Keeping Guard

by Sandra Owens

  “Cool beans.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, cool beans. Get in the tub. I’m going out to get us dinner, but I won’t be gone long. Anything special you want?”

  “You.”

  This girl. “You’ll have me all you want tonight.” He tapped her butt. “In the tub with you.”

  “Where’s Lucky? I want Lucky.”

  “He’s at Jack’s. We’ll go get him in the morning. In with you.”

  “I don’t want to be alone. Take a bath with me.”

  The offer was too tempting to refuse. Dinner could wait. “Scoot up,” he said after removing his clothes. He eased in behind her, his legs on the outside of hers. Fortunately, her tub was an oversize Jacuzzi, easily accommodating both their bodies. He turned the jets on low, then leaned back and pulled her against his chest.

  “How are you doing?” She’d been unusually quiet on the trip home, and he’d missed her chatter.

  “Okay. I just want to forget today happened.”

  He rested his chin on the top of her head. “I get that.” He’d felt the same way after his screwup. “You’ll have to talk more about it tomorrow when you sign your statement, but for tonight, just relax and don’t think about anything but how nice this feels.” He picked up a washcloth and poured some of her bodywash on it.

  “Will you sing to me?”

  “Ah...” No, he didn’t sing anymore.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

  He trailed the cloth down one of her arms, and then the other. She purred when he moved to her breasts, then lower. What would never singing again accomplish? It wouldn’t bring Asim or Snoop back. It wouldn’t change anything, but it would make her happy. He liked making her happy, so he sang.

  And as he softly sang “Pretty Woman,” Dr. Meadows’s words came back to him.

  “You have to forgive yourself. No one else can do it for you.”

  Maybe he could figure out how to do that.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “So, what happens now?” Peyton asked after she signed her statement. She’d never been in a police interrogation room before. It was intimidating, and she wasn’t even the one in trouble.

  Deke slid her statement into a folder. “Now you and Lucky are free to go.”

  “I mean with Dalton.” She curled her fingers in the fur on Lucky’s head. She’d wanted Noah with her, but he hadn’t been allowed. Another detective had taken him into a different room to go over his statement. Deke had let Lucky stay with her, and for that, she was grateful.

  It was over, and she should be relieved. She was, really, but she was...unsettled or something. What if Dalton went free? Would he come after her again? If he did, what if she wasn’t as clever the next time?

  “He’ll spend another night in jail at least. Tomorrow he’ll go before a judge. I’m sure he’ll plead not guilty. He’s making noises, trying to blame you for everything, but the evidence doesn’t support that. Not even close, Peyton, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Will you keep him in jail?”

  “The DA will try to get no bail on him. He’ll argue that Dalton is an ongoing threat to you. I think there’s a good chance bail will be denied, especially since he confessed to you that he killed his wife.”

  “Do you think he really did, or was he just trying to scare me?” She almost wished for the latter because what woman wanted to think she’d come close to marrying a murderer? But if that confession kept him locked away, that was a good thing.

  “All I can tell you is that I’ve talked to a detective in Dalton’s hometown, and she’s going to take a closer look at his wife’s death. At the time, it was ruled a suicide.”

  “I think he did it. If you could have seen his face, looked into his eyes when he said it, you’d think so, too.”

  “That’s not something you just make up off the top of your head. I think he’s guilty as hell. We just have to prove it.”

  “What about Thomas Guillain?”

  “We’ve passed his name and what little we know on to the FBI. It’s in their hands now.” He leaned back in his chair. “We’re finished here unless you have more questions.”

  “No, I just want to...” What did she want to do? Not go to work. Her father had already told her to take the day off. She wanted to spend the day with Noah, even if it was at Operation K-9 Brothers loving on some puppies. Her first choice, though, would be at home with Noah, doors locked to the outside world, where she could have her way with him.

  When they walked out of the interrogation room, Noah was leaning against the wall, waiting for her. Gosh, he was beautiful. He smiled, and she walked right into his arms.

  “You okay, princess?”

  She nodded against his chest. She was now.

  * * *

  Nichole had arrived at Operation K-9 Brothers with a large picnic basket in tow, and the four of them were having another picnic. Dakota and Lucky were already here, and she’d brought Rambo and Maggie May with her.

  Noah had needed to come here after they left the police station, and although Peyton’s first choice was for both of them to be naked in her bed, she’d been okay with getting some puppy love. She’d gotten a good hour of puppies licking her, tugging on her clothes, and smelling their milk-sweet breath before Nichole had shown up.

  Rambo and Maggie May were playing tug of war with a rope Jack had tossed them. Peyton smiled at their antics. Dakota and Lucky had positioned themselves at her end of the picnic bench, their alert gazes sweeping the area. They reminded her of sentries.

  “What’s up with these two?” she said.

  Jack glanced at the two dogs. “They’re picking up on your tension, so they’re guarding your six.”

  “My six?”

  Noah wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. “Means they’re watching your back.”

  “I’m not tense.”

  “Yeah, princess, you are. But you’ve earned being tense. I get Dakota picking up on that, but I’m surprised about Lucky.” He glanced at Jack. “Wish I could take that dog home with me.”

  Jack chuckled. “The dog you didn’t want any part of?”

  “Yeah, that one, you sly bastard.” His gaze still on Lucky, he shook his head. “But deployments.”

  Peyton was sure her heart seized when Noah talked about going home. She knew that was coming, and sooner rather than later. But even thinking she was prepared, tears burned her eyes. And deployments? Where he might be killed? She couldn’t...she just couldn’t.

  She didn’t want Noah to see her eyes watering, so she looked around. “Where’s the bathroom?” She needed to get away from the three pairs of eyes suddenly focused on her before they stripped her bare, before they...no, before Noah saw that she wasn’t so okay with him leaving. She couldn’t remember, but she thought she’d promised him she wasn’t looking for...well, she couldn’t remember, so maybe she’d made him promises she’d thought she could keep and maybe she hadn’t.

  Whatever. He wasn’t staying, not even for her.

  “You okay?” Noah said.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” she said, sounding snarkier than she’d intended. Or maybe she had intended to be a bitch. Again, whatever.

  “I’ll show you where,” Nichole said, edging next to her. “Come with me, sweetie.”

  As she walked alongside Nichole, she glanced back. Noah was watching her, and she didn’t like seeing the worry on his face. Worry that she’d put there. He had enough to deal with without her adding to it, so even though she was worried sick thinking of him on deployment, she had to hide it.

  “He’s leaving, and I promised that was okay when the time came,” Peyton blurted as soon as a door closed behind them. She glanced around and frowned. “This isn’t the bathroom.”

  “Did you really need a bathroom or just a place to
rant on how stupid the male population has a knack for being?”

  Peyton snort laughed. “That last part. So, where are we?” It was like being in someone’s living room. There was a leather sofa and two leather recliners, a TV mounted on the wall, and game controls were on the coffee table. Not a space she would have expected a dog therapy place to have.

  “This is the family room. Sometimes a family member will come with the person going through training with their new dog, and they can come in here while the training session is happening.”

  “That’s really thoughtful, having a room like this for them.” She was impressed with what Jack was doing.

  “So, you’re not okay even though you promised you would be?” Nichole sat on the sofa, then patted the seat next to her.

  Peyton nodded as she took a seat. “Yeah, I’m not okay. Not even close, but I can’t let him see that. I’m going to miss him so much when he returns to his team, but I’m going to let him go. I don’t really have a choice.”

  “He’ll miss you, too. Don’t you see how he looks at you? Like you’re the air he needs to breathe. He just hasn’t admitted it to himself yet.”

  Was Nichole right? Not that it mattered. As much as she wanted to hold on to him, she had to let him go. If he felt the same way she did, he’d come back. If he forgot about her, then she didn’t want him...shouldn’t want him. That was what she told herself, what she tried to believe.

  * * *

  Noah disconnected the call with his commander. He stared at the phone for a moment, then lifted his gaze to Jack. “That was Jacobson.”

  “I gathered. When does he want you back?”

  “Monday morning. I was kind of hoping he’d forget about me.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  “Honestly? I don’t know.” Until things had gone so wrong on his last mission, he’d thought he’d be in the navy, that he would be a SEAL until the day he couldn’t pass the physical requirements. Meaning another ten, fifteen years. Now... Now, he couldn’t fill in the blanks of what tomorrow looked like.

  “What about your appointments with Dr. Meadows?”

  “He said he talked to her this morning. She signed off on me returning on the condition that I continue seeing someone when I get back. Gave him a recommendation for a therapist she thinks will be a good fit.”

  “That’s good.” Jack stood. “Let’s take a walk. We got things to talk about.”

  “What things?”

  “Your future, brother, and we don’t need interruptions if our women come back before we’re done.”

  Our women. There was nothing more in the world he wanted than to claim Peyton as his and for her to put her claim on him. But he didn’t have that right until he got his head straight. He thought he was finding his way to that happening, but what did he know?

  “I’ve been thinking about something.” Jack picked up a stick and threw it. Lucky, Rambo, and Maggie May took off after it. Dakota stayed at Jack’s side.

  “About?”

  “I want to create a place for our brothers and sisters to come. A place where they can just get away for a few weeks. I’ll call it Operation Warriors Center. I want two sections, the first for individuals, and eventually a place for our brothers and sisters to come with their families.”

  “What will they do there?”

  “All kinds of activities. Fishing, rock climbing, hiking, a shooting range, stuff like that. Maybe down the road, equine therapy. I’ve been reading up on that, and I think it has potential. I want a full-time therapist or two on staff.”

  “Sounds like a big investment financially.” He was aware there were some places like that around the country, but Asheville would be an awesome location for the kind of activities Jack had in mind.

  “I’ve got an investor group lined up. If you sign on, I’ll tell you who they are.”

  “Sign on?”

  “Yeah, I want you to head it up. That means working with me on finding a suitable site, making recommendations on how we need to build it, and hiring staff. Your job title will be center director.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Don’t give me an answer now. I get that training dogs isn’t your thing, but this might be something you could sink your teeth into. You have what, another month before you have to re-up or opt out?”

  “About that.”

  “Okay, take that time to think about it. If it’s re-up, let me know as soon as you make the decision so I can look for someone else.”

  “It’s a lot to think about for sure.” Did he want to leave his team? Or was the better question could he go back? What if he screwed up again? Got someone else killed? Being a SEAL had been everything until the day he wished he could erase from his memory. Now? When he let himself think about returning to his team, he had to push the panic away.

  If he took the job, it would mean no more deployments, one less obstacle standing between him and Peyton.

  * * *

  “Let’s go out to dinner. If we sit at one of the sidewalk restaurants, we can take Lucky with us.” At hearing his name, the dog’s ears perked up. Noah was going to miss the silly thing. Not a fraction as much as he was going to miss a princess.

  “That would be nice.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s going to be a beautiful night, perfect for patio dining.”

  He was delaying the inevitable. She wasn’t going to be so happy when he told her he was leaving on Sunday. Then again, maybe she’d be glad to see the last of him. It would be best for her if that was true.

  Him, though? He was going to miss the hell out of her. He’d intended to tell her on the way back to her loft, but she’d seemed preoccupied, maybe a little sad about something. She’d said nothing was wrong when he’d asked, but she wasn’t her chatty self.

  She glanced down at herself. “I’ve got dog hair all over me. Give me a few minutes to shower and change.”

  “Take your time.” He’d almost offered to join her in the shower, but she seemed off, almost as if she was distancing herself from him. Maybe she was tired of him, and now that Dalton was no longer a threat, she didn’t need him. That thought hurt more than he’d expected it to. He rubbed his chest, at the ache there.

  Since he smelled like dogs, he headed for the shower in the guest room. While he cleaned himself and then dressed, he thought about Jack’s offer. It was intriguing. But he was a SEAL and was everything that defined. Was he ready to walk away from the only thing he knew?

  Since he didn’t have an answer to that question, not today, anyway, he filed it away for later consideration. Tonight, he had a dinner date with his princess. They had a few days before he’d leave. After he told her that he’d been called back, he’d give her the choice of spending his last days with her or he’d get out of her life if that was what she wanted.

  He rubbed his chest again. Lucky whined as he peered up at him, his eyes full of worry. “What?” How did the dog know there was a rock sitting in Noah’s chest? “What do you think I should do?” Lucky had no words of wisdom for him. He finished dressing, then went out to the living room to wait for Peyton.

  When she walked out, he blew out a long breath. She had on white jeans that hugged her curves like no one’s business, a sleeveless red top, and red sandals. With her black hair, red was her color.

  “You trying to drive me crazy, princess?”

  She frowned. “What?”

  “You’re sexy as hell.” He stalked to her. “I’m going to be glaring all night at the men checking you out.”

  “Oh.” She smiled. “You want me to change into a potato sack or something?”

  “Wouldn’t make any difference. They’d just be fantasizing on how to get you out of it.” He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. “The song that’s rumbling around in my head right now is Clapton’s ‘You Look Wonderful Tonight,’ but wonderful
isn’t even good enough.”

  “You could sing it to me if you want.”

  “Maybe I will later...if you still want me to.”

  She gave him a funny look. “Why wouldn’t I want you to? I love when you sing to me.”

  “Come, dinner awaits.” Ignoring her question, he held out his hand. He grabbed Lucky’s leash as they headed out.

  In the time he’d been here, he’d come to love Asheville. The city was diverse, eclectic, and funky. Like the woman outside Peyton’s building playing spoons.

  “That’s different,” he said, after they listened to her for a few minutes. “Good different.”

  “She’s a regular. Most of the street performers are.”

  “Pretty cool.” He took her hand again. “Let’s stop and say hi to Joseph.”

  As soon as Joseph saw them, he segued from the song he was playing to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.” As Joseph played the song, the words filtered through Noah’s head. It felt like they had been written for him. He had found a girl, beautiful and sweet.

  He’d never been in love, didn’t know how that was supposed to feel, but something was going on with him. Was he in lust with Peyton? Or was he falling for her? Maybe. He wished they had more time to explore what was happening between them, but he was leaving on Sunday. As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn’t disobey orders. He had the unsettling feeling, though, that he’d be walking away from his one chance at real happiness.

  The problem was, it wouldn’t be fair to her to give her hope—if she even wanted to hope—that he wanted more than the fun they’d had while he was here when he didn’t know what his future held. If he reenlisted, and he probably would, he wouldn’t ask or expect her to wait for him.

  “That ex of yours still messing with you, Miss Peyton?” Joseph said when he finished playing. “Haven’t seen him around for a few days.”

  “Nope. Right now, he’s in jail right where he belongs.” She grinned. “The jerk tried to kidnap me, but I showed him. I shot his baby toe off.”

  She sounded so proud of herself that Noah couldn’t help but chuckle. “That she did.”