Chapter Five #4
He shifted slightly in his spot to face her and gave her his full attention.
She took a drink of water. “First, I wanted to thank you again.”
Jay Bird grinned. There it was again. She really might be the most relentlessly, almost stubbornly grateful person he had ever met.
“I think that’s the seventeenth time you’ve thanked me.”
Her eyes widened. “I haven’t thanked you seventeen times.”
“You’re right. It could be twenty.”
“Now you’re exaggerating,” she said, shaking her head, but smiling.
Fuck, she’s so cute, Jay Bird thought.
But then her expression became hesitant. “I also wanted to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Are you...” She paused, and then made a little circular motion with one hand. ‘Is there anyone who might show up here and find Lily and me living in your house and decide she wants to murder me?”
He stared at her
She immediately grimaced. “That came out badly.”
But then Jay Bird laughed. “No.”
“No, it came out badly, or no, nobody’s going to murder me?”
“Both,” he said, still chuckling.
Willow tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I just meant, are you seeing someone? Because if you are, I don’t want us being here to cause problems.”
“I’m not seeing anyone.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“And if some mystery woman appears claiming otherwise, don’t let her inside. She’s probably just after the TV.”
Willow huffed cutely. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. That’s an expensive TV,” Jay Bird argued, trying to keep a straight face.
Willow rolled her eyes, and he found he liked that she was already comfortable enough to do it around him. Her fingers idly traced the condensation on her glass.
“There’s something else. As soon as I get identification sorted out, I’m going to start looking for work.”
Jay Bird leaned back. “Okay.”
“I worked as a receptionist, but I was going to school to be a veterinary technician before everything happened. I don’t know what my education status is, considering it’s been three years. But I want to finish it and earn my degree.”
“Okay.”
Her gaze lifted to his. The certainty in his answer seemed to catch her off guard.
“And when I do, I’m going to pay you back.”
Jay Bird almost told her absolutely fucking not, but he stopped himself. There was a stubborn set to her jaw he’d already learned to recognize, and he knew arguing with her now would accomplish nothing.
He gave her a slight nod instead. “Okay.”
Willow started at him. “You aren’t going to argue?”
“Nope.”
Suspicion entered her eyes.
Smart woman. Jay Bird had absolutely no intention of accepting a dime from her, but that was a future Jay Bird problem. For now, the current version of him preferred peace.
“And I can cook.”
Jay Bird grinned. “I’m aware. You threatened my kitchen earlier.”
“I said I could do damage.”
“Same thing.”
She smiled. “I’ll cook dinner and clean up around here. I can do laundry, vacuum, or whatever else needs doing.”
His eyebrows drew together. “You don’t need to—”
“I’m not saying I have to. I want to contribute.” She glanced around the living room. “And frankly, this place could use some sprucing up.”
Jay Bird stared at her. “Excuse me?”
Willow tried to look innocent, but it didn’t quite land. “I’m just saying the leather couch and giant television seem lonely.”
“They have each other.”
She laughed. “I also promise Lily won’t be in your hair. I’ll make sure she keeps her toys in the room.”
Jay Bird leaned forward. “First of all, Lily couldn’t bother me if she tried. She can run through this house. She can leave toys in the living room. Hell, she can color on the walls if she wants.”
Willow’s eyebrows shot up. “What?! I’m not letting her color on your walls.”
“Why not? According to you, the place needs personality.”
A startled laugh burst out of her. “That’s your decorating solution?”
“I’ve seen her drawings. The kid’s got artistic potential.”
“She draws circles.”
“So, it’s modern art.”
Willow laughed harder, quickly covering her mouth so she wouldn’t wake Lily. Jay Bird caught himself smiling before he even realized it. It was an easy, unguarded grin that made him feel a little ridiculous, like he’d been caught off guard by something as simple as her happiness.
He then continued. “Second, I don’t expect you to be my maid. You don’t owe me cooking, cleaning, laundry, or anything else.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” She gave him a look. “But I like cooking, and I need something to do besides sit around thinking about everything that’s wrong with my life.”
The humor faded, replaced by understanding. Jay Bird knew better than most what it meant to need something productive to keep your head occupied.
“Then cook,” he said. “Clean if it makes you happy. I’m not going to stop you.”
“Thank you.”
“Twenty-one.”
She threw him an annoyed look.
He grinned, and before he could talk himself out of it, he added, “You can help me figure out what to do with the house too.”
The words surprised the hell out of him almost as much as they seemed to surprise her.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You clearly have opinions on what my house is lacking.”
She stared wide-eyed at him. “You actually want suggestions from me for your home?”
“Sure.”
Something shifted inside him as he said it, a quiet realization settling in that he had always called this place his house, never really his home. There was a difference.
A house was walls, a roof, somewhere to sleep between deployments, a place to store your shit and lock the door behind you.
A home was where memories were made, where people laughed in the kitchen, and kids left toys in places specifically designed to break adult ankles.
It was where someone cooked dinner while another person complained about whatever was on television, and where you could walk through the door and just know without a doubt that somebody would notice you had come back.
Jay Bird hadn’t wanted that in a very long time. But now Willow was sitting on his couch talking about cooking dinner and decorating his painfully empty living room, while her two-year-old slept down the hallway with a stuffed elephant named Ellie tucked beneath her arm.
And somehow, for the first time since he had bought the place, Jay Bird could actually picture this house turning into something different—something warmer, something lived-in, something that didn’t feel so empty and sterile—a home.
Jesus Christ. He had only known this woman for two fucking days, and somehow she already had him domesticated.
The word made him recoil internally. No, absolutely not. And yet, even as he pushed the thought away, it lingered at the edges of his mind.
He glanced at Willow. “For now, if you want, you can use the tablet that Lily uses to shop. I can leave you my credit card.”
Her mouth opened and then closed again as she struggled to speak. Finally, she said. “Are you serious?”
Jay Bird shrugged. “Yeah.”
She stared at him like he had just suggested she remodel Buckingham Palace.
“What do you like?”
“I don’t care.”
“Everyone has preferences.”
“If I had preferences, you wouldn’t have spent the afternoon insulting my furniture. Just pick out what you like or think would look good.”
That seemed to surprise her even more.
“Jay Bird, you shouldn’t give a woman you barely know unrestricted decorating authority.”
“Why?”
“I could order pink curtains.”
He considered that for just a second. “Okay, no pink curtains.”
Willow laughed. “See? Preference.”
“Fine. We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he said, conceding. “Actually, that reminds me. We’re having visitors tomorrow.”
Willow’s smile faded.
“I’m telling you now because I don’t want anyone showing up without you knowing.”
She visibly relaxed a little. “Who?”
“My commander, Derek, and a friend of his named Tink.”
“Your commander?”
Shit. He almost forgot she had no clue what he did for a living.
“Yeah. We’ll get to that in a minute.”
Her brows lifted, but he continued.
Tink used to serve with Derek. He owns a security company now, although that’s a pretty basic description of what he does. He’s good at finding things people don’t want found.”
Willow tightened her hands around her glass. “What kind of things?”
“Information. Records. People. Digital trails.” Jay Bird kept his voice calm. “Derek said he has some information that might help you get your life back on paper. Identification, accounts, whatever happened after you disappeared.”
Willow stared at him. “He already did that?”
Jay Bird smirked. “That’s Tink.”
“But he doesn’t even know me.”
“He knows enough.”
She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay all of you.”
Jay Bird sighed. “Willow.”
“I mean it. Riley. Mia. You. Whoever bought everything in that bedroom. Now Derek and this Tink person—”
“Nobody’s keeping score.”
Her eyes met his, and he could see tears forming. “People don’t do things like this for nothing.”
That sentence told him more about the last three years than she probably realized.
Jay Bird's voice softened. “These people do. I swear, Willow.”
She looked down at her water. A few seconds passed before she looked back up at him.
“Okay. Now, you said that Derek is your commander. Are you in the military?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“What branch?”
“Navy.”
Willow’s eyebrows rose slightly, and then she grinned.
“What?” he asked, wondering why she looked amused.
“I’m just trying to picture you in one of those little white sailor hats.”
Now it was Jay Bird’s eyebrows that shot upward. “Please don’t ever say that again. And just for the record, I don’t wear one of those. I’m a Chief.”
A giggle escaped her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
He shook his head, though a slight grin pulled at his lips. “But there is something else you need to know about my job.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m a SEAL.”
All the humor disappeared from Willow’s expression as she looked at him as if trying to figure out if he was joking.
“You’re a SEAL?”
“Yeah.”
“As in the Navy SEALs?”
“There’s only one kind.”