Chapter 9
Noah leaned back on the deck chair at the back of his house and watched the sun set over the mountains.
Fucking gorgeous. If there was anywhere to go to heal, it was Amber Ridge.
“She stole your burrito?” Jesse asked, beer in his hand.
“Swiped it from right under my nose,” Becket confirmed.
“I have successfully picked up terrorists sneaking up on me. Once, I even saw an asshole in the bushes five hundred meters away in open terrain without gear. Yet Bella’s able to steal my burrito from the middle console while she’s in the back seat.
She’d be a better soldier than all of us. ”
Noah laughed, and damn, it felt good to laugh with his cousins. “How does that happen?”
“Sky was on speaker, so I got distracted. I found the wrapper under the passenger seat when I got home.”
The guy was a former Navy SEAL, trained to have the best tactical awareness in the world. But one phone call from his woman and he missed a dog eating his food.
“But…I wasn’t even mad,” Becket said, lifting his beer to his mouth. “I said ‘well done,’ and then I went and bought a taco.”
Noah shook his head. “You’re becoming a softy.”
“Tell me about it.” Becket looked at him. “We’ve been doing all the talking. What about you, Noah?”
“What about me?” He was deflecting because he did not want to talk about himself.
“How are you doing being home?” Jesse asked, all hints of humor leaving his eyes. “The transition back into civilian life isn’t easy.”
He glanced down at the beer in his hands. “Truth?”
“Always,” Becket said.
“It’s been tough. I’m here, but I don’t always feel like I’m here. I thought being away from the military would…unchain me from certain memories.”
Jesse leaned forward. “I know that feeling. When you live on the edge of danger for long enough, your nervous system takes time to find peace.”
Time…was that all he needed?
“It took me at least a year to feel like I could sleep without waking every hour,” Becket agreed.
They said it with such ease. But then, they didn’t know the details of his last mission or why he’d left his team. And that was imprinted so deeply inside him it would be there forever.
His gaze moved over the mountains. “I loved my time in the Marines but sometimes…sometimes I feel angry that I signed up.”
He’d never said those words out loud before. He’d barely allowed himself to think them. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because it was honorable to be a soldier. To fight for your country. So feeling anything but proud felt taboo.
“I’ve been there,” Jesse said quietly.
“Same,” Becket agreed. “The military changes you, and there are moments where that change doesn’t feel for the better.”
So it wasn’t just him.
“It helps to move,” Becket added. “Running or an hour with a bag does a world of good for your mental health. Have you tried the new gym? It’s called The Pit, and the owner is former UFC.”
“Colt told me about it, but I haven’t gone.”
“You should.”
Becket was right. Noah worked out every day, but he hadn’t hit a bag in too long. “Thanks. Now, onto a different topic, why haven’t I seen you guys on my zip line?”
Both of them laughed.
An hour later, the guys were leaving, Jesse getting ready for his evening shift at the station and Becket going home to Sky and Bella.
He was just closing the door when his phone vibrated with a text.
A smile stretched his face when he saw who it was from.
Addie: I know what you did.
Noah: It wasn’t me.
He didn’t know what it was, but denying blame felt safest.
Addie: All my peanut butter cups are gone. Every freaking one of them. And I know it was you.
Noah: Do you have evidence to support your claim?
Addie: I have intel.
Noah: Have you considered that your intel is wrong?
Addie: I trust my informant.
Noah: What exactly did this informant say?
Addie: That they saw you rummaging through my chocolate jar. Now I am mysteriously all out of peanut butter cups. Which are my favorite.
Noah: Last week the huckleberry truffles were your favorite.
Addie: Things change.
Noah: Hm. This is a mystery.
Addie: I’m not joking, buddy. Theft is a very serious crime.
Noah: Would you like me to buy you some more peanut butter cups, Addison?
Addie: Are you admitting to the theft?
Noah: I admit nothing.
Addie: Spoken like a true criminal.
He chuckled before heading back out onto the deck and lifting the empty beer bottles to take inside.
Noah: Correct me if I’m wrong, but you still have half a dozen other chocolates in that jar.
Addie: None of them are peanut butter.
Noah: You’ll find some peanut butter cups and a jar of peanut butter on your desk on Monday morning.
Addie: Okay. That helps.
Noah: Will it also make you feel better if I tell you that Jules got a new flavor of hot chocolate?
Addie: Depends…what flavor?
Noah: She calls it The Lumberjack. It’s dark chocolate with cinnamon and maple.
The three dots popped up, then disappeared. Then they popped up again.
Addie: I did not know this. It does make me feel better.
He chuckled, but his smile slipped as he wrote the next text.
Noah: Have you been keeping safe?
It had been a week since her run. And he hadn’t seen her nearly enough in that time.
Addie: No creepy shadows or noises or texts. I’m starting to feel optimistic that whoever the text was from was just messing around.
Noah wouldn’t get too excited.
Addie: I’m going to take a shower and get ready for bed. Just needed you to know I’m disappointed in you.
Noah: I told you I’d replace them.
Addie: That didn’t help me today when I was in the throes of my Peanut Butter Cup Withdrawal.
His lips twitched as an idea hit him. It was a terrible idea for a multitude of reasons. And his head told him not to do it. But for the first time in his life, he didn’t listen.
Addie was still smiling as she stepped into the shower. A huge just-texting-Noah-makes-me-grin-uncontrollably smile.
Hot water beat down on her shoulders, warming her cool skin. Yes, she really had wanted a peanut butter cup today. But honestly, the discovery that it was Noah who’d taken them had made her almost excited, because it had given her an excuse to text him.
That sounded pathetic, right? To need an excuse to text your crush? Argh, and she was referring to him as her crush. She was twenty-two years old, for Christ’s sake.
She shouldn’t be texting him. It was not smart to fall for Noah Hayes. In fact, it was probably as far from smart as she could get.
Yes, they’d kissed, and yes, that kiss had been the best freaking thing she’d ever experienced…but nothing had changed. He was still her boss, he was still thirteen years older than she was, and he was still working through his trauma from the military.
But there was no harm in texting, right? Or staring at him while he got onto the climbing wall, or remembering their kiss while letting her pulse take off at a million miles an hour?
Gah. She was screwed. And not in the literal way.
Fifteen minutes later, and after side-stepping way too many invasive thoughts of Noah, she got out of the shower and pulled on panties and an oversized shirt her parents had given her for Christmas.
It said, “Powered by Chocolate,” and it was the most honest piece of clothing she’d ever worn.
They’d also given her one that read: “A day without chocolate is a day wasted,” and she absolutely agreed with that one too.
Now she had a night of chocolate pudding and House of Wax to look forward to, because was there a better combination than chocolate and a horror movie? No. No, there wasn’t. And Chad Michael Murray and Jared Padalecki just sweetened the deal.
She was just stepping into her living room when the creak of an old floorboard near the kitchen made her stop.
What was that? It sounded like it came from the laundry off the kitchen.
But then, this was an old house. It made noises all the time, so it could have been nothing. It was nothing. Of course it was.
She continued to the kitchen and grabbed the pudding from the fridge. She’d just set it on the counter when another creak sounded, this one louder.
She spun, heart thrashing against her ribs. That definitely came from behind the closed laundry door. Was someone in there?
Her gaze shot to the front door. Should she run outside? Drive to the sheriff’s station? Or lock herself in the bathroom and call for help?
No. That was dumb. Why would she lock herself in a house with an intruder?
A sudden knock on the front door made her jump. Fear made a small tremble move through her fingers. They could be connected—the person in her laundry and the person at the door.
Quickly, she pulled a knife from the block and held it up as she crossed the living room, constantly checking behind her like she was waiting for whoever was in her house to jump out.
This could be their plan, distract her with the front door so she turned her back on the person in the laundry room.
She looked through the peephole—and air immediately whooshed from her chest.
As quick as her trembling fingers allowed, she tugged open the door, not even caring that she only wore panties and a T-shirt.
Noah stood on the other side, a bag of Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups in one hand and a jar of peanut butter in the other.
His eyes flared at the sight of her. Then his gaze narrowed at the knife in her hand. He stepped forward. “What’s wrong?”
“I think—”
The click of the back door opening and closing sounded, making her gasp and spin.
There had been someone here!
“Who’s that?” Noah demanded, as he stepped inside and closed the door after him.
“I don’t know. But they were in the house with me!” She felt sick. The kind of sick that gave her a rolling belly and stole her breath.
Noah cursed and flicked the lock on the door before pressing her against it. “Stay here.”
“But—”
It was too late, he was already moving. Air caught in her throat when he stepped into the kitchen.
What if they had a weapon? A gun? Noah could get hurt trying to protect her.