She rolled her eyes. “Good start.”
“I thought so.”
So much for not being in any shape to have sex. They folded into each other, finally letting all the talking fall behind. Mark showed Jenna how much he loved her, and how much he wanted to love her every second for the rest of their lives.
When she was collapsed onto his chest, sleepily catching her breath, he pulled her even closer. “I love you, little librarian.”
“Love you too.” The quiet words stirred things in him, and he breathed with her until she was fast asleep.
Gently, he extricated himself from her and put on some clothes, grabbing his crutches. It was late, but he was making a bet that Ian was still awake. He needed to talk to him, and then he would be back with Jenna and not leave her side.
His wager was correct. Ian was still working, going through the debriefing statements and watching a feed of Joaquin being questioned in a holding room.
Ian looked up when he saw Mark. “Everything okay? I thought you would be with Jenna.”
“I was and will be again in a few minutes. But remember when you said whatever I needed to get situated in a new career, you’d help?”
The man smiled. “I do. What do you need?”
Mark closed the door behind him. “I need a favor.”
Epilogue
Three months later
“One date,” Mark said, sitting beside her on the couch. It was something he’d been asking for weeks now, and her frustration grew.
“Mark, please.”
“Jenna,” he said. “I’m serious. I want to take you on a date.”
She stood, putting the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, and crossed her arms over her chest, pacing. “I don’t understand why you keep asking that. You know how I feel about going out. The only thing a date would be is stressful and terrible, and I don’t really feel like throwing up my guts just to spend time with you outside of this house. Why can’t we stay here where everything is comfortable and fine?”
This was what she’d been afraid of. That Mark would get frustrated with her when she wasn’t getting anybetter. She was never going to get better. At least not enough to go out ondates.
She had a horrible feeling that this was the beginning of the end.
And an even worse feeling that Mark leaving would succeed in doing what Garrison and Joaquin had both failed to do: completely break her.
She stopped pacing and glared at Mark. “If you don’t understand what that will do to me after all this time—”
Mark stood and held out his hands. “Do you trust me?”
Did she trust him? That was the real question. It was a yes or no answer, but somehow it felt much bigger than that.
“I— Yes. Yes, I trust you.”
“Then why would you think I would drag you somewhere that would terrorize you?”
She shrugged and looked at the floor. “Because that’s what dates are. Out in public, around people. Requiring me to go outside.”
Slowly, he pulled her into his arms, and she let him. “Give me one date,” he whispered against her hair. “Trust me, and I promise you by the end of it, I’ll have proven that I understand you.”
“That’s a big promise.”
“I’m a confident guy.”
She pulled back and looked at him, and nothing about his face said that he was teasing her. He wanted to take her on this date, and she knew Mark wouldn’t hurt her.