Chapter Five
A week passed since Sinjin had fallen with Isla at the shelter. He’d suffered a bruised arm and dented the invisible armor around his heart, not that he’d let her know about either. She had a grip on him. A powerful one. He could still feel her soft curves trembling beneath him. Try as he might, he couldn’t get the sweet feeling out of his head.
Why the hell had he gone there that day?
Something had drawn him there, that’s why. Not just Kade asking Hunter and him to stop by to help with a couple of abused mares. No, all day he’d felt drawn to the place, like he’d needed to be there.
One second, he was walking with Hunter past the door to the courtyard where he noted an imminent collision about to happen, then the next thing he knew, he was in front of Isla, pulling her close just before the crazy dog wrapped his leash around their ankles and tripped them.
Sinjin had fallen like a ton of bricks and suspected he would never recover. But he refused to acknowledge it or do anything about it.
Luckily, Hunter hadn’t said a word, and after checking to make sure Isla and the dog were okay, Sinjin insisted he was fine and excused himself to go to the stables. It wasn’t until later, while working with one of the mares, that he realized his arm was bruised.
Not a big deal, and the light workload that week had given his body ample chance to heal.
“Counting the minutes until you can leave?” Hunter asked, dropping into a chair to his right as he sat in the shade and watched his friends play volleyball in the sheriff’s backyard.
Sheriff Gabe Bryson was a former SEAL and military buddy that he and the others had completed joint missions with while on active duty. Although they’d always had one another’s six and would’ve taken a bullet for each other, they didn’t exactly see eye to eye.
A smile twitched his lips. “That obvious?”
“No.” Hunter chuckled. “I just remember being in your shoes last year.”
He glanced at his friend who gazed at Christa, laughing with her young son across the yard. The two were Hunter’s family now. He’d never seen his buddy so settled. So happy.
“You seem to have adjusted well,” he said.
“I had a lot of incentive.” Hunter motioned with his head toward Isla, who sat rolling a ball to the young boy. “You can, too.”
His chest tightened.
“No, I’m good.” He wouldn’t allow his thoughts to go there.
It was the reason he had avoided his pretty neighbor all week. Not an easy task, especially when he saw her outside with her new dog, clearly at a loss as to how to handle the spirited juvenile. The Shepard was friendly, smart, and possessed a great temperament, but he was only about nine months old and was loaded with energy. Sinjin had to hold back and fight the urge to go outside and help during the evening when the dog took her for a walk.
More like a drag .
“Listen, Sinjin, there’s no reason to feel like you’re dwelling in the shadows. They’re behind you. Behind us,” Hunter said quietly. “We work for Mac now.”
He nodded, guilt tightening his gut. His friend didn’t know he still worked for the colonel and those shadows weren’t far away.
As a matter of fact, he’d talked to the man that morning, having called to get a SITREP on the sanction for Ackerman. It was still in the works, so he was told to hang tight.
Not what he’d wanted to hear. He wanted the green light so he could complete his mission and get the hell out of Texas before he did something stupid like fall for his beautiful neighbor with a big heart and kind eyes.
“Head’s up!” Carter’s warning filtered through his brain and gained his attention.
Sinjin turned and raised his hands in time to catch the runaway volleyball before it could hit the side of his face.
“Oh, snap!” Carter laughed. “That ball didn’t stand a chance.”
He tossed it to his grinning friend, who lofted it to Mac near the net.
“You guys can have at it, I’m sitting this one out,” Carter told the others, before snagging a beer from a nearby cooler and taking a seat next to Hunter. “The two of you have the right idea. It’s nice and cool right here.”
The other guests must’ve all come to the same conclusion because within minutes, everyone had grabbed drinks and a chair and joined them in the shade. Men, women, children, they all converged on the side lawn, and it wasn’t lost on him that Emily occupied the chair Isla brought over, which left the vacant one on his left for her to use.
She gave him a slight nod and he noted the apologetic gleam in her eyes as she sat down. He immediately recognized that she knew he’d been avoiding her that week. Guilt and something unfamiliar ricocheted through him, squeezing his chest.
The last thing he wanted was to hurt the sweet woman. It was the reason for his avoidance.
“So, Sinjin,” Gabe said, seated across from him. “How do you like life here in Harland County?”
A smile creased the man’s face, but the tightness of his upper lip told Sinjin this wasn’t just a friendly inquiry.
“I’ve been to worse places,” he replied
Gabe’s smile increased along with the tightness. “I know. Hopefully, the pace won’t bore you.”
Some of the others stopped talking, including his neighbor, and turned their attention to them.
He shrugged. “Guess we’ll see.”
Gabe’s smile faltered for a split second but he quickly recovered. “Yeah, time will tell.”
He held back a snort at the concealed jab. Sinjin understood exactly what the sheriff meant. The guy was good. Astute as hell. He suspected another reason for Sinjin’s presence in town. This would make his mission a little tougher but not impossible. Even though they didn’t see eye to eye, he wasn’t crazy about having to go against his sometimes-nemesis. But the sheriff’s idea of keeping people safe involved using the legal system.
Sinjin’s idea involved using the lethal system.
“I don’t know what he thinks about Harland County,” Mac said, with his pregnant wife sitting next to him, holding his hand. “But I know what ESI thinks about him. We’re lucky to have Sinjin. We neutralize access points much faster than before.”
“And twice now, he’s already become a human shield at the shelter,” Emily said, sending him a grin from Isla’s other side. “I’m grateful. How about you, Isla?”
She nodded as heat colored her cheeks. “Absolutely. Not just for putting yourself between me and a collision, but for being a good neighbor.”
Good neighbor?
He frowned. “How?”
All he’d done was basically avoid her.
“Just by being there.” She smiled. “You make the street safer.”
Unable to help himself, he allowed the warmth in her gaze to seep into him and break through some of his chill. A smile tugged his lips. “I’m sure you’re perfectly safe, Isla. The sheriff runs a tight ship.”
He could feel disbelief radiating from Gabe but didn’t bother to meet the man’s gaze. That would require Sinjin to rip his eyes away from Isla, and he just wasn’t that strong.
“True.” Her features softened. “But I still feel safe with you across the street.”
He nodded. “You are safe. You have a German Shepard to protect you.”
She snorted. “Yeah, unless an intruder shows up with a steak or ball, or you know…breathes.”
Laughter filled the air and the earlier tension disappeared in the mirth. The woman had a way with words. She also had a way of putting others at ease. Her presence was soothing, and he wasn’t immune to her allure.
In fact, he was captivated .
“How have things been with Loki?” Emily asked Isla. “Is he adjusting, okay?”
Isla snorted again. “He’s fine. I’m the one who needs help adjusting.”
Sinjin wasn’t blind to the fact she’d adopted a dog with the wrong type of energy.
Emily frowned. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” Isla shook her head. “He eats what I feed him, gives me the bottom right corner on my bed, and takes me for a walk every night.”
Again, laughter echoed through the air. He even cracked a smile. But it wasn’t all funny. The poor girl needed training. Fast.
“Are you a first-time dog owner?” Hunter asked.
“Guess that’s probably pretty obvious.” She sighed with her smile still in place.
“Well, then all of that is normal,” his buddy assured. “It took Sinjin and Holden, another of our buddies, some time to get the hang of handling dogs in our unit.”
Best training he’d ever had. Most enjoyable, and definitely most rewarding.
Isla’s gaze snapped to his. “Really? You trained dogs in the army?”
He’d done more than that, but he nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then do you think you could give me some pointers sometime?” she asked. “Just a few. When you’re not working, of course.”
As much as his mind screamed at him to tell her he was too busy and she’d be better off enrolling in an actual course, Sinjin’s mouth rebelled along with his head because he nodded and said, “Sure.”
Christ. That wasn’t smart.
But apparently, he’d left his brains on the floor at the shelter. Loki not only knocked him to the ground, but the dog had also knocked all good sense right out of him.
“You will?” She set a hand on his arm, and her smile widened when he nodded. “Great. When can we start?”
Never.
Spending extra time with this captivating woman was dangerous. But again, he wasn’t strong enough to back out.
“I’m sure Lyndsey knows of a few classes you could enroll in with Loki, Isla. They not only help train the dog, they train the owner to teach the dog,” Gabe said, voicing Sinjin’s earlier thoughts, giving him the out he needed.
“Yeah.” Lyndsey nodded. “I know of a few.”
Isla leaned closer to him while facing her cousin and her husband. “Thanks, but like Sinjin, I don’t have a set schedule, so attending classes won’t exactly work.”
Lyndsey nodded, and although Gabe didn’t frown on the outside, Sinjin could feel it anyway.
He didn’t hold it against the guy. His buddy only wanted what he wanted—what was best for Isla.
Was spending time with his sweet neighbor really what was best for her?
No. It didn’t take more than a split second to come up with that honest answer. Or the one that followed.
He needed her calming presence more than she needed his commanding one.
“So,” she said, releasing his arm as if just realizing she’d been touching him. “I—is tomorrow okay? To help me? You know, uh, to train me and my dog?”
No sounded through his mind again, but it was no use. His mouth didn’t seem to know that word when it came to this woman.
“Yeah,” Mac replied for him. “Tomorrow is just a planning day, so we’ll be out of the office by five.”
“Great.” She grinned. “I’ll be home by then, too.” Her gaze met his again. “Is six-ish good for you?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
It wasn’t lost on him that among the smiling faces were two people with concern in their eyes. Gabe and Hunter.
One was no doubt worried Isla could get hurt, while the other was worried Sinjin might be biting off more than he could chew.
His money was on Hunter and the biting off part.