question my leadership unless you are willing to back it up.”
“I’m willing, you son of a bitch,” Kirk said, grabbing Jack’s arm and throwing a punch at his jaw.
Jack responded with a punch to Hamm’s gut that dropped Hamm back in his seat. The tension exploded around him as Jack and Kirk slugged it out. Jack used the fight to clear his head until they were both bloody and Kirk was forced on his ass. Jack glanced around at his men.
“Do I really seem like I’ve changed?”
All the men muttered no and went back to checking their weapons. The tension on his team had dissipated.
Jack had needed the fight as much as Kirk had. The guys were used to cursing and acting like men, but with the woman around they were trapped in the manners that had been drilled into them since they’d entered boot camp.
Even Jack had a hard time letting go with the women around. They were changing the dynamic of his team. And he knew it was a new world and one that they had to get used to.
Women could do just about any job these days, but that didn’t mean men were ready for it.
Well, not all men, he thought. But he wondered if he’d ever really be able to accept the fact that a woman like Anna could defend herself. He had spent a lifetime protecting people he didn’t know, and now that he’d found a woman he wanted to protect…she didn’t need him for that.
Chapter Six
“C an I talk to you?” Anna said, taking Jack by the hand and drawing him through the sprawled knot of his men toward the bedroom at the back of the plane.
She heard Charity offering first aid to Kirk, who had a broken nose and bloodied lip. Jack didn’t look much better. Anna was angry at herself for thinking he was more than the savage he seemed.
Justine had said that men just needed time to settle things between themselves, and, to be honest, Anna knew that, but Jack’s team operated at a level above hers. And physically kicking your own team member’s ass wasn’t something she understood.
She was angry at Jack for not being the man she’d been hoping he would be. But she wasn’t surprised. Deep inside she knew that any man who looked and acted the way he did was a savage.
She let go of him once they were in the bedroom, and she closed the door. “Have a seat.”
“I’ll stand, thanks,” he said, wiping his hand over the back of his lip.
“What was that about?”
“A little matter needed to be settled.”
“And talking wouldn’t work?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said, walking around her to the bathroom. She watched him wash his face and realized she had no idea why she’d brought him in here, except…
No idea….
“I don’t understand you.”
“Maybe you aren’t supposed to.”
“Jack, don’t be more difficult than you already are.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. Why didn’t you just talk to Kirk or let him think about whatever was between you two?”
“Sometimes getting physical is the only answer, babe. Haven’t you found that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not a physical person. I’d rather pump some raucous music and give my emotions free rein.”
He shook the water off his hands and glanced over at her. “You’ve never gone into the gym and hit the punching bag?”
“Well, sometimes I go for a run on the treadmill, music screaming in my ears.”
“That works at times, but there are some situations that require a man to step up and settle things the old-fashioned way.”
“How is hitting old-fashioned?” she asked. His lip was swelling, and she was a little worried about him. She brushed by him into the intimate quarters of the bathroom and opened the cabinet above the sink. She pulled a freeze pack out of the first-aid kit, snapped it in half, and rubbed it until it was cold.
“Put this on your lip. It’ll keep the swelling down.”
“Why’d you bring me in here?” he asked.
“Fighting like that in close quarters is dangerous.”
“I know. My guys are used to using aggression to
“I’m willing, you son of a bitch,” Kirk said, grabbing Jack’s arm and throwing a punch at his jaw.
Jack responded with a punch to Hamm’s gut that dropped Hamm back in his seat. The tension exploded around him as Jack and Kirk slugged it out. Jack used the fight to clear his head until they were both bloody and Kirk was forced on his ass. Jack glanced around at his men.
“Do I really seem like I’ve changed?”
All the men muttered no and went back to checking their weapons. The tension on his team had dissipated.
Jack had needed the fight as much as Kirk had. The guys were used to cursing and acting like men, but with the woman around they were trapped in the manners that had been drilled into them since they’d entered boot camp.
Even Jack had a hard time letting go with the women around. They were changing the dynamic of his team. And he knew it was a new world and one that they had to get used to.
Women could do just about any job these days, but that didn’t mean men were ready for it.
Well, not all men, he thought. But he wondered if he’d ever really be able to accept the fact that a woman like Anna could defend herself. He had spent a lifetime protecting people he didn’t know, and now that he’d found a woman he wanted to protect…she didn’t need him for that.
Chapter Six
“C an I talk to you?” Anna said, taking Jack by the hand and drawing him through the sprawled knot of his men toward the bedroom at the back of the plane.
She heard Charity offering first aid to Kirk, who had a broken nose and bloodied lip. Jack didn’t look much better. Anna was angry at herself for thinking he was more than the savage he seemed.
Justine had said that men just needed time to settle things between themselves, and, to be honest, Anna knew that, but Jack’s team operated at a level above hers. And physically kicking your own team member’s ass wasn’t something she understood.
She was angry at Jack for not being the man she’d been hoping he would be. But she wasn’t surprised. Deep inside she knew that any man who looked and acted the way he did was a savage.
She let go of him once they were in the bedroom, and she closed the door. “Have a seat.”
“I’ll stand, thanks,” he said, wiping his hand over the back of his lip.
“What was that about?”
“A little matter needed to be settled.”
“And talking wouldn’t work?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said, walking around her to the bathroom. She watched him wash his face and realized she had no idea why she’d brought him in here, except…
No idea….
“I don’t understand you.”
“Maybe you aren’t supposed to.”
“Jack, don’t be more difficult than you already are.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. Why didn’t you just talk to Kirk or let him think about whatever was between you two?”
“Sometimes getting physical is the only answer, babe. Haven’t you found that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not a physical person. I’d rather pump some raucous music and give my emotions free rein.”
He shook the water off his hands and glanced over at her. “You’ve never gone into the gym and hit the punching bag?”
“Well, sometimes I go for a run on the treadmill, music screaming in my ears.”
“That works at times, but there are some situations that require a man to step up and settle things the old-fashioned way.”
“How is hitting old-fashioned?” she asked. His lip was swelling, and she was a little worried about him. She brushed by him into the intimate quarters of the bathroom and opened the cabinet above the sink. She pulled a freeze pack out of the first-aid kit, snapped it in half, and rubbed it until it was cold.
“Put this on your lip. It’ll keep the swelling down.”
“Why’d you bring me in here?” he asked.
“Fighting like that in close quarters is dangerous.”
“I know. My guys are used to using aggression to
Similar Books
