Taking Chances (11 page)

“NOOOO!”
Cringing away she sobbed.

“Jenna, baby what’s wrong? What happened?” Tyler knelt down by her and helped her up.

Sobbing Jenna grabbed onto him. “Tyler this man, he has been following me. He has been behind me for over an hour!
I was having such a good time. I was actually able to walk around by myself I was so happy. Then I saw him. Oh god Ty I need to go to the room.
”
He held her close and felt her shiver.
He gathered her dropped packages and nodded to the man before guiding Jenna back to their suite.

When they got back to the suite Tyler sat her down on the plush couch. He put her bags and package on the chair. He went to the bar and got her a drink of water. Sitting next to her he gave her the drink and let her relax a little.

“Princess the man was following you. But he didn’t mean you any harm. His name is Nathan. Nathan is my head of security for the hotel. When mom and Sara got back and told me you were off on your own I panicked.” Pushing her hair back so he could see her face he continued.

“I couldn’t take the chance that you would have an anxiety attack in not only a strange city but a strange country. I sent him to watch you to make sure you came to no harm.” He saw her reaction to his confession and stopped.

Jumping up off the couch Jenna paced back and forth.

“How dare you do that? I told you that I have to do things at my own pace! I have to be able to do things when I feel I am able to. Did you really think that having some stranger follow me would make me secure? Damn it Tyler you have to trust that I know myself enough to know what I can handle!” She was almost vibrating with anger.

“I love that you want to keep me safe, I am over the moon that you didn’t come running and try to tag along or drag me back to the hotel. But, don’t you know that if something were really wrong I would call you or come running to you?” She stared out the window with her back to him her arms were crossed across her chest.

Turning to look at him he saw that she was really ma
d. “Damn it Ty you promised!”

She marched over to the other side of the room. “I know myself. Yes I have been alone in the city before and had a full on panic attack. Yes it scared the hell out of me. But I managed. I called Aunt Emma and she talked me down enough so I could get home.”

She turned to look at him. “I have had anxiety since I was six years old. That’s twenty years of learning what it does to me and how to best deal with it. Rule number one for me is to surround myself with people who I can trust, who believe in me and let me be who I am
. That means making my mistakes and learning from them. “Jenna walked over to him and fiddled with his tie.

“Today
was a test for me. It was a huge deal. Not only was I living one of my dreams by walking around a beautiful city in a different country but I was actually feeling confident with myself that I could try to do
something by myself. You took that away from me Tyler. Instead of believing in me and trusting that I know how to handle myself, you went ahead and decided to swoop in and be a hero.
I have to do things like that from time to time. However it was kind of a test for you too. You didn’t do so good Ty.”
Tyler could see the pain in her eyes while she let him know how she felt.

“You’re right and I’m sorry. I guess this is a bit of a learning curve for both of us. You should have called me let me know what you were doing. I am not saying you have to check in with me before you do anything. However, if you go off into a situation where I would worry about you, then I will worry about you.
I
promise I will never do anything like that again.
But you have to promise to let me protect you and worry about you.
” He didn’t move just let what he said sink in and hope it would calm her temper.

“I am so sorry. You will never know what happened to me when I saw you come running up to the hotel like that. It ripped me open. The minute I saw your panic I knew. I knew I had done the wrong thing. But the fear of you having a panic attack and not having someone around made me crazy.” He walked over to you and wrapped his arms around her.

“Please baby, please forgive me. I swear we will get this. We will work this out and we will find out what works for us. You are a strong woman. Stronger than you know stronger than I know,
and I don’t give you enough credit for that. When
I look at you I see my love, my fragile princess who needs me to
protect her.
I guess I need to change some of my views.” Jenna smiled weakly up at him.

“Your
right we will manage this. But for now I think I just want to go soak in the tub for
a while.” Running her hand down his chest, she grabbed her things and headed through to the bathroom.

Once he heard the bathroom door closed he cursed himself. How could he have had such little faith in Jenna? Dean and Sara had warned him about this. He headed out of their suite to see if Dean wanted to go grab a drink at the bar downstairs.

Chapter fifteen

Tyler met Dean down in the lounge just past the lobby. He took a seat and ordering a scotch rocks he looked at his friend.

“So I screwed up man. Jenna decided to go off on her own and I
panicked. I couldn’t fathom her being alone and possibly scared or anxious so I had the head of security follow her and she saw him.” He sipped his scotch and waited for Dean to admonish him.

“It’s
hard man. There is something about Jenna that makes you just want to be overprotective. Since the moment I met her I considered her my little sister every bit as much as Sara. There are times when it takes everything I have not to just go charging in and try and solve all her problems.” Dean was drinking his lager and shook his head at his
friend’s troubles.

“The look on her face when I told her what I did was horrible. She looked like I betrayed her.”
He actually shivered at the thought of Jenna being cross with him
or hurt by him.

“She will get over it. You have to realize that even though you two are perfect for each other, you haven’t even known each other a year. There is a learning curve you have to get past. One of the main things we have to keep reminding ourselves is that as much as she needs our help Jenna also wants to be independent.” Dean commiserated
with his friend.

“You have trouble of your own with Sara. Is she still seeing that asshole Dalton?” Seeing the anger in the other man’s face Tyler knew he got his answer.

“Yeah she is still letting him play his games. She really thinks she is in love with him, but he is so afraid of commitment he keeps hurting her. I just want to throttle him every time I see them together. When they are together they are great, then he freaks out and takes off.” Dean took a long swallow of his lager to angry to go on.

After an hour Tyler left his friend to go back upstairs and make sure Jenna would forgive him. He arrived at the
suite
just as dinner was being delivered by the room service waiter.
Letting the waiter in and then following him in, h
e found Jenna surrounded by simple sketches she had done since they left New York.
She looked up at him and smiled.
Once the waiter placed the plates on the table and left Tyler walked over and reached out his hand to help Jenna up.

Jenna was wearing the fluffy hotel bathrobe she was so fond of. She stood in front of Tyler looking mildly forlorn. “I’m sorry I got so mad.”

Tyler reached down and kissed her tenderly. “We were both upset princess. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

Jenna smiled and hugged her fiancé. The walked over to the table by the small bar and enjoyed a meal fish and chips
. Jenna told Tyler about her afternoon with his mother and Sara.

“I found this great little pet store and got Oscar the cutest little things, some squeaky toys and a little Union Jack shirt.” She was laughing at herself while she sipped the wine that accompanied their dinner.

“Oh god,
I’m beginning to see why that little guy is your shadow.” He put down his silverware and stood up. He walked over to a table where there was a bag from his shopping today.

Jenna nearly fell over laughing when Tyler produced a squeaky Big Ben for the little dog.

“He has got you wrapped around his little paw doesn’t he?” She wiped away a tear from her eye as the laughs subsided.

“I can’t
help it. He is a sweet little dog and
we never had pets growing up.” He walked back over and stood behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing lightly. “I think after we get settled we should get another dog.”

Jenna leaned her head back and looked up at Tyler. There was a huge smile on her face. “I would love that. I love animals.”

Jenna stood up and turned around. “And I love you Ty. I am sorry I
worried
you and I am so sorry I freaked out on you. So if that was our first fight. Doesn’t that mean we have to make up now?”

Letting her robe drop Tyler moaned when he saw her nude body. He reached out and pulled her to him. Kissing her and lifting her body so she was settled on the bar. Standing between her spread thighs he loosened and pulled off his tie and tossed it on the floor. His jacket and shirt followed.

Tyler took a step back and grabbed her right foot and kissed the little cartoon koala bear on it. His beautiful sapphire eyes never left hers while he kissed his way up her leg. Jenna giggled when he nipped at the inside of her knee. Kissing his way up her thigh he moaned when he reached her sweet spot. He winked and started to taste her. Pleasure
her with his tongue and fingers.

Jenna was pulling his hair and moaning loudly. Before she reached completion he pulled back winking and pulling her to him. She wrapped her legs around him locking him close to her. Kissing him deeply
Jenna reached down and opened his pants and wrapped her hand around his hard flesh. Stroking him he guided her to her opening. He pushed forward and filled her. Ty threw his head back and let loose an animalistic growl. The couple moved together hard and
fast, they were t
ouching tasting and pleasing each other.

Finding their pleasure together, Jenna held tight to Tyler’s strong body. After a moment used to catch their breath Tyler carried Jenna through to the bedroom. The couple lay together in bed, happy and sated.

“If that is how we make up after I piss you off then I think that I will aggravate you daily.” Tyler laughed at his own joke until she pinched his nipple.

When the laughter subsided Tyler stared at the ceiling and ran his fingers up and down Jenna’s arm.

“Will you tell me what it’s like Jen? I have wanted to ask you that for a while but have been to, well, I was too afraid to pry that far into your affairs.” Rolling on his side to face her he waited to hear her reply.

“What is an anxiety attack like?” Taking a deep steadying breathe Jenna looked for the right words to use.

“They are all different but there are several telltale signs that one is coming. My heart starts to beat real fast, my mind races with hundreds of different thoughts, I start to breathe a little heavier you know like I’ve been working out.
I also have a tendency to get paranoid, like everyone is looking at me and judging me and waiting for me to do something wrong. That’s a big reason I don’t want to let it known that I am an artist because the fear of failure and making a fool of myself.
” Resting her head on her hands she looked into his eyes while they lay face to face.

“When an attack actually hits hard like the one
I had before we came here, that is, well it’s very intense. My heart beats like it wants to burst right out of my chest. My mind is all foggy like I’ve had too much to drink and I get this sense that everything will go wrong. Sometimes I even feel like I could die. An anxiety attack is physically and mentally exhausting.” She could see the emotion in his eyes but he let her continue.

“It’s been so long that I can pretty much tell when one is coming. I know what pace I have to take things at when I’m trying new things. Like today I saw a store I wanted to go into for something I want to give to your parents and I was feeling happy and confident and most importantly I was comfortable with where I was and what I had to do. So, I felt safe doing what I had to do. That was until I felt like I was being followed.
” Smiling at Tyler she reached out and touched his face.

“I told you from the start, I am a handful. Are you ready to spend your life with me?” Moving closer to him, she burrowed in close to Tyler’s chest and felt at ease.

“I want to spend my life with you and do everything I can to make sure you don’t suffer any unnecessary attacks.
I am going to see that you get what you want, always
. "
Wrapping his arms around her, they fell asleep peacefully