Stanzi grasped his calf and leaned back, putting him into traction. “We’ll stretch the quad when you stand up. Keep in mind, you may actually feel worse after this, at least at first. But a change is good. Eventually, you should feel a bit better.”
Rhett met her gaze, stifling the urge to reach out and fix the hair that had fallen out of her cat barrette. “There was an explosion.” He spoke without really deciding to. The sound of his own voice surprised him as much as it showed on her face. “Rockets were launched at our firebase. We raced for the bunker when the sirens went off. I had to make sure all my men made it inside. Just three of us were left outside when they hit. One missed us, the other hit close by. My leg took a hit before I dragged myself into the bunker. I thought Devon and Masters made it in, but I was wrong. They took hits, too, but not in their legs.”
He waited for her to say what everyone else said. What was it Katrina had said, over and over again? You can’t blame yourself that you didn’t die, too. That’s a classic mistake.
Rhett had always wanted to say, You’re a classic mistake, but had never been able to bring himself to be that mean to someone he was sleeping with.
Stanzi was quiet awhile as she released his calf and ran her hands back up and over his quads, this time using only the flat of her palms in long, smooth strokes. This part of the massage didn’t hurt-so-good. It just felt good. “Was one of them Angie’s husband?”
“Devon.” Rhett watched her hands work. She had long, slender fingers and clean nails filed down smooth, past the tips. Perfect for her job. Perfect to wrap around a barbell. He stopped short of thinking about a few other things they’d be perfect for. “He had good dance moves and a big, stupid grin.”
“Was Masters a good dancer, too?”
“No.” Rhett wondered when the last time was anyone had asked about Scott Masters. He’d been single and didn’t have much to say about his parents. His death seemed to have gone mostly unnoticed back home. “He was terrible. But he made everyone laugh being terrible.”
As usual, Stanzi said nothing with words, but her hands spoke volumes. Her pressure eased up considerably. Her touch was so light Rhett felt goose bumps rise on his skin. This was the sort of touch that could get him going in a direction she probably didn’t intend. She stopped, as though realizing the change, squeezed around his knee and stood up quickly. “Let’s get you on your feet and stretch that quad.”
“You’re the boss.” Rhett rose, leaned against the wall and grasped his ankle, bending at the knee and stretching his thigh. After a minute he let it go and bounced around on his toes, like a boxer. “Not horrible.” His lips twitched into a smile. Fucking great. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“And not just for this.” Rhett touched his leg. “Thanks for asking about Masters. Nobody ever does.”
Stanzi stood by the door, her hand on the knob. “You can tell me about him anytime.”
Silence passed. “You done avoiding me?” he finally said.
“I’m not avoiding you.”
Rhett stepped closer and stared down at her. “Yes, you are.”
She met his gaze, but her hair fell in her eyes. She adjusted her little cat barrette, gave her bangs a blow and faced him again. “Okay. But I’m not avoiding you now. I’m here, right?”
Rhett took another step closer and planted a hand on the wall behind her. He narrowed his eyes and waited, but she didn’t elaborate.
Her breathing grew shallow inside the cage he’d made around her body.
Rhett laughed. “Okay.” He pushed off the wall. “Go get ready for Combat. Make sure your bangs are up.” He brushed a thumb over the fringe of her hair. “You can’t punch what you can’t see.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yep.”
* * *
“Today, we’re going over what to do when you’re grabbed from behind. I need a crash dummy.” Rhett looked around the circle of women.
Several raised their hands, but Constance remained quiet and still.
“Stanzi.” He leveled his gaze on her. “You’re up.” He pointed at the spot next to him.
No thanks rose quickly to her lips, but for some odd reason the words didn’t come out. Curious looks went in her direction as she walked slowly toward Rhett.
Rhett turned to the class and said, “Everyone, this is Stanzi. If you haven’t met her yet, introduce yourselves.”
A chorus of greetings rippled through the group.
“As always, by staying in tonight’s class, you are giving each other permission to perform these movements on you. If you don’t wish to be touched in the manner I demonstrate, please move on to Zoe’s kettlebell class.” Rhett pointed to the far corner where the buff blonde and her group were gathered in a circle, kettlebells in various sizes at their feet. “And, as always, perform these movements without actually harming each other. It’s important we are realistic but not emergency room realistic.”
Everyone laughed.
“All right. Stanzi has her back to me.” Rhett touched her shoulders until she turned, facing away from him. “She’s already done a check of her surroundings and every other precautionary thing she could do, but despite her efforts, I grab her from behind.”
Rhett’s arms went around her waist, pinning her own arms to her sides. “What should she do?”
The air smelled spicy, like Rhett’s soap. As soon as the scent hit her, her lungs opened a little. His chest was hard and warm against her back.
“She could throw her head back, into yours,” someone suggested.
“She could—” Rhett’s voice came from near her shoulder “—but I’ve stooped down, to give myself leverage, and my head’s lower than hers right now. Even if it wasn’t, she’s in danger of hurting herself just as much as she hurts me by using her head as a weapon.”
“She could kick back.”
“Kick me, Stanzi.” Rhett’s voice came close to her ear.
Constance struggled to, but didn’t have balance.
“She could try kicking me.” Rhett’s voice came loud and authoritative, commanding attention. “And she might get a hit. Or she might lose her footing, and make her situation worse. What I want her to do is drop her base. Stanzi, I want you to bend your knees and squat, just like we do with a barbell. And fast. Just as fast as you get under that bar when you clean or snatch.”
Constance dropped, fast and straight. To her surprise, she found herself nearly free of Rhett’s arms. They were still around her, but up near her head, and he no longer had a solid hold.
She’d actually gotten herself free.
“Now that she’s out, she can hit me in my vulnerable spots,” Rhett said. “She can turn and nail me in the groin, keep kicking soft targets or run like hell. Watch, we’re going to do it again.”
Rhett demonstrated one more time, and this time, as soon as he had her, she dropped. “Now’s a good time for her to hit.” Rhett took her by the forearm. “She can hit, downward, on my groin as hard as she can.” He pantomimed the move. “Or turn and kick me there. Or aim upward for my throat.” Rhett ran her through all the moves, gently turning and guiding her body to attack his. “You get the idea. Now, I want you to pair up and practice this on your own. I’ll move around the room and take a look.” He put his hands on Constance’s shoulders as everyone broke off into chattering teams.
Constance went to walk away but Rhett held her back. “You stay with me.”
“I did it.” Constance beamed up at him, unashamed of her joy. She wondered why this made her feel so gloriously free. It was like she’d been a bird in a cage all her life but hadn’t even known it until the bars were gone. “I really broke myself free.”
“Sure,” Rhett laughed. “I’m not going to teach you crap moves. I want you to always break free, Stanzi. Do you want to run through this again?”
Con
stance didn’t have to think about that at all. “Absolutely. And I want you to teach me all the other stuff, too.”
“All right. One rule.” He held up a finger, his face growing serious. He leaned in close to her ear. “No kissing.” When he drew back, the seriousness cracked, like a false wall, and he gave her a deep, genuine smile.
Whatever tension might’ve been left in her body erupted into a laugh. “Right,” she said, looking around at the crowded room of women, all grabbing each other from behind and pretending to kick each other in the family jewels. “No kissing in Combat.”
“No kissing in Combat,” he agreed.
“That reminds me,” Constance said. “I got your reservation back. At my sister’s. For Christmas Eve.”
“Ah.” Rhett’s expression was mixed. “Great. Thank you.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have fun.”
“I don’t know about fun, but...thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“C’mon, Stanzi,” Rhett said after her giggles had wound down. “Let’s give you a few more chances to escape.”
Then he opened his arms and waited.
seventeen
Sunny woke to the smell of aftershave. When she blinked her eyes open, he was nothing but a shadow in the dark, straddling her body. Sunny could feel the ties on her pajama top coming undone. As her sight adjusted, she saw the final tie in between Sean’s teeth.
She’d almost forgotten it was Saturday night. Sean, sneaking in after his shift and waking her in a variety of ways, had become an unspoken tradition throughout December. He never woke her the same way twice, but he also never disappointed.
When they were done, they collapsed into darkness and didn’t regard each other until they’d satisfied themselves just as greedily with sleep as they had with sex.
The next morning, as she watched Sean dress in silence, she said, “Your buddy is coming here tonight. He’ll be getting a massage from my sister before the Christmas Eve dinner.”
“Good,” Sean said, buttoning his shirt. “I think she’s had some kind of effect on him already. He’s less grumpy and limpy all around. This should really help fix him up.”
“She’s really good with her hands,” Sunny said. “If he’s in pain, she can help.”
Sean glanced up from his task but didn’t slow. “There’s a lot about him she doesn’t know.”
Sunny sat up in bed, keeping the sheet tight around her chest.
“Don’t worry,” Sean said, watching her. “He’s a good guy. There’s just a lot she doesn’t know. It’s not just physical pain. He’s done one too many tours in the fucking sandbox.”
Sunny loosened her grip and the sheet fell below her breasts. “Cici has a lot of experience with that. She was at Walter Reed every week for years. Massaging the wounded who came home. All volunteer.”
Her naked body caught his eye. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s the whole reason she became a therapist,” Sunny pressed. “My father was closed-off, half-deaf and walked with a cane because of Vietnam. He never let anyone help him, but Cici was able to do it without him knowing. Worked it in, a little at a time, until her foot, leg and shoulder massages became routine.”
Sean came over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. “You’ve certainly lived up to your end of the bargain.”
“And what about yours? You get Janice Matteri’s restraining order off my back yet?”
Sean grasped her ankles and pulled her toward him. He leaned over her, renewed hunger in his eyes. “I can’t do anything about that. But I am biding my time to send animal control over there when she’s not expecting it.”
“Really?” Sunny’s arousal grew as she pulled him closer. “Then I guess I won’t have any reason to steal her dogs.”
He silenced her with a rough kiss. Sunny had learned that she could say just about anything to Sean and he wouldn’t blink. In fact, the bolder she sounded, the more aroused he seemed to get.
“Not that I was ever stealing her dogs.” Sunny undid the shirt that Sean had just buttoned. “Or other abused and neglected pets that I see. I’m totally a law-abiding citizen, Detective Callahan.”
Sean stripped off the bedsheet. He pulled her into his lap. Sunny ran her hands up his stubbly face and sucked his lower lip in between her own. “There’s this place out on White Fern Road.” In fact, now that she spoke the address out loud, Sunny felt guilty she hadn’t made it back out there. “Can you send animal control over there, too?”
“What, you have a list for me now?” Sean’s fingertips ran up her spine. “You start throwing more stuff into the pot, I might have to do the same.”
Sunny was just about to let things go where they may, even though this would be the first time they had sex that wasn’t under the cover of darkness, when she caught a glimpse through the window of Pete’s truck, rolling up the drive. “Oh!” She jumped up and grabbed her robe, slipping it around her shoulders while she struggled to get her arms in.
“What’s the matter?” Sean’s brow creased.
“Pete’s here.”
“Who’s Pete?” Sean looked around the room, like Pete might be hiding somewhere.
“A friend.” She got her robe tied and fluffed out her hair. “He’s going to finish some decorating for me. For tonight’s party. Stuff I can’t reach. He helped with all the rest. He helps with everything. Meet you downstairs.”
“Um.” Sean stood up and started buttoning his shirt again. “Okay.”
* * *
Pete slammed his truck door, which didn’t shut properly because it was dented. It required Pete opening and closing it twice more before it latched. “Morning, Sunshine!” he called as Sunny stepped out.
“Morning!” Pete was the only person Sunny would allow to make that joke. She collected the newspaper from the stoop and straightened her robe. “You’re earlier than I thought.”
“Some of the new dogs are early risers,” Pete agreed. “Decided to get a head start. You can go back to bed, Sleeping Beauty.” He nodded toward the house as Sunny approached. Then his gaze shifted to over her shoulder.
Sean had just closed the door behind him. He blinked in the sunshine as he ambled over, straightening the sleeves on his jacket. He stopped next to Sunny and kissed her on the cheek. “Maybe I’ll see you later.” He turned his gaze to Pete. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Pete’s big grin fell.
Sunny’s face went hot. “Pete, this is Sean. Sean, Pete.” She did some clumsy gesturing.
They nodded at each other.
“Pete’s a knight in shining armor.” Sunny gripped his shoulder and squeezed. “Always helping me out when I need something. Been like that since we were kids.” Her voice had an odd, high pitch to it. “Right, Pete?”
“Yep.”
Sean’s gaze went from Sunny’s hand on Pete’s shoulder to Pete’s face and back again. “Sure,” he said. He turned to Sunny. “Enjoy your day. Hope you get all your decorations up.”
“Great.” Why did her voice sound so funny? And why did she say great? That didn’t even make sense.
After Sean left, Pete turned to her. “Sean a new friend?” He gestured toward the sedan as it disappeared down the road. “I don’t remember seeing him before. Though he does seem familiar.”
“Yes. New.” She didn’t feel like getting a second lecture on promiscuity, so she kept her answer short. Luckily, Pete was not the sort to pry.
“All right, then.” Pete eyed the giant Douglas fir that reached all the way up to Sunny’s bedroom turret. “So what’s our deal? I help you put balls on this sucker and you let me start training the pups in January, right?”
“That’s the deal.” Sunny nodded toward the ladder that lay on the ground next to the tree. “I’ll bring your balls out soon as I’m dressed.”
“Speaking of ba
lls.” Pete eyed her up and down. “You must be freezing yours off right now.” His breath turned to steam as he laughed.
Sunny pulled on the hem of her silky robe but did not succeed in making it cover any more of her bare skin. “Why, yes, I am,” she agreed. “Which is why I’m going inside.”
By the time Sunny had showered, fixed the coffee and taken a thermos out to Pete, he was already on the ladder, wrapping garland around the fir. “I found it in the foyer,” he called from his perch ten feet in the air. “Found your balls, too!” He pointed to the bag of giant ornaments on the ground. Sunny had spied the big balls on clearance after Christmas last year and had bought as many pink ones as she could find.
She gave Pete the thumbs-up. “I brought you some coffee.” She peered up at Pete and shielded her eyes from the sun. Despite the cold, he’d peeled off his jacket and had it tied around his waist. His flannel shirt was rolled to his elbows, giving him a rugged look of concentration as he wound the gold garland on the branches.
Pete climbed down the ladder and accepted the thermos. “I know where I’ve seen him.” He pointed toward the end of the driveway, where Sean had disappeared. “I’ve seen that guy at the police station. When I’ve gone out to visit Kyle.” After a pause Pete clarified, “Kyle, from the K-9 Unit. Your visitor is a cop.”
Sunny wasn’t sure why she felt a twinge in her stomach. “Maybe.”
“He is.” Pete nodded. “Everything okay?”
Sunny took the thermos from Pete’s hands and opened it. She took a sip, but it burned her tongue. “He’s the friend I told you about. Don’t worry. Like I said, nobody saw you at the kennel the night we rescued the dogs. They think I beat up the nephew. Not you.”
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