Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rory wasn’t the type to swoon—hadn’t been for as long as she could remember.
In grade school, when she and Ella would play MASH to predict their futures, Rory always switched the “Husband” category for “Places to Travel” instead.
As an adult, she’d never been swept off her feet, never had a kiss sear her soul and leave her light-headed and weak in the knees, never, well, swooned.
Until twelve hours ago. Until Chris flipped her world, leaving her breathless in its wake.
She couldn’t stop thinking about that spine-tingling, body-trembling kiss.
Not even Bear—her freaking job!—could fully distract her.
Her mind kept veering back to Chris’s confessions, how he’d torn some of his walls down and let her in, how he’d kissed her like he was starved for her, how she wanted him to kiss her more but was also terrified for him to kiss her more.
After their lips had parted in the kitchen, Chris walked her to her bedroom as if they’d been on a first date and wanted to make sure she got home safely.
When he leaned against the interior doorframe of the guest room, studying her, possibly waiting for her to make the next move, he looked like a nervous teen who’d just asked a girl to prom and was still waiting on an answer. It was adorable.
But then a dozen reasons why she shouldn’t initiate a repeat of the greatest kiss of her life pounded through her head with relentless force.
Damn, she hated herself for allowing those reasons to infiltrate her thoughts.
But she had to think things through, needed to get a handle on the situation before they could share any more two a.m. kisses.
Or any-time-of-the-day kisses, for that matter.
She wished more than anything she could have invited him to take her in his arms again. Pin her to the guest bed. Use his mouth to roam, suck, and kiss every inch of her skin.
But instead, she’d whispered goodnight, and they’d gone to their beds alone.
Because he still didn’t know the truth about her and her past. And she didn’t think they could move forward while such a dark cloud was hanging over her head.
But after Chris had opened up to her, after the kiss they shared .
. . how could she not explore whatever this amazing thing was between them?
She had a past.
He had one, too.
Based on what she already knew, his past was probably as dangerous as hers. Danger that could very well come back to haunt him. Rory was all too familiar with that scenario.
But Chris wasn’t just any man. And if anyone could handle what she had to share, it’d be him. However, the man already carried a heavy burden. Was it fair that she be the one to add more?
“Good boy. Braaf!” Rory praised Bear in both English and Dutch when he successfully located the cache of weapons they’d hidden on the property. She gave him his treat, then instructed him to search again in Dutch, “Revier.”
Whoever had dubbed Bear untrainable either had the wrong dog in mind or didn’t know what they were talking about.
He was amazing, and Chris had been right—Bear was indeed like Cairo, the dog from the bin Laden raid.
She’d read up on Cairo and confirmed Chris’s guess.
He was more laid-back and compassionate than other MWDs, but he’d been a warrior when necessary.
Bear was the same. A chill dog with a huge heart, and he was quickly responding to both her and Chris.
It did help that he’d already had a month of training with the Navy before coming to her, but yeah, he was about as perfect as possible in her eyes.
She’d miss Bear when she left.
Bear zeroed in on the next target, hidden explosive materials, within thirty seconds, and he began to whimper, his tail shaking like a rattlesnake, ears pointing to the sky as he sat down, posture erect.
Rory went over to him, gave him a treat, and ran her hands along his flanks.
“Braaf!” She peered over at Chris off in the distance, standing on his driveway, waiting for A.J.
to pull up with Elaina in tow. Today, he was wearing a faded Red Sox shirt and an equally worn Sox hat.
She loved that effortlessly sexy look. It worked for him.
Chris tossed a wave, a smirk on his handsome face when he caught her ogling. She waved back and continued to stare. Unable to pull her focus away.
A.J. had called earlier to seek permission for him and Elaina to visit Bear. Seeing as how Bear was in training, he’d said they didn’t want to disrupt his lessons, which was actually quite thoughtful, but not necessary. It might even be a good training experience.
Besides, Rory was looking forward to seeing Elaina. The girl had made quite the impression on her at the party last Saturday, and Emily and Liam were lucky to have such an amazing daughter. Chris clearly adored her as well.
Chris reached for the sunglasses hooked to his shirt and put them on, his gaze appearing to shift to Bear, but with his eyes now shielded, she couldn’t be certain.
He hadn’t said a word about what happened last night. No mention at all. Not over their scrambled egg breakfast. Their turkey and cheese sandwich lunch. And certainly not while training.
They’d traded jokes here and there. Casual conversation.
A couple of pirate references were thrown her way.
But basically, he’d gone with the same standard operating procedure from the previous days.
Only an outsider with keen observational skills would have picked up on the slightest hint of a difference between today and yesterday.
The way he stared at her just a little bit longer from across the table while they ate.
The extra color she knew was in her cheeks that wouldn’t normally be there whenever he was close to her. Close enough for her body to react, to respond. A desperate craving for his touch.
Rory snapped her focus back to Bear, who was standing with alert ears, signaling to her the location of his next find. How long had he been patiently waiting while she’d been mesmerized by his handler?
She approached Bear and praised him, then offered him his treat. But when he spotted A.J.’s truck rolling up and heard the gravel crunch beneath the tires, Bear shot toward the driveway.
And yup, they still had a few things to work on. Like when he’d taken off for the garage on Sunday, and Rory had overheard the guys talking.
Rory started for the driveway when Chris helped Elaina climb out of the passenger side. “Bear!” she called out, and Bear continued to whip through the grass like a bolt of lightning, eager to get to her. They had a special bond, too.
“Hey, stranger.” A.J. strode toward Rory with his signature smile and swagger, wearing his cowboy boots, faded denim and button-down plaid shirt. No hat today. “How’s it going?” He reached out and hooked an arm around Rory once she was closer.
Chris crouched in front of Bear and Elaina on the gravel driveway, but his focus was set Rory’s way.
“We’re making a lot of progress. Bear is far from untrainable,” Rory explained.
“Just took the right people,” A.J. responded when he let go of her and tucked his hands into his back pockets. “You mind giving Rory and me a few minutes?” He set his eyes on Chris, who glanced back and forth between them as he slowly stood.
“Sure thing.” Chris motioned for Elaina to follow him. “Want to help run a few drills?” he asked her.
“Absolutely!” Elaina slapped her hands together. “School felt like it’d never end today since I knew I’d be coming to see my cuddly Bear!” Elaina faced Rory and smiled. “Uncle A.J. said we might be able to eat here, too?”
“Of course. I’m making shepherd’s pie tonight. I have plenty.” Rory smiled, but she was nervous given A.J. wanted some one-on-one time.
“Yay!” Elaina reached for Bear and stroked his head. “Oh, and do you think we could go trick-or-treating together with Bear for Halloween? I know I’m getting older, but I still like to go. Will you two come with me?”
How could she say no to that? And Halloween was only a few weeks away. She’d still be there. “I’d love to.”
“That’d be fun,” Chris agreed with an easy smile, and then he and Elaina left.
Rory looked to A.J., mentally trying to prepare herself for whatever he wanted to talk to her about.
A.J. leaned his back against his truck and folded his arms. With sunglasses on, she couldn’t get a read on his thoughts. “Jesse called me last night.”
Oh, shit. Rory kicked at the gravel with the tip of her brown cowgirl boot. Today, she’d tucked her skinny jeans into the top of her boots and matched them with a white button-down collared shirt, the top few buttons open to show a pale pink tank beneath. “He checking on me?”
“Of course.” A.J. smiled. “But he also told me something which has me worried.” A line cut across his forehead.
“He said your last job might have put you in danger, and he’s concerned that danger might still be following you.
But he said you were vague, which isn’t surprising, so he was hoping you’d talk to me. ”
Damn you, Jesse. From the sounds of it, Chris must not have told A.J.
what she’d blabbed to him while high from the brownies.
But she was sure it was only a matter of time until Chris spilled the details to A.J.
Surely, they had a code of sorts. “Jesse is exaggerating.” And I barely told him anything.
A.J. pushed away from the truck and strode closer.
She saw the worried look on her face reflected in his sunglasses as he reached for her cowgirl hat and tipped it up to peer into her eyes.
Not fair. She didn’t have sunglasses on as a layer of protection against his scrutinizing stare.
“It must have been a pretty big deal if he asked me to do some digging. Use my government contacts to try and find out what you’ve really been up to for the last few years. ”