Exercise in the morning was no big deal. What was a big deal was making recordings of nightmares that he had. According to Genny, recording the material and then playing it back to himself was supposed to help him face his fears. In his opinion, it was nothing short of torture. It was hard enough to talk about what haunted him out loud, but to have to listen to it? Christ, he could barely get through half of one dream.
It was supposed to get better in time, but he’d been dealing with the shit for almost two weeks and he still dreaded it.
The green-eyed man eyed the digital recorder on the coffee table before him with an intense hatred before turning away from it.
Another thing he was supposed to do was write in a journal every day. He hadn’t told Sean about that one because he was sure his CO would tease him to no end about it. Owen had only ever heard of angst-ridden hipster teenagers journaling, but apparently, writing about what he felt was supposed to help him get it out of his system.
Several times, he came close to trashing the small white notebook Genevieve had supplied him with in frustration, but he could never bring himself to do it. He trusted her, and if she said this would help him, he knew it would.
He would just have to be patient.
The thought made him groan. Anyone who knew him well was aware of just how much of a task that would be for him.
Goddamn, he hoped Genny was having a better day than he was. For all the hoops they’d jumped through in the last year, they’d been together for almost every one of them. Any place he was felt empty without her in it. It stripped away a bit of his masculinity to admit it, but he missed her. Even though she’d yelled at him for accidently bleaching one of her favorite dresses just the previous night, he was tempted to call her.
But he knew better. As it was her first day back, she would undoubtedly be busy. He would just have to wait until she got home – and he was prepared to wait for as long as it took. He wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to hear her moan and sigh as he eased all the tension out of her body with his fingers and tongue.
Christ, the thought was enough to make him rock hard.
With a groan, Owen rose from the couch, glancing down at Eddie as the dog looked up at him curiously. “Stay, bud.”
He needed a cold shower –the sooner the better. However, the man hadn’t taken two steps towards the bathroom when his phone went off. He had to search for it for a moment, remembering that he had lost it in the couch, before he finally retrieved it. The caller ID wasn’t showing up, and he frowned as he answered, expecting a telemarketer. “Hello?”
There was silence on the other line. Owen’s gaze narrowed in annoyance. “Hello?”
Well, it wasn’t completely silent. He could definitely hear someone breathing on the other end of the line. “Hello?” He repeated, more harshly this time.
“I left her a present.” This time, an answer came almost immediately. The tone was completely unfamiliar and sounded vaguely as if it had been run through a modulator of some sort. Owen could tell from having faced the same situation countless times while he’d been on active duty. “I left her an amazing present, and I can’t wait for her to unwrap it.”
“What the hell?” The SEAL demanded, his tone hard. “Who is this?”
But the line had already gone dead.
Frowning deeply, Owen stared at the device skeptically. It must have been a wrong number, as he had no idea who would call his phone speaking like that. With a sigh, he tossed the phone onto the couch before making his way back to the bedroom.
He was stripping his t-shirt over his head when he paused, mid-motion.
I left her an amazing present, and I can’t wait for her to unwrap it. There had been something chillingly sinister in that statement. A malevolence that he could sense, even if the voice had been disguised.
Who the hell would have sent a present though? Nothing had arrived at the house in the past two weeks, and Genny would have gotten anything from her old address after she’d posted his as a forwarding location. If she had received something, he thought she would have told him about it for certain.
Biting his lip, Owen unzipped his jeans, shimmying out of them. Why was he worrying for nothing? It was probably some teenager trying to play a prank. His number was unlisted. How the hell could anyone have found it otherwise?
He was about to step into the shower, but somehow, he found he couldn’t. Every muscle in his body was taut with some unexplainable tension.
I left her an amazing present…
With a sense of foreboding, Owen returned, naked, to the living room. Eddie whimpered, giving his master a questioning look as Owen dialed the psychiatric department at Riperton.
“Hello, Riperton Psychiatric Department. How may I direct your call?” He recognized the voice of Tina, the day receptionist.
“Hey, Tina. It’s Owen. I was just wondering if Genevieve has received any packages today?” He knew it was a strange thing to ask, but he figured there’d be no harm in assuaging his gut instinct.
“Not that I know of.” The young, chipper girl returned brightly. “There have been a couple of orders of flowers for her, congratulating her on the new position, but no packages.” Owen breathed a sigh of relief, shaking his head. He was being stupid, he knew.
“Thanks, Tina.”
“No problem, Owen. Wait, hold on one second.” There was a muffled exchange as she spoke to someone in the office, and Owen found himself errantly tugging on Eddie’s toy to placate him as he waited for her to return. “Owen.” When Tina came back on the line, she sounded somewhat surprised. “Actually, Stella tells me that Genny did get a package while I was at lunch with an unmarked sender. Did you send her something?” Her voice became low and conspiratorial. “That’s super sweet of you.”
Owen froze in place, effectively allowing Eddie to snatch the toy from his hand triumphantly.
Fuck. “Did she open it yet?” He tried to keep the alarm from his voice, though his tone was audibly curt.
“What? No…not that I know of.” Tina returned hesitantly. “Actually, I think she might have taken it to open on lunch break. She stepped out to Harry’s across the street-”
That was all Owen needed to hear. He hung up quickly, racing to the bedroom to throw his clothes on. The long-legged man strode to his truck at a fever pace, his heart pounding in his chest. It was a ten minute ride from where he was to Harry’s. He prayed to God that Genny waited to open the package until after she ate her lunch.
**
God. She was exhausted already and it wasn’t even two o’clock.
Genny slumped in her chair as she sipped at her raspberry lemonade. If she thought her life as a psychiatrist had been hectic, serving as head of a department made her head spin. She had to approve everything and commit paperwork for prescriptions. She had to check and double check patient intake forms as well as make sure that everyone arrived on time and stuck to their schedules.
The pace she had to keep was fairly mind-blowing.
When she collapsed at the booth at Harry’s, it was the first time she’d sat down the entire day. She was strongly tempted to nap for her one hour lunch break, but she made herself order a chicken salad. Maybe it was time for her to upgrade from tea to coffee. It certainly seemed like she was going to need it to get through a twelve hour shift sitting in the big chair.
As she ate, Genny‘s hazel eyes fell on the long box at her side and she smiled. There was no return address, but she was fairly certain Owen had sent her something. The first time the man had sent her flowers, he’d nearly worked himself up into a fit until she assured him that she liked them. Since then, he’d taken to sending her small things every once in a while – tokens of the love he had trouble putting into words.
This box was light and long, making her wonder what it could be. She’d decided to wait until she was finished eating to open it, for fear that she’d spill anything on it. At least if she had to kill herself for a solid twelve hours, she got to open
a nice gift on her lunch break.
Genny took a leisurely thirty minutes to eat her lunch, leaving an additional half hour to prep herself before she headed back to the hospital. After finishing her lemonade, she finally reached for the box on the booth next to her.
She had barely started to untie the lavender ribbon around it when a loud shout made her jump in alarm. “Genny!”
She whirled to see Owen striding across the restaurant to her. The man looked disheveled, as if he had dressed in a hurry, and every muscle in his body seemed wound tighter than a crossbow ready to let fly.
“Owen?” Her tone was disbelieving. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”
“Don’t open that.” At this point, they had the attention of the entire restaurant. Every patron was staring at them in curiosity. Without hesitation, the SEAL plucked the box from in front of her, eying it as if it might explode at any moment.
“Well, alright. I can wait until I get home if you want-”
Without answering, Owen sprinted from the establishment, leaving his very confused girlfriend in his wake. It took Genny about thirty seconds to recover from her shock, but when she did, she quickly threw some bills on the table to cover her check and hurried after him. She found the man in the center of the parking lot, ripping the ribbon from the box as he eyed it suspiciously.
“Owen?” She called his name, worried now. “What’s the matter?”
He hesitated visibly before answering her. “Someone called me about twenty minutes ago. It was an unknown number. They said they’d sent you an amazing gift.” He scowled down at the unmarked white box he held.
So it wasn’t him who had sent her the gift? What was so wrong with that? She knew that Owen could be the jealous type, but snatching the box away from her completely? That was a bit of a stretch. “Well, let me open it then!” She proposed, with a small smile. The moment she took a step towards him, however, the man held out his hand in warning.
“Stop! Don’t come any closer, Genny.”
Alright, now she was beyond confused. Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest to eye her boyfriend in irritation. “Owen, this is childish. Come on. Give me the box.”
“I can’t.” He replied curtly. “Not until I’m sure it’s safe.”
Safe? For a moment, Genny thought he might be joking. A glance into the man‘s genuinely anxious gaze put the notion from her mind. Was he really scared someone was trying to hurt her?
The thought was enough to make the young woman’s stomach threaten to reject her chicken salad. With bated breath, Genny watched as Owen untaped the edges of the box, gently separating the top and the bottom.
A shower of lavender tissue paper spilled out, cushioning the five brilliant red roses that tumbled the ground atop it.
Flowers. They were just flowers.
Suddenly, the idea that someone had sent her something dangerous in plain daylight seemed beyond silly. Shaking her head, Genny breathed a sigh of relief before making her way over to her boyfriend. He was still staring at the roses suspiciously, as if worried they might leap up and begin attacking them.
Bending down, Genny began to pick one up. Owen’s eyes widened as he opened his mouth to protest. “Genevieve, don’t-”
“There.” The psychiatrist cut him off with a knowing smirk. “Feel better now?” She twirled a single stem with her fingertips. The bud didn’t even have thorns. They had all been thoughtfully removed. Owen only stared at her for a long beat before exhaling hotly.
He had the decency to look somewhat abashed. The SEAL flushed slightly as he looked away. “Sorry.”
Though Genny was slightly irked at his behavior, she couldn’t be mad. The man had been trained to sense danger. No doubt those same senses that had once served him well had just kicked into overdrive. “It’s okay.” With a smile, she scooped up the rest of the roses, taking the box from his tight grip to place them back inside. “I understand. You were nervous.”
Owen raked a hand through his hair – a nervous gesture. “It was just…that call. I had no idea who it was and we just finished with the case…I wanted to be sure.”
“It’s alright, Owen,” Genny reaffirmed, standing on her toes to press a soft kiss to the side of his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.” He had already put himself on edge worrying about so many other things. When he might be able to go back to active duty, Gina’s baby being delivered soon, the homework she’d given him to help with his progress…It was only natural that the man should be on edge. “Why don’t you go home and relax.”
The SEAL sighed, glancing at the roses once more. “Yeah. I guess I will.” He managed a weak smile. “I suppose it’s almost time for the Tigers game anyhow.”
The time!
“Shit!” The epithet escaped Genny on a low hiss as she checked her watch. She had five minutes to make the ten minute drive back to Riperton and clock in. She couldn’t be late on her first day. “Honey, I have to go!” She pecked Owen quickly on the cheek, thrusting her flowers into his hand before she turned towards her car. “Take these home for me? I’ll see you later tonight.”
The moment she was in the car, she proceeded to drive like a demon. By some divine intervention, she was only one minute late clocking back in – and it was a good thing too. Director White had come down to talk to her about her first day progress.
As she became enveloped in her work once more, Genny forgot the panicked look in Owen’s eyes when he’d seen her with the box. He had just been overreacting. It was sweet that he was trying to protect her, but who would want to harm her? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Genny’s first week at her new job was a blur of little sleep and acclimation. The first night she got home around one in the morning and sleepily staved off Owen’s lovemaking attempts. She rose the next morning before six and left the house at seven, too tired to feel guilty that she hadn’t spent much time with him. The next day was a little better. She got in at ten, and after dinner, asked her boyfriend why she hadn’t seen the flowers she sent home with him. Owen only scowled for a moment before admitting that he’d thrown them away.
His words had made Genny slightly angry. Just because someone else had sent her flowers, he’d thrown them away? She was lucky he hadn’t seen her new office. There were four or five bouquets displayed there from congratulators and well-wishers. Irritated at his attitude, she’d gone to bed before him and pretended to be asleep when he lay down next to her. With all that was going on at the hospital, she didn’t have time to deal with him being dramatic.
The rest of the week was a flurry of paperwork and more running around than she did on her daily 5K. She was supposed to have an appointment with Owen on Friday afternoon, but she had to hand him off to Stella with her apologies. She was simply swamped and didn’t have time to see a single patient – something she lamented greatly.
When she finally left the office, exhausted, around nine in the evening on Friday, Tina stopped her in front of the main entrance. “Genny, another package came for you today.” She smiled, handing the department head a box identical to the one she had received on Monday. At the sight of it, Genny’s lips curved upward. She had no idea who was sending her the flowers, but it was nice to get them at the end of such a long week. She took the package from Tina before making her way to her car.
Once inside, Genny undid the ribbon and opened the box. Once she had, she was again met with the sight of five roses – only these had already withered and died. Frowning, the young woman extracted one from the tissue paper. She yelped at a sharp pain in her fingertip, dropping the shriveled bloom to reflexively suck the pad of her thumb into her mouth. When she withdrew it to inspect, a bead of blood bloomed crimson at the crest of the digit.
Apparently, these roses hadn’t been de-thorned either. With a sigh, she tossed the bag into the back seat. The roses had probably been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for a few days too long. It was a pity. She had been looking forward to the fragrant blooms after the week she’d
had.
She was also looking forward to seeing Owen, but when she returned to his house, his truck wasn’t in the driveway.
Genny let herself in, dropping her paperwork on the kitchen table and greeting Eddie, who immediately pounced on her. The pooch followed her to the sofa, where she collapsed, flicking on the television.
Eddie burrowed his way beneath her head, something that made her grimace at first, but eventually, Genny relaxed when she found the Rottweiler actually made a nice pillow. Some news channel or the other blared in the background and she closed her eyes, promising herself she’d get up to make dinner in a few minutes.
When she next woke, it was daylight outside. Eddie was gone and Genny searched groggily for the nearest clock. It was seven thirty in the morning. She’d slept nearly twelve hours.
Aghast, the young woman straightened on the couch, stretching until her back and neck popped. She wondered where Owen might be until she caught sight of the man perched on a chair at the bar in the kitchen, staring at her across the space that separated him.
Owen’s fingers were folded under his chiseled chin, his mouth was set and he looked very, very upset.
“Owen?” She murmured sleepily. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”
For a long moment, her lover didn’t answer her. When Owen finally did speak, it was with barely contained anger. “Why didn’t you come to our session yesterday?”
Oh. Damn. With a low groan, Genny covered her face with slender fingers. “Jesus, Owen. I’m sorry. This week has been insane. I’ve hardly had a moment to catch my breath.”
“You promised me that you were the only therapist I’d have to see.” Almost as if he hadn’t heard her, Owen went on, his voice tinged not only with anger, but also a definite note of unease. “That I’d never have to deal with a stranger again.”
Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance Page 4