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“Heard what?” Tara was utterly confused—not just by his words but also by the almost frenetic energy coming off of him. Positive energy. Gone was the distance. Gone was the wall behind his eyes.
“I got a new job. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t come through, but—”
“Wait. What?”
His smile was so freaking beautiful. “I got a new job. I’m joining the DC Police’s Special Tactics Branch as an EOD specialist.”
The room spun around Tara until it felt like the floor was wavy beneath her feet. “I…but you…you said if I got a new job, I’d resent you for it. I don’t want you to change jobs because of me.”
Jesse grasped her gently by the arms. It was the first time he’d reached for her in weeks, and it made her ache with remembered want. “Tara, I’m doing this for me. I like CMDS, but this law enforcement position…it brings me back to what I’m passionate about. To what I didn’t think I could do anymore. But I was wrong. I was wrong about so much.”
“Jesse, I…” He was leaving CMDS? So now she’d almost never see him… “Um, congratulations, then,” she said lamely. “Did you tell Boone yet?”
“Yes, he knew I was looking. Because of my military experience, I can do an accelerated police academy, and the next one starts April 15. I’m going to keep diving until then.”
“Wow, Boone knew? How did he react?”
“Disappointed at first. Until I explained that I wanted to stop running from EOD, because that’s what I’d done. I told him I needed the chance to make that right, and he understood.”
Pride and respect welled inside her chest. “Jesse, that’s amazing.”
He nodded and stepped closer. “All thanks to you.”
Tara’s belly flipped, and she hugged herself. “What do you mean?”
“Watching you face your fears made me realize I wasn’t facing mine, and I… Shit, I’m handling this all wrong,” he said, frowning.
“Jesse—”
Suddenly, he was right in front of her, so close she had to tilt her head way back to meet his gaze. Those dark eyes absolutely blazed at her. “Tara, fuck. I’m just gonna say it straight out. I love you. That’s where I should’ve started all this. I love you. I probably fell in love with you after that first nacho. If not then, when you suggested a kiss was the best cure for the cold. And if not then, definitely when you jumped into a stormy sea to save a man’s life.”
Tara’s mouth fell open as her mind struggled to process the words she thought she was hearing. He loved her? Had he really said that?
“I’m sorry we had to go through hell to get here—or, at least, I know I did. But now you can do what you love without compromising what’s important to you. And I can return to what I love. And…and we can be together. That’s what I came here to say.”
Her heart beat so hard and so fast that it made her head spin. “Oh, my God…”
He cupped her face in his big hands. “Fuck, did it take me too long to fight my way back to you?”
Tears sprung to her eyes as what was happening finally sank in. He loved her. Jesse loved her. And he’d made it so they could have a chance. “No,” she said as the first tear fell. “Not too late.”
“Aw, don’t cry,” he said. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
She shook her head. “None of that matters, Jesse. I just…all that matters is that I love you, too.”
Sheer relief. That was the only way she knew to describe the wide-eyed expression that settled onto his handsome face. “Say it again,” he whispered.
More tears fell. “I love you, Jesse. So much.”
He kissed her then, slow and deep, a tender reunion that made her feel like she was floating. He loved her. When the kiss ended, he pulled her in for a hug and held her so damn tight.
“Don’t let me go,” she whispered, needing his arms around her so
much. Now and always.
“Never again.” After a long moment, he released her just enough to look her eye to eye. “I know you were planning to go to dinner. Did you want to—”
“I just want to be with you.”
