Chapter Fourteen – Every Breath You Take
Chapter Fourteen
Parker
EVERY brEATH YOU TAKE
Performed by The Police
FIVE YEARS AGO
HER: Kermit, I need tacos.
HIM: Are you drunk?
HER: No. Yes. Maybe.
HIM: Are all your friends no-yes drunk as well and unable to take you to get tacos?
HER: They’ve all hooked up for the night and are more interested in sex than food. I’m at a bonfire, surrounded by college kids smooching.
Minutes passed.
HER: Fine. I’ll walk to The Taco Bar and then catch a CarShare to the apartment.
HIM: Don’t you dare walk on that strip of road at night by yourself.
HER: ***GIF of a frog tapping chin in thought*** Tacos… disappoint the broody SEAL… Tacos… SEAL… TACOS!!!!
HIM: I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t fucking leave the bonfire.
PRESENT DAY
I watched Fallon stride down the hall and felt the weight of the world going with her.
She’d regressed into the teen who’d dealt with enormous responsibilities on her own and awed me with her ability to act more like an adult than the actual adults in her life.
It pissed me off that she’d been forced back into that box.
Whoever was doing this, whoever had come for her, her family, or the ranch, would have to deal with me now.
Theo tugged at my hand, and guilt buzzed through me like a jet taking off from a carrier deck.
Strong and fierce and fast. How could I protect Fallon and go after the asshole pulling these stunts while keeping Theo out of harm’s way too?
Maybe I should have gone to Vegas first and dropped him off with Mom.
But I’d become his stable ground, his safety net, and if I disappeared on him for days, that might cause even more damage.
“I’m hungry,” he told me.
We’d been up for hours. The hard bed and loud noises from the parking lot of the motel in Santa Clarita where we’d stopped last night had kept us both up.
Eventually, I’d given up on the idea of sleep in the wee hours, poured us into the truck, and headed for the ranch, knowing we’d have a first-class breakfast waiting for us.
All thoughts of food had been shoved from my brain when I’d seen the fire trucks and smelled the charred remains of the cabin.
Seeing Fallon being held up by Kurt and a firefighter, I’d almost lost my mind.
The fear—the absolute despair—that had coiled through my heart had been so powerful I’d barely been able to park the truck without wrecking it.
For the torturous seconds when I’d thought Fallon had been hurt, my insides had felt as if they’d been ripped out and left for the carrion birds to devour, peck by brutal peck.
When I’d called her name and she’d turned that blackened face toward me…
It made my hands shake all over again.
Theo’s stuffed dog hit my stomach, jolting me back to him. “Dog is hungry too.”
Goddamnit, I needed to pull my shit together.
“Let’s see what we’ve got in the kitchen,” I told him, linking his tiny hand with mine.
The house Fallon and her mom had designed a decade ago was decorated in the farmhouse chic that had been the rage at the time. It had whitewashed wood, gray leather, and stone-tile floors. It would have been monotone if they hadn’t spiced it up with bright colored rugs and decorative pillows.
In the kitchen, the glass-fronted cabinets were filled with vibrant earthenware that stood out against the dark-flecked granite counters.
Everything was neat and tidy compared to the mess I’d left in my house.
I’d barely remembered to start the dishwasher before loading us into the truck and hitting the road after Dad’s call.
When I eventually returned home, the refrigerator would carry the disgusting aroma of rotten food—more proof I was losing my edge.
Fallon’s stainless-steel refrigerator was nearly empty, just as she’d warned. But there was bread, a few eggs, and a block of cheddar. I placed Theo on the counter and had him monitor the toaster while I scrambled eggs and shredded cheese.
I was just setting the breakfast sandwiches in front of the barstools at the oversized island as Fallon walked down the hall. My hand stalled, and I almost dropped the last plate as I took her in.
She looked like the Fallon I’d always known and yet, somehow, even more devastatingly beautiful.
Black jeans clung to her lean hips, and a man’s blue suit vest molded to her torso, leaving just a sliver of tanned skin showing above her waistband.
Her arms were bare, and the neckline of the vest dove down dramatically, showing off cleavage that seemed rounder and fuller than I’d ever noticed, even when I’d seen her in a bikini more times than I could count. My mouth watered. My dick pulsed.
Hunger coursed through me that had nothing to do with the meal I’d just made.
It was a hunger I’d never been able to sate. Promises bound me, and my goals prevented me from taking what I wanted.
I watched, mesmerized, as she took those blond waves, a shade of dark honey or sweet cognac when they were wet like this, and skillfully worked them into a long braid that ended below her breasts.
As she twisted a thick band around the bottom, my hands shook with the desire to tear it out, run my fingers through the lush satin strands, and yank them back, exposing the long slope of her neck so I could feast on it.
As I fought my body’s reaction to her, she closed the distance, eyes darting to the food I’d placed on the counter.
“You cooked?” Her lips twitched. “I’m not going to end up fighting you for the bathroom, am I?”
It was a long-standing joke between me and my team that I’d mistakenly shared with her. Soon after joining Silver One Squadron, I’d thrown a party at my house to bond the old and new crewmates, and I’d used baked beans that had gone bad.
No one had let me live it down. Not even her.
“Shut up, pee-girl,” I retorted and got another jolt of pleasure when her cheeks pinkened. I liked her flushed and warm and…
No. Just no. I wasn’t going there.
“I was five. And I warned you I had to go. I can’t help it if you kept tickling me, and my bladder lost control. That’s really different than cooking a meal that almost took out an entire squadron of SEALs.”
Theo patted Fallon’s arm. “Did you have an accident? Parker says everyone, even adults, have them.”
Her entire face softened as she looked down at Theo and swept her hand through his hair. “It does happen, buddy.” She picked up his stuffed animal from the counter, looking down at the bandaged leg hiding my stitch job. “Who’s this, and what happened to him?”
“Dog.” Theo’s face got all pinched as if he might cry, but he sucked it back up and said, “A meanie hurt him, but Parker fixed it. He says we can take the bandage off soon.”
Fallon’s gaze met mine over Theo’s head, and my jaw worked overtime, trying to keep my emotions from leaking out. Anger still at the preschool staff. Guilt that I’d left Theo there to begin with.
“Parker is really good at healing broken things.” Her eyes filled, and I felt a prick return at the back of mine.
I cleared my throat, scooped Theo off the counter, and sat him on the middle barstool. “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” I told him.
I’d taken two bites of mine before I risked looking up at Fallon again. She’d turned deathly pale beneath her sunny tan. She pushed the plate away.
“If you end up with botulism, it’s your fault this time,” I attempted a tease with a wave at the refrigerator. “Your food.”
“What’s botch-a-tasm?” Theo asked, inhaling the breakfast sandwich as if he’d never seen food before.
“It’s a…microscopic bug that can get in bad food. I’m just teasing Fallon though. This food is fine.” I proved it by stuffing more of my sandwich into my mouth.
Fallon’s eyes grew enormous, and she grabbed her plate and slid it along the island to me. “I’m not hungry.”
She got up and headed for the door where she’d left her boots and a worn black hat. “I need to get back.”
“Give us two seconds to finish up, Ducky, and we’ll go with you.”
“I need air. I’ll see you down at the main house.”
As she stepped outside, I swore under my breath and jogged after her. I swung the door open in time to see her sink onto the bottom step of the porch, shoulders shuddering.
I looked back inside and saw Theo eyeing the sandwich she’d slid toward me. “Go ahead, bud. You can eat that one. Then go use the restroom, wash up, and come on out.”
He smiled and dug in. I left the door open so I’d hear him if he needed me and joined Fallon on the step.
I shoved my shoulder into hers. “Talk.”
“Why are you here, Parker? Don’t you have enough on your plate?” Her eyes were pained. I knew that look. It was the one she got whenever she talked about being an obligation to her family rather than being someone they wanted and loved.
“Do you even have to ask?” I growled.
“You don’t owe me anything!” Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes flashed. She was always stunning but even more so riled up with passion raging through her.
When I didn’t say anything, her tone softened.
“You didn’t fail me by walking away that day in Willow Creek.
What happened with Uncle Adam and Theresa would have still happened if you were there.
Worse, they would have shot you as soon as they walked into the bar.
I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if that had happened.
I won’t let anything happen to you now either.
I don’t want you here. Go take care of Theo. ”
Having Theo with me was a problem, but I’d figure it out just as I’d figured out everything with him in the last month.
I was deadly serious when I said, “I’m not leaving.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“Too bad. You got one.”
She grunted out a frustrated, inarticulate objection before saying, “You’re not my boss, Frogman. You can’t issue a command and expect me to follow it. I don’t have to let you stay. Go home.”