by Jill Sanders
“Conner.” Kara’s mind went blank and she started hyperventilating. “Oh my god.”
Her sister’s voice broke through the haze of panic that had filled her mind.
“Get ready. I’m almost there. We’re going to head down to the beach and wait with everyone else in town,” her sister said before hanging up.
She threw on the first thing she found, then tossed on her snow boots and heavy jacket just as her sister knocked on the door.
Without thinking, she turned the handle lock as she stepped outside and followed her sister down the staircase.
She was sitting in the old truck before she realized that her sister had gotten the thing started. Her mind kept switching between the practical things in life like that to full-on panic mode about the possibility that Conner could be injured or worse.
When they parked at the beach entrance, she realized Robin was right—they weren’t the only ones concerned about the downed helicopter.
“Any word?” Robin asked someone they stopped by.
Kara’s eyes were glued to the gray haze over the massive body of water directly in front of them. Sure, the sunlight was bright behind them, but over the Pacific there was no sun, no clouds, only a misty gray fog swirling slowly around that caused her eyes to go a little unfocused.
She hadn’t realized she was crying until her sister wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I’m sure he’ll be okay,” she whispered.
“Oh god.” A gasp escaped her as she covered her mouth and closed her eyes. “I just found him. I can’t…” She shook her head and willed Conner to be okay.
“Hey,” someone said, then gently took her shoulders. Through the mist in her eyes, she realized it was Allison Jordan. “Conner’s on the phone for you.”
Her heart leapt in her chest as she fumbled for the cell phone Allison was holding out for her.
“Hey.” Just hearing Conner’s voice had her closing her eyes and taking a deep cleansing breath. “I’ve been trying to call you to let you know—”
“I… left my cell phone in your apartment.” She had been so concerned about him that she hadn’t even grabbed her purse.
“Anyway, I’m okay. I wanted you to know. I wasn’t on the Jayhawk that went down. I only had a minute, but… Well, I didn’t want you to worry.”
She swallowed hard and nodded, then opened her eyes and met his mother’s worried eyes.
“Thanks, I… I’m here with your mom.” She glanced over and saw the rest of his family. “Your entire family. We’re here on the beach. We’ll…” She shook her head. “We’ll be here, waiting to hear about everyone else on the helicopter that went down.”
“Okay,” he said, and she heard a loud noise and then he mumbled something to someone else. “We’re heading out to look for survivors. Stay close to my mother so you can get updates.”
“Okay.” She hugged the phone to her ear to hear the rest since the sound was getting louder.
“Kara?” he said.
“Yeah?” She held her breath, waiting for his next words.
“I’d really like you to stay at my place again tonight,” he said, causing her to smile.
“Just try to kick me out,” she countered before the noise on his end got too loud.
He yelled, “See you later,” and hung up.
For the next seven hours, Kara, along with everyone else in Pride, waited on the foggy beach for any word on the four crewmen that had disappeared with the helicopter. Each hour, Conner checked in with his folks and made sure that they passed on an update to her and anyone else within earshot. She even had the chance to talk to him a couple other times. But she’d locked his front door on her way out, so she hadn’t returned to his apartment.
Food from the Golden Oar was handed out to the crowd along with hot drinks. Chairs were even brought for the growing crowd.
It wasn’t until after midnight that they had word that the downed helicopter had been found and all four of the crew were safe and sound. They’d been floating in a small inflatable raft, and some were injured and possibly had hypothermia. There was a large sigh of relief from the onlookers just before everyone dispersed.
Her sister drove her back to Conner’s place and waited in the truck until he pulled into the parking lot. Just seeing him climb out of his truck still wearing his uniform set her heart skipping.
He gave her a slight grin, and she practically melted.
“Wow, he looks really hot in that uniform,” her sister whispered.
“Ya think? Night,” she said before climbing out of the truck and rushing to wrap her arms around him. God, he felt so wonderful that she didn’t want to let go of him. But when her sister honked her horn as she pulled out of the parking lot, Conner took a step back.
“What do you say we head upstairs? I’m dying to get out of this uniform,” he said with a smile which caused her heart to flutter as her insides did little jumps. Then he took her hand and led her up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty
God, it felt good coming home to Kara after a long crazy day. He couldn’t count how many days in the past few years that he’d spent a full day scanning the waters below. This was, however, the first when visibility had been almost zero. Everyone had been on guard and stressed. Not to mention that it was his own men down there in the cold water, some of whom he’d helped train for situations just like this.
Even now, as he led Kara back up the stairs to the apartment, his entire body was tense.
Shutting the door behind him, he didn’t allow Kara to get a word out before pulling her into his arms and kissing her.
He couldn’t help being a little out of control as he expressed exactly what he wanted, needed from her. His hands moved on their own, running over her hips, traveling lower until he hoisted her up and turned at the same time to pin her against the door. Their mouths never left one another as she tugged his leather jacket off his shoulders.
Her coat hit the ground shortly after his had, along with the rest of her clothes. Somehow, miraculously, he was still in his Coast Guard uniform of blue pants and dress shirt. Kara had removed his tie and had unbuttoned his shirt but hadn’t pulled it off his shoulders as she ran her hands all over his chest.
He had to admit, he sort of lost it for a while. But when her nails scraped across his ribs, for just a moment he regained enough brain cells to remember to pull a condom out and slip it on before losing himself into her completely.
“My god, I don’t think I can move,” she said from her position tucked in his arms on the sofa, where he’d carried her after completely letting go.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, feeling guilty about not being as gentle as he’d hoped.
Instead of answering him, she chuckled and rolled over until she looked into his eyes.
Her hand came up and she buried her fingers in his hair. “You can do that…”—she leaned over and kissed him slowly before purring—“to me anytime.”
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah? So, I take it you like the uniform?”
She chuckled. “You may just have to put it back on and let me check again.” She wiggled her eyebrows as her hands moved down his neck to his shoulders.
“Keep that up and we won’t get much further than this sofa tonight,” he warned.
“Good,” she said against his lips.
“Yeah,” he said after kissing her for a while. “But, unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a lunch.” His stomach growled loudly.
She frowned over at him. “I hadn’t thought…” She shook her head and then suddenly rolled off the sofa and glanced around for something to wear. He watched her sexy bare ass as she moved towards the front door and bent over to pick up his uniform shirt. She slipped it on, and it hit her mid-thigh. He smiled when she buttoned up only a few buttons.
“I think that thing looks better on you than me.” He sat up and watched her move into the kitchen. She smiled over at him.
“I’m going to make y
ou something.” She looked into his fridge, then frowned. “Gosh, is this all you have? A few eggs and half a loaf of bread with some cheese?”
“Yeah, I grabbed a few things last night but hadn’t hit the fresh food section yet. I have a ton of frozen food, but usually hit the store for fresh items before eating.” He started to pull on his pants again, but then instead grabbed all their discarded clothes and headed into the bedroom. Pulling on a pair of sweats, he returned to the kitchen to see Kara flipping French toast on the stove.
She glanced over at him and smiled and, for a split second, he completely lost his heart. Her long hair was messy, falling around her face. His eyes scanned over her sexy legs and ended on her red painted toenails, which were begging for attention. God. She was just… perfect.
Walking over, he wrapped his arms around her, gently moved her hair aside, and placed a kiss on the base of her neck.
“Mmm, maybe I’m not as hungry as I thought I was,” he said against her skin as he felt himself growing harder.
“Oh no, after smelling this, now I’m the one who’s starving.” She giggled when he trailed a kiss to just behind her ear. He made a mental note about the ticklish spot and continued on to enjoy her earlobe.
His hands explored under the shirt that she’d put on as she continued to try and focus on making them breakfast for dinner.
He kept trying to distract her, but she kept chuckling and pulling away from him.
“Why don’t you find us something to drink?” she asked, dodging his hands again.
He sighed and stepped away, only because his stomach had growled loudly again. Finding a bottle of sweet white wine and some orange juice, he decided to make mimosas since Kara was in a breakfast mood.
“How perfect,” she said, taking the glass from him after setting a plate of French toast down on his kitchen table. The table had sat in his parents’ house for years and had finally been replaced by a newer table. This one had been stored in the barn.
Actually, glancing around the apartment, everything that currently filled his new home had at one point filled his parents’ home. He’d pretty much cleaned out the storage area in the barn when he’d moved in.
Taking his first bite, he sighed at how wonderful the simple food was.
“Wow,” he groaned. “Why does your French toast taste so much better than what I make?”
She chuckled. “All food you don’t make yourself tastes better.” She motioned with her fork.
He thought about it and nodded. “I guess that’s true.” He shoveled more food into his mouth.
“It’s really a good thing everything ended up okay today,” she said after a sip of mimosa.
He set his fork down and took a moment to settle his thoughts before speaking. “It could have been so much worse. When we found the wreckage…” He shook his head and remembered seeing the chunks of metal floating in the dark water. “We all thought the worst.”
Kara set her own fork down now and gave him her entire attention.
“Some of the new guys, well, they wanted to call off the search.” He shook his head and frowned. “It took us two more hours to spot the orange raft and the men in it.” He picked up his fork again and finished the rest of his meal. He had to admit, it felt wonderful having someone to talk to after a long day.
“I was so scared,” she said, pushing her almost-empty plate away and looking over at him. Her eyes searched his, and he could see the concern flash there. He reached over and took her hand in his, tangling his fingers with hers. “Your entire family was afraid.” She looked down at their joined fingers.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling his heart sink. “I know. My unit was getting ready to head out when we heard the news of the crash.”
Her eyes locked with his, then she surprised him by moving over and climbing onto his lap and kissing him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as afraid before in my life.”
His arms tightened around her. “I know it’s only been…”—he thought about it and laughed—“a few weeks,” he admitted, “but how would you feel about moving in here with me?”
Her smile brightened and he relaxed. “I think I can handle that.” She kissed him again. “Just as long as we do a little more food shopping.”
He chuckled and kissed her again. “It’s a deal.”
That night, as he lay in bed with Kara wrapped around him again, he kept dreaming of the crash. But this time, instead of the wreckage from the helicopter, it was a small blue sailboat with a blue compass rose on its white sails. The small boat was going down fast as he hovered overhead in the rescue helicopter, helplessly watching.
Conner called out to anyone below through the speaker system from his position working the winch. He was just prepared to signal that he was going to have to head down to search the water and the vessel when a man stepped out onto the deck of the small boat and looked up at him with a smile. Then he noticed the name painted on the hull of the boat. He continued to look down at the Dawn-Treader and his grandfather as they both disappeared into the dark ocean waters below.
Conner jolted awake, his heart racing and his mind foggy as to where he was and what had just happened.
“Conner?” Kara’s hand came up to his shoulder as he sat up in bed. “Are you okay?”
After taking a few deep breaths, he laid back down and pulled her into his arms. “Yeah, just…”
“Bad dream?” she asked into his chest.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He kissed the top of her head and started tracing little circles on her bare shoulder.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked in a sleepy voice.
He thought about the dream again and sighed. “I watched my grandfather’s boat going down.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t really make sense, but… I guess part of me wishes he’d had the Coast Guard there to save him. Growing up and hearing the story from my dad about the day we lost grandpa George and my dad lost his hearing, I’ve always wondered why no one had been there to save him.”
She leaned up and looked at him as she rested her chin on her hand that was covering his chest. “Today’s events mixed with your own past?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.” He’d had enough sessions with the on-staff shrink to know that the job was hard and sometimes it messed with your mind. Especially after he’d pulled his first body out of the water. He sighed and pulled her down to kiss her. “Part of me has always wished I could have met the man. After all, he’s the one who molded my dad, aunt, and uncle into who they are and, in turn, they have raised everyone in the Jordan clan.” He smiled thinking of his large family.
Kara’s smile brightened up the darkness of his mind, sending the rest of the dark thoughts retreating even further. He pulled her down and kissed her.
“I really am sorry I woke you.” His hands ran up her back as she arched against him.
“Hm, I think I know of a way you can make it up to me,” she purred as she rolled on top of him.
The following morning, as they were eating breakfast at Sara’s Nook, Kara answered a call from her parents.
Every person he’d run into so far had congratulated him on a successful rescue. Becca even gave him a free coffee and donut, which he quickly scarfed down before enjoying his breakfast quiche.
He remembered as she was talking to her parents that they had dinner planned at his cousin’s place later that evening. For a moment, he thought about trying to get out of the family get-together, but then he remembered the last time he’d tried to get out of a family dinner and knew he’d rather suffer through the evening than suffer through another year of hearing about missing the dinner.
“Okay, see you soon,” Kara said before hanging up her phone.
“Your folks are coming?” he asked.
“Yeah. They wanted to look at the land and meet with Rose and Jacob. I guess they’ve been talking to her about floor plans and options.” She rolled her eyes. “Which I’m sure you’ve been thinking abou
t yourself for your place.”
He frowned. “No, actually, I haven’t even thought about it yet.”
She sighed. “Their visit shouldn’t interfere with our dinner tonight. I’ll have to stop by my place and grab a change of clothes.”
“We can do that after breakfast. What time will they be here?”
“In about an hour. They were on the highway already.”
“Maybe we can meet them up at the job site and then grab some lunch after?” he suggested. Her eyebrows slowly rose. “What?” he asked, curious about the look she was giving him, as if she was trying to figure him out.
She shook her head and then smiled. “Nothing, it’s just…”
Suddenly, he could see a flash of nerves behind her eyes and realized that she was probably nervous about him meeting her parents.
Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. “You do realize that I’ve met your parents before, right? I may not remember every detail of the meetings, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been around them my entire life.”
“Oh?” Her eyebrows shot up and then she sighed. “Right.”
He smiled. “I know you guys have been coming here forever, but this will be the first time with this.” He held up their joined hands.
“Right.” She smiled. “I don’t think that will be an issue. My parents have worshiped all things Jordan for years.”
He chuckled. “Good, then maybe they won’t hate the idea of us living together.”
She bit her bottom lip and winced slightly.
“Or not?” he said.
“Let’s just leave that part out for now,” she suggested. “It’s not that they’re old fashioned or anything, they just wouldn’t want...” She sighed and then chuckled. “Never mind. It’s better if we told them later.”
He shrugged slightly. “They’re your folks. You know them better than I do. But you will let Robin in on it?”
She laughed and nodded. “I’ve already talked to her about moving out.”
“And?” he asked, feeling a little nervous.
“She was excited and happy for me. She claims she’s going to turn my room into an office,” she replied with a grin. “What about your parents?”
