Chapter 7
Izzy stroked her hand over Capone's head, pulling at his ears like he liked. Groaning, he rolled even further over top of her.
"Damn it, dog, I'm not a pillow!"
But he was used to her griping and merely wagged his tail, smacking her in the leg, tongue lolling happily from his wrinkly face.
Izzy laughed at him, pushed him off her and rolled out of bed. Padding to the bathroom she did her business, slipped on a pair of sleep pants beneath her long t-shirt and urged Capone off the bed. "Come on, lazy bones. I know you have to pee too."
The one-eyed Bull Mastiff mix slid off the bed and headed for the back door of the house.
Izzy let him out into the fenced yard, knowing it would take him a while to water all the weeds he liked.
Then he'd have to warm up in the sun with an early morning nap to recover.
Then he'd want to come in for breakfast.
Her spare time revolved around that damn dog and he loved it.
She wished it revolved around another big male.
It had been three weeks since she'd seen Drake, or talked to him. They’d texted a few times the first week, but she thought he’d gone out of the country because it had been radio silence since then.
Two weeks of watching the news more than she ever had before for hot spots in the Middle East. The last two weeks were filled with hoping beyond hope that she would hear from him. A phone call, a letter, a smoke signal, anything.
It had almost taken her that long to recover from the wedding from hell. No, she couldn't say that. The wedding had been fine. The reception had been hell for her personally, but Kiko had been oblivious to everything going on until the end.
Tyler and Kiko had gotten back from their honeymoon two days ago and were counting down the hours until Tyler’s leave was over.
Izzy had called her and texted her a couple times, but she was letting the newlyweds fit in every spare moment of connection they could before he left.
After Tyler was gone she and Ginny would steal Kiko away for a spa day or something. They all needed friend contact, so bad!
There was a knock at her door. Izzy glanced at the clock, wondering who could be there at nine oh-three in the morning.
Padding through the silent house she peeked out the window beside the door.
A young woman stood there, a flower delivery in her hand.
The logo on the vase corresponded with the logo on the truck parked on the street. Izzy opened the door.
The woman grinned. "Are you Izzy?"
Nodding, she took the flowers and signed her name. "Oh, I don't have a tip. Hold on."
The young woman waved her hand. "Already taken care of. Enjoy!"
Izzy backed into the house, looking down at the huge bouquet of roses. They were a vivid wintergreen lozenge pink, and while she didn't normally like roses, these ones were spectacular.
She sat the vase down on a table and pulled the card from the plastic holder. Inside was a handwritten card in black. The color reminded me of that damn Pepto-Bismol dress... I miss you. I want to see you. Just so you’ll wear that dress and take it off again.
The signature was a heavy D across the bottom of the card. She laughed, holding it to her chest. She missed him too, terribly.
Then something occurred to her. He was in Virginia. How did he know what color these roses were, in Colorado? And the card! He didn’t…
Her heart stalling out she bolted for the door and flung it open.
Drake stood there in a tight gray t-shirt and jeans that seemed to be molded onto him.
There was a bashful smile on his face and he'd propped a pair of wraparound sunglasses on his head.
He held out his hands to her in supplication.
"I know I didn't call and I hope you’re not mad Kiko gave me your address. "
Izzy didn't give him a chance to say anything else, just wrapped her arms around him and brought his head down for a kiss. Drake didn't fight her, cupping her head in his hands to deepen the contact.
Izzy's body responded like they'd never been apart. Leaning into him, she let him know how happy she was to see him.
Drake pulled back from her enough to urge her into the house. He followed her in and swung the door shut behind them. "You're not mad?"
"No, of course not. I'm ecstatic to see you."
He grinned at her and her heart palpitated. Damn, was that joy in his expression? And relief. Had he actually expected her to turn him away? His face seemed very open.
"I thought I was going to come see you, though?” she asked, confused. “Did you get more time off or something?"
He made a face. "Kind of. I'm ..." he hesitated for a long moment before squaring up. "I don't want you to feel rushed or on the spot or anything, but I'm feeling out a couple of job prospects. One is in Denver. The other in Montana."
Izzy felt her mouth fall open. "You're leaving the team?"
Drake cringed, but made a waffling motion with his hands. "It was kind of depending upon your reception whether or not I followed through. I'm not expecting an instant relationship or anything, but if I'm closer maybe we could see where this thing between us goes."
Izzy was stunned all over again and tears filled her eyes. She was not a weepy person, but he was tugging all of her strings. "I think it's a fabulous idea. An hour and twenty minutes is much better than ten hours of travel. But are you sure? This is such a huge change."
Drake shook his head slightly. "You know, it's not really.
I talked to Gabe at the wedding reception.
The Lost and Found crew out here… well, I know a lot of them.
I worked with Gabe and Max directly. So it's not like I'm walking into this blind. And Brookheart’s team is further away, but seem to have a dynamic operation.
He's putting everything he has into his business. "
"But, what about the SEALs?"
Drake shrugged his broad shoulders, but his gaze stayed solid and determined.
"The team will always be important to me, and I'll always be there for anyone that needs anything, but that one night with you totally changed the way I looked at the world.
I want more than to just go shoot things and clean up other people's messes.
I want a home life. I want someone to look at me like they're happy to see me at the end of the day. "
Izzy smiled softly, totally understanding that. It was lonely being alone all the time. "I would be happy to see you every day. I think you know that. Although Capone might have an issue with you being here. He's been the only man in my life for a long time."
Drake drew back, brow furrowed as he tried to remember who Capone was. "Oh, the dog. Where is the little guy? I'll make up with him. Dogs love me."
Izzy grinned at his response, her eyes going wide, and led him to the back door. "Capone," she called. "We have a visitor."
All hundred and fifty pounds of overgrown fawn-colored puppy burst out of the undergrowth beneath the back deck.
Capone carried a smooshed basketball in his jaws, but he dropped it as soon as he saw Drake.
Izzy grabbed the dog's collar as he rammed through the doorway, but it didn't slow him down much as he headed straight for Drake.
When the dog shoved his nose into Drake's crotch, he laughed. "This wasn't exactly the welcome home action I expected."
Izzy giggled and fought with the dog that weighed more than she did. Feeling desperate, she snatched a chew bone from the bag in the upper cupboard. As soon as she got his attention with the rustling bag and threw it into the back yard, Capone took off in his galumphing, lop-headed gate.
"He only has one eye," she explained. "Not sure how he lost it. Somebody found him on the streets all sickly and lost. I fostered him for a good while, then adopted him outright when I couldn't let him go. I'm a sucker."
Izzy shrugged, but Drake grinned at her. "I think it shows your heart."
Yeah, she supposed. "Let me show you around."
Her house wasn't large, and having his big body in it made it seem even smaller, but Izzy looked forward to the closeness.
Drake appreciated everything she'd done in her home, and the way she'd furnished it.
The bedroom was the last stop, as she had planned.
Drake's eyes popped wide at the sight of the dark purple color of the walls.
She watched him expectantly as he looked around.
She always made her bed in the mornings, and weekends were the same.
The thick down comforter was folded down to the end of the bed and the pale lilac blanket beneath stretched the length of the bed.
It was pretty and girly and Izzy loved this space with its white accents.
"I feel like a man has never dared cross this threshold."
Izzy laughed, shifting a little uncomfortably. "Well, no man has actually. I haven't been in this house very long and I've never had a man here."
When she glanced up at him, his expression had gone hard and cold.
He stretched out his chin, as if to loosen the taut muscles in his neck.
Then he stretched his hands out, shaking them.
"I have to say, I'm very glad to hear that.
I know I have no right to say that or even think it.
We're not connected or committed in any way, but I worried that you would find someone else while I was back home arranging for time off. "
He turned to her, standing there in the doorway. "Izzy, I think what we found is something special. I've never felt a connection like that to another human being, let alone a woman. I would like to ask you if there's any way you would consider dating me exclusively?"
Izzy looked up at him, standing there in her too girly room. He was nervous, she could see that. Though he stood strong, his eyes were narrowed as if he were getting ready for a punch or knockdown.