Jobe: Alvarez Security Series (18 page)

Not able to believe the turn of events, Jobe lay with her in his arms, her declaration of need still ringing in his ears. The evenness of her breaths told him she had fallen asleep, exhausted by physical exertion, mental strain, and emotional turmoil.
Oh, Jesus, let me be worthy of her forgiveness…and love.

“I love you,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

Not quite asleep, she heard his words.

I
t was late
afternoon by the time Mackenna awoke, sated from sex and sleep. Jobe allowed her the privacy of a shower, knowing that if he saw her naked again they would move straight to shower sex.

Running his hand through his hair, he could feel the pounding fear of the loss of control.
That’s what love is—giving control to someone else knowing that with love comes a helpless feeling.
A few deep breaths later, he looked up as she emerged from the bedroom, wet hair hanging down her back, fresh face and all smiles.

He stood, nervously waiting to see what she would do. He did not have to wait long. As soon as her gaze hit his, she strolled right over…straight into his arms. Wrapping her once again in his embrace, he kissed the top of her head.

“Baby doll?” She gazed expectantly, as he continued, “I thought you’d like to go over to my parents and you can see your mom.”

If he thought the smile she graced him with earlier was incredible, it was nothing compared to the blinding smile that she now bestowed on him.

“Thank you,” she effused, jumping up to kiss his cheek.

He turned his head and captured her lips with his in a deft maneuver. When the kiss reluctantly ended, she saw his smirk.

“You’re good at that,” she accused. “And you’d better not say that practice made perfect.”

“Only with you, doll. Only with you,” he assured.

An hour later, they arrived at his parents’ house. She glanced nervously over at him. “Do you think they’ll know?”

He lifted his eyebrow waiting for her to explain.

“You know,” she said in exasperation. “That we were…um…just had sex.” This last statement came out in a whisper.

“Babe, they don’t have a listening device in my truck so I don’t think you need to whisper.”

“You know what I mean,” she said, giving him a playful slap on the arm.

He saw her nervousness, and his heart melted again. “Mackenna,” he said, gaining her attention. “We can tell them as much or as little as you’re comfortable with.”

Smiling her appreciation, she nodded. “I think I’d like to talk to my mom first before we make a big deal about anything.”

He sobered, realizing that her mom must surely harbor resentment towards him, although she did not show it the other day.
But she’d have to. I mean, I broke her daughter’s heart just when her husband was dying of cancer and then wasn’t around when she had her stroke. If she doesn’t hate me, she must be a saint!

Now nervous himself, he alighted from the truck and walked around to assist Mackenna out. Letting his hand span around her waist, he leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

A scream erupted from the front porch as Rachel turned and called for Penny. “Hurry, they’re here. And praise God, they’re kissing. Our prayers have been answered Joseph—our Jobe has returned to us with Mackenna. Penny, Penny come on,” she continued to scream as she ran down the front steps toward the couple.

“Uh…so much for being able to talk to mom first,” Mackenna said, her eyes worried.

“Oh baby, I’m really sorry,” he blurted, wanting to strangle his mother at that moment. “Ma, shush,” he admonished as she reached them, seeing his father and Penny standing on the front steps now.

“We weren’t ready to let—”

“Nonsense,” Rachel announced, grabbing her son in a heartfelt hug before letting him go so that she could turn and clutch Mackenna in an equally huge hug. “Too much time has been wasted for two people who need each other.”

She tucked Jobe’s arm under one of hers and took Mackenna’s arm under the other, propelling them toward the house.

“Joseph, Penny! Look who’s here,” she yelled.

“Woman, the whole neighborhood can tell who’s here,” he admonished, looking at his son carefully to see how he was taking the attention. Seeing the corners of Jobe’s mouth curve up, he let out a sigh of relief. Clasping Jobe firmly by the hand, he shook it as though he had not seen him in a long time. “Glad to see you again, son. Good to have
you
home.”

Moving over to Mackenna, whose face was bright red, he bent to kiss her cheek. “My darling girl, I’ve not seen that smile in a long time. It does an old man good to see you like this.”

She felt tears spring to her eyes as she realized how much Mr. Delaro knew about his son’s life. “Thank you,” she whispered. Turning, she saw her mom standing with Rachel holding on to her tightly. Whether to support Penny or herself she was not sure.

“Hey, mom,” she said as she moved to hug her.

Penny patted her back and asked, “Ya a-right?”

She nodded against her mom’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m great.”

Standing back she allowed Penny to move toward Jobe. He reached out to steady her, enabling her to stare deeply into his gaze. A lopsided smile beamed across her face and he let out the breath he had been holding. Pulling her in, he gave her a hug, whispering in her ear, “Mrs. Dunn, I’m so sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused.”

She patted his back with her right hand and said, “Ya a goo man, Jobe. Ya a betta man than ya were.” Smiling again, she added, “Age brins wisdom.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, kissing her cheek. “I promise you, no more pain, Mrs. Dunn. I’ll guard her heart with my life.”

Seeing the tears in everyone’s eyes, including her own, spurred Rachel into action. “Dinner! We need to eat. Joseph get your son a beer and the women can head into the kitchen with me. Rebecca, call Hannah and tell her to get her brood over here. We’re celebrating. Miriam, get in the kitchen. We’ve got a meal to fix.”

The dinner turned out to be a crowded affair with nine adults and two children. Mackenna kept an eye on her mom knowing this was much more than she had been used to, but Penny seemed to enjoy the gathering. The Delaro family was loud and boisterous, but the love among the members was palpable.

Jobe managed to get his mother alone for a moment to tell her to not make a big deal about him and Mackenna.

She patted his cheek as she smiled, “I know, baby boy. I was just so happy to see that you two had talked.”

He grinned back, saying, “It’s a start.”

“Ah thin it is mor than a star,” Penny said, walking up behind him smiling.

Jobe turned and allowed Penny to hug him as well. Nodding to his mom, he walked with Penny out to the back deck for a rare moment of privacy.

“Mrs. Dunn, I assume that you have some fears about this. I hurt your daughter once and I know I lost your trust with that. I don’t blame you at all. In fact, if I’m lucky enough to ever have a daughter and someone hurts her as badly as I messed up? I’d pound the shit outta ’em.”

Penny nodded, her genuine smile still in place. “Ah know. But ah prayed ya coul both fin hap-e-ness agan.”

“I won’t go into all of the details, ma’am, and Mackenna can tell you those as you want them, but suffice it to say that when I broke things off, I truly wasn’t in my right mind. The choice seemed right at the time, but it took a while…and honestly, some counseling, to help me see that I was just reacting to a fu—um, messed up situation.”

“Sometime, love ha to fin its own way,” Penny acknowledged.

Just then Mackenna walked out onto the porch, seeing her mother and Jobe deep in conversation. “Hey, you two. Is everything all right?”

Penny stepped over to her daughter, hugging her close and said, “It is now.” Winking at Jobe, she moved inside.

Mackenna walked to the edge of the porch and leaned her hip against the railing as she turned to watch the man in front of her. He did not move. He just stood. Staring.

“You’re beautiful, you know?” he said, softly.

Ducking her head, she smiled as she heard him step closer. And closer. Until his boots were directly in front of her shoes. Lifting her head, her eyes were in line with his massive chest before moving up to his square jaw and beautiful eyes. His muscular arms came to the railing on either side of her, pinning her in.

“Are you okay? With us, I mean?” he asked, concern etched on his face.

She realized that he was suddenly insecure. A smile curved the corners of her mouth as she nodded. “Yeah. I am.”

“Baby doll, everything happened kind of fast and—”

She put her fingers to his lips, shushing him. “Jobe, I didn’t have sex with you just to forget about work.” She glanced to the side for a few seconds before looking up, blushing. “Well, okay, I kind of did. At first,” she quickly added. “But it’s really been building since you came barreling back into my life.”

“So initially, I was just a body?” he said, rubbing his nose along hers temptingly close to her lips.

“Yeah, soldier boy. You got a problem with that?” she purred, jutting out slightly to allow her breasts to just barely rub against his chest.

“No,” he growled. “As long as I’m the only one you come to when you need someone to fuck the stress away.” He captured her giggle in his mouth as he devoured hers, stepping forward until their entire fronts were pressed together, knees to chest.

She soon felt the evidence of his approval and started to move her hand between them to palm his crotch.

With a swift motion, he grasped her hand, stilling it. “Oh no, baby doll. You do this and I’ll be sporting the biggest hard-on you’ve ever seen as we walk back into my mom’s kitchen.” He stepped back, to give his body a chance to cool, as he continued to hold her hand.

Looking back up, she said, “Jobe, just so you know—all kidding aside, I did need you to take away the stress of work, but it was you I needed. Not just anyone, but you. I…I think it’s always been you.”

“Ya’ll coming back in for dessert or just having it out there?” Joseph called out, startling them.

“We’re coming, pop,” Jobe said, throwing his arm around her. Looking down at her sparkling eyes, he said, “Come on, doll. Let’s get mom’s dessert before we go home and have some of our own.”

*

A few days
later, Jobe took Mackenna to the Alvarez picnic—an event that occurred whenever the group felt the need to let off steam and have fun. As they pulled up to the riverside park, she tucked her long hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. Reaching over, he took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You okay, doll? You know all of these people already.”

“I know, but…well, it’s kind of different now,” she replied as she turned to face him. “Have you told them? About us, I mean?”

“I haven’t said anything officially.”

Her expression was one of confusion as she cocked her head to the side and repeated, “Officially?”

Ducking his head, he explained, “Well, let’s just say that for the past couple of days, I’ve been grinning a lot more than usual.”

“Hmm,” she replied with a smile. Sucking in a huge breath, she said, “We’d better go. Several of them are looking over at us.”

Laughing, he got out of the truck and with a wave to his friends, he rounded to her side and opened her door, plucking her out. His eyes scanned the sky-blue t-shirt she wore down to the jeans that fit just right. Her long, thick hair was secured in a low ponytail with the breeze lifting the loose tendrils about her face. Setting her down on the ground, he leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Remember, you’re with friends here.”

She gifted him with her brilliant smile as she linked her fingers with his. He stared down at the public announcement she was making and smiled back as they made their way over to the picnic tables. Both noticed the huge grins on the women’s faces and the nods of approval from the men. He felt her fingers tighten on his and he gave a reassuring squeeze.

They quickly joined the others, where she was engulfed in hugs from Jennifer, Sherrie, and Lily, before being introduced to the rest of the women. BJ’s wife, Suzanne, was there with their toddler twins, as well as Annie, a local veterinarian who was married to Shane. Both Annie and Lily were feeding their babies. Last, a beautiful woman approached offering her a hug as well. Vinny’s fiancé, Annalissa, was a shy musician and McKenna instantly felt a rapport with each of the women.

The men manned the grills while the women set the rest of the food out. Jennifer had already filled in the others about Mackenna’s work with the women from gangs, and the questions flowed. Mackenna had no problem talking about her job and found the others to be comfortable to talk to. Several questioned her badass attempt to handle the threats with a baseball bat.

Mackenna blushed. “Yeah, not my finest moment,” she admitted.

“Well, I think you’re incredibly brave,” Annalissa said softly, with a smile.

Jobe overheard and shouted, “Don’t encourage her!” as the other men nodded, no smiles on their faces.

“You just keep grilling over there and stop eavesdropping,” Sherrie yelled back. The women laughed and continued their conversations.