Page 36 of Securing Jane

Jane: Do you want me to bring anything when I come over tonight?

Storm: Just you.

Jane: I’m serious. I can pick something up from the store if I need to.

Storm: I AM being serious. Just bring yourself, baby.

Jane: Okay. See you later.

Storm: Can’t wait.

Jane put her cell back in her pocket. It was amazing how good Storm made her feel. It scared her but at the same time made her feel decades younger. She’d never expected this. Not at her age.

Taking a deep breath, she got back to work with renewed purpose. She needed to make sure she was finished with sorting the mail on time tonight so she could get home, pack, and head over to Storm’s place. Being with him made her realize how lonely she’d really been. She’d worked her ass off to raise Rose, and after she’d left, Jane had spent a lot of time and energy worrying about her…as any good mom would do.

But with every year that passed, and the closer she got to retirement, Jane realized that she had a lot of years left of her life. That she’d be alone if she didn’t manage to find someone to spend her golden years with. She would’ve been content with finding a group of friends, but being with Storm was like a dream come true. She was nervous about the beach party that weekend but decided to do her best to take things as they came. Worrying if people would like her wasn’t going to do anything but stress her out.

Knowing she needed to concentrate on work and put Storm and the upcoming night out of her mind, Jane reached for another packet of letters.

* * * *

At six-thirty on the nose, Jane knocked on Storm’s door. He opened it almost immediately. He had a huge smile on his face and pulled her into his arms even as he shut the door with his foot.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she responded.

Then he kissed her. A long, deep kiss that Jane knew she’d never get tired of. When he lifted his head, he smiled down at her once more, brushing a lock of hair off her forehead. “Damn, it’s good to see you. Come on, dinner’s almost ready. You’ve got to be hungry.”

Bemused, Jane let him pull her into his house, loving how he kept hold of her hand. Dinner smelled delicious, and she couldn’t remember ever being spoiled like this. She loved it.

He pulled her small bag out of her hand and put it by the stairs, continuing on toward the kitchen. Within twenty minutes, they were sitting at a small table off the kitchen and Storm was telling her about his day.

“Dag and I reviewed records today and narrowed the list of suspects down to about five.”

“That many?” Jane asked in surprise.

“Yeah. There are a lot of good men and women in the Navy, but there are also quite a few who never quite conform. Sometimes they’re lazy and want to take the easy way out. Other times they just make a stupid mistake that can’t be overlooked and forgiven. We’re assuming the bomber is someone who was court-martialed out of the Navy. It might be an erroneous assumption, but we don’t think so. Someone has to be upset enough at Dag to blame him for whatever happened to them, and if someone was just given nonjudicial punishment, I don’t think they’d be as upset.”

“What does NCIS think?” Jane asked.

“They agree. And they’re investigating as many of the sailors who were kicked out of the Navy in the last year as they can. Trying to find out where they are now and interviewing new coworkers if possible. It’s a slow process. And I know it’s frustrating. Are you okay?”

“Me? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Jane asked in surprise.

Storm reached over and took her hand in his. “You haven’t had any flashbacks or bad moments about what happened to you?”

Jane hesitated. She wanted to say no, that she was fine, but she also didn’t want to lie. She settled for shrugging. “Nothing major.”

The look of concern on his face made her melt. “I’m sorry, baby. I know it’s not a lot, but hopefully it’ll help in the long run that you weren’t the target.”

“I know. That’s why I feel stupid about the bad dreams I’ve had. I was just unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire, so to speak,” she told him.

“Don’t feel stupid,” Storm said immediately, taking her hand in his. “What happened to you was traumatic. It was unexpected, and you were attacked in your safe space. You’re allowed to react badly to that.”

Jane nodded. “The dreams aren’t horrible. I usually wake up just as the bomb is going off. For a second I can’t breathe, remembering how much the tear gas stung, but then I realize that I’m just dreaming and I’m safe.”

“You are safe,” Storm told her.