her name.
     
    But he already liked her.
     
    Maybe more then he should.
     

     
    Jessi sat alone in her apartment, her feet tucked up beneath her on the couch and a cup of hot tea nestled between her hands as she relived the events of the night.
     
    It'd all come back to her, and it scared her to think about how close she'd come to being the victim yet again.
     
    The events that had taken place under that tree had been too similar to what had happened just a few short months ago. She'd sworn she wouldn't let anything like that happen to her again, and yet she hadn't been able to do anything to stop that creep who'd attacked her.
     
    If it hadn't been for that sailor, who knows what might have happened to her?
     
    Ric Jordan.
     
    Jessi smiled as she remembered her handsome rescuer.
     
    She'd thought, after her attack, that she would never find another man attractive ever again. But she'd been proven wrong tonight when she'd laid eyes on the man that had been asleep next to the hospital cot when she'd woken up. When she'd taken in his typical Navy uniform, she'd felt something deep inside her wake up and take notice.
     
    He'd given her his card and told her to call anytime she wanted to, so she decided to give him a quick call now, before he left for that patrol he'd told her about on the drive to her apartment.
     
    Crossing to the phone, Jessi dialled the number on the card, wincing when she saw the red marks still marking her neck when she got a glance of her reflection in the mirror she kept by the front door.
     
    “ HMAS Sydney, Lieutenant Conrad.”
     
    “ Oh. Hi. I'm looking for ...” Jessi glanced down at the card. “Chief Petty Officer Jordan.”
     
    “ Can I ask what this is about, ma'am?”
     
    “ I just want to talk to him about the help he gave me at the showgrounds tonight.” Jessie said, hoping she wasn't going to get Ric in trouble.
     
    “ Oh, you're the woman he saved.” Conrad said, the authoritative tone in his voice disappearing.
     
    Jessi was a little surprised he knew about her, but she said, “Yeah, that's me.”
     
    “ Hold on for one sec and I'll get Jordan.”
     
    “ Thank you.”
     
    There's a brief moment of silence before Ric's voice came over the line. “Jessi?”
     
    “ Yeah, it's me.”
     
    “ What's up?”
     
    “ I just … I wanted to thank you again for what you did tonight.”
     
    “ It was no big deal.”
     
    “ Trust me, Mr Jordan, it was a very big deal.” 
     
    “ Call me Charge.”
     
    She frowned and repeated, “Charge?”
     
    “ It's my position on the ship. Everyone calls me Charge.”
     
    Jessi smiled and agreed. “Okay, Charge. But, I meant what I said. Saving