Chapter Two
E ver since she was a little girl, Isla Watts had lived a life of adventure. Actually, life had always been adventurous, and she’d just caught a ride. But early on, she’d discovered the benefits of going with the flow, and learned many lessons along the way.
Today was no different.
These well-intentioned men were not about to take no for an answer, and she was too tired to argue. So even though she didn’t know the men personally, she did know of them, thanks to her cousin who happened to be married to the local sheriff.
She could trust them, not because the men were military heroes who worked at a security company that helped people, but because her gut told her they were good. Isla always listened to her gut. It hadn’t steered her wrong in the twenty-nine years of her life. Too bad she hadn’t listened to it ten years ago…
Her spine automatically straightened and she blew out a breath to dispel the unwanted memories stirring in her mind.
The past was best left in the past.
“Neighbors?” She directed a smile at Sinjin. “It’s a small world, isn’t it?”
At first, she didn’t think the guy was going to respond. He was the least talkative of the group, and the only one not wearing an ESI shirt, but man, he sure was striking. Dark eyes, long, black hair, and mahogany skin all bespoke of his Native heritage.
She found him beautiful but knew instinctively he would not appreciate that adjective.
“Yes, it is,” he finally said.
For some reason, she was hit with the sudden urge to let him off the hook. He wore uneasiness like an invisible cloak.
“It’s also fine to let me walk home by myself,” she told him. “There’s no need to go along.”
He rose to his feet, and his gaze softened. “It’s no trouble. I’m going that way anyway.”
She wasn’t sure what surprised her more, his response or the uptick in her pulse.
“Yeah, so don’t sweat it, Isla. Technically, you could be walking Sinjin home,” Carter teased, his grin too contagious to ignore.
She laughed. “I suppose you’re right.”
And she kept that thought foremost in her mind as she exited the bar and grill and walked across the parking lot with her new neighbor by her side.
Her very hot, very quiet new neighbor.
Once again, she was hit with the need to set his mind at ease. “Sorry, Sinjin.”
His head jerked back slightly, and he frowned at her in the fading sunlight. “What about?”
“Your friends practically forcing you to walk me home.”
His bark of laughter echoed between them as he cupped her elbow and brought them to a halt near the sidewalk. Awareness shot up her arm, but it was the way amusement warmed his gaze that sent a tremor through her body.
“First of all,” he said, still holding her arm, and the firm yet soft touch of his fingers on her skin increased that awareness. “No one tells me what to do.”
She still couldn’t help but feel he’d been coerced. “What about Mac?”
He lifted a brow. “What about him?”
“Isn’t he your boss?”
At least, that’s what she recalled her cousin, Lyndsey, telling her yesterday, and Mac was one of the men Hunter had introduced her to at the table.
“Yeah,” he answered.
She shrugged. “Don’t you have to listen to him?”
His gaze narrowed a second before he replied, “Only during a mission.”
Mission?
Must be how they referred to a case.
She nodded and was unable to stop the teasing streak that shot through her. “So, you’re saying you were overjoyed to walk me home tonight?”
At that, he released her and blinked. “I…uh…”
Isla laughed. “Relax.” Smiling, she patted his arm. “I’m just messing with you.”
He blinked again and a smile twitched his lips. “Roger that.”
For the next few minutes, they walked in silence, crossing the road to their street that had three cottages on each side facing one another, six in total. Their street dead-ended into a sand dune. The small hill was a barrier to most of the gulf breezes blowing through and high tides, although they never reached this far in unless a hurricane made landfall. The houses on stilts, further down toward the east, normally saw that kind of action.
As they reached the first house on her side of the street, she stopped. “You can go ahead. I need to drop off this food to the Potters.”
Without waiting for a reply, she walked to the small porch of the cottage identical to the others then knocked on the door.
Within a few seconds, Mr. Potter opened the door and a smile erased exhaustion from his face and deepened the wrinkles around his eyes. “Isla! Hi, how was your day?”
“Hi, Walter,” she replied with a grin. “It went well. How is Mary?”
His wife recently had a hip replaced, but she was concerned about them both.
“Doing well.” He nodded. “She’s still in some pain but following the doctor’s orders.”
“How are you?” she asked. “You look tired.”
“Ahh.” He waved a hand and shook his head. “I’m fine. Comes with this ring. She took care of me last year when I had my knee done. Now it’s my turn to take care of her.”
A longing hit Isla deep in her heart but instead of feeling sad, she felt warmth from the love the elderly man had for his wife. Her parents had exhibited that kind of love and commitment, and she’d like to think they would’ve been like Walter and Mary had they had the chance to live this long.
“How sweet,” she said, handing the takeout bags to him. “Here, these are for you. I wanted to make sure you both have something to eat.”
“That’s right nice of you, Isla. Thank you,” he said, a smile spreading across his face again. “What do I owe you?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just remember to take care of yourself, too.”
“Will do.” He nodded. “You should get back to your date. He’s waited patiently for you this whole time. He’s got nice manners.”
Date?
She glanced behind her to find Sinjin right where she’d left him. Surprise kick-started her pulse and she blamed it for the flush heating her face.
“Oh, he’s not my date,” she told Walter after turning back to face him. “But he does have those manners you spoke of because he was walking me home from the restaurant.”
“Yes, I noticed that about him,” Walter said. “Mr. Acothley is quiet. Keeps to himself. Never any trouble, unlike those noisy hooligans that occupied your cottage. Mary was just saying how nice it was not to hear music blaring at two a.m.”
She smiled. “I might be up at that hour, but to study, not party.” That was never her thing. “You should go ahead and eat. Hopefully, you won’t have to heat it up. And the cornbread is for you.” She winked. “Maybe don’t eat that in front of Mary, though.”
His wide smile returned. “Aww, Isla. If I wasn’t married and was fifty years younger, you’d be on the top of my radar.” He glanced around her and waved to Sinjin. “You should hold on to this one. She’s a keeper.”
Beyond mortified, Isla stood there a few seconds after Mr. Potter went back into his house. Heat once again flushed her cheeks, but she had to face her coerced escort at some point.
So, she did what she always did in a weird situation, she laughed. The incident happened. Nothing could be done about it, so she returned to the sidewalk and met the handsome man’s gaze.
“Those two are so sweet,” she said, pretending Walter hadn’t said a word.
He stared at her a beat before his head dipped in a single nod. “So, you stopped at the restaurant for takeout that wasn’t for you.”
“Yep.” As she headed toward her cottage, she explained about Mary’s surgery and her concern for Walter. “Sometimes the caretaker needs to be reminded to take care too.”
“What will you eat?”
She stopped in front of her place and turned to face the frowning man. “I have chicken cooking in the crockpot. Want some?”
Okay, she had no idea why she asked that, but now that it was out, she wasn’t going to take it back.
“No, thank you.”
“Sorry. Of course, you don’t.” She rolled her eyes. “You no doubt ate at the restaurant.”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”
Now it was her turn to frown. “So, you went to a restaurant but didn’t eat?”
“Yes.”
Laughter bubbled up her throat. “I like you, Sinjin. You travel to your own beat.”
She did too.
He blinked at her with those mesmerizing dark eyes of his but remained silent.
“Thanks for walking me home,” she said, but when he didn’t move, she walked to her door, unlocked it, then twisted to face him. “Okay, your duty is complete. You can go home now.”
He gave another slight nod and started to turn.
“It was nice meeting you, Sinjin.”
Isla had no idea why her darn mouth kept talking. She blew out a silent breath, calling herself an idiot.
At least her escort was polite enough not to laugh or roll his eyes at her. In fact, he turned back to face her long enough for her to notice his lips twitch.
Yeah, because he probably thought she was nuts.
Before she did something to confirm his thoughts, Isla entered her cottage and closed the door. Her actions were no longer needed for idiot of the day. She’d contributed enough to take that title by a landslide.
Snickering, she removed her purse and hooked it on a peg by the door, then fished out her phone as it started to ring.
Her cousin, no doubt.
“Hey, Lyndsey,” she greeted without checking the caller ID.
“How was your day?” her cousin asked.
“Good,” she answered for what felt like the tenth time that evening.
“Just good?” Lyndsey questioned. “You’ve been waiting years to get to clinicals and you’re only giving me a one-word description?
It wouldn’t have taken her this long if she hadn’t been stupid and dropped out after…
With a firm shake of her head, she pushed those unwanted thoughts aside and refocused on her cousin’s question.
She plopped down on the couch. “It was amazing. I got to help treat a female who had a bad reaction to sunblock. A child with a cough and fever. An inebriated man who fell down a flight of stairs, and a farmer who had a run-in with a tractor and nearly took off two of his fingers.” Inhaling, she played with her ponytail. “That was my favorite. One digit was hanging on by—”
“Okay!” Lyndsey interrupted. “I get the picture.”
Isla laughed. “You’re the one who wanted more description.”
“But maybe not so much detail.”
“Says the woman who deals with battered and neglected animals.” Isla knew how awful some of the cases were because her cousin had often sent her photos.
“Yeah,” Lyndsey said. “But I seem to handle four-legged injuries better than two-legged. You were always the one who wanted to help humans, while I wanted to help animals.”
She nodded. “True.”
Even at a young age, Isla played doctor with dolls while her cousin would pretend to fix stuffed animals. Back when the world was wonderful, and her parents were still alive.
“I’m proud of you. You know that, Isla, right?” Lyndsay asked, sending a sudden stinging to her eyes and throat. “And your parents would be too.”
Inhaling, she tried to swallow past her tight throat. “Even though I took a few years off after their…”
It’d been ten years and she still hated to say the word murders out loud.
“After their deaths?” she said, after clearing her throat.
“Especially because you went back and are now finishing your degree. Your dream,” Lyndsey said, her voice soft yet firm. “We are all proud of you and the way you persevere. You rock.”
She chuckled and it sounded watery even to her ears. “Yeah, one made of foam, maybe.”
“No. More like solid granite,” Lyndsey corrected. “You’ve overcome so much. This is your year. I’m so happy you chose to finish your schooling in Harland County so I could be around to see you shine.”
“Aww, thanks, cuz.” She sniffed. “You’re the reason I chose it, and why I moved to this cottage.”
She understood the importance of family and wanted, no, needed the connection.
“I’m glad. And so is Emily,” Lyndsey said, bringing a smile to Isla’s face at the mention of her cousin’s best friend and former neighbor.
Growing up, whenever Isla had visited her cousin, Emily was usually around. Isla considered her a friend, too.
“She’s leaving the Houston Humane Society to work as an officer out of the Shadow Rock Shelter.”
Isla sat up. That was great news all around. “The funding came through?”
While at the shelter yesterday, she overheard her cousin talking to the owner. Apparently, a few months ago, he began the process of applying for permits, licenses, insurance, and whatever else was legally necessary to connect his rescue to the Humane Society so they could work with the law to cut back on the neglect they dealt with on a daily basis.
“Yes,” Lyndsey replied. “Everything got approved and Kade said his shelter will officially be a branch of the society in a few weeks.”
“That’s terrific,” she said. “It’s great news for Emily and the county.”
“I agree.” Lyndsey’s sigh rustled through the phone. “Hopefully, her parents won’t give her too much grief when she finds a place of her own. I think they’re hoping she’ll stay with them.”
Isla nodded. “Yeah, I can totally see them wanting to have their baby girl back under their roof.”
Lyndsey laughed. “Exactly. But Em has already started looking online for places and has a few showings lined up for Sunday. Can you come too? She was hoping to have us weigh in on some of her options.”
“Yes. Of course,” she said. “I’d be happy to help out.”
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with your studies, though,” Lyndsey said. “She made me promise to stress that to you.”
Isla laughed. “It won’t. I have to write up a detailed assessment of today’s clinical, but I’ll be starting that right after I eat tonight and will now have the incentive to finish it tomorrow so I can enjoy Sunday with both of you.”
“Perfect. So…” Her cousin paused, her tone suddenly sounding off. “How was your walk home tonight?”
“Uh…” She frowned. “It was fine. Why?”
“What do you think of your neighbor, Sinjin?” her cousin asked. “I heard he walked you home.”
Her brows shot up. “Wow, that was less than a few minutes ago. How did you know that?”
Lyndsey’s chuckle filled her ear. “I have spies everywhere.”
Now it was Isla’s turn to chuckle. “Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Seriously, though. How was the walk? Are you okay?”
Isla jerked her head back. “Of course, I am. Why? Sinjin was very polite.”
Maybe a little too quiet, but definitely polite.
“That’s good.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And?”
“And what?”
“And why did you ask me that?” Her frown increased. “What’s wrong with Sinjin? He works for ESI, and you told me everyone employed there was upstanding and reliable, right?”
“Yes.”
This conversation was getting annoying, but she held her aggravation in check.
“But?”
“Well, Gabe mentioned that Sinjin had gone into black ops after leaving the military, so you know… he’s probably done some dark stuff,” Lyndsey informed. “Just be careful.”
“There’s no need,” she said, not at all alarmed by what her cousin’s husband had to say about Sinjin. “He just walked me home. Doubt I’ll ever see him again.”
Why did that thought make her stomach tighten?
Lyndsey snorted. “He lives across from you. Of course, you’ll see him again.”
“Good. I hope so.” She smiled at the sound of her cousin’s indrawn breath.
“Oh, no. This is not good,” Lyndsey muttered. “I know that tone. He is not a rescue or a coed in need of advice. Don’t try to fix this guy, Isla. He’s dangerous. Stay away from him, okay?”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“Isla!”
She laughed. “Like you said, he’s my neighbor. I’m bound to see him, and I refuse to be ignorant. If he waves, I’m going to wave back. If he says hello, I’m going to reply.”
“That’s different,” Lyndsey said, relief lowering her tone. “That’s fine.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re okay with it.” She shook her head and smiled at her cousin’s unnecessary concern.
“I’m fine with it because he isn’t likely to talk to you or anyone else.”
True. The man wasn’t very talkative.
“He’s attended a few barbeques with the others in our backyard,” Lyndsey said. “He does seem okay, but I find it a little odd that he never eats or drinks. Not sure I trust that.”
She shrugged. “Maybe he has a food allergy.”
“Possibly, but I just want you to be careful.”
“I know and I will,” she insisted, standing up to look out her front window at the cottage across the street.
Lights were on inside, but she couldn’t discern any movement or anything out of the ordinary. She gave her head a shake.
What was she doing?
There was nothing wrong with the man. So what if he worked dark ops, black ops or whatever the term was? Right now, he worked for ESI and her cousin was the one who vouched for them, which would include Sinjin.
Stay away from him?
No. She would not do that, nor would she seek him out.
Just thinking about seeing the handsome guy again sent a hiccup through her pulse.
If they both happened to be at the same place, Isla already knew she would make a point to not ignore Sinjin.