Free A Home for Christmas by Ann Vaughn Page B

text and have him
distracted from wrapping up whatever he needed to be able to get to her faster.
    Riley pocketed his phone after reading Jenna’s
last text.  No doubt she’d seen what happened on TV.  He rubbed the
back of his neck as he finished filling out his preliminary report.  He
hated that it all unfolded before cameras the way it had.  No telling how
Jenna would react to what she’d seen.  They’d never really talked in
detail about his job and all it entailed. 
    “Stanton,” one of the SWAT guys called, “the
reporters want to interview you.”
    Riley glanced at his watch.  “Can we get
around it?  I’m needing to get out of here.”
    “I’ll pass the word along.”
    “Thanks.”
    Time seemed to drag but finally they made it back
to the station.  He showered and changed and found himself pulling into
Jenna’s driveway at almost midnight, almost eight hours after the
incident.  He was tired, he had a pounding headache, and all he wanted to
do was see her and get some…he stopped mid-thought when her front door burst
open and Jenna came running out and was in his arms as soon as he cleared the
truck door. 
    “I was so scared,” she sobbed into his neck,
clinging tightly to him.
    “Oh, hey, baby.  Shhh…It’s OK.  I’m
fine,” he soothed.
    She pulled back to place both her hands on his
cheeks so that she could look directly into his eyes.
    “He shot at your head,” she whispered.  “I
thought I’d just watched you get killed.”
    He stroked her hair and leaned down to place a
kiss to her brow.  “I knew the glass was bullet-proof.  I wasn’t in
danger at that point.”
    She shook her head again.  “I thought I’d
lost you.”
    His heart soared.  He tightened his hold on
her lifting her off her feet and carrying her into the house.
    “Where’s Cam?” he asked, putting her back on her
feet.
    “Staying the night with a friend,” she said, caressing
his face, touching him as if she were afraid he would disappear at any moment.
    He smiled.  “Really?  We’re
alone?  All night?”
    “All weekend,” she amended.  “I had this set
up before your TV debut…but, after today,” she took a deep breath. “I was so
afraid that you would die, not knowing how I really feel about you.”
    “Baby,” he began, but she stopped him.
    “These last few weeks have been, like a fairy
tale.  You’ve been so wonderful.  To me and to Cam.  And when I
saw him shoot at your head…”  She lost it again.
    He gathered her into his arms again and carried
her to the couch, cradling her in his lap.  He held her for a few minutes
but when she kept crying, he cupped her face in his hands to get her to look at
him.
    “Look at me, Jenna.  What you saw today,
that’s what I do.  I help my uncle on days like today, if I’m in
town.  I did things a lot more dangerous than that in the SEALs. 
You’ve got to trust me, that I know what I’m doing and that I’m good at it.”
    “I do…I just don’t want to see you do it.”
    He smiled and Jenna felt her heart melt.  “I
think I can arrange that.  Today was special.  First time ever.”
    She took a deep breath.  “OK…and, all the
scary danger aside?” she said, turning in his arms to straddle him.  “You
looked really, really hot.”
    “Yeah?”
    She nodded.  “You are gorgeous, Riley.”
    Riley smiled, then turned his attention to his
hands, exploring her body.  For the first time, he really paid attention
to what she was wearing, a burgundy velvet robe that was really soft under his
hands.  Leaning up, he captured her lips while his hands worked the tie of
her robe loose.  Parting the robe, his hands reached underneath it to
encounter…lace.
    He pulled away to look down at her to see what he
was touching.  She wore a black lace negligee that accented her full
breasts, pushing them up and together so that he was looking down at some
pretty impressive cleavage.  He pushed the robe from her shoulders and
leaned