Protecting Jessyka (SEAL of Protection) (Volume 6) Read Free Page A

thrown in. But it wasn’t over-the-top. It looked delicious. If Jessyka had a man who looked at her like those men looked at their women, she didn’t think she’d ever give him up.
    “Don’t know.”
    “What?”
    The man smiled at her as if he knew she had slipped into a daydream for a moment. “I said, I don’t know where my friends are. They’re probably all at home with their women.”
    “Then why are you here?” Jess paused, then blushed. “Oh, never mind. Sorry. Yeah, why does any single man come to the bar? I’ll just . . .” Her embarrassed words were cut short.
    “I’m not here to pick up a woman, Jess. I’m here to check on you.”
    “Me?” Jess just looked at him incredulously.
    “Yeah, you. I’m worried about you.”
    “Uh, I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t even know me.”
    “Jess, remember what I said earlier in this conversation. I’ve been coming here for a while now. I know your personality has changed over the last few months. I know while you always limp, it’s gotten worse. I know that the last time I saw you, I touched your arm and you flinched. I know you used to wear cute little tank tops and short sleeves, now you’re wearing a damn turtleneck. This is Southern California and I can’t remember the last time I’ve even seen someone wearing a fucking turtleneck. I’m a Navy SEAL, gorgeous, I’ve been trained to be observant. Maybe someone else wouldn’t notice, but I have. I don’t like it when women grimace when I touch them. I don’t like knowing why they might do that. So I’m here because I’m worried about you.”
    Jess just stared at the handsome man standing next to her, baffled. As usual, her mouth opened before her brain could stop it. “I don’t even know your name.”
    He smiled and shook his head. “Will you ever stop surprising me?” It was obviously a rhetorical question, because he continued without letting her answer. “I’m Kason. Kason Sawyer.”
    “Is that your real name or nickname?”
    “Real name.”
    After a beat, Jess asked, “Are you going to tell me your nickname? I know you all have them.”
    “No. I don’t like it, but I earned it fair and square. The guys call me by my nickname, but you won’t.”
    “But . . .”
    “Are you all right?”
    “Kason . . .”
    “Don’t lie to me, Jess.”
    “Jessyka!”
    She turned to see the bartender gesturing at her then to the drinks he’d lined up at the waitress station.
    “I gotta go.”
    “When do you get off tonight?”
    Jess stared at Kason for a moment. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. Hell, if she couldn’t trust a Navy SEAL, she couldn’t trust anyone. She was just still confused about why he was there. Jess didn’t actually believe it was because he was worried about her. Yeah, he probably did notice all those things about her, but he didn’t know her. So he couldn’t really be worried about her.
    “Two.”
    “I’ll wait.”
    “Kason . . .”
    “I said, I’ll wait.”
    Jess looked at him for a beat, then turned abruptly and headed for the drinks she had to deliver. She didn’t have time to worry about Kason. He’d get tired of whatever game he was playing and bolt. She had more important things to worry about. Namely, where the hell she was going to live and how she was going to come up with enough money to find a place of her own in nine days.
     

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Benny watched as Jess worked the rest of her shift. Focusing one hundred percent of his attention on her, he could see she was definitely not the same person as he’d met when they first started coming to the bar. Oh, she was still efficient and good at what she did, but she was different.
    She used to touch people all the time. She’d lay a hand on their arm, or she’d touch their hand briefly when they handed her money. She used to laugh more and flirt more. She didn’t smile as much and she didn’t flirt at all.
    She was completely focused on the job at hand . . .