Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
When Sadie went to stand up, Chase stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Stay put. I’ll get it.”
He waited until she nodded, then headed for the door.
Chase couldn’t believe he’d told her about the incident overseas.
He still hadn’t recovered from it; knew he was a different man as a result.
He also knew a lot of competent female soldiers who would kick his ass if they suspected he didn’t want them anywhere near a combat zone, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how easily they could be tortured and abused if they were captured, and the lengths to which men like the dead Delta Force team would go to rescue them.
But he also heard what Sadie was saying. He knew the reputation of the operatives at McKay-Taggart. The women were just as impressive as the men and he knew they would, and had, gone to the same lengths as the Delta Force teams he’d been imbedded with to rescue fellow soldiers and civilians alike.
Running a hand through his hair, he knew at some point he was going to have to tell Sadie she was right.
Women were more than capable of kicking ass, and just as likely to go out of their way to protect the men they were serving with.
It was a new way of thinking for him, but Chase was willing to be open minded if it meant getting closer to Sadie.
He looked through the peephole and blinked at who he saw on the other side of the door. He’d expected Fletch, or maybe even his sister, but he should’ve known he’d be seeing this visitor sooner or later.
Chase straightened and instead of immediately opening the door, gestured to Sadie. “You need to experience this for yourself.”
Perplexed, she stood up and practically ran to his side. Chase opened the door with a flourish and smirked when Sadie’s mouth fell open.
“Hi!” Fletch’s little girl said brightly when she saw them. “I’m Annie. I live next door. Fletch is my daddy. I wanted to come over and see if you were using your TV.”
“Uh…” Sadie looked at Chase.
He took pity on her and kneeled down so he was at eye level with Annie. “You remember me, right, squirt? Rayne is my sister.”
Her eyes got huge. “Oh yeah! Are you younger or older?”
“Younger.”
“Did you like having an older sister?”
“Yup.”
“I want a little brother. Like, bad, but Mommy says I have to have paycents. But I want him now so I can play with him. Mommy’s got a baby in her belly, but we don’t know if I’m having a brother or a sister.”
Chase swallowed his laughter. Annie was so earnest. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that by the time Emily had the baby, when he or she was old enough to want to play, she’d probably want nothing to do with him, as she’d be in her teens.
“It’ll be a nice surprise either way,” he told the little girl.
“I guess. Now…are you using your TV?”
Chase looked up at Sadie. “Are we using the TV?”
“Uh…no. We were just finishing up lunch.”
“Cool.” And with that, Annie walked by Chase and went straight to the little living room.
She picked up the remote control from the coffee table, clicked on the TV, and surfed through a few channels before settling on an episode of the Power Rangers.
She climbed onto the couch, pulled her knees up to her chest, and lost herself in the cartoon.
“Well, all right then,” Sadie said, staring after the little girl. “Should we call her parents and let them know she’s over here?”
Chase shut the door then turned to face her. “No need. They’re aware she’s here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if that was my little girl, I’d know every step she took outside my house. There’s no way I’d let her wander around otherwise. Besides, Fletch has cameras all over this property.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember you saying that.”
“Right. I was going to suggest earlier that we call my sister and see if she wants to join us on a short shopping trip. I know your aunt packed more stuff for you, but I’m thinking you wouldn’t mind going shopping anyway.
And I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t like shopping with me, because I don’t shop, not in person.
I buy everything I need online. But since Annie is here for who knows how long—and I’m not about to interrupt Fletch to ask him, because I’m guessing he’s taking advantage of his daughter being out of the house and is otherwise preoccupied, which is exactly what I’d do in his shoes—how about we hang out, watch the Power Rangers, and when Annie leaves, I call my sister? ”
Sadie looked up at him in shock. “You want to go shopping? With me? I thought we had to stay under the radar so Jonathan couldn’t find me?”
“When I said we’re going shopping, I didn’t mean we’re gonna skip around Temple, opening ourselves up to whatever Jonathan might want to lob our way.
I know you hate to be confined, and the last month hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park.
I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone here…
let you get out of the house for a bit while at the same time making sure I have your back.
Unless you want to talk, that is. We can talk about whatever you left out of your recounting of what happened between you and Jonathan… ” He let his words trail off.
“Shopping sounds great,” Sadie exclaimed in a fake cheerful tone.
At her reaction, he had his confirmation that she really had left something out.
He hated that, but wasn’t going to pressure her…
yet. “That’s what I thought.” He lowered his voice.
“I don’t mind if you don’t want to talk about it…
but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying to find out.
And you should know, I was serious earlier, Sparky. You’re mine.”
At the shocked look on her face, Chase hoped she understood what he meant.
He didn’t want or need a Dominant/submissive relationship, but he did want to care for Sadie.
To make sure she had everything she needed and wanted, both in and out of the bedroom.
That was what her being “his” meant to him.
And part of that also meant finding out what she’d hidden from him earlier.
He could tell from her facial expressions and nonverbal cues that she’d left something out in her recounting of her time spent with Jonathan.
He hadn’t pushed, hoping the greater the time since the events in San Antonio, and the longer she was around him, the safer she’d feel.
But it was obvious that whatever had happened between her and Jonathan Jones was still haunting her.
And he wanted to know what it was, but he wanted her to want to tell him. To trust him with it.
“Have you ever seen a Power Rangers cartoon before?” Sadie asked, looking back at the television. “It’s super violent, but there’s always a good message in there too.”
“Mmmm,” Chase murmured, letting her change the subject.
Chase took her hand and marveled anew at the feel of it in his own. He pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. “I’ll put the plates away. Stay,” he ordered when she went to stand back up.
Forty-five minutes later, there was another knock on the door.
“I got it,” Chase said softly, motioning for Sadie to continue sitting. Even though he was fairly sure it was one of Annie’s parents on the other side, he still wouldn’t let Sadie get up. One, she was still in danger, but two, it just wasn’t gentlemanly.
His dad had drilled it into him that there were just some things that men did, and one of those things was, when your woman was half asleep on the couch with a seven-year-old child snuggled in her lap, you do not make her get up to get the door, fetch you a beer, or make you supper.
He missed his parents. They’d died too early in a freak plane accident while on a cruise to Alaska, but he hadn’t realized until right this second the deeper implications of what their absence meant.
They’d never meet the woman he married. They’d never meet his children, their grandchildren.
And he’d never get to tell his father that he’d been absolutely right when he’d told him all those years ago that when he met the woman he wanted to make his own, he’d know it immediately.
Chase silently stalked to the door of the apartment and looked through the peephole. Fletch. He opened the door with a smile.
“Hey.”
“Jackson,” Fletch said with a slight grin. “You don’t happen to have my little sprite over here, do you?”
“You know I do,” Chase said, stepping away from the door.
Fletch lowered his voice. “Sorry, man. Couldn’t resist the chance to have my wife to myself for a while.”
“Figured as much. She’s watching Power Rangers with Sadie.” Chase turned to head back into the small living area, but Fletch stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
He motioned to the living room. “How’s she doing?”
Chase shook his head and lowered his voice.
“On the outside, fine. But I think there’s something she’s still not talking about that happened when she and Jonathan were alone in that school.
We know he wanted to get her pregnant. But other than the five minutes or so before her rescue, when he tried to handcuff her to a bed—which is part of the official report—she’s really skittish about discussing the rest of the time she spent alone with him. Says he knocked her out a second time.”
Fletch opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, then shut it again.
“What?”
“I was just going to say, whatever it is, go easy, man. She acts like she can take on the world single-handedly, but underneath that bluster and strength is one scared-as-hell woman.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Chase asked.