After hearing about the sleepover Kenna and the other women had at his condo, and about some of the more memorable customers—for both good and bad reasons—that she’d served recently at Duke’s, and how well she’d gotten to know Robert and the other security employees, Aleck was deeply satisfied, and grateful, that he’d found someone like her.
The clock was inching toward the time when he needed to leave for the base for the initial AAR—after-action review. The team and their superior officers needed to go over what had happened in Iran, and why and how things could be done better in the future, both by the team and those who planned the missions. Kenna also needed to get home to get ready for her shift at Duke’s.
“You get off at your regular time tonight, right?” Aleck asked.
“Barring anything crazy happening, yes. Why?”
“If it’s all right, I’d like to come to your place tonight.”
Kenna was snuggled up against his side, and Aleck had his arm over her shoulders. She tilted her head so she could see his face. “But you said you have to work all day for the rest of the week. It’s a long drive from my apartment to the base.”
“It’s not that far. I mean, people commute from all over the island to the Naval base,” he said.
“Still…” Kenna protested.
Aleck felt his stomach clench. Did she not want him to stay at her place?
“Here’s the thing,” he said softly. “Now that I’ve spent the night holding you in my arms, I don’t really want to sleep by myself if I don’t have to. I know there will be plenty of times when we have no choice, but driving an extra ten or so miles is nothing when it means I get to see you after your shift and hold you as I sleep.”
Kenna just stared at him, and Aleck couldn’t read her expression.
“If you’d rather I didn’t, say the word,” he said.
Her eyes widened and she immediately shook her head. “No! It’s not that. I mean, yes, I’d freaking love it if you stayed the night. But wouldn’t it make more sense for me to come here? I don’t have to get up early tomorrow and you do.”
Relief swept through Aleck. “You’re a seriously independent woman.”
She looked confused at the topic change. “Yeah,” she agreed.
“You’ve been on your own a long time. You’re perfectly able to take care of yourself. It’s more than obvious…but I have to admit that I still don’t like the idea of you driving out here after dark.”
Kenna frowned slightly.
He went on. “If you come here after you get off work, it’ll be late. I’ll be in my meeting by the time you leave to go to Duke’s, so I can’t drive you there. It’s probably not a good idea for me to pick you up, because then your car will be in the garage in Waikiki all night. I could come to your place and pick you up after you get home, and bring you back here, but if I’m going to drive out there, I might as well stay. I just…I’ve thought about you for six weeks, and being with you relaxes me in a way I can’t fully explain. You calm the demons in my head.”
“Marshall,” Kenna whispered.
“But if you’re not ready for regular sleepovers, that’s okay,” Aleck tried to reassure her. “I’ll do what I can to see you as much as possible some other way. I don’t want to go back to the way we were before I left though. Seeing you once a week just isn’t going to be enough.” He finally took a breath, realizing how fast he’d been talking, as if that would help convince her.
“You done?” Kenna asked with a small smile.
“I’m done,” he confirmed a little sheepishly.
“I would love it if you came over tonight. My place is nothing like this one, but anytime you want to come over, you’re welcome to. There aren’t any kick-ass security guards like Robert, and there’s no beach to lie on, but I do have a pretty amazing beanbag,” she said.
“I love you,” Aleck blurted. He refused to feel bad for saying the words so early in their relationship.
“I love you too,” she returned a little shyly.
“You think you love me or you know you love me?” he prodded.
She smiled confidently. “I know I do. I’ve known it for a while. But last night I was feeling off-kilter, I think. I was blown away that you could actually love me back.”
Aleck leaned down and kissed her gently. As much as he wanted to push her back on the couch and show her physically how much he cared about her, they didn’t have time. So he kept his kiss light. “If you text me a bit before you’re done working, I can head out there and meet you at your apartment.”
“I’ll make a copy of my key this afternoon before I go to work,” Kenna said. “So you can come and go as you want. I also don’t have a nifty biometric lock. You’re going to have to deal with a regular ol’ key.”
Aleck closed his eyes and let the warm feeling from her words flow through him for a moment.
“Marshall?”
“I’m good,” he said without opening his eyes. “I’m just memorizing this moment.”
He felt her shift next to him and then straddle his thighs. He opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with Kenna. She used one hand to grip his nape, the other on his cheek. He felt surrounded by her, and immediately wrapped her in his arms, holding her close. If this was how she felt with his hand on her nape, it was no wonder she liked it. It was an intimate hold, and he loved how it felt.
“I am independent,” she said. “I’ve been on my own a long time. I pay my own rent, buy my own groceries, make my own decisions about where to work, who my friends are, and what to do in my spare time. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you in my life as much as possible. Sometimes it’s lonely being independent. I didn’t realize how much until I met you. I’ve been driving in the dark for years, and no one has ever said a word about it. I like that you’re worried about me. I like that you want to make things as easy as possible for me. But I feel that way about you too. You work damn hard, and I never want to add to the stress in your life.”
“You don’t,” Aleck told her without thinking twice about it.
“Well, things are still new with us,” she said with a smile, running her thumb over his clean-shaven cheek. It felt a little odd after having a beard for so long, but he wasn’t sorry he’d shaved it off. He liked being able to feel her touch against his skin.
“You are not an added stress in my life,” he insisted. “And I have a feeling you never will be. I don’t care if we’ve been together a month or forty years. I know how damn lucky I am to have you, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to not fuck it up…and to spoil you as well. Driving an extra twenty to thirty minutes to go to work is completely worth it if it means I get to say goodnight in person and wake up next to you in the morning.”
“You’re too good to me,” Kenna whispered.
“No such thing,” Aleck said.
Her fingers flexed on his neck, and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently.
After a moment, she said, “Feel free to bring some stuff over so you don’t have to worry about bringing a bag all the time.”