SEAL'd Perfection The Complete Collection: A Navy SEAL Romance (39 page)

Something I dreamed of giving her one day.

“They need to talk to us,” Mitch informed Hannah. I noted that he barely looked at her and their daughter.
Clearly, this guy is missing a chip
.

Hannah looked up, and registered that Kat and I were standing there. “Oh, hello Katherine, Jace.”

I nodded and offered her a warmer smile than the one I’d given her husband. Kat had told me that she and Hannah had become friends during the months I was deployed. Although they didn’t go shopping or out to lunch together, they were on good terms, and I knew Kat was hoping that she would be an ally once we broke the news. “Nice to see you, Hannah. Your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She set her squirming daughter on the floor. “Come on in, sit anywhere that’s not buried in toys. Does anyone want coffee? Tea?”

“No thanks, Hannah. We won’t be long,” Kat answered. She rounded the couch and sat down. I followed her lead and took her hand as soon as we settled together on the couch. Mitch joined Hannah, but remained standing. Jax and Emmaline were busy climbing on Mickey, and didn’t pay much attention to us.

I cleared my throat. We’d decided ahead of time that I would be the spokesperson. “Kat and I wanted to come over and let you guys know that I’m going to be moving in with her and Jax later this month.”

Hannah smiled brightly at Kat and then over at me. “That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

Mitch’s expression made it clear that he wasn’t on the same exuberant page as his wife. “Move in together? Are you getting married?”

Kat shook her head. “No, not right now at least.”

Mitch made a scoffing sound and rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kat demanded, her voice sharp.

“Well, I don’t think that’s the best example to set for our son. Although, I suppose you’ve basically been shacked up for a while now, so really, what’s the difference, right?”

Kat’s hand in mine began to shake, and I gripped it tighter, reassuring her that I was still there with her. “Actually, we haven’t been
shacked up
, Mitch. And, since when did you become the morality police? I hardly think you have much ground to stand on.” As soon as the spiteful words left her mouth, she shot an apologetic look at Hannah. “I’m sorry, I just mean—”

“It’s all right.” Hannah held up her hand. “Mitch, don’t be rude. They came over to tell us there will be a change in Jax’s life—that was very considerate of them.”

Kat nodded, and swallowed hard. “Thank you, Hannah. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re not here asking for permission, it’s already been decided, and Jax is very excited. We just didn’t want you to hear it from him and thought it would be best to come over and tell you ourselves before it happened. Jace has been watching Jax almost full time since I’ve been so busy with work and school, and it just makes sense to take that next step and be a family.”

Mitch visibly riled at this, unable to hold his opinion back. “How quaint. The single mom, her biker trash boyfriend, and my son. A family.”

Kat jolted up from the couch. “Wow, Mitch.”

Hannah sighed loudly, and tugged on her husband’s arm, but he jerked it away. She stood, and scooped their baby off the floor. “Come on guys, let’s go to the playroom. Jax say bye-bye to mom and Jace before we go.”

Jax waved at us and then chased off after Hannah down the hall.

“We’re done here,” Kat growled at Mitch once they were gone. She stormed from the room, but I hung back for a second, still glaring at Mitch.

“What? Is there something else you have to say?” He taunted.

I crossed the room in three strides, ignoring the pain in my back at the force of each harsh step. When I reached him, I grabbed his collar with my good hand, dragged him to the nearest wall, and slammed him against it. He tried wrangling free, flinging expletives at me, and trying to punch me in the gut, but I slammed him back against the wall again. “Listen, ass wipe, you will
not
make trouble for Kat over this. You lost her. It’s done. I don’t know how you could have been so stupid to not keep your fucking dick in your pants in the first place, but whatever, that’s your deal. She’s mine now, and I won’t let you hurt her anymore. Make one more rudeass comment to her, or to me, and I will fuck you up. Trust me when I tell you Folger’s team will be so far up your lying ass, you won’t be able to breathe without them knowing about it. They’ll find those hidden assets and I will personally take you to court and drain every last drop to give Kat what is rightfully hers.”

“You son of a bitch—”

I slammed him back again. “I wasn’t done talking.” I moved in close enough that I could feel his frantic breath as I tightened my grip on his collar, winding the shirt up tight around his throat. “After that, I’ll have Kat press charges for fraud and send your sorry ass to jail so long that your own daughter won’t know who you are. And by the way, you think I’m rough? You have no fuckin’ clue what you’ll run into on the inside. I guarantee you won’t make it out because you’re too fuckin’ stupid to know not to run your mouth off to the wrong people. You think just because you have money that makes you invincible, but I got news for you, dickwad, in there, your money ain’t shit. So, if I were you, I would get your ass out there, apologize to Kat, and vow to
never
speak to her that way again.”

Mitch squirmed, trying to get out of my grip. “I’ll press charges! This is assault!”

“Really? You’re going to press charges against a highly decorated, disabled, war hero? Yeah, good luck with that.” I laughed. “All right cupcake, you ready to go apologize?”

Mitch spit in my face. I reared back and punched him in the gut before he even saw it coming. He doubled over, sputtering and gasping from the force of the blow. “Fuck. You.”

I hit him again, and he dropped to the floor. “Tell you what, I’ll do it for you this time. But next time I see you, you better be on your best behavior or we’re gonna have some real problems.”

I stepped over him, leaving him to writhe and hold his side where I’d struck him, and left the room without another word.

When I got outside, Kat was already in the car. I slid into the passenger side, and she turned to me, her eyes ringed with red. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, shaking her head, as though still in disbelief over how Mitch had acted.

“It’s all right.” I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “He’s not gonna bother us about it anymore.”

Kat’s eyes widened. “Jace…what did you do?”

“We had words, it’s fine now.”

Kat studied me for a moment longer, and I knew she didn’t fully believe me, but after a little while, she turned on the car and backed out of the driveway. She didn’t ask about it again, and later that night, Mitch called and apologized to her and told her that she had his blessing.

She thanks me for whatever I’d said, and we spent the night together, all talk of the past gone, and only thoughts and dreams for the future.

“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” I asked Jace. I knew it was the hundredth time I’d asked, but I had to make sure.

Jace laughed. “Yes. Kat, please, stop asking. I’ll be fine!”

I pulled on my jacket, and turned back to him. He was propped up in a sitting position, a mountain of pillows behind him. His laptop and phone were within arm’s reach, he had the sandwich I’d made him sitting on the bedside table, and was smirking at me as I made a mental checklist of what else he might need before I left the house. “What about—”

“Katherine…” he scolded, still smiling. “I’m fine. Please, get out of here before you end up being late. That would be pretty sad on your last day.”

I smiled back at him, a jolt of excitement pinging through me. It was my last day of interior design school. Each student would receive a comprehensive assessment of their final project, be presented with their grades, and by the end of the night, the entire class would be participating in a small graduation ceremony where we would receive our certificate of completion.

If we passed.

Jace had undergone surgery while I was working on my final project, and while everything had gone according to plan, and he was now back home and working through recovery, it had taken more emotional and mental energy to get through than I’d expected, and the fact that it had coincided with my final project—an extensive hotel lobby design—I wasn’t feeling as confident as I should’ve been about walking into my instructor’s office to get my assessment.

“Baby, I saw the pictures, they’re gonna love it,” Jace told me, studying my tight, worried expression. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m fine, Hilda’s right next door if I need anything, I’ll call her. You just go, get your kick ass report, and I’ll see you tonight at graduation.”

His confident words patched up my fragile, anxiety riddled mind, and I squared my shoulders, straightening my jacket, and fastening the buttons. “All right. How do I look?”

“Smoking hot. If I wasn’t worried about internal bleeding, I’d take ya right here, right now,” Jace replied, his voice light and teasing.

I rolled my eyes. “I was going for a professional, ready to take on the world, business woman look…”

“Right. Well, whenever I look at you, I just see you naked. Your professor probably won’t have the same issue.”

“You’re impossible.” I laughed and Jace winked at me. I went to the side of the bed and gave him a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Knock ‘em dead, baby girl.”

* * * *

As Jace had predicted, my instructor gave me top marks on my final project, and when I walked out of her office an hour later, I had a glowing letter of recommendation and the names of three design firms that had seen my final showcase and wanted to meet to discuss project consultations. Not only was I going to graduate, but within a few weeks time, I could potentially have enough work to keep me busy for months. My head was spinning, and my heart was pumping, by the time I got to the auditorium where the graduation was to take place. The course was offered through the community college, and although I wouldn’t have a new degree to show for my work, I had a certificate, and a portfolio bursting with examples of my work.

I scanned the parking lot as I walked in, looking for Hilda’s car. She was going to be bringing Jax and Jace to the ceremony, and although I knew it was too early for them to be there, I couldn’t help but look for them. It was hard not to text or call with the news of how my assessment had gone, but it was something I wanted to do in person. I went inside and followed the instructions on where to stand and where to go when my name was called. The instructions were all very simple, but I paid extra attention in order to keep my brain occupied.

Half an hour later, everyone was in place, and as we all filed out on stage, the small crowd erupted with cheers and applause. I looked out and spotted Jace immediately. I smiled when I saw Jax standing on the bench next to him, jumping up and down and clapping wildly. When the applause died down, I heard his little voice rise above the crowd, “That’s my mama!” The crowd chuckled and my eyes filled with happy tears.

After the ceremony, I rushed out to the foyer to find Jace, Jax, and Hilda in the crowd. Jax spotted me first and bolted across the room, flinging himself into my arms. “Mama! We have a surprise!”

“You do?” I pressed a kiss to his head and let him lead me back to where Jace and Hilda were. Jace was sitting in a chair and I knew he was probably feeling the effect of all the exertion. He hadn’t been out much since his surgery and the doctor had told him it would take at least a couple months before he would feel better and not need his pain medication anymore. I ran a hand up his back and rested it on his shoulder. “I hear you have a surprise.”

Jace shot a look at Jax, a flicker of panic in his eyes. “Jax, remember what I told you?” Jax nodded and put a finger to his lips. We all laughed at his sweet gesture and solemn expression. “As it so happens, we do have a little something up our sleeve, but you are just going to have to wait and see what it is.”

“All right, fine, but I better not have to wait too long. Otherwise, I’m going to have to tickle the answers out of this one,” I said, reaching out to tickle Jax’s neck.

Jace braced a hand on the back of the chair and pushed up. “You heard the woman, let’s get the party started!”

He led me out to the car and made me give my keys to Hilda. She drove my car back to town, leaving me with Jace and Jax. Jace made me put on a blindfold ten minutes into the drive. Jax thought it was hysterical and couldn’t stop cackling from the back seat. We rode on for another half an hour, and when the car came to a stop, Jace led me, not letting me take off the blindfold just yet. A few minutes later, Jax took my hand and led me the final steps.

“Okay,” Jace’s voice purred in my ear. “Now you can look.” He took the blindfold away and when I opened my eyes, a chorus of “Congratulations!” broke out. I blinked twice, taking in the crowd before me. We were standing in the main entrance of the diner, but it was packed wall to wall with people wearing party hats and cheering for me. There was a huge banner hanging from the ceiling and party streamers all over the place. I looked around at all the beaming faces and realized that practically the whole town was packed inside. All of the usual customers, Patrice, all the line cooks and hostesses, Hilda was among them, her daughter on her right. Even my parents were waiting for me, offering well wishes with everyone else.

I turned back to Jace, my mouth still dropped open in shock. “You did this?”

He nodded. “Well, with a little help,” he nodded down at Jax. “He was the decorator for the event.”

Jax jumped up and down and pointed out all the streamers and balloons.

“Thank you both.” I turned to the crowd. “Thank you all!”

I mingled with everyone, and had a few glasses of pricey champagne that Patrice had supplied. My parents even hugged me and told me they were proud of me—at which point, I completely lost it and started bawling. The night was full of laughter, love, and celebration. Jace hung back and let me enjoy the party, chatting with people and keeping Jax occupied and entertained.