“Is there a train club or something?” Coop asked, and rough laughter escaped Jake—the first real chuckle he’d made since getting the frantic call from his mom.
“Guess we’ll find out, right, Baby Girl?” Jake’s question washed over me, and I tilted my head back to smile at him.
“Maybe. You might have to earn it.” Humor flashed through his pale blue eyes, along with heat, and he gave me a squeeze. All too soon, we were stepping aboard, and the guys stayed out there on the platform as we moved through the car to our seats. Jake had our backpacks, and he stored them before ushering me into the window seat and sliding into the seat next to me.
His humor dried up as he locked his hand around mine and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. The softness of his beard brushed my knuckles a split second before his mouth did. I squeezed his hand and then tucked my head against his shoulder. This wasn’t the adventure we planned, and I was worried about him and his dad. I’d just met Hank, and it made me heartsick to think of something happening to him.
Jake and his dad had just started talking again. None of this was fair. Worse, we didn’t know how bad the accident was, other than his dad needed surgery and there had been some kind of crash.
Klara hadn’t been able to reveal details. Military protocol, I guessed. But I’d heard the worry in her voice, and so had Jake. His face had tightened and the look in his eyes—No.
Jake’s dad had to be all right. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell Jake he would be. I couldn’t tell him what I didn’t know. So I settled for whispering, “I’m here, every step of the way.”
He kissed the top of my head and sighed. “I know, Baby Girl.”
Then the train began to move and we were out of the station, picking up speed, leaving the rest of our family behind us.
The Eurostar had us back in Paris in a little over two hours. Jake hadn’t said much on the ride, though he had fished out my Kindle and we pulled up a book to read. We’d finished the Hannaford Prep books a while back, and he’d read most of MK with me. So we loaded up the new rec from Rachel.
“Those guys are dicks,” was his only comment about Dean and the other boys. But I was rather fond of Avalon, even if she was kind of a dick herself. But he read right along with me, and if nothing else, the book distracted him. He only checked his phone three times.
In Paris, Jake let me carry my own backpack while he handled the single suitcase and his backpack. We made our way to our next train, which didn’t depart for an hour. “Hungry?”
“No,” he said almost automatically, then glanced at me. “But you should eat.”
There was a little café beyond the platforms where we picked up some pastries. He ate because I kept pulling my croissants apart and feeding him. The coffee was shit but we drank it, and then we were back to board the next train on time. Archie had booked us first class cars all the way.
Luggage stowed and in our new seats, I glanced at Jake. “More book, or would you rather watch a movie?”
He curled a lock of my hair around his finger. “Book is fine, Baby Girl, unless you want to watch a movie.”
I rolled my eyes, and he tugged the hair gently. “I asked first.”
“True, but right now, it’s easier to not think because then I start wondering why we haven’t heard anything more. Has he really been in surgery all night? Is Klara just exhausted? It’s the middle of the night at home, but Mom is probably pacing, waiting to hear from me too.”
She hadn’t told Jake’s sisters, yet. She wanted more information before she broke the news to them. On the one hand, I understood it. On the other, I didn’t envy her that experience.
“Book then. We were just getting to the good part.”
He laughed softly. “Thank you for coming with me, Baby Girl.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” Not while he was hurting. Not when he needed me. It was one thing when everything was fine. But it wasn’t fine. “And he’s going to be all right. That’s what we have to tell ourselves until we know different.”
He nodded. “I keep telling myself that, but so far, I think I’m full of shit. You tell me, and I’ll believe you.”
I locked gazes with him. “He’s going to be all right. From what your mom says and what I’ve seen, you and your dad are a lot alike. You’re too stubborn by half.”
A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Says the most stubborn girl I know.”
“And you out stubborned me, so what does that say?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again, a thoughtful look on his face “All right, you might have a point,” he conceded.
Smiling, I settled the Kindle between us, and when he tucked his arm around me, I leaned my head against his shoulder. The gentle rub of his cheek against my hair hopefully gave him as much comfort as he offered me.
We were almost to our destination when Avalon kicked the crap out of Dean after he was a real dick.
“That’s some real-life girl goals right there,” I murmured, and Jake’s whole body shook with laughter.
“Trust me, Baby Girl, anyone treats you like that and I’ll beat them to a pulp for you, but I promise to keep up your fight training. I like you being a little badass.”
Pleasure speared me. I loved that Jake loved me strong. More, I loved that he laughed.
“But don’t get any ideas about that dick piercing. I don’t care how many of these assholes you read about with them.”
“I
