Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(46)

The landscape was changing, slowly. “I can understand that.” Though they seemed like opposites, the women were apparently fast friends. “Holland really likes you.”

Courtney smiled, her eyes lighting up. “I like her, too. She can be so serious sometimes. She needs someone to pull her out of herself. Her job can be a little grim, you know. She needs to be reminded that there’s fun in the world, too. I force her to go out a couple of times a week. Well, I did until the last few weeks.” She shot him a wry grin.

He’d been greedy about his time with Holland and he didn’t intend to change. While he was here, he intended to have Holland to himself as often as he could. “I don’t suppose you could tell your superiors we need another six months or so to get this manual done, huh?”

She leaned forward, a sympathetic expression softening her face. “You don’t want to go back to your ship, do you?”

“I don’t want to leave her.” But he had responsibilities. No matter how much he wanted to stay, he owed his ship and his men another year. He was due to report back in two weeks.

The thought of leaving Holland kicked him in the gut.

“She’ll be fine. I’ll be here and she’ll have her work. The time will fly by. When you get leave, you’ll come back.”

“Do you think she can be happy in that kind of relationship?” It was a question he’d been asking himself nonstop.

“I think she’s capable of handling anything she wants to.”

There was something about the way she phrased that answer that set him on edge. “If she wants to?”

Courtney paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “I think she’s never seen herself as a military wife. Her mom was, and from what I can tell, it didn’t work out so great for her. I was actually surprised she gave you a chance. And I can’t see Holland dealing well with all the press you get.”

“I don’t get too much.” After those first photos of them entering Antoine’s weeks ago, they hadn’t encountered any more press. The paparazzi had moved on to more interesting prey, including his friends. Mad and Gabe were back on a supermodel kick, and it seemed to satisfy the tabloids. He was fairly certain they were doing it to give him a little cover.

“You will as time goes by. I can’t imagine the president isn’t going to give you some high-profile job.”

Zack knew better. He’d already told his friend he refused to be turned into some kind of politician. If he left the military, he would go into private security or some other field. He was not about to get stuck in D.C. No way. No how. “I won’t be taking any high-profile jobs. That’s not for me.”

“Really?” Courtney asked, one brow raised. “Because having the president as a childhood friend usually means a career in politics at some point. I’m sure he needs people around him he can trust.”

Zack needed that badly, and Dax felt a bit guilty for refusing his buddy. He knew Zack had intended for his father to sit on the Joint Chiefs. Dax was lucky he wasn’t eligible due to his rank or Zack and Roman might have browbeaten him into it. Still, maybe he should think about taking a position with Zack. If he couldn’t get a more stationary position with the Navy.

God, he’d just decided. He would leave the Navy for Holland so they could build a life together. He didn’t want to spend years away from her, never sure of when he might see her again. He was at the tail end of his contract. If he didn’t re-up, he could be in D.C. by this time next year. Holland could apply for a transfer and never have to leave NCIS. They could get married, buy a house, start a normal life.

Somehow that didn’t sound so scary anymore.

Courtney was wrong about one thing, though. “If I decide to work for Zack, that will likely be the end of my paparazzi days. No one cares about old married people.”

“Married?” Courtney’s eyes had gone wide.

He nodded. “Yeah. If I take a job with Zack, it’s because I’m going to get married and start a family, and I don’t want to miss out on my kids’ childhoods. My dad did. He got back as often as he could, but he still missed things. I want to be there for every minute. I can find a way to serve my country and still have my family the way I want it.”

He could do it. He and Holland could make it work.

Courtney sat back. “Wow. I didn’t expect that so fast. You’ve only been with her for a few weeks.”

“But I’ve known her for years. We’ve been circling each other the whole time. This is finally the right time for us.”

“Well, I hope so. She’s not big on marriage. I hope she says yes.”

He was going to make sure she did. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Dax sat back with a smile. He was going to change his whole life for her—for the better. “She will. She doesn’t know it yet, but she loves me.”

Courtney stood up. “You’re a good man, Dax. I hope she realizes what she has in you. I’m going to go and file this.”

Her eyes were suspiciously red as she walked out.

Dax frowned. He did not understand most women. The good news was he did get Holland. And only she mattered.

He picked up the phone to call his mother. He had an engagement to plan.


*

Do you have a description of this man?” Her uncle had gone utterly still the minute she told him about the man who’d been waiting for her in the prison’s parking lot.