Page 32 of Finding Kenna
“And?”
She wasn’t sure what he was asking, but she decided to be honest. “And it was crowded. One of the tourists threw up on the short boat ride out of the memorial. People were talking loudly and being kind of rude.”
Marshall nodded as if he wasn’t surprised. “Wait there,” he said, getting out of the Jeep. He walked around to her door and opened it, holding out his hand. Kenna took it and let him help her out. But instead of letting go, he tightened his hold and started walking toward a tiny path in the trees.
Kenna followed him without question. She supposed maybe it wasn’t smart to let a man she’d only known a week lead her into what looked like a thick copse of trees, but she trusted Marshall.
They hadn’t walked very long before he turned off the small path and headed through some bushes. Thankful she’d worn her sneakers because of the mud under her feet, Kenna ducked her head and followed Marshall’s lead without a word.
Twenty seconds or so later, he stepped out of the undergrowth onto a rocky patch of shoreline. The tide gently lapped at the rocks and he gestured in front of him. “This is my favorite view of the memorial,” he said softly.
Looking up, Kenna gasped. Right in front of her was the USS Arizona Memorial. The one she’d taken a boat to when she’d visited it. She was now looking at it from the other side. She could hear birds chirping and, in the distance, children playing on a playground somewhere.
“Here, sit,” Marshall said, nodding to a large flat boulder on the shoreline.
Without taking her eyes from the memorial, Kenna sat. It was more than obvious Marshall had been here before. He sat next to her on the rock and she leaned against him. They didn’t talk, just absorbed the view.
After a while, Marshall spoke. “I come here sometimes when I get frustrated with the Navy. When it feels as if what I’m doing doesn’t make a difference. I look at that memorial and remember that I’m doing important work. If we can eliminate one enemy who might come over to America to try to kill as many people as he can, then what I do is worth it. If my team and I can take out a terrorist leader who might be planning a sabotage like the one that happened here in nineteen forty-one, it’s worth all the angst and hardship.
“I’m only one man, but so were each and every one of the men who died on that ship all those years ago. They had loved ones, doubts, and they were all still serving their country on the brink of war. I respect them, and being here helps ground me.”
Kenna gripped his hand harder. “I’m proud of you,” she told him softly. “Just like I’m proud of those men under the waves that I never knew. They had families who worried about them, worried what the war would mean for them. While I have a feeling I’ll never be all that comfortable when you head off on a mission, that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of you for doing it in the first place.”
Marshall nodded.
They sat on the rock, listening to the waves splashing at the shore lazily for a while longer.
“You ready to go?” Marshall asked.
She wasn’t, but Kenna nodded anyway. He had to get back to work and couldn’t sit out here with her all day. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Anytime. I mean that. If you need a break, just let me know and I’ll bring you out here and you can hang with my homies as long as you want.”
Kenna laughed. “Your homies? Who talks like that?”
“Well, no one. But it made you smile,” Marshall said.
“It did.”
He stood and pulled her up next to him. The ground must’ve been uneven, because he seemed taller by more inches than usual. He looked down at her with an intense expression on his face.
“What?” Kenna whispered.
“I want to kiss you but I’m trying to decide if it would be weird. If it’s too soon.”
“It’s not too soon,” she encouraged.
She saw his lips quirk upward before his head lowered. Kenna went up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway.
The second their lips met, she jolted as if she’d been tased, but she didn’t pull away.
God, this man was lethal.
His head tilted and one of his hands came up to rest on the nape of her neck. He didn’t grab her, didn’t force her head one way or another; his large palm just rested on her skin. Goose bumps broke out on her arms as he slowly and tenderly kissed her. His mouth sipped at hers, and when she thought she was going to go crazy, his tongue licked along the seam of her lips.
She opened to him eagerly. Even then, he didn’t get aggressive. He lazily twirled his tongue with hers as they learned what each other liked. Truth be told, Kenna liked everything about this man. She pushed her tongue into his mouth, and he let her take control of the kiss.
When it felt like she might pass out from lack of oxygen, Marshall finally pulled back. But his hand stayed on her nape. He stared down at her as if she was a mythical creature. “I didn’t think this place could get any more special,” he said. “I was wrong.”
