JoJo held out her hand for Roscoe to sniff.
After investigating her hand, he let out a slight yipping sound and jumped up on her.
JoJo fell backward on her bottom.
“Are you sure you want this dog?” Kujo asked, giving her a hand up.
“Yes,” JoJo said. “I owe this dog my life.” She bent and tentatively wrapped her arms around the dog and hugged it close.
Roscoe didn’t seem to mind. He rested his chin on her shoulder and panted.
“Thank you for saving me,” JoJo whispered into the dog’s ear.
Max stepped up beside JoJo and the dog.
JoJo looked up at the former Special Operations soldier. “Looks like we have a dog.” She was so happy, she didn’t care who was watching. She flung her arms around Max’s neck, leaned up on her toes and kissed Max.
“What was that for?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“You and Roscoe have something in common,” she said.
Max cocked an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? And what would that be?”
“You both saved my life.”
Max chuckled. “Whew, I thought for a moment you’d say we smell like each other.” He winked.
JoJo shook her head. “It’s a good thing I don’t love you for your jokes. You’d never make a living as a comedian.”
“You mean my stand-up comedy isn’t even getting a chuckle out of you?”
“Nope,” JoJo said.
Max’s eyebrows drew downward into a V. “Wait. What was it you said?”
JoJo’s opened her eyes wide, looking all innocent, her cheeks heating. “About you never making a living as a comedian?”
“No, the part about not loving me for my jokes.” He pulled her into his arms. “Does that mean you love me for some other reason?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” She twisted her lips.
Max’s frowned deepened. “So what does it mean?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up into his eyes. “It means I love you for all the other reasons I could possibly name.”
He laughed and hugged her tight. “I thought you didn’t think we could fall in love in such a short timeframe.”
“Like you said…when you know you know.” She leaned up on her toes. “I hope you like me, and I hope you like dogs. I’m a package deal.” She rested her hand on Roscoe’s head. “Me and Roscoe.”
Max kissed her and stared into her eyes. “I’ll take the package deal. I love you, JoJo. I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know everything there is to know about you.”
“And I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know you,” she said. “I feel like my life has been on hold. Until I met you. I’ve faced my fears and conquered them because of you. Now, I want to embrace my life and move on.”
Max rested his forehead against hers. “As long as you move on with me, I’ll be happy.”
THE END
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Breaking Silence
Delta Force Strong Book #1
New York Times & USA Today
Bestselling Author
Chapter 1
Had he known they would be deployed so soon after their last short mission to El Salvador, Rucker Sloan wouldn’t have bought that dirt bike from his friend Duff. Now, it would sit there for months before he actually got to take it out to the track.
The team had been given forty-eight hours to pack their shit, take care of business and get onto the C130 that would transport them to Afghanistan.
Now, boots on the ground, duffel bags stowed in their assigned quarters behind the wire, they were ready to take on any mission the powers that be saw fit to assign.
What he wanted most that morning, after being awake for the past thirty-six hours, was a cup of strong, black coffee.
The rest of his team had hit the sack as soon as they got in. Rucker had already met with their commanding officer, gotten a brief introduction to the regional issues and had been told to get some rest. They’d be operational within the next forty-eight hours.
Too wound up to sleep, Rucker followed a stream of people he hoped were heading for the chow hall. He should be able to get coffee there.
On the way, he passed a sand volleyball court where two teams played against each other. One of the teams had four players, the other only three. The four-person squad slammed a ball to the ground on the other side of the net. The only female player ran after it as it rolled toward Rucker.
He stopped the ball with his foot and picked it up.
The woman was tall, slender, blond-haired and blue-eyed. She wore an Army PT uniform of shorts and an Army T-shirt with her hair secured back from her face in a ponytail seated on the crown of her head.
Without makeup, and sporting a sheen of perspiration, she was sexy as hell, and the men on both teams knew it.
They groaned when Rucker handed her the ball. He’d robbed them of watching the female soldier bending over to retrieve the runaway.
She took the ball and frowned. “Do you play?”
“I have,” he answered.
“We could use a fourth.” She lifted her chin in challenge.
Tired from being awake for the past thirty-six hours, Rucker opened his mouth to say hell no. But he made the mistake of looking into her sky-blue eyes and instead said, “I’m in.”
What the hell was he thinking?
Well, hadn’t he been wound up from too many hours sitting in transit? What he needed was a little physical activity to relax his mind and muscles. At least, that’s what he told himself in the split-second it took to step into the sandbox and serve up a heaping helping of whoop-ass.
He served six times before the team playing opposite finally returned one. In between each serve, his side gave him high-fives, all members except one—the blonde with the blue eyes he
