Page 42 of Protecting Josie
For some reason, Josie felt herself blushing. As Nate joined them after saying goodbye to his twin and the other Night Stalkers, she realized what a good group of men she’d ended up with. They were loyal, friendly, and kind of badass. No, not kind of—very badass. She hadn’t forgotten how they’d broken her and Nate out of their prison cells, and how they’d been all…soldier-y as they’d crept through the town before all hell broke loose and they’d had to split up.
“Sorry, that took longer than I thought it would. Tate and his crew are headed to the States. Back to Norfolk, Virginia, where they’re currently living. Since he lost his chopper, he’llhave to be issued a new one, then work with the mechanics to get it outfitted and running the way he likes it.”
“Lost it? Is that what they’re going with?” Preacher asked with a snort.
Nate smiled. “Uh-huh.”
He looked almost boyish when he smiled. Josie liked all his sides. Serious, intense, deadly, joking, sleepy, concerned about her…but especially this one. The teasing one.
“Let’s get off this hunk of junk. I’m ready to see Wren,” Safe said.
Everyone leaned down to pick up their duffle bags, and Josie felt weird that she didn’t have anything other than the clothes on her back…and her little metal cup that Nate had insisted on keeping in his pocket. He’d claimed it was good luck, and he promised not to let anything happen to it.
Since Josie trusted him, she hadn’t protested. It wasn’t as if she had a bag of her own to put it in. And no pockets in the sweatpants she was still wearing.
They walked across the deck toward a waiting plane. She wasn’t thrilled about the procedure for taking off from the moving ship, but she wasn’t about to complain. The thought of being back on solid ground in the States was enough motivation for her to do whatever was asked of her.
Twenty-four hours later, Josie was done. Done with traveling. Done with being polite. Done with being patient. Done with being social. It made no sense, when it wasn’t so long ago that she would’ve done anything to be around other people. Butafter the stressful trip to Germany, then being poked and prodded, and told she was malnourished and anemic—duh—by a doctor at the military hospital who’d had a tendency to talk about her as if she wasn’t right there in the room with him, simply because she wasn’t speaking, and then the long flight back to California with a plane full of other sailors and soldiers who werealsoon their way home, Josie longed for a bit of alone time.
She was also feeling…off. She hadn’t been part of regular society for so long, just being in Nate’s car as he drove them to his house was nerve-wracking. It was dark, she had no idea what time it was, but even the few cars on the road with them were freaking her out.
“Breathe, Josie. We’ll be at my place in a few minutes. Then you can relax.”
She wasn’t surprised Nate was so in tune with her. He’d stayed right by her side throughout their travels. He’d given her the window seat on the flight to Germany, sitting in the middle even though he’d looked completely cramped in the small seat. His hand stayed on the small of her back as they walked to and from planes, and through the military hospital in Germany. He’d hadn’t been allowed to stay in the room with her while she was examined, and just being away from him for that small period of time almost sent Josie over the edge.
She was tired, cranky, and almost sick with worry about what would happen next. Had she made the right decision to come to California? Maybe she should’ve gone back to her apartment in Vegas. Although she wasn’t even sure she still had a place to live there. She’d been gone long enough thather landlord probably thought she’d left him high and dry, and who knows what had happened to her stuff.
Panic was setting in. What if all her things were gone? Sold? Trashed? It wasn’t as if she had anything valuable, but the pictures, the sentimental doodads, the clothes she’d spent hours searching for that finally fit her perfectly after some alterations. She didn’t want to start over. Didn’t know how to evenbeginto do that. And she needed to contact her boss, make sure she still had a job.
“Josie, what’d I just say?Breathe,” Nate ordered firmly.
Looking over at him, she could just make him out in the glow of passing cars and the streetlights they drove under.
“I know today has been trying, but we’re almost home.”
Josie wanted to snort. Trying. Right. That wasn’t the word she would’ve used. But…she really shouldn’t complain. No one had told her she had to fork over a credit card before she could get on any of the planes. She had a passport, and she was alive and free.
“I live in an apartment. It’s nothing fancy. I want to buy a house someday, but with my job, it doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do right now. Remi used to live in the same complex, but she moved in with Kevlar. When we get there, you don’t have to do anything. You can just sit and acclimate. Trust me when I say that I understand how you’re feeling. It’s noisy here, isn’t it? Cars honking, engines, thumping radios. Even though it sucked being in that cell, being around all these people seems…chaotic.”
Josie did as ordered and took a deep breath. He was right. It felt as if her entire life was spinning out of control, and she prided herself onalwaysbeing in control. She hadn’t been ableto control anything that happened to her for weeks, and even after she was free, she still felt as if she was being told what to do by everyone around her. She hadn’t had any choices…except to come to California with Nate. Which felt right.
And just like that, she relaxed a bit.
“Here we are,” he announced as he pulled into a parking lot. While the apartments seemed older, they didn’t look run down. And the lot was well lit. Not that it mattered.
Josie wasn’t afraid of the dark. She’d spent her time in captivity in almost total darkness, so her demons didn’t stem from a lack of light. Being on the water, yes. Not having access to food or something to drink, yes. The dark, no.
Nate pulled into a space and shut off the truck’s engine.
“I’ll come around,” he told her, opening his door.
She waited for Nate to walk around the truck without complaint. He opened her door, and a small chuckle escaped his lips. “I need to get a step stool for you so you don’t break your neck getting in and out,” he murmured. Looking down, Josie saw that she was pretty high off the ground. Being short had its drawbacks, and this was one of them.
The second she had the thought, she took it back when Nate’s arms closed around her and he lifted her off the seat and placed her feet on the ground. Being in his embrace didn’t suck.
Nate grabbed his duffle bag out of the bed of the truck and held out his hand.
Josie didn’t hesitate to take it as he led them toward one of the doors on the first floor of the complex. He pulled keys from his pocket, unlocked the door, then pushed it open for her. “After you,” he said.
